King: Do Me a Favor

When the enormous three-dimensional labyrinth composed of countless light steps floated like a miracle above the night sky of Crocus City, all the participating mages were awestruck by this magnificent sight.

"It's really... huge..." Lucy leaned against the hotel window, looking at the towering labyrinth, and couldn't help but swallow hard.

"This... this is way too high! What if I accidentally fall and die?!"

"Who cares!" Natsu was already Boil with excitement.

"Where are Jiang Bai and the others? Let's hurry up and set off! Didn't that Pumpkin say that only the first eight teams to arrive can advance?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a spatial ripple spread out from the side, and Jiang Bai walked out from inside, accompanied by Erza and Gray.

However, at this moment, Jiang Bai's face was shrouded in a visibly oppressive atmosphere.

He was very annoyed at being woken up from his sweet dream.

"I'd better not find out who scheduled the qualifiers for midnight."

Jiang Bai rubbed his eyes, yawned, and spoke with a strong sense of resentment.

"Otherwise, I'll definitely give him a pair of panda eyes that he'll never get rid of for the rest of his life."

As he spoke, he prepared to activate Space Magic to teleport everyone directly to the destination.

Are you kidding? Running through such a huge maze would be exhausting!

Only a fool wouldn't take the shortcut.

However, just as Jiang Bai was about to unleash his magic, the giant Pumpkin head image in the sky seemed to suddenly remember something and slapped its own Pumpkin head.

"Oh right! I almost forgot to mention Pumpkin!"

"To ensure fairness in this preliminary round, the use of any form of Space Magic, as well as other foul methods that could directly lead to the finish line, is strictly prohibited!"

As he said this, the giant Pumpkin head glanced, intentionally or unintentionally, toward the inn where Fairy Tail was located.

More accurately, he was looking at Jiang Bai, who was about to "violate the rules".

However, his eyes were filled with a pleading look, as if to say, "Please, give this old man some face."

Jiang Bai understood instantly.

While others might not know, he knew perfectly well that the guy wearing the comical Pumpkin headgear was none other than the King of the Kingdom of Fiore — Toma E. Fiore.

The king clearly knew that Jiang Bai already knew his true identity.

Their eyes met, and it was as if invisible electromagnetic waves were exchanging signals in the air.

Finally, Jiang Bai pursed his lips, and slowly raised a finger towards the Pumpkin head in the sky.

"Once!"

There were no unnecessary words, but the meaning was crystal clear.

This is the last time; there will be no next time.

The Pumpkin Man in the sky, as if granted a pardon, frantically tapped his enormous Pumpkin head.

Since the king had given him so much face, Jiang Bai was too lazy to use Space Magic to bully him anymore.

However, the inability to use Space Magic does not mean that other methods of cheating are prohibited.

Jiang Bai closed his eyes, and his immense mental power instantly spread out, like the highest precision radar, locking onto the end of the giant Sky Labyrinth —the Thomas Brau Arena—within 0.01 seconds.

"Found it."

Jiang Bai opened his eyes, a wicked smile playing on his lips.

He slowly raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, pointing them in the direction he had just locked onto.

An indescribable, chilling, and terrifying magical power began to gather at his fingertips.

"Cursed Technique Reversal - He!"

The next second, a terrifying beam of crimson light, seemingly capable of piercing the heavens and earth, burst forth from his fingertips!

Boom--!

That red light, with an unparalleled force, directly blasted out a straight and unobstructed road across the enormous Sky Labyrinth!

All walls and obstacles blocking this straight path were completely annihilated the moment they came into contact with the red light, leaving not even a speck of dust behind!

This earth-shattering scene left all the guild teams, who had just stepped onto the maze steps and were ready to unleash their full potential, completely dumbfounded.

Everyone froze, staring in disbelief at the "shortcut" that ran through the entire maze.

Some people who had previously scoffed at Fairy Tail, considering them to be perpetually at the bottom, were now utterly astonished.

"Hey... you're kidding, right? What kind of magic is that?"

"Is this penetrating power... for real?"

As for Lamia Scale, Jura's face lit up with a knowing smile the moment she saw the red light.

"Lord Jiang Bai's strength is indeed still so unfathomable."

In short, Jiang Bai's simple move had already set off alarm bells in the hearts of everyone who had previously looked down on Fairy Tail, raising the guild's danger level to the highest level.

The starting point of Sabertooth's inn.

Rogue stared at the lingering red trail, then turned to Sting beside him and asked gravely, "Sting, could you have done that?"

