The Victory Banquet

High above the arena, hundreds of giant magical fireworks burst into bloom one after another.

Golden magical fireworks illuminated the sky above the entire city of Crocus.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators on both sides of the stands stood up, waving their arms and erupting in a deafening roar.

Fairy Tail!

Fairy Tail!!

The entire stone building's load-bearing foundation continued to tremble amidst the shouts of the massive crowd.

Inside the Fairy Tail's exclusive stands.

All the members jumped for joy, especially the long-time members who had been in the guild for the past seven years.

Alzack put one arm around Bisca and lifted his daughter Bisca high above his head with the other.

The veteran members jumped and sang, patting each other's shoulders vigorously.

Seven years of humiliation and seven years of struggling to survive among various small guilds were completely washed away with this declaration.

Above the commentary booth.

Chapati ripped off his tie, braced himself on the edge of the commentary booth, and shouted into the megaphone.

"Wow! What an incredible sight!"

"Looking back at all the records since the Grand Magic Games began, this is absolutely the first time that the entire audience has stood up and cheered indiscriminately when the champion was crowned!"

In the past few years, Sabertooth has won the championship one after another. In the end, only their own supporters were cheering at the scene, while the fans of other guilds mostly remained silent or left early.

But today, regardless of which guild's supporters they belong to, they are all applauding this triumphant return after all the hardships!

Yajima picked up the freshly refilled cup of hot tea, took a small sip, and turned to look at the short figure in the distance.

Congratulations, Maka!

Exit of the main passage on the south side.

The remaining members of Blue Pegasus helped each other back to the players' bench.

Lian brushed the dust off her leather pants and limped to the steps to sit down.

Ivan flicked his golden bangs, put his hands on his hips, and sighed at the empty space.

"As expected, as long as Jiang Bai, that extraordinary monster, is in charge, we shouldn't even dream of any chance of winning."

She walked up from behind with small, quick steps, her right hand forming her signature orchid finger gesture as she pressed her hand to her chin.

"Failure is also a form of training for mages, man~"

Xiang He shook his head with a wry smile as he looked at the Archive and light screen in front of him.

"Teacher Yi Ye, if this one-sided gap in strength can be called training, then I'd rather never experience it again."

Inside the east corridor on the other side.

The members of Lamia Scale were resting under a sunshade.

Lyon, with one hand in the pocket of his white trench coat, looked at Gray at Fairy Tail.

"Gray, you've won again without lifting a finger."

Standing to the side, Sherria grabbed the ends of her twin ponytails with both hands and spoke.

"That mage named Jiang Bai is really scary. Is he even human?"

The sound of steady, heavy footsteps slowly echoed from the depths of the passage.

Jura his hands inside the wide sleeves of his monk's robe and strode into the rest area.

The members of Lamia Scale all stood up straight.

"Mr. Jura! You're back!"

Jura nodded slightly to the crowd, her gaze falling on the ruins of the arena ahead.

"Jiang Bai's strength precisely indicates that there is still much room for improvement ahead of us."

The preparation area for battle at Mermaid Heel.

Millianna pounced like a frightened kitten, grabbing tightly at the hem of Kagura's black and white robe.

"Kagura! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?!"

Kagura glanced down at Millianna, who was clinging to her, and patted the back of Millianna's head.

"I'm fine, I'm not hurt."

Beth and Rishty also rushed forward, their expressions full of concern.

"Kagura, you don't need to feel discouraged at all. After all, the other side is Jiang Bai."

Beth wrung her hands together, her mind racing, trying to find the right words of comfort.

"When the next Grand Magic Games come around, you'll definitely be able to... uh... be able to last much longer against him!"

Mermaid Heel's companions had originally planned to boldly shout, "We'll definitely beat him next time!"

But the image of Jiang Bai's unfathomable strength flashed through his mind.

The girls wisely swallowed their encouraging words and awkwardly changed their rhetoric.

Kagura gripped the Archenemy at her waist, recalling the sensation of the wind blade brushing against her cheek, and lowered her head in silence.

Night fell.

The city of Crocus was adorned with dazzling celebratory lights.

Now that they've won the final championship, according to Fairy Tail's long-standing tradition, no matter where they go on the continent, drinking and having a banquet will always be the most important thing.

Fairy Tail booked out the largest three-story wooden tavern in the heart of the capital.

Members from all six guilds participating in the final stage of the Grand Magic Games were present.

The opponents, who had been fighting tooth and nail on the field, quickly became one of them, fueled by the aroma of beer and barbecue.

In front of the long wooden table in the center of the hall.

Makarov sat cross-legged on a solid wood wooden table, holding a glass of frothy dark beer in his right hand.

With each large gulp of ale, Makarov would furtively lower his head and slip his left hand into the inner pocket of his coat.

He took out a magic bank card that shimmered with a dark gold luster, examined it carefully for two seconds by the light of the oil lamp, and then stuffed it back into the depths of his inner pocket, pressing it firmly with his palm.

A full 80 million J.

In addition to the huge prize money of 60 million J awarded to the champion team by the official organizers, Sabertooth also provided a compensation payment of 20 million J in full.

An astronomical sum.

Makarov felt as if the few sparse white hairs on his head were about to float away with joy.

Goldmine, the leader of the Quatro Cerberus, staggered to the table, carrying a solid wood barrel bigger than his head, and sat down heavily.

"I'm so envious, little Makarov!"

Goldmine slapped the table, making the wine glasses rattle.

"Your guild not only boasts powerful young talents like Natsu, Gray, Laxus, but what's worse, you have Jiang Bai, a formidable figure, leading the way!"

Goldmine took a big gulp of liquor and wiped the foam off his beard.

"With him around, how are the other guilds supposed to compete? He's practically cheating!"

Bob, the president of Blue Pegasus, wearing an eye-catching pink strapless dress, swayed his bulky waist as he approached, cupping his double chin in his hands and nodding repeatedly.

"Yes, a seven-year hiatus has passed, and the gap between guilds has not only failed to narrow, but has widened to the point of being as wide as the Mariana Trench."

Bob extended his fat index finger and gently poked Makarov's shoulder.

"Hey little Makarov, did you really just find Little Jiang Bai in the grass somewhere back then?"

"Why can't I have such good luck? I wander around the entrances of some small villages every day."