[Naval Battle]!

The fourth day of the Grand Magic Games has officially begun.

The arena was filled with spectators.

In the commentary booth, Chapati slapped the table and brought the megaphone to his mouth.

"Dear audience members, the fourth day of the competition is about to begin!"

"Before the various competitions officially begin, the organizing committee has an important and urgent notice that needs to be announced to the entire audience!"

The clamor in the stands gradually subsided, and everyone turned to look at the large screen floating above the commentary booth.

Chapati cleared his throat and unfolded the official documents in his hand.

"During yesterday's battle tournament, the Raven Tail guild was disqualified and forced to withdraw from the competition due to serious violations, resulting in an odd number of participating guilds."

"To ensure that no subsequent matches result in a bye, and to maintain the tightness and balance of the competition schedule, the organizers have, after careful consideration, decided—"

Chapati waved his right arm, pointing towards the stadium entrance.

"Fairy Tail Team A and Fairy Tail Team B have officially merged into one team starting today!"

"After the two teams merge, Fairy Tail's total accumulated points will be calculated based on Team B, which originally had the lower score!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the scoreboard on the main broadcast screen changed immediately.

Fairy Tail Team A's peak score of 42 points was immediately erased, replaced by a single score of 35 points representing the entire team.

(Because the Raven Tail violated the rules and was suspended from the race, all the results of that afternoon's races were invalidated.)

A buzz of discussion immediately arose throughout the stands.

"That wiped out several points!"

"However, 35 points is still enough to keep him firmly at the top of the leaderboard. After all, Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus haven't even touched 30 points yet."

"But this at least gives the teams behind us hope of a comeback. The score difference has been reduced by nearly ten points. If there are any upsets in the later events, the first place could very well be taken by anyone!"

Inside the exclusive grandstand area for the Blue Pegasus.

He struck his signature pose overnight, raised two fingers and ran them across his chin, then started taking small, quick steps in place.

"Man--! I smell it!"

One night, I tilted my head back and my nostrils twitched violently twice.

"That's the scent unique to victory and glory, the rich aroma of a champion!"

Ivan, standing at the back, tapped his palm with his folding fan.

"Teacher Yiye, are you sure you want to be this optimistic?"

Lian, with one hand on her hip, helplessly delivered the final blow.

Even if Fairy Tail cuts its team spots in half, Jiang Bai will definitely stay on the field.

Xiang also stood beside him, spreading his hands.

"Faced with a power level that can instantly kill one of the Ten Wizard Saints, narrowing the score difference by a few points doesn't fundamentally change the outcome."

The light, hurried steps of the night came to an abrupt halt. He stood frozen beside the railing, unable to utter a single word.

In the commentary booth, Chapati picked up the microphone again.

"Alright! The team merger announcement is complete. The first competition of the fourth day will officially begin!"

The invited consultant Yajima, sitting to the side, picked up his hot tea, took a sip, and gave a summary to the megaphone.

"Today's competition can be simply described as aquatic sumo."

Referee Toma, dressed in Pumpkin costume, jogged onto the field, raising his command flag high.

"Now, each participating guild, please send your representative player into the arena, Pumpkin!"

In the preparation area around the stands, players from various guilds began to set off.

In front of the stands at Lamia Scale.

"Sherry, keep it up!"

Sherria clenched her two little fists and nodded her head vigorously.

"Yes! I will definitely not let everyone down!"

Sherria turned and jogged onto the field.

On the Quatro Cerberus' prepared seating area, Bacchus, clutching a gourd, gulped down wine and slapped Loke on the back.

"Loke, go up there and bring some honor back for the guild!"

Loke spread his thick arms and Roar at the stands.

"WILDFOUR!!"

After Roar, Loke strode into the arena.

Within the Mermaid Heel area, Risley adjusted the belt around her waist and stepped towards the passage.

Kagura stood behind, holding her long sword, watching.

Risley turned around and gave her companion a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, don't underestimate mermaids!"

Deep within the passage of the Sabertooth, a tall, slender figure slowly emerged.

Minerva, dressed in a purple cheongsam and wearing wooden clogs, walked through the shadows and stood at the edge of the field.

The Sabertooth team remained silent; no one offered a word of encouragement, and the atmosphere was cold and tense.

Inside the Fairy Tail training area, several people gathered together.

Upon hearing the words "water sumo," the guild members hardly hesitated to assign roles.

Looking at the entire guild, apart from Jiang Bai and Laxus who can ignore the terrain and environment due to their overwhelming strength, no one else dares to say that they can beat Juvia in the water.

Juvia clasped her hands together in front of her chest and turned to look at Makarov.

"Let Juvia handle this one! Juvia, here we go!"

Makarov nodded in agreement.

Gray, who was standing to the side, raised his right hand and waved it casually.

Go Juvia, good luck!

A simple word of encouragement reached her ears, and Juvia instantly turned into steam.

Juvia lifted her feet three inches off the ground, her eyes instantly turning into pink heart shapes, and she cupped her burning cheeks in her hands, twisting wildly in place.

"Hi--!"

"With Lord Gray's heartfelt encouragement, Juvia will definitely take first place!"

Juvia spreads her arms and spins around once.

"As long as it's in the water, Juvia can never lose to anyone!"

Jiang Bai leaned against the railing, resting his chin on his hand, watching Juvia's ethereal figure, then turned to look at the blond Celestial Spirit Mage beside him.

"Such blind confidence probably comes from spending too much time with Lucy. I hope he doesn't become as arrogant as Lucy once he's on the field."

Lucy, who had been watching the show, suddenly jumped up and down.

"Hey! How did you suddenly drag me into this!"

Lucy stepped in front of Jiang Bai and protested loudly.

"Don't just randomly assign me this kind of ridiculous persona! And even if you really want to complain, can you please not say it out loud in front of the person involved?!"

The cat, Happy was perched on the railing, covered its mouth with its two furry little paws and made a snickering sound.

"To be fair, Lucy does really love to make sarcastic remarks, eh--"

Lucy lightly tapped Happy on the head with a chop.

Even you're causing trouble!

Amidst the commotion in the preparation area, the mechanisms within the arena were fully operational.

The earth rumbled and trembled, and the giant magical pillars at the four corners of the arena simultaneously released a deep blue magical aura.

A massive torrent of water gushed from the bottom of the arena through pipes, and under the continuous pull of the gravity reversal magic, it quickly condensed and converged several meters above the ground.

Within seconds, a giant transparent water sphere with a diameter of over ten meters appeared to float in mid-air.

The water ripples under the sunlight, reflecting a bright halo, and within it, a turbulent undercurrent can be faintly seen slowly circulating.

The eight guild contestants each stepped onto a levitation platform and were propelled into the interior of a giant floating water sphere by a gravity array.

The moment they entered the water, each swimmer's magic began to flow, as they each sought a foothold and a direction to move.

From the commentary booth, Chapati's voice resounded throughout the sky through the Magic Crystal.

"Attention everyone! The floating water area has been completed!"

"Today's competition event is officially called -- [Naval Battle]!"