The grand amphitheater of the Magic Council's headquarters in Era sat in heavy, suffocating silence. High above the central podium, the nine Councilors sat upon elevated stone thrones, their long shadows casting a somber gloom over the hall.
At the center of the floor stood Makarov Dreyar.
Grand Doma, the Council Chairman, cleared his throat loudly, his stern voice booming off the marble walls. "...Therefore, upon thorough review of the incident, the Council has finalized its verdict regarding the unlawful conflict between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail."
Silence hung in the air. Chairman Doma leaned forward, narrowing his eyes.
"Master Makarov?"
Makarov's head was tilted back. His mouth was slightly open.
Zzzzzzz... Zzzzzzz...
Beneath the elevated dais, a small frog-headed Council assistant fidgeted nervously. She shuffled forward a few inches, looking around in utter panic before whispering timidly, "Um... Master Makarov? Sir?"
Makarov jolted awake, his head snapping upright. He instantly wiped a tiny trail of drool from his chin, smoothed down his coat, and looked up at the Council with absolute, unflinching composure.
"Ahem! Naturally," Makarov said smoothly, as if he hadn't just been catching forty winks during a state-level hearing. "A most astute assessment, Chairman. I completely concur."
On the upper tier, Siegrain hid a dark smirk behind his hand, his shoulders trembling with quiet amusement, while Ultear let out a silent, melodic giggle beside him. The remaining Councilors—Crawford, Org, and Michello—instantly scowled in deep annoyance.
To the side, Yajima simply pressed two fingers against his nose, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
A little later, the heavy brass doors of the Council building closed behind them.
The late afternoon sun painted the sky over Era in shades of deep violet and gold. Makarov and Yajima sat side by side on a marble bench overlooking the vast mountain valley below, the cool breeze carrying the scent of pine.
Makarov took a long drag from his pipe, blowing a ring of white smoke into the air. "I expected Jose to be stripped of his title as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and Phantom Lord's official dissolution was inevitable after the damage they caused... but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised Fairy Tail escaped without a single fine or penalty."
Yajima chuckled softly, resting his hands on his wooden walking stick. "You shouldn't be. Between the evidence provided by that young gearhead of yours and my own arguments in your defense, the Council didn't have an inch of leverage."
Makarov glanced sideways. "Kai's lacrima?"
"High-definition video and audio," Yajima said, shaking his head with a faint smile. "It captured Jose explicitly admitting to initiating an unprovoked war, extortion, and ordering the deployment of the Jupiter Cannon on non-combatants. Kai had already routed a copy of that recording to three major news syndicates before the dust even settled. If the Council tried to punish Fairy Tail, it would have turned into a public relations nightmare for Era. That boy certainly knows how to back a room full of politicians into a corner."
Makarov let out a hearty laugh, his chest swelling. "Bwahaha! That brat really is something else, isn't he?" He smiled warmly, looking at his old friend. "I owe you one, Yajima. Once the guild hall is finished being rebuilt, you ought to come visit Magnolia. I'll treat you to a massive bowl of Fairy Ramen."
Yajima blinked, his eyes gleaming behind his thick spectacles. "Fairy Ramen? Very well. I shall have mine with twelve slices of roasted pork."
Makarov froze. His pipe nearly slipped from his teeth. "Twelve?! Twelve slices is highway robbery! Three is generous!"
"Article 4 of the Inter-Guild Conflict Ban Treaty," Yajima recited calmly, looking straight ahead at the sunset. "A guild master who engages in unauthorized combat despite prior warning shall be subject to personal financial liability—"
"FINE!" Makarov shouted, waving his arms in a panic. "Twelve! Twenty! Take thirty slices, you old vulture!"
"Twelve is a comfortable number," Yajima replied serenely.
A comfortable, familiar silence settled between the two old friends. The wind rustled the surrounding trees, carrying away the lingering heat of the day.
Yajima's expression slowly softened, turning solemn as he stared out at the horizon. "You can't keep being this reckless, Macky... We aren't as young as we used to be."
Makarov hummed quietly, his gaze dropping to the floor.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Yajima asked softly.
Makarov looked over. "Forgotten what?"
