A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"I might be one of them!" Gray chimed in. "You two have such obvious weaknesses, it would be terrible if you were used against!"

Juvia pestered Gray, "I want to be with Lord Gray!"

"Those members of the Thor's Legion are also very powerful; perhaps they are their leader?"

"Since it's a battle of offense and defense, spell magic has a great advantage, right? I've never seen anyone break Philid's spell."

"Thinking about it carefully, they're all troublesome enemies!"

"By the way, can Mirasan lead a team?"

"Don't worry!" Mira flashed a bright and confident smile. "I'm very strong!"

Chapter 144 Preliminary Team Assignments

The following day, at the same time and in the same place, the preliminary rounds of the Demonic Cultivation Tournament took place in the competition arena.

"After careful review by the judging panel, the thirty people who passed the preliminary round yesterday were analyzed based on various data, and a simple strength assessment was made. They were then distributed into six teams: white, black, blue, red, yellow, and green."

"The members of the White Team are: Kira, Biguslo, Bisca, Marcus, and Nob."

The others were dumbfounded: "What?! What kind of combination is this?"

"Have the Thors been separated?" Biggleslow looked at Laxus and found that they were also looking at him with surprise.

"Hehe...Nice to meet you, Kira!"

"Teaming up with Kira? Looks like this is a sure thing!"

Kira smiled confidently: "With me here, we're not afraid of anyone! Don't worry, I'll lead you!"

The large screen above lit up, with the word "White" on the left, followed by the list of White Team members, a large "VS" in the middle, and the word "Black" on the right, with the Black Team members listed below.

"They are facing members of Team Black: Natsu, Gajeel, Juvia, Alzac, and Vikita."

Natsu, flames flying everywhere: "So, the opponent is Kira? I'm on fire!"

Gajeel chuckled: "So the Dragon Slayers are in the same team?"

“Kira?! That Kira?!” Juvia remembered the Annihilation and Judgment spells Kira cast on the Tower of Paradise, and cold sweat broke out on her back. “He wouldn’t use that kind of magic on his comrades, would he…”

Alzak: "Hey... are you kidding me? Not only are you at odds with Bisca, but also with Kira..."

Judging from their reactions, it seems to be working very well!

Marcus laughed with delight: "Hahaha, we've got this team! With this lineup, Kira can easily take on five opponents!"

Dispel grinned and continued announcing, "The members of the Blue Team are: Mystergan, Gray, Lucy, Marcao, and Warren."

"This combination...it seems like each team is quite evenly matched..."

"I think our team is the weakest..."

“No…” Lucy thought for a moment and said, “The preliminary rounds are just a head-on battle; they require intelligence and teamwork. In that case, Warren’s telepathic magic is very useful!”

"Leave the communication to me! I'll make sure you know your teammates' locations at all times."

"The Blue Team's enemy is the Red Team, led by Erza. They are: Erza, Abbagrim, Elfman, Dorell, and Tono."

Erza crossed her arms and silently calculated the strength of both sides: "Abba Grin and Elfman? They should be able to handle Gray and Lucy without much trouble. As for Mystogan, I'll take care of him."

Dorell, Macao, and the others silently complained, "They didn't even include the other four in their combat strength calculations..."

"Finally, there's the Yellow Team, whose members are: Laxus, Rocky, Levy, Ridsoo, and Chico; and their opponents, the Green Team: Mira, Fred, Kana, Jet, and Wakaba."

"Tch! My teammates are all too weak. Am I just too strong?" Laxus thought to himself with disdain.

"It's really unfortunate that I'm on the same team as Laxus..." Loki sighed, then he noticed the uneasy Levy. "Don't worry, Levy, I'll take good care of you."

"Uh-huh……"

"Am I on the same team as Laxus? I'm so nervous..."

Looking at the shy-looking Chiko, Ridsoo suddenly remembered that this girl was a fan of Laxus.

"Will I lead the team? I'll do my best!" Mira smiled and tilted her head.

Philid looked distressed: "Do we have to become enemies with Laxus? This is really putting me in a difficult position!"

