The results hit like a thunderbolt, shocking everyone. The most unbelievable part? Laxus only scored 3 points—didn't even make it past the prelims! And right after that, Gray's score ended up higher than Mystogan's.
"What? Laxus only got 3 points?! He didn't even pass the prelims?!"
"Pfft—hahaha—ow!"
Zzzap—
The laughter cut off sharp as a bolt of golden lightning crackled over the guy on the ground. Laxus pulled back his right hand, his face dark and stormy, not saying a word.
Freed was on his knees beside him, crying and begging for forgiveness. "Laxus, I'm so sorry! I let you down!"
"Hmph! This wasn't the kind of infighting I wanted anyway. A kid's game like this? I could skip the rest of the tournament and not care."
Mira grinned as she high-fived her teammate Cana. "We owe this one to Freed! If he hadn't trapped Laxus, it wouldn't have been nearly this easy."
Laxus let out a cold snort at the sound of her voice and turned to walk away.
The rest of the matches didn't matter to him anymore. The Thunder God Tribe had all made it to the semifinals, but their boss hadn't? Talk about embarrassing!
Freed was mortified, chasing after him with Bickslow and Evergreen in tow. "Laxus... Laxus, wait up..."
Wakaba sighed wistfully, puffing on his pipe. "Who knew Mira-san could be that scary..."
Turns out, every sweet smile hides a sneaky, scheming heart.
Seeing Gray's score beat his own ticked Natsu off big time. He yelled, flames practically shooting from his ears. "Gray's score is higher than Mystogan's? No way that's possible!"
Erza stood there cool as ever, arms crossed, explaining. "It's based on contributions during the matches, remember? Gray took down Bickslow and Elfman back-to-back, then went up against me. It's not that shocking he'd edge out Mystogan."
"But Mystogan's way stronger, obviously!"
Mystogan shrugged. "Eh, I don't mind."
Gray puffed up, bragging to Natsu. "See that, Natsu? My score's higher than yours!"
"You sayin' what now?!"
Just as Gray hoped, Natsu exploded on cue. "What's there to brag about? You lost too!"
Gray kept poking the bear. "Yeah, but my score's still above yours. That means I'm stronger. You guys just choked first."
Natsu let out a frustrated wail, flames wrapping around him. "Damn it—!"
"I should be the one complaining!" Gajeel shouted, pointing at Marcus, Wakaba, Levy, and the others. "Even they made it to the next round, and I'm out? This scoring system's total BS!"
Kira rolled his eyes. "Luck's part of skill, y'know. If Juvia had been a second faster back there, our teams would've swapped places completely..."
"Damn it, why'd you have to be so slow?!" Gajeel turned his anger on Juvia.
She ignored him, squeezing up next to Gray. "Gray-sama, what even happened with you and Erza...?"
Over on the other side, Levy was consoling Lucy. "Aw, that was so close, Lu-chan. You almost had it."
"Heh heh... It's fine, really. Even if I'd won the prelims, I probably wouldn't have lasted in the later rounds anyway!"
Loke chuckled. "But I heard the top four get prizes this time!"
"Nani?!" Lucy's eyes went wide, tears welling up in regret. "Wahhh... So close!"
Jet and Droy, trailing behind Levy, just exchanged awkward looks. "Even if you'd won the prelims, top four? Yeah, right..."
Lucy huffed. "Hey, you never know! Laxus didn't even make it—maybe I had a shot after all. Speaking of, Levy-chan, you beat him to qualify? That's amazing!"
Levy fidgeted shyly, twisting the hem of her skirt with her fingers. "It was just luck! I'll probably lose tomorrow anyway..."
Cana, face flushed from booze, elbowed Bisca. "You're one lucky gal, hugging Kira's leg like that and snagging 12 points."
No surprise, she'd gone straight to drinking mode the second the match ended.
"Don't underestimate me—I worked hard too! At least I beat Loke!" Bisca shot back, no guilt at all, totally forgetting her weapon was basically a cheat code. "One shot, and boom—fight over!"
Loke grumbled. "You only won 'cause of Kira's gun..."
"Winner's a winner!"
"Bisca's awesome!" Alzack beamed from the sidelines, lost in the joy of his girl's victory. He didn't even register that they'd been opponents—or that he'd lost, with his score barely a fraction of hers.
People's joys and sorrows don't mix, y'know? In the corner, the folks with zero points and zero clout huddled together for warmth.
Bikita: "Why am I the only one with 0...?"
Warren: "Eh, we're just extras anyway."
Macao: "Yeah, yeah. Look at Nob—did squat in Kira's squad and still got 6 points, but he's out like us."
Nob: "Lighten up. It'll pass."
Kira stared at the rankings on the screen, lost in thought. "They listed the top 16 specifically. Bet the next matchups tie into this ranking somehow."
As if on cue, Dispero, from the judges' table, piped up to clear things up. "The rules for the next round are..."
His voice rang out, and the chatter died down as everyone turned to listen.
"First place battles last place, second versus second-to-last, and so on, until we've got our eight semifinalists. Then we do the same for the quarters, semis, and finals. Whoever's left standing is the champ."
As he explained, a pyramid bracket popped up on the screen, laying out tomorrow's eight matches:
Kira VS Levy
Gray VS Cana
Erza VS Mystogan
Freed VS Evergreen
Bisca VS Natsu
Bickslow VS Marcus
Mira VS Wakaba
Elfman VS Loke
The bracket dropped, and Kira's face lit up with a mix of dread and excitement. "So, my path's Levy first, then maybe Gray or Cana, Erza or Mystogan, and Mira or Natsu... This ain't gonna be easy."
If he went too hard, he'd catch hell for it. But against Erza or Mira? No holding back there.
"It's been ages since I sparred with them... Kinda itching for it now."
Gray had gotten stronger, sure, but Cana had her cards as backup—could totally pull off a win. Heck, even Bisca beat Loke; anything's possible at this point.
Kira glanced over at the two, half-expecting fireworks, but nope—Cana was half-sloshed already, and Gray was still bickering with Natsu.
"Ahaha, Gray, your seeding sucks! High score? Big deal—you're toast before the quarters!"
"Huh? You're just one round ahead. You'd lose to Mira-san too—what's the difference?"
"It's not the same! Quarters means prizes!"
Meanwhile, Erza was pumped, battle lust in her eyes. "Didn't expect to face you tomorrow, Mystogan."
Mystogan: "..."
What the—?! Another round with you?!
"Then Kira after that. If I get lucky and win, Mira's next—all heavy hitters!"
Mira: "Natsu first, then Kira? Tricky lineup!"
She sounded worried, but her words dripped with weird confidence, like she'd already seen herself beating Natsu and Kira topping Erza.
Elfman: "Sis, you got this! A real man claims first with his fists!"
He and Loke were evenly matched—if he won, Mira'd still crush him.
But Mira cheered him on anyway. "Let's both do our best, Elfman!"
Marcus: "These guys aren't even considering us..."
Bisca pounded the ground in frustration. "Our strength gap's too huge! This second place is worthless!"
Wakaba took a drag, looking glum. "Whatever. In fights you can't win, just showing up's the point."
Levy sniffled, tears flowing. "My gut was right—even in the semifinals, I'm getting bounced tomorrow. Just hope Kira goes easy..."
At that, her two wolf guardians leaped out.
"Don't cry, Levy-chan—we'll look after you!"
"We'll beg Kira to take it light for you!"
Levy: "You two, hush..."