In a huge chamber filled with robed wizards, everyone sat around a vast round table. The air was thick with unease — few dared to speak, most simply waited. Among the many black-robed mages, only four wore blue robes — and they were the only ones who spoke in hushed tones, their confidence marking them as different and higher ranked than others.
The quiet broke when the doors opened.
A woman in her twenties stepped in — sky-blue hair cascading down her back, eyes the color of a deep ocean. Her beauty was striking, but not one person dared to meet her gaze for more than a heartbeat. They all knew the truth — if this woman wished, she could end every life in this room in an instant.
The wizards began to stand, but she halted them with a lazy wave of her hand.
"Now, now… I told you, I'm not a fan of formalities," she said in a smooth, teasing tone that carried a faint warmth — but everyone in the room knew it was a performance. "I'm here for one thing only. Your reports."
One of the black-robed wizards cleared his throat nervously.
"Miss Margrada, we… we couldn't find the Aetherkrone. We even searched every record in the royal library, but it appears only the royal family knew of its exact location."
Another, a trembling woman, added, "And since there are no members of the royal family left, it's safe to assume the Aetherkrone is… truly lost. We're deeply sorry."
"Who says no royal remains?" a rough voice cut through the silence. An older black-robed wizard stood up, glaring at Margrada. "We've never seen Prince Sylvain's body. He might still be alive — and when he comes back he will get the Aetherkrone back for us and get his throne back.."
A ripple of dread passed through the room. The other black-robed wizards looked at him in horror, motioning frantically for him to stop talking.
In Joya's royal court of wizards, there were two factions. The black-robed wizards who were loyal to the old royal family — the Rosenwachts. And blue-robed ones who served Queen Velmora's sister — Margrada, the woman before them. There were disturbing rumors surrounding them, whispers that they'd once been members of dark guilds before Margrada brought them under her banner.
Margrada didn't answer right away. She simply smiled — sweetly, almost playfully — and stepped closer to the defiant man.
"Now, now… Prince Sylvain has already been declared dead," she murmured, voice soft as silk. "And even if he were alive, the late king left the throne to his wife — not him. Tell me, old man… are you suggesting we defy the king's dying wish? Are you planning treason?"
She tilted her head and gently took his chin between her fingers. A chill ran down his spine as her skin met his — an instinctive, primal warning.
But he didn't yield.
"The Joya Kingdom has always been ruled by the Rosenwacht family," he rasped. "Even the capital bears their name. And only they can wield the Aetherkrone. Even if you found the relic,, you'd never be able to use it to its full potential. You bitch."
Her smile faded. Her eyes narrowed.
Of all things, that word — useless — was the one that always cut deepest. Her father had used it on her too many times to count. She'd inherited very little of his magic, leaving the proud House Hohenlicht without a true successor.
Blue light flickered across her hand. As she again smiled, more sweetly than before.
"I heard that my magic hurts a lot when you get attacked by it, tell me, does it hurt a lot?" a chilling voice came from her mouth.
The old man screamed as his skin began to disintegrate beneath her touch, the flesh on his jaw vanishing grain by grain. The agony twisted his voice, but rather than answering her, he declared..
"You can silence people all you want… but soon they will rise against you. Your Hohenlicht blood can't protect this kingdom — only rule it through fear. And one day… they'll overthrow you and your sister both—"
Margrada's eyes glowed fiercely. She raised her free hand, magic gathering — ready to finish him —
—but a deafening boom echoed through the castle.
Everyone froze as they could feel that several wizards infiltrated the castle.
"Who dares attack the royal castle?" one whispered, panic creeping into his voice.
No one moved. As the chief mage, Margrada had to give the order first — but even she looked momentarily unsure.
"…Why are they here already?" she muttered under her breath, her grip loosening slightly. "Did they already find the–"
Her words were cut short as the chamber doors burst open.
A royal guard stumbled inside, panting heavily, his armor half-melted from battle.
"Lady Margrada— it's bad!" he gasped. "A group of wizards just broke through the main gates! We can't stop them!"
