The moment he said that, everyone from Fairy Tail flew into a rage.
"You bastard!"
Gray trembled all over as he shouted furiously.
"Everyone gave their all in the arena, fighting and bleeding for the guild's honor, only to end up as tools for you to collect magic power?"
"The military's methods are truly despicable!"
Gajeel clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, his gaze savage.
"I want to smash your face in right now!"
Faced with their angry curses, Arcadios remained calm, as though he had expected this all along.
At last, Lu Chongwei finally understood all the doubts that had lingered in his heart.
"No wonder."
Lu Chongwei gave a cold laugh and swept his gaze over the magical walls around them.
"I had wondered why the Grand Magic Games arena could alter its terrain at will, creating gigantic water spheres and separate dimensions."
"So it was never the organizers' own resources. It was a massive device for extracting and storing magic power."
"You're very clever."
Arcadios gave him an approving glance before pointing toward the end of the passage.
"This is the final crystallization of all the magic power we accumulated over seven years."
Everyone followed his fingertip, and the sight before them left them utterly stunned.
At the end of the passage stood a colossal stone gate of unparalleled grandeur.
The gate was forged from some unknown ancient metal, emanating an imposing yet magnificent aura.
Twelve heavy bolts sealed the gate tight, each engraved with the Celestial Spirit emblem of the Zodiac.
Highly concentrated magic power gathered around the gate, distorting the air itself.
Over the past seven years, the vast amounts of magic power expended by countless top Mages had all been compressed and collected here.
The instant Lucy and Yukino saw the stone gate,