The selection competition was stopped by Makarov after only half a day.
There was no way around it. If he didn't stop it, that barren mountain that had already been flattened would turn into a lake.
But stopping it early resulted in the number of people remaining being far more than the number of spots. There was no way around it. Makarov could only exploit a loophole in the competition rules and decide to send two teams to participate in the Grand Magic Games.
Laxus, Natsu, Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue formed the Dragon Slayer Mage team. Erza, Kagura, Gray, Lucy, and Cana formed the second team to participate in the Grand Magic Games together.
Drake naturally told Makarov about the Fiore Kingdom's plan and the Eclipse Gate, after all, it concerned Zeref and Acnologia.
And the two were the main reason why the Tenrou Island incident would develop to that extent seven years ago.
Don't forget, for Makarov and the others, that was something that had happened not long ago.
Although Makarov complained a bit about having to deal with such troublesome existences so soon, he didn't change his plan to participate in the Grand Magic Games.
Drake understood the reason. There was no way to avoid this.
Not to mention that the key to opening the Eclipse Gate was the golden keys in Lucy's hand, just that point alone would be enough for the kingdom to not let Fairy Tail off the hook.
Moreover, no one could possibly know that something involving Zeref and Acnologia was about to happen and still entrust it to others to handle with peace of mind.
Listening to Drake's narration, Makarov understood that the Fiore Kingdom hadn't considered the risks involved when formulating the plan.
If they weren't on the scene when an accident happened, they wouldn't be able to do anything in time.
Fortunately, there were many excellent children in the guild, including Drake, which gave Makarov the confidence to deal with any possible situations.
It was a pity that Gildarts had taken a ten-year quest and left after watching the excitement of the selection competition. Otherwise, they would have even more certainty.
But as a precaution, Makarov didn't agree to let members with insufficient combat power accompany them, and only took the main members to Crocus, the capital of the Fiore Kingdom.
This wasn't the first time Drake and the others had come to this city of flowers, and they smoothly completed the registration and checked into the hotel.
As a guild that had won the Grand Magic Games championship many times, Fairy Tail still received a lot of preferential treatment.
For example, in the original plot and the first time they participated, Fairy Tail was crammed into the Honeybone Inn with many other guilds.
But this time, Fairy Tail was arranged to stay at the Crocus Garden Hotel, the leading luxury hotel in the royal capital, and even those who weren't participating members had independent rooms.
After arranging their stay, the members of the Tenrou team went out for a stroll under the leadership of Sting and the other "regulars."
And Drake and Makarov were in the hotel room, staring at Mavis, who had suddenly appeared.
Mavis bit her finger and said, "I originally came to cheer everyone on because I was bored from staying on Tenrou Island all the time, but I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen."
Drake had known long ago that Mavis would appear, so he wasn't shocked. It was her current state that was really magical.
Although Mavis claimed to be a ghost, she seemed to be a special thought body to Drake.
His knowledge and research accumulation on various powers after having experienced so many worlds allowed him to clearly understand Mavis's current state.
The power of the undying curse protected her soul, allowing the soul to leave the body and move freely in a special life form. It seemed that everything had two sides. The power of the curse was quite magical in some ways.
Drake didn't think too much about this, and just said, "Having the First, who has the title of Fairy Tactician, to help us makes things a lot easier for us."
Mavis's expression was very serious, and she said, "Still, don't be careless. After all, it's about him and Acnologia!"
Drake of course knew who "he" was that Mavis was talking about, but Drake also knew that this incident actually had little to do with Zeref. What they needed to worry about was the black dragon that might appear.
Mavis continued, "According to the existing information, the focus is on the golden keys in Lucy's hand. What we need to do now is to protect her.
In order to prevent accidents, everyone should avoid acting alone during the upcoming Grand Magic Games! Also, we need to pay attention to the movements of the kingdom. Drake, can I trouble you with that?"
Drake nodded and said, "No problem, I'll pay attention!"
Drake looked at Mavis's expression, and could still see her entanglement. Even the Fairy Tactician couldn't help but waver at this time.
The original purpose of the Eclipse Project was to travel through time and kill Zeref before he became a dark mage.
And given the relationship between Mavis and Zeref, it was hard to imagine how complex her feelings would be.
But fortunately, this plan itself was doomed to failure, and there wouldn't be any bloody drama.
While the three were discussing their next course of action, the others also met the mages participating in the competition from other guilds on the street.
For the Tenrou team, many were faces that had changed a lot but were still familiar, but there were also many new people they didn't recognize.
And for Sting and the others, most of them were quite familiar opponents, so he was responsible for introducing those strangers to everyone.
Apart from Jura and the other old friends, who were happy about the return of the Tenrou team, most of the mages from the other guilds showed more or less hostility or even malice.
So Kagura explained to everyone, who were confused, "Our guild has won the Grand Magic Games too many times, so it's inevitable that it will attract the jealousy of other guilds.
It's been like this several times before, and they've caused us a lot of trouble! They're clearly just some guys who can't even pass the preliminaries, I don't know where they get the courage to always provoke us."
It wasn't that Kagura was confused. Like Natsu and the others, she didn't have enough understanding of the wickedness of human nature. Erza and the others, who had experienced enough, understood why.
The Grand Magic Games were publicly declared to be a competition to select the number one mage guild in the kingdom.
That title, as well as the huge benefits that came with it, would naturally make people jealous. Even if Fairy Tail won fairly every time, there would always be someone who was dissatisfied.
Jealousy was just that unreasonable.
In addition, Fairy Tail disdained to do such base things as retaliation, which reduced the cost of causing trouble to the lowest level, so they naturally didn't mind trying to see if they could pull the popular contestants off their horses and make themselves famous.
Kagura noticed another group of people, and looking at them, she said, "The ones over there are our most noteworthy opponents, the Sabertooth guild!
After Master Drake stopped participating in the competition, they've been competing with us for the championship in the past few years, and they've indeed won against us twice."
Everyone immediately looked over, keeping their future opponents in mind.
Sabertooth also noticed the Fairy Tail team, and at the same time showed wary gazes. The two sides just stared at each other for a while and then went their separate ways.
They would be opponents soon, and they still had to decide the victory on the field.
Just then, the few people with sensitive senses suddenly looked in one direction at the same time. Just now, an exceptionally gloomy and malicious gaze had come from that side.
"That mark is...?" Kagura couldn't help but show a confused expression. How could she remember the names of other small guilds with no reputation? Looking at that raven mark with a branch in its beak, she really couldn't recognize the identity of that black-robed person who was exuding malice.
Unexpectedly, Erza spoke up and said, "That's the mark of the mage guild Raven Tail. Seven years ago, they were just a small guild that took on some dirty work. Have they developed in these seven years as well?"
Kagura shook her head and said, "No, I've never heard of them having any active deeds in these years, and they've never even entered the official competition of the Grand Magic Games."
Lucy crossed her arms and said, "That guy gives off a bad feeling. It's better for us not to provoke them!"
Laxus was silent on the side. For some reason, that black-robed person gave him a special feeling.
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