Well, breaking in was a huge understatement. Chaos had already swallowed the grand hall below the royal castle as the Fiore wizards had already stormed through the front gates.
"Remember—don't kill them by accident," Astro called over his shoulder with a calm smile, glancing back at Totomaru.
"Tch, I know," Totomaru snapped, already irritated. Blue flames roared to life around his hand, swirling and coiling like a whip before he lashed it forward.
"Blue Fire!"
The blazing strike swept through the front line of guards, sending several of them flying backward with scorched armor.
Gray's voice cut through the noise as he slammed his palms onto the ground.
"Ice-Make: Floor!"
Frost raced out from his hands, coating the marble beneath them. The guards rushing forward immediately lost their footing, slipping and tumbling into one another in a tangle of limbs and metal.
Gray glared at Totomaru. "You're going to kill them, idiot! Why are all flame wizards so hot-headed?!"
"Huh? Blue flames don't burn that bad, you ice sculpture. If they still get hurt, that's on them!" Totomaru shot back, scoffing.
While they bickered, Cana stood a few meters away, swinging her magic cards and summoning a storm of lightning bolts that struck down guards still standing. "Astro!" she yelled over the chaos. "We can't keep this up! There are too many guards—we'll burn out before we even reach those royal wizards!"
Astro's expression didn't change. He deflected an incoming spear with a casual swipe of his arm, the wind pressure alone sending the weapon spinning back toward its owner. He looked up toward the high ceiling above—the top floors of the castle, where the real enemies were waiting.
'They're still waiting there' he thought. 'Waiting for us to get tired. Looks like they are not as muscle brained as Fiore wizards..'
But Astro was not worried. "Then let's not waste any more time," he said, voice light and confident. "How about we make ourselves a direct path up there?"
Hibiki, surrounded by his glowing yellow holographic screens, blocked another spear that was aimed at Eve with his screen. "What are you talking about? There are too many guards in the way!"
Before anyone could answer, Gray noticed where Astro's gaze had shifted and his eyes widened in realization. "Oh no… Astro, you don't mean—"
Astro showed a devilish smile. "Of course, it's not a proper fairy tail mission without some property damage. right?." he said, magic already swirling around him in violent purple winds.. "Though this might be a new record even for fairy tail… first time destroying a royal castle. I just hope Master doesn't lose any more of his remaining hair."
Purple energy wrapped around his body, spiraling downward as he crouched. The air pressure warped, the floor beneath his boots cracking.
"Sky Devil's—"
"Wait, don't tell me—" Totomaru started, realizing Astro's plan but it was too late.
"—Drill Havoc!"
Astro launched himself upwards like a missile, the floor beneath him shattering into rubble. A spiraling drill of compressed and violent purple wind formed around his right arm as he shot upward, tearing through ceiling after ceiling. Shockwaves rippled through the entire castle, scattering debris and dust like a storm.
He burst through the final floor, coming in a vast chamber lined with ornate banners—and came face to face with a beautiful woman with sky-blue hair and her surprised blue eyes.
Margrada.
For a moment, she only stared in disbelief—she had been waiting for the Fiore wizards to exhaust themselves fighting her guards, not for one of them to literally tear through her castle.
Astro smiled faintly as he said casually. "You must be Margrada."
Before she could react or even reply, Astro's boot connected squarely with her face, the impact sent her flying across the room and through several walls before she finally embedded into the sixth one, coughing dust.
Astro on the other hand landed gracefully amid the chaos, his long coat fluttering as the debris settled. He dusted his shoulder with one hand, eyes half-lidded and calm as he looked at other people in the room.
Downstairs, everyone — even the guards — froze and stared wide-eyed at the massive hole in the ceiling. The chaos came to an awkward halt as dust slowly drifted down from above.
Even the Fairy Tail wizards were shocked because they had to resist the instinct to destroy the rest of the royal castle. Thankfully, Hibiki finally broke the silence.
"He said Sky Devil… what kind of magic is that?" he asked, still watching the hole in the ceiling.
Cana shrugged. "No clue. He just said he's the Sky Devil Slayer. Apparently, he can eat and use wind in different ways.."
