Chapter 697 - 697: The Draw

"This is..."

Misaki and Kirin's mouths twitched as they stared at the arena.

The destructive power Natsu was putting out had become downright ridiculous.

The Unbreakable Wall of Sighs activated once more, one defensive magic circle after another layering itself over the Adamantine Shield.

At the same time, the enormous dragon-shaped aura surrounding Natsu grew steadily more solid.

"One last punch, Erza!!!"

Natsu roared at the top of his lungs.

"FIRE DRAGON KING'S... DEMOLITION FIST!!!"

His eyes burned scarlet.

He suddenly threw both arms wide and roared toward the sky as flames erupted upward, turning the blue heavens red like a blazing sunset.

For an instant, it looked as though Igneel himself had descended onto the battlefield.

Then Natsu punched.

Erza poured everything she had into the defensive formation.

At the same moment, another burst of crimson light spread across the shield.

"Enchant: Deus Corona!"

Her defenses strengthened yet again.

Behind Erza, the enormous phantom of a Titan appeared, clutching a massive shield in both hands.

The fiery dragon behind Natsu drove its fist into the Titan's shield.

BOOOOOOM!!!

A mushroom cloud erupted from the point of impact and expanded across the entire arena.

Even Laxus and Gildarts, standing high above the battlefield, felt the shockwave sting their faces.

Raizel immediately activated [Take Over: Alphamon.] and raised a defensive barrier.

A green hemispherical shield expanded around the spectators and protected everyone from the blast.

Kiria's jaw practically dropped while Selene merely chuckled.

"Relax. No one's going to die."

It took a long time for the dust to settle.

When the battlefield finally became visible again, both halves of the Adamantine Shield had shattered.

Cracks also ran across Erza's armor.

But the dragon scales covering Natsu's body had disappeared as well.

White smoke drifted from his mouth as his unfocused eyes stared ahead for a moment.

Then he slowly collapsed.

Erza finally released the breath she had been holding.

"Whew... I almost lost."

If she had not reinforced both her shields and armor with Enchantment at the last moment, Natsu really might have overturned the match.

August stepped forward afterward and used healing Magic on both Natsu and Erza.

Erza's damaged armor was even easier to deal with.

Ultear simply used Arc of Time, restoring it to its undamaged state.

August examined the fully repaired Adamantine Armor thoughtfully.

"It seems the Wall of Sighs still has room for improvement. I'll study it again when I have time."

With that, Natsu and Erza's match officially came to an end.

Natsu had lost, but no one could say he had embarrassed himself.

Thanks to that final punch, he even earned the unofficial title of seventeenth strongest contestant.

After all, among those who had already been eliminated, not one person was willing to claim with confidence that they could have taken that punch head-on.

Madmole in particular felt a chill just thinking about it.

If Natsu had used that attack during their earlier battle...

Forget being the Armor Dragon.

There probably would not have been enough of him left to fill an urn.

...

With the day's matches finished, Makarov jumped onto an elevated platform.

"All right! Let's have a feast!!!"

"OOOOH!!!"

The moment he heard the word feast, Natsu somehow returned to full health.

Gray and Gajeel stared at him.

"You recovered way too fast!"

...

Fairy Tail's outdoor café was packed beyond recognition.

Competitors from all three continents had gathered there along with Fairy Tail's regular members, bringing the total attendance to well over two hundred people.

The place was noisier than a marketplace.

Zeref, August, Mavis, Precht, and Larcade sat together at one table, chatting about ordinary everyday matters as though none of them were among the most terrifying people alive.

Elsewhere, Natsu had accumulated a huge crowd of spectators eager to hear his version of the fight.

Naturally, his version contained a generous amount of embellishment.

Natsu was not particularly upset about losing.

This was already the longest he had ever lasted against Erza and easily his best result.

In most of their previous fights, she had flattened him almost immediately.

