Chapter 388: Smashing the Sky Labyrinth

"Bacchus-san, your bad habits are showing."

"We’re in a hurry, you know?"

The group of rowdy mages blocking the corridor grumbled half-heartedly at their leader. The man with the topknot—Bacchus—was currently leering at Ultear, Meredy, Flare, and Sorano with undisguised lust, while shooting Finn a deeply provocative sneer. Even though the women were masked, the cut of their Heavenly Blue uniforms made it incredibly obvious they were stunning, and the rest of the guild couldn’t help but stare either.

But before the lecherous mages could even fire off another catcall—

"Eh?"

Nobody even registered the movement. Finn simply vanished, reappearing directly in front of Bacchus. In a fluid, instantaneous motion, a massive, distinctive four-bladed battle axe materialized in his right hand.

Without a single word, Finn brought the flat of the axe crashing down directly onto Bacchus’s head.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!

Bacchus felt his skull ring as the sheer impact scrambled his brain. The stone floor beneath him shattered as he was violently launched backward, skipping across the labyrinth like a skipped stone before crashing through a wall in the distance.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

"BACCHUS-SAN!" the remaining four mages screamed in unison.

Realizing their leader—one of the famed S-Class mages of Quatro Cerberus—had just been swatted away like a fly, the rest of the squad flew into a furious panic.

"YOU!"

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"ATTACK HIM ALL AT ONCE!"

"WE’LL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF QUATRO CERBERUS!"

They knew Finn was strong to have blitzed Bacchus, but surely he couldn’t take all four of them simultaneously!

"Spinning Magic!"

"Drill ’n Rock!"

"Plant Magic!"

"Tear Magic!"

They unleashed everything they had in a desperate, synchronized assault. One spun forward like a localized hurricane, another launched himself like a human drill, the third summoned a flurry of dangerous, razor-sharp vines, and the fourth released a devastating, ear-shattering shockwave.

They were ready to give their absolute all.

But Finn was simply much, much faster.

Standing perfectly straight, Finn casually swung his massive axe toward the first attacker. The sheer force of the swing didn’t just smash the spinning mage; it turned him into a living projectile that crashed violently into the human drill, who then smashed into the plant user, who careened into the crying mage like a row of collapsing dominoes.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!

All four Quatro Cerberus mages were instantly blasted down the corridor in a tangled, groaning heap.

"So slow," Finn muttered.

It wasn’t just a physical difference in speed. Finn was subtly weaving Slow Magic—a rare art he had acquired from the former Oración Seis member, Sawyer (Racer). While Slow Magic didn’t possess any direct destructive power on its own, when combined with Finn’s monstrously enhanced physical prowess, it made him practically untouchable.

Suddenly, Finn felt the air shift to his left. Without breaking a sweat, he manifested a sleek, silver saber in his left hand and raised it to block the incoming sneak attack.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive, rock-hard palm collided violently with the flat of his blade. But no matter how durable the palm strike was, it couldn’t withstand the impossibly sharp edge of Finn’s weapon.

Slash!

Blood sprayed as a heavily battered Bacchus Groh quickly backflipped away, looking at Finn with deep, wary respect.

"You’re strong," Bacchus admitted, wiping blood from his chin. He analyzed the man in the pristine blue uniform. A heavy, four-sided axe in the right hand and a saber in the left. From that brief clash, Bacchus could tell those weapons were absurdly dense, yet Finn wielded them with the casual ease of holding a kitchen knife.

Why is that saber so damn sharp?! Bacchus wondered.

If Finn knew what Bacchus was thinking, he would have just smirked. Both the axe and the saber were crafted directly from the harvested remains of the Earth Dragon God, Kurnugi. The weapon’s base form was actually a dense, morphing silver orb that could shift into any weapon Finn visualized.

It was an incredibly dangerous flex. If a certain vengeful dragon ever caught the scent of Kurnugi’s remains, Finn would undoubtedly be hunted down. But Finn figured he’d be fine; after all, Acnologia and the Five Dragon Gods hadn’t bothered to attack Natsu or Gajeel in the last seven years, so he was probably off their radar. Probably.

"Who the hell are you?" Bacchus demanded.

"You’ll hear the announcement soon enough when we enter the arena," Finn replied calmly.

"Kahahaha!" Bacchus grinned, settling into a bizarre, swaying stance. "You’re confident. You definitely have the power to make it to the main event. But what if I just eliminate you right here?"

"With your power?" Finn looked at him like he was an idiot.

Veins bulged on Bacchus’s forehead. "You might be fast, but my martial arts are on a completely different level!"

Bacchus began to move with a strange, seamless fluidity—the unpredictable, staggering steps of a Drunken Master. His palms began to glow with a dense, oppressive aura of magical energy.

