"Wiped the floor with everyone?!"
"Is the match… over?"
"That took, what, under a minute?"
"Hey, hey—what kind of monsters are the S-Class mages of Fairy Tail?!"
Only about fifteen minutes after Eden hauled Arzak and the others out of the arena did the crowd finally process what had just happened: the Grand Magic Games were already done. The guild that had been scoring zero for four days straight—Fairy Tail—had just one-shot the entire field and reclaimed the title of strongest guild in Fiore.
It felt like a dream.
"I remember now!"
"That guy's one of Fairy Tail's active S-Class mages. He's completed multiple S-Class and even SS-Class quests."
"They say if it weren't for his 'personality issues,' the Magic Council (ERA) would've already named him one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
A long-time Fairy Tail fan puffed up with pride as he explained.
"He's that strong?"
New fans—freshly converted by Eden's display—swarmed the rare veteran and begged, "Tell us more about Fairy Tail! We wanna hear everything!"
"Heh."
"If I'm not mistaken…"
"Eden isn't even Fairy Tail's strongest mage."
"They've got six active S-Class mages: Eden, Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, Mirajane, and Gildarts."
"In other words, there are at least five more mages in that guild with power like what you just saw."
"And that Gildarts guy? He's the real apex. The rest are contenders for the crown at best."
The veteran tilted his chin up, chest out, savoring every word. He'd eaten humble pie for four straight days—now it was his turn.
"What? Eden one-shot Jura—a bona fide Wizard Saint—and he still isn't their strongest?!"
"Just how strong is that Gildarts guy?!"
The new fans were stunned speechless.
"That's why I kept saying Fairy Tail doesn't bother with the Grand Magic Games because the level's too low."
"If they send an S-Class team, it's a one-sided slaughter. Zero fun."
"Send a few rookies instead—you entertain the crowd and keep other guilds from developing a complex. Win-win, right?"
"But you lot wouldn't stop chanting 'Fairy Tail fell off,' 'dead last,' 'riding coattails,' 'nepotism'…"
"Happy now?"
"Piss Fairy Tail off, and you get exactly what you just saw."
"Remember Phantom Lord? Back when they were neck-and-neck with Fairy Tail for Fiore's No. 1, their master was also one of the Wizard Saints. They were at their peak—and Fairy Tail's mages beat them so hard the guild disbanded."
The veteran finally felt satisfied and kept lecturing his new disciples until he'd talked himself hoarse.
In the infirmary.
"The gap is way too big."
Jura shook his head at his guild master, Ooba-baba. "I didn't stand a chance."
"Even if there's a gap, you shouldn't have been one-shot."
"Jura, you didn't hold back, did you?"
Ooba-baba's gaze was sharp.
In the past year and a half of training, Jura had quietly climbed from the bottom seat of the Wizard Saints up to around sixth or seventh—beside Jellal and Jose Porla back in the day. One more step and he'd be shoulder-to-shoulder with Makarov at his prime.
"Not even close."
"The pressure Eden gave me—I've only felt that from a handful of those 'great ones.'"
Jura recalled the overwhelming, ocean-deep magic he'd sensed before only at gatherings of the Four Gods of Ishgar.
"You mean that Eden brat is already on par with the top seats of the Wizard Saints? Those old monsters?" Ooba-baba's eyes widened. "How old is he, again?!"
By the way, the current Wizard Saints lineup is:
No. 1—Hyberion.
No. 2—Wolfheim.
No. 3—Warrod Sequen.
No. 4—"God" Serena.
(Yeah, even after Eden drained him dry once, Serena still muscled his way into the Four Gods of Ishgar thanks to a few dragon-slayer lacrima he scrounged up in the northern continent, Guiltina. Not easy, but he made it.)
Since Makarov only left for a year and a half, he's still holding the No. 5 seat.
After Eden returned and informed the Magic Council (ERA) that Fairy Tail's entire "Tenrou Team" was alive…
There was no way ERA would just strip Old Man Makarov of his title. Besides, with Jellal and Jose Porla both removed, they can't even fill all ten seats right now.
"If Eden really stepped into the realm of the 'Gods of Ishgar,' then your loss isn't shameful," Ooba-baba said evenly. "Those folks can't even be called human anymore. Eden's just another monster wearing human skin."
Eden: "Facts. I'm a dragon."
Elsewhere.
Fairy Tail partied for three days and three nights straight.
When it was time for Macao and Wakaba to head to Mercurius and receive the award from King Toma of Fiore…
Eden left a letter and a hefty pile of operating funds for the guild—and vanished again.
Mercurius.
"So Eden just… ran?"
