Chapter 585: Four-Man Battle
For some reason, Kira felt that the look in Preshito's eyes when he was looking at him was disrespectful.
"Is it an illusion? No... I feel like this old man must be plotting against me!"
Preshito, who turned over a new leaf and entered a healthy life for the elderly, has washed away decades of vanity and regained the kind face he had when he was in "Fairy Tail". His profound knowledge gives him an extraordinary temperament, with white hair, eye patch, cloth armor, and cloak, you can tell at a glance that he is no ordinary person.
If Kira is the 'sage', then Preshito is the 'great sage', an old wizard who possesses both wisdom and power and is respected by everyone.
But no matter how cunning an old goblin is, he can be careless sometimes. Kira keenly caught the fleeting cunning and gossip in Preshito's eyes.
"I don't know what this old... boss is planning..."
Kira straightened his clothes, and a hint of vigilance flashed in his bright sky-blue eyes.
"Is it finally time to start?"
"What is the second level test? I can't wait!!"
"How many levels are there? How about we go together?"
Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were eager to fight and urged Preshito to move faster.
"What a lack of manners! Are all the guild kids so disrespectful now? It's fine if they don't respect the elderly, but they are all just stupid people who act rashly!"
Preshito was secretly complaining in his heart, feeling anxious about the future of the guild.
Compared to these three people, Felide, Wendy, Lucy, Juvia, and Alba Green seemed much more mature. They stood there quietly waiting, but it was not known whether it was because of the influence of Preshito or because most of them were newcomers, but they all clearly revealed a sense of uneasiness, which was significantly different from Natsu and the other two.
The panicked eyes, tense muscles, and rapid breathing all show that they are nervous about the unknown challenges.
With just a glance, Preshito memorized the status of each of the eight people and scored them according to his most skilled method of selecting talents.
"Still too young!" thought Preshito.
After everyone had gathered, this old man who was over a hundred years old finally announced the content of the second level of the assessment: a four-person battle!
"Four-man battle? What's that? Send four people up to fight in a melee?"
Several people looked puzzled and began to analyze the question: "If that's the case, then we will be divided into two groups, and the last two people left will decide the winner?"
Natsu scratched his head and suggested, "Since we're going to have a melee, why not just let the remaining eight people go up together? Then whoever stands till the end will be the winner!"
Gajeel laughed out loud, "Good idea! We can defeat you all in a melee!"
"If it's a multiplayer melee, it would be better to team up to fight the enemy in the early stages, right?"
The smarter ones have already started to form cliques, such as Lucy and Wendy, Felide and Alba Green. "Generally speaking, the strongest ones are eliminated first..."
Upon hearing that they could join forces with Juvia, he instantly fell into love mode. His eyes turned into red hearts, and he opened his arms and rushed towards Gray: "Gray-sama~ Let's join forces with Juvia!!"
"I don't want to!"
Gray dodged in disgust and took off his shirt when he turned around. "Anyway, we have to fight it out in the end. Joining forces will only lead to misjudging the timing of the attack!"
"Gray is right! No one knows when their temporary teammates will attack them in order to balance the fighting power on the field. It is better to treat everyone as opponents from the beginning..."
"Then you shouldn't form a team!"
"Tsk! I have my own style of play..."
"Ahem!! Everyone be quiet!!"
Preshito interrupted the noise with a tactical cough, secretly sighing in his heart that these people were really crazy.
"Sorry, your guess was wrong from the beginning!"
"The so-called four-player battle does not mean that the four candidates will fight in a free-for-all. Instead, you will draw lots to match your target, fight together with your supporters, and try to eliminate the opponent's candidates."
Everyone suddenly realized: "So it's just a two-on-two battle?"
"Not entirely!" Preshito shook his head.
"The rules for this level are as follows: each player will draw lots to determine their opponent, forming four groups of two-on-two competitions. We will cordon off part of this mountain range as the test site, and the sixteen participants enter from different directions at the same time. They will find their target and defeat it before sunset. Those who survive until the end of the test will advance."
While Preshito was explaining, Mavis was standing beside him, holding up a few childish scribbles, showing everyone her "hand-drawn rules".
"I see! A survival battle in a limited time and location?"
Lucy rested her chin on her hand and thought, "That means the candidates can choose to hide. As long as they hide until the time is up, they can still advance even if they don't participate in the battle!"
As expected of you, Lucy. Did you think of hiding it from the very beginning?
Kira looked at the girl and continued, "Not only that, under this rule, it is possible for both sides to lose, or for both sides to advance!"
He looked at Preshito: "Maybe this stage can eliminate all the candidates! In that case, how will this year's assessment be calculated?"
"Then no one will pass this year's assessment!"
Mira smiled brightly: "No one passed... It seems that there hasn't been such a situation for several sessions..."
"Hmm?" Natsu and the others instantly realized the implication of Mira's words.
Isn't she saying that since no one passed the S-level assessment this year, they are worse than Kana who passed last year?! How can they tolerate this?!
"Just wait! I will definitely stay until the end!!"
"In other words, as long as it's hidden well enough, right ?"
"You have no ambition! How can a wizard from Fairy Tail say something as cowardly as 'hide'!!"
"Then why don't you go fight Kira, Gildarts and the others! Fight now! Don't let me look down on you!"
Just one sentence was enough to start a war. Mira is really a black-and-white!
Kira glanced at Mira, who was smiling gently, and secretly complained in his heart: "Is it to avenge the defeated brother and sister? 'Sisters' are really scary creatures!"
As if noticing this gaze, Mira turned around instantly, her eyes narrowed into slits, and her smile became more intense: “Kira, what’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing… Nothing…”
Kira pretended to be calm on the surface, but in fact he was panicking: Is this an illusion? No... I feel like this woman is cursing me in her heart! Wait... Why does this thought give me a strong sense of déjà vu?! This world is really not peaceful, there are always people who want to harm me!
After explaining the rules of the test, Preshito cleared his throat and continued, "There are two more restrictions this time: first, supporters can only actively attack the enemy team's candidates and supporters; second, no one can leave the designated test site."
Upon hearing this additional rule, Disper's face instantly fell: "Huh? Doesn't that mean that I can take this opportunity to have a good fight with Kira?!"
It's not a good feeling to be picked on by someone you know.
"No need to compare, I'm definitely stronger than you!"
"Huh?! So confident?"
"Of course! Because I know magic, and you live in a world with magic!"
Of course, Kira's reason was obviously not enough to convince Disper: "We still have to fight to know who is stronger..."
"That's right, even though you two are of the same rank, I think Disper is better!"
Serena was fanning the flames. It wasn't that he really thought Disper was much stronger than Kira, but it was because he had lost to Disper but hadn't fought Kira yet.
"Come to think of it, the rules just mentioned that supporters can't attack people other than the target, but they didn't mention that substitutes can't attack, right?"
Preshito grinned, nodded and said, "Indeed!"
"That means, the candidates can choose anyone to fight with at will!!" Natsu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he jumped out to answer, then turned around and looked at the remaining candidates.
Lucy looked at Natsu speechlessly, who was furious and about to burst into flames. Suddenly, she was startled and asked, "Wait! In other words, it is possible to form an alliance with the enemy, right?!"
"Can!"
"But as you just mentioned, even if we form an alliance now, we will become rivals in the future, and the alliance has no guarantee at all in the case of separate entrances!"
