"Senior, you flatter me. You are the first among the Twelve Holy Shields — the Magic King —from the Kingdom Alvarez!"
Zorn's voice carried a hint of awe and admiration; he was well aware of the status and power of the person before him.
"Furthermore, the Magic King is one of Alvarez's most powerful Mages!"
"Along with the legendary Dragon Mother, Irene, they are hailed as the two pillars of Alvarez, and their fame is widespread."
As Zorn revealed the Magic King's true identity word by word, an invisible pressure surged towards him like a tidal wave.
This pressure was as heavy as Mount Tai, yet it was perfectly confined to the space where Zorn was located, without affecting the surrounding environment.
The bystanders seemed completely oblivious to the standoff, walking past as if nothing was amiss, as if they couldn't see Zorn and the Magic King at all.
Faced with the sudden, overwhelming pressure, Zorn's body trembled slightly, but he quickly recovered.
Despite the immense pressure, his gaze remained firm and unyielding.
Immediately afterwards, his body jolted violently, unleashing astonishing power.
It actually managed to completely neutralize the immense pressure that was pressing down on him.
Zorn thought to himself: It seems that Zeref has already returned to the Kingdom Alvarez, and even mentioned me.
Otherwise, the Magic King could never have found this place so precisely, and even deliberately exposed some flaws.
He let Zorn discover him directly and come to him on his own initiative.
"It seems His Majesty was absolutely right. He possesses considerable strength and a calm, reserved personality, truly deserving of the Fourth Guild Master of Fairy Tail."
"However, you seem to know a lot about us, even knowing about Dragon Mother."
Magic King August swallowed the last bite of cake, then looked up at Zorn with piercing eyes.
The test just now was a combination of multiple Magic applied to Zorn, and even some of the Twelve Holy Shield couldn't break through the blockade so quickly.
Moreover, they were surrounded by Zorn's Light Elements, yet they were extremely well concealed.
He can be taken away in an instant if he makes any unusual move or poses a threat.
There was one energy among them that he couldn't see through, and it couldn't counteract Zorn's Teleportation Magic.
More importantly, he knows so much; Zorn is indeed an interesting guy.
"It's truly an honor to have your recognition of my abilities," Zorn said with a humble smile, skillfully avoiding questions about his own secrets.
Then, changing the subject, he said, "As for other aspects... well, everyone has their own little secrets, don't you think, senior?" He finished speaking in a deep voice.
This statement is a double entendre, intended to resonate with August.
He knew that August was not a truly evil person; on the contrary, he was very kind to younger people as long as they were not his enemies.
They don't have a conflict of interest right now, and his arrival certainly wasn't on Zeref's orders.
When he heard Zorn address him as "senior" as usual, August did not immediately object as he usually did, but fell into a brief silence.
However, it was this brief silence that made Zorn even more certain that August harbored no hostility towards him.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Mavis was returning to the Fairy Tail with a group of girls from the Fairy Tail.
They went out together today and had a lot of fun.
However, two inexplicable fluctuations of Magic Power during the journey aroused Mavis's suspicions.
It felt both familiar and strange.
When she tried to find the source of the fluctuation, she discovered that it seemed to have suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving her with no way to locate it.
"First Master, what's wrong? You seem a little distracted."
The Third Generation Hokage was leisurely drinking tea on the balcony when he noticed the anxious look on Mavis's face and turned to ask her with concern.
"I'm fine. Let's get the members ready for the match!" Mavis said with a smile, without giving it any further thought.
"Zorn, that guy, he's always so secretive, I just don't get him!"
When Makarov returned, he learned that Zorn had mysteriously disappeared again.
Clang~ Clang~ Clang~ The melodious and solemn sound of bells echoed in the night sky of the Town.
The sound of the bell seemed to possess some kind of Magic Power, piercing through the clouds and echoing in every corner.
Just then, an enormous Pumpkin -shaped figure suddenly appeared in the night sky, shining as brightly as a star.
"Good morning, everyone participating in the Grand Magic Games!" Pumpkin uttered a loud and cheerful sound, which resounded like thunder.
