Petrel

Chapter 47

40 minutes, that's how much time it took our guild to build a pretty decent arena with stands, and thanks to me and Elsa, this arena even has a barrier to protect the spectators. After a little consultation, it was decided that Elsa and I would not participate, and Laxus too, he would be out cold to make sure he didn't do anything weird.

- God knows, I didn't want to expel Laxus from the guild until the very end, - the master said regretfully, who was inspecting the resulting arena together with me and Elsa.

- Well, don't banish him, he didn't manage to harm anyone anyway, - I answered simply.

- No. He dared to use the fairy law against his own guild, even though his spell did no harm, but I can no longer let him get away with it. - Makarov said decisively.

- Well, I'm not saying to let him get away with it. Just as punishment, forbid him from returning to the guild for a year, during which he will have to constantly carry out S-rank missions. If he refuses, then he will be expelled. Of course, this is not a severe punishment, but it seems to me that he just needs to think about what happened and come to an understanding.

"Okay, that's what I'll do," the old man agreed with a smile.

- It's time to start the tournament, remove Wendy's barrier. - Elsa said.

- Yes, you're right. - Agreeing with my friend, I removed the time barrier and the area was again filled with the music that I left playing throughout the city.

- Guys, everyone who will participate in the tournament, please go to the arena, and everyone else can sit in the stands. - I said, simultaneously conveying my words to each fairy tail mage with the help of wind magic.

Hearing me, more than a hundred mages immediately began to move. It's embarrassing to admit, but I don't even know half of these mages, after all, there really are a lot of people in Fairy Tail, although according to the canon, after the situation on Tenrou Island, most of the extras left the guild, so I guess I just got used to not paying attention to those who not only do not strive for development, but even in the original did not remain loyal to the guild in difficult times.

Surprisingly, most of the guild gathered in the arena, despite the fact that, by my standards, most of these mages can hardly be called average, they were full of enthusiasm, although they cannot compare with Natsu's enthusiasm. You can see him in the crowd, already blazing with Gray. Honestly, I am very proud that under my training Gray is almost as strong as Natsu, well, until Dragneel gets so excited that even in canon, it would seem, losing, he suddenly gets a boost and wins.

- Great, here come the spectators, - I said contentedly, seeing how the residents of Magnolia began to approach our new arena.

- Dear spectators, please take your empty seats in the stands, in 2 minutes we will begin the first tournament for the title of the strongest Fairy Tail mage! - I immediately hurried to address those who arrived.

- This title will be empty without your and Elsa's participation, - said Charlie, who came up to us.

- Charlie? I thought you were going to participate. - Elsa was surprised.

- I'm not interested in that. Especially since, as I already said, the title would be empty.

- Well, maybe there is no one stronger than me and Elsa in the guild, but after seeing Natsu and Gray in action, I am sure that the audience will not doubt the truth of the title, and what's more, even among the guild, the majority will not doubt it.

- Damn, I really need to delegate the role of commentator to someone, because I organized the tournament in a hurry, and I don't have enough public speaking skills.

- No way, you started this mess, now you have to clean it up, - the Master immediately said.

- But...

- Don't worry, the first thing that will attract the audience is the colorful fights, - Elsa hastened to reassure me.

"Okay," I agreed, before grumbling under my breath, "I'll never organize anything like that again."

After 2 minutes, most of the stands were already filled and I turned off the music and switched the magic screens that were all over the city to a live broadcast.

- Dear residents of Magnolia and dear guests from other cities, it's time to begin the first tournament for the title of the strongest Fairy Tail mage! And I, Wendy Marvel, will be your host!

- Let me tell you how this tournament will be held. - Having changed the image of the screens from me to the arena, I continued to speak. - As you can see, all the contenders for the title of the strongest in our guild have gathered in the arena and the first stage will be an elimination battle. All these wizards will meet in a grand battle and only eight of them will advance to the next stage!

- And now on my signal. Into battle! - creating a multi-colored magical firework in the sky, I announced the beginning.

As soon as the announcement of the start was made, the arena immediately split into two parts, forcing the weakest to drop out immediately. On one side, there was the unbearable heat emanating from the inflamed Natsu, and on the other, the unbearable cold that emanated from Gray and Ur, who, unlike her daughter, decided to take part.

- And in the very first moments, more than 50 participants dropped out! You can already see the main contenders for the next stage.

- First of all, it is worth mentioning those who created such an impressive spectacle. The fire dragon slayer Natsu Dragneel is responsible for the hell that seemed to have burst from the underworld itself, and in contrast to him, the icy hell from the ice dragon slayer Gray Frostbitten and his teacher, the ice-creation mage Ul.

- Now it is worth paying attention to those who successfully resist the unfolding hell and simultaneously reduce the number of less successful competitors. And the first of them is everyone's favorite Mirajane Strauss, in her demoness guise she clearly shows why such a sweet girl should definitely not be angered, and her equally sweet sister Lisanna Strauss, partially transformed into a tigress, does not lag behind her, like an enraged tiger she moves across the battlefield with precise and fast blows getting rid of competitors.

- But as I think everyone has already noticed, the first stage is already drawing to a close. Of the more than a hundred contenders, only 11 participants remain. You already know the five of them that I named earlier, and judging by their inaction together with our new, but extremely promising spirit mage Lucy Heartfilia, they reached an understanding watching the battle in which our two recruits, water mage Juvia Lockser and steel dragon slayer Gadgil Redfox, faced 2 on 3 against the thunder team.

- This is a battle between two well-coordinated teams. Some people may not know, but before joining Fairy Tail, Juvia and Gajeel were S-rank mages in the recently disbanded Phantom Lord Guild, and being close friends, they had many missions together.

- We are not close! - She immediately flared up in the Rain arena and instantly encased her opponents in ice, which she learned to do during our training, and then clutched her cheeks with a blush on her face under the stunned gaze of her partner and said. - My heart belongs only to dear Gray.