Summoner of the Fairy Tail - Chapter 263

The fourth day’s competition, named “Naval Battle,” was clear why when you saw the preparation of the arena.

On the wide open ground, a large magic circle was drawn, and above the magic circle, a water sphere with a diameter of several tens of meters was suspended. All participants entered this water sphere to battle within it.

The faster someone was knocked out of the water sphere, the lower their rank. The competition ended when only one person was left in the water sphere, who would naturally be the winner.

To maintain the tension until the end, the organizers added a special rule: when only two people remained in the water sphere, a five-minute countdown would start. If one was eliminated within those five minutes, they would become the last place.

Almost all the teams, perhaps because it was a water battle, had cooperated by sending out female mages. Apart from Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus, which were all-female and all-male guilds, respectively, the other guilds had female representatives.

Blue Pegasus sent Jenny, Lamia Scale sent Sherria, Sabertooth sent Minerva, while Fairy Tail A team sent Lucy, and the B team sent Juvia, making a total of seven participants.

Among today’s contestants, the one most eager to win was undoubtedly Sabertooth’s Minerva. Besides winning, she also aimed to lower the scores of Fairy Tail’s two teams as much as possible.

The rules were particularly interesting this time, and Minerva planned to use them to her advantage. Her strategy was to first eliminate one Fairy Tail member, then keep the other until the end, tormenting her during the five minutes before humiliatingly throwing her out of the water sphere to secure last place.

Coldly watching as Lucy opened the Gate of Aquarius and summoned Aquarius, who clashed evenly with Juvia, Minerva smirked. Moving her hands slowly, she controlled the rising water currents.

Since Fairy Tail’s resurgence, Minerva had gathered all the information she could about them. She knew that in a water battle, Juvia had a 100% advantage. It was almost impossible to torment her within five minutes. In contrast, even though Aquarius was formidable, Lucy would be defenseless without her keys.

At that point, she could do whatever she wanted with Lucy.

Smirking sinisterly, Minerva silently activated her magic while Juvia was busy fighting Aquarius.

Minerva used spatial magic, one ability of which was to instantly move objects to different positions, undetectable by others.

One moment, Juvia was controlling the water in front of her, but the next, she was outside the water sphere. Before she could figure out what happened, she fell to the ground, dazed.

Blue Pegasus’s Jenny took advantage of this to kick the Quatro Cerberus participant out.

Now, only five contestants remained in the water sphere.

Without Juvia’s interference, Aquarius unleashed her full power, creating a vortex with her water jug that threw out the other three contestants except Minerva.

Now it was down to just Lucy and Minerva.

“Great! Now there’s only that Sabertooth woman left!” Natsu shouted excitedly. His excitement was not only because Lucy had knocked out three contestants but also because Juvia was the first to be eliminated. Whether Lucy got first or second place, the points would far exceed team B.

He completely ignored the added rule.

“Don’t celebrate too early. That woman is not simple. She must have used some space magic to eliminate Juvia earlier. She could instantly knock everyone out, but she chose to leave Lucy for last,” Calvin said with a hint of displeasure. He regretted not asking Future Lucy about today’s match, as he didn’t want to waste energy on the Grand Magic Games.

“You’re overthinking it. Trust in Lucy!” Natsu retorted, displeased.

“Phew! Took care of three. Now I’m heading back. I have a date!” Aquarius laughed triumphantly. She symbolically attacked Minerva, not bothering with Lucy, and returned to the Celestial Spirit World.

“You’re the strongest in the water! How can you be so capricious?!” Lucy yelled in frustration. Minerva, having blocked Aquarius’s attack, was smiling eerily at her, making Lucy nervous.

But with only five minutes to hold out, even if she lost, she would still get eight points. Lucy glanced at the timer, which had just started counting down, with over four minutes left.

“I have to hold on! Even without Aquarius, I have other spirits to help!” Lucy thought determinedly, reaching for her keys instinctively.

But they were gone.

Looking up, she saw Minerva holding her belt—the one she used for her keys!

When did Minerva take it? Juvia was also inexplicably eliminated. Was it Minerva’s magic?

Lucy frowned deeply, thinking. Just then, she saw Minerva smile strangely, and an air bubble appeared beside her.

Bang!

It exploded!

The explosion wasn’t very powerful but was close enough to injure Lucy. She gritted her teeth to stay conscious of the points.

“I can’t go down that easily. I have to last at least five minutes,” Lucy thought, enduring the pain.

But then Minerva’s voice came from behind her.

“How naive. Surrendering is your best option. Do you think I’m gentle?” Her tone was calm, but Lucy felt the malice. Before she could react, Minerva kicked her hard in the back, causing unbearable pain.

For the remaining time, Minerva mercilessly attacked Lucy, leaving her covered in wounds. It was clear to everyone that Minerva could knock Lucy out anytime but chose to torment her to vent Sabertooth’s frustration from the past few days, showing their superiority.

This cruelty enraged the Fairy Tail members, while Sabertooth’s members looked smug, sneering at Natsu and his team as if saying, “See, this is our true strength!”

As the five-minute countdown neared its end, Minerva finally grabbed Lucy by the neck, laughing maniacally, and threw her out of the water sphere. By then, Lucy had already fainted, her life uncertain.

Natsu and Gray jumped to the stage, catching Lucy to prevent further injury. Wendy rushed to provide emergency healing.

It wasn’t just them; Calvin and Erza followed, glaring at Minerva with cold, hateful eyes, ready to take action.

Naturally, Sabertooth’s members stepped forward to protect Minerva, all with arrogant smiles.

“What’s with those looks? I followed the rules! Blame her for being weak, such a pathetic girl,” Minerva said contentedly, walking out of the water sphere nonchalantly.

Her words triggered both sides, ready to clash.

Natsu looked ready to charge, but Erza held him back, knowing fighting here would lose their advantage.

However, could she also hold back Calvin?

Calvin, expressionless, stepped forward, facing Sting, Orga, and Rufus fearlessly.

“You follow the rules? Fine, I won’t deny that. But unlike you, Fairy Tail never cares about rules. Anger us, and we’ll even kill the king.”

“A pathetic girl? Does weakness equal trash? Then Sabertooth is the biggest dump in Fiore!”

“Are you prepared to die here?”

As Calvin spoke, a massive magical power enveloped Crocus. Everyone felt the overwhelming magic.

No one could stay calm, not even the usually composed Minerva, whose face was now filled with terror.

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