Chapter 264: Preliminary Round
"You know me?"
Natsu Dragneel stopped in his tracks, tilting his head in genuine confusion. He stared at the blonde young man standing before him, who radiated a strange mix of admiration and arrogance.
"Of course I know you. Natsu Dragneel... the Salamander," Sting Eucliffe smirked, his eyes sharp. "But honestly, I'm disappointed. Acnologia... as a Dragon Slayer Mage, you still couldn't beat the Dragon, right? Seven years of sleep, and you're still just a relic of the past."
"Huh?"
Natsu's face darkened instantly. The memory of Tenrou Island—the overwhelming despair, the roar that shook the heavens, the heat of the breath that nearly incinerated them all—flashed through his mind.
"Long ago, I used to look up to you," Sting continued, his voice dripping with condescension. "I wanted to become a Dragon Slayer Mage just like you. I watched videos of your fights, studied your magic. But seeing you now... you're small." He gestured to his silent partner. "Oh, this is Rogue. The one he admired was Gajeel Redfox."
Rogue Cheney, the dark-haired mage with a shadow looming over his face, turned his head away, avoiding eye contact. "That's all in the past, Sting. There's no need to bring it up. The Gajeel I knew was a phantom... a shadow. The man today is just a member of a fallen guild."
"Dragon Slayer Mages?! You two both are?!"
Natsu was startled, his nostrils flaring as he tried to catch their scent. "I don't smell any dragon on you..."
"You should call us 'true' Dragon Slayer Mages," Sting laughed, tapping the scar above his eye. "After all, if it were us, we might actually be able to drive Acnologia back. We wouldn't have needed a seven-year nap."
"You say that because you've never seen Acnologia in person!"
Lucy Heartfilia stepped forward, her fists clenched. She couldn't stand their smug attitudes. "You don't know what you're talking about! The might of the Black Dragon... it's not something humans can just 'drive back'! It was a nightmare!"
'Only Ren could stand against it,' she thought bitterly. 'Ren fought until he ran dry. No one else could possibly be a match for that monster. These kids are delusional.'
Happy the Exceed flew up, hovering next to Natsu. "Exactly! You have no idea how terrifying that monster is! His roar alone could blow away an island!"
"That cat looks so dumb."
"You're the Genius, Lector."
Two smaller figures stepped out from behind Sting and Rogue's legs. One was a maroon cat in a vest, standing upright with a smug expression. The other was a green cat in a pink frog costume.
"Whether we've seen it or not is irrelevant," Sting said dismissively. "The results speak for themselves. You lost. We are the strongest."
"There's a fundamental difference between you and us as Dragon Slayer Mages," Rogue added quietly.
Lector, the maroon cat, adjusted his vest proudly. "Let me clarify for your primitive brains. Natsu-kun received Dragon Slayer Magic from a real Dragon—he's called a First-Generation Dragon Slayer Mage. Those who use Dragon Slayer Magic by embedding a Dragon Lacrima in their bodies, like Laxus, are Second-Generation. As for Sting-kun and Rogue-kun..."
Lector paused for dramatic effect.
"They were taught by Dragons and also have Lacrima implanted in their bodies. They are Hybrids! The Third-Generation, ultimate Dragon Slayer Mages!!"
"Third Generation?!" Natsu's eyes widened. "Then... did your Dragons also vanish in the year 777? On July 7th?"
Natsu grew curious. Ignreel, Metalicana, Grandeeney... they all disappeared on the same day. If these guys were raised by Dragons, maybe they knew something.
"No," Sting said coldly. "The Dragons who taught us Dragon Slayer Magic... Weisslogia and Skiadrum... were personally slain by us."
The air in the street seemed to freeze.
"So we could become true Dragon Slayer Mages," Sting finished, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "To surpass a parent... isn't that the ultimate proof of strength?"
"What?!!"
"They killed... the Dragons?!" Lucy covered her mouth in horror.
"You actually killed your own fathers?!" Natsu stepped back, revulsion written all over his face. To him, Igneel was a father, a savior. The idea of killing him for power was nauseating.
"All right, Sting, let's go," Rogue muttered, seeming bored with the conversation.
"Yeah. Wasting time on the weak is pointless," Sting agreed, turning his back on them. "Then we're off. If the main event of the tournament turns out to be duels, we'll show you the true power of a Dragon Slayer Mage. Try not to get eliminated in the preliminaries, old timers."
With that, Sting and Rogue walked away, their capes fluttering in the wind.
Lector sneered at Happy. "That blue cat following the outdated Dragon Slayer Mage looks downright stupid, doesn't he? He doesn't even have a vest."
"Fro thinks so too," Frosch, the frog-cat, agreed innocently.
"Let's go, Fro. If we hang around a dumb cat too long, we'll get stupid too."
"Fro thinks so too!"
The two little Exceeds trotted off after their partners.
"Grrr!!" Happy was livid, steam puffing from his ears. "No one has ever mocked me to my face like that! I'm no idiot! I'm Happy!"
"Forget it, let's head back," Lucy said, grabbing Natsu's arm before he could start a brawl in the street. "If we really meet them in the tournament, we'll teach those arrogant jerks a lesson!"
Lucy was fuming. So what if they're the number-one guild? Fairy Tail had a monster like Ren. If she couldn't beat them, Ren definitely could. She'd make sure Ren knew about this disrespect.
"Damn it... killed their own parents..." Natsu muttered, his fists trembling not with fear, but with anger.
Back at the 'Honeybone' Inn, the atmosphere was tense.
