The wizards quickly began to negotiate who should be the one to participate in the event. Some teams were quicker to choose wizards than others, but no more than five minutes later all the wizards had been selected.
"Now, it appears that we have our competitors for our Demolition Man event" Mr Yajima announced.
"First, from Fairy Tail Team A, Natsu Dragneel. From Fairy Tail Team B, Cana Alberona! From the Alvarez Guild, Alayna. For Crime Sorciere, Richard. From the SaberTooth guild, celestial wizard Yukino. For Mermaid Heel, the adorable Beth Vanderwood! From the Blue Pegasus guild, Eve Tilm, just listen to that crowd noise folks. For Quattro Cerberus, Semmes! Finally, for Twilight Ogre, Thibalt!"
A massive mockup of the city crocus appeared before the guild wizards on the stadium grounds and the fans in the stands. The scale and complexity baffled Zeldris to the point he sat back down on the stone bench behind him. His mouth agape but no words coming out.
The mockup of the city finally finished materializing and Mato began to speak, addressing the competing wizards and crowd about the rules of the event, "ladies, gentleman, and wizards. We know that wizarding jobs can be dangerous and collateral damage is unavoidable. That is why in the spirit of seeing what could happen, we decided to test the destructive force of wizards. In this event we will test your magical power, speed, and overall destructive force. The only detractor will be the amount of time it takes. You have five minutes to destroy the city, the clock stops once you destroy the town or if you run out of time, good luck!" Mato announced.
"Oh dear, I should have let Kagura or Rislie take this, I thought my digging might do well" remarked Mermaid Heel wizard Beth Vanderwood.
"This shouldn't be a problem," Natsu said, eagerly ready to destroy some stuff.
"If there are no more questions, we will go in the reverse order of how you finished in the preliminary round!" Mato announced.
"This means that Twilight Ogre's Thibalt will be first up" Chapati Lola announced as the slightly tanned man wearing a red shirt, black pants, and carrying a mace in a holder on his back known as Thibault stepped up to the mockup of the city.
"This victory will be for Twilight Ogre, the best guild in Fiore!" he shouted, but the only cheers he received were from his own guild, as people either laughed at him or rolled their eyes.
Meanwhile Lacrima screens displayed across the stadium for the fans as Chapati Lola announced, "and before he begins, we'll give you his performance in crystal clear lacrimavision! With the destruction on the left and the scoring on the right!
Mato then declared one last thing, "you start on the gong and remember, you have five minutes to destroy the city!" A gong was heard five seconds after Mato finished and Thibalt went to work.
Thibault himself was not magically powerful and relied on his mace. He used it to inflict damage on the fake city, though much to the dismay of his guild and himself it did not do much damage. He was better suited to be a back-alley brawler than a wizard of raw power, as was required for Twilight Ogre in their shadier days.
He then set the mace down and began firing magic bullets from the mace, saying, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it like this", though this did little to do more damage, the city was still relatively intact as the clock continued to tick down.
Meanwhile, Zeldris had finally recovered enough from the shock of everything to begin talking. He turned to speak to Romeo and said, "gee, this guy is underwhelming".
Romeo nodded as they watched the screen and the pitiful scores beside it then saying, "it's sad to think that guild used to torment Fairy Tail before the Tenroe team came back". A collective sigh could be heard from many members of the guild.
Macao, Romeo's father then said, "the less said about that, the better".
As soon as Macao finished his sentence a loud ringing sound could be heard, followed by Mato saying, "sorry, but your time is up, time to display your score, and get the city ready for our next contestant".
Just then a large 76 displayed on the lacrimavision screens, and Chapati Lola announced, "and with that uh, performance, he scored a 76, his power being ok, but seriously being let down by the lack of destruction and running out of time".
"I bet Banaboster will be fuming after that," Mr Yajima added, as the frustrated Thibault sat down.
The city was restored in about 30 seconds. There was not that much to be done, as the next person to step up was Semmes who was eager to try his best.
"You have five minutes to win it!" Mato said, as the gong was hit to start things.
