Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Chapter 167

After Juvia wrapped the barely conscious Jose inside a sphere of water, Marshall gathered everyone around him and teleported straight to Levy’s position on the other battlefield.

They arrived just in time to see the aftermath of her fight with Gajeel.

The Iron Dragon Slayer had been completely immobilized inside a massive cocoon woven from Levy’s Solid Script.

Layer upon layer of magically created, sticky threads had wrapped around his entire body, binding his arms tightly against his sides and locking his legs together so thoroughly that he couldn’t gain enough leverage to break free.

Every attempt to struggle only made the threads pull tighter around him.

Gajeel had lost.

And he had lost to Levy.

Natsu took one look at the enormous cocoon and immediately burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Iron Dragon, you suck! You can’t even beat Levy, and you still had the nerve to come pick a fight with our guild? What a scrub!"

Gajeel’s face twisted with rage as he fought uselessly against the restraints.

"You bastard! If it weren’t for that damn Jutsu-Shiki, there’s no way I would’ve lost! Let me out and I’ll tear every last one of you apart!"

Levy looked at him with open contempt.

"Oh, please. A Jutsu-Shiki is Magic too. What, does a fight only count as fair if I stand in front of you and let you punch me until one of us falls over?"

She folded her arms and shook her head.

"You really are just a muscle-brained animal. Admit it—you lost."

Gajeel was about to fire back when several of Fairy Tail’s more muscular members finally realized exactly who was tied helplessly in front of them.

Their expressions changed almost in unison.

Eyes gleamed red.

Knuckles cracked.

And a collection of deeply unpleasant smiles spread across their faces as they slowly surrounded the cocoon.

"Hold on."

"Isn’t this the guy who beat up Jet and Droy?"

"Yeah. That’s him."

One of the men rolled his shoulders.

"Boys."

Another slammed one fist into his palm.

"Get him."

Gajeel’s expression finally faltered.

"Wait, you sons of—"

The crowd descended on him before he could finish.

Levy had already won her fight and felt absolutely no obligation to protect the loser from the consequences of what he had done.

She simply turned away from the increasingly violent commotion behind her and skipped over to Marshall with a bright smile.

"Marshall!"

She stopped in front of him, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

"We beat all of them! My Jutsu-Shiki did most of the work too, so hurry up and praise me!"

Marshall laughed and reached down to pat her on the head.

"Levy’s amazing~"

Levy immediately looked satisfied.

Marshall had actually grown slightly taller than her by now.

Levy had been stuck at roughly a hundred and fifty-five centimeters for several years, apparently having decided that further growth was optional, which had gradually transformed her into the petite older-sister type despite Marshall steadily catching up to her.

The victory itself hadn’t surprised Marshall at all.

Once Elemental Magic had been forbidden inside Levy’s Jutsu-Shiki, Phantom Lord’s Element 4 had effectively lost more than half of their normal combat capability.

Against Fairy Tail, that disadvantage was brutal enough by itself; against Fairy Tail while a collection of musclebound lunatics were enthusiastically waiting to solve the rest of the fight with their fists, Phantom Lord had never stood much of a chance.

A small voice suddenly called from beside them.

"Phoebe Chibi!"

Marshall looked down.

Phoebe had already returned to her usual form, barely half a person tall.

She had apparently noticed Levy receiving a head pat and immediately hurried over, tilting her head upward with obvious expectation.

The meaning was unmistakable.

’Me too!’

Marshall sighed.

"Fine, fine. Equal treatment."

He patted Phoebe on the head as well.

"Phoebe did great too."

"Phoebe Chibi!"

She beamed.

Makarov, who had been watching from nearby, stared at the tiny creature now standing almost level with him.

"Marshall."

"Hm?"

The old man pointed.

"What exactly is that?"

"Oh, her?"

Marshall casually rested one hand on Phoebe’s hat.

"This is Phoebe Chibi. She can use Giant Magic."

Then he gave Makarov a mischievous smile.

"Actually, Master, I bet she can grow taller than you."

Makarov stared at him.

"...?"

He had always known Marshall conducted all kinds of strange research.

He had seen the ordinary Gugas wandering around often enough and had mostly treated them as another one of the boy’s eccentric magical projects.

But Phoebe was different.

