Phantom Lord Mobile Fortress Headquarters.
Joseph sat high atop his throne, overlooking the S-Class elite of the Element Four gathered below him. In the corner, a strange man gnawed loudly on a chunk of iron, metal clanging with every bite.
"President, a no-name guild like Saber Tooth isn't even on par with a few of our regional branches," said Sol, the Fire Element, spreading his arms theatrically with disdain. "Is there really any need to partner with them?"
He couldn't understand why their powerful Phantom Lord guild would lower itself to work with some second-rate outfit.
If it was about crushing Fairy Tail, then Phantom Lord alone was more than enough.
"Germain's magic power barely qualifies him as a guild master," Joseph replied coldly, resting his cheek on one hand. "But that's not the point."
He curled his lips into a dark smile. "The recent incident on the Island of the Cursed Ruins has given Fairy Tail a surge of good publicity."
If Phantom Lord attacked alone, it would raise suspicions and opposition. But if they acted in defense of an ally… that changed everything.
After all, open warfare between legal guilds is forbidden.
Joseph's original plan had been to provoke Makarov bit by bit low-level conflicts, escalating tension until Fairy Tail struck first. That would give Phantom Lord the perfect justification to retaliate.
His true ambition was to annihilate Fairy Tail, avenge past grudges, and capture Heartfilia Konzern's daughter. With that, he'd obtain a mountain of wealth and firmly seize the title of Fiore's number one guild.
Fairy Tail's chaotic reputation meant public opinion would likely blame them. If towns were destroyed in the process? So be it. Fairy Tail would bear the consequences.
To the victor go the spoils and the narrative.
Even if the Council voiced their disapproval afterward, what could they do? At most, slap on a meaningless fine.
But then came the unexpected.
The public exposure of the Island of the Cursed Ruins incident had shifted things. Fairy Tail was being praised now, and voices of support within the Council were growing louder.
This threw a wrench in Joseph's perfect plan.
Which was when Germain who had already clashed with Chase at the regular guild masters' meeting caught his attention. A perfect pawn.
Small guilds like Saber Tooth were disposable. Tools to be used and tossed away without guilt.
"Acting in defense of an ally President, how noble of you. No~ No~ No~" murmured Sol, the Earth Element, twisting his grotesque body like a worm as he muttered gibberish.
"The end of the fairies… oh, how tragic~ Just… so… tragic~" sobbed Aria, the Wind Element and leader of the Element Four, hands clasped in prayer as fake tears streamed from his bandaged eyes.
Drip. Drip…
Water Elemental Juvia stood silently beneath a dark raincloud, an umbrella in hand and gloom shadowing her expression. She didn't join in the conversation.
"Mystogan… Laxus… Erza… and now Chase," Joseph murmured, narrowing his eyes with menace. "How many more variables will this cursed guild produce?"
Joseph, seated in the guild master's throne, slowly retracted his twisted smile. A burning mix of jealousy and hatred blazed in his eyes.
"Damn Makarov… damn Fairy Tail… How powerful do they need to become before they finally stop?!"
He turned toward the corner. "Gajeel, how's your mission progressing?"
The man gnawing on a steel bar halted, standing up with a clink of metal and a wicked grin.
"Heh, that rundown guild is all armored up like some Iron Hedgehog now. Too bad it was so late at night we didn't run into any fairies wandering alone."
"Well done."
Joseph leaned back lazily in his chair, legs crossed, a sinister smile curling across his face.
"If Makarov can tolerate this… then that old bastard can tolerate anything."
"And when the time comes, you'll coordinate with Saber Tooth and give Makarov a grand gift."
"A gift that'll make him lose all reason."
Gajeel dusted himself off and sneered, "Just taking out a few trash fairies? I could do it myself with one hand."
Joseph twitched slightly clearly, Gajeel hadn't been listening at all.
"Ah~ Gajeel~ That's so sad~" Alia sobbed exaggeratedly, his tears gushing like waterfalls.
Joseph's voice turned cold and commanding.
"Remember this, Gajeel make sure Fairy Tail directs all its hatred toward Saber Tooth."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. What a pain."
Once Gajeel agreed, Joseph turned his gaze to the Element Four.
"Aria, go to Saber Tooth first and get things ready. Once Makarov shows up, I'll create an opening for you to drain his magic."
"When the war breaks out between the Fairies and the Saber Tigers… Juvia, Sol you two will find a chance to kidnap Lucy Heartfilia and bring her to me."
"Understood. Drip… drip…"
"President, saying 'kidnap' is far too crude for a girl," Sol chimed in with theatrical offense. "If it were me, I'd say, 'Please come with me,' in a 3-3-7 rhythm~ NoNoNo~"
Joseph ignored his flamboyant underlings. His gaze narrowed as he turned to the glowing magic projector before him.
