Chapter 440: Merging the Fairies

"Minerva Orland."

Erza narrowed her eyes at Minerva, who stood proudly on the stage, exuding a strange and unsettling aura. She wasn’t the only one who noticed it. Cana, Lisanna, Mirajane, and many others—including Mavis—felt that something was fundamentally amiss.

"It’s strange," Mavis murmured.

"What’s wrong, First Master?" Makarov asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Isn’t it normal for her to win? Her magic simply gives her an overwhelming advantage in this event."

It was true that both Juvia and Lucy had their own elemental advantages on the water, but even Makarov knew that Minerva’s strength was in an entirely different league. She commanded space itself. With a mere wave of her hand, she could teleport anyone out of the sphere. It made the entire situation highly complex, especially when Ultear of Heavenly Blue abruptly decided to surrender.

The audience, the organizers, and the rival teams had all been completely stunned by Ultear’s decision to forfeit and take second place rather than fight for the top spot. Yet, once they processed the sheer broken nature of Minerva’s magic, they quickly justified it.

"Well, with magic like that..."

"All of her opponents were just warped away."

"Second place really isn’t that bad of a compromise."

The crowd easily accepted this conclusion. But Mavis wasn’t so easily swayed. She knew of Finn.

No... is it just my imagination?

If possible, Mavis wanted to confront Finn directly and ask if he had already conquered Sabertooth—or at least seduced Minerva. She knew exactly how dangerous a man Finn was; after all, he had already effortlessly captured the hearts of several women within Fairy Tail.

Still, she didn’t interfere or try to stop those girls. Compared to them, she felt she was in no position to judge, having fallen for the legendary Dark Mage herself. Her own past mistakes were far worse.

But if I had to ask a question, I wonder why he is hiding his identity...

Mavis was well aware that Heavenly Blue was a guild created by Finn, and she strongly suspected that the man wearing the mask was him. While she recognized Minerva and Meredy among his ranks, she wasn’t entirely certain about Flare and Sorano. Yet, even with this knowledge, she made no move to approach him. She trusted that he had his own distinct reasons for operating in the shadows.

Did he simply want to stop Fairy Tail from winning the Grand Magic Games? The thought never even crossed her mind. She knew Finn wasn’t nearly that petty. If anyone was being petty, it was her own guild members—her children—who harbored a stubborn prejudice against him.

Unlike them, Finn wasn’t naive, and that grounded perspective dictated his way of life. Besides, if she couldn’t even stop Zeref from walking down a path of darkness, how could she ever hope to dictate Finn’s actions? She couldn’t.

Just as Mavis released a soft sigh, wondering if Fairy Tail could actually turn this tournament around, the organizers suddenly called out their guild’s name over the lacrima screens.

"Hmm?"

"What’s wrong?" Flare asked, noticing Finn staring intently at an seemingly empty patch of air near the Fairy Tail stands.

"No, it’s nothing," Finn replied smoothly.

While Finn could perceive the underlying truths of this world—including the lingering spirit of the First Master—it was better to keep that to himself for now. He wasn’t sure if Flare and the others would even believe in ghosts, and there was no need to unnecessarily spook them.

"Did something happen to Fairy Tail?" Ultear asked, her eyes sharp.

"Can you tell?" Finn looked at her, mildly amused.

"They always seem to attract trouble, and you’ve always had a perfect grasp on the situation, almost like you can see the future."

Finn remained silent for a moment. Ultear wasn’t exactly wrong. To the girls, it truly felt as though Finn possessed absolute clairvoyance—or perhaps his intellect was just so terrifyingly sharp that everything unfolded exactly as he predicted.

"It’s nothing serious," Finn finally said, deciding to tell them the truth. "The organizers are just planning to merge Fairy Tail’s two teams into one."

"Oh?" The girls blinked in surprise.

"Why now?"

It was a valid question. Fairy Tail had been operating as Team A and Team B since the start of the tournament. Merging them halfway through the game felt entirely abrupt. Wasn’t that more than a little unfair?

"The fact that they were allowed to enter two teams in the first place was already unfair. It’s honestly amazing they got away with it for this long," Finn sighed.

He knew that if any other guild had attempted such a stunt, they would have been immediately disqualified. If Fairy Tail was allowed to field two teams, why hadn’t Sabertooth done the same? The overall quality of Sabertooth’s roster was exceptional. They easily could have split Rufus, Orga, Sting, and Rogue across two separate teams, padded the remaining slots with weaker members, and still dominated the competition. The average caliber of mages in Fiore simply wasn’t high enough to stop them.

Yet, Sabertooth hadn’t done that. Only Fairy Tail had.

Why? Because this guild was favored by fate. They were the protagonists of this world, and so, the rules bent for them.

"Having an odd number of teams creates logistical issues anyway," Finn continued. "While the previous battles where a lucky team could challenge the others were entertaining, it was inherently unfair to the guilds who were denied the chance to score extra points."

During the second day, when Finn sought out Jellal, he had also clashed with Natsu. If they hadn’t been protected by their sheer protagonist luck, that encounter would have ended much worse for them. Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it—they had still lost miserably.

So, when the booming voice of the announcer officially declared that Team A and Team B would merge into a single, unified Fairy Tail team, Finn wasn’t the least bit surprised. His companions, however, were caught completely off guard.

"Really?!"

"They’re actually combining!"

"Well, that’s completely unexpected!"

Despite their shock, as the new Fairy Tail lineup stepped forward, everyone in the arena instantly recognized the sheer overwhelming power radiating from them.

Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, Gray, and Erza.

Those were the chosen five. An absolute powerhouse of a roster.

Yet, Finn, Flare, Ultear, Sorano, and Meredy remained entirely unbothered, watching the spectacle with calm detachment as if the birth of this super-team had absolutely nothing to do with them.

"Hey, you! I’m going to kick your ass next time!" Natsu screamed, pointing directly at Finn’s balcony.

Finn completely ignored the Dragon Slayer, calmly taking a slow sip of his coffee, relying on the caffeine to fend off his creeping boredom.

"You bastard! Don’t ignore me!" Natsu roared, his fists bursting into roaring flames.

Erza immediately shot him a terrifying glare. "If you have enough free time to provoke the other guilds, use it to shut your mouth!"

If Natsu picked a fight and lost again, the humiliation would be unbearable.

"She’s right. You’re just gonna embarrass us if you get your ass handed to you again, Natsu," Gajeel grinned, clearly enjoying the moment.

"He’s right, Loser."

"Yeah, just sit down."

"YOU BASTARDS! I’LL BEAT ALL OF YOU TOO!"

As the newly formed Fairy Tail team immediately devolved into a chaotic brawl, Erza’s patience snapped. "I said, shut up!"

"....."

Fairy Tail would never change. They were loud, brash, and entirely chaotic.

But Finn couldn’t care less. Frankly, he had already acquired all the power he needed from within their guild. As for Fairy Heart—the source of infinite magical energy housed within Mavis’s frozen body? He held absolutely no interest in it.

Right now, his attention was solely fixed on the arena.

"A Tag Battle, is it?"