When it came to this round, I had some trouble with writing the Sabertooth vs. Mermaid Heel fight. The two most popular options were Kagura vs. Rogue and Yukino vs. Millianna, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find inspiration for either of those fights. Once I combined aspects from both of them, it seemed to work much better.

After getting everything back on order, the competitors from Blue Pegasus and Fairy Tail's Team One have entered the field for their fight. Despite Rala's unfamiliarity with the games, he seems to be interested. "This is an inspired choice! Both of these competitors are the manliest mages present, from what I have seen."

"HEY!" Nearly all of the male mages who are participating protest this declaration, along with Elfman before he remembers that he's not competing this year.

"Geeheeheehee! You hear that?" Gajeel is cackling as he watches the reactions of his guildmates, as he's facing off against the person who Rala considers to be the other manliest mage…

…Ichiya. Okay, so Rala may or may not be accurate with that statement. "Meeeeeen~! I was hoping to face Laxus and convince him to return to Blue Pegasus, but I will be able to show him and the Thunder God Tribe how strong our guild has become!"

Gajeel cracks his knuckles, his smirk remaining on his face. "That's a nice speech, but you've gotta beat me to do that."

"It seems as though you aren't taking my resolve seriously. Very well – in that case, a wager seems to be in order. If I win, then Laxus will return to Blue Pegasus. And to show how serious I am, if Fairy Tail wins, then they will get…" Spinning around, Ichiya points at Gajeel with both index fingers as rose petals blow in from nowhere. "…me."

"Ichiya, no!" The members of Blue Pegasus, especially the Trimens and Nichiya, are in shock – many of them are begging him not to do something so drastic.

"Pass." Gajeel doesn't even hesitate to refuse those conditions, causing confusion among the Blue Pegasus members.

"Why would he turn down such a generous offer?" Eve wonders aloud.

Hibiki nods, believing that he's figured it out. "Perhaps he knows that he cannot win, so he does not want to lose one of his precious friends."

Gajeel snarls, shaking his fist at the crowd – his Dragon Slayer hearing is good enough to pick out those conversations. "That ain't it at all! You got everything wrong!"

In the crowd, Erza breathes a sigh of relief – even the thought of Ichiya being in the same guild as her chilled her to the bone.

"Unfortunate, but I understand that you do not want to put a precious comrade at risk. However, I shall go all out nevertheless!" Pulling out two vials of perfume, he stuffs them into his nose, inhaling deeply. In a flash, the Blue Pegasus mage is surrounded by electricity, and he points at Gajeel again. "Justice Thunder Men~!"

Lightning shoots from his fingers at Gajeel, striking him. However, in order to counter this ability, Gajeel turns his arm into a steel pillar and sticks it into the ground, diverting the lightning. It still hurts considerably, but it's much worse than it could have been.

Despite being slightly charred, Gajeel's grin remains on his face. "Using lightning against me? I've fought Laxus, and he hit way harder than that!"

"Still took you out of commission…" Laxus grumbles, though only his team hears him.

"I see. I hate to do this, but it seems as though I must!" With a dramatic flourish, Ichiya pulls out the second most dangerous perfume in his arsenal. The most dangerous, the Handsome Perfume, was banned across Ishgar after it spilled into the water supply of Magnolia Town and caused an epidemic of people transforming into bizarre Ichiya hybrids. As possessing it is now considered a war crime as a result of that outbreak, this is the most powerful perfume that Ichiya can legally use.

"I've seen you use your perfumes – they're nothing spec-" Suddenly, Gajeel's hands are up to his nose in a flash, and it looks like he's going to be sick. In the crowd, all of the other Dragon Slayers, along with a few people in the front rows, are reacting the same way, as their sense of smell is assaulted by something that seems like a mix between burning garbage and a clogged toilet.

"This is the Legendary Perfume of Darkness! None can resist its smell, one so potent that even those without noses dread facing it!" Ichiya's eyes are watering – while his nose may not be as potent as a Dragon Slayer's, he's at ground zero of the stench. "I hate to use such a troublesome technique, for it is truly a double-edged sword, but I have trained myself to resist its effects!"

Gajeel kicks at Ichiya, his leg turning into a lengthy steel pillar to boost its range, but Ichiya sees it coming and dodges. "I don't have to use my arms to beat you!"