When Ren returned from his evening walk, he found Lucy pacing the room, venting her frustrations. She recounted the entire encounter, exaggerating Sting's smugness just a little bit to drive the point home.
"Ren! You have to teach those guys a lesson!" Lucy complained, throwing her hands up. "They said we were relics! They said they could beat Acnologia! Can you believe the nerve?"
Ren, who was sitting on the windowsill looking at the moon, raised an eyebrow.
"Sabertooth, huh?" Ren chuckled softly. "Sting and Rogue... killing Weisslogia and Skiadrum gave them a confidence boost, it seems."
"You know about it?" Erza asked, sharpening her sword in the corner.
"I know enough," Ren replied enigmatically. "Those Dragons... well, let's just say there's more to that story than they realize. But to dismiss Acnologia? Those kids truly don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."
'Even I, with the Rinnegan and Whitebeard's power, hesitate to face the Black Dragon alone,' Ren thought. 'And these two think they can drive him back? Ignorance is bliss.'
"If I run into them," Ren promised, his eyes glinting with a dangerous light, "I'll be sure to teach them a thing or two about what a 'True Dragon' really looks like."
Suddenly—
Ding-dong————!!
The sound of a massive clock tolling reverberated through the entire city of Crocus.
It was midnight. The hands of the clock tower struck twelve.
BZZZT!
Several magical spotlights lit up the night sky over the capital, converging on a single point. A massive holographic projection appeared in mid-air—a short man wearing a pumpkin mascot head.
"To all guilds gathered here for the Grand Magic Games—good morning-kabo!!"
The voice boomed across the city, waking up anyone who had managed to sleep.
"To reduce the number of participating teams from 113 down to 8, we will now commence the 'Preliminary Round'!"
"Preliminary round?!" Gray jumped up from his bed.
"Never heard of it!" Elfman shouted.
"What the—?! It's huge!!" Natsu ran to the balcony.
"Big Pumpkiiin~~!" Happy cheered.
The Pumpkin-man continued, "The growing number of entrants every year shows this tournament is being taken too lightly! It's too crowded-kabo!"
"Thus, this year we will limit the final eight slots to eight teams. Only the elite may stand in the Domus Flau!"
"The rules for the preliminary round are simple!"
Suddenly—!!
Rumble-rumble———!!
The ground beneath their feet began to shake violently.
"Whoa! Is it an earthquake?!" Wendy grabbed the bedpost.
"No... look outside!" Carla pointed.
Every contestant's hotel began to rise. Gears ground against stone, and magical circles flared as the buildings themselves shifted and lifted into the air.
"All of you will now compete: the goal is the tournament arena—the Domus Flau!" the Pumpkin announced.
"The first eight teams to arrive will earn the right to enter the finals."
"Any magic may be used without restriction—just squeeze into the top eight-kabo!"
"If even one of a team's five members fails to reach the finish, that team forfeits its right to compete."
"Additionally, we accept no responsibility for any deaths or injuries occurring within the maze."
"Grand Magic Games Preliminary Round—Sky Labyrinth—begins NOW!!"
As the hotels reached their zenith, bridges extended, connecting them to a colossal structure floating in the sky. It was a gigantic sphere, a tangle of staircases, corridors, and impossible geometry suspended among the clouds.
"Tsk, spectacular indeed!"
Ren marveled at the sight. The sheer scale of the engineering was impressive. "If I wasn't mistaken, this is massive-scale Transformation Magic combined with spatial enchantments. Or perhaps... a physical manifestation of a pocket dimension."
"Yeah, amazing!" Natsu grinned, his motion sickness forgotten in the face of adventure.
"How'd they make that?!" Lucy gaped.
Everyone stared in awe—magical technology had advanced so fast in the seven years they were gone.
"All right, let's move—for the S-Class mission reward! Uh, I mean, for the glory of the guild!" Ren corrected himself.
"Ooh!"
"Team Fairy Tail A—charge!!"
Ren, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy (replacing Wendy for this round in the anime timeline, though the team composition varies, Ren is taking a slot) sprinted up the stairs toward the aerial maze. Other guilds—Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel—were springing into action on adjacent bridges.
Soon, everyone reached the maze entrance. It was a dizzying array of twisting paths and floating platforms.
"It's a giant 3-D maze in there?"
Gray groaned at the sight. "We have to find the exit in this mess?"
Natsu clutched his head, eyes spinning. "Ugh, I'm terrible at this stuff!! I can't remember directions!"
Erza surveyed the area with a critical eye. "We should head east—the tournament grounds, the Domus Flau, were originally to our east in the city below."
"In that case, leave it to me!" Lucy winked, pulling out a golden key.
"Open, Gate of the Compass! Pyxis!!"
POOF!
A bird-like Celestial Spirit with a large compass on its head appeared. It waddled around, looked confused for a second, then pointed its wings.
"Pico-pico!"
"That way's east!" Lucy cheerfully pointed in the direction Pyxis indicated.
Erza sweatdropped. "Thanks, Lucy. Actually, a normal compass would have worked too... but I appreciate the enthusiasm. Let's go."
They prepared to set off at once, ready to run through the labyrinth.
"Hold up!"
A calm voice stopped them.
"What's up, Ren?" Natsu looked back, eager to run.
Ren stood at the entrance, his arms crossed, looking at the complex web of stone and magic ahead of them.
"They said 'any magic can be used', right?" Ren asked, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face.
"Yeah!" Gray nodded. "Whatever it takes to get to the finish."
Ren grinned, his eyes glowing faintly. "Then running through a maze like rats... that's too slow. I have a much simpler way."