The sounds of explosions, the roars of great beasts, slight tremors, and occasional bright flashes occasionally traveled from the mountain area ten kilometers west to Magnolia.
The residents had already received warnings from the city government and Fairy Tail.
Some people packed their belongings ready to flee at any moment, some hid in underground shelters, and some believed nothing would happen, staying tucked away in their homes.
Wakaba's wife and daughter were among the latter.
They frequently looked out from the west-facing window on the top floor of their house, imagining what kind of enemy it would be this time.
Marlba, who was about the same age as Romeo, asked, "Mom, do you think that foolish dad will be okay?"
"He'll be fine. Although that fool is useless, loves smoking, has a receding hairline, does nothing all day, and often doesn't want to come home..."
Limalu began listing a multitude of her husband's shortcomings until, noticing her daughter's increasingly gloomy expression, she reluctantly switched to a proud tone:
"But when it comes to fighting, he won't lose, at least... not to the bad guys outside."
"..." Marlba silently tapped her beret, even though he's such a disappointing dad, she still hoped he'd come back safely.
Speaking of which, striving to protect everyone could be considered heroic, right?
Marlba stared at the western sky, wondering whether she should join Fairy Tail like Romeo and learn some impressive magic.
Just like Miss Mirajane or Miss Erza.
Amidst her thoughts, Marlba saw a small trumpet with wings fly past her window, broadcasting the mayor's voice:
"Fairy Tail has won!"
The mother and daughter leaned out the window, heard the trumpet repeat the words, looked at each other, and laughed as they embraced.
News of victory spread across the entire city like wings.
Yajima, Beluno, Mikhailo, and Mikaelia heard the news of victory and quickly returned to the guild with the Thunder God Tribe, who were responsible for security, waiting for everyone to return.
But arriving at the guild before everyone else was not the mages but Fairy Tail's consultant pharmacist.
"Porlyusica, you're here?" Yajima greeted with a smile.
Porlyusica nodded casually, glanced at the few guests in the guild, and asked, "Where's that idiot?"
Yajima replied, "The recent news only mentions defeating all the top members of the Gate of the Underworld; Xiaoma should have some wrap-up tasks to do."
Porlyusica sneered, that idiot being diligent about wrap-up tasks?
He was sure to hand off the work to someone else and return first.
However, seeing there were guests, Porlyusica kept silent and quietly found a place to sit.
"I'm back!" Sure enough, before long, Makarov entered the guild with Wendy and a group of injured members.
He was about to greet Yajima and the others but saw Porlyusica first: "Porlyusica, it's great that you're here, some of the kids have injuries."
Makarov had a legitimate reason for returning first, such as escorting the injured and welcoming a few former Council members.
Definitely not because he found the subsequent tasks troublesome.
Porlyusica frowned but relaxed significantly after a quick scan.
She found the most severely injured person was Minerva from Sabertooth. Besides her, there was no one needing others to carry them.
However, Minerva's state seemed to entail more than just injuries.
"Follow me," Porlyusica easily guided them to the infirmary.
Jet and Troy carried the temporary stretcher and followed, with Wendy and Carla also helping.
As for the others, they had already skillfully found their medical kits and were preparing to bandage themselves.
To be honest, this battle was too easy, they felt a little unused to it.
Back when they dealt with Ghost, it was much tougher than today.
Yajima checked on the children's injuries and then asked, "Xiaoma, what happened exactly, why did it end so quickly?"
Makarov laughed heartily: "Hahaha, nothing extraordinary happened, it's just executing the battle plan step by step."
Indeed, he was delighted; today, the timing, location, and people seemed to all favor the guild, with almost no issues during the battle.
In the end, even due to the plan going too smoothly, they wasted a few backup options. So much so that certain Iron Dragon Slayer Mages expressed dissatisfaction, complaining that Rhode made him stay on the sidelines.
Now they should be venting their frustration on some remaining troops unwilling to surrender.
Makarov briefly described the battle process: "In short, the Gate of the Underworld killed the former chairman Crawford, manipulated his body, and attempted to activate Feis.
"But Rhode stopped them and changed the activation procedure to a self-destruction program, all Feis have now disappeared.
"The acting President Maldo of the Gate of the Underworld, along with the Nine Ghosts Sect and middle-level staff, have all been wiped out, so let's consider it the end.
"From today, the last corner of the Balram Alliance will be nothing but history."
Yajima nodded with relief: "That's good."
"What the Council has tried for so many years to achieve but couldn't, you managed to resolve," Beluno mused, "but it's better this way, as long as it's resolved."
Mikhailo asked, "Wait a minute, you said Maldo was acting President, but what about their President? Isn't END supposed to be the President?"
Makarov replied, "The purpose of the Feis program was to awaken END, but their plan didn't succeed, so naturally, we haven't seen END, the demon."
"Is that so..." Mikhailo breathed a sigh of relief; now he could look forward to living a peaceful life, right?
However, what Makarov didn't mention is after defeating Maldo, Rhode picked up a book from the rubble—Book of END.
Rhode only glanced at the cover and then tightly held it, unwilling to let anyone else see it.
...
"Let us see it..." Reby held onto Rhode's arm, "When you first arrived, I taught you to read!"
This book looked very ancient, and it was the object that the acting President of the Gate of the Underworld kept holding in his hand, undoubtedly a precious book.
The title makes it clear it's related to the legendary most wicked demon, END, possibly recording history not found in other books.
For Reby, there's nothing more enticing than this.
To catch a glimpse of this ancient book, she didn't hesitate to pout in front of Mira at Rhode.
However, Rhode's answer remained unchanged, completely ignoring the old ties with Reby as a teacher:
"Still no, the President already said, this book is under my custody, until safety is confirmed, no one can open it."
"Stingy!" Reby pouted with hands on her hips.
Lucy also looked disappointed.
Rhode shook his head: "I know you're curious, but this book is genuinely dangerous, I'll talk once I've figured it out."
It's not that Rhode wanted to disrespect Reby; the main issue was that what he saw on the flyleaf was too shocking, leaving him unsure of how to handle the book, even afraid to open it here.
The flyleaf contained only one line of text, a string of syllables in ancient script—Natsu Dragneel.
If following the method that Reby once taught him to read it, the meaning of that word he knows all too well—Natsu Doraguniru!
On the flyleaf of the Book of END, potentially tied to the legendary most vicious demon, the name of Natsu was written!
And Natsu himself seemed completely oblivious.
No need to wonder, this item undoubtedly conceals a massive secret.