Kana glared at him, "You better not hold back!"

"Levy...am I going to become Levy's enemy?"

Wakaba exhaled a puff of smoke: "You two, don't let your emotions get the better of you! This battle will be very tough if Mirasan relies on just one person!"

"This team assignment is absolutely fair and impartial. With average combat strength, we have almost broken up all the normally well-coordinated teams," Dispel said seriously. "The purpose of doing this is to train your ability to cooperate with unfamiliar mages and to deeply understand the importance of your teammates!"

"We should not abandon our companions because they are weak. It is precisely because they are weak that we come together to help and encourage each other. We should not be arrogant and complacent because we are strong. It is precisely because we are strong that we should shoulder more responsibility for our family and friends."

The opening remarks today were unusually long, but Dispel had already consulted Maklov, whose decades of experience in the guild had honed his public speaking skills. With just a few pointers, he made rapid progress in this area, so none of the thousands of audience members found his speech boring. Instead, they felt as if their souls had been cleansed.

Kira felt that these were words Maklov wanted to say to Laxus, but they didn't seem to work very well, at least not on the surface, because Laxus wasn't listening at all.

"You all listen to me! After this, you'd better take control of your territory. Leave the attack to me alone!"

Laxus stood with his arms crossed, using his imposing aura to speak to his four teammates, his tone firm and brooking no argument. It was clear that the combined strength of the other four members of the Yellow Team was inferior to that of the three members of Thor's crew, which annoyed him.

Kira glanced at the team and saw that Laxus was undoubtedly the strongest fighter in the yellow team, with well-rounded attributes.

Having regained his Celestial Spirit identity and his original strength, Loki is now the second strongest fighter.

Levy is a support-type mage who uses word magic. They will be facing the Green Team with Felid, so her importance goes without saying. Finally, she can also supply Laxus at crucial moments.

Ridas is a veteran mage of Fairy Tail, and her painting magic is also exceptional. When well prepared, her combat strength is considerable.

The last one, Chiko, is a minor character who is barely mentioned in the original work. She is the granddaughter of the landlady of the guild's girls' dormitory. Her family runs a coffee shop on the main street, and she has a crush on Laxus.

Kiko's magic is an urban legend; she can use ghosts within a certain range to fight for her. This range is now roughly the entire Magnolia. However, these dead ghosts don't actually have any combat power, so her biggest role in this preliminary round is probably just to scare people and shout "666" (a Chinese internet slang for "awesome").

Laxus's voice was loud, and Kira could see from afar the dissatisfaction on Loki's face, Levy's unease, Ridasu's worry, and Kiko's dilemma. He couldn't help but shake his head: "The Yellow Team's morale is low, and the team is hard to lead."

In a head-on fight, even Mira might not be able to defeat Laxus, but apart from Levy, none of them could deal with the Philid magic circle, not to mention the paid-to-play Cana, the veteran mage Wakaba, and the speed-type Jet.

Overall, the Green Team has a very good chance of winning.

Kira then silently began to calculate the combat strength of the remaining four teams.

The blue and red teams are roughly equal in strength, both consisting of two S-class mages, Mystogan and Erza. Although their roles are similar, Erza is stronger overall.

Mystogan's magic is mostly mental, and his illusion magic is only half effective against Erza. Even his seemingly strong reflection magic, Mirror Water, has never worked.

Abba Grin's petrification is difficult to defend against. Once it succeeds, the outcome can be decided very quickly. In addition, with the strength-type Elfman, he is more than capable of dealing with Gray and Lucy, unless they have other tricks up their sleeves.

In fact, after the Zonia and Phantom incident, Gray and Lucy have also put more effort into their training and have made great progress.

In particular, after purchasing the [Magic Hairpin] from Kira, Lucy's controllable magic power has significantly increased, and she can now open two doors at once, which makes Kira exclaim that she's cheating.

As for Macao, Warren, Dorell, and Tono, their combat strength is negligible, but their Nen abilities might be able to turn the tide.

After pondering for a while, Kira concluded: "It's a 50/50 chance."