Romeo then said to Zeldris, "this guy's magic is something to see" as Zeldris nodded in response looking to pay closer to him.
The man then bellowed at the top of his lungs, "WILD!" and began to spin feverishly, bouncing off the buildings with more notable damage being done. However, like Thibault it was slow going, Crocus was big after all.
"Semmes's spinning magic is the best fit to handle this event of the Quattro Cerberus wizards" Mr Yajima said, as they watched him go, "while rocker can use a wind magic, and their frontman Bacchus is skilled, his chop hanging palm would be useless in this event" Yajima finished.
Semmes continued to spin but with only ten seconds left he was slowing down, and as the alarm rang to signify the end of time, he was gasping for air and fell to the ground saying, "I may be down, but I'm still, wild!" The crowd cheered at his effort, while Quattro Cerberus were never going to win, they were always entertaining. Most of the buildings were intact unfortunately, but a much higher percentage were damaged than Thibault's.
"While the city is repaired, here is the score" said announcer Lola, who then said, "and it's an impressive 150!".
"While he did much more damage to the structures than Thibault, the fact most of the city remains standing with no time on the clock has done him in, regardless, Semmes, Gold mine, and the rest of the guild should be happy with his performance" Mr Yajima said, praising the Semme's effort.
"Indeed Mr. Yajima, with that score of 150 he holds the lead, with the mysterious Alayna of the controversial Alvarez guild up next" Chapati Lola said.
The cloaked woman then walked to the starting point, pulling the hood off her cloak and it revealed her face for the world to see. She had an attractive physique, with jet black hair complemented with small streaks of gray. She wore a black dress, accented by dark green highlights, all complete with a shawl of dark green to conceal herself some more along with her black cloak.
Zeldris turned to Romeo, saying in a hushed tone that only the two of them can hear, "I guess, we'll find out what magic she uses finally" he said, eagerly looking at the woman who stood there as the city finished being restored.
"Indeed, maybe we were right to not engage in battle with her then" Romeo said.
Suddenly, they had their reason why. The woman pulled out what looked like a crystal ball and held it out on her hand. As the gong was hit, she began her spell. She spoke loudly so everyone including the microphones could pick up her voice, "arc of time".
She then walked up to the first structure nonchalantly and just by light applying pressure to the structure it began to crumble. The rest of the buildings began to crumble to dust. The entire ordeal lasted only 30 seconds. Once everything had been completely reduced to dust, she simply put the crystal ball back, and took a bow. The members of the Alvarez Guild in their suite were cheering and celebrating.
An ominous hush had fallen on the crowd, before Chapati Lola broke the silence, "uh, Mr. Yajima, any comment?"
"That was the second time in my life I have seen that. Arc of time magic, she can control an object's time. She cannot control living things however" he finished.
"Thank you for that explanation Mr. Yajima, and now as we await the scores-" he said before stopping mid-sentence.
Then, Chapati Lola and Mr Yajima nearly jumped out of the booth in shock as they shouted, "IT'S OVER 8,000!" The collective shock just increased ten-fold as the meaning of that score sank into the crowd.
The members of Crime Sorciere were beyond surprised, as all the members were eyeing the woman and began talking about her power.
"But I thought only Ultear knew how to use the arc of time," Meredy said to Jellal who stood to her right.
"Arc of time is one of the lost magics, but considering their continent of origin, nothing would really surprise me at this point." Jellal said, his fist clenched in rage, "They reek of their Lord Zer-"he stopped and then corrected himself, "their Emperor Spriggan" he finished.
"So, you're not the only one who can tell they reek of that foul man" Erik said, a little too light-heartedly.
"As founding members of Crime Sorciere, one commonality between Meredy, Ultear, and myself is that each of us had interacted quite closely with Zeref. This allowed us to make significant progress in eradicating the dark guilds because we could sense his presence, books, artifacts, and the whatnot." Jellal responded.
