Inside the Sky Labyrinth, Chase's team stood on a square white platform, surveying their surroundings.
The winding staircases twisted like the branches of a giant tree, with simple doors hanging like fruit from the branches. Pushing one open would lead into a kaleidoscopic space where up, down, left, and right were completely inverted—making it incredibly easy to lose your way.
"Exploring the route bit by bit the normal way doesn't seem like it'll give us much of an advantage..." Future Mirajane frowned.
Mira still needed time to adapt to the newly absorbed demon's ability, so Future Mirajane would be the one competing in this preliminary round.
Likewise, Future Gajeel and Future Juvia were the ones representing their counterparts.
The Gajeel from Chase's world had awakened his Dragon Force before the Tenrou Island incident thanks to training under his master Buster Blader. He was currently still hunched over the toilet in the inn, vomiting uncontrollably.
That's right—anything that moved, even a stationary building, counted as a "vehicle" to a Dragon Slayer.
Future Gajeel had even mocked him for being just as pathetic as that Fire Dragon, not realizing that in two days, he'd be experiencing the exact same feeling during the chariot event.
"Sorry. Juvia should have brought a compass," Future Juvia said apologetically.
"Heheh. I saw other teams drawing maps of the labyrinth routes," Future Gajeel said with a sly grin on his metal-studded face.
That was exactly what Team A was currently doing—snatching other teams' maps to piece together the structure of the Sky Labyrinth faster and find the exit!
"Hey, captain—what do you think?" Future Laxus looked at Chase, who hadn't moved an inch.
Even now, he still felt a lingering dread from yesterday's one-on-one fight. He had a great deal of respect for Chase's abilities as captain.
At the same time, he wanted to see if this guy from another world's Fairy Tail had any better, more comprehensive strategies.
"What else is there to do? Use your eyes, of course~"
Chase cracked his knuckles and stepped forward to the edge of the white platform. "Didn't that Pumpkin Head just say it? There are no restrictions on magic."
"In other words, flight magic is also allowed."
Stealing other teams' maps was indeed one way to speedrun the labyrinth, but it was still too slow and too much trouble.
"That's right! If we use flight magic, we'll be way faster than following the paths!" Future Mirajane exclaimed, suddenly realizing.
Aside from Juvia, just about everyone on their team had some form of flight capability.
"But even if flight magic is allowed, wouldn't it still be hard to find our bearings inside this closed spherical labyrinth?" Future Juvia raised a valid concern.
Since the organizers had chosen this as the preliminary, they must have considered countermeasures against such tactics.
"That's even simpler."
Chase took a deep breath, clenching his magic-infused fist as if stating the obvious. "If there's no path, we'll make one!"
BOOM!!
Under the stunned gazes of Future Laxus and the others, a massive beam of dark golden light erupted, shattering every staircase and room in its path, piercing straight through the entire spherical labyrinth!
A hollow tunnel, with rubble still falling, now lay before them.
Chase pointed to the center of the spherical labyrinth with a smile. "See? There's your direction."
"S-Simple and brutal, alright..." Future Laxus's lips twitched.
Compared to the man standing before him, he suddenly felt like he had been playing by the rules a little too much.
"Oh my, to hear such a sentiment from someone who once started a guild civil war..." Future Mirajane covered her mouth with a light laugh.
"S-Shut up!" Future Laxus turned his face away with a tsundere huff.
The next moment, a dark golden glow enveloped them, along with the stunned Future Gajeel and Future Juvia. Chase raised his hand, and the five of them shot straight into the labyrinth's center as streaks of light, disappearing into a white glow.
"Wh-Who are those people?!"
"Dammit! They destroyed the path I was using!"
"Wait, captain! Thanks to them, the exit's revealed itself!"
Seeing the hollow tunnel leading straight to the finish line, nearby guild mages erupted in jubilation.
But before they could act, a massive magic array lit up across the entire labyrinth, restructuring its internal layout.
This was a hidden rule of the preliminaries: whenever a team reached the center, the mechanism would trigger. It both increased the difficulty and eliminated weaker teams that had been relying on luck!
Meanwhile, Chase and his team had already arrived at a fabricated scene with blue skies and white clouds.
Walking on the surface of the clouds, they looked up to see a vast, lush land above them—mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes clearly visible.
This place was like a self-contained little world. Not only was it upside down, but the direction of gravity itself was constantly shifting!
Credit where credit was due—the Fiore royal family certainly had deep pockets. Such a grand design was certainly impressive.
However, it clearly wasn't enough to stop Chase's team.
The dark golden glow of flight magic flared again. Chase defied gravity, carrying Future Mirajane and the others through the sky, then through the earth, and straight toward the labyrinth exit over the vast ocean!
In front of a wooden door adorned with a "GOAL" sign.
Pumpkin Head Mato—in reality, King Toma E. Fiore—stood at the entrance, staring in disbelief at Chase and his four companions descending from the sky. His eyes were wide with shock.
Less than two minutes had passed since the preliminaries began, and already a team had cleared it—and it was Fairy Tail?!
How the hell did these people manage that?
This was the Sky Labyrinth he had painstakingly designed over three sleepless nights!
"Hey, Pumpkin Head—is this the finish line?"
Chase's voice snapped him back to reality.
"Ahem. Yes, that's correct."
Pumpkin Head suppressed his shock and confusion, clearing his throat to mask his embarrassment. "Chase, Laxus, Mirajane, Juvia, Gajeel..."
"Congratulations on passing the preliminaries—you're the first team to arrive!"
Having said that, his eyes—hidden beneath the pumpkin mask—scanned the five people before him. Yet he saw none of the cheers and joy he had expected.
Unbeknownst to him, Future Laxus and the others were just as dazed as he was: We barely felt anything, and it's already over?
Even faster than Jet!
The sense of participation was practically zero!
Chase, on the other hand, was pondering other matters.
"We still have to walk through this door to officially pass, right?" he asked.
"The rules say so, but for you standing here, it makes no difference, Pumpkin," Pumpkin Head replied.
Now that he had calmed down, his signature catchphrase had returned.
"No, no, no—there's a huge difference. Our other team hasn't arrived yet," Chase said with a sly grin.
"Pumpkin?" Pumpkin Head tilted his head in confusion.
"Wait, don't tell me—" Future Laxus seemed to catch on.
"Oh my, oh my." Future Mirajane laughed out loud.
"With plenty of time before we leave as the first clearers—"
Chase slid a stack of cards between his fingers with a grin. "We have to leave a little surprise for the other competing teams~"
If things went as expected, Team A was probably using a similar approach to the original story, and their final ranking would likely be dead last—or close to it.
Chase's goal was for Fairy Tail's Teams A and B to make their entrance in first and second place, crushing all opponents and shocking the entire arena!
"That sounds like a great plan!" Future Laxus clenched his sparking fist.
Since they were already here, going back without doing anything would be a waste.
"Heheh. Things are getting interesting~" Future Gajeel was raring to go.
When given the choice between sabotaging other teams and simply clearing the stage, he didn't hesitate to pick the former.
As for Future Mirajane—
Well, the mischievous woman was already scheming about what traps to set.
"Alright then. It's our turn now. Time to set some cards~!"
"OOOOOH!"
"Ahhh! Juvia wants to leave a huge heart for Gray-sama~"
"Idiot! That'll give us away!"
"How about setting up a Thunder Palace for them?"
"Oh my, the other competitors aren't guilty enough to deserve that~"
***
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