A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Fortunately, there are far fewer opponents left on the field than at the beginning, so using sound magic shouldn't be too much of a problem. Let me hear what you guys are thinking..."

This seemingly delinquent fellow began wandering through the crowd, carefully searching for the crystal ball's whereabouts, while whispers of dejection, resentment, and fear reached his ears.

"Damn it! I shouldn't have come to this 'Grand Magic Games.' Not only did I not gain any fame or money, but I also got dragged into the battle between the big shots for no reason. It's simply..."

"Anyone will do, just let's finish this match quickly!"

"Are all the mages in top-tier magic guilds as strong as those two?! What's the point of us participating in the competition then...?"

"Absolutely! We absolutely cannot let them find out that the crystal ball is with me..."

Upon hearing this, Eric finally smiled, his eyes snapping open as he looked in the direction he had just heard the sound. There stood a shifty-eyed mage, clearly a weakling.

"Found it!!"

Eric grinned: "This kind of guy can't hold onto the ball at all. Even if he advances, he'll get thrashed. So just give me the ball!"

"The Poison Dragon's Fang!!"

With a powerful swing, the dark red poisonous mist in his hand transformed into a giant serpent under the influence of magic, baring its fangs and shooting out.

Under Eric's precise control, the venomous snake moved with lightning speed, easily dodging the mages along the way and heading straight for its target.

"Has he made a move, Eric...?"

In the stands, at the 'Sin of the Witch's' camp, Gerald and the others stared intently at Eric's actions.

The group carefully observed that although his attack speed was fast, his blows were not heavy. This was evidenced by his avoidance of unrelated opponents. Moreover, he did not use any lethal toxins, but rather neurotoxins with paralyzing effects, which he could recover from with a rest.

"When did that guy become so gentle?"

Sora expressed her incomprehension of Eric's behavior.

Once upon a time, Eric was a cold-blooded monster who could poison hundreds of people without batting an eye. But now, facing these opponents in the competition, he doesn't even dare to use a slightly stronger spell, which would have been unimaginable before.

"Because we are sinners, and we are now atoneing for our sins, of course we can't be too harsh!"

Gerald looked pleased and explained calmly, "Princess Emerald invited us to participate in this competition not only to win the championship, but also to demonstrate to the people of the Kingdom of Fiore the royal family's magnanimity, long-term vision, and wise decision-making..."

"So if we want to win, we must win by fair and square means!"

"Eric probably thought of this as well, and felt that poison magic was difficult for people to accept, which is why he didn't go all out."

After hearing Gerald's explanation, Dark Night couldn't help but frown: "I didn't expect Eric to go to this extent..."

"Because the other party said, 'If we can win the championship, we will reduce the contract we originally signed from three years to two years,' right?"

Melty smiled slightly; though young, she was already quite mature and had seen through Eric's thoughts. "Eric... probably wants to end this life of being controlled by others as soon as possible and start a new life!"

Wearing sunglasses and dressed in a red outfit, Lisa asked curiously, "The end? Why?"

"Of course it's the influence of being in a relationship! With that 'Fairy Tail' waitress!"

Ultear hugged Melty, a teasing smile playing on her lips. Her bright eyes fixed on Eric, who was aiming at the crystal ball, she bluntly revealed the truth, "Maybe he's already made that 'I'll marry you once I'm free from the royal family' kind of agreement with his girlfriend~"

"Hey, hey... don't say things like that! I remember reading in a book that this isn't a good agreement, is it?! People who talk like that rarely have a good ending..."

Sora interrupted Ultear with a dark expression. These people from the Oración Seis had been together for many years and were already like family. She didn't want to see Eric and his girlfriend end up in a tragic situation.

“Love can change a person!” Richard said with a smile.

Since Richard's brother Wally found 'The Witch's Sin' last year and reunited with him, the big man's life has been filled with sunshine.

Although the other person wasn't allowed to join due to the guild's special circumstances, the older brother was naturally happy every day knowing that the other person was doing well.

Throughout the year, 'The Sin of the Witch' continued to purge the dark guilds within the Kingdom of Fiore, while also recruiting some mages who wanted to reform themselves. They have grown into a considerable force and their reputation is growing.

Although the guild is ostensibly led by Gerald, everyone knows that they are actually under the command of the Fiore royal family and carry out royal missions.

Not only Richard's brother Wally, but also Sora's sister Yukino has come forward to seek out 'The Witch's Sin'.

And Simon, Miliana, and others who were affected by the 'Tower of Paradise' were fortunately persuaded to give up their hatred after Gerald and Ultear's sincere apologies and compensation.

Finally, Yukino, Miliana, and Kagura joined 'Mermaid's Heel', while Simon and the others joined Four-Headed Hound, each embarking on the path of a mage—'Witch's Sin' is a place where sinners can atone for their sins, so those without sins cannot join.

Kira and Erza knew all about these things; the latter knew them through letters, while the former knew them through remote communication via crystals.

After all, Kira played a significant role in getting this group to sign the contract with the royal family to atone for their crimes, so Gerald and the others unanimously agreed that it was necessary to let Kira know about these things.

Every so often, they would use remote communication tools to communicate (i.e., make video calls—though powered by magic), or send a few people to pass through Magnolia on business trips to share some of the guild's happenings with Kira.

This has become one of Kira's current intelligence networks.

……

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

After three deafening chimes, the announcer declared the end of the elimination round.

