Frogs at the Bottom of a Well!

The dust that billowed in the center of the field slowly settled.

Large areas of charred and pitted remains on the ground.

Sting stood frozen in place, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

Rogue stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed on the two unharmed figures in front of him.

Sting shouted in disbelief.

"How is that possible?!"

"How could you two have taken that attack head-on and emerged unscathed?!"

Sting took two steps forward and pointed at Natsu.

"The Dragon Force possesses strength on par with that of a true dragon!"

Natsu raised his right hand and scratched his ear, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.

"Ha?!"

Are you kidding me?

"The Dragon Force is indeed strong, but how could it be such a weak and feeble thing as you are showing it now?"

Natsu shook his head, his tone completely calm.

"Compared to true power, it's far from enough."

Gajeel, standing to the side, crossed his arms over his chest, a sneer escaping from deep within his throat.

"Heh heh heh! They're nothing but two half-baked individuals who were forcibly accelerated by implanting Magic Crystals into their bodies."

Gajeel looked down at Rogue.

"In the face of a true dragon, such a showy display is utterly insignificant!"

Natsu nodded in agreement.

"That's right. No matter how powerful a force is, it ultimately depends on the level of the person wielding it."

This bland statement shattered the last vestiges of pride in Sting's heart.

The pent-up frustration that had been building up since the start of the competition instantly overwhelmed her reason.

Sting was immediately enraged.

Shut up!

Sting's cheeks bulged to their limit, and pure white magical light spots highly concentrated inside his mouth.

"The White Dragon's Roar!"

A blinding laser beam roared out, heading straight for Natsu's face.

Natsu didn't even budge an inch.

Natsu raised his right palm, fingers spread, facing the White Dragon's Roar.

Snap!

The violent beam of light slammed into his palm, but it didn't even scratch the skin; it was instantly shattered and scattered.

The shards of light fell onto the gravel and quietly faded away.

Natsu lowered his hand, his expression calm.

This is reality.

Only by first learning to understand oneself can one talk about continuing to improve.

However, Sting was completely deaf to any advice at this point.

Sting's mind was filled with humiliation, and he turned into a white blur, lunging at Natsu again without regard for anything else.

Rogue also lowered his body, his shadow spreading wildly across the ground as he coordinated an encirclement.

Resistance is pointless.

The situation once again devolved into a one-sided stomp.

Natsu sidestepped Sting's straight punch, grabbed Sting's wrist and pulled him forward, then slammed his right knee into Sting's abdomen.

Sting arched his entire body into the shape of a shrimp.

Natsu grabbed Sting by the back of the neck and slammed him down onto the bluestone slab.

The stone slab cracked, revealing spiderweb-like patterns.

On the other side, Gajeel's right leg was covered in black steel, and a sweeping kick precisely cut off the movement of the shadowy figure.

Forced into physical form, Rogue was struck in the waist and abdomen by an iron leg, causing him to roll backward.

Gajeel strode forward, stepping on Rogue's chest, his right fist transforming into a heavy steel hammer, slamming the ground repeatedly from top to bottom.

Natsu grabbed Sting's ankle, spun him halfway around, and flung Sting towards the distant protective wall.

Sting slammed into the stone wall and slid down. Just as he wobbled and propped himself up, Natsu was already in front of him, delivering a powerful punch to his chin.

From the commentary booth, Chapati withdrew his gaze.

Chapati turned around and handed the microphone to the old man next to him.

"Grandpa Yajima, during the first phase of the battle, you mentioned that the core reason for the huge gap between the two sides lies in their growth environment."

Chapati asked, puzzled.

What exactly does "growing environment" mean?

The previously noisy audience around the stands quieted down and began to listen intently.

This is also the biggest confusion in everyone's mind.

Sabertooth swept through the Kingdom of Fiore for seven whole years, Sting and Rogue were even known as the strongest Twin Dragons. How come they were like three-year-old children, completely powerless against Natsu and Gajeel?

Yajima put down his hot tea and placed his hands on the top of his cane.

"The period when new guilds Rogue Sting, aside from established guilds like Blue Pegasus Sabertooth, truly rose to prominence coincided with the seven years when Fairy Tail's core main force disappeared."

