Chapter 698 - 698: Round of 16

The guild erupted into noise the moment the bracket appeared, and within seconds, excited cheers swept through the crowd.

"Gildarts versus Raizel?! Is this going to be a battle for Fairy Tail's strongest?!"

"Brandish against Dimaria? Aren't those two really close?"

"That's basically like making Erza fight Ultear, isn't it?!"

Dimaria and Brandish certainly looked that way.

The two women were chatting and laughing together as though nothing unusual had happened, without the slightest hint that they were about to fight each other.

"Laxus versus Mercphobia is going to be amazing too!"

Laxus himself was looking forward to that match.

Kirin had once pushed him into a difficult battle, yet Mercphobia had defeated Kirin with relative ease.

Laxus knew perfectly well that his chances of winning were poor—possibly extremely poor—but that would never stop him from going all-out.

Still, there was at least one area where he clearly had Mercphobia beaten.

Behind Laxus stood all three members of the Thunder God Tribe, cheering him on at full volume, while Kiria and Jenny Realight were already arguing with each other nearby.

Mercphobia, meanwhile, had only Karameel standing behind him.

That comparison was almost cruel.

Kurnugi looked delighted by his own matchup. He had been hoping from the beginning that he would get the chance to fight one of Selene, Irene, or Mercphobia.

Macao and Wakaba did not particularly like his odds against Irene, but they still chose to cheer for him.

Raizel sat on a barstool and looked toward Gildarts, who was drinking farther down the counter.

Gildarts took a long gulp, set his mug down with a solid knock, and noticed Raizel watching him.

His gaze sharpened.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

Raizel had not expected Gildarts to be his opponent either.

He raised his glass from across the room in a silent toast.

Makarov had clearly been caught off guard by the pairing as well.

"Either you or Gildarts is getting eliminated this round."

He took a small drink.

"But I'd say your chances of winning are considerably higher."

Makarov had watched Raizel fight Gildarts before.

The difference between them had been obvious.

He did not believe Gildarts could have closed that gap completely in such a short period of time.

Raizel nodded.

"There are only sixteen people left. We were going to run into each other sooner or later."

After all, more than half of the remaining competitors were connected to Fairy Tail.

Gildarts had once been Fairy Tail's living legend—the strongest man in the guild and its strongest Mage.

Whatever the current rankings might be, his strength had never been in question.

Elsewhere, Misaki stood with her long black hair falling down her back and her arms folded across her chest, staring toward Mira.

Mira, dressed in a soft pink dress, met her gaze with her usual gentle smile.

"Misaki, you'd better win! You're the only one from Diabolos left!"

The other Dragon Eaters were already shouting encouragement from the sidelines.

Compared with Raizel and Mira's opponents, however, Erza, Kagura, and Ultear looked like three children who had drawn the worst possible lots.

Their opponents were Zeref, August, and Selene respectively.

Not that any of them looked particularly hostile.

Selene was currently laughing with Ultear as though they were about to have drinks rather than fight.

Holding a glass in one hand, Selene lightly clinked it against Ultear's.

"I'm looking forward to our match."

Ultear smiled and returned the toast.

"I'm already satisfied to have made it this far. I'll give it everything I have."

August stroked his beard as he calmly studied the large screen.

He had watched Kagura fight several times already and understood her abilities fairly well.

A sword in one hand, a blade in the other.

Excellent footwork, exceptional swordsmanship, and Magic Power that was outstanding for someone her age.

There did not seem to be much August could teach her.

Simply meeting Kagura's fighting spirit with his own full strength would probably be enough.

...

The following day, the tournament resumed.

To prevent the aftershocks from ruining everyone's view the way they had two days earlier—and to stop the audience from being alternately frozen, roasted, and blasted by wind, with Mavis suffering the most because her hair kept getting ruined—Selene supplied the materials while August and Irene worked together to construct a massive VIP viewing room.

It was extremely sturdy, spacious, and featured an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the arena.

Even with more than a hundred spectators inside, it still did not feel crowded.

Raizel had no intention of fighting Mavis and Selene for the center seats. That was obviously prime viewing territory.

Instead, he found a place toward the left side of the first row and looked out through the enormous window.

Irene and Kurnugi were already fighting.

Their match had reached its most intense stage.

At first, both had remained in human form and briefly tested each other.

Then Kurnugi transformed first and Irene followed immediately.

The sky above the arena darkened almost at once.

Rain poured down.

Lightning flashed.

Violent winds swept through the battlefield.

A crimson dragon and a pale-gold dragon covered in blades became streaks of light as they collided repeatedly in the storm.

Kurnugi's true body was already larger than Irene's dragon form, and with blade-like protrusions covering his entire body, he looked genuinely terrifying.

He beat his wings and climbed high into the sky.

Then he roared, flooded his entire body with Magic Power, and dove directly toward Irene.

Irene had no intention of meeting that charge head-on.

"Enchant: Scorching Heat!"

She Enchanted the surrounding air with intense heat.

A gigantic fireball formed in front of her and slammed directly into Kurnugi.

Then came the second spell.

"Enchant: Dragon-Slaying Detonation!"

The moment Kurnugi collided with the fireball, Irene's follow-up Enchantment activated.

BOOOOM!

The fireball exploded violently.

A mushroom cloud rose into the sky with Kurnugi at its center.

Mavis instinctively lifted an arm to shield her face, only to realize that the VIP viewing room's defensive formations had already blocked most of the blinding light and shockwave.

"Oh! This is much better!"

She swung her little legs happily from her seat.

Kurnugi was having a much worse time.

His entire body was blackened as he fell from the explosion like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

The Dragon Slayer power Irene had mixed into the attack made it particularly effective against him.

He crashed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

Then his enormous body gradually shrank back into human form.

He had lost consciousness.

Ur raised the red flag.

"The winner—Irene Belserion!"

No matter how extraordinary Kurnugi's talent was, he had only just reached adulthood.

Irene, by contrast, had already possessed the strength to slay dragons when she first transformed into one herself.

And four hundred years had passed since then.

She was far stronger now than she had been back then.

...

The second match was Dimaria versus Brandish.

The winner was decided almost immediately.

The fight ended far faster than anyone expected, with Dimaria proving superior after activating God Soul.

That was also why the two women had been so relaxed about facing each other.

Back when both served among the Spriggan 12, they had sparred many times.

Dimaria had won every single one.

...

Lucy, who had already been eliminated, had volunteered to serve as announcer.

She raised her microphone as the next competitors prepared to enter.

"Our next match features Fairy Tail's Raizel against the man long known as Fairy Tail's strongest Mage—Gildarts Clive!"

Lucy knew perfectly well that Gildarts might no longer truly deserve the title of Fairy Tail's strongest.

But everyone was used to calling him that, and it made for a convenient introduction.

Gildarts slowly emerged from the competitors' tunnel.

His battered cloak hung over his shoulders, bandages wrapped around one arm, and his expression was unusually serious.

Then crimson light flashed across the opposite side of the arena.

Raizel appeared in an instant, dressed in a suit as he calmly faced Gildarts from across the battlefield.