Makarov clenched his fist, and Hades closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate.
But after waiting for a long while, he realized the attack never fell. He looked up at Makarov in confusion.
"I have learned many things from you. As a return gift, I will turn a blind eye this once and let you leave this island."
"How naive. If you let me go, I will definitely crush your guild next time."
Hades looked at Makarov as he spoke.
"With just you? Although I am not as strong as you, my children are already capable of defeating you. Furthermore, the strength of these children will only continue to grow. If you want to keep going, then bring it on."
Makarov didn't care about Hades's threat in the slightest.
Precht was already over a hundred years old; how many more years could he even struggle? The children in the guild were still very young and were growing stronger at a rapid pace.
Especially Kael. Originally, he thought Kael's strength was roughly on par with Gildarts, and perhaps if Gildarts got serious, Kael might not even be his match.
But today's battle showed him that Kael's strength was far, far greater than he had imagined.
If Kael were given a few more years, he didn't even know how strong the boy would become.
"Why did you fall into darkness?"
Makarov asked his question. He truly could not imagine how the man who once taught him and supported the Fairy Tail guild could become what he was today.
"I have already told you. Magic was originally 'Darkness.' The miracle born within that darkness is what we call 'Magic.'"
"After retiring from the guild, I traveled deep into the path of magic and found the truth of this world. I discovered that this world, overflowing with magic everywhere, is a fake world. The world where Zeref resides, the 'Grand Magic World,' is the true world of magic. I... want to see that world for myself."
"For that, I will awaken Zeref and obtain all the keys. Just a little more, just a little bit more, and I will be able to obtain the 'One Magic.'"
Hades spoke with an expression of intense longing.
Makarov said: "Even if you find such a thing, nothing will change. If magic was originally 'Darkness,' it doesn't matter. If it's 'Light,' it doesn't matter either. Magic is a living thing; it moves forward with the times, constantly changing the role it plays and growing together with us. Everyone's understanding of magic is different. From a sensory perspective, it can be darkness, or it can be light. It can be red, or it can be blue. Fairy Tail will live on together with freedom. All of this... I learned from you."
"Take your people and get off this island!!"
"Master Hades!"
Several members of Grimoire Heart who were barely able to move rushed over to support Master Hades. This included Jose and Bluenote, who were all carried away by the members of Grimoire Heart.
"Wait a minute!"
At that moment, Kael's voice rang out. The members of Grimoire Heart were startled by Kael's voice, thinking he had changed his mind.
Instead, they saw Kael throw a black-haired young man onto the ground.
"You guys take this fellow with you too."
The members of Grimoire Heart were a bit dazed, not understanding the situation. This person wasn't a member of Grimoire Heart, was he?
Hades grew excited the moment he saw the person's face.
"He... he is... Zeref!!"
"What?!!"
Everyone present was shocked.
Only Elfman and Evergreen had seen Zeref before.
"Zeref? Could it be the legendary Zeref?!"
Erza's eyes widened. Since she was a child, she had suffered at the hands of the Black Magic Cult that worshipped Zeref. Zeref had been the nightmare of all wizards in the magical world for 400 years.
Jellal had been seduced by Zeref's influence to use the R-System to resurrect him.
"Yeah, that's the Zeref."
"He... he's actually still alive?!"
Erza thought Zeref was dead because Jellal had been trying to resurrect him. Furthermore, Zeref was an ancient figure from 400 years ago; how could anyone live that long?
Meanwhile, Grimoire Heart realized that the person they had worked so hard to find was now right in front of them, and they became instantly excited.
"Quick! Hurry and bring Zeref... inside!!"
Hades urged those around him.
Several people hurriedly carried Zeref into the airship.
The airship then started up rapidly, fearing that Fairy Tail would change their minds, and hurriedly took off to escape.
"Kael, that's the legendary Black Wizard Zeref. You just let them take him away like that? Won't that make things even more dangerous?!"
Erza didn't understand why Kael would give Zeref to Grimoire Heart. Wasn't that just increasing the enemy's strength?
Kael smiled faintly. "Not letting them take him would be even more trouble. That guy is a hot potato. It's a problem if he's alive, and an even bigger problem if he's dead. Since he's nothing but trouble anyway, we might as well throw that trouble at the enemy."
"Kael... you mean..."
Makarov looked toward Kael.
Kael nodded and gave a mysterious smile. "Yeah! Those guys are dead meat."
On the Grimoire Heart airship.
Everyone was silent. This was the first time Grimoire Heart had experienced such a crushing defeat.
"I really didn't expect us to lose."
Rustyrose said. Even though he knew Fairy Tail was strong, Grimoire Heart was the strongest dark guild. They had three experts on the level of the Wizard Saints.
Those were Wizard Saints, not some common trash. Experts of that level were rare; the Magic Council had only selected ten for the entire continent of Ishgar.
"Yeah! It's unbelievable..."
"If it wasn't for that monster, we definitely wouldn't have lost!"
The members of Grimoire Heart were already terrified of Kael. That guy wasn't human at all. How could a human be that powerful?
"Phew! Although we failed to eliminate Fairy Tail this time, the purpose of our trip has been achieved. We found Zeref! As long as we awaken him, we can reach the true Grand Magic World!!"
Although Hades was seriously injured, his mood was actually quite good at the moment because he had finally found Zeref. He would also be able to master the 'One Magic.'
The others also showed fanatical expressions upon hearing this.
Suddenly! A voice rang out:
"It is because of existences like you that I was created. It is because of evil thoughts like yours that Acnologia was summoned. In other words, this signals the end of this era. No one can stop it anymore. The world ends here."
Zeref slowly stood up as he spoke.
Seeing Zeref, everyone in the airship knelt on one knee to show their respect. This was the legendary Black Wizard Zeref, the man who stood at the end of the darkness.
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