"Rob," Yajima murmured.
Makarov's eyes widened slightly. He turned his head back toward the sky, the name hanging heavily between them. "...Rob."
"It was you, me, Porlyusica... and Rob," Yajima continued, his voice thick with nostalgia and old sorrow. "We were all so young. So wildly reckless. Every single day was an absolute delight." He paused, taking a breath. "Then Rob left Fairy Tail... and ended up in that terrible place. Erza still speaks of him to me on occasion."
Makarov tightened his grip on his pipe, his eyes darkening.
"There are many on the Council who feel Fairy Tail has grown far too out of control," Yajima warned quietly. "Michello and Org are already whispering, calling for the guild to be permanently disbanded. If things continue like this, eventually, the hammer will fall. It won't do anyone any good if you push yourself into an early grave, Macky. Just like Rob..."
Yajima turned his head to look directly into Makarov's eyes. "You need to think about retiring soon."
Makarov remained silent, his gaze fixed on the distant setting sun as the shadows lengthened across the valley.
Meanwhile back at Magnolia...
The sounds of heavy hammering, sawing wood, and shouting workers echoed across the riverbank. Fairy Tail's guild hall was still very much a active construction zone, surrounded by scaffolding and stacks of timber.
Inside the partially framed structure, a temporary wooden bar had been set up alongside a crude, makeshift job board.
"Listen up, everyone!" Mirajane called out with a brilliant, beaming smile, clapping her hands together. "We are officially taking job requests again! The counter is temporary, but let's put in our best effort!"
A loud, thunderous cheer erupted from the guild members. Within seconds, a horde of mages charged the temporary job board, shoving and laughing as they scrambled to grab fliers.
Lucy, sitting on a high stool by the improvised counter, watched the chaos with an amused expression. "What is with everyone today? Normally, half the guild is just lounging around complaining about being bored."
Mira chuckled softly, wiping down a glass. "Everyone's just excited to get back to a sense of normalcy after everything that happened."
Lucy tilted her head, scanning the crowd. "Oh... is Loke around?"
Mira paused, a mischievous glint entering her blue eyes. "My, my, Lucy... have you fallen for Loke's legendary charm as well?"
Lucy's face flushed as she waved her hands frantically. "N-No! It's nothing like that! I just heard he was the one who found my Celestial Keys in the rubble after the fight, so I wanted to properly thank him."
Mira smiled warmly. "I see. We saw Loke yesterday, but he didn't look very well. He was quite pale and left early. But if I see him, I'll be sure to tell him you're looking for him." She paused, tilting her head curiously. "By the way... did your Celestial Spirits get angry with you for dropping their keys during the battle?"
Lucy stiffened. The color instantly drained from her face.
A terrifying mental image flashed in her mind: Aquarius towering over her with a flaming whip, roaring, I explicitly told you never to drop my key, you useless brat!
Lucy involuntarily clutched her own backside, shuddering violently. "Angry... doesn't even begin to cover it," she whimpered, her voice dropping to a squeak. "My butt still stings just thinking about it..."
Mira offered her a look of profound pity. "Oh dear..."
Suddenly, Gray stepped up behind Lucy's stool, his hand glowing with a frosty blue haze. "Hey, if it hurts that bad, want me to apply some ice to cool it off for you?"
Lucy whipped her head around, glaring daggers. "That is blatant, casual sexual harassment!"
Happy fluttered down from above, landing on the counter with a completely innocent smile. "Lucy, let me see your red butt!"
"And that is unadulterated harassment!" Lucy screeched.
Before she could process that, Natsu burst into the conversation, his right hand completely enveloped in roaring flames. "Hey Happy! I wonder what it would look like if we set it on fire to make it sting even more?!"
Lucy jumped back, pointing an accusing finger at him. "WHAT ARE YOU, THE DEVIL?!"
"Honestly, Natsu," a dry, bored voice drawled right next to her ear. "If your brain burnt any hotter, it might accidentally produce a coherent thought."
"EEEEK!"
Lucy and Mira both shrieked, leaping two feet into the air.
Kai was casually sitting on the counter right behind them, resting one elbow on the wood as he took a slow sip from a juice glass. He offered them a faint, mocking smirk.
