The guild fell into stunned silence.
They had just been picturing the Spriggan Twelve as an invincible wall—twelve monsters, each powerful enough to crush a country, led by Zeref himself. The very strongest mage of Ishgar, the top seat of the Ten Wizard Saints, was only one of them. And above even him stood the likes of the Magic King August and the Scarlet Despair, Irene Belserion. The situation had seemed hopeless.
And then Su Yan casually dropped a truth like a thunderclap.
God Serena—the strongest of Ishgar, the traitor who had joined Alvarez—was already dead. Killed in an instant by Su Yan himself.
For a moment, all they could do was gape. It was overwhelming. Terrifying. And somehow… reassuring.
If Su Yan could strike down even that man, then perhaps Ishgar had a fighting chance after all.
Makarov's shock soon gave way to resignation. Yes, that was just like this brat. Going to Alvarez "to say hello" had never been only that. With Su Yan, "greetings" usually meant fire and ruin.
One enemy down. And with it, Ishgar's odds had shifted—even if only a little.
Mavis straightened, her expression grave.
"Now, we begin planning. Everyone, listen carefully. Zeref will lead the entire Alvarez army against us. Even with God Serena gone, we are still at an overwhelming disadvantage."
"This enemy is not like any we've fought before. They are not in the same order of magnitude. That is why we must fight with everything we have—our courage, our bonds, our pride as Fairy Tail. We will show them our strength!"
"OOOOHHHHHHH!!!" the guild roared back, voices shaking the walls.
Meanwhile, in a remote cave, a dark figure brooded.
Acnologia's human form sat in silence, fingers tracing the scar carved across his chest. Su Yan… the only one who had ever wounded him.
"When the time comes, I'll devour you all. This so-called Dragon King Festival… there is only one true Dragon King. Me. Acnologia—the absolute existence."
In a rush of black scales and wings, he transformed, his massive body blotting out the cavern. With a roar that split the air, the Black Dragon took flight toward Ishgar.
He had promised Zeref a year. That year was over. Now he would claim his throne as the one and only Dragon King.
Back in Fiore, along the coastline, guilds from every corner of Ishgar and the Ancient Knights of the Council had mobilized. The fate of the entire continent was at stake. They had no choice but to fight.
Inside Fairy Tail's guild hall, Makarov's tone was sharp.
"Warren, report. What's the situation?"
"No enemy sighted in Fiore yet," Warren answered, his hands moving across a crystal tablet. A map projection shimmered in the air beside him.
Over the past year, Warren had poured himself into developing new communication magic, guided by ideas Su Yan had provided. What he now held—an ultra-compact communication crystal, almost like a "mobile phone"—was crude compared to the ones from Earth Su Yan remembered. It couldn't play games or show videos, but it could connect and track across distances. A beginning.
Macao squinted skeptically. "Can we really trust that thing?"
"This is high-performance radar I built myself!" Warren shot back indignantly.
Makarov frowned, arms folded. "North, south, west… which direction will they come from? Knowing that changes everything."
Mavis spoke calmly, though her eyes were hard.
"In war, it's common to feint in the north and send the main force south. Ishgar has already concentrated its defenses there. But the true danger isn't only the invasion. It's Acnologia. He's the one factor neither we nor Alvarez can control."
Zeref's aim was clear enough to her—but so was Acnologia's. He had ended the Dragon Age. He was no mere beast, but a monster of cunning as well as destruction. His entry into the war could tip everything.
Su Yan chuckled, folding his arms.
"Don't worry about that, First. Leave the war command to you. If Acnologia shows up, I'll handle him."
Mavis studied him. Then she nodded. He said it so simply—but if anyone could face the Black Dragon, it was him.
BEEP—BEEP!
The communicator blared.
"Urgent report!! The main Alvarez army has landed west of Fiore! Numbers—about one million!!"
"What?!! A million?!" Macao and Wakaba's faces went pale.
"Urgent report!! Massive Alvarez fleet sighted in Hargeon Port to the south!!"
"Urgent report!! Enemy troops detected north of Fairy Tail—estimated over three hundred thousand!!"
"Three hundred thousand?!" Even with Ishgar's full strength, they could never match such numbers.
Macao clenched his fists. "Are they… are they trying to surround us?!"
Mavis shook her head grimly.
"Not trying. Succeeding. All sides. Their goal is Fairy Heart. They mean to annihilate Fairy Tail completely, leaving no path of retreat. By splitting into four armies, they ensure Su Yan cannot crush them all at once. Even if he destroys one front, the other three may already break through."
Her eyes narrowed.
She had seen through Alvarez's plan from the start.
The Guardian War had begun.