Forcibly demolishing the Eclipse Gate was a last resort.
Because the consequence of doing so was that the mysterious Future figure "prediction" about Rhodes's actions would come true. The royal family might directly believe his speculation, then suspect Rhodes of having ulterior motives.
If the dragons didn't arrive through the Eclipse Gate afterwards, then Rhodes would be blamed.
Additionally, there was another matter that had to be considered: once the Eclipse Gate, which had accumulated a large amount of Magic Force, was destroyed, the magic power would erupt, and the consequences would probably be unpredictable.
So the most suitable approach was to let them open the gate, and then destroy it after the Magic was consumed.
Or simply wait for one or two dragons to come through the gate, surely all ten thousand dragons couldn't squeeze out at once, right?
Doing this would clear his suspicion and keep the situation under control, preventing disaster.
However, Rhodes couldn't predict what would happen to Future Lucy after the gate was destroyed.
It was also hard to control whether her timeline would continue or simply disappear.
Following this line of thought, besides forcibly demolishing the gate himself, there was an alternative plan: directly reporting them to the Council.
The Eclipse magic could already be confirmed as dark magic related to Zeref.
According to the Council's consistent principles, once they learned this news, they would immediately send people to confirm it, and then pressure Fiore.
Possessing the Eclipse magic itself already violated the rules of the Magic World.
However, doing so would also bring unpredictable trouble.
Because if the Councilors knew that it involved both dragons and Zeref, they might, on a whim, do something foolish like bombing the capital with Magic Cannon again.
Even more absurd things were not impossible.
Rhodes considered it all and realized that no outsiders were reliable. The only trustworthy ones in such matters were his own guild members.
Makarov took out a book: "These are the Eclipse documents that Midnight and Racer stole. The specific methods for opening and closing the gate are recorded inside."
Rhodes took it in surprise: "They could steal this? Quite capable, aren't they?"
Makarov shook his head, not knowing whether it was regret or relief: "Those two's magic is surprisingly suitable for this kind of thing."
Midnight was skilled at distorting others' vision and confusing their senses, while Racer was skilled at interfering with others' perception of speed, making it easy to escape.
These two were indeed very suitable for tasks like infiltration and investigation.
Rhodes opened the book, put on the wind song glasses, and prepared to study it. Makarov added: "Also, Angel and Hoteye talked to Yukino, but Yukino insisted on helping Princess Hisui."
Rhodes paused. He could probably understand Yukino's reason for doing so.
It was too irrational to do so, but it concerned whether her sister could live freely in the sun, so it was possible for her to be stubborn for a while.
Angle had talked to her, so Yukino must have understood the seriousness and danger of the situation.
Rhodes considered Yukino's importance in the Eclipse Plan. Based solely on the number of Zodiac keys, she was equivalent to one-fifth of Lucy.
Hmm, if necessary, he could knock her out and drag her away. No big deal.
After a few words with the Master, Rhodes began to read the book.
Although it was quite a thick book, with a reading speed 32 times faster, Rhodes finished it in no time.
And with his current accumulation of magic knowledge, he could basically understand everything.
If he possessed the special magic power of a Celestial Spirit Mage and all the keys, Rhodes felt that he could now participate in the process of casting the Eclipse Gate.
He was no longer the novice who couldn't even understand books on Super Magic.
He summarized the three key points for casting Eclipse magic: Magic Power, Keys, and Celestial Spirit Mage.
Rhodes felt that Lucy's ancestor was trying her best to simplify this powerful spatiotemporal magic.
Because he found that accumulating magic power, opening the twelve keyholes with keys, and a Celestial Spirit Mage pushing the door, these three steps could be performed separately.
The first two steps could even be interchanged.
For the third step, if the Celestial Spirit Mage's magic power was insufficient, multiple people were even allowed to cooperate.
The conditions for closing the door were even fewer, only requiring a Celestial Spirit Mage and the Zodiac Celestial Spirits.
Rhodes felt that Anna might have considered the possibility of her descendants having insufficient aptitude; compared to a single person casting it, the difficulty was greatly reduced.
After a moment of thought, he called over the two Lucys and handed them the book.
"You two should thoroughly study the method for closing the gate. It might come in handy."
Rhodes took off the glasses and lent them to Future Lucy.
Both Lucys nodded together: "Okay!"
Rhodes looked at Future Lucy and asked: "By the way, did you bring your keys back?"
Future Lucy shook her head: "When I was captured before, the soldiers took my keys, and I don't know where they ended up."
It made sense. If Lucy hadn't been captured and her keys confiscated, the royal family in that world might not have been able to open the gate at all.
Although everyone had some worries, most of this guild was optimistic, always believing that there would be a way when the time came, so they continued to eat, drink, chat, and laugh.
This atmosphere, to some extent, also alleviated their respective anxieties.
As the gathering was about to end, Erza suddenly found Rhodes and asked: "What are you going to do about tomorrow's competition?"
Rhodes said: "Just fight as usual. I heard it's a team battle, so remember to tell them to conserve their strength to deal with any possible unexpected events."
"Oh!" Mavis leaned over, "Rhodes has all the participants' information, right? Can I see it?"
"Of course." Rhodes took out a thick stack of documents, "There's officially released information, journalist investigations, and also notes I took while watching the matches."
The First Master reached out to take it, but when Rhodes let go, the documents passed through her small hand and dropped to the ground with a thud, towering higher than her shin.
Mavis's small wings by her ears fluttered: "Ah, I'm a ghost, I can't hold things."
Rhodes squatted down, picked them up again, and asked: "How can you read them if you can't pick them up?"
Levy stepped forward: "I'll be the First Master's assistant, but why does the First Master want to see these?"
Mavis said enthusiastically: "Because I'm going to be the strategist for Team A! Natsu said, 'Team B has a cunning guy like Rhodes, so Team A definitely needs my help to win'."
Levy said helplessly: "I don't think Natsu would want Rhodes to know that. But a showdown between two generations of Fairy Strategists sounds very interesting."
Rhodes chuckled, "Alright, alright, Natsu said I'm cunning, I'll remember that."
As for a showdown or anything, Team B's combat power is a huge step higher. As long as they don't fall into any strange traps, how could they possibly lose to Team A?