"STOP SNEAKING UP ON PEOPLE LIKE THAT!" Lucy yelled, clutching her chest.
Before Kai could even reply, a loud, whistling sound cut through the air.
CLANG!
A heavy wooden beer barrel flew across the room and smashed directly into the back of Natsu's head, slamming the dragon slayer face-first into the dirt floor.
"Try saying that again, you arrogant fool!" Erza's voice boomed from across the hall.
Natsu groaned from the floor, rubbing his head, while Lucy and Gray blinked in utter confusion. "Erza?" Gray muttered.
Kai didn't even turn around, casually taking another sip of his drink as if flying barrels were standard atmospheric weather.
Perched atop a stack of construction crates near the back wall sat Laxus Dreyar. He had his legs crossed smugly, his sound-pod headphones resting around his neck, looking down at the guild with pure, unadulterated disdain.
"I'm only gonna say this once so it sinks into your thick skulls," Laxus sneered, his eyes sweeping over the crowd. "Weaklings don't belong in Fairy Tail."
His eyes settled on Jet and Droy, who were sitting nearby covered in bandages, their heads hung low. Laxus let out a harsh scoff. "Look at you two. Pathetic. Letting Phantom walk all over you and turn you into target practice. Honestly, I don't even remember your names."
Jet and Droy winced, biting their lips in shame as they looked away.
Laxus's sharp gaze then shifted over to Lucy. "And then there's you. The rich Celestial girl. You're the main culprit behind this entire mess. The guild hall got destroyed and everyone got beaten half to death because of your family drama."
"Laxus, that's enough!" Mira interrupted loudly, her usual sweet demeanor completely vanishing, replaced by a fierce, protective glare. "We are finished with this! Nobody is playing the blame game! The Master explicitly ordered that no one is allowed to blame you for refusing to help us when we called!"
Laxus stood up from his crate, his eyes flashing with irritation. "Of course you're not allowed to blame me! It had nothing to do with me! If I had been here, Phantom wouldn't have even lasted five minutes!"
Erza's hand dropped to her sword hilt, her knuckles turning white. "You..."
"LAXUS, YOU BASTARD!" Natsu roared, pushing himself off the floor and rushing forward, his fist enveloped in fire.
He threw a wild punch straight at Laxus's face—only for Laxus's body to dissolve into yellow lightning. Natsu burst right through the electrical current, stumbling forward into empty air.
Laxus rematerialized three feet away, a cruel smirk on his face. "How are you gonna beat me when you can't even touch me, idiot?"
"STAND STILL AND FIGHT ME PROPERLY!" Natsu yelled, swinging around with his teeth bared.
Laxus completely ignored him, turning his back on Natsu to address the entire hall. "Once the old man steps down and I inherit this guild, I'm kicking out every single weakling. Fairy Tail is going to become the strongest guild in the world—a guild no one will ever dare mock again!"
A heavy, suffocating anger descended over the room. Gray, Cana, Mira, and Natsu all clenched their fists, their faces dark.
Erza stepped forward, her voice dropping to a dangerous, icy whisper. "Stop talking, Laxus."
Laxus turned his head, his smirk widening into a taunt. "Or what, Titania? Weren't you supposed to be the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail? Yet you couldn't even defeat one old geezer from Phantom, and needed your little boyfriend to run in and save you."
The entire guild hall went dead silent.
Erza's eyes went cold as ice. The faint metallic slide of her sword unsheathing rang through the quiet room.
Laxus didn't even look at her blade. Instead, his eyes drifted over to the bar, locking onto Kai, who was still sitting casually beside Cana.
Cana took one look at the tension building between the two, quietly picked up her mug, and slid six feet down the counter away from them.
Laxus walked slowly toward Kai, his hands shoved into his pockets. "And what about you, gearhead? Why did you even bother helping them? You said it yourself when you joined—you don't even like these losers."
Kai didn't answer right away. He slowly turned his head, leaning back against the counter, his golden eyes completely deadpan as he stared at Laxus.
"Throwing yourself between them and Phantom," Laxus mocked, leaning in slightly. "And look at you now—nearly crippled your own magic pathways. What's the matter, Kai? Are you that desperate to play their golden boy? Want to be some grand, heroic savior?"