Only a short while ago, Makarov had seen this tiny creature become a giant dozens of meters tall, overpower Phantom Lord’s Super Mage Giant, and carry an entire battlefield away on her head.

For the first time, the old man began to realize that Marshall’s research into artificial life had progressed considerably farther than he had assumed.

Perhaps... too far.

Makarov’s expression slowly became serious.

There were certain branches of Magic where talent alone wasn’t enough to guarantee safety, and anything involving the creation of life belonged very near the top of that list.

He opened his mouth, intending to ask Marshall just how deeply he had gone into the subject—

"MASTER!"

The guild members surrounded him before he could get a word out.

"We beat Phantom Lord!"

"Hahaha! We even won without Master fighting!"

"Fairy Tail is way too strong!"

"We won!"

"We actually won!"

The battlefield instantly filled with cheering.

Makarov’s serious expression collapsed under the enthusiasm of his children, and before long he was smiling helplessly along with them.

"All right, all right. You all did well."

Someone near the back immediately shouted,

"Master! Since we won, shouldn’t you give us a speech?"

That set everyone else off.

"Yeah!"

"Say something!"

"You’re the Guild Master!"

"Speech! Speech!"

Makarov coughed awkwardly.

"Well, I barely contributed to the battle this time. This victory belongs to all of you, so I don’t think I need to—"

"That’s not how it works!"

"You’re still our Master!"

"Come on!"

"Say a few words!"

Makarov looked around at the battered but jubilant faces surrounding him, and the warmth that had already overwhelmed him once today began creeping back into his chest.

The old man was dangerously close to tearing up again.

Then Gajeel ruined the moment.

His face had been beaten until it was swollen almost beyond recognition, but apparently his mouth still worked perfectly well.

"Don’t get full of yourselves!"

The cheering gradually faded.

Gajeel glared at Fairy Tail from inside Levy’s cocoon.

"If these useless bastards hadn’t dragged me down, there’s no way I would’ve lost to you!"

Several defeated Phantom Lord members flinched at the insult from their own strongest fighter.

Makarov studied Gajeel for a moment.

Then, instead of becoming angry, he smiled gently.

"Boy, that’s exactly where you’re wrong."

Gajeel frowned.

"You never understood what a guild truly is."

The noise around them quieted.

Makarov’s eyes moved across the children of Fairy Tail as he continued.

"No one can completely share another person’s life. We can’t experience every joy exactly as they do, carry every sadness in their place, or shed every tear for them. But that doesn’t mean those feelings have to belong to one person alone."

His voice softened.

"When one member finds happiness, that happiness spreads to everyone around them. When one member becomes angry, the rest of us become angry with them. And when one member cries, there will always be someone beside them who understands those tears."

Makarov’s smile widened.

"One person’s happiness becomes everyone’s happiness. One person’s anger becomes everyone’s anger. One person’s tears become everyone’s tears."

He placed a hand against his chest.

"That is what a guild is."

Then his gaze swept proudly across everyone wearing Fairy Tail’s mark.

"And that is what Fairy Tail is."

For one brief moment, the battlefield went completely silent.

Then applause erupted.

"Well said, Master!"

"That’s Fairy Tail!"

"Those Phantom Lord bastards would never understand!"

"Yeah! Not when they’re the kind of people who attack their own teammates!"

"Fairy Tail is the best guild in the world!"

The celebration became even louder than before.

Phantom Lord’s defeated members, by contrast, fell silent.

The difference between the two guilds could hardly have been more obvious.

Fairy Tail had been battered, exhausted, and pushed into a war against one of the strongest guilds in Fiore, yet its members were still laughing together at the end of it.

Phantom Lord’s people stood scattered in silence while their strongest fighter blamed them for his own defeat.

Makarov watched his children cheering and couldn’t help smiling again.

They were still full of energy after everything that had happened.

They really had grown strong.

Then he began listening more closely to what they were saying.

Someone glanced toward Magnolia.

"Speaking of which, the Magic Council should be arriving soon, right?"

"Obviously. Two major guilds led by Wizard Saints just fought an all-out guild war. There’s no way the Council can ignore something this big."

Another Mage shrugged.

"Well, whatever happens after this doesn’t have anything to do with us anymore."

Makarov’s smile twitched.

