A high, thick, and incredibly sturdy ice wall stood across the circular track, blocking the path forward.

Since this long-distance running event required participants to follow the established route and prohibited detours, they had to break the ice wall if they wanted to continue.

"Heavenly Body Magic..."

At the very front of the track, Jellal struck a pose to use his magic, intending to force a breakthrough.

But before he could unleash the spell, an ice tiger roared and lunged from behind—it was Lyon!

Lyon knew very well that the ice wall wouldn’t hold for long, so he had to seize the opportunity to knock down the two fastest competitors before moving on.

Jellal reacted instantly, transforming into a meteor and leaping upward to dodge the ice tiger’s sneak attack. With a pa-da sound, he landed on top of the ice wall, then kicked off forcefully, diving straight down toward Lyon.

Clearly, he had also recognized Lyon as a troublesome opponent and decided to eliminate him first.

"Altairis!!"

"Ice-Make: Ice Dragon!!"

Rumble—

Three beams of starlight crashed into the giant dragon, exploding into a mass of ice shards.

"Hehehe... you guys keep fighting, I’m leaving first!!"

Seeing Jellal tied up by Lyon, Sawyer was overjoyed and began to dash forward.

His attack power was insufficient to break the obstacle ahead by force, but he was fast enough to use his momentum to scale the ice wall and leap over the top.

"Don’t even think about it!!"

"Ice-Make: Lance!!"

Countless ice spears shot forth from behind him. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Sawyer had heard the wind whistling behind him early on; he immediately adjusted his posture, jumping left and right across the protrusions on the ice wall. Despite the number of spears, they all missed.

Finally, he stood upright on a single ice spear, looking down at Gray, who had made the move, with a sneer: "Tch! You think you can keep me here with that kind of speed? Better go back and practice!"

"Is that so?! Iron Dragon’s Club!!"

"What?!"

Sawyer was shocked and quickly looked up, only to see an incredibly thick iron club smashing down toward him with immense force. He wanted to dodge, but his movements were too late.

Dong—Pa!!

With a muffled groan, Sawyer was slammed heavily to the ground. The ice spears stuck in the wall were also shattered into powder by the strong winds from the iron club’s swing.

This scene made Gray click his tongue inwardly: "When did Gajeel’s Iron Dragon’s Club get so heavy?"

Amidst the surprise.

Natsu, completely enveloped in flames, rushed rapidly from the rear of the track. The frozen floor was entirely melted and evaporated by his fire.

"Get out of the way!!"

Natsu roared, and his sandal made close contact with Gray.

"Pfft—"

Gray was instantly kicked flying, hitting Gajeel, Sawyer, Lyon, and Jellal like a bowling ball.

The group eventually crashed heavily into the ice wall, instantly smashing it to pieces.

Seeing this, Natsu put his hands on his hips and laughed smugly: "Wah-ka-ka-ka... now you all know how powerful I am!"

Erzi’s eyes widened as she watched the chaotic track ahead, clicking her tongue.

"These guys... they can play this rough just for a long-distance race?!"

"Wait, no, now that they’re fighting like the snipe and the clam, it’s the perfect time for me, the fisherman, to profit and overtake them!"

Thinking of this, Erzi seized the opportunity and began to sprint.

But as Erzi started moving, Natsu also noticed her presence.

"Aaaaah!"

"Erzi, don’t even think about jumping the gun!"

"Even if it’s you, I won’t show any mercy!!"

After a loud shout, Natsu pumped his legs and ran wildly.

Fire Dragon Slayer Magic is strong in destructive power, but its effects on boosting speed or obstructing others are only mediocre. Since Erzi was a girl, Natsu didn’t attack her directly, instead opting for the most primitive and fair way to compete.

As it turned out, Natsu’s explosive power was far stronger than Erzi’s.

In the blink of an eye, he had run half a lap and was leading by a wide margin.

"So fast..."

"In that case, don’t blame me for using ’Player Proxy Run’!"

"Open, Gate of the Lion!!"

Ding-dong—!!

After a flash of light, the Lion Spirit Loke appeared on the track.

"Help me win this race, Loke!"

"Leave it to me, my little princess Erzi!"

Loke calmly straightened his suit, then picked Erzi up in a bridal carry and bolted, kicking up high clouds of dust.

His speed was even faster than Natsu’s, nearly comparable to Sawyer’s, and he overtook Natsu in just a few breaths.

"No way?! You can do that?!"

The other contestants were so shocked their jaws dropped: "Referee, that’s definitely a foul!!"

The referee shook his head calmly: "Celestial Spirits are a type of magic, and maintaining a summons consumes magic power, so it doesn’t count as a foul!"

The group: "..."

Having nothing to say, they could only accept it.

Soon, Erzi completed a lap.

The others knew the time had come; they couldn’t afford to "show mercy to the girl" anymore and attacked simultaneously.

"Ice-Make: Shield!!"

Gray was the first to act. Unwilling to attack Erzi herself, he simply created a shield to block the track, hoping to stall for time.

"Erzi..."

Loke immediately signaled.

If he were competing alone, a mere ice shield would be negligible, but now he was carrying Erzi, making it troublesome to free his hands to fight.

Erzi had lived with Celestial Spirits since childhood and shared a deep unspoken understanding; she smiled calmly.

"Leave it to me!!"

With that, she pulled another key from her waist: "Open, Gate of the Taurus!!"

"Mooo—!!"

The golden bull appeared in front of the track holding a giant axe, roaring: "For Miss Erzi!!"

The giant axe swung down, and the ice shield was instantly sliced in two like tofu, leaving the path ahead unobstructed.

"Well done, Taurus! I’ll leave the cover mission to you!"

"Don’t worry!!"

Taurus chuckled, holding his heavy axe in front of him, looking at Gray and the others with a mocking gaze: "I won’t let you pass!"

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he was slapped in the face by reality.

Two swift figures bypassed Taurus’s tall, robust frame and rapidly closed in on Loke.

It was Sawyer and Jellal!

"Celestial Spirit Magic?!"

"She can do ’Multiple Gate Opening’ at her age?!"

The Royal Capital Magic Academy had no shortage of Celestial Spirit Wizards, so the two had some understanding of it. They knew that for a Celestial Spirit Wizard, "Multiple Gate Opening" was an extremely difficult and high-end ability.

Over ninety percent of Celestial Spirit Wizards could not achieve it in their entire lives.

Yet this little girl named Erzi before them was so young—two years younger than them—and could already do it, appearing quite relaxed at that. How could this not be shocking?!

"As expected of Fairy Academy, it truly is a place of overflowing talent!!"