The battle between the two masters ended with Makarov crushing Jose; it can only be said that there are levels even among the Ten Wizard Saints.
As Natsu once again defeated Aria and Jose, this guild war came to an end, and everyone in Fairy Tail cheered.
"We won!"
"We beat Phantom Lord!"
"Feels great—"
"..."
Over the years, Phantom Lord had frequently annoyed Fairy Tail in secret. This time, not only did they pay them back in full, but they even tore down the Phantom Lord Headquarters.
It was a truly satisfying release.
Only Lucy couldn't smile. The fuse for this conflict was personally handed to Phantom Lord by her father.
If Hope hadn't happened to save Levy's team, and if Makarov hadn't been strong enough, Fairy Tail might have been destroyed because of her.
"Master... I..."
Lucy lowered her head and spoke to Makarov with guilt.
She wanted to leave the guild because she understood what her father would do to get her home. As long as she stayed in Fairy Tail, endless trouble would keep coming.
Makarov sat on a flat rock, his gaze calm. "Lucy, our Fairy Tail has never been afraid of trouble, and we're even less afraid of causing it, because every comrade is an important family member."
"Whether it's happiness or sadness, even if not everyone can fully understand and experience it, there's always a part that everyone can share together."
"One person's joy is everyone's joy."
"One person's anger is everyone's anger."
"One person's tears... are also everyone's tears."
"That is the meaning of a guild's existence."
"So Lucy, lift your head and look at the comrades around you. You should be able to feel everyone's feelings, right? Because you are also a member of Fairy Tail."
Lucy's tears burst out. In fact, she didn't even need to look; she already felt the attitude of all the comrades around her. No one blamed her at all; instead, they were smiling... She really wanted to stay in such a gentle guild for the rest of her life.
Watching this heartwarming scene, Hope yawned. "I clearly got my guild mark on the same day as Lucy, how come no one cares about me like this... Hiss— Ow, ow, ow!"
Before he could finish, Hope gasped in pain and turned to look at Mirajane, who was bandaging his wounds. "I say, beautiful white-haired girl, I'm an injured person after all. Could you please be a bit gentler?"
Upon hearing this, Mirajane's bandaging became even rougher. She admired Hope's grimacing expression while saying indignantly: "Isn't it all your own fault? You clearly only needed to stall Jose until the Master came to his senses, but you just had to go toe-to-toe with him."
"Who is Jose? He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, one of the top combat powers in Ishgar."
"I think you need to feel the pain to learn your lesson."
Hope knew Mirajane meant well, but she should at least be consistent; she was so gentle when bandaging Erza just now... After finishing, Mirajane sat down beside Hope, watching the comrades celebrate the victory over Phantom Lord. "Hope, thank you. If it wasn't to save me, you wouldn't have revealed your identity early."
Hope shrugged. "It's actually nothing. As long as Lucy appeared at the Phantom Lord Headquarters, we had an excuse to start the war. Saving you just meant I started fighting a few minutes earlier."
Hearing Hope make himself sound so unimportant, Mirajane pouted and pretended to 'accidentally' touch his wound. Seeing him grimace, she finally smiled.
Amidst the laughter and joy, Makarov waved his hand.
"You bratty kids, let's go home!"
But before everyone could move, the sound of rhythmic footsteps from far to near interrupted them. An army of thousands was surrounding them.
"Nobody move!"
"We are the Third Enforcement Unit under the Council!"
Looking at the vast sea of soldiers in Council uniforms, everyone's hearts tightened. Natsu and Happy, who were used to getting into trouble, instinctively wanted to run.
After all, guild wars are not allowed.
Even if Fairy Tail was in the right, who knew what kind of judgment those councilors, who had never liked them, would make in the end.
Makarov also had a long face. Having been the Master for over forty years, he understood that this time things had gone a bit too far.
To put it lightly, it was a conflict between guilds.
To put it seriously, it was a severe internal conflict between two 'Ten Wizard Saints' recognized by the Magic Council as Ishgar's strongest combatants.
Not only did it break the balance that the Council valued most.
It was also a slap in their face.
Especially those radical councilors who hated Fairy Tail; they might seize this opportunity. While they might not go as far as stripping Makarov of his 'Ten Wizard Saints' title, it was very possible they would force Fairy Tail to disband.
If things really reached that point, Makarov would have to consider whether to invite his 120-year-old uncle back to keep things under control.
But to Makarov's surprise, the Third Enforcement Unit only took the Fairy Tail members to their camp, spent half a day learning the whole story, and then let them go.
Before leaving, the captain told Makarov that in a week, Council Chairman Clowford, along with nine councilors, would personally come to the Kingdom of Fiore branch to jointly preside over the case, and told him to be prepared.
In fact, the Third Enforcement Unit had long been dissatisfied with the constantly rule-breaking Phantom Lord, but with Jose, a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, there, they couldn't do anything without orders from above.
Hearing that the councilors were actually going to preside over the trial in person, Makarov's heart sank. This time, the Council was likely playing for keeps.
After scrounging a lunch at the army camp, it was already dark by the time everyone returned to Magnolia. Since the guild was still in a wrecked state, everyone went their separate ways.
Hope looked at Makarov, who had returned to the guild with him, and asked curiously, "Master, it's late at night, aren't you going back to rest?"
"Oh, I need to write a letter to an elder."
Makarov looked at the guild, which was still pierced by those large iron pillars, and sighed. "Since you're here, you might as well come to the office. Help me calculate how much the guild repairs will cost."
"It won't cost anything."
"What did you say?"
Because Hope answered so quickly, Makarov thought he had misheard.
Hope didn't speak this time. Instead, under Makarov's bewildered gaze, a burst of flame burned the only remaining intact wooden table in the hall to ashes. Then, with a flash of blue magic light from his hand, the pile of ashes actually restored the wooden table as if time were reversing.
Seeing Makarov's dumbfounded and shocked expression, Hope smiled slightly.
"Master, please pull out these iron pillars."
"I can restore the guild to its original state tonight."
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