"No, but you must use them to defend yourself! Surrender now, and I shall seal this technique away, so that it may never be used again!" Ichiya inhales his Power Perfume, causing his muscles to expand and his body to burst out of his shirt. While such a form may look ridiculous, with Ichiya's face on the body of a body builder, it was strong enough to defeat Bacchus Groh and one of Wahl's mechanical puppets in a single hit each.

Gajeel can't help but feel that this entire situation is absurd – he always found Ichiya weird, and yet now that he's actually fighting the guy, he's being pushed back?

Acting quickly, he coughs out two small cylindrical pieces of metal, about the size and shape of bullets. Removing his hand from his nose, he tries to bear the smell even for a moment, but he gags, doubling over. The only time he's ever felt this bad was when he was on transportation! His hands shaking, he barely gets the chunks of metal into his nostrils before the smell can overwhelm him.

With the foul stench blocked somewhat, Gajeel is able to get back to his feet. "Thanks for babysitting Laxus for a year. 'Cause I'm such a nice guy, I'll go easy on you just for doing that."

"Your body may be iron, but even the strongest of steel bends before this technique! Power Perfume: Max…" As Ichiya charges at Gajeel, he grins.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel breathes out a torrent of metal shards at the leaping Blue Pegasus mage, which quickly engulfs him. Ichiya has no way to defend himself, and when the attack is finished, he is bloody but still standing.

"Good… match…" Ichiya tries to take a few steps forward, but falls to the ground, unconscious. The entire Blue Pegasus guild immediately rushes out to carry him to the medical wing, and Gajeel sits down, wondering how his life got to this point.

In the crowd, Natsu and Wendy are still clutching their noses, as even with Ichiya gone, the stench of that perfume still lingers. "Remind me… to never get Ichiya mad, okay?" Natsu shudders – he can't exactly plug his nose with fire, and while he could use his scarf, he doesn't want that smell to soak into it. The non-Dragon Slayers, who are too preoccupied with keeping their noses plugged, cheer for Gajeel's victory, though it's Gajeel's team, along with Levy and Pantherlily, who are cheering the loudest. With that win, Fairy Tail's Team One moves to first place with a total of thirty-nine points.

Next up is the battle between Sabertooth and Mermaid Heel. Specifically, the fighters chosen were Rogue Cheney and Millianna, arguably the second in commands of their respective teams. Of the two of them, Millianna seems to be especially excited for this fight, stretching and punching the air as Rogue stands there stoically.

The cat girl grins at her opponent. "Hey, shadow guy! How 'bout we do a bet like what the last fighters tried?"

Rogue crosses his arms, annoyed. "Why? There's no reason for it."

"Don't be like that! What about this – if I win, then that kitty of yours has to join Mermaid Heel!"

That gets Rogue's attention. He points at Millianna dramatically, clearly riled up. "Frosch is a precious friend of mine, and a valued member of Sabertooth! He would never leave the guild, under any circumstances!"

Meanwhile, Frosch had left to get snacks, and he had gotten lost on the way back. Clutching his bag of popcorn, he looks around for the Sabertooth section, and seeing a bunch of mages off to the side, he runs over to them and sits in an empty seat.

"All right, Rogue!" Rogue turns to acknowledge Frosch, but his Exceed friend isn't in the Sabertooth section of the stands. Looking around for the source of the voice, he spots that familiar frog costume in the Mermaid Heel section.

"FROSCH, NO!" Rogue immediately fears the worst, and turns to Millianna with fury in his eyes.

"Kagura, hold on to that cat for me!" Millianna waves to her guildmates. Kagura decides to oblige her teammate, putting a hand on Frosch's head and rubbing behind his ears. "All right! Now I'm all pumped up!" The cat-like mage turns to Rogue, unfurling her whip.

However, when she turns her attention to the Sabertooth mage, she can't even see him – everything around her is covered in darkness. Rogue emerges from the shadows, his eyes wide and his body limp.

"I won't… let you… take Frosch AWAY FROM ME! Shadow Dragon's…" The shadows that Rogue generated converge on Millianna, assaulting her from all angles. "…Waxwing Flash!"

The barrage of attacks continues for a while, as Millianna is pelted by a bunch of feather-like shadows. "And…" Drawing back his hand, shadows wrap around it before Rogue strikes Millianna with his open palm. "Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

The force of this blow sends Millianna flying into the stands, unconscious. The Mermaid Heel girls immediately rush over to their friend. "Millianna, are you all right?"

Millianna shakily opens her eyes. "Need… kitties…" As the Mermaid Heel mages breathe sighs of relief, Frosch cheers on his friend's victory, spilling some of his popcorn on the floor as a result of his sheer enthusiasm.

