The Council's army was still working through the wreckage when Doranbolt made his way down the steps toward the prison cells.
Cobra did not seem surprised to see him in the slightest.
"I figured you'd be coming sooner or later."
Doranbolt had not even changed his clothes. Burn marks blackened the fabric, and his face was grave as he asked.
"You heard what happened up there, didn't you?"
Cobra let out a faint chuckle. "Don't mock me. In this prison, magic can't be used. All I heard was the explosion."
"Then tell me everything you know about Tartaros."
"Not for free. My condition is the release of all of Oración Seis."
"I don't have the authority to do that."
"Then go negotiate with the people above," Cobra said with an indifferent shrug.
Doranbolt clenched his jaw so tightly it hurt.
His fists balled until his nails bit into his palms. In the end, he chose to tell Cobra the truth.
"The people above... all the councilors were killed."
Cobra's eyes flickered in shock, though only for a moment, before he gave a low snort.
"Looks like you got hit pretty hard."
In an instant, Doranbolt teleported into the cell and pressed a dagger to Cobra's throat.
"My comrades are dead too. I'm not in the mood to joke around. If you still refuse to talk, I'll kill you."
"And I'm asking for Oración Seis to be released, because they're my comrades too."
Then Cobra smiled faintly.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing, at least. Those bastards aren't human. Every last one of them is a demon from the Books of Zeref."
The dagger slipped from Doranbolt's hand and clattered to the floor.
...
Far away in Magnolia, no one yet knew what had already happened.
Raizel and the others had just returned to the guild, and Ur was currently reporting the completion of the request to Makarov.
Meanwhile, Natsu had gone to find Levy and asked her to help look into any clues related to E.N.D.
Levy spread several books across the table. Gathered behind her were Gajeel, Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy.
"Look here," she said, pointing to one of the pages. "There isn't much written about E.N.D., but from what little there is, it seems to be a demon far beyond Lullaby or Deliora."
"You mean the strongest demon in the Books of Zeref?" Lucy asked.
"That's... terrifying," Wendy said uneasily.
"I'm asking this seriously, what exactly are demons from the Books of Zeref?" Panther Lily admitted, completely lost.
"How should I know?" Gajeel said flatly. "I don't know either."
Carla answered their question.
"They're demons created by Zeref. Supposedly, the method for summoning them is written in a book."
Happy immediately followed up, "So if someone has that book, they can summon a demon from the Books of Zeref?"
Carla nodded. "That's right. Every demon has its own book."
Natsu nodded with a look of sudden understanding.
"Then maybe Tartaros has the book of that demon called E.N.D. That's why Igneel wanted to destroy E.N.D.... Ah, I finally get it!"
"Hm? Get what?" Wendy asked curiously.
Natsu's eyes lit up. "I'm gonna storm Tartaros!"
Gajeel nodded just as forcefully. "I'm in."
"You understood absolutely nothing!" Lucy and Wendy shouted in exasperation.
Lucy let out a helpless sigh. "More importantly, Tartaros is way too mysterious, isn't it? How are you even supposed to storm them? Even the Magic Council hasn't found that guild's base, and we don't even know who all their members are."
"But... this is a clue to finding Igneel," Natsu said, still unwilling to let it go.
"And Grandeeney too..." Wendy added softly. That was why she cared so much about any lead connected to E.N.D. as well.
Gajeel, of course, was thinking of Metalicana.
Then, all at once—
"This is bad! Something huge just happened!!!"
Jet and Droy burst through the guild doors yelling at the top of their lungs.
"The Council was blown up!"
"WHAT?!!"
No one had the heart to treat it as a joke.
They might not get along particularly well with the Council, but those were still living people.
Arguments were one thing while everyone was alive, the dead were another matter entirely.
"All nine councilors are confirmed dead..." Makarov muttered, staring at the newspaper in disbelief.
Ultear continued grimly, "And not just that. The number of dead and wounded has reached one hundred and nineteen."
Erza rested a hand against her chin, her expression severe. "That counts as a massacre. Who could have done something like this?"
Even though the timing was all wrong, Makarov still let out a quiet breath of relief.
"At least Yajima stepped down from the Council early enough..."
People were selfish by nature.
Makarov would mourn the deaths of the councilors, of course—but if Yajima had died...
He did not even want to imagine it.
"Where is Mr. Yajima right now?" Raizel asked at once, only then remembering him after hearing Makarov mention his name.
Seeing how tense Raizel suddenly looked, Mira answered quickly, "He's in Magnolia. At the new restaurant. Laxus and the Thunder Legion are helping out there."
"I'm going over there."
Raizel did not even stop to explain.
He vanished with teleportation magic and reappeared directly at Yajima's restaurant.
"We should follow him!" Erza decided instantly, equipping Heaven's Wheel Armor and soaring into the sky.
...
At the same time, Yajima, Freed, and Bickslow were discussing the incident themselves.
"I knew things were never going to be that simple..." Yajima said heavily.
"What do you mean by that?" one of them asked.
Yajima let out a sigh.
"Of course I mean ERA, the Council headquarters. It's the organization that governs the vast majority of guilds across the continent—the central pillar that keeps countless Mages in check."
"It requires precise judgment and powerful decisiveness... I used to be one of them myself."
"I believed I was working as hard as I could, but it's also an undeniable fact that the way that place was run had all sorts of problems."
"Sometimes it made the wrong decisions. Sometimes it forced through unreasonable policies. And eventually, people like me gradually lost our influence there..."
"When I resigned from the Council and opened this restaurant, I found myself thinking it more and more deeply: I had long felt that one day, something was bound to happen."
"A rigid system will always invite an opposing force. That's what I believe."
Remembering all the Council's absurd blunders over the years, Yajima could only shake his head in resignation.
"Raizel? Are you here for lunch?" Evergreen asked in confusion after seeing him appear out of nowhere while she was tidying the tables outside.
It was not the time of day that surprised her. It was the fact that Raizel had come alone.
Raizel's face was utterly serious as he said, "Call Laxus and get Mr. Yajima out of here first."
"Got it!"
Evergreen had no idea why Raizel sounded so severe, but she nodded instinctively and hurried inside.
Raizel had already sensed the presence of a demon.
More than that—he had already seen him.
A hooded figure was striding openly this way, without the slightest attempt to hide.
One of the Nine Demon Gates.
Tempester.
Sensing that the situation was urgent—and with Raizel himself already here—Freed did not waste time questioning it.
"Laxus went out to buy supplies and hasn't come back yet. We'll take Mr. Yajima and leave first!"