Gray listened to Natsu steadily turn himself into the heroic protagonist of an increasingly fictional story before finally cutting in.

"Erza was testing you at the beginning, idiot!"

Kurnugi bit into a meat skewer and shook his head.

"I wouldn't call it holding back. She was just feeling him out."

Raizel looked toward Selene, who was chatting with Irene.

"By the way, when are we drawing the next round?"

Selene answered without much concern.

"Tomorrow. The matches aren't until the day after anyway, and right now the feast is more important."

After spending enough time around Fairy Tail, Selene had clearly been corrupted by the guild's priorities.

Not that she had needed much encouragement.

She already loved excitement and had never once missed a Fairy Tail party when she was available.

Selene and Mavis had designed the tournament schedule so that every round was separated by a rest day, giving the winners time to recover and prepare for their next matches.

Raizel did not particularly care who he drew.

He was confident against anyone.

The only situation that required some caution would be if he ended up facing Ultear, Mira, or one of the others close to him.

He would have to make sure the match did not somehow turn into domestic violence and get him banished from the bedroom afterward.

Erza or Kagura would actually be easier.

If Raizel didn't fight seriously against either of them, they would probably be more offended.

Mira lightly tapped a finger against her chin.

"There's actually a pretty good chance some of us will be matched against each other."

Ultear, Raizel, Mira, Erza, and Kagura had all reached the Round of 16.

Ultear sighed helplessly.

"...After watching Natsu and Erza today, I'm starting to regret entering."

Mira raised an eyebrow and wagged one finger.

"No one said we have to fight at full strength. We can always just make it look good."

Their eyes met.

No further words were necessary.

If they drew each other, they were absolutely fixing the match.

Besides, the Round of 16 was packed with monsters.

The two Dragon Gods, the two great pillars of the Alvarez Empire, Zeref, and Raizel alone formed a group that most competitors would rather avoid entirely.

Against any of those six, the solution was actually simple.

Go all-out.

They probably were not winning anyway.

And even without those absurdly overpowered six, there were still Gildarts, Kurnugi, Laxus, Dimaria, Brandish, and Misaki.

Not one of them was an easy opponent.

Kagura frowned slightly.

"Looking at it this way, the competition really is brutal."

Still, no matter whom she drew, surrender was never an option.

Anyone who wanted to advance through her would first have to get past the blades in her hands.

...

The following day, an enormous magical crystal screen measuring well over one hundred and fifty inches appeared on Fairy Tail's stage.

Beside it stood a constantly rotating lottery machine filled with yellow balls, each bearing a contestant's name in black lettering.

Mavis and Ur would conduct the draw.

The names would be pulled two at a time, with each consecutive pair becoming opponents.

Fairy Tail's outdoor café was packed again.

Macao and Wakaba had not even fully recovered from their hangovers, yet both had still dragged themselves out of bed just to watch the draw.

Selene was paying close attention as well.

"If possible, I'd like to fight Irene early."

Mavis shook her head.

"That isn't something I can control. This draw is completely fair."

The café remained noisy with conversation, but the official drawing would not begin until exactly noon.

Two minutes remained.

As everyone continued talking, the countdown displayed on the magical crystal screen steadily approached zero.

Portraits of Raizel, Zeref, Irene, and the other sixteen remaining competitors appeared across the screen.

Then the pairings began to emerge.

[Kurnugi vs. Irene]

[Dimaria vs. Brandish]

[Raizel vs. Gildarts]

[August vs. Kagura]

[Misaki vs. Mira]

[Zeref vs. Erza]

[Laxus vs. Mercphobia]

[Selene vs. Ultear]

There was clearly no manipulation involved.

It really was nothing more than an ordinary lottery machine.

Besides, neither Mavis nor Ur had any reason to rig the bracket. There were no particular grudges that needed arranging.

Raizel studied the matchups.

Of all the fights in the Round of 16, the ones he was most interested in were Kurnugi's, Dimaria's, and Laxus's.