Chapter 690 - 690: The Qualifying Spots

The guild immediately erupted into overlapping discussion.

"If Alakitasia is participating, does that mean we might have to fight August-sama?!"

"None of the Spriggan 12 are easy opponents!"

"And the people from Guiltina probably won't be pushovers either, right?"

They knew very little about Guiltina's strongest Mages, but if Selene considered them worthy of entering the same tournament as the Spriggan 12, they clearly were not weak.

Mavis raised both hands in a calming gesture.

"All right, everyone, quiet down!"

"Silence!"

Precht and August simultaneously tapped their staffs against the floor.

The noisy guild hall instantly fell silent.

Except for Natsu, who was still surrounded by flames, laughing wildly with his hands planted on his hips.

Makarov promptly rewarded him with a fist to the head.

Raizel glanced at the completely unsurprised expressions on August, Precht, and Makarov.

Apparently, those three had already known what Mavis and Selene were planning.

Mavis continued explaining the rules.

"Fairy Tail's S-Class members will automatically qualify. As for everyone else, we'll hold an internal selection tournament to determine who earns the remaining spots in the World Mage Championship."

Macao's eyes widened.

"S-Class? So Raizel, Laxus, Gildarts, Kurnugi, Ultear, and the others are all participating automatically?"

Selene produced a sheet of notes.

"I'll also announce the current list of entrants from all three continents."

"For Ishgar, we've invited selected members of the Ten Wizard Saints, along with several major guilds from the Kingdom of Fiore, including Fairy Tail."

"For Guiltina, all seven members of the Dragon Eater guild Diabolos will participate, along with the Signario Sisters and Mercphobia, the Water Dragon God."

"And from Alakitasia, the remaining members of the Spriggan 12 will compete alongside Zeref, for a total of ten participants."

Only selected members of the Ten Wizard Saints had been invited because the second- and third-ranked Saints were not on Selene's list at all.

Warrod, ranked fourth, had been personally excluded by Mavis.

Combat had never been Warrod's specialty in the first place.

"Huh?!" Wendy nearly jumped out of her skin.

"The Water Dragon God?! And Zeref?!"

Even Raizel, Ultear, and the others were beginning to wonder whether Selene had lost her mind.

"You're going this far?" Lucy stared at her. "Okay... I guess calling it the World Mage Championship really isn't an exaggeration."

Then Lucy noticed something else.

She began counting on her fingers.

"Nine besides Zeref... Let me think. Wahl is dead, God Serena is dead, and Bloodman is dead. Which means..."

She and Cana slowly turned toward one another.

"August-sama and Irene-sama are competing too?!"

Irene sat in the lounge area facing the stage, her expression completely blank.

No one had any idea what Selene had promised, threatened, or sacrificed to convince her to join a tournament like this.

August had been much easier.

Mavis asked and August had immediately agreed.

Selene raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not finished yet."

Everyone looked back toward her.

"I'll be entering personally as well."

"WHAT?!"

Gray stared at her.

"What kind of monstrous tournament is this supposed to be?!"

By now, Fairy Tail's members all knew that Selene's true body was that of a dragon.

Kurnugi was also a fully grown dragon.

Add Irene's ability to return to dragon form and Mercphobia himself, and the tournament could potentially feature four actual dragons.

Then there was the Black Wizard Zeref.

Raizel.

August.

This tournament was going to be absurd.

"The championship will begin with a Round of 64," Selene continued. "Every round will be decided by random draw in a single-elimination format until only one competitor remains."

Natsu's entire body burst into flames as he eagerly cracked his knuckles.

"OOOH! NOW I'M FIRED UP!!!"

Gray expressionlessly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Just reminding you—you're not an S-Class Mage, Natsu."

Gajeel grinned.

"Which means you've gotta survive Fairy Tail's internal qualifiers before you even make it into the tournament, Salamander."

Kurnugi, Fairy Tail's newest S-Class Mage, casually spread his hands.

"Aren't you two in exactly the same situation? Neither of you is S-Class either, so what are you laughing at?"

"..."

Gray and Gajeel fell silent.

Damn it.

Being called out by an actual S-Class Mage left them with no comeback whatsoever.

Lucy suddenly realized something.

"Wait. If that's the case, Kagura and Wendy have to go through the internal qualifiers too."

She looked around at the guild.

"Fairy Tail's own competition is going to be brutal!"

Levy had already taken out a notebook and started calculating.

"Sixty-four total... Let me estimate."

Her pen moved rapidly.

"The entrants Selene just announced already take up more than thirty spots."

After a moment, Levy reached a conclusion.

"Actually, getting into the Round of 64 probably won't be too difficult. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and the others should all have a decent chance."

"The real nightmare begins when the field drops to thirty-two."

"With random pairings, two top-tier fighters could draw each other in the very first round, and one of them would be eliminated immediately."

...

Later, Raizel found Selene after she returned to the lounge area.

"You're sure this is a good idea?"

Selene looked at him.

"We still have no information on Ignia, and now you're organizing a world tournament."

Selene shrugged with complete composure.

"What else am I supposed to do? Ignia refuses to show himself. We can't stop living our lives just because he's hiding somewhere."

Raizel could not exactly blame her for giving up on actively searching.

Earth Land was far larger than most people truly appreciated, and that was before accounting for other worlds such as Edolas and Elentear.

Ignia had no fixed residence.

If a dragon like him genuinely did not want to be found, locating him was almost impossible.

His behavior was not as simple and predictable as Acnologia's either.

If you wanted to find the Black Dragon, all you really had to do was recklessly unleash enough Dragon Slayer Magic.

Eventually, Acnologia would come looking for you.

Ignia would not.

Besides, both Ignia's supposed plan and the very existence of Helios, the Sun Dragon God, were still only theories.

There was no need for everyone to remain constantly on edge over something they had not even confirmed.

Irene rested a hand beneath her chin thoughtfully.

"The tournament might actually attract Ignia's attention."

Raizel considered it.

"That's possible..."

If Ignia had been secretly observing Raizel, Selene, and the others, then a tournament where Selene, Irene, Raizel, and numerous other powerful Mages fought one another could very well catch his interest.

Selene nodded.

"Think of it another way. Holding the tournament gathers most of our strongest people in one place."

"And don't worry. Even during the matches, I can use my spatial mirrors to keep watch over Guiltina at any time."

With Selene's Spatial Magic, crossing into completely different worlds such as Edolas and Elentear took hardly any effort.

Transporting people across an ocean to another continent was trivial by comparison, especially with the Magic Power she possessed in dragon form.

Gajeel and Laxus could certainly testify to that.

The last time Fairy Tail fought Dogramag, the two of them had been minding their own business at the guild one moment.

The next, Selene had dumped them directly into the Dogramag Labyrinth without warning.

And Selene was hardly their only option.

Raizel, August, and Zeref were all capable of transporting groups across continents as well.

There really was little reason to worry about being unable to respond quickly.

Selene looked toward Raizel with an amused raise of her eyebrow.

"Besides, don't you think this is a perfect opportunity?"

"For what?"

Selene shot Irene a teasing glance before turning back to Raizel.

"To finally settle who's stronger between Irene and me."

Irene's eyes narrowed slightly.

Selene's smile only widened.

"And to find out exactly how strong you are."

She leaned back comfortably.

"For ordinary Mages, finding a genuinely worthy opponent is surprisingly difficult. Now we're gathering some of the strongest fighters from three continents in one place."

"What better training resource could you possibly ask for?"

Selene gave him a look that clearly said he was wasting a golden opportunity.

"And somehow, you didn't even think of taking advantage of it."