"Clear out the small fry first."
Rowan Mercer raised a colossal paw and dragged it across the city below.
The simulated town didn't stand a chance. Buildings crumpled like paper, streets vanished beneath fur and force, and dozens of mages were flung bodily out of the arena, crashing into the spectator wards beyond the battlefield.
Announcements exploded across the sky in rapid succession.
"Crocodile Hide Guild—eliminated!"
"Boar Fang Guild—eliminated!"
"Mammoth Tusk Guild—eliminated!"
In a single sweep, more than a third of the remaining competitors were gone.
"We can't let him keep attacking!" Minerva snapped, snapping out of her shock. "All of you, now!"
If Rowan eliminated more than half the field, the overall score would be locked beyond recovery. The royal court might want Rowan defeated or captured, but Minerva wanted something else entirely.
She wanted Sabertooth to win.
Among mages, royal authority only went so far. Power spoke louder. The Grand Magic Games mattered not because the crown hosted them, but because every guild wanted proof of supremacy. The throne was convenient. That was all.
Minerva had no intention of sacrificing Sabertooth's victory for someone else's agenda.
"Don't forget," she barked, seeing hesitation ripple through the others, "your people are still in my hands!"
Jura and the others exchanged strained looks. For the sake of their captured guildmates, they raised their hands and activated their magic.
Explosions of power lit the sky.
"Demonic Combat Art: Spatial Detonation!"
"Earth Magic: Tyrant's Rockfall!"
"Perfume Enhancement: MAXMEN!"
"Unyielding Heaven: Soaring Form!"
"Drunken Fist Art: Moonlit Strike!"
Five guild leaders unleashed their strongest attacks at once. Their subordinates followed, and even the survivors from Rowan's first sweep hurled everything they had upward.
Minerva smiled tightly as the storm converged.
"Giant forms are powerful," she said under her breath, "but the bigger you are, the harder you are to miss."
Giant magic amplified strength and defense, but it also made evasion nearly impossible. Against a single opponent, it was devastating. Against dozens, it was a liability.
At least, that was the theory.
Rowan didn't flinch.
"Hungarian Mirror World."
Two enormous mirrors formed in the air before him, conjured and reinforced in the same breath. Runes flared across their surfaces as a refined reflection spell activated.
The barrage struck the first mirror and vanished.
A heartbeat later, every spell emerged from the second mirror—redirected.
And Rowan subtly adjusted its angle.
Toward the royal palace.
The spells screamed across the sky.
Guards at the palace barely had time to react before the defensive barrier snapped into place. It lasted less than a second.
The impact shattered the shield like glass.
The palace collapsed under the combined force, towers folding inward as fire, stone, wind, and pressure erased centuries of architecture in a thunderous cascade.
Silence followed.
The king, the princess, the ministers, the audience, and the attacking mages all stood frozen, staring at the smoking ruins.
Rowan didn't look back.
"Wicked Cat's Roar."
His massive jaws opened, and a torrent of tri-colored flame poured down into the arena.
The firestorm swept the streets clean. Mage after mage vanished in flashes of teleportation as they were eliminated, until only a handful remained—Kagura, Jura, and a few others of truly exceptional caliber.
By the numbers alone, Fairy Tail had already secured first place. The only way to change that was to defeat Rowan himself.
"Split up!" Minerva shouted desperately. "Attack from different angles! Don't give him time to redirect—"
A voice whispered behind her ear.
"What chance do you think you have left?"
Her blood turned to ice.
The massive cat was gone.
Rowan stood behind her now, small again, one paw already pressed to her head.
"Out-of-body projection. Mind probe. Psychic domination."
Magic and psychic force surged together as Rowan dove into her memories, searching for the locations where the other guild members were being held.
The battle wasn't over.
But it was already decided.