Chapter 387: The Debut

"So comfortable..."

Meredy stepped out of the lavish bathroom of her Crocus hotel suite, pulling a plush towel tighter around her wet hair. Wrapped in a luxurious bathrobe, sipping a glass of complimentary high-end wine, she felt like a pampered aristocrat enjoying a life she had never thought possible.

And really, who could blame her? She was a wanted fugitive. Sleeping in the wild, constantly on the run, and looking over her shoulder had been her daily reality for the past seven years. So when Finn casually walked into the most expensive hotel in the capital, booked the absolute best penthouse suite on the highest floor, and handed her a room key, she decided to enjoy it to the absolute fullest.

Meredy looked down through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the sprawling city below, feeling a smug sense of superiority over the ’trash’ sleeping in the cheaper inns.

"Fuwahahaha!"

"...What exactly are you doing?"

"....."

Meredy froze mid-evil-laugh. She turned around to see Finn, Ultear, Flare, and Sorano standing in the suite, fully dressed and staring at her.

"...Why are you all dressed up?" she asked, clutching her bathrobe.

Everyone was already wearing their official guild uniforms and their disguises. The only exception was Flare; as the public "leader" of Heavenly Blue, she didn’t need to wear a mask. Finn, Ultear, and Sorano, however, had their masks resting in their hands, having just finished testing their disguises.

"You really are something else," Ultear sighed, rubbing her temples before offering Finn an apologetic look. "I’m sorry. She hasn’t really had the chance to enjoy normal luxuries before."

"It’s fine," Finn replied calmly. "But you need to put your clothes on, Meredy, or you’re going to be running outside butt-naked when the timer drops."

"...Isn’t the Grand Magic Games starting tomorrow?" Meredy asked, blinking in confusion.

"No, it starts tonight," Finn corrected. "The Kingdom always initiates the preliminary event at the most unexpected moment—usually midnight—to immediately weed out the weak and unprepared guilds."

It was a brutal but necessary culling. The number of official guilds in Fiore was staggering, and when foreign guilds joined the roster, the sheer volume of participants became a nightmare problem for the royal family. To solve this, they used the crudest, fastest method possible: a midnight survival race to eliminate 90% of the roster before the actual games even began.

Fairy Tail, despite its seven-year slump, had still managed to qualify in the past. They definitely weren’t the worst guild on the continent, but tonight, only the absolute elite would survive.

"Hurry up and put your uniform on!" Ultear scolded.

"Yeeesss~!" Meredy pouted, though she secretly didn’t mind. The uniform was actually incredibly stylish.

Finn had personally designed Heavenly Blue’s attire. The centerpiece was a striking, long blue coat with a dark violet inner lining, accented by crisp white patterned trimmings. The coat’s tail extended elegantly in the back, while the front was sharply tailored with three gold buttons on either side and a distinctive black streak running down the center. Worn over a crisp, long-sleeved white shirt with an upturned collar, the design screamed authority.

However, while Finn wore sensible dark blue trousers, the women had taken some liberties. Ultear, Meredy, and Sorano were all sporting minidresses or skirts. Sorano’s iteration was particularly dangerous; her skirt barely covered her assets. The only saving grace was the thigh-high stockings she had paired it with.

Finn stared at the white-haired mage. "Aren’t you going to be cold in that skimpy thing?"

Sorano paused, looking at him with a gleam in her eye. "Do you want me to change?"

Finn blinked, slightly confused by the underlying tone of the question, but nodded anyway. "Yeah."

"Okay," Sorano agreed without a single complaint. In fact, a small, triumphant smile played on her lips as she grabbed a longer skirt and headed to the changing room with Meredy.

"...." Finn remained silent.

"She totally likes you~" Ultear teased, leaning against the wall.

"I am handsome, after all," Finn replied deadpan.

"...." Ultear was utterly speechless. She wanted to refute him, but looking at his sharp features perfectly framed by his slicked-back hair and the tailored coat... it was infuriatingly true.