Palm Magic.

It seemed simplistic on the surface—merely concentrating massive amounts of Magic Power into the hands. But what made Bacchus a terrifying opponent was his mastery of the Chop Hanging Palm martial art, which allowed him to unleash that focused energy with devastating, armor-breaking precision.

Bacchus launched himself forward. "I’m going to break you—!"

"You talk too much."

"....."

Finn vanished in a blitz of speed, reappearing directly above Bacchus.

Bacchus was prepared this time. Using his fluid momentum, he snapped his glowing palm upward like a whip, aiming to shatter Finn’s ribs.

"Eh?"

The strike never connected. Before Bacchus could even complete the motion, the flat side of the heavy axe was suddenly occupying his entire field of vision.

The heavy metal smashed directly into Bacchus’s face, instantly breaking his nose and shattering several teeth. The force was so overwhelming that the stone floor cratered beneath him, and Bacchus plummeted helplessly through the crumbling labyrinth floor into the abyss below.

"Slow," Finn noted impassively.

It didn’t matter how powerful Bacchus’s Palm Magic was, or how unpredictable his martial arts were. As long as he was caught in the area of effect of Finn’s Slow Magic, he was moving in slow motion.

"Let’s keep moving," Finn said, unsummoning his weapons.

"Okay," the four women replied in unison. Flare, Ultear, Meredy, and Sorano couldn’t help but laugh lightly as they stepped over the groaning bodies of the remaining Quatro Cerberus members, following Finn deeper into the maze.

"Did any of those magics catch your interest?" Finn asked over his shoulder. He had previously asked the team what magic they intended to use during the tournament to maintain their cover.

"Not really," Meredy answered.

"I already know exactly what kind of magic I want to use," Ultear stated confidently.

"Okay then."

"Can I just use swords? Your swordsmanship just now was so cool!" Meredy’s eyes sparkled, suddenly eager to become a close-combat specialist.

"With the time we have left? You might as well just learn Invisibility Magic and randomly stab people," Finn replied dryly. While his AI Manager could theoretically accelerate her magical learning, true swordsmanship required years of brutal physical conditioning, and Meredy simply didn’t have the physical specs for it yet.

"What if you just possess me? You have Possession Magic, right?" Meredy suggested brightly.

But before they could continue the casual banter, Finn suddenly stopped. He turned around, his eyes narrowing.

A group of five imposing mages had just rounded the corner behind them. Without a single word of warning, the massive man leading the squad raised his hands.

"120mm Black Lightning Cannon!"

The large man brought his palms together. A condensed sphere of crackling black lightning rapidly formed before exploding outward in a devastating, concentrated beam aimed directly at Heavenly Blue.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion rocked the corridor. But as the smoke cleared, Finn was standing completely unharmed. He had casually summoned his axe and swatted the lethal beam aside as if deflecting a baseball.

"Eh?" The five ambushers stared in stunned silence.

Finn slowly raised his axe high above his head. A truly humongous, terrifying concentration of magical power began to gather around the blade. The sheer density of the mana warped the air, suffocating everyone in the immediate vicinity with a deadly, crushing atmosphere.

"Calidus Brachium: Purgatory."

Finn swung the axe down.

An immense torrent of raging blue flames erupted from the blade, completely engulfing the entire corridor. The inferno incinerated everything in its path, blasting the five ambushers into oblivion with the force of a localized meteor strike.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The entire Sky Labyrinth shook violently.

"W-What’s happening!?"

"Is it an earthquake?!"

"Why is it so hot suddenly?!"

Panic echoed from every corner of the floating maze as the surviving competitors felt the massive tremor.

Standing safely behind Finn, Flare, Ultear, Sorano, and Meredy were utterly speechless, staring at the blazing destruction he had just casually unleashed.

"Cool it down, Ultear," Finn ordered, resting the axe on his shoulder.

"O-Okay," Ultear stammered, quickly using her Ice-Make magic to lower the scorching ambient temperature of the corridor before they casually strolled the rest of the way to the finish line.

"CONGRATULATIONS! HEAVENLY BLUE HAS SECURED FIRST PLACE!"

The Pumpkin mascot cheered excitedly as Finn’s team stepped onto the final platform. However, the mascot quickly wiped a bead of sweat from his oversized pumpkin head and leaned in awkwardly.

"Um... next time, try not to completely destroy the arena structure, okay, kabo?"

"I’ll try," Finn replied evenly.

But there was no mistaking the reality. As the surviving guilds finally dragged themselves to the finish line, staring in awe and terror at the immaculate, masked mages standing atop the podium, one fact was undeniably clear.

Heavenly Blue had just asserted itself as the apex predator of the Grand Magic Games.