There, displayed clearly, was a complete map of the Kingdom of Fiore.
"It's time… to erase Fairy Tail from this map."
The next day.
After a brief farewell on Karuna Island, Ulu set out north across the continent, as she had planned, to visit old friends and learn how the world had changed.
ultear, meanwhile, returned to the Magic Council her journey of atonement had begun.
After being persuaded by Sherry and the others, Lyon finally made up his mind to join the Lamia Scale guild.
As for Chase and the rest, they naturally began their journey back to the guild.
After all the twists and turns, it was already late afternoon by the time they returned to Magnolia.
The setting sun bathed the peaceful, prosperous town in a warm yet slightly somber glow.
This time, Chase did not summon his massive stone soldiers to speed up the return he quickly sensed the subtle change in the townspeople's expressions. Their gazes were more cautious and reserved than usual.
When combined with what he knew from the original timeline, the source of the strange whispers and tension was self-evident.
Phantom Lord… must have begun to move.
Natsu and the others, however, were still caught up in their excitement over the S-Class request and didn't notice the shift in atmosphere.
"Seven million J! That's seven million J!" Natsu shouted excitedly.
"Man, I can't even imagine how many fish you could buy with that much money…" Happy sighed dreamily.
Unfortunately, commissions taken without proper authorization even if completed could not be rewarded. That was one of the few hard-and-fast rules of the guild.
Still, Lucy was thrilled to have obtained the Sagittarius Key of the Zodiac.
It wasn't payment for the job, but rather a personal gift from the village chief of Demon Village, offered in gratitude to a trusted friend.
"Well, we were the ones who broke the rules first, so I guess we can't complain about the reward~" Lucy said with a big smile, trying to sound generous.
Her shameless comment was instantly met with loud protests from Gray and Happy.
"That's easy for you to say when you got a gift!"
"Yeah! All our sweat and effort just vanished into thin air!"
"Love~! Why don't we sell Lucy's keys and make some money off those?"
Happy's "suggestion" made Natsu and Gray's eyes gleam.
"No way! This is a super-rare golden key! You can't even buy it with money!" Lucy shrieked, clutching the Sagittarius key to her chest like a sacred treasure.
Seeing the trio closing in on her with mischief in their eyes, Lucy immediately bolted behind Chase and gave him her best puppy-dog eyes, pleading for help.
Chase raised a hand, halting the advancing idiots, but his face suddenly turned serious.
"I don't really care about the money," he said flatly. "But before you start talking about selling keys to cover living expenses… shouldn't you be worried about something else?"
"Like what?" Natsu blinked.
"Taking an S-Class job without permission… You know what the punishment is, right?" Chase said with a cold edge in his voice.
Even he, a time traveler, didn't actually know what the punishment was because the original series never revealed it.
He was always causing trouble around the guild, sure. But even so, his antics stayed within the bounds of sanctioned jobs. This? This was serious.
But knowing Fairy Tail's style… the punishment would probably just be something like suspension from taking jobs or being forced into community service, right?
"Ahhhh! It's over, it's over! That punishment is the one thing I can't handle!" Natsu wailed dramatically.
"Damn it, it's that? I feel like I'm going to die!" Gray added, equally horrified.
"Lucy… when I die, bury me by the sea… so you can eat fish more conveniently…" Happy whimpered.
Their overly dramatic reactions made Lucy pale with fear. "Even Natsu and Gray are acting like this… What kind of terrifying punishment is it?!"
"That's right! You're the one who took the S-Class job without permission! Chase and I only went to stop you!" Gray declared confidently as he stood beside Chase like an ally of justice.
"Wow, how noble of you," Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're not even part of the strongest team yet!"
"That's right, unlike me! I was coerced by Natsu and Lucy~" Happy immediately changed sides again, fluttering behind Chase like a righteous little angel.
"You damn traitor! This is the second time you've betrayed me!" Lucy snapped.
"If I remember correctly…" Chase's voice was calm and chilling. "Didn't you join Natsu and Lucy halfway through the mission?"
Both the man and the cat instantly froze in place, petrified.
"Don't worry," Chase added casually, "I'll be sure to report the full truth to the Master."
"Nooooo!!!" came the simultaneous cry from Natsu, Gray, and Happy.
The group bickered all the way through the streets of Magnolia.
Until…
At the end of the street, a familiar yet shocking sight stopped them in their tracks:
The Fairy Tail guild… had been impaled by a giant iron pillar. Its once-lively building now stood in ruin.