The arrogance and disdain that had preceded Sting were gone from his face; in their place was an unprecedented seriousness.

He stared intently at the red light, remaining silent for a long while before finally squeezing out a few words through clenched teeth.

"If... we use 'Dragon Force'... it should be possible!"

Jiang Bai didn't care what other people thought.

After creating a "private passage," he used invisible Psychokinesis to envelop Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy, then carried them along as a streak of light, flying towards the destination along the straight path he had created.

Members of other guilds would like to fly there directly like them, but they are powerless to do so.

After all, not everyone has the ability to fly.

They could only watch helplessly, filled with envy and jealousy, as Fairy Tail easily secured first place in the preliminaries in a crushing and completely unreasonable manner.

When Jiang Bai landed steadily on the platform of the finish line arena with the four still somewhat dizzy people, the Pumpkin- headed figure was waiting there, as if he had known all along that they would be the first to arrive.

Jiang Bai walked up to him and looked him over with great interest.

"You really have a lot of leisure time."

Upon hearing this, the Pumpkin Man's enormous Pumpkin head began to shake violently, his hands waving frantically, and his voice even began to stutter.

"Pumpkin... I... I don't know what you're talking about Pumpkin!"

Facing Jiang Bai's gaze, King Toma, sporting a Pumpkin head, was so sweaty that his hood was almost soaked through.

Jiang Bai, however, was too lazy to tease him any further, waved his hand dismissively, and looked completely indifferent.

"Never mind, just have fun."

He yawned widely, and sleepiness washed over him again.

"Also, where is our lounge? I'm going to sleep."

"Is there going to be some weird overtime in the middle of this match again?"

As Jiang Bai uttered his last sentence, a fleeting, ominous red light flashed in his half-closed eyes, making the surrounding temperature seem to drop several degrees.

The Pumpkin head trembled as it was swept by that gaze, and Pumpkin frantically waved its hands.

"Absolutely not, Pumpkin! The qualifiers are all over, Pumpkin!"

"Oh, right," Jiang Bai added, as if remembering something.

"In the official matches afterward, there shouldn't be any rules restricting my use of specific magic anymore, right?"

"Of course not! Absolutely not!" The Pumpkin Man shook his head like a rattle.

Just kidding, if it happened again, who knows what that monster would do?

"That's fine then." Jiang Bai nodded in satisfaction.

He turned around, preparing to leave, and before leaving, he threw out a casual threat.

"Otherwise, you should prepare a huge sum of money to renovate your capital."

"South... Pumpkin!"

King Toma felt his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

"Let's go, old man."

Jiang Bai waved to Natsu and the others behind him, and then, led by a tournament official, strolled leisurely towards their luxurious lounge, having secured first place in the qualifiers.

King Toma only breathed a sigh of relief after Jiang Bai and his group's figures had completely disappeared around the corner of the passage.

"Ew... that scared me to death..."

He was panting heavily, patting his chest with lingering fear.

"I thought the Grand Magic Games would end before it even started..."

While Jiang Bai and the others were already lying on the soft bed, catching up on sleep...

"Boom!"

With a loud burst of magical energy, five figures rushed across the finish line and landed heavily on the arena platform.

It is Sabertooth.

They came in second place.

"Hateful!"

Sting slammed his fist into the ground, his face filled with resentment and anger.

"They actually beat us to it using that method!"

He still harbors resentment towards Jiang Bai for that red light that pierced through the entire maze.

"Calm down, Sting." Rogue remained as cold as ever, but his clenched fists betrayed his inner turmoil.

That person... is indeed very strong.

"So what?! I'm even stronger with the Dragon Force!" Sting stood up, looking at the empty arena, his eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.

"The competition has only just begun! I'm determined to get my revenge in the official match!"

Just as Twin Dragons was still unhappy about only getting second place, another figure descended from the sky, accompanied by dazzling lightning.

It's Fairy Tail Team B.

They came in third place.

"Oh dear, it seems Xiao Bai and the others were a step ahead after all." Mirajane looked at the empty finish line and said with a smile, without the slightest surprise on her face.

"Well, that's to be expected of that guy." Laxus scoffed.

"Lord Gray... I wonder if he's had a good rest..." Juvia's thoughts had completely drifted to the other team.

Team B, who secured third place, was also led to the rest area.

The commotion of the qualifiers gradually subsided as Midnight passed.

Everyone knows that the real battle will officially begin the moment the sun rises tomorrow.