"I don't buy that story about how they're not connected with the Alvarez military. From what Sorano indicated in her time there spying. Only the military had access to learning advanced magic after Zeref's conquest began, lead alone lost magic. I want to do some snooping if you'll allow me". Erik finished.
"Wait until the battles start, I have a feeling you or I may be the first fighters in the battles" Sorano quipped in response.
"We have a week to find out information on the guild, and while I will keep my promise about setting you free, I do want to gather as much intel on them as possible." Jellal finished.
Meanwhile, the city had finally finished being restored and the next contestant was up. It was the petite and cute, sandal and coverall wearing Beth Vanderwood of Mermaid Heel.
"Beth will have a very tough act to follow up after that performance by Alayna of the Alvarez guild, let's see what she can do". Chapati Lola announced as the gong sounded.
Beth then immediately began digging underground which perplexed many, as not many had seen this before.
A confused Chapati Lola said, "uh, Mr Yajima am I seeing this right?"
"Indeed, her vegetable magic makes her an incredible digger and allows her to move underground with great speed!" Mr. Yajima replied.
The confused crowd returned to a modest cheer for the Mermaid Heel wizard. As her guild was always a crowd favorite whether for good reasons or ill.
The time continued to run down though some buildings were starting to crumble and fall but not even close to what Alayna achieved. Beth did her best but soon the alarm was ringing indicating it was the end of the round.
A dismayed and quite dirty Beth Vanderwood appeared from the dirt, popping out like a mole as she brushed the dirt off, noting how most of the structure was still left.
"What did you think of that performance Mr. Yajima?" asked Chapati Lola.
"It wasn't bad by any means, it was always going to be a tough act to follow Alayna's arc of time, but with a solid score of 870. I think she will rank well." Mr. Yajima said encouragingly.
"Indeed, 870 for Beth puts Mermaid Heel second among those that have participated so far. Next up will be Eve Tilm for Blue Pegasus!" Chapati Lola said.
While the short and blond Eve got ready, everyone was still in awe regarding Alayna's attempt. Zeldris said to Romeo, "it was in our best interest to not battle with her".
"I would have to agree, I still wonder how brother Hendrickson got in contact with them," Gabriel said.
"Aye" responded Terre mere, "I can't help but speculate what criminal underworld contacts they have" she finished.
"If you're concerned about that, it's best you leave that to Jellal and his team" Master Makarov said, as if to put their concerns at bay.
Meanwhile, Eve Tilm of Blue Pegasus was finishing up a miserable attempt at destroying the city. Many of the buildings were left intact and only were covered in snow. The result was a score of 500, putting him behind Beth of Mermaid Heel and Alayna of the Alvarez Guild. The suited wizard seemed quite distressed at his poor result.
"Next up, from the SaberTooth guild is Yukino Aguria!" Chapati Lola announced.
The attractively figured Yukino stepped up to the area in front of the mockup of the city for the start, as Mato said to her, "don't forget, you have five minutes to destroy as much as possible".
"Understood, I just hope you don't mind if I destroy it all" Yukino said, admittedly more arrogantly than her normal persona.
A confused Mato said, "well that is the point of the event".
She nodded as if to say thank you as the gong sounded for the event to start. She pulled out a golden key from a pocket on her left side, holding it out at arm's length, declaring, "open gate of the two fish pieces!" as she moved to point the key skyward.
Two gigantic eels appeared, both in white and black coloring, inverse from each other with a bit of turquoise accenting.
"Go and destroy this town and I shall help you!" said Yukino as she grabbed a second key from the same area and followed the same pattern.
This time, she touched her right shoulder with the key and said, "star dress Libra form!" and her blue and white dress turned into a revealing green dress with yellow accents, scale balances appeared in her hands.
She then swung the balances, changing the gravity so that the two eels that were pieces could destroy the town more easily.
Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tail team A suite, the members watched Yukino's destruction. Wendy asked Lucy, "so, did you teach Yukino about the star dresses or did she learn on her own?"
Lucy responded smugly, "I taught her, and it looks like she's using it well".