Hibiki rubbed his chin. "I've never heard of a magic like that before… I think—"
Suddenly, Ichiya spoke up in a grave, serious tone, his face shadowed dramatically.
"Sky Devil…"
Ren leaned forward. "Master, do you know something about it?"
Everyone — Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, even the guards — fell silent, waiting for the great revelation.
Ichiya took a deep breath, turned his head slightly to the light, and said solemnly,
"It would be… a very good name for a perfume."
Everyone face-faulted in unison.
"IF YOU DON'T KNOW, THEN DON'T INTERRUPT!" Totomaru roared, punching Ichiya square in the chest and launching him across the hall.
"Meeeeennnn~!" Ichiya's voice echoed as he flew through the air, colliding spectacularly with a group of stunned guards.
"Master Ichiya…" the other three Blue Pegasus members muttered in disbelief, watching his sparkling form disappear into the chaos.
On the other hand, Astro was completely unfazed by being in a room with forty hostile wizards. Not even a flicker of fear crossed his face. But the wizards could feel it as Astro was walking forward slowly — the air around them thickened, heavy with tension, as if a devil had risen from the depths of hell to judge their every misstep. And they weren't entirely wrong.
"I hope you didn't mind my sudden arrival. But it could not be helped, you guys were too scared to come downstairs, so I had to come upstairs myself" Astro said, his voice calm but carrying a dangerous edge. "And now I'll kindly ask you one time: if you're not loyal to Margrada, back off, please.."
He put his hands back into his long coat, his purple eyes glowing ominously, the aura around him swirling like a storm.
Before the black robed wizards could say something, one of the four blue-robed wizards struck first.
"I remember. You're the brat from Fairy Tail? You think you can intimidate us? This is not Fiore. Don't think you're getting out of here alive!" His hand glowed gray.
"Stone make spikes!"
He slammed his fist into the ground, and a jagged array of stone spikes erupted, hurtling toward Astro like deadly spears.
Another blue-robed wizard refused to be outdone.
"Puppet Show: Strike!" He shot both palms forward; his rings on each index finger glowed black as five wooden puppets with sword in their hand materialized from a portal, each racing toward Astro.
"Lightning Arrows!" A third wizard unleashed tens of small lightning bolts, each shaped like a precise arrow.
Astro took in the incoming attacks without a hint of fear. A grin tugged at his lips as he stopped walking forward, his eyes deepening to a dark purple glow. His long coat and hair fluttered in a violent purple breeze that seemed to rise from under his feet..
The last blue-robed wizard, who hadn't attacked yet, felt goosebumps creep up his spine. He got ready to defend.
But Astro didn't wait. Just before the attacks were about to hit him, a devilish whisper sounded in the air, cold and deadly, like hell itself had entered the room.
"Sky Devil's Rage."
A massive purple wind tornado erupted from Astro's mouth, slicing through the three incoming attacks. Stone shattered, puppets were torn apart, and lightning fizzled into nothingness before the purple tornado went toward the three men behind the attack.
The last blue-robed wizard's hand glowed black. "Switch!" he shouted desperately. In the last heartbeat, the three attacking wizards vanished and reappeared behind the teleportation caster.
But Astro's breath attack surged forward, heading straight for the hole he had created by kicking Margrada. But all of a sudden,, it began to disintegrate in midair, stopped by a white feminine hand.
Astro's eyes widened slightly. Margrada, her injuries at her face healing at a terrifying speed, was walking towards him. As her face shone with a green light, and the flesh on her face was knitting back together before his eyes.
Astro sighed in secret, looking at the sight, "Healing magic… isn't that supposed to be rare? I remember facing one in the last mission too. Am I just some type of magnet for healing wizards?" he muttered, genuinely helpless.
"I have to say—you kicked very hard—" Margrada started, but her words died in her mouth. Her eyes went wide as Astro vanished forward in a blink and slammed a fist into her face. She crumpled sideways into the floor with a sickening thud; a spiderweb of cracks radiated from the impact like a smashed gem.
"I don't care about your speeches," Astro said coldly, standing over her as she groaned on the marble. "Were you the one who planted that fake mission and tried to kill me and my friends?" His right fist was still clenched; his purple eyes pinched with anger but he controlled his rage very well.