Yajima's voice echoed throughout the arena through the magical megaphone.

What was the situation in the magic world of the continent seven years before that?

"On the surface Fairy Tail, at its peak, firmly holds the top spot."

"In the shadows, the three major dark guilds of the Balam Alliance hold sway over all sides."

"However, around the time of the Tenrou Island incident, the Oración Seis was completely annihilated and imprisoned, Fairy Tail wiped out the entire Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros remained silent."

In other words, the two major guilds in the Balam Alliance have disappeared one after another, and the remaining one is completely dormant.

"Furthermore, among the Ten Wizard Saints certified by the Magic Council, Jura of Lamia Scale has not officially participated in any Grand Magic Games duels in the past few years."

Yajima paused for two seconds before stating the key facts.

"This resulted in Sting and Rogue living in an extremely comfortable environment for a long time, without any truly strong individuals."

"Over time, they naturally came to believe that they were the strongest."

"It's not that they were particularly strong, but rather that all the truly powerful individuals on this continent disappeared during that period."

The audience was completely silent.

Yajima continues to analyze:

"Without a target to chase, without powerful opponents who could pose a deadly threat, they have been living in an invincible world created by the guild."

"A mage's growth follows a pattern. Once their strength reaches a certain level, the rate of progress will naturally slow down significantly, or even stagnate, once they lose the tempering of powerful external enemies."

"But Fairy Tail is completely different."

Yajima turned to look at Fairy Tail's rest area.

"Throughout their lives, these children have faced countless life-or-death battles."

"From the Phantom Lord to the Oración Seis, and then to facing the Grimoire Heart, each time he was forced to push his limits on the brink of despair."

"Powerful enemies emerge one after another, and this harsh environment constantly urges them to run forward desperately, daring not to slack off in the slightest."

At this point, Yajima raised a finger and pointed at Jiang Bai, who was standing behind the Fairy Tail railing.

"The most important point is that, in front of Fairy Tail, there has always stood a monster capable of completely defying common sense."

"Jiang Bai's existence is like an insurmountable mountain."

"He only needs to stand there to tell all the guild members in the most direct way that the so-called limits you have reached are utterly insignificant."

"The road ahead is far from over!"

"As long as Jiang Bai stands at the front of the group, the members of Fairy Tail will never be able to develop the complacent idea that 'I am invincible.'"

"The gap in strength between the two sides has been widened year by year, step by step, in this way."

Yajima finished speaking.

The entire audience in the arena understood the meaning.

The Sabertooth's supposed invincibility is purely because there have been no tigers in the mountains for the past seven years.

To put it bluntly, they're just a bunch of frogs in a well who've never seen the real pinnacle.

Many viewers even felt a little embarrassed.

For the past seven years, everyone has held this view, blindly praising Sabertooth as the strongest guild.

It wasn't until this tournament, with Fairy Tail's return and everyone witnessing Jiang Bai's one-hit kill against Jura, Ten Wizard Saints, that everyone understood just how powerful a true monster really is.

The front of the Fairy Tail stands.

Lucy put her hands on her hips and nodded repeatedly, deeply moved.

"Old Master Yajima is absolutely right. If you're in the same guild as Jiang Bai every day, who would dare to think they're superior?"

Gray put one hand in his pocket and sighed.

"Just looking at the outrageous methods Jiang Bai usually displays is enough to make people face reality; where does he get the nerve to be arrogant?"

Jiang Bai leaned against the stone pillar, yawned, and casually rubbed his neck.

"Don't pin the blame on me. I haven't been forcing you guys to train hard."

Laxus crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him, letting out a cold snort, unusually refraining from rebuttal.

Back then, Laxus himself was so narrow-minded and ignorant that he tried to purge the guild, which is why Jiang Bai beat him so badly that he questioned his existence.

From the commentary booth, Yajima offered a final, objective assessment.

"However, Sting and Rogue both have very high potential."

"The ability to unleash the Dragon Force without any special external stimulus is a talent beyond doubt."

"After this Grand Magic Games, if they can completely curb their arrogance and focus on their training, I believe their potential for future improvement will still be enormous."