Chapter 38: The Phantom Reveals Itself (5)
Deep within the heart of Phantom Lord's guildhall—
Inside the control chamber of the Phantom Mk II.
Lucy, battered and bruised, hung helplessly against the wall, little more than Gajeel's toy.
From shards of his own body, he shaped iron shuriken and hurled them one by one, each whistling past her face and embedding in the stone.
"Ugh!"
"Heh-heh! Thought that one was gonna hit you for real, didn't you? Kyahaha!"
Lucy groaned, but could do little more.
The Phantom Lord wizards who watched trembled nervously. They knew exactly who Lucy was—the daughter of the Heartfilia family, their client's guest. Hurting her was dangerous. To antagonize one of Fiore's wealthiest houses was sheer folly.
But Gajeel wasn't just roughing her up. His "game" was reckless enough to kill her.
"Gajeel… t-that's enough. If you keep this up, she's really going to—"
"Huh? But I'm bored. Where should I aim next?"
"Stop it, I said—! Guhh!!"
The unfortunate guildmate who rushed in to stop him was casually slammed aside. Gajeel spat on the floor, sneering at the others.
"I don't care if she's some rich girl's daughter. To me, she's just one of those Fairy Tail pests."
"Y-you'll get scolded by the Master for this…!"
"Oooh, will I? Don't worry—" he smirked darkly, "I'll just say you did it."
"W-what?!"
He leaned closer to Lucy, his grin widening.
"Pathetic, isn't it? No wonder those Fairy Tail brats are fighting so desperately to protect her."
"Kh…"
Lucy's voice slipped out in a quiet whisper, enough to make Gajeel turn.
"…What was that, girl?"
Though chained at wrists and ankles, pinned against the wall, Lucy drew in a trembling breath and spoke clearly:
"You're pitiful. So pitiful it makes me want to cry for you."
"Oh? Talking big in this situation, huh? Not bad."
"You don't scare me. Not one bit…"
A shuriken slammed into the wall beside her face, close enough to nick her hair. Phantom's wizards flinched in horror, but no one dared stop him.
Gajeel gestured mockingly. "Say that again?"
Lucy's body trembled. Her heart hammered. Instinct screamed at her to stay silent, to beg for mercy. But she was Fairy Tail. Fear didn't stop her—she let courage bloom within it.
"If I die here, the ones in trouble will be you. Fairy Tail will never forgive this. That's who we are."
"..."
"You'll spend the rest of your lives shaking under the shadow of the most terrifying guild in Fiore."
"…That actually sounds fun. Maybe I should test it."
"W-wait!"
"Gajeel, don't—!"
Ignoring their cries, Gajeel finally aimed true. With a sharp grin, he flung the shuriken straight for Lucy's forehead.
This time, if it landed, she would die.
The Phantom Lord screamed in terror.
Lucy only squeezed her eyes shut. But it wasn't fear that kept her from crying out—it was faith. Faith in the voice she'd heard beyond the wall.
Please… Natsu.
She prayed with all her heart.
And the miracle came.
"RAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The wall behind her exploded in flame and rubble.
"What the—?!"
"The wall—?!"
"N-no way… Salamander!"
Natsu tore the wall apart with bare hands and flame, bursting into the chamber with Lucy still bound to the slab of stone.
Her eyes welled with relief. He came…
Gently setting her down, Natsu didn't hesitate. Fire roared to life in both fists as he charged Gajeel head-on.
"GAJEEL!!!"
"Kh—?!"
....
In front of Fairy Tail's battered guildhall, Mirajane, Erza, and Cana finally sank to the ground with weary sighs, having finished treating the wounded.
For reasons they couldn't quite grasp, Jose's phantom soldiers—the Shades—had suddenly vanished. Thanks to that, they were able to complete their emergency care without further danger.
Now that the work was done, the three women sat in silence, gazing up at the collapsing Phantom Lord guild building.