This sudden sight astonished people, who rushed out of their homes to gaze up at the extraordinary spectacle in the sky.
Upon hearing the sound, Natsu excitedly jumped out of bed and rushed to the balcony.
His eyes gleamed with excitement, and he muttered to himself, "Hmm? The competition is about to start!" The others followed suit, curiously crowding onto the balcony.
Upon seeing the object in the air, Natsu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow, what's that?" Natsu's eyes widened as he cried out.
Éclair, who was standing nearby, hugged Mengmeng tightly and explained softly, "It should be a 3D effect!" Her tone revealed a hint of certainty.
Everyone suddenly realized that the images left by Éclair's father during the last mission were remarkably similar.
However, the three-dimensional Pumpkin -shaped image before us appears even larger and more spectacular.
"What a huge Pumpkin!" Happy couldn't help but exclaim, swallowing hard, which made everyone burst into laughter.
The Pumpkin- shaped host swayed from side to side as he continued introducing the upcoming competition schedule, "From this moment on, we will be conducting a brutal elimination round against these 120 participating teams, leaving only 8 teams to advance to the next round. This is just the preliminary round!"
After a brief pause, he continued, "Due to certain special circumstances, the number of Fairy Tail participating this time is unusually large, but fortunately, we received valuable advice from one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"
At this point, the entire room erupted in commotion, with other Fairy Tail members whispering amongst themselves, speculating about the identity of this mysterious Ten Wizard Saints.
Ignoring the noise, the host, Pumpkin, continued loudly, "Therefore, we have decided to directly select eight strong teams to participate!"
--"Bang!" A crisp snap of the fingers.
With a loud sound, eight gleaming gold coins suddenly appeared in the sky, hovering silently in mid-air, radiating light.
At the same time, the entire Town began to undergo astonishing changes. The hotels that were originally located around the Town were as if they had been Magic, gradually rising and twisting.
As the Pumpkin host's arm slowly rotates, the buildings continuously change shape.
Meanwhile, in the sky, an enormous circular maze quietly took shape. To everyone's astonishment, the eight gold coins transformed into streaks of light, flying into the maze and disappearing from sight.
"Senior, if you're interested, how about staying to watch a match?"
"Perhaps we can fulfill a long-cherished wish of yours, senior!" Zorn said softly, his eyes serious as he spoke to August.
"Oh~" August was momentarily stunned by the sight of the sky, as if struck by the word "long-cherished wish".
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he became serious at this moment, making his "oh" sound a little longer.
"You really do know something, interesting, very interesting! Let's see!" August agreed in a deep voice.
Meanwhile, the Pumpkin Host's enthusiastic voice continued to echo in the air, "The finish line of this competition is the Domus Flau. Contestants need to obtain any one of the eight gold coins to unlock the gate to victory!"
Only the eight teams that successfully enter the gates are qualified to participate in the official competition!
At this point, the Pumpkin- themed host became so excited that he gestured wildly and even jumped up and down with joy.
He shouted excitedly, "How about that? Isn't it super easy! Come on, warriors! Let's set off towards our dreams!"
"Oh, I almost forgot! You can use Magic freely, and most importantly, all five of you must pass through the gate!" Pumpkin said slyly.
After hearing the rules, Erza frowned slightly, lost in thought, "So, the key lies in the gold coins inside the dungeon!"
"Oh my, that's really interesting!" Gajeel grinned, revealing a row of large, white teeth.
"A real man should be fearless and go forward without hesitation!" Elfman's eyes also shone, and his fists were clenched, showing unusual excitement, as if he didn't care about the rules at all.
"In other words, we can even steal their gold coins directly from them!" With a crackling sound of electricity, Laxus uttered these words expressionlessly.
But it made everyone present feel a chill run down their spines.
That's right, he makes a good point, and doing so doesn't seem to violate any rules.
The leaders of the other Fairy Tail naturally realized this as well, and almost simultaneously turned their attention to Fairy Tail.
After all, the purpose of this competition was to compete for more missions to improve the Fairy Tail ranking, and Fairy Tail, as the "number one" Fairy Tail, undoubtedly became the target of everyone's criticism.
To be continued~