Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x790.
By the time the water war between Alfonzo and Irene ended, Ryuzetsu Land was nearing its closing time. On top of that, as the children wanted to play with their father, they ended up exhausted by the time Alfonzo and his ladies left the park. However, they were not the only ones, as it was previously stated, no one at the park was left out of the chaos that Alfonzo and Irene caused. So, most of the people who visited Ryuzetsu Land ended up calling it a night early.
After that, the final day of the Grand Magic Games came as planned. And today would be each year's most exciting event, the Grand Magic Game, a free-for-all that could greatly affect the overall scores of every team.
{"Is everyone ready for the last event of the Grand Magic Games?"} Loli asked loudly over the broadcast system. {"I know I am! What about you, Yajima?"}
{"I'm just as excited as you are, Loli."} Yajima replied with a grin audible in his tone. {"Especially since I'm curious to see if Fairy Tail's dominance will continue as it has throughout the Games."}
{"Yes, they have been more or less unstoppable this year, haven't they?"} Loli asked. {"It seems they really want their title as Fiore's strongest back, doesn't it?"}
{"It certainly does."} Yajima replied. {"Oh, look. The teams are making their way out into the arena as we speak."}
And just as Yajima said, the eight teams were stepping out into the Domus Flau's arena. Because just like it has been every year, every member of every team would be participating in the last event of the Grand Magic Games.
{"Well then, I guess I should pass it to Mato so we can go over the rules of the event."} Loli said enthusiastically. {"So, Mato, take it away."}
{"Of course, Loli."} Mato said as his image appeared on all the Lacrima-Vision screens in the Domus Flau. {"Well then, I'm sure there are many people in attendance that already know what I'm going to say. But for those who don't, and for those who have forgotten, I'll explain the rules of the final event, the Grand Magic Game."}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
{"Before the game begins, each team will have to designate a leader."} Mato said, continuing his explanation. {"A member of our staff will come by to jot down their selection. However, that information will stay secret from the other teams. Now, I know what you're thinking, what's the point of having a secret leader, right?"}
Reaching that point, Mato paused briefly for dramatic effect.
{"Well, that ties into the rest of the rules for the event."} Mato continued. {"The Grand Magic Game is a free-for-all battle in which the teams receive points by defeating members of the other teams in battle. And each wizard from each team is worth 1 point. Except for the designated leader, who is worth 5 points. Now, do you see why we keep the team leaders secret?"}
Once again, Mato paused his speech. And just like last time, the pause did not last all that long.
{"Oh, one more thing!"} Mato shouted as if he just remembered what he was about to say. {"The points each team receives when they defeat a rival wizard won't be just for this event. No, no, no! Instead, these points will be added directly to the overall scoreboard. So, the placements could change very quickly."}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Once again, the crowd cheered loudly. At the same time, Mato's image was replaced by the Grand Magic Games' overall scoreboard.
{Overall Scoreboard
Rank Team Score
Fairy Tail 78 Pts. Mermaid Heel 60 Pts. Sabertooth 41 Pts. Blue Pegasus 37 Pts. Final Fantasy 30 Pts. Quatro Cerberus 28 Pts. Lamia Scale 23 Pts. Twilight Ogre 1 Pts.}
{"Thanks for another wonderful explanation, Mato!"} Loli said energetically. {"But let's take a look at the scores. So, what do you think about them, Yajima?"}
{"Well, during the Grand Magic Game, the highest score a team could get is 63 Points, as each team member is worth 1 Point and each leader is worth 5 Points. So, with seven teams to harvest points from, the leaders are worth a total of 35 Points while the members are worth a total of 28. And that means that if any one team can claim all 63 Points, the first through seventh place teams are still mathematically in the running for the championship."}
{"That's true, but not likely, though."} Loli added.
