A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Ah~ it must be Lord Gray answering my call~"

"Idiot..."

Whoosh whoosh! ! !

The next moment, dozens of enormous sharks sprang up from the sand sea around the two of them, their densely packed, massive bodies blocking out the blazing sun overhead. Each of these sharks had gaping, blood-red mouths, and their target was none other than Levy and Juvia, who were surrounded and had no way to escape.

"No!!!"

"Lord Gray!!!"

boom!!!

The fish fell, stirring up a cloud of yellow sand, and then... the scene disappeared.

Glug...

The audience swallowed hard, their faces filled with shock and worry: "That last scene... are those two girls alright?"

"Don't worry! They weren't teleported back, they should be fine..."

"Hey! What's going on? Why did the screen suddenly go blank?!"

Makarov blinked innocently, then awkwardly picked up the microphone and explained, "This... it's because the magic was too strong, causing the image to be lost. The two contestants must have been fighting the magical shark, so..."

"Who wants to hear this?! We're here to watch the match!! If the battle footage doesn't appear soon, we're asking for a refund!!"

"Restore the video quickly!! I want to see beautiful women fighting!!!"

The old man immediately broke out in a cold sweat: "Soon! Soon we'll have the footage!!"

Suddenly, the crystal screen crackled, and the image returned to normal.

Rumble!!!

In the sea of ​​sand, sharks rose and fell, their huge mouths and sharp teeth opening and closing constantly, each strike accompanied by a powerful attack, as if they wanted to swallow the two girls alive without any mercy. The two figures weaved through the school of fish, their expressions serious, fighting and retreating.

Juvia transformed into a stream of water, dodging and weaving with remarkable composure. The year of training had clearly greatly enhanced her abilities, allowing her to navigate even in such an environment with ease.

In contrast, Levy was in a rather sorry state. She was struggling to cope with the situation, but she still had some strength left.

"Slice through the water!"

"Solid script, sword!"

Swish swish swish... Clang clang clang... Splat... Swish splash...

The water blades and the word swords crisscrossed, attacking the school of fish from two directions. They weren't fast, but they were precise, and each attack killed one fish.

Faced with danger, the two of them obviously temporarily abandoned the fight and instead dealt with the enemy in front of them.

"Wow, that's amazing!!"

"Truly worthy of being a mage from 'Fairy Tail'!"

A close call, and the audience erupted in cheers, except for a couple of people…

In the audience, the Fairy Tail members' section.

When the girl they liked was in danger, the brothers Jet and Dorell were so anxious that they jumped around, hugged each other, and cried and shouted.

"Aaaaaah!!! Levy-chan is in danger!!"

"What should I do?! Waaaaaah..."

Those around who witnessed this scene were speechless and angry at his lack of ambition.

"Nothing's wrong..."

"Instead of crying and shouting here, it would be more useful to shout 'Go China!' a few more times."

"Levy is much stronger than both of you!"

"Think about why their team brought Lili but didn't bring you guys, okay?!"

Jet and Dorell, with tears in their eyes and indignation in their eyes, thought: These guys... they're going too far!

Chapter 447 Makarov: I would never manipulate things in secret; this is fate's arrangement!

At the very center of the entire arena are two completely opposite areas: a lava volcano and a frozen wasteland.

The lava volcano occupies the northwest center, where the temperature is even higher than in the desert. Just standing on it feels like being burned, and even the surrounding peaks turn red from the intense heat. Even more terrifying, these peaks erupt lava and flames periodically.

The flames turned the entire sky a dark red, creating an oppressive atmosphere. As for the lava, it flowed southeastward along the terrain until it encountered the cold air of the icy lands, at which point it gradually subsided.

The Frozen Lands occupy the southeastern part of the center, where icebergs stand tall, snowstorms are constant, and the sun rarely shines.

The unimaginable low temperatures and snow made it difficult for the contestants to move, but they could not stop here, because if they stopped to rest, they would soon be "frozen to death" and eliminated.

Influenced by the heat from the lava volcano, the icebergs on the northwest side are gentler and slightly warmer, but even so, the nearest iceberg is still hundreds of feet high.

This is certainly not a real iceberg, but an illusion created in conjunction with ice magic!

Unless you're a mage with exceptional perception, you won't be able to tell the difference; it's enough to fool the contestants and the audience. But then again, since the audience already knows the scene is fake, who really cares whether it's created using materialization magic or illusion magic?

This scene was designed by Punk Hazard from Kira's neighboring anime. With fire and ice, red and white, the visual impact is strong. If you were actually there, the experience would be even better!

"Look! This place is so cool!"

"A volcano and an iceberg side by side... How could such an environment exist in reality? Magic is truly amazing!"