Princess Hisui looked down at the Fairy Tail bunch with a smile that wasn't a smile. If not for the cracks she'd casually crushed into the armrest of her throne, no one would've guessed there was something complicated between Her Highness and Eden.
"Uh, well…"
Macao and Wakaba exchanged looks and kept their heads down.
"Good. Very good."
Hisui smiled, and with a crisp snap the rest of the throne's arm shattered in her grip.
Tenrou Island.
"Listen up."
After Eden left, Precht activated a dimensional transference array and brought Rob Lucci, Kaku, Jabra, Kalifa… the whole CP9 squad… and Douglas Bullet straight to him.
"Your mission is to infiltrate the Alvarez Empire on the western continent. Go all in. I want you buried deep."
"You'll feed me intel from the west on a regular schedule."
While Eden was recruiting heavy hitters from a 'pirate world' into Fairy Tail, Precht was quietly building a black-ops unit—a shadow that would handle the dirty work Fairy Tail, the guild of light, couldn't touch.
To make that work, he directly absorbed former CP9 members—and the ever power-hungry Douglas Bullet—as his chess pieces to pin down Alvarez.
If those pieces were exposed or died, Precht wouldn't shed a tear. Everything was for Fairy Tail. For the First Master, Mavis.
"As long as it makes me stronger," Bullet said, "and there are foes in the west stronger than us—good enough."
"Don't worry. You won't be disappointed." A glint flashed in Precht's eyes.
"Yo, Old Precht."
"Giving a sermon?"
A cool, familiar voice cut in behind him.
"Uh…"
Precht turned and found Eden watching him with that half-smile.
A few minutes later—
"Talk."
"Where did you send everyone in our guild?!"
Eden had Precht's lingering soul in his grip at the top of the Tenrou Tree, ready to drop him. With the underworld properties Eden had bound to Tenrou Island, a fall like that would scatter the old man's soul for real.
"Eden, kid, calm down."
Cold sweat beaded on Precht's brow. "Without me, you'll never find your lost comrades."
"Calm down? How?"
"If you don't talk, I'll kill you now and take my time searching later."
Eden didn't do threats.
"Fine! Fine!"
"I'll talk, okay?!"
"Yes, I tweaked the array. I admit it."
"But not to harm you."
"If you die, Mavis will be heartbroken…"
Only then did Eden believe him a little—Precht rarely swore on Mavis.
"Then why the tweaks?"
"To be blunt—compared to the true apex of this world, your current level is… ants."
"So I sent everyone to the worlds they should go to. Training."
"As for you, Eden? Your job is to bring them all back."
"By now, their training should be about done."
Precht's voice trembled.
"What do you mean 'about done'?!"
"When I discovered our guild had a Celestial Spirit mage—and a true Heartfilia bloodline at that—I integrated Zeref's Eclipse Gate formula into the array."
"In short, I scattered everyone across different worlds and different points in time. And right now is exactly when their training arcs end."
"The fruits are ripe. You, farmer, go harvest!"
Precht, the genius once praised by Zeref himself, had fused two ridiculously complex systems into a single "fruit-ripening" plan so audacious that even Eden had to blink.
"Then why did I return normally?"
"Duh. You're the harvester."
"Who else is bringing them home?"
"Die!" Eden snarled, flinging Precht's soul aside.
Thud!
Precht smacked the trunk, clutching his head. "Damn brat! Is this how you treat a senior's lingering soul?!"
"Quit playing dumb, old man."
"Hand over a magic that lets me travel freely between worlds."
"When Master Makarov gets back, we'll deal with you properly."
"Hah?"
"Just use your own dimensional transfer. Hop worlds one by one."
"Why do you need me?"
"My transfer only locks onto worlds I've visited. New worlds are random."
Eden was about to blow a fuse. He stormed up, voice rising. "Cut the crap and give me a locator."
"There… isn't one."
Precht's sweat poured.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"No locator? Then invent one!"
"Aren't you always bragging you're the greatest genius after the Black Mage, Zeref?"
"What do you mean bragging?"
"Zeref said it himself."
Precht was stubborn as ever.
"Ara~"
"So this is where you've been sneaking off to. Toying with human souls?"
A sultry, irresistible voice drifted to their ears from behind.
"Huh?!"
Eden turned and found himself facing a woman whose every gesture radiated overwhelming power. Cold sweat broke across his forehead. This aura… I've only felt it from Acnologia. Absolutely unwinnable. Instant death if I push it.
"And you are…?"
"Enough talk."
"Call me 'Mother.'"
"…What?"
"Sorry, but I'm not into that kind of roleplay."
Eden's expression shifted hard. He could not, for the life of him, figure out why this stranger would say something so outrageous as—
(End of Chapter)
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