"I think this point should go to Gray," Mr. Yajima said, "because Rhode grabbed the collar."
Sure enough, on the scoreboard, a number 1 appeared next to Gray's name.
"It doesn't matter who he is," Gray clasped his fists together, staring at Rhode, "If you don't get serious, you'll suffer for it."
Rhode nodded, "Alright, then I'll be a bit more serious."
"Ice-Make... wah!"
Just as Gray was about to cast his magic, he felt something clamp around his calf, then his entire body sank into the ground, leaving only his head exposed.
Rhode chuckled, "How's that, does it feel familiar?"
"Damn it!" It was indeed familiar, Gray cursed as his figure was enveloped in light and vanished.
Once back on solid ground, cautiously surveying his surroundings, Gray suddenly realized that it had been a long time since Rhode used that trick with everyone.
"Gray, that idiot, why'd he have to make Rhode get serious?" Kana complained.
The Rhode clan being serious is quite troublesome.
"It's Mr. Rhode's summoned beast!" Jabadi excitedly exclaimed, "The first time a summoned beast was used in this match, and it's to deal with a fellow guild member! Mr. Yajima, what's your take on this?"
"Hmm, very impressive," Mr. Yajima praised, "It shows that Fairy Tail won't hold back even when A Team faces B Team; this competitive spirit will make the match even more exciting."
The crowd erupted with cheers.
Mebius observed Yajima closely, having someone like him around saves the guild from a lot of unnecessary trouble.
The match continued, with encounter battles breaking out one after another, and currently, the highest points belonged to Rhode.
He was simply walking, yet people constantly lined up to give him points.
Even Simon couldn't help but give it a try.
Only to get kicked by Rhode.
As they reached the destination, Rufus, who had been posturing at the highest point, finally took action.
"I've memorized everyone's heartbeat, footsteps, and magic power fluctuations." He brought his hands together in a sword gesture, touched his temples, and then spread his arms wide, "Memory-Make: Starry Night Downpour!"
Seven attacks shot out like meteors, precisely locking onto seven people, so quick it was almost too late to react.
Almost, because Rhode stepped forward just in time, letting the attack fall behind him.
He didn't even look back, just snapped his fingers.
"One strike missed?" Rufus was in shock when he suddenly noticed a circle of purple magic arrays around him.
With a boom, the magic array exploded, and Rufus was judged as hit, vanishing in light.
From others' perspectives, a magic array appeared behind Rufus, then his figure disappeared after an explosion.
"Truly amazing, Rufus hit six people simultaneously!" Jabadi praised, then questioned, "But what just happened, Mr. Yajima?"
"The one on the rooftop was an illusion, but his real position was seen through by Rhode."
Jenny said, "It's only natural, since it's a tactic similar to Mr. Rhode's. And... Simon, buck up, you've dropped to fourth place!"
Rufus quickly reappeared in a corner, adjusted his hat, and pondered, "A weak attack magic, but it's the first time I've seen a magic array activated so quickly."
Gajeel complained, "What's with that weak attack?"
Mira explained, "It's the Amaterasu technique magic array; Rhode can complete the drawing and detonation in an instant. Though the power isn't strong, it's perfect for this kind of competition."
Rufus, unwilling to give in, rushed back to the rooftop to try the same trick.
But just as he posed, Rhode blasted him into a dusty mess.
After getting blasted twice in a row, Rufus finally behaved.
Low-key to earn points, stay hidden.
Initially confident to perform freely, now somewhat unwilling.
But he is one of the Ten Wizard Saints... losing to him is normal, right...
Half an hour later, the match ended.
"Time's up!"
With the Pumpkin Man's command, all the 'clones' on the street disappeared, followed by all the buildings.
The eight contestants returned to the center of the arena.
"Based on the points each person accumulated, the ranking is as follows!"
1. Fairy Tail B Team
2. Sabertooth
3. Fairy Tail A Team
4. Dragon's Treasure
5. Rays of the Rising Sun
6. Lamia Scale
7. Blue Pegasus
8. Mermaid's Heel
"Thank you all for the wonderful performance," the Pumpkin Man announced, "The points awarded for 1st to 8th place are 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 respectively."
"Since this was the first match, these are the current total points and rankings for each team!"
Jabadi on the commentary stage shouted, "First place goes to Fairy Tail B Team! Then, Fairy Tail A Team, which was 8th in the preliminaries, has leaped to 3rd place!"
"Both teams have entered the top three, is Fairy Tail going to dominate this year's Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts?!"
Yajima smiled, "Congratulations, Fairy Tail."
Makarov and others cheered enthusiastically, especially Romeo and Asuka who shouted the loudest.
"Our guild is only seventh, but still, Simon worked hard, I believe we'll catch up later!" Jenny maintained a good attitude.
In contrast, the people of Sabertooth were much less pleased; even with second place, everyone wore sour expressions, and President Jieman frowned deeply.
He thought he should hurry Minerva to quickly finish her tasks and come over – his daughter was becoming more troublesome, she was already three days overdue.
Rhode mocked Gray, "Not bad, I thought your clamorous nature when you encounter people would surely put you at the bottom."
"Hmph," Gray replied reluctantly, "Thanks to you, I'm quite good at dealing with sneak attacks."
Leon fell into deep thought, losing to Gray made him quite unhappy, but seeing Gray react this way, what on earth did he experience in the guild?
The contestants returned to their teams, and Rhode was warmly welcomed as soon as he came back.
Even Gajeel mustered a, "Good job."
Mira handed the staff back to Rhode, smiling, "Impressive, Jubia's favorability towards you has improved."
Rhode was puzzled, "Huh? Why?"
"Because you hit Gray the least and even gave him a point."
Makes sense, Rhode nodded, "...That's great, conducive to team harmony."
He glanced at the ranking again, "Dragon's Treasure and Rays of the Rising Sun are quite impressive."
Laxus seriously observed these two guilds, saying, "That guy Silas from Dragon's Treasure uses an Invisibility Cloak combined with a Magic Blowgun, judging by his appearance, he seems naturally adept at stealth and ambush.
"Then there's the big guy from Rays of the Rising Sun, he looks similar to Elfman, but surprisingly he's an Intelligent General type. Also, he didn't even use any magic tools throughout the match."
"A clever muscular man?" Rhode recalled the scene he saw and laughed, "Rays of the Rising Sun seems like a rather interesting guild too."
Meanwhile, in the audience seats, most people were discussing the contestants' outstanding performances.
But there were a few discussing a strange topic, "Hey, do you guys know where to buy that Invisibility Cloak? The same kind that Silas from Dragon's Treasure used."
"Why would you want to buy that?"
"Hehehe..."