"The competition time is up!! The teams of the players who currently hold the crystal ball will qualify to continue the competition. As for the players who did not obtain the crystal ball, unfortunately, you cannot continue the competition..."

"Wait, wait, wait?! So fast?!"

Natsu and Agil finally snapped out of their fierce battle, and in the last twenty minutes, they still couldn't determine a winner.

"Damn it... I failed to eliminate everyone else!"

Although the two have not yet determined a winner, Natsu seems to have the upper hand in the situation, so Agil looks very unhappy. He originally planned to eliminate everyone in the end, but who knew that Natsu would suddenly appear and even subtly suppress him.

At this moment, Agil wished he could just stir up a desert storm right here and wreak havoc without restraint.

"You little brat who uses fire... I'll settle this score with you next time!"

You can't even beat me, yet you still dare to be so arrogant?!

Natsu wasn't about to let the other guy show off in front of him, so he immediately rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge forward: "We're not done fighting yet! Are you trying to run away?!"

Seeing the situation was turning bad, the announcer quickly warned, "Oh no! The competition is over!! Continuing to fight will disqualify you from advancing!!"

This move was indeed very effective. Although Natsu was a bit reckless, he wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Considering the bigger picture, even though he was dissatisfied, he stopped rushing out.

"Damn it! How dare this guy be so arrogant even though he can't beat me?!"

"It makes me so angry just looking at it!!"

Seeing that Natsu and Agil had finally stopped fighting, all the contestants on the field breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it finally over? I'm completely exhausted..."

"I never want to participate in this kind of chaotic battle again!! Especially with those guys who are as strong as monsters..."

"Phew! It's great that those two guys were able to fight until the very end."

"I never want to participate in this kind of combat-oriented competition again!!"

Chapter 659 The opening match has ended, members of the eight guilds

Amid cheers, the announcer, after organizing the information, finally announced the final results of the competition—the list of participants for the next few days—amidst the cheers and anticipation of tens of thousands of spectators.

The list of players who have advanced from this opening match is as follows:

Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail!!

Argil of 'The Emperor's Shield'!!

Eric of 'The Sin of the Witch'!!

The Heart of the Dragon, Makara!!

Yuuka from 'Boa Hancock's Scale'!!

Hibiki Retis, the 'Blue Pegasus'!

Brea from 'Raven's Tail'!

"Sems the Four-Headed Hound!!"

In the final twenty minutes of the elimination rounds, those twenty-odd mages, while not as decisive as Agil in shattering six crystal balls in one go, still pulled off quite a few impressive maneuvers.

For example, some people, like Agil, were arrogant and, after winning the crystal ball, thought that the number of teams competing here should be reduced, so they destroyed the crystal balls in the hands of others.

Some people, resentful that someone else took their crystal ball, simply chose to give up entirely, neither taking it themselves nor letting others take it, purely obstructing and destroying it.

These and many other reasons resulted in the original ten crystal balls being reduced to only eight.

Upon hearing this announcement, besides screams and cheers, some people in the audience couldn't help but frown: "Several of them are guilds I've never heard of before..."

"If I remember correctly, the magic guilds 'Emperor's Shield' and 'Heart of the Dragon' were only founded this year, right? It's incredible that they were selected at the same time!"

"Hey hey hey...really?? 'Sin of the Witch' is one thing, they're all royalty, they have powerful backers, we can't afford to mess with them, but 'Raven's Tail'...isn't that a dark guild?"

At the Fairy Tail camp, the mages all wore grim faces, especially Makarov. Hearing his runaway son brazenly appear in such a place was as painful as seeing a chocolate cake smeared with intestines.

"Protest!! Protest!! How can a dark guild be allowed into the tournament?!"

"Calm down!! Calm down, President!!"

The short, ninety-year-old man was so angry that he jumped up and down. If he hadn't been held back by Macao and others behind him, he would have rushed onto the judges' stage to question the host.

At this point, the announcer Chapati explained to the audience: "According to the information, 'Raven's Tail' is only listed in the Light Guild by the Council, but there is no record of it being sentenced to join the Dark Guild."

"What?!"

"How is this possible?!"

"How exactly did Ivan manage to fool everyone?"

As the announcer introduced the eight guilds to the audience, Kira and his companions finally found the location of 'Raven's Tail', where several familiar-looking guys came into view.

Ivan – Makarov's good-for-nothing son; Nalubudinku – the short, fat guy who beat up Gray in the original work; Obra – the tall guy who attacked Wendy in the original work; Black Serpent – ​​the mage who tore someone's socks in the original work.

Kira guessed that Freya, who was suffering from a long-term illness, had not yet left Sun Village, since she was still young at this time.

To Kira's surprise, their team had several people who shouldn't have been there at this time, including three characters who were supposed to appear in the Dark Magic Order years later but had appeared ahead of schedule.

Breya – the brown-skinned girl who just used clone magic to outmaneuver a group of people in the opening match; Aroc – a future priest of the Dark Magic Order; Jerome – the man who wields the Dark Sword.

Finally, there was someone Kira had long forgotten—Brian!

"Brian?!"

"That guy didn't die?"

Kira was somewhat surprised. He had discovered the existence of the Dragon Slayer Research Institute by reading Brian's memories, but then stopped watching him in order to explore the institute. When he was about to leave, he found that Brian had disappeared. He never expected that Brian would appear here.