"Indeed, she's doing quite well," Wendy responded, rather chipper about her opponent despite it being a competition, "she might just finish in time".
The timer was down to a minute left and most of the buildings appeared destroyed. The minute passed and there looked to be nothing left.
"A very impressive performance by Yukino, she's only the second one to destroy all of the structure. This should do well for the points" Mr Yajima said.
"Indeed, and it comes back with an impressive 5,000. This moves her to second in the scores now, with only 4 competitors, can anyone stop Alayna from the Alvarez guild at 8,000 points?" Chapati Lola said.
A rather large man, with a face that looked like it was made of hardened clay, with orange hair and matching pointed moustache. He wore a long black sleeve shirt and faded orange pants. This was Richard Buchanan for Crime Sorciere.
He stepped up, looking a tad smug about this competition. The gong rang out and it was his time to compete.
"Now, time to take the lead" he said, some murmurs were heard as he then took his index and middle finger from his right hand, placing them under his eye, before stretching his hand outward and saying, "liquid ground!".
The ground beneath the city began to liquify and the city itself seemed to collapse on itself.
"This is an incredible display of a well-matched wizard with an event if I have ever seen one!" Mr Yajima declared, as about two minutes had gone by and the city was destroyed.
"The only thing that will hamper his score is the total time. Alayna ranked high on speed and destruction but was somewhat lackluster on raw power." Mr Yajima said.
"Indeed, but with a slightly disappointing score of 6,000, it seems total destruction was the best, while time and power could be a tad better" Chapati Lola said, reading out the scores.
Loud celebratory cheers could be heard from the Crime Sorciere suite. They were happy to be doing so well, this lifted the spirits of Richard who seemed a tad disappointed about not taking the lead from the Alvarez guild member.
"With only two guilds and three teams left to compete, can Lamia Scale's Wally take down Alayna?" Chapati Lola said.
Wally stepped up and began to start his attempt at destroying the city.
"So, do you think Cana or Natsu will beat that Alvarez girl?" Zeldris asked his friends.
"I would certainly hope so, I don't want the great Fairy Tail guild to be beaten by a bunch of Alvarez punks" Gabriel said. This response came as a surprise to the trio as though Gabriel was happy to be a member, he seemed slow to warm up to the guild.
"Indeed, plus Cana has her secret weapon" Romeo said ominously, and then he lightened up, "and there are some hurricanes and natural disasters that are less destructive than Natsu" he teased.
A very annoyed Natsu shouted from the stadium grounds back towards the guild suite, "I resent that junior flames!" he said, shaking his fist.
"Junior flames?" Terre mere said, a little taken aback by the lack of burn to that insult from one flame wizard to another.
Meanwhile, Wally had finished a quite lackluster attempt at destroying the town, and it wound up scoring better than some, but it was only a score of 1,000.
Next up was Cana Alberona, who was in her typical bikini top and khakis that still left little to the imagination, not that many minded of course, Zeldris included.
"Like before, you've got five minutes to win it, good luck!" Mato said excitedly.
"Oh, I will!" she declared, "these fairies are gonna rock your world!" she said.
The gong sounded and then she held her right arm and hand out in a fist and shouted, "oh river of light guided by fairies" and an intense rumbling could be heard as if an earthquake were happening.
Zeldris went pale as a ghost as Cana continued the spell, "shine your light, so that I may vanquish the fangs of wickedness, fairy glitter!" she finished. Bright yellow light rings came from the havens and converged onto the town and destroyed it, in a mere manner of three minutes!
Zeldris nearly fainted, babbling something about goddesses. Everyone else meanwhile was focused on Cana's attack, as Chapati Lola said, "just like in 791, we get to witness the extreme power of one of the three grand fairy spells! What do you have to say about this Mr. Yajima?!" he finished.
"Well, once again, it's an incredibly rare and equally impressive sight to see. I'm more interested in the magical rating" he finished.
"That is right, I forgot to mention earlier but our magic power finders, MPF's for short, have been fine tuned to better rate the spells being casted. So hopefully she won't destroy the MPF like last time" Chapati Lola said.