Yajima looks at the schedule. "Next up, we have Fairy Tail's A Team versus Alvarez. The mages of Fairy Tail played a major role in fending off the forces of Alvarez during the war, so it will be interesting to see how this goes."

"Yeah! Come on, Fairy Tail!" A young barefoot girl is sitting on one of the chest-high walls, cheering loudly for her favourite team and apparently unconcerned with the possibility of falling off. "Come on, Arius! You've gotta cheer too!"

The dark-haired young man chuckles at his companion's enthusiasm. "I'm actually supporting Crime Sorciere or Alvarez – I find the story of an underdog more interesting. How inspiring would it be to see a team that's never competed before come out on top?"

The blonde girl pouts at that. "You're so indecisive! Can't you just pick one of them?"

"I could ask you the same question, Mio. Let's say both Fairy Tail teams were pitted against each other – which one would you support?"

"Hm…" Mio stops to think about that question. "That's a tough one. Lucy's a huge inspiration, and it's clear that the A team is a very tight-knit group. On the other hand, Team One has a lot of powerhouses, and they certainly seem more determined to win…" She shrugs, making a verbal tactical retreat. "I guess it can be harder than it looks some times. Besides, if you're rooting for an underdog, why not cheer for Blue Pegasus?" Arius immediately drops that subject.

The mages of Fairy Tail know the strength of the Spriggan Twelve better than anyone, and while Lucy and Wendy are dreading the possibility of being put up against anyone, aside from Brandish in Lucy's case, the others are more enthusiastic.

The situation is very similar on the Alvarez side. Aside from Brandish, who couldn't care less, and Neinhart, who is dreading the possibility of one-on-one combat (especially against Natsu or Erza), the rest of them are eager for payback.

Eventually, the votes are finalized. Much to her concern, Lucy was surprisingly popular this round, and for a moment, her heart sinks when she thinks that she might have been chosen to take on one of the Spriggan Twelve. Fortunately for her, it's Gray who was selected instead. The exhibitionist ice mage heads down to the battlefield with the crowd cheering him on, and of course, the Fairy Tail sections, and Juvia in particular, are the most enthusiastic.

For the Alvarez side, the mage chosen to represent their team was Neinhart, much to his shock. His ideal setting for a fight would be a city, where he had a lot of places to hide or stay out of the way of potential opponents – a wide-open battlefield, surrounded on all sides by a crowd of people, is basically the exact opposite of that.

"Hey, are you ready or not?" Gray eyes up Neinhart, confused as to how one of the Spriggan Twelve was eyeing up the surroundings as though he was looking for a way out. He hadn't heard about this one from any of the other Fairy Tail mages, but this kind of behaviour seemed unusual for a mage like this.

"I guess I have no choice…" Neinhart resigns himself to the fact that he'll be stuck in the middle of all of this. Activating his magic, he draws on the biggest source of guilt for the mage standing before him.

As Gray gets ready to fight, he hears a familiar voice behind him. "Let's see how much stronger you've gotten over the years, Gray."

"Ur?" Gray's eyes widen as he turns his head to confirm that this is, in fact, his former master. Recalling something similar happening during the battle with Alvarez, he turns to look at Neinhart. "So you're the one who…" Forming a large icicle into his hand, Gray tosses it at the Alvarez mage. "Ice Make: Javelin!"

"Ice Make: Wall." With little effort, Ur puts a wall of ice between Gray and Neinhart before tapping him on the shoulder. "Surely you don't want me to leave so soon? Your test hasn't even started."

Despite everything that's happening, Gray can't help but smile a little. "Guess I've got to beat you before I can get to him, right? If you wanted to see how much stronger I've become, I suppose I can show you." Instinctively, Gray pulls off his shirt, tossing it into the air. Most of the Fairy Tail mages are more surprised that he kept it on for as long as he did.

"You aren't going to hold back? Good – let's see how creative you've become."

Out of everyone in the crowd, it's Ultear who's paying the closest attention to this battle. While the only member of the Spriggan Twelve that she personally encountered was Dimaria, she had heard that Neinhart's magic made exact copies of deceased mages with strong bonds to his targets, so she wanted to memorize everything that she could see of her mother.

"Ice Make: Rose Garden!" A field of icy flowers blooms on the stadium floor, quickly surrounding Gray. The speed with which Ur cast this was impressive, but the most troublesome thing would be the thorns – even the slightest movement scratches Gray's arms and legs. Still, he has to move in order to cast magic, so ignoring the pain, he places his arms together.

