themonasnovels Chapter 427 The Preliminary Rounds Begin!
Chapter 427 The Preliminary Rounds Begin!
Chapter 427 The Preliminaries Begin! (Please Subscribe!)
The preliminary rounds were held as scheduled the following day.
In "Toms Brau," atop a mountain on the western side of the city, a massive "aerial maze" floats, serving as the venue for this preliminary round.
"This is a massive maze that can hold over a hundred teams. Only the first eight teams to emerge will qualify for the knockout stage; all other teams will be eliminated!"
Standing beside the stairs leading to the vast labyrinth, looking at the 119 teams before him, King Thomas was in high spirits.
This is the power of the Kingdom of Fiore. At this moment, there are nearly seven hundred mages in front of him, almost all of whom are elites from various guilds!
On the continent of Ishgar, no other country has as many mage guilds as the Kingdom of Fiore.
Looking at King Thomas and the enormous "aerial labyrinth," the participating mages all gaped in disbelief. Where did this thing come from? It wasn't here yesterday!
However, after the initial surprise, everyone became tense. Out of 119 teams, only 8 would advance, which was an extremely high elimination rate, leaving no room for complacency.
Even the four teams from Fairy Tail (A, B, C, and D) got nervous. It would be embarrassing if they didn't even make it to the knockout stage, so everyone was under a lot of pressure.
"Each team has a fragment of the maze map. The best way to get out of the maze is to obtain fragments of other teams' maze maps and piece them together to form the complete maze map."
King Thomas the Pumpkin Head continued explaining the rules, and as soon as this rule was announced, everyone gasped in surprise again.
If it was just a "race" before, now there's a reason to fight. With this rule, the intensity of the qualifiers will increase rapidly, and the possibility of everyone coexisting peacefully will be even smaller.
"These rules seem strangely familiar."
As Moen listened, he thought of the "Chunin Exams." They were indeed somewhat similar; the Chunin Exams involved grabbing scrolls, while this one involved grabbing map fragments.
"Each team will enter the maze from a different location, and the starting point will now be arranged according to the order of registration time."
King Thomas continued speaking, and as his words fell, hundreds of ladders descended from the "Aerial Maze," which was the entrance to the "Aerial Maze." Each ladder was not far apart, but enough for each team to decide on their own strategy.
Soon, the teams lined up in order. Since they couldn't decide their starting point, they could only take the time to observe the teams around them, as these were potential opponents they might encounter soon.
The way this arrangement was made was truly unexpected; it was too random and relied too much on luck.
The four teams from "Fairy Tail" signed up together, so they were placed side by side. The four teams looked at each other, and this situation had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that everyone can quickly team up and check their map fragments. The disadvantage is that there are far fewer map fragments to fight over, which may actually slow down the speed at which you can collect all the map fragments.
If everyone spreads out, there are plenty of map fragments to grab around each team, so they might be able to collect them quickly.
For powerful teams, being close to other teams from the same guild is not a good thing, since they can defeat other teams without needing help, and having more people will only reduce efficiency.
Moreover, with the four Fairy Tail squads standing here, all the other squads at nearby spawn points were completely stunned. Under such circumstances, how could they possibly break through the encirclement?
Teams that are near the four teams from "Fairy Tail" are really unlucky; their fate is basically sealed.
However, because they were busy with too many other things before the "Grand Magic Tournament", the four teams of "Fairy Tail" signed up very late, basically at the end of the list of 119 teams.
Therefore, Fairy Tail didn't affect a particularly large number of teams. The teams around them were mostly those ranked lower, and they weren't particularly strong to begin with.
The problem is that precisely because these teams are not strong, they probably don't even have the idea of fighting against the teams from "Fairy Tail," and will definitely avoid them, which will greatly increase the difficulty for "Fairy Tail" to complete the map.
"Alright! I hereby declare the preliminary rounds officially open! Let's go!"
King Thomas didn't waste any time or give everyone more time to think; he directly announced the official start of the qualifiers.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, the preliminary rounds officially began.
After the command was given, all 119 teams rushed up the stone steps in front of them and headed towards the massive "aerial maze".
"Mr. Moen, gentlemen! Please ensure everyone's safety!"
After all the squads had entered the "aerial maze," King Thomas made a request to Moen and the guild leaders.
In this "aerial maze," a number of "safety officers" have been deployed, but their strength is insufficient to suppress the powerful mages. If someone really gets carried away, it will take the strong to suppress them, which is the job of Moen and the many guild leaders.
Of course, the association leaders cannot intervene unless the official "safety officers" request assistance, in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Once the "safety officer" requests help, it basically means that the situation is out of control. The leaders can take immediate action, and those teams that do not heed the advice will be disqualified from the competition and may even be banned from the competition for several years.
The punishment is quite severe, so everyone is extra careful not to act rashly, and at least not with the intention of taking someone's life.
Moreover, no matter what the "safety officer" says, if they intervene, you should stop as soon as possible and not take any risk of violating the rules.
The members of Fairy Tail exchanged glances and immediately reached a consensus: it would be too unfair to be disqualified because of this rule.
"Fairy Tail | Of the four teams participating this time, Team A and Team B are the most favored, and they will definitely advance if nothing unexpected happens."
Team A consists of Lucy, Emerald, Juvia, Levy, Wendy, and Cana. Team B consists of Fried, Bigelow, Ebagrien, Gajeel, Elfman, and Lisanna.
Judging from their personnel, even if they don't act together, they can easily crush other teams and assemble the maze map.
As for Team C and Team D, although they are both strong teams, they are not guaranteed to win against other powerful teams.
