Naval Headquarters, atop the battlefield.
The overwhelming power gathered beneath the Fairy Tail banner sent waves of fear through the crowd.
Even the Five Elders of the World Government, who had arrived with supreme confidence, now found their hearts trembling with unease. For the first time, the thought of retreat flashed through their minds.
With the Seraphim now under the control of Sugisawa Yuuto, the situation had turned catastrophically against them.
Yet…
to turn and flee now, in front of the entire world—
for men who stood at the pinnacle of authority—
would mean losing everything, even their pride.
"Fairy Tail," growled the Agricultural Valkyrie of the Five Elders, Shepard Ten Pieter, his tone dripping with arrogance. "If you obediently return the Seraphim to us, we can overlook this incident. I will personally ensure that your guild will not be held accountable."
A soft chuckle answered him.
"Heh… You must be mistaken," Yuuto replied, his voice calm but carrying through the battlefield like thunder. "If you want forgiveness, the first thing you should do—
is kneel. Then kowtow."
"What did you say!?"
Pieter's eyes went wide, his face twisting in rage.
He thought he had offered Fairy Tail a lifeline—an honorable way out. He expected them to accept it, to bow their heads and yield before the World Government.
But instead, Yuuto had humiliated him publicly.
He didn't just reject the offer—he demanded that the Five Elders kneel.
It was an unbearable insult.
Yuuto's smile deepened.
"If you want to reclaim control of the Seraphim," he said, raising a single hand, "I can give you a chance. It's simple—
defeat me."
The moment his words fell, the air itself trembled.
Gasps and exclamations erupted from every corner of the battlefield.
Defeat Sugisawa Yuuto?
That wasn't a challenge—it was madness.
No one in the world could face him now.
"You insolent wretch!" Pieter roared, his voice cracking with fury. "Do you really think your tiny guild can oppose the World Government!? In the past centuries, we've crushed tens of thousands of rebel groups far stronger than yours!"
Yuuto tilted his head, expression unchanging.
"Then come and try."
He took a step forward, his presence pressing down on the entire battlefield.
"Coincidentally," he continued, "Fairy Tail has received a number of commissions related to this war."
"Commissions…?"
Marshal Sengoku felt his stomach drop. A cold, ominous feeling crawled up his spine.
He had a terrible suspicion.
That must be the true reason Fairy Tail had joined this war.
Yuuto didn't answer.
Behind him, Mirajane stepped forward gracefully, holding a thick stack of parchment. With a light flick of her wrist, she scattered them across the battlefield.
Thousands of papers drifted through the air like blood-stained snow.
Each page bore the same mark—bloody handprints and desperate signatures.
They were petitions.
Appeals from ordinary civilians who had suffered under the oppression of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
The papers fell among Marines and pirates alike, each document detailing horrors that made even hardened veterans pale.
As the words were read aloud, the truth rippled through the crowd like wildfire.
"These… these are from people living under our control?" one young Marine whispered, his voice shaking.
The bloodstained appeals spoke of massacres, forced labor, slavery, and corruption on a scale too vast to imagine.
Dozens of Marines stared down at the letters in horror, their faces going pale.
"Marshal Sengoku!"
"Sir! Tell us this isn't true!"
"Has the Marine… really done these things to innocent nations outside the World Government's reach?"
"How could we…?"
"We're supposed to be the sword of justice!"
"How can we call ourselves righteous when we've done the same as pirates?"
Voices of disbelief and anguish filled the air.
Marines who had always believed in absolute justice now felt that faith crumble within them.
On the platform, Sengoku's expression twisted in grief and rage. He couldn't deny it. Not this time.
The evidence was right before their eyes.
"You damned fools," Pieter hissed through clenched teeth, his face contorted. "You've ruined everything! You've exposed what should never have been seen!"
Yuuto's gaze was cold and sharp.
"If you truly believed your hands were clean," he said quietly, "you wouldn't be so afraid of the truth."
Pieter trembled with fury.
"Fairy Tail…! I'll ask one last time!" he shouted, his voice echoing like thunder. "Do you really intend to wage war against the World Government for the sake of these worthless insects!? What have they ever given you!?"
Yuuto's smile faded.
His eyes grew distant, reflecting the flickering flames that illuminated the battlefield.
"'Worthless insects?'" he repeated softly. "Tell me—who decided that? Who gave you the right to call them less than human?"
He raised his voice, letting it carry across the broken war-torn ground.
"As people—are you Celestial Dragons of the World Government truly superior to anyone else?"
The air fell still.
Then, standing tall beneath the raging sky, Sugisawa Yuuto's voice rang out like a blade cutting through history itself:
"Princes and nobles… why should they alone decide who may rule?"
"Isn't the worth of a human decided not by their birth—but by their heart?"
His words thundered through the air, shaking the foundations of the so-called "justice" that had ruled the world for centuries.