"Indeed, I think that is why we were so surp-" Mr. Yajima said before he and Chapati Lola said in unison.
"IT'S OVER 9,000!" They said, in unison, to shouts and roars of excitement from the crowd.
"We have a new leader, Fairy Tail team B's Cana Alberona has been the first to surpass the Alvarez Guild's Alayna!" Lola announced.
Meanwhile, in the Alvarez guild, Apollo, the fire dragon slayer from the City of the Chaste Tree incident, stood in the guild suite looking very dismayed.
"I know the returning soldiers said this was the guild to stop Emperor Spriggan, but this is incredible" the red-haired boy said.
"Don't speak of him here, there is still that other fire dragon slayer, study his moves and spells, it will do you good" a man said in an ominous voice, hidden in the shadows of the suite.
"Ree Zay, you need to commit these spells to memory as well" the man added, as another wizard nodded in understanding.
"Your wife's performance was incredible, regardless of the fairy's results" Ree Zay responded, "I have fully committed it to memory".
"Now, it's time for our final wizard to compete, Natsu Dragneel of the Fairy Tail's team A, this is going to be someone you will want to watch, folks" Chapati Lola said.
The pink haired Natsu stepped up, wearing a smug grin and flames coming from his feet, "you don't mind if I completely destroy this town, do you?" he said.
"Considering the time with the dragons, this will be easy for you" Mato responded humorously.
Natsu grinned even more as the gong sounded and he rose into the air, and immediately took a huge breath, "fire dragon roar!" and a massive column of fire came from his mouth and encompassed the town.
Zeldris meanwhile finally sat back up to watch Natsu's performance. First it was a fire dragon roar, then a flame lotus exploding flame blade. Spell after spell happened in a rapid-fire sequence. Then came Natsu's declaration of lighting flame dragon mode.
The flames kept getting hotter and hotter, even beginning to melt the stadium. The alarm then rang to indicate the town was destroyed completely, with only a minute having been taken off the clock. Only Alayna had done it in less time.
"My oh my Mr. Yajima, what a performance that was!" Chapati Lola said excitedly.
"In all my years of watching these games and my time on the council, only a dragon or a natural disaster could do more damage than that!" Mr. Yajima said approvingly.
"The score has come back to us, and it's 9,500! Fairy Tail team A takes the win in this event!" declared Chapati Lola. The crowd roared in approval as Natsu took a bow.
"Let us recap the results of our Demolition Man! Event" Chapati Lola said.
"With a score of 9,500 and 10 points for the win in today's event, Fairy Tail team A sit atop the leaderboard".
"In second place, Cana's 9,001 points nets 9 points for Fairy Tail team B".
"Making a very solid debut sits the Alvarez Guild at 8 points on the back of Alayna's score of 8,001".
"Finishing a respectable 4th place with a score of 6,000, Richard of Crime Sorciere secures 7 points".
"Rounding out the top 5 in 5th place is Yukino Aguria with her score of 5,000 and netting 6 points for former champions SaberTooth".
"Lamia Scale's Wally score of 1,000 is only good enough for 6th place and brings in 5 points for them".
"Mermaid Heel's Beth Vanderwood 870 points secures a lowly 7th for Mermaid Heel, but they'll be ready to bounce back in the battle portion and raise their score from 4 points".
"Eve of Blue Pegasus had a dismal performance with a score of 500, netting 8th place and only 3 points as they'll look to claw their way back up the leaderboard".
"Quattro Cerberus's Semmes 105 saves them from being last and nets 2 points to the team's total".
"Finally, in an embarrassing debut for the guild trying to dethrone Fairy Tail, the Twilight Ogre guild's lead man Thibault only brought in a score of 76 and secured only 1 point for his team" Lola finally finished announcing.
"Bonaboster will definitely be betting on a change of fortune in the battles," Mr. Yajima added.
"We will be back in 30 minutes folks after a quick lunch as the teams get ready for today's battle portion!".