After all, this time, "S-class mages" from other guilds were allowed to participate, and the strength of each team has greatly improved. In this respect, "Fairy Tail" suffered quite a bit.
If their "S-rank mage" doesn't form a separate BOSS team, they could simply equip each squad with an "S-rank mage." That way, even if other guilds have "S-rank mages" participating, it wouldn't matter, as there are differences between "S-rank" mages.
"The Fairy Tail C team members, including Jet, Troy, Bisca, Alzac, Warren, and Ritas, and the D team members, including Marcao, Wakaba, Joey, Marcus, Biggeta, and Miki, are happy to be able to team up."
A single squad fighting alone may not be able to defeat those strong elite squads, but when two squads join forces, their combat power doubles and their safety is greatly increased!
Other mage guilds rarely field two teams together, and even if they do, the second team is usually not very strong.
Therefore, Team C and Team D have a significant advantage by teaming up. With veterans like Macao and Wakaba leading the charge, plus a new generation of players with diverse abilities, they are sure to give those elite teams a run for their money.
Before long, the four Fairy Tail teams that had entered the "Sky Labyrinth" met up and immediately began to check the map fragments.
This is where Lidas put his talent to use; he can draw the existing map directly, so that all four squads can have a copy.
"Of the five fragments, only three are useful, which is alright."
Lidas looked at the five map fragments in his hand and said, "Although two of them were wasted, it's still within an acceptable range."
As for why there are five map fragments, it's because Fried and his B team eliminated a squad on their way to regroup; that unlucky squad was eliminated right at the start of the game.
"Teams A and B will operate independently, while Teams C and D will operate together. You are strong enough that there is no need for you to waste time sticking together."
While Lidas was drawing, Marcao talked about the upcoming arrangements.
It's easier for people to accept this kind of thing if he brings it up himself; otherwise, Lucy and Fried might not be so comfortable bringing it up.
"Alright, let's head in three different directions to collect the map!"
Lucy nodded. She believed that with Macao and the others' strength, they would not be eliminated. This arrangement was indeed a better one, preventing Fairy Tail from being completely wiped out.
"agree."
Fried nodded in agreement, by which time Lidas had already drawn the map fragments.
Each of their squads started with three map fragments, which was a good start and might have given them a significant lead over other teams.
"Here, take this phone. Although it only works when you're very close, it's still a bit further away than my magic."
Before separating, Warren tossed two "cell phones" to Team A and Team B.
This is the first-generation device, and it's still very imperfect, but it's better to be prepared. Warren can't keep using "voice magic" to contact everyone, but this "phone" can keep "automatically recognizing" people, and it will alert people when they enter the communication range.
"This is good."
Looking at the "cell phone," Lucy immediately saw the business opportunity it contained. No wonder her master had always strongly advocated and funded this research; this thing would definitely sell well all over the world and completely change the way people communicate.
"Let's go! Let's all advance together!"
Marcao shouted to cheer everyone on. The tense atmosphere of the qualifiers excited even this uncle. He said, "Fairy Tail is already dominated by the younger generation. I want to show everyone that the older generation is still the backbone and can still contribute to the guild!"
"Let's advance together!"
The members of Fairy Tail shouted together, then quickly dispersed, with the four teams splitting into three directions to sweep through the area. Guilds that were hit by the raids could only accept their bad luck.
"The four teams from 'Fairy Tail' have a huge advantage!"
Through the broadcast camera, King Thomas, the Pumpkin Head, was commentating on the qualifiers. He was really busy; there were just too many things happening at the same time, and he couldn't possibly handle everything.
Therefore, King Thomas could only choose to focus on some of the more popular teams and then read out the names of the eliminated teams.
The four teams from Fairy Tail have garnered enough attention that King Thomas will naturally take a closer look. And once he does, he'll see that they're on a roll, eliminating one team after another.
The map is fragmented, with some parts overlapping, making it quite difficult to collect the complete map. Although teams A and B of "Fairy Tail" are very strong, they seem to have had some bad luck and haven't been able to collect the complete map yet.
It has to be said that luck plays a very important role in this qualifier. Whether it's the initial spawn point ranking or whether you can find the map fragments you need, luck is a big factor.
Unlucky teams are eliminated early on, while unlucky but strong teams may never find the fragments they need.
"Looks like you guys aren't having much luck."
Goldman stood beside Moen, his tone tinged with schadenfreude, because the "Four-Headed Hound" team was only one map fragment away from completing their mission, a feat achieved by the "Fairy Tail" team with three map fragments at the start.
"No rush, we haven't gathered all the teams yet, have we?"
Moen remained calm and collected. Lucy's Team A still had two fragments left, and Fried's Team B still had one. The two teams had been stuck for a while, but this problem would soon be resolved, as they were about to reunite.
"My phone's lit up! A squad is nearby!"
Anxious, Lucy looked at the suddenly vibrating "phone." This "phone" was like a big brick, quite difficult to hold, but Lucy didn't put it away. After all, maintaining contact with the other teams in Fairy Tail was crucial, like right now.
Team A has been stuck on these two fragments for a long time, but now that they've reunited with their teammates, they might be able to collect them all at once!
"Feed? Can you hear me?"
Hearing the voice coming from the "phone," Lucy's face lit up with joy, and her companions around her also breathed a sigh of relief; they had really made contact.
"Fried! How many more are you short?!"
As Lucy asked, she and Fried checked their positions. The two teams quickly approached each other, and after comparing the missing fragments, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally, we've found them all!"
Lucy called out happily, and Emerald, Juvia, Levy, Wendy, and Cana also cheered joyfully.
This "phone" really did a great job; otherwise, they wouldn't know how many more squads they would have had to fight to find the whole map.