"I give this scene a perfect score!"

"The ticket was worth it, this trip was definitely worthwhile!!"

At the confluence of lava volcanoes and icy landscapes lies a vast lake. To the northwest of the lake are black rocks formed from lava encountering cold air, while to the southeast lies an ice field where snow has been swept away by warm air.

A rocky passage, eroded by the lake for an unknown period of time, runs northeast to southwest across the lake, dividing it in two. This rocky passage is smooth and wide, with a circular stone platform at its very center.

This design is mainly intended to enhance the atmosphere of the battle and make the viewing experience more enjoyable for the audience.

Right now, on this stone platform, two people are fighting, and their battle has drawn the audience's attention away from the ugly shark.

"Fire Dragon's...wing attack!!"

"Ice-made... Lancer and Cavalry Dance!!"

Boom!! Magic roared, and once again, ice and fire clashed!!

As the white mist gradually dissipated, the two figures engaged in battle came into view.

"It's Natsu and Gray!!"

"I never expected them to meet here. What a fitting setting!"

"Hey, hey, hey... this is just too much of a coincidence, isn't it? Is there really no behind-the-scenes manipulation involved?"

Hearing everyone's complaints, Makarov replied with an upright expression: "This competition is absolutely fair and just, there is not a single act of cheating, so everyone doesn't need to worry!"

Seeing that the old man looked serious and earnest, and that he didn't seem to be faking it, everyone began to believe him a little.

"As expected, I knew the president wouldn't do such a thing!"

"So this is what they mean by fate and destiny..."

"Natsu and Gray fighting, especially in a place like this, is absolutely fate!"

Hearing that everyone was no longer paying attention to these unexpected coincidences, Makarov remained outwardly calm, but his hand, hidden under the table, wiped sweat from his clothes, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

'It's great that I managed to get away with this! If everyone had discovered that I was manipulating things behind the scenes, I'd be finished! My reputation would be ruined! Honestly, if it weren't for creating those betting odds, I wouldn't have had to do all this! That fortune teller really helped me a lot!! Who was he again?'

Makarov secretly glanced towards the direction from which the sound had come, only to discover that it was coming from the audience seats of Fairy Tail. Then... Makarov saw a familiar red-haired figure.

In the crowd, Dispel waved and winked at Makarov with a smile, then confidently patted his chest, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Makarov's eyes widened instantly: 'When did this kid get back?! Wasn't he in the mountains teaching his disciples swordsmanship?! Wait… what was he doing just now?! Could it be that he was involved in this bet too?! When did this happen?! How come I didn't know?! That brat Kira…'

Having grasped the crux of the matter, Makarov held back and didn't explode on the spot. After all, he knew what he should and shouldn't do.

The battle between Natsu and Gray continued, with both of them using their magic to its fullest potential by taking advantage of the surrounding environment.

boom!

Flames and ice clashed once more, and two large, powerful fists pierced through the white mist, delivering a punch to each other. Natsu and Gray used the momentum to jump backward simultaneously, a knowing smile appearing on their faces.

"How long has it been since we last played?"

"Don't you play every day?"

"I mean a serious competition like this!"

"I take every fight very seriously!"

"Phew... I just can't do anything with you..."

"Hehe... I'm fired up!!!"

At the same time, in different places, the same things happened one after another.

Ghost graveyard.

With a loud bang, a series of tombstones were shattered. From the smoke, a muscular figure shot out like an arrow, followed by several more whooshing sounds as they chased after the figure.

"Thunder Dragon's Jaw!!"

In mid-air, Laxus, his body crackling with lightning, clasped his hands together and slammed them down, the raging lightning instantly knocking down more than a dozen silver-white longswords.

Thump!

Laxus, upon landing, did not let his guard down. Instead, he revealed a smile full of amusement: "Looks like you've gotten quite a bit stronger this year!"

"Everyone is improving, and I don't want to fall behind!"

A gentle yet cool voice rang out from the smoke and dust, followed by a long, black leg clad in silver-white iron boots stepping out, leading to a dashing red-haired girl.

Wearing armor embroidered with lightning patterns and interwoven gold and white, along with a braided hairstyle tied with a ribbon, Erza was dressed in the Thunder Emperor's Armor.

Erza wore a faint smile, holding the Wind God's Sword, which was said to be able to dispel everything, and stared at Laxus, who hadn't even taken off his cloak, in front of her: "This is a rare opportunity... let's have a serious fight!"

Upon hearing this, Laxus grinned, the lightning crackling in his hand signifying his acceptance of the battle: "Then you'd better be prepared to suffer a defeat!"

In the audience...

"Eh?! Erza is facing off against Laxus?!?"