{"That's right."} Yajima replied. {"At the most, I can only see three teams in the running for the title. Fairy Tail, Mermaid Heel, and Sabertooth. Though, it's quite a long shot for Sabertooth. Even so, I doubt that none of the other teams will make it easy for anyone during the event."}
{"I can definitely agree with you on that."} Loli said enthusiastically. {"Ah! The staff looks to be taking the teams leader designations. That means the event will be starting momentarily."}
And just as Loli said, each team was visited by a member of the staff. On top of that, a [Silence] spell was cast on each team's surroundings so that the other teams would not be able to hear their conversation with the staff member.
"So, Team Fairy Tail, who will you be designating as the leader?" The cute, petite Grand Magic Games staff member asked while batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at Alfonzo, despite the fact that three of his wives were standing right there.
Despite the staff member's blatant attempt at flirting, Alfonzo paid her no mind. Instead, he looked at Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish with a smile.
"So, who should be our leader?" Alfonzo asked casually.
However, instead of replying, the four ladies only stared at Alfonzo with varying expressions.
"I guess you're all picking me, huh?" Alfonzo asked nonchalantly.
"Yup!"
"That's right!"
"You can do it, Fonzie!"
"It's too much work."
Hearing Marin's, Sun's, Elicia's, and Brandish's replies, in that order, Alfonzo could only shake his head. He then turned back to the staff member.
"Well, you heard them. I'll be the leader." Alfonzo said with a smile.
Though she did manage to take down Alfonzo's response, the female staff member was charmed by his smile for a moment. Yet, when she came back to her senses, she looked around and noticed that most of the other wizards participating in the Games were looking their way.
"Um... I think they've all figured out that you'll be the leader, Mr. Marcus." The staff member said cautiously.
"That's fine." Alfonzo said, waving off the staff member's concerns. "It might finally be a challenge if enough of them gang up on me."
"Someone's confidence is through the roof today." Marin said while nudging Alfonzo with her elbow. "Was yesterday morning really that good?"
"Oh, you have no idea." Alfonzo replied with a roguish grin. "Erza actually took the initiative."
Hearing that, not only Marin, but Elicia and Sun widened their eyes. Meanwhile, Brandish blushed, knowing exactly what they were talking about, as Erza never kept her sex life a secret.
However, the staff member was completely confused. Yet, no one intended to tell her what was going on. In fact, after giving their leader designation, Team Fairy Tail all but ignored her presence, which made the staff member a bit depressed. But she had a job to do. So, she took down the [Silence Magic] and returned to report Fairy Tail's leader designation to the Grand Magic Games committee.
It took a few minutes for the rest of the teams to decide on their leaders for the next event. When they did, and all the GMG staff members returned to report, Matos image appeared on all the Domus Flau's screens once again.
{"Alright, it looks like everything has been settled!"} Mato shouted enthusiastically. {"Well then, is everyone ready for the last event of this year's Grand Magic Games?"}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
{"Good!"} Mato shouted once again in return. {"Then, let's go~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"}
*Snap!*
*Flash!*
With that, Mato made a show of snapping his fingers. Then, before the sound of his snap could finish echoing through the arena, the entirety of the Domus Flau was lit up with a bright flash, causing everyone present to close their eyes on reflex. And by the time everyone was able to open their eyes, the entire arena area of the stadium had changed.
Instead of an empty, dirt floor, the area was replaced by a townscape that took up the whole arena area at the bottom of the Domus Flau. Not to mention, all eight teams were teleported to different starting areas in the town. Yet, they were not so far away that they would not be able to reach the nearest team within a few minutes if they traveled in the right direction.
{"Alright, ladies and gentlemen!"} Loli shouted excitedly. {"The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. And this year, it looks like the planning committee has chosen Shirotsume Town as the background for this year's Grand Magic Game event. There's even a recreation of former Duke Everlue's mansion. And from what I can see, that's where Fairy Tail will be starting this event... On its roof of all places."}
{"Yes, this is quite the recreation."} Yajima added. {"And I'm sure that every wizard present is familiar with Shirotsume, as there seem to always be monsters and dark guilds doing something around that area."]