"Still, you’re remarkably good at designing clothes. Have you ever thought about entering the fashion industry?" Ultear asked. She had opted for a longer, more elegant skirt paired with knee-high, steel-toed black boots. It was an unusual combination, but it perfectly highlighted her mature charm.

Together, they looked exactly like a top-tier guild ready to dominate the arena. In fact, the tailored uniform had made Finn look so dangerously authoritative that Flare hadn’t been able to speak a coherent sentence for the last ten minutes. She was just staring at him with a flushed, lewd expression, practically vibrating in animalistic heat.

"If I entered the fashion industry, I would monopolize the dyes, the fabrics, and the manufacturing tools first," Finn answered pragmatically. "But enough about that. It’s starting."

He looked out the window toward the night sky. High above the capital, a massive, magical projection of a pumpkin-headed mascot materialized just as the city’s grand clock tower struck midnight.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

"To all the guilds who have gathered for the Grand Magic Games! Good morning, kabo!" the mascot’s voice boomed across the entire city.

"Ah?! It’s starting?! Wait! Wait! I haven’t put my skirt on yet!"

While Sorano calmly stepped out of the changing room looking smug and elegant in her adjusted outfit, Meredy burst out in a total panic. She was still in her panties, hopping on one foot as she desperately tried to drag her skirt up her legs.

Does this girl completely forget that I’m a man? Finn wondered dryly.

Meredy was completely defenseless around him. Then again, Finn’s passive, calming aura often made the people in his inner circle drop their guards entirely. (Though, a small part of Meredy did want to accidentally seduce him now that he looked so incredibly handsome in his suit. Te-he~!)

"Geez... come here, let me help you," Ultear sighed, grabbing the fabric and yanking the skirt up Meredy’s waist.

"Is the arena forming, Finn-sama?" Flare asked, finally snapping out of her lovesick stupor.

"It is," Finn nodded, sliding his mask over his face as the Pumpkin mascot continued his midnight broadcast.

"Now, let the preliminaries begin, kabo!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath several competitor hotels began to rumble. Massive, magical staircases materialized out of thin air, stretching endlessly upward into the night sky, connecting to a colossal, floating sphere of shifting stone and pathways.

"Welcome to the Sky Labyrinth!" the Pumpkin shouted excitedly. "The rules are simple: reach the goal! But only the first eight teams to arrive will qualify for the main tournament! The rest of you are eliminated! Also, a quick warning—if you lose your life in the maze, the committee is not responsible! Do your best, kabo!"

"Should we go?" Sorano asked, stepping up beside Finn.

"Did you finally manage to put your skirt on?" Finn asked, glancing at Meredy.

"I’m ready!" Meredy declared, her fists pumped with excitement.

"Then let’s go."

Finn took the lead, stepping out onto the magical staircase. The four women followed him without a moment’s hesitation.

They entered the sprawling, dizzying stone corridors of the Sky Labyrinth. The maze was shifting constantly, the gravity warping in bizarre directions. Yet, despite the chaos, no one in Heavenly Blue questioned Finn’s directions. He navigated the dizzying intersections with absolute certainty, as if he possessed a detailed map of the entire structure.

"...Aren’t any of you going to ask me how I know where we’re going?" Finn finally asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

"No, it’s fine," all four women replied in unison.

"..."

Finn sighed. Their complete, blind trust in him was almost exasperating. He did know exactly where the destination was, thanks to his Archive Magic effortlessly mapping the spatial shifts.

However, their smooth stroll through the labyrinth was abruptly cut short.

A group of burly, rough-looking mages stepped out from an adjoining corridor, completely blocking the path forward. Their eyes immediately bypassed Finn, locking hungrily onto the four stunning women standing behind him.

Whistle!

"Well, well, well. Look at the absolute beauties you’ve got trailing behind you, buddy," the lead mage sneered, stepping forward with a lecherous grin. "Care to share a few of them with us~?"

"....."

Beneath his mask, Finn’s eyes went dead, and he was snapped.