Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
*****
"Isn't this the direction of the Magic Council?"
Guided by the tracking spell, George discovered that the Black Dragon was currently located in the city where the headquarters of the Magic Council stood.
In the past, whenever he located the Black Dragon, it was always on an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean—that was where the dragon slept.
The Black Dragon had lived for countless years. Aside from occasionally appearing when sensing the power of dragons, it spent most of its time asleep.
Now that the Black Dragon was no longer there, it meant it had begun to move again.
"Could it be because of Natsu and the others?"
George's heart stirred as he suddenly remembered what Mirajane had mentioned shortly before he left the guild: Natsu, Erza, and the others had accepted an S-Class mission issued by a member of the Magic Council.
The mission target seemed to be hunting down a demon hiding within the Council.
At the time, he hadn't paid much attention.
Most of the demons in this world were created by Zeref. Their strength was indeed frightening for ordinary wizards.
But to the current Natsu and his group, they weren't particularly difficult to fight.
Not only had they taken on many missions recently, pushing their strength to new heights, they also had the magical tools he had provided.
However, judging from what was happening now, the demons that appeared this time must be quite powerful—likely more than one. The battle must have been intense enough to awaken the sleeping Black Dragon.
Half an hour earlier, at the headquarters of the Magic Council—
Deafening explosions shook the sky as the entire headquarters was nearly destroyed.
The townspeople, the moment they discovered the Council had been bombed, fled the city at once. Meanwhile, the troops guarding the Council now lay sprawled across the ground.
"Fairy Tail? Hmph. So that's all you amount to!"
Mard Geer, the Underworld King, looked down at Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Wendy, who were standing amidst the ruins and panting, his face full of disdain.
Standing around him were nine mages radiating terrifying magical power—or more accurately, demons.
That's right. They were the final and most mysterious, most powerful dark guild of the Balam Alliance—the Gate of the Underworld.
Among the ten members of Tartaros, aside from Silver who was controlled by necromantic curses, the other nine were all demons created by Zeref.
Their plan to attack the Magic Council was to obtain the key that could activate the Etherious Bomb, Face.
The magic pulse bomb Face was an ancient remnant—a "white legacy" spread across the entire eastern continent. Alongside Etherion, it was one of the Council's greatest weapons.
Once activated, it could forcibly eradicate all magical energy across the eastern continent.
Their goal in doing so was to revive the strongest Flame Demon, END, from the Books of Zeref, and use him to kill Zeref.
This was because the purpose of their creation by Zeref was to kill him.
Unfortunately, halfway through the plan, Fairy Tail mages summoned by one of the Council members intervened, forcing them to abandon their covert approach and resort to brute force.
Fortunately, they still obtained the key to activate Face in the end.
As long as they eliminated these Fairy Tail wizards, they could start Face and complete their plan.
"How shameless, meow! If you've got guts, why don't you leave our teleportation device alone?!"
Happy, standing on top of Natsu's head, waved his fish-weapon and shouted at Mard Geer.
Lucy followed up, waving her hand and complaining:
"You're the ones afraid we'd use the teleportation device to call our guildmates for help. And now you're acting all high and mighty? Underworld King? More like a coward!"
If the demons of Tartaros hadn't secretly destroyed the key to the gate, they would have already activated the teleportation magic and summoned all their companions from the guild.
They wouldn't have ended up surrounded and beaten like this.
There were only five of them, faced with ten enemies. Even when only five demons had engaged them one-on-one earlier, the fight had already been extremely difficult.
If all ten attacked at once, they'd already have lost.
"This game has gone on long enough. Time to end it."
Mard Geer raised a brow at their words but didn't bother arguing. He simply gave orders to the nine under his command:
"Franmal, go activate Face. The rest of you, strike together and kill them all for your king."
He had once held a slight fear of the old Fairy Tail guild, but nothing too serious.
However, the current Fairy Tail was different.
Gathered within were many of the strongest wizards of the eastern continent. Guild Master George's power was unfathomable—even Mard Geer wasn't certain he could win against him.
So, to avoid failure, the moment he realized Fairy Tail was involved, he destroyed their unique teleportation magic tools at once.
He had been monitoring Fairy Tail's growth over the years and collecting intelligence about them.
"Yes!"
The moment their leader spoke, the arrogant demons joined forces and launched a group assault on the five wizards and two cats.
After years of growth, Erza, Natsu, and the others had made tremendous progress. Even Lucy, having gathered all twelve golden keys, had stepped into the ranks of S-Class mages.
On top of that, they carried specialized magical equipment and enhanced armor forged by George, making their strength among the best in the eastern continent.
Unfortunately, they were not facing a single demon, but an onslaught by eight at once.
These demons not only possessed monstrous bodies but used unique demonic curses—each bizarre and overwhelmingly powerful.
For example, the demon Kyôka of the Celestial Star could strip enemies of their five senses, heighten their pain, and infinitely enhance her own body.
The demon Tempester could unleash black poison water to engulf foes, and his body was nearly indestructible.
The demon Seilah of the Moon could command humans through curse magic, stripping them of bodily autonomy and forcing them to obey her words.
All eight demons had been created by Zeref for the sole purpose of killing him.
After a grueling struggle, the five members of Fairy Tail were soon gravely injured. With Face about to be activated and death looming, a bolt of lightning descended, and four figures arrived in a flash.
It was Laxus and the Raijin Tribe, who had been on a nearby mission.
From the very beginning, the explosion hadn't needed to destroy the entire Magic Council headquarters—Natsu had done it deliberately during the fight.
His goal was to use a massive blast and the spread of magic to draw guildmates nearby to their aid.
He remembered that many companions were on missions in nearby towns.
Not just Laxus and the Raijin Tribe—shortly afterward, Gajeel, Juvia, and others also arrived and joined the battle.
The scales of victory tipped once more, until Mard Geer personally entered the fray and suppressed them again.
Just as the battle reached its most intense point and less than five minutes remained before the activation of Face, the fearsome Black Dragon Acnologia descended.
(End of this chapter)