"Ice Make: Scythe!" Rather than spawning the scythe in his hands, it sprouts from his feet, having it lie on the ground. A sweeping kick allows the scythe to shatter the ice roses, leaving them in shards that quickly melt. The scythe also cuts into Ur's right leg – the leg that she lost in life – but she seems more proud than anything.

"Good – interesting method of using that." With that, Ur slaps her hand on the ground. "Ice Make: Ice Volcano!" The ground suddenly erupts with a barrage of ice blocks, snow, and hail, as Gray is sent flying by the attack.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray summons a hammer of ice above Ur's head. Ur leaps out of the way to avoid it, but Gray's goal of getting Ur's ice volcano to stop erupting is accomplished. Landing on the ground, Gray places his hands on it. "Ice Make: Shield Wall!"

A half-sphere of ice forms around Gray, with spikes jutting out of it like spears. Ur smirks, summoning ice of her own to attack it. Ur's ice projectiles have so much magical power put into them that they smash through the wall after a few blows, but even from the distance she's at, one thing is absolutely clear.

"It's empty?!" Ur barely has time to notice the ground warping beneath her before Gray bursts out from it, carrying a drill made of ice. She leaps back, avoiding a direct hit, but Gray tosses the drill at her, catching her in the stomach.

"You're taking more hits than the last time this happened. This is going to be a pain…" Even though he's being forced to fight his beloved mentor, a small smile is still on Gray's face – this is just like old times, and the closest he'll get to showing Ur how he's improved.

Ur smiles as well. "I wish I could see how much Lyon's improved as well, but I suppose I can only take on one of you at once in a case like this." With that, Ur lunges forward, creating an ice axe in her hand. "I've seen your power – now let's test your speed!"

"Ice Make: Gungnir!" A massive spear of ice rises from the ground, right in Ur's path with no time for her to create a footing and escape. The ice spear impales Ur's Historia, leaving her suspended high in the air.

From Ur's new vantage point, she manages to spot a face in the crowd that seems inexplicably familiar. Reaching her hand out, she tries to memorize the face of her daughter, and tears form in Ultear's eyes as her mother notices her.

As Ur fades away, along with Gray's massive ice spear and the ice wall that Ur created, Gray turns to Neinhart. "All right, now it's just you and me."

"Not exactly…" Gray leaps away as he hears another voice beside him – the voice of his father, Silver Fullbuster. "The power that I gave to you… Let's see how well you can use it, son."

"You too? Between you, Ur, and Ultear, this is like a messed up family reunion. Let me guess, you won't let me go after that coward until I beat you."

Silver nods. "I'm afraid so. Much like with Tartaros, I don't have any say in the matter – his magic is the only thing tying me to this world."

"Ain't that a shame…" This was hardly ideal – Gray had already taken a few good hits from Ur, and now he had to face his father as well. With his father deliberately positioning himself between Gray and Neinhart, he didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. Taking similar stances, both father and son inhale deeply, preparing their attacks.

"Ice Devil's Rage!" Both of them exhale a purple blizzard, with blasts of snow and hail clashing against each other before violently exploding. Before the smoke clears, Gray summons a purple ice bow.

"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow!" While the attack name is a bit of a mouthful, it's dangerous enough to cause serious harm to Mard Geer, of all people. He fires it through the smoke, but Silver snatches the arrow out of midair. It freezes his arm solid, but he seems unbothered by that fact.

Silver tries to take a bit out of the ice, but he recoils once his mouth makes contact. "Yuck! This tastes disgusting!"

"Don't think you have the option of being picky, old man!" Gray smirks, making note of that fact in case one of Silver's attacks hits him.

"I don't recall raising you to be so disrespectful! Guess I'd better teach you some manners." Biting off the last of the ice, Silver creates spiked gloves on his hands, made from the same purple ice as the rest of the Devil Slayer magic. Gray tenses up, preparing to dodge, but Silver vanishes. The Fairy Tail mage's eyes widen as he looks around, only for Silver's fist to hit him in the side from behind him.

Gray turns to strike back, but Silver has disappeared again, making good use of his teleportation magic. His next blow is a sweeping kick to knock Gray down, followed by a crushing gut punch. Gray coughs up blood as he collapses to the ground.

"Just surrender, son. This violence is unnecessary." Silver looks down at his boy with a sad expression on his face – as much as he hates doing this, he can't resist the compulsion.