On their side, Biguslo's combat strength is not low, Bisca and Marcus are in the middle level of the guild, and Nob has not been working. His magical animal possession may be even worse than Lisanna's.

"Yes, I have two carries and three teammates, while the other team has three carries and two teammates."

Natsu, Gajeel, and Juvia are the three main fighters, along with Alzak and Vikita.

In fact, the difference in combat power among Fairy Tail members can be seen from the battle on Tenrou Island. Those who were sealed for 7 years were all high-level fighters, while the others were mid-to-lower level.

Alzak's strength is similar to Bisca's. Pichita's Inspiring Dance can boost the combat power of teammates, making him a good team player. However, a competition is not a game. Boosting three people would consume a lot of magic power, not to mention that he has no other self-defense capabilities.

Knowing that there were two Dragon Slayer Mages on the other side, Kira felt confident that he had the game in the bag.

"You guys come here," Kira beckoned to his teammates, "Let's discuss tactics!"

Chapter 145 Battle of the Grand Canyon

The arena remained the same, but the terrain had changed. Before the astonished eyes of thousands, a massive canyon slowly rose, which would serve as the preliminary rounds. Contestants were not allowed to leave the canyon to fight; victory depended on destroying the crystal in the target team's tower.

The canyon's terrain is shaped like a six-pointed star, backed by mountains, with several main roads and smaller paths crisscrossing it. One can imagine that several fierce magical battles must have broken out there.

"That sounds interesting!" Several highly competitive individuals were brimming with fighting spirit.

After Dispel finally finished his speech, the teleportation magic circle emitted a bright light, bringing the thirty contestants into the battlefield.

Images appeared on the big screen, showing the terrain of the canyon and the locations of 30 mages from six teams on a large map. If Kira were outside, he would definitely exclaim, "Isn't this just like watching a game live stream?"

The canyon is an arena consisting of six territories, as well as some stone walls and bushes.

The territories of the six teams are located at the six corners of the Hexagram Canyon, like a game of checkers, in clockwise order: white, red, yellow, black, blue, and green. Each territory has three paths: the main path in the middle leads directly to the target team's territory, and the two smaller paths on the left and right lead to the territories of the other two teams that are not adjacent to it. In other words, there are a total of nine paths in the canyon.

At the intersection of the three main roads, in the center of the canyon, there is a large open area, clearly set up for the contestants to fight.

Kira opened his eyes and found himself in White Team territory, with the Crystal Tower behind him and his teammates beside him.

"Isn't this a novel game, honey?"

Biguslo communicated with his puppet toys by sticking out his long tongue. Several puppets floated in the air and chattered back, but only he could understand what they were saying.

Kira addressed Biguslow, Bisca, Marcus, and Nob with a single gesture: "Listen up, even though I'm here, our opponents are no pushovers. We can't let our guard down!"

"Uh-huh……"

Of the four, apart from Biggleslow, the other three nodded seriously. They knew their own limitations and lacked confidence that they could defeat Natsu, Gajeel, or Juvia.

Kira used magic to connect his thoughts with those of the other four: "Telepathic Connection".

Sensing the [group chat] in their minds, the group exclaimed in surprise, "Is it the same telepathic magic as Warren?"

"That's right, it's telepathic magic. Don't underestimate this magic just because it doesn't seem to have any offensive power. It's very important in this competition, so you must stay in touch with me!"

The four nodded again: "I understand!"

“There are three paths leading to our Crystal Tower. From now on, proceed according to the plan we just discussed,” Kira said to the four. “Bigcus is the strongest fighter, so he will stay here and protect the Crystal while being ready to provide support at any time. Marcus will guard the left flank, Bisca the right flank, and Nob the middle flank. If anything happens, immediately send a notification in the chat channel.”

Finally, Kira pointed to himself with his thumb and said, "As for the offense, leave it to me alone!"

"Are you planning to hold off all five of them by yourself? You're something else!" Bigus said. "But why are you guarding the other two lanes? We're not their target, so there's no point in fighting us, right?"

The other three also looked at Kira with suspicion.