"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"Finally! It's time!"
"I can't wait any longer! Rip him apart!"
"Finn-kun, please crush this idiot!"
"Show him Fairy Tail isn't just talk, Natsu!"
The moment Natsu leaped over the balcony and crashed onto the arena floor, pointing a burning finger at the Heavenly Blue dugout, the stadium erupted into absolute pandemonium.
"COOL! COOL! COOOOOL!"
Jason, today's guest commentator, was screaming so loud the microphone was practically distorting. The guest commentators changed daily, and while Jason wasn't a glamorous supermodel like Jenny Realight, he was a massive celebrity in his own right. He was the lead reporter for Sorcerer Weekly, the premier magic publication in Fiore. The magazine was insanely popular, largely because it perfectly balanced high-stakes magical journalism with glossy centerfolds of the continent's most attractive mages.
Right now, Jason was vibrating with sheer hype. Everyone in the stadium was practically rabid for this matchup.
Even Yajima, who had quietly slipped away earlier to help secure Jellal's escape, had rushed back to his seat in the booth.
Deep beneath the stadium, in a heavily warded infirmary, the battered fugitive in question was also watching. Despite being wrapped in thick bandages and actively bleeding, Jellal had his good eye glued to a Lacrima monitor, desperate to see how Natsu would fare against the monster who had casually swatted away a meteor.
"Stop moving and go to sleep, you idiot!"
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"
"You mages are so utterly useless!" Porlyusica hissed, aggressively tightening a bandage around Jellal's fractured ribs. She didn't bother hiding her deep disdain for humans—especially reckless mages—yet even she occasionally cast a wary glance toward the monitor. "I don't understand why you all throw your lives away in these pointless brawls."
Her complaints fell on deaf ears. The entire capital city was holding its breath. Captain Lahar and Mest Gryder, who really should have been coordinating a manhunt for Jellal, were glued to their seats. Even Jiemma of Sabertooth had abandoned his rage for a moment, leaning over the balcony to watch closely.
"It's Natsu-san..."
"The Fire Dragon Slayer..."
"Against Finn..."
While Sting and Rogue were laser-focused on Natsu, studying their fellow Dragon Slayer, the vast majority of the stadium's attention was fixed on Finn. He remained seated in the Heavenly Blue dugout, completely relaxed, his posture entirely unbothered by the screaming, fiery mage challenging him from the dirt below.
"Get down here! Let me beat the absolute crap out of you!" Natsu roared, his fists engulfed in flames.
The rest of Fairy Tail was in a state of stunned paralysis. None of them had expected Natsu to literally hijack the tournament.
Yet, surprisingly, the organizers weren't stepping in to stop it.
"Your Majesty... shouldn't we intervene?" a nervous official whispered.
"It's fine. Let them proceed! I want to see this match, too, pumpkin!" Tome E. Fiore, the King of Fiore—currently disguised as the giant, goofy pumpkin mascot—waved the official off. The King stared up at Finn's masked figure. He couldn't quite explain it, but Finn's presence eclipsed everyone else in the stadium. He radiated an overwhelming, untouchable authority, like Raphael's famous painting of Saint Michael descending from heaven to vanquish a demon.
"What's wrong?! Are you scared?! Come down here so I can kick your—"
Natsu's rambling was violently cut short.
SMACK!
"IT HURTS!"
Natsu shrieked, clutching his head as he face-planted into the dirt. Erza stood over him, her armor gleaming and her eyes burning with fury.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Erza scolded, her voice echoing across the arena. "If you want to challenge someone, you do it fairly! He just finished an incredibly taxing battle! Do you want to win so badly that you'd resort to challenging an exhausted opponent just to stroke your own ego?!"
"Eh?!" Natsu gasped from the dirt, clutching his bruised skull. "Of course not!"
"Then fight fairly! Don't use the crowd to pressure him into fighting when he's at a disadvantage!"
Erza wondered why half the men in her guild shared a single brain cell.
If Finn could read her mind, he would have rolled his eyes, considering Erza was often responsible for just as much reckless property damage as the rest of them. Fortunately for Titania, she was incredibly beautiful, which made her much easier to forgive.
Erza knew better than anyone that Finn's victory over Jellal had not been cheap. Neutralizing a meteor required a terrifying expenditure of magic power. If the crowd forced Finn to fight again right now, Erza was fully prepared to step between them and shut the whole thing down.
"It's fine."
Erza blinked, turning toward the dugout. Finn stood up, adjusting his coat. He calmly stepped over the railing, walking down the steps toward the arena floor.
"Are you sure about this?" Erza asked, her brow furrowing in genuine concern as Finn approached.
"It's perfectly fine. He challenged me, so naturally, I accept," Finn replied, his voice smooth and entirely unbothered. He looked down at Natsu, a calm smile forming beneath his mask. "Besides, I want to see the look on his face when he still loses, even when I'm at my absolute worst. It will be incredibly entertaining."
"...."
The crowd fell silent, a collective shiver running down their spines at the sheer, sadistic arrogance of his words.
"I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE!" Natsu roared, pushing himself off the ground, his flames burning hotter.
"You had better win, Natsu," Erza warned, stepping back to give them space. "Because if you lose this now... you are going to wish you were dead."
Shiver!
Natsu wasn't entirely sure why, but Erza's deadly serious tone sent a spike of genuine terror through his heart.
Still, Erza was worried. Was Finn really going to be okay? Natsu wasn't just some loudmouth; he was a Dragon Slayer, widely considered one of the heaviest hitters in Fairy Tail.
"My magic reserves might not be at their peak right now, but..."
Finn casually extended his right arm. A gentle, humming light materialized in his palm. The light rapidly condensed, lengthening and solidifying into a physical weapon. It was an elegant, elongated knight's saber composed entirely of pure, radiant energy.
As Finn lowered the glowing blade to his side, the sheer weight of his presence descended over the arena, forcing the crowd to hold their breath in absolute awe.
"Consider this a handicap," Finn said lightly, pointing the tip of the saber at Natsu. "This way, you won't lose quite so terribly."
"You arrogant bastard..." Natsu growled, his entire body glowing with blistering heat and rage.
Finn remained perfectly relaxed. Outwardly, he was the picture of an elegant, untouchable grandmaster. Inwardly, however, he was genuinely thrilled to have an excuse to beat the absolute pulp out of the Fire Dragon Slayer. Finn had always harbored an annoyance and hatred for Natsu's complete lack of emotional control and his tendency to blindly destroy the homes and businesses of hard-working citizens.
It was time to teach the protagonist of Fairy Tail a lesson in humility.