A third nodded.

"Exactly. We already handled the fighting. Master can take care of everything else."

"Yeah! We can’t be expected to fight Phantom Lord and explain everything to the Council."

"Leave the cleanup to Master. He’s the expert at dealing with this stuff!"

Makarov slowly looked around.

"...?"

Why had everyone suddenly reached the unanimous conclusion that the catastrophic political consequences were entirely his problem?

Then he noticed something even more concerning.

Marshall had disappeared!

...

Marshall had, in fact, quietly slipped away long before anyone started discussing the Magic Council.

A group of girls had gone with him.

He had no intention of wasting the precious interval before the Council arrived by standing around celebrating when there was still an entire defeated guild waiting to be harvested.

His first destination was the wreckage of Phantom Lord’s Super Mage Giant.

Phoebe had smashed the machine badly enough that several sections were nearly unrecognizable, but Marshall simply laid one hand against the damaged metal and activated Time Magic.

"Reparo."

The destruction reversed itself.

Twisted steel straightened, fractured machinery reassembled, shattered magical components slid back into position, and entire sections of the giant construct rebuilt themselves as though the battle were being played backward.

Before long, Phantom Lord’s greatest war machine stood intact once more.

Marshall looked over his new acquisition with satisfaction.

This was Fairy Tail’s war trophy!

They had defeated Phantom Lord, captured the machine, and paid for it with blood and magic.

Leaving something this valuable sitting around until the Magic Council arrived and confiscated it would be criminally wasteful.

Marshall turned toward Mira.

"Mira, take Levy with you and find Aria. Interrogate him about Phantom Lord’s finances—cash reserves, property, magical resources, research materials, anything valuable that belongs to the guild."

Mira smiled sweetly.

"Sure. Although I’d imagine a large part of their assets are already tied up in this giant fortress."

"Then we’ve already made progress."

Marshall nodded approvingly.

"Either way, we need to finish before the Council realizes what’s happening. Phantom Lord came here intending to swallow Fairy Tail whole. Since they lost, I think it’s only fair that we collect what they were planning to take from us."

Mira’s smile became slightly more amused.

"I suppose that’s one way to look at it."

Marshall had already moved on.

"Erza, take Juvia and look over the Element 4. See whether any of them are worth recruiting. We’re not exactly going to complain about adding more S-Class-level Mages."

His expression cooled.

"But don’t bother with Aria. Anyone who ambush Master is off the list."

Erza nodded thoughtfully.

"Understood. I remember Totomaru was one of the better students at the Magic Academy, and his reputation outside Phantom Lord wasn’t particularly bad. I’ll investigate the others as well."

"Perfect."

Marshall looked around.

"Laki?"

"Boss! I’m here!"

Laki immediately hurried over.

"Take a few people and go through Phantom Lord’s ordinary membership. If you find anyone with real potential and no serious problems in their background, offer them a chance to join Fairy Tail."

Laki tilted her head.

Marshall gestured toward the defeated guild.

"Phantom Lord is finished after this. Even if the Magic Council doesn’t formally dissolve them, there’s almost no chance they continue functioning as one of Fiore’s major guilds. Most of the ordinary members had nothing to do with Jose’s schemes, and they’re going to need somewhere to go afterward."

Laki immediately understood.

"Got it!"

She gathered several people and hurried away.

Marshall watched her leave with satisfaction.

There were few things he hated more than putting in enormous effort and receiving absolutely nothing in return.

Fairy Tail’s home had been attacked.

Their people had been beaten.

Their Guild Master had been ambushed, and the entire guild had just fought a war against another Wizard Saint.

Walking away with nothing except pride would mean they had effectively worked themselves half to death for free.

No thanks!

Phantom Lord had approached Fairy Tail intending to annex it.

Being annexed in return was simply the natural consequence of losing.

A short while later, Cana and Gray approached him.

Neither of them looked pleased.

"Marshall," Cana said, "we searched everywhere we could think of, but Ivan is gone."

Gray clicked his tongue.

"We can’t find that bastard anywhere. No clue where he crawled off to."

Marshall barely reacted.

"So he escaped?"

"Looks like it."

"Then forget about him."

Gray frowned.

Marshall shrugged.

"He’s a clown. I’m not wasting time chasing him across Fiore."

