The Divine Empress

Chapter 29

"We'll now begin the long awaited annual Grand Magic Games, kabo!" Mato announced. 

The crowd cheered tremendously as their voices filled the arena. Balloons were released into the sky and confetti were raining down from above. Before long, the guilds had gathered into the arena, gaining cheers and shouts from all directions. It seemed like the fans of each guild were seated as a group and held banners and signs as they cheered for their respective guild. Of course, it was only the preliminary so before they could even play in the game, they had to pass the preliminary. This year, only six guilds were going to be chosen to participate out of the tens of guilds that had gathered. 

"For the preliminaries, we'll have the top six guilds that pass the finish line to enter, as always. Please gather at the starting line," Chapati announced. 

The guilds began moving to the starting line. 

"As for the rules, anything goes except for flying. You may use magic to attack the other guilds or to block them for passing the finish line. On your mark...get set...go!" he continued to say. 

At the sound of the gun going off, the guilds dashed forward. However, who said that it was going to be an easy race? Before them was a labyrinth built from magic, housing hundreds of different monsters and magic beings. There were also traps set in place. As the guilds rushed forward, traps were set off and many got tangled in the ropes, scratched by arrows, and chased with a gigantic cannon ball. 

"This is boring," Lucy yawned as she opened a portal. "Let's go." 

Sting, Rogue, Wendy, and Nagi all nodded, following Lucy through the portal. In a few seconds, they were the first ones at the finish line. 

"First place goes to Sabertooth, kabo!" Mato yelled happily as he pranced about. "Sabertooth may proceed to their balcony."

The crowd went wild as girls started screaming while boys started cheering as they saw the majestic and cool entry of Sabertooth. Lucy was at the head with her hair tied into a side ponytail, her jacket around her shoulders as her sleeves hung loosely. Nagi, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue were on each side of her. Their fans each holding up banners and signs. Even as they disappeared, the crowd was still going strong as their chants could be heard even outside the arena.

"That pumpkin guy really annoys me," Sting commented. "Why does he always have to end with 'kabo'?"

"Is it that annoying?" Nagi asked. 

"Ah. That pumpkin dude has always been hosting the Games ever since I can remember. It's starting to get really annoying," Rogue replied as they made their way up the stairs. 

"Hey, good job on passing the preliminary!" Minerva waved to them as she went up to grab Lucy, earning a glare from Nagi. 

"With Lucy-san here, it was easy," Wendy smiled happily as Carla flew to her. 

"Aye~" Happy flew up to Lucy. "We're definitely going to first place with Lucy!" 

Lily nodded in agreement. "The number one guild in Fiore will be Sabertooth without a doubt." 

Lucy laughed. "With everyone here, everything will be okay. I trust everyone here and their ability to win." 

Sting smirked, Rogue looked away with a slight blush, Wendy smiled, Nagi nodded his head enthusiastically, and the other guild members looked at Lucy with kindness and confidence. With her, their guild could go anywhere. 

"Now let's see who's going to come in second place," Lucy said as she walked towards the balcony and sat atop it, crossing her legs. Her eyes gleamed with interest as she looked down on them.