While Loli and Yajima continued talking about Shirotsume and what landmarks were present in the town, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish were looking out over the recreation of a town they were all familiar with from their time spent as wizards.
"I don't like this town." Marin said in a slightly shuddering tone. "I mean, I almost died last time I came here."
"Yeah, but the homunculus are gone now." Elicia said while patting the shorter woman on the shoulder. "So, there's nothing to worry about anymore, right?"
"Yeah, I know that." Marin replied. "I even killed some of them myself. But still, that was the closest I've ever been to dying, you know?"
"Were the homunculus really that scary?" Sun asked while tilting her head in curiosity. "I mean, you all didn't take me along when you fought them. I didn't have a [Soul Armament back then, ya see?"
"Yeah." Marin replied with an emphatic nod. "Back then, before I figured out how to beat them, nothing I did could hurt them at all. I even blew that Lust apart into pieces. But her body just reformed around her Philosopher's Stone like nothing happened."
"I fought her, too." Elicia added. "it wasn't too long before Marin ran into her. And she did the same thing back then. Luckily, I was able to send her away before she could do anything too drastic. But the one that was the biggest threat when I ran into her was called Gluttony. He ate almost an entire house trying to get rid of me back then."
"Seriously?" Brandish asked in a flat, disbelieving tone.
"I know how unbelievable it may sound, Brandish." Alfonzo said in a serious toen. "But everything they just said was true. If it weren't for Marin figuring out how to beat them, things could be a lot different in Fiore right now. Mainly, just about all the humans living here would have been sacrificed to make a new Philosopher's Stone."
Hearing that, Brandish's eyes widened slightly. However, they went back to normal soon enough.
"As interesting as that story sounds, we should focus on the event." Brandish said. "Perhaps we can sit down and talk about it in greater detail after everything is over."
To Alfonzo's surprise, Brandish was blushing slightly when she mentioned that. On top of that, she looked away while stealing glances at him periodically. Meanwhile, Elicia, Marin, and Sun smiled widely when they saw Brandish's reaction.
'I wonder what they've been putting in her head.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he let his gaze shift between his wives and the embarrassed Brandish. "Well, not like I'm complaining. Brandish is bad as hell. And I'm not gonna turn her down if that's what she wants. Plus, it might be... No, it will be hot to see that constant bored expression she's always wearing turn into something a bit more... passionate.'
*Buzz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Before Alfonzo's thoughts could continue, Brandish could sink any deeper into her embarrassment, or the other three could start teasing Brandish, a loud buzzer sounded over the recreation of Shirotsume, signifying that the Grand Magic Game had begun.
At the same time, the sky above the recreation of the town darkened before it was lit up by a rising pillar of light from the center of the town. Then, just as the pillar split into seven thinner beams of light and headed in specific directions, Alfonzo raised his right hand while flaring his magic power.
"[Metal Magic: Vibranium Shielding.]." Alfonzo chanted as a large, square sheet of Vibranium appeared in the air above Team Fairy Tail. Then, in the next instant, a number of sigils were engraved into the Vibranium before they were all filled with arcs of violet electricity. "[Barrier Magic: Reflection Barrier]."
In the next instant, one of the beams slammed into Alfonzo's [Reflection Barrier], the same barrier that was set up around his first mansion, the one that gave Gildarts and Gozaburo so much trouble years ago, before it was sent back to its point of origin with even greater force.
"Well, it looks like it's time to get started." Alfonzo said as he lowered his hand. "So, why don't we all split up and just fight whoever we come across. We'll just have some fun with this, okay"
"Okay." x 4
And with that, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish all jumped from the top of the recreation of the Everlue Mansion, searching for their own fights on the final day of the x790 Grand Magic Games. Meanwhile, Alfonzo only watched the ladies go with a smile before he chose a direction different from the rest of them and started moving as well. However, before he could go anywhere, his first opponent appeared in front of him with a smile on her face.