The Oshibana Arena was bustling with excitement.
Over the past three days, countless spectators had gathered from all across Fiore just to witness this spectacular showdown.
"Wow—!! It's Fairy Tail!!"
"Fairy Tail is here!!"
Fairy Tail's entire group had arrived at the arena entrance, led by Makarov.
"That woman with the white hair is Mirajane! She looks even more beautiful in person than in pictures!"
"And that armored one is the 'Fairy Queen' Erza, right?! She's so cool and gorgeous!"
"Where's the 'Salamander'? Who's the famous Salamander?"
"Waaah! It's Loke!!"
A crowd of girls screamed with excitement when they saw Loke. Compared to Erza and Natsu, who rarely showed up in public, Loke was a regular lead in all kinds of movies—making him much more popular.
As for Kaien, despite his rising fame, hardly anyone knew his face. Very few people even realized he was part of Fairy Tail.
Suddenly, another wave of commotion rippled through the crowd.
"It's them! Phantom Lord! Phantom Lord is here!!"
Someone shouted from the crowd.
"Phantom Lord…"
The expressions of the Fairy Tail members instantly darkened at the name.
Not long after, Jose Porla, master of Phantom Lord, led his guild members over.
As soon as the two guilds laid eyes on each other, the tension skyrocketed. The guilds were already bitter enemies, and with Fairy Tail's guildhall recently destroyed by Phantom's underhanded sneak attack, everyone from Fairy Tail burned with the urge to tear them apart on the spot.
"Jose…"
Makarov narrowed his eyes. Among everyone, he held the deepest feelings toward the guild—it was the place that had protected and nurtured generations of children. Now it lay in ruins, and he was desperate to unleash a beating on the ones responsible.
"My, my… It's been a long time, Brother Makarov. I think the last time we met was six years ago at the annual conference. Ah, I might've had a bit too much to drink then—"
"Cut the crap, Jose. What's the meaning of this?"
Makarov snapped.
Jose feigned innocence. "Meaning? Oh! You must be talking about the guild incident, right? My apologies! It was one of our members. He was pursuing a criminal, and that criminal just happened to flee into your guildhall. One thing led to another and, well…"
"Gajeel! Come apologize!"
The crowd from Phantom Lord parted as Gajeel, dressed in black with long black hair, walked forward wearing an exaggeratedly innocent face.
"Terribly sorry! Really! I didn't know that rundown shack was actually the Fairy Tail guild. If I'd known, I would've demolished it completely. Heh heh."
"You bastard—!!"
Everyone from Fairy Tail exploded in fury, ready to pummel Gajeel on the spot.
Erza and Kaien quickly held them back.
Erza shouted, "Don't fall for his provocation! Once we're in the arena, we'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget. That's how we show people what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail!"
"What happens when you mess with Fairy Tail? I'm soooo scared~~!!"
"Hahahahahaha!!"
The Phantom Lord members all burst into unrestrained laughter, while the Fairy Tail members seethed with dark expressions.
Jose chuckled behind his hand. "Hehe, my apologies, Brother Makarov. The kids in my guild have bad tempers—I'll be sure to discipline them properly later. Well then, we'll see you in the arena."
With that, Jose led his guild members into the arena. As Phantom Lord passed by Fairy Tail, each of them made mocking faces, provoking them further and fanning the flames of rage.
"Damn it! I'm gonna kill those bastards!!"
Natsu shouted, nearly charging in.
Elfman and Gray quickly held him back. Now wasn't the time—they couldn't afford to start a guild war right now.
Makarov growled, his voice low and cold. "When the time comes, beat those Phantom bastards within an inch of their lives. Make them regret ever being born!"
"Yes, sir!!"
It was the first time Fairy Tail's members had heard the old man speak like that. Clearly, Makarov was truly enraged.
Fairy Tail followed and entered the arena.
"There's so many people!"
Lucy looked up at the packed audience stands in amazement. It was the first time she'd ever seen such a massive crowd gathered together.
"Aye!"
No one expected Kaien's proposal to draw in such an overwhelming audience—there must've been close to a hundred thousand people.
"Eh? Look over there—what's that?!"
They all looked toward the opposite stands, where countless people were waving flags bearing the Phantom Lord insignia.
Lucy asked in confusion, "Are those Phantom Lord's cheerleaders?"
Mirajane shook her head. "No, those are Phantom Lord members."
"What?!!"
"Members?! There are over a thousand of them! Phantom Lord has that many people?!"
Lucy was stunned. Even Fairy Tail, considered a large magic guild, only had a little over a hundred members.
Erza explained, "Phantom Lord is an extremely aggressive guild. Normally, each town only has one magic guild, but Phantom Lord establishes branches in other guild towns. They use dirty tactics and economic warfare to destroy the local guilds and monopolize the city's resources. Six years ago, they even tried to open a branch in Magnolia, but our guildmaster put a stop to it during the annual conference. That's when the rivalry between our two guilds began."
Lucy's eyes widened. "That's awful!!"
"That's their way of doing things. That's why we hate them."
Makarov scoffed, "Tch. Always up to sneaky tricks."
Honestly, he regretted not assigning anyone to act as a cheering squad for Fairy Tail.
[Welcome to Oshibana Arena, everyone! I'm your commentator, Chapati!]
[Up next is the clash of the century—Fairy Tail versus Phantom Lord!]
[These two guilds are evenly matched. Both are led by members of the Ten Wizard Saints, and both have several S-Class Mages under their banner! People have always debated who the strongest magic guild in Fiore is—but today, we'll finally get our answer!]
[Today's showdown will decide once and for all—who is Fiore's strongest guild!!]
"OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!"