Kai reached up with one finger and scratched his ear lazily, as if enduring an extremely boring lecture.
"What is this, Thunder Princess?" Kai drawled dryly. "Did Grandpa forget to give you your daily dose of attention?"
Laxus froze mid-stride. His smirk vanished, his jaw tightening as his fists clenched. "...What did you just say to me?"
Kai stared back with complete, innocent confusion. "Oh... have you gone deaf as well? Is that why you shout all the time? Man, I told you wearing those stupid headphones twenty-four seven was going to ruin your hearing eventually."
BZZZZZT!
In a blinding flash of yellow light, Laxus vanished and reappeared directly in front of Kai, his massive frame towering over him, eyes blazing with cold rage. "Say that again."
Kai's expression didn't change. Slowly, unhurriedly, he stood up from his stool, stretching his spine until he stood face-to-face with the Lightning Dragon Slayer, easily matching his height.
A sharp, dangerous smirk spread across Kai's face.
"Sure, since you requested so nicely," Kai said, his voice carrying clearly across the silent hall. "First off—I said I found them annoying. And I still do. I never said I hated them. So don't twist my words just to project your own daddy issues onto me."
Laxus's eyes flared with violent magic.
"Second," Kai continued smoothly, tapping a finger against Laxus's chest, "stop acting like a little bitch, throwing tantrums and screaming at everyone else just because Grandpa didn't give you the keys to the castle when you asked for them. You want to purge the weaklings from this guild? Maybe start with yourself."
BOOM!
A violent discharge of yellow lightning erupted from Laxus's body. Driven by pure rage, Laxus threw a lightning-fast right hook directly at Kai's jaw.
Kai's reaction was instantaneous.
Despite his damaged origin pathways, his physical reflexes were lethal. Kai snapped his left arm up, his forearm intercepting Laxus's wrist mid-flight. The heavy, black insulated wrappings coiled around Kai's arm flared with faint runic light, grounding and completely neutralizing the high-voltage electrical charge before it could shock his system.
In the exact same fluid motion, Kai shifted his weight forward, driving an open palm strike straight toward Laxus's chin!
Laxus snapped his head back, the palm strike grazing his jaw by millimeters. Reacting instantly, Laxus drove a brutal, high knee upward toward Kai's exposed ribs!
Kai slammed both palms downward onto Laxus's kneecap, absorbing the momentum and using the counter-force to push off, leaping backward four feet to land lightly on his toes.
Silence fell over the guild once more. The smell of ozone hung heavy in the air.
Laxus lowered his leg, wiping a microscopic smudge of dust from his jaw. A dark, dangerous smirk slowly returned to his face. "You've gotten faster since the last time we sparred."
Kai shrugged, casually smoothing down the lapels of his black coat. "I had to. Especially after you pulled that ridiculous Dragon Force trick out of your ass last time."
Laxus scoffed, turning on his heel. "We'll see. Go ahead and keep playing family with these losers, gearhead. But once I take over Fairy Tail, every last one of them is out." He shot one final, sharp glance over his shoulder at Kai. "Don't expect special treatment, gearhead. We used to be friends, but if you stand in my way... I'll put you down like anyone else."
Kai stretched his arms over his head, letting out a dramatic, fake shudder. "Oh no. I'm so terrified. Please, spare me, big bad Dragon Slayer."
"Annoying bastard," Laxus muttered.
FLASH!
With a crack of thunder, Laxus vanished into a bolt of yellow lightning, streaking out through the open roof structure and disappearing into the sky.
Kai cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled toward the clouds: "OI! I HEARD THAT, GORILLA-FACE!"
Silence returned to the construction site.
Every single member of Fairy Tail—Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Erza, Mira, and Cana—was staring at Kai with their mouths hanging open.
Kai dropped back down onto his stool, picking up his glass. He caught everyone staring at him and raised an eyebrow, a familiar, arrogant smirk returning to his face.
"What?" Kai drawled. "Never seen a handsome guy before?"
He gestured vaguely toward the wooden beams above. "Get back to work! The building isn't going to rebuild itself, you morons."