[Fairy Tail Guild.]
At the bar deep within the Guild, Makarov, the Master of the Fairy Tail Guild, sat cross-legged, holding a wine bottle. He looked at Chrollo, who was silently drinking beside him, and softly said in a conversational tone, "Chrollo, I've seen all the special training you've given those brats in the Guild these past few days. While the results are indeed good, they are still just children after all. Isn't this kind of training a bit too much?!"
Makarov advocated for letting things take their natural course…
He didn't really like Chrollo's systematic training.
After all, Magic itself is free.
"Master, I think your worries are completely unnecessary…"
"If this training were for Mages from other Guilds, it would indeed be unsuitable."
"After all, their talent and mental fortitude cannot withstand this intensity of training."
"But for the energetic brats in our Guild…"
"Don't worry! There won't be any problems."
"In short, let them put all their energy into Magic Power training and the exploration of Magic… "
"Isn't that better than letting them vent their energy by destroying towns or causing trouble under the name of Fairy Tail, isn't it?!"
Chrollo paused after saying this.
He glanced at Makarov beside him and posed a soul-searching question: "Master Makarov, as the Master of our Guild, don't you know the potential and destructive power of these monstrous brats you've recruited?! Keeping them confined in Magnolia Town is surely better than letting them go out and cause trouble, right?"
"Of course, if you, Master, feel that your wallet is too full."
"If you've earned too much money recently and want to lighten the load a bit, then just say so."
"Just pretend that the Magic Power training plan I mentioned earlier doesn't exist!"
"I'll immediately send these brats who train near the Guild every day out on missions…"
"What will happen to this kingdom then?"
"I can't say for sure…"
After Chrollo finished speaking in one breath, he drank the "Water of Life" in his cup dry. As expected, this stuff was potent.
Hmm, he, Chrollo, was not a devil, but a shackle.
He was a shackle that sealed the monsters who would destroy the world within Fairy Tail, within Magnolia Town.
"Uh…"
"Let's forget about that then."
The moment Makarov imagined all the brats from the Guild running out of Magnolia Town, he couldn't help but shiver.
At that time, wouldn't the Magic Council have to invite him to meetings every day?!
Once or twice would be fine.
But if it happened too many times, wouldn't he, Makarov, lose face?
"Actually, I think the training plan you designed, Chrollo, could be even stronger."
"As long as they don't die, train them to death!"
"Sweat more now, bleed less later."
Makarov had thought it through.
"I knew it~"
"Don't worry, just leave it to me."
Chrollo smiled and raised his wine glass.
Seeing this, Makarov also raised his wine glass.
The old man and the young man clinked their glasses lightly and then drank the wine in their cups in one gulp.
Everything was understood without words.
Next…
Time flew by.
Several months passed in the blink of an eye.
It was now late August, early September.
Only a short month remained until the annual festival on October 7th.
Magic Council.
"It's strange, the Fairy Tail Guild has been excessively quiet these past few months."
"It's completely unlike their usual way of doing things."
"Could they be preparing some earth-shattering grand plan?!"
A Councillor Touki Anderbar who was quite familiar with Fairy Tail's way of doing things sat on his seat with a worried expression, his face full of concern.
Honestly, if the Fairy Tail Guild caused a small commotion every three days and a big one every few weeks, as usual, he could still accept it.
What he feared was Fairy Tail changing its usual behavior and not causing any trouble.
Things out of the ordinary must have a reason.
Fairy Tail's calm made the Councillor Touki Anderbar frown…
He always felt that the inherently evil Fairy Tail was up to something big.
The so-called calm before them was merely the tranquility before a Tempest, all just an illusion.
However, was that truly the case?
If Chrollo were beside this Councillor Touki Anderbar, he would surely give him a thumbs up and laugh, "Aha! You guessed it right!"
Cough, cough…
Yes, Fairy Tail would never disappoint.
BLACK VOX, the highest prison under the Magic Council.
Everyone incarcerated here was without exception a villain of the most heinous kind.
Similarly, the security here was of the highest level…
To this day, no one on this continent had ever successfully escaped from here.
However, today, the entire prison's alarm lights flashed a bright red.
The piercing alarm blared throughout the prison.
"Oh no…"
"Someone escaped!"
"Repeating, someone escaped!"
"All prison guards assemble immediately, do not let the prisoner escape."
Hundreds of prison guards, holding Magic Tools inscribed with sealing Magic Formulas, ran frantically through the prison, looking at the black cube that had been forcibly destroyed from the outside, yelling in panic.
"Calm down! Everyone calm down." It wasn't until the appearance of an old man that the chaotic prison guards calmed down. That old man was naturally a Councillor Touki Anderbar of the Magic Council and also the warden of BLACK VOX, Councillor Touki Anderbar, who had once been saved by Ur and Gildarts.