"Heh. Why should I? I've got you right where I want you!" Summoning a spear into his hand, Gray tosses it in Neinhart's direction. Neinhart had thought that, with Silver here to protect him, he wasn't going to be threatened, so the attention suddenly returning to him catches the Alvarez mage by surprise. Silver's eyes widen in shock, and he teleports in the way of the spear to grab it out of the air and eat it.

Now that there's some distance between himself and Silver, Gray can get back on his feet. A bit of blood is dripping down his chin, and his wounds from Ur and his father are starting to catch up to him, but he's not about to quit any time soon. "Why don't we make up for lost time? I'm thinking that we try a game of catch!" Running his hand along the ground, Gray forms a sphere of ice in his hand and tosses it at his father. "Ice Make: Ball!"

Silver inhales, preparing to eat it, but he gets a mouthful of dirt along with the ice. Coughing and trying to get the dirt out, he's wide open for Gray's next attack.

"And… Ice Demon's Hell Thorns!" Purple spikes impale Silver's body from a dozen different angles, and it's too injured for him to keep fighting.

"Heh… Would you look at that." Silver smiles as he looks at Gray with pride. "You've really gotten the hang of my magic – I can only imagine how much stronger you'll get." With that, he fades away, leaving Gray alone with Neinhart once more.

Summoning mages of this calibre at their full power was starting to take its toll on Neinhart – while he could summon an army of Historias, sacrifices had to be made to maintain their strength, such as severely decreasing their durability. Summoning a whole army, or even a few powerful mages like the dead Spriggan Twelve members, would result in each of them going down in a single hit when they could normally take much more damage. When he only has to worry about one opponent, and the opponent is close by, his powers could be used more effectively, but it also takes much more out of him if the summons are particularly strong.

Even though he's panting and sweating, Neinhart still grins as Gray advances on him. "I see… there is one more powerful Historia, at least."

Gray glares at Neinhart, readying an ice sword. "Ur and my father were some of the most powerful people that I've ever seen, at least of the ones who aren't with us anymore. I doubt that any of the mages that you can pull out of my head could beat them."

"Oh, but this Historia already has." Suddenly, a massive shadow looms over Gray and the audience as Neinhart's third Historia is summoned. Neinhart is doubled over and can't move, but this summon should be worth it.

"Where am I?" The behemoth turns its head lazily, looking around. "So many humans…" It looks in front of him, where Gray is staring at the beast, absolutely furious. "Perhaps I'll start with you… A small morsel for the feast to come…"

In the crowd, Lyon's eyes have widened with shock, and he's tempted to step in there himself, regardless of the rules. "It can't be… De-Deliora?!"

The massive demon that is standing before them is, in fact, Deliora – the demon of Zeref that was responsible for the destruction of Gray's hometown and the death of his mentor, Ur. Acting quickly, Freed throws up a barrier around the audience, with Levy reinforcing it. The two of them had been contacted to do such a thing in case of emergencies – while the competitors knew that attacking the audience would result in disqualification, a situation like this could easily result in a lot of collateral damage, especially if Neinhart couldn't control Deliora. Other mages with similar abilities were also assisting to increase the barrier's strength, just to be on the safe side.

Gray also immediately decides on a course of action – Ice Make spells likely wouldn't work, especially in the state that he's in, but Devil Slayer magic wouldn't be much good if it wasn't super effective against demons. "Ice Devil's…"

Before Gray can finish his spell, Deliora's massive hand swipes at him, which sends the Fairy Tail mage flying into the stadium's wall. Despite Deliora's massive size, it's clear that it possesses great speed as well.

Even with Gray smashed into a wall, it's clear that Deliora isn't done. Inhaling, the demon fires a beam of energy at the part of the wall that Gray was embedded into – only the barrier keeps about a seventh of the crowd from being hit along with him.

Leaping out of the smoke, Gray flings a purple ice sword at Deliora's face. It hits the demon square in the eye, causing it to bellow out in pain. "This… What is this magic?"

Gray lands on the ground, nearly falling as he does so – the wounds that he's taken from Ur and Silver were bad enough, but he won't be able to last much longer if the hulking demon lands another blow. "I may not have Ur's strength, or her convictions, but I have something that she didn't." As Deliora looms over him, ready to strike again, Gray places his hands on the ground.

"What are you babbling about? Die, morsel!" Deliora swings a massive hand at Gray, but it's already too late – purple-tinged ice is already forming out of the ground beneath Deliora's feet.

