"Welcome to the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts! Today is the second day of the competition, and the on-site hosting and commentary will once again be handled by me and Mr. Yajima." Jabadi wore a new wig today, but hardly anyone noticed.
"Pleased to be here." Mr. Yajima was slightly more relaxed than yesterday.
Jabadi continued, "Today our guest is Mr. Jason, a reporter from Weekly Sorashara!"
"COOOOL!!!" Jason got as excited as ever.
"Currently, the top two positions on the leaderboard are both occupied by Fairy Tail B Team and A Team. What kind of changes will we see today?"
As they spoke, the big screen in the arena already displayed today's competition event.
"Today's competition still consists of an athletic part and a combat part. The name of the athletic part is 'War Chariot'!"
The Pumpkin Man appeared on cue and explained, "Please have each team decide their participating member now. The rules will be announced once all players are in place!"
From a distance, Rhode could already hear Natsu's voice from Team A's side: "I want to participate!"
He didn't hear anything after that.
In fact, Erza immediately objected: "Natsu, this is 'War Chariot'. Just the name makes it seem disadvantageous for you, doesn't it?"
"I don't care! Gray participated yesterday, so no matter what, it's my turn today!"
Natsu didn't care what others said, and zipped out, raising his right fist in the arena.
This basically settled the selection.
Lucy and the others could only silently pray that it wouldn't actually have anything to do with cars.
Sabertooth immediately reacted, and Stinger walked straight out: "Since Mr. Natsu is participating, naturally I should be his opponent."
The others had a bad feeling, but defeating Natsu was Stinger's long-cherished wish, so the team had to let him be.
Blue Pegasus, not satisfied with yesterday's performance, sent out their strongest, One Night.
Lamia Scale sent out Yuka.
Mermaid's Heel sent out Liseli, claiming it was to showcase the charm of the voluptuous.
Rays of the Rising Sun's participant was their captain, Locke, who was dressed in sportswear and had a bowl haircut.
Dragon's Treasure sent out the only female contestant, Voya.
She was riding a black skateboard with blue stripes, carrying a square backpack that looked high-tech.
On the Fairy Tail B Team's side, Gajeel, upon seeing Natsu, expressed his desire to go fight the Fire Dragon.
But he was held back by Rhode.
"The competition is called 'War Chariot'. There's a chance you'll have to fight on a vehicle. Are you sure you want to participate?"
Gajeel was puzzled, "What's wrong with being on a car?"
Jubia reminded, "Gajeel, have you forgotten that you get motion sickness?"
"..." Gajeel didn't speak. He still wasn't used to the fact that he gets motion sickness.
Laxus stood silently to the side; he obviously wasn't suitable either.
Mira smiled and raised her hand, "Let me go this time."
Since the lady of the house had spoken, Rhode had no objections.
Jubia didn't have any intention of competing either, so it was decided that Mira would go.
With all eight contestants gathered, Stinger stared at Natsu, who was making fierce gestures towards Mira.
Mira gave a light smile and said 'Good luck' to him, then greeted Liseli.
Liseli responded while dodging One Night, who was trying to catch a whiff of her scent.
Luckily, Yuka greeted One Night, momentarily distracting him.
Among those present, only Locke and Voya were not well-acquainted with the others. One was energetically warming up, the other chewing gum and blowing bubbles.
Rhode glanced at the group of eight, noting the three girls, and sighed, "My wife is so beautiful."
Laxus and Gajeel didn't bother responding, while Jubia enviously said:
"I wish Gray-sama would be as infatuated with Jubia!"
Rhode chuckled, thinking that Gray—that block of ice—was unlikely to be warmed up by you anytime soon, unless you use some underhanded means.
...
In the arena, the Pumpkin Man waved, and a small flying ship flew in from outside, stopping nearby.
The Pumpkin Man gestured and said, "Please board the ship, everyone."
Natsu and Stinger's expressions changed, "Why? Are we competing on the ship?"
"No, the race is a run, starting at the South Gate of the Royal Capital and ending here," said the Pumpkin Man, "so we have to take you to the starting point first."
Their expressions eased a bit, but as they watched others board the ship, the two of them still dawdled.
"The starting point is at the South Gate, is it? I can make my own way there!" Natsu said as he bolted.
However, after taking a dozen steps, he was still in the same spot. Because Mira had already grabbed hold of his scarf and collar.
"Sorry for the trouble," Mira smiled and dragged Natsu back onto the ship.
Natsu struggled with a look of despair, but could only be dragged along by Mira, his heels scraping the ground.
Erza nodded in relief and smiled: "Luckily it's Mira from Team B, otherwise Natsu would have been eliminated."
Lucy worriedly said, "Now's not the time to relax, can Natsu win against Miss Mira?"
Gray was even harsher, "Better worry if that idiot will survive until the start of the race."
"Ah... my head hurts!" Kana was still hungover.
As Mira dragged Natsu onto the ship, she kindly turned to Stinger, "Do you need help too?"
"No, that's not necessary." Stinger didn't feel any kindness, and slowly made his way onto the ship.
At the speed of the flying ship, it wouldn't take long to get there.
Taking advantage of this time, Jabadi explained the rules in detail:
"Although it's called a race, participants will actually be racing on a series of connected war chariots, and they must not touch the ground or attack each other.
"It sounds simple, but the war chariots are constantly moving and turning, requiring high balancing skills.
"Especially since the connection between chariots is a thin iron chain, even a mage might fall if they're not careful."
Team A's members wore expressions like the sky was falling.
When they heard 'race', they had clung to a glimmer of hope, but having Natsu run on war chariots?
Makarov looked bewildered, "They actually let Natsu participate in something related to vehicles. Do they really want to win?"
"They probably didn't expect this," Romeo empathized, as Natsu was the person he admired most, and he really didn't want to see him in a sorry state.
Team B's expressions were also peculiar.
Gajeel asked, "Um, even if this is a race, she can fly, right?"
Rhode nodded, "Just not sure if flying is against the rules... Let's see how Mira performs. Even without flying, she's fast enough."
The big screen showed a real-time view of the starting line, with the six energized participants and the two despondent Dragon Slayer mages standing on the first war chariot.
With the firing of the starter's pistol, the train-like series of war chariots began moving immediately.
Mira started at the same time as the five participants.
Natsu and Stinger both collapsed onto the floor.