Margrada rose slowly, showing a sickening sweet smile "You and your damn guild should have submitted to me or just accepted your death," she cooed. "But now I'll make sure you live long enough to regret every breath you wasted on earthland.."
Astro did not understand what she meant but as if on cue his right hand flinched as a hot, corrosive pain bloomed there. He stared down at his own skin as it blackened and began to flake away—flesh dissolving as if eaten from the inside. He'd been stabbed, poisoned and even got his soul burned before at Ventara Island, but this felt way worse: each cell felt like it was being chewed alive. He dropped to one knee from the overwhelming pain.
"I can't only do recovery magic,boy." Margrada said sweetly as she looked down at his injured hand. "It's Wither magic. Anything my magic touches starts to decay. You were lucky that you managed to catch me off guard the first time, but it won't happen again.."
Margrada touched his face as she was talking.. Astro gritted his teeth as the skin on his cheek began to disintegrate as well.
Astro felt the triumphant gloating from the other wizards behind him as they cheered at Margrada's apparent victory. Margrada looked down on him and laughed. "You are quite strong for your age, i am impressed. How about a truce between us? You work for me and i will let your friends downstairs live."
Astro could feel that his skull bones were getting revealed from being touched but Margrada did not care about his pain. " What do you think of this offer, boy?."
But contrary to her expectation, Astro laughed a little, as if even such pain could not diminish his spirit. "The only thing in my mind now is that i think you are one unlucky lady."
He grabbed the hand that had been pressing into his face with his left hand. His left hand began to decay as well, skin blackening and bone showing through. But this time, Margrada's smile froze when purple smoke started to curl from Astro's wounded hand. Her insitincs were telling her something is wrong, but she could not pinpoint what was..
Astro spoke, voice low and tight. "You made three big mistakes." Purple smoke rolled over his body, especially his hands and the places on his face that had been attacked. He clenched his injured right hand and drove a powerful punch into Margrada's chin, sending her flying on the air.
"First," Margrada looked at Astro suddenly appearing above her with the bottom of his boot aimed at her face, "you dared to trick Fairy Tail with a false mission." The kick he delivered next pulverized the floor beneath her, and she smashed into the third level below and groaned in pain.
"Second," he continued as he landed on top of her upside down and punched her hard with his right fist in her stomach, "you tried to kill Fairy Tail's wizards." The blow opened another fracture in the castle as she fell through another floor.
"And third," he said as he punched her face so hard she broke through another layer and landed on the ground floor, "you thought your magic was unique." He followed with a front flip, landing on one leg and driving it into her stomach.
Margrada did not care about her pain this time as she watched in disbelief as Astro's flesh reformed at an unnatural speed, skin knitting back in moments. He smiled like a devil as he grabbed her face with his palm, and she felt her own skin begin to decay.. The purple glow that coursed through his hand made her scream in pain. She had never met someone who could use magic with an effect similar to her own.
In desperation, she swung her right leg and kicked him. The blow sent Astro flying, but he managed to land with a backflip without any problem.
Margrada tried to heal her face with green magic light. The skin returned, but the sensation felt raw and painful as it reappeared.
She rose to her feet, rage blazing in her eyes, but her smile didn't vanish from her face. Her expression looked straight out of a horror movie.
But Astro did not care about her expression. A sword of purple wind formed at his right side, and he gripped its handle. The blade glowed purple as.he looked at Margrada and spoke with a faint, controlled smile that could not hide the cold determination in his voice.
"Now, before we start for real, how about a proper introduction," he said. " Astro Blackmist."
Anyone watching could see the controlled rage beneath his determined looks.After all, he could not stay nonchalant in front of a woman who had tried to kill a Fairy Tail wizard. If a weaker wizard had taken this job, they might have died already.
"Looks like it's going to be fun crushing you," the woman said in sickening voice as the smile never wore off from her face. "I was getting bored with weaklings in this kingdom, but you'd make a fine dummy for me. Margrada von Hohenlicht. The true queen of this kingdom."