The first round of quarterfinals this afternoon had now come to a successful conclusion.
Of the eight contestants who had drawn everyone's attention, the quickest match was obviously Annie and Natsu's. Before the other matches had even officially begun, Annie had already won thanks to her opponent's extraordinary stupidity.
The longest match, without a doubt, was between Lightning Dragon Slayer Mage Laxus Dreyar and the mysterious Mystogan—the two veteran candidates for strongest in their respective guilds!
The two had fought fiercely for nearly half an hour. Even after the other matches had ended, they had continued their battle outside their original arena, fighting with all their might on the enormous tournament platform as if it were the final.
But in the end, for reasons no one could say...
As they fought, Mystogan seemed to be trying to keep the others from seeing his true face. So, once his hood and cloak had been damaged to a certain extent, he voluntarily conceded defeat, handing the chance to advance to Laxus—the culprit who had single-handedly sparked Fairy Tail's internal strife and forced Guild Master Makarov to announce this Fairy Tail Fighting Tournament!
Whatever his reasons, the four contestants who had made it to the semifinals had now been decided. They were:
The Celestial Spirit Mage Annie Hastur from the first group, Fairy Queen Erza Scarlet from the second, the Demon Mirajane Strauss from the third, and Lightning Dragon Slayer Mage Laxus Dreyar from the fourth.
Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel Redfox and Ice-Make Mage Gray Fullbuster had both fallen to their opponents after matches of reasonable length. They had been defeated, respectively, by Erza and Mirajane, who had somehow managed to resolve whatever was troubling her and recover her strength.
As for the Fire Dragon Slayer Mage who had originally been in a