The majestic giant descended from the heavens, with rivers of starlight flowing around him. The overwhelming power he radiated shook the world itself, causing the very motion of time to feel as though it had stopped.
Even Paipai was momentarily drawn in by the sight, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
"Precht's masterpiece?"
The stone sphere hovering in his palm distorted and reshaped into a humanoid figure—it was Hades, the Master of Grimoire Heart, once known as Precht.
A genius who had abandoned Fairy Tail in pursuit of the ultimate truth of magic.
"You do know everything, don't you? But this time, you're wrong. The Master only offered me some assistance."
With the Celestial Spirit King's arrival, Ultear's confidence swelled. She no longer felt even a trace of fear.
"In my guild, there's someone very… unique. He's extremely skilled in everything related to Celestial Spirits, and especially in finding loopholes. With his help and with the archives of our guild, we developed a method to bypass the need for trust between Spirit and summoner. By sacrificing the key itself, we can forcefully summon the Celestial Spirit King."
"Of course, there are some limitations. Only a Celestial Spirit Mage with immense magical power could perform it. But for me, with the Arc of Time, that's no issue. My magic allows me to accelerate my flow of time, giving me access to near-limitless magic. With that, nothing is beyond my reach."
Ultear's voice carried both pride and triumph, like a child eager to be praised for her cleverness.
Paipai gave her that much.
"You are talented."
"I see. So that's why such a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage suddenly appeared in the world."
For the first time, the Celestial Spirit King himself spoke, his deep voice reverberating like the hum of the cosmos.
His enormous eye focused on Ultear—or more precisely, on the key in her hand. The broken Sagittarius Key appeared whole once more, as if it had never been shattered.
"My magic, the Arc of Time, can affect the flow of time itself. Naturally, I used it to restore the Sagittarius Key," Ultear explained.
This was another of her trump cards. Without such a justification, the Celestial Spirit King might have taken offense at her methods.
"Then it seems we'll be seeing each other quite often from now on," the King said heartily, laughing as though the loophole in their contract didn't bother him in the least.
"Just as you say. But for now, we need to deal with a certain problem."
Ultear's gaze fell on Paipai, who still stood motionless, simply studying the King's immense body without showing any expression.
"A ghost mage who appeared four hundred years ago, and still walks this world."
The King's tone grew serious. He had heard of Paipai's reputation.
"You… who created you?"
Ultear: "..."
Celestial Spirit King: "..."
Paipai chuckled. "An amusing question. But unfortunately, I don't know. I have no memory of any creator, nor even whether such a creator exists."
The King bowed his head in thought, then sat cross-legged in the air. After a moment of silence, he threw his head back in hearty laughter, giving Paipai a thumbs-up.
But then came a sigh, and he shook his head in regret.
"That's too bad. Whoever it was must have had a truly remarkable existence."
Paipai echoed the sentiment.
Nothing in this world was born to serve another. The so-called "natural right of equality" could be stretched even here—every being was equal from the moment of birth.
Concepts like "master" and "servant" were artificial, created by societies where strength and wisdom were unevenly distributed.
Magic that imposed contracts and bonds of loyalty was stained by this human artifice.
If someone had indeed created the Celestial Spirits and their world of divergent time, then such a being—or such a force—was surely beyond imagination.
Of course, there remained another possibility: that the Spirits had been born naturally, and that the King, for the sake of preserving balance between the Spirit World and the human one, willingly lowered himself and set rules that bound his kin to humans.
That thought carried a strange, almost fantastical weight.
"Strike him down."
Paipai's musings seemed to strip him of the will to fight, but Ultear, enraged, cut in to urge the King forward.
"In another life, perhaps we might have been friends," the Celestial Spirit King said gravely.
Then he swung his colossal blade, cleaving downward. The force of the strike ripped the land apart, erasing the already-decayed Council in a single blow.
All except one single room.
"Impressive. If you truly had a creator, he must have been extraordinary."