The once-mighty structure was wrapped in lotus-shaped flames, dragged down toward the earth as its outer walls crumbled away. Inside, Natsu's team—and Ciel—were still fighting.
"Ciel…" Erza murmured under her breath.
"Don't worry," Mirajane reassured her quietly. "That man is Fairy Tail's strongest."
"…But is it really true? That Ciel has regained himself? That the one we fought until now wasn't him at all, but only a puppet Jose created?" Cana asked, doubt creeping into her tone.
Erza nodded firmly. "Yes. Ciel would never harm his comrades. Especially not those dearest to him. In a twisted way, you could say Jose's meddling allowed him to return."
Cana blinked. "Wait… are you saying Ciel's really come back to life?"
The three were still caught in that uncertain conversation when a massive column of fire suddenly burst upward, punching through the Phantom guild's roof.
Mirajane and Cana gasped, their hands flying to their mouths in shock.
The flame was beautiful and terrible all at once. Its heat carried a strange, suffocating magic, as if it could burn one's very soul.
Erza, having already witnessed it twice before, remained composed, but even she could not deny its awe. For the others, who saw it for the first time, the sheer power was overwhelming.
Around them, guild members who had begun to stir from their injuries froze in astonishment.
"W-what in the world…?!"
"I've never seen fire like that."
"Is that… Natsu's flames?"
"No way! Natsu's magic couldn't possibly wrap around a lotus flower like that!"
"Then what's happening inside?!"
"…It's Ciel."
Erza's quiet declaration made everyone fall silent. Her words sank deep, and the name carried a weight none of them could ignore.
Shock rippled through the guild. The fake Ciel they had fought before was nothing compared to this.
The Ciel they knew was the Phantom of Mist—but that was only one small part of his true self.
Now, as they stared at the burning lotus rising into the sky, they realized something: Ciel's real power might well be on par with Makarov himself.
Joy surged through their ranks. Fairy Tail's strongest wizard had returned—and he was fighting at their side.
"Ciel… it's not strange at all to call him Fairy Tail's strongest!"
"With power like that, he could even defeat Jose!"
"I heard rumors he once toyed with Laxus like he was a baby!"
"Maybe… maybe this war—we can actually win!"
"No. You're wrong!"
The sudden voice cut through their rising cheers like a blade.
The guild turned, frowning, wondering who dared break the mood. But when they saw who it was, their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Master?!"
"Master, you're… you're all right?!"
"This can't be…!"
Before them stood Makarov—whole and healthy, when moments ago they believed he was too gravely injured to even move.
Erza rushed to him and dropped to her knees.
"Master! Are you truly well?"
The old man smiled faintly. "Yes. Mystogan gathered my scattered magic power from the air into a lacrima and restored me immediately."
"M-Mystogan…?!"
"More than that… Ciel, as he is now, cannot defeat Jose."
Makarov already knew that Ciel had returned.
But Erza couldn't accept his words.
The figure before them—the one holding back a colossal magical weapon single-handedly and unleashing attacks of overwhelming power—how could that person possibly be unable to defeat Jose?
It made no sense.
Everyone else, equally stunned, turned to Makarov for an explanation. His expression grew heavier, more pained than ever before, as he spoke.
"Ciel has returned… but it isn't truly a resurrection."
"What do you mean by that?" Erza pressed.
"I heard it from Porlyusica and Mystogan. The Ciel you see now is nothing more than a construct—an effigy forged from keepsakes retrieved from his grave, clay, and Jose's stolen magic. When that borrowed magic runs out… Ciel will vanish."
"What?!"
The revelation shook everyone to their core.
Ciel had not been revived.
He was merely moving within the body of a doll, and once the magic sustaining it was gone, so too would he be erased.
At that truth, Erza and Mirajane's eyes widened in horror as they turned back toward Phantom Lord's fortress. The lotus still shone brilliantly above the castle, with yet more blazing pillars of fire erupting skyward.