"Wesley, tell me now, whose cube was destroyed?"
Touki Anderbar looked at his deputy beside him and asked with a frown.
"Uh, this cube, destroyed by an outsider, was used to imprison Brain, the former director of the Magic Development Bureau…"
"Because Brain's Magic Power source was completely abolished by the Ten Wizard Saints, Master Ur, reducing him to an ordinary person, we did not send more personnel to guard him."
"But we didn't expect it to cause such irreparable consequences, Master Andaruba, I am willing to bear all responsibility for this incident."
The man named Wesley bowed deeply to Councillor Touki Anderbar beside him.
"No!"
"Now is not the time to discuss responsibility…"
"The most important thing right now is to find a way to catch this escaped scoundrel and bring him back."
Toki frowned tightly; he had no intention of immediately pursuing his subordinate's responsibility. Any mess that could be remedied was not a mess at all.
At the same time, Touki Anderbar, for some reason, always felt that Brain's escape this time was too peculiar.
The person who broke him out of prison seemed to have no ill will towards their prison; he simply took Brain away.
After all, with the mysterious person's ability to rescue Brain right under everyone's noses without anyone knowing.
If this mysterious person had even a shred of ill will towards their prison, he could have destroyed what was known as the Magic Council's largest Magic Prison in an instant.
"Master Toki, here's a letter."
Just as Touki Anderbar was feeling confused.
A prison guard found a letter inside the cube from which Brain had escaped and handed it to Touki Anderbar.
"Hmm?"
Touki Anderbar saw "For Touki Anderbar's Eyes Only" written on the letter and knew it was specifically left for him.
"This is…"
After Touki Anderbar finished reading the letter, he immediately used Fire Magic to burn it to ashes, then anxiously looked at the surrounding prison guards and asked, "Has anyone else seen that letter besides me?"
"Uh, no."
The prison guard who handed the letter to Touki Anderbar paused for a moment, then shook his head.
"That's good."
Touki Anderbar slowly let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Then, his expression turned serious, and he continued, "Let's stop here with Brain's matter! He's just an ordinary person whose Magic Power was abolished by Master Ur, and he can't run far. Who knows, maybe he's already dead somewhere now?! After all, outside this prison is an endless desert! An ordinary person without Magic Power and without a flying vehicle definitely cannot reach a town."
"This…"
The prison guards were stunned after hearing Touki Anderbar's words, but they didn't dare to say anything more. After all, in this prison, Touki Anderbar's words were absolute.
"What in the world is Fairy Tail up to?"
After Touki Anderbar dealt with everything, he sighed helplessly.
In fact, the content of that letter was very simple; it merely stated the identity of the person who broke him out of prison and then explained the reason for the jailbreak.
Yes, Fairy Tail broke him out of this prison. As for the reason?!
At the same time.
On a sand dune not far from the Magic Prison BLACK VOX.
"Wake up, Director!"
Chrollo, dressed in a form-fitting trench coat, poured a pot of icy cold water over the person he had rescued from prison.
"Uh…"
"You? Who are you?"
"That incredibly powerful scoundrel who instantly killed 'Zero'?"
Brain slowly opened his eyes and was shocked when he saw Chrollo in front of him.
"I've already been crippled by you, and 'Zero' is dead."
"Why are you looking for me now?"
Brain looked at Chrollo warily and questioned him.
"I need you to help me improve the Magic Power Developer…"
"The developer your Magic Development Bureau used before was too weak. I need something more powerful."
Chrollo looked at Brain and said softly.
"What did you say?"
"You're saying that level of Magic Power Developer is still weak?"
"If it's strengthened further, wouldn't it turn from a Magic Power Developer into a torture device?"
"Are you going to use it to interrogate someone?"
Brain raised an eyebrow, his eyes showing a hint of disbelief as he looked at Chrollo.
"Of course not."
"I'm going to use the enhanced version of the developer on my Guildmates."
Chrollo gently shook his head and answered truthfully.
"Did those 'Guildmates' owe you their lives?"
Brain paused, then continued.
"No! I'm just doing it for their own good."
Chrollo was a bit speechless; Brain must have misunderstood him.
"Why did I ever provoke these guys?"
Brain's mouth dropped open in shock after hearing Chrollo's words.
Only now did he understand what kind of people he had provoked four years ago.
These were people who could be so ruthless to their own Guildmates…
If they were so vicious to their own companions…
How much more so would they be towards an outsider like him?
As Brain thought this, he suddenly felt that his defeat back then was not unjust.
It wasn't that his, Brain's, and "Zero's darkness wasn't strong enough; it was just that they unluckily encountered the strongest darkness on the Ishgar continent.
"Is this the Magician Guild Fairy Tail?"
Brain muttered in fear.