"Ice Devil's Mountain: Sisyphus!" The ice rises upwards, becoming a miniature mountain that pierces through Deliora. Spikes of ice expand outward from the mountain, slicing the massive demon in half.

As the ice vanishes and the two halves of Deliora slide apart and fall to the ground, Gray steps through them. He's barely standing at this point, after the gauntlet that he's ran, but he's gradually making his way towards Neinhart. "Is that… all you've got?"

"Eek!" Neinhart tries to find another powerful Historia from Gray's memories, but he's running out of options. Summoning the same Historia twice in quick succession leads to them being significantly weaker, so he can't reuse Ur or Silver, and while Mard Geer might be a possibility, Gray already demonstrated that defeating a demon of Zeref was much easier compared to fighting a human mage. Neinhart tries to back away, to get as much distance as possible between himself and the ice mage, but he stumbles and falls, leading to him scrambling away in an undignified manner.

Gray's footsteps get shakier the further he gets, and his vision starts to blur. Try as he might, he can't keep himself upright any longer, and when he's a few steps away from Neinhart, he collapses.

Neinhart's eyes are wide and his heart is pounding, but he is as surprised as everyone else at this outcome. Looking around to make sure this isn't some kind of trick, he turns and bows to the crowd, considering this to be a successful demonstration of his abilities.

As the points are added to the board, narrowly bringing Alvarez to second place, the Alvarez citizens in the crowd let out loud cheers. For the first time since the preliminaries, they have something to be excited about. While they're seven points behind Fairy Tail's other team, and they'll be bumped down to third no matter who wins the next match, it finally feels like they have a chance of winning this.

As Neinhart continues to celebrate, Juvia rushes off to the medical area. It doesn't take long for her to get there, and when she does, Gray is sitting up on his bed, slumped over and lost in thought.

"G-Gray-sama?" Juvia hates seeing Gray like this – it reminds her of their first day at the Grand Magic Games, and their previous fight with one of the Spriggan Twelve. "Are you okay?"

Gray sighs, trying to collect himself – both for his own sake and Juvia's. "It's fine. It's just a contest, after all; we're not at war anymore."

Juvia shakes her head. "It's not that. It's just… I know seeing your father must be difficult after what happened to him, and everything else on top of that…"

Gray shakes his head – he had been hoping that this wouldn't come up, but it's something that he'll have to deal with. "I know my father and Ur would both be proud of me for what I've accomplished, and I beat Deliora. I'm not sure if it was as strong as the original, but that's a huge step forward, and a way to avenge them both. Besides, I should probably stop focusing on what I've lost. I've still got you, after all, and it's my future that I should be concerned with."

Juvia takes a moment to process this, running it through her usual filters.

I've got you, after all, and it's my future that I should be concerned with.

I've got you, Juvia – you're my future.

Let's spend the rest of our futures together.

"Gray-sama!" She gives Gray a big hug, which he doesn't try to brush off, even when she nuzzles against him. "But where will we go for our honeymoon?"

"W-Wait, hold on! I never said anything about marriage!" Gray tries to clear things up, but Juvia refuses to let go of him, and his protests only seem to dig him in deeper.

Back in the arena, Mato is preparing to announce the final battle for the day. "This next match is going to be a good one! On one side, we have Lamia Scale – veterans of the tournament and a well-rounded team all around! On the other side, we have Crime Sorciere. While they're newcomers to the Grand Magic Games, they've taken the competition by storm! They've rocketed to the top of the scoreboard, and many consider them favourites to win the entire games!"

Once the votes are tallied, Mato's eyes widen when he sees the results – he has serious doubts that the stadium will stay intact after this battle. Still, the people have spoken, and all he can do is say the results. "Your final match for the day will be… JURA NEEKIS VERSUS JELLAL FERNANDEZ!"

"DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

"Rala, stop that."

I figured the first two matches would be short, so I might as well set them all up now. I hope I haven't annoyed any Gray fans with his performance in the Games so far, but Neinhart's a tough opponent for someone like him, who's dealt with a lot of absurdly strong people/demons in his past, and having Neinhart bring up past traumas was a popular concept among people who voted. Plus, it seemed like a good opportunity for a shipping moment, and to balance the scores out a bit.

Thanks to Martyn for suggesting the cameo for Mavis and Zeref's reincarnations! Next time, we have Jellal vs. Jura – and this time around, Ultear and Meredy won't be interrupting it.