"He's already pushing himself far beyond his limits," Makarov continued grimly. "When this battle ends… Ciel will—"
"Impossible!!" Erza cried.
"No! I haven't even had the chance to speak with him properly yet… I can't lose him again like this!" Mirajane shouted, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Mirajane!" Erza and Cana called after her, but their pleas went unheard. Mirajane had already taken off at a sprint, racing straight for Phantom Lord's castle where the battle raged.
"Don't worry. I'll follow after her," Makarov said firmly.
"Master…?"
"At the very least, she deserves a proper farewell."
"…."
"Erza, Cana—stay here. Protect our comrades. I'll return shortly."
"Yes, Master."
Leaving only those words behind, Makarov set off after Mirajane.
He already knew Ciel's fate.
Whether Jose fell, or whether Ciel's power simply burned away, there was no avoiding it—Ciel would disappear without hesitation.
But still… before that happened, Makarov wanted to grant him one thing: the chance to say goodbye to his family.
...
Meanwhile…
"Are you saying… Ciel really appeared?"
"I'm telling you, he did. A man doesn't lie about something like this."
Elfman's voice rang out as he and Gray sprinted down the corridor, chasing after Natsu.
At first, Gray thought Elfman must have mistaken some phantom or illusion for Ciel. But the conviction on Elfman's face made it hard to dismiss.
"So then, where did he go?"
"I don't know. He told me to find you, so I'm guessing he went after Natsu."
Gray was about to respond when a sudden, sickening pressure made him freeze.
They had reached the doors to the grand hall. From beyond them radiated a twisted, unsettling power. Even Gray—whose body never felt the cold—shivered violently.
Elfman felt it too. Neither had ever encountered such a dreadful collision of magic before.
They exchanged tense glances.
"…You feel that too?"
"Yeah. It's terrifying… but someone's definitely in there."
"Then we have to go. Natsu might be fighting in there."
Hesitant but resolved, the two pushed open the doors—
—and what they saw stole the breath from their lungs.
"You… damn it! What the hell is this?! This isn't magic… it's space itself, twisting apart!"
Ciel stood in the fractured space, his left eye burning crimson, his spear blazing with blue fire.
He chuckled bitterly. "Heh… as much as I'd like to claim it's magic, I barely have enough power left to hold this body together. No… this is my innate ability."
"A… an ability?! From where…?!"
"…From Hell itself."
The room shuddered as space itself cracked away, revealing a blood-red sky beyond.
At its center, Jose—battered and bloodied—and Ciel—his body riddled with fissures—faced off, eyes locked.
Gray and Elfman staggered forward, but the moment they entered the distorted space, agony struck.
"U-Urghhh! Uweeehhh!"
"Ghhhk—!!"
They collapsed to their knees, clutching their heads as waves of nausea, splitting headaches, and icy winds crushed down on them. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably in the oppressive air.
How could anyone still be standing in this nightmare of a space?
Gray's jaw clattered as he tried to form words through the biting cold that even his magic could not resist.
Jose glanced at them with a cruel smile. "Oh? Seems we've attracted an audience."
"Jose, now is not the time for distractions." Ciel's voice cut sharply.
"Foolish talk!"
And in the next heartbeat, Ciel surged forward. The spear of burning azure carved through the warped space toward Jose.
Jose's array of magic circles flared to life, intercepting the blow and driving Ciel back.
By then, Elfman had already collapsed, his body giving out entirely.
Gray, barely clinging to consciousness, forced himself to keep watching. The scale of the clash froze his blood.
"T-This… this is a different level… There's no way I can interfere… This isn't a battle of wizards. This is…"
His voice broke into a whisper.
"…a battle of monsters."
Powerless, Gray fell silent, eyes wide open, bearing witness to a fight beyond human reach.
------------------------
If you want to read 10 advance chapters ahead.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Leonzky