Amidst the dust and shattered stone, Paipai stood untouched, as if existing on a different plane. No blade, no stone, no wind could reach him.
"King, strike him with everything you have. Erase him!"
Ultear's voice rang with fury.
But Paipai ignored her. His indifference to her, his fascination with the Spirit King's origins—it cut her deeply, reminding her of her mother, of being abandoned in a dark research facility. Rage boiled within her, and she screamed her command.
"Very well. Shine forth, all eighty-eight stars!
Starlight Phantasm—Galaxy Blade!!"
The world trembled as magic gathered. Storm clouds were swept away, revealing a flawless night sky glittering with stars.
The King raised his massive sword. Starlight gathered into a colossal beam that poured down from the heavens, devouring everything in its path.
The blast rivaled even Etherion in its destructive might.
"This should finish it."
When the light faded, what remained was a vast crater dozens of kilometers wide. Lava seeped at the edges, giving off a dim glow, but the abyss itself was dark as a black hole. Paipai's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"No… he's not gone. In truth, that attack might not have had any effect at all."
The Celestial Spirit King shook his head, his voice filled not with anger but admiration—admiration for a force utterly beyond reach.
Chhhk! Chhhk!
From within the crater, perfect cubes of stone began to emerge, unnaturally smooth. Within some of them, the Councilors who had been caught in the blast were safely sealed away.
There were 160 such cubes.
And then, arranged in a great circle, 200 spheres materialized, orbiting in perfect formation. At the circle's center stood Paipai.
"The Satellite Array…?! Impossible! That's supposed to be in orbit! You were stalling for time?!"
Ultear's voice cracked in shock.
For someone with absolute power to resort to tricks—it was maddeningly shameless.
Paipai offered no answer. The 200 satellites spread out behind him, linking into a radiant halo. In sheer scale alone, it dwarfed even the King's body.
"Shall we continue?"
"Of course."
The King's laughter shook the heavens as he charged, swinging his colossal sword. Every strike splits mountains, carving canyons into the earth.
Paipai's array unleashed torrents of Etherion-like blasts, magical tides spreading in all directions. The world itself trembled. Magic beasts screamed in agony, and magical tools everywhere fell into dysfunction.
Their clash threatened to unravel the very fabric of existence.
In only moments, the land became a barren zone devoid of magic.
But Paipai wasn't finished. He diverted some of his power into Ultear, sustaining her, while shifting tactics—grabbing a massive boulder, converting it into pure magic, and unleashing unimaginable force from the smallest particles of existence.
"You… are using me as a test subject?"
The King was enraged. For the sovereign of the Celestial Spirits, to be treated like a child's plaything was intolerable.
"You could see it that way. Whether you know it or not, your body carries many secrets. Recently, I've made some breakthroughs in certain areas. You make an excellent sample," Paipai replied casually.
"Hahaha! Truly, you are an interesting one… but I won't let you have your way."
The King's fury suddenly vanished. With a mischievous glint, he seized Ultear and vanished with her, as if nothing had happened—like an old trickster spirit playing a prank.
Paipai blinked. "That rational?"
"…Forget it. Let's leave it at that."
He shook his head, and the massive satellite array dissolved into motes of light that drifted back into orbit. The Councilors were released from their cubes, stumbling free in shock.
The King might have been a valuable specimen, but that was all. With or without him, Paipai's goals could still be achieved. His Chaos Magic was enough to surmount most obstacles.
As for Ultear—she wasn't worth worrying about. Once she met Gray, her path would change anyway.
If she hadn't blundered into his plans and dragged the Celestial Spirit King into it, Paipai would have simply taught her a lesson and sent her back with a message for Precht.
"The Council has been destroyed. You should tighten your personnel management and rebuild as soon as possible."
Leaving those words behind, Paipai returned to the Ratio Control Room. Within miles, it was the only place left standing, maintained by countless magic circles still spinning in the air.
The Councilors and staff stood in stunned silence.
The Magic Council… was gone.
A cold wind blew through. Their hearts… froze with it.