"M-Master…? Why are you…?"
Makarov stared upward, his voice dry and trembling with disbelief.
His small body was shaking violently, as if a single gust of wind could blow him over.
"Huh? Old man, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Natsu scratched his head, still only half recovered, his face full of confusion. "You're the master of Fairy Tail, aren't you?"
It wasn't just Natsu.
The younger generation—Gray, Elfman, and the others—looked at each other blankly, completely lost.
But the older members, like Macao and Wakaba, had already gone pale.
They had never met him in person, but the guild had always passed down the same story: that after the Second Master, Precht, entrusted Fairy Tail to Makarov, he left to travel the world in search of the truth of magic.
Who could have imagined that after all these decades, not only was he still alive—he had even become the supreme leader of Grimoire Heart, one of the world's greatest dark guilds?
This was a legendary figure who had once fought alongside the First Master and personally laid the foundation of the guild itself!
Faced with the Second Master, someone like a mentor to their own master…
Could they really bring themselves to fight him?
A heavy sense of dread spread uncontrollably through the hearts of the older members.
"It's been a long time, brat."
Hades slowly descended from the air, his black cloak settling around him in the wind.
His single eye swept casually across the fully alert Fairy Tail members, and he spoke in a tone as calm as if he were reminiscing about old times.
"There's no need to be so tense. My only targets right now are that brat named Shane, and Ultear, who betrayed me. I have no interest in Fairy Tail for the moment."
"So, how about it? Step aside."
"You want me… to abandon the children of my guild?"
Makarov lowered his head.
When he raised it again, the dazed look in his eyes had gradually hardened into something as unyielding as steel.
He looked directly at the man he had once revered, and his voice turned abruptly cold.
"I don't remember you ever teaching me anything like that."
"So that's your answer after all… You're as stubborn as ever."
Hades shook his head with a hint of regret and let out a quiet sigh.
"If I'd known, I should've trained you to be a little more flexible back then."
With that, Hades stopped reminiscing and took a slow step forward.
Boom!
It was only a single step, yet the air around them cried out under the strain.
That bottomless, terrifying magic power surged forth like a solid tidal wave, instantly drowning everyone present.
"You can feel the magic radiating from me, can't you, Makarov?"
Hades spread his arms as if embracing the entire world like a god.
"The me of today can dance freely with magic itself. Tell me… with the power you have now, do you really think you can stop me?"
"…"
Makarov fell into dead silence.
He knew better than anyone how powerful the Second Master had been back then.
And more than that, just from the aura he could sense now, Hades' magic power had swelled several times over compared to before.
Ever since being named one of the Ten Wizard Saints, this was the first time Makarov had felt that he lacked the confidence to protect the children standing behind him.
"There's only one option left…"
Makarov's eyes sharpened. He planted his stance firmly and slowly drew both hands together in front of his chest.
Bzzzz—
A sacred, dazzling golden radiance, carrying even a terrifying pressure, burst from between his fingers like the sun itself!
It was a divine light powerful enough to drive away all darkness!
"That's enough, Master!" Makarov shouted coldly, beard and hair bristling. "I don't care what you're plotting! I only want to take my children and leave this place safely!"
"Heh. Using holy light to punish darkness… utterly crushing all targets the caster deems enemies, body and soul…"
Looking at the blinding golden light, Hades showed no fear at all. Instead, he let out a faint laugh.
"The guild's supreme spell, Fairy Law. You've really mastered it."
The moment Hades called out the name of the spell, the younger members of Fairy Tail visibly perked up.
This was one of the guild's three legendary magics!
But Erza, Laxus, and the others only looked grimmer.
The master hadn't even bothered testing the waters—he had gone straight to Fairy Law.
That alone proved one thing from the side:
The enemy in front of them was so terrifying that normal means simply wouldn't be enough to oppose him.
And sure enough, before the golden aura could fully spread—
Boom!
A brilliance just as overwhelming, yet black as pitch, erupted from Hades like a vortex surging out of the abyss!
"I advise you to abandon that foolish plan," Hades declared coldly, bathed in black light.
"This spell represents the final deterrent. If you use it recklessly, the outcome will be the worst possible one—for both of us."
Meaningfully, Hades' gaze flicked toward the pale-faced Fairy Tail members nearby.
"If we unleash that spell against each other here without restraint… then I'm afraid not only my subordinates, but everyone standing behind you, would die as well."
"Enough talking, Master! Why not just burn them all to ashes already?!"
Zancrow, still desperate to recover from the humiliation of having his flames eaten by Natsu, stepped forward restlessly, his body igniting with black God-Slaying fire.
Negotiation had completely failed.
The worst-case scenario had arrived.
Because the enemy before them was the former Second Master—the man who had once helped build the guild itself—everyone's expression had darkened under the double burden of emotion and duty.
This couldn't keep going.
Shane drew in a breath and stepped out from the crowd without hesitation.
The information he had gleaned earlier through the death-line analysis of [Genesis Swordcraft] flashed through his mind.
In this world, magic power was equal to life force.
Normally, someone like old man Rob—with age catching up to him and his body weakening—would naturally become far less powerful over time. That was how the world worked.
But Hades was the exact opposite. The older he got, the stronger he became, and his magic had multiplied several times over.
That was clearly abnormal.
Which meant the real key to all of this had to be the source at the far end of that "death line" he had seen earlier.
"Master!" Shane raised his voice against Hades' crushing pressure.
"Hades has linked all of his life force and magic to a hidden 'external object'! As long as we find that thing and destroy it, we can definitely beat him!"
The instant those words came out—
Hades' face, which had been calm and arrogantly composed the entire time, darkened on the spot. His black killing intent nearly froze the air solid.
"I don't know how a brat like you managed to uncover that secret…"
"But even if you know it, so what?"
"In this situation, you're not naïve enough to think I'll just let you go looking for it, are you?"
"…"
Shane's voice caught.
That overwhelming pressure dragged everyone's barely lifted hopes right back into the abyss.
Then, from slightly behind them, a cool female voice rang out.
"If it's something Hades treasures that much, I know where it is."
Ultear, who had remained silent until now, stepped out from the crowd.
She had spent years lurking inside Grimoire Heart, and in her desire to free herself from Hades' control, she had long been searching in secret for some weakness in that unfathomable guild master.
Why did Hades always remain seated on that bench?
Why did he almost never leave that airship?
Why, despite possessing such tremendous power, did he rarely take action personally?
Those questions had puzzled her for a long time.
Now, with the information Shane had revealed, it all suddenly clicked into place.
Ultear raised a slender finger and pointed at the gigantic warship looming over everyone's heads and blotting out the sky.
"Hades has absolute faith in his own strength. He believes no one can breach his fortress."
"So that means he must have stored that thing in the deepest part of that airship, under the tightest possible guard!"