His eyes cooled slightly.

"Besides, whatever else he is, he’s still Master’s son and Laxus’s father. Even if killing him becomes necessary, I’d have to consider how those two would feel about it afterward."

Marshall glanced toward the distance.

"So Ivan’s best option is to be smart enough never to show his face in front of Fairy Tail again."

Gray’s expression darkened.

"That bastard betrayed his own guild."

He cracked his knuckles.

"If I ever run into him, I’m still going to make sure he remembers it."

Before Marshall could answer, a familiar white-and-pink blur flew down and landed neatly on his head.

"Boss!"

Ruby leaned over his forehead.

"Does Ruby get a mission too?"

The three cats hadn’t fought directly during the main battle, but Ruby, Happy, and Carla had guided Phoebe across the battlefield and helped drive Phantom Lord’s forces into Levy’s prepared Jutsu-Shiki trap.

They had contributed more than enough to count.

Marshall thought for a moment.

"Actually, yes."

Ruby immediately perked up.

"Take Happy and Carla inside the Super Mage Giant and search every room. If you find money, magical items, valuable materials, or anything interesting, bring it all out."

Ruby saluted enthusiastically from his head.

"Yes, Boss!"

Marshall added, "If there’s enough cash and valuables to divide cleanly, we can use part of it as bonuses for everyone."

Happy’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Aye, sir!"

Carla sighed at both of them.

The three Exceeds flew toward the captured fortress.

...

Makarov had been quietly watching Marshall from a distance.

One order followed another, and everyone accepted them almost naturally.

Mira took Levy and went to interrogate Phantom Lord’s senior members.

Erza and Juvia began evaluating the Element 4.

Laki organized a group to inspect Phantom Lord’s ordinary Mages, while Cana and Gray came directly to Marshall with their report about Ivan.

Even Ruby had flown over specifically to ask him what she should do next.

Nobody questioned whether Marshall had the right to give those orders.

Nobody hesitated.

There was no visible resentment or resistance.

Some of the boy’s decisions made Makarov’s eyebrow twitch—particularly the speed with which he had begun stripping Phantom Lord of everything valuable before the Magic Council could arrive—but the old Guild Master made no attempt to stop him.

Instead, he found himself increasingly moved by what he was seeing.

This guild war had changed Marshall’s position within Fairy Tail.

Everyone had already known he was a prodigy.

They knew he was S-Class, knew he was powerful, and knew he possessed a ridiculous range of Magic.

But strength alone did not make people follow someone.

Today, when Makarov had fallen, Marshall had stepped forward without hesitation.

He had stabilized everyone’s confidence, devised a strategy against an opponent with far greater magical reserves, divided the battlefield, neutralized Phantom Lord’s strongest advantages, coordinated Fairy Tail’s best fighters, and ultimately helped defeat a Wizard Saint.

Now that the battle was over, the others were still naturally looking toward him for direction.

Marshall’s standing within Fairy Tail had risen dramatically.

Makarov could already see that the boy’s influence was beginning to approach that of the Guild Master himself.

And instead of making him uncomfortable, that realization filled the old man with relief.

He was getting old.

No matter how deeply he loved Fairy Tail, he could not lead it forever.

One day, the guild would have to belong entirely to the younger generation, and when that day came, Makarov would need to trust someone enough to place everything he had protected into their hands.

His gaze settled on Marshall.

Young, intelligent, decisive, ambitious, absurdly talented, and powerful enough to stand among the strongest Mages of his generation.

But none of those qualities mattered as much as one thing.

Marshall cared about his companions.

For all his strange ideas, shameless schemes, and occasional tendency to treat every disaster as a business opportunity, when Fairy Tail’s people were hurt, he had never once hesitated to stand in front of them.

And the rest of the guild trusted him because they knew it.

Makarov smiled quietly.

Fairy Tail would not end with his generation.

There were already children waiting to carry it forward.

And among all of them, Marshall was one of those Makarov believed in most.

Perhaps, one day—

"BAD NEWS!"

A guild member came sprinting toward them.

"The Magic Council has surrounded the whole area!"

Makarov’s smile vanished.

His face went pale.

He looked toward the approaching Council forces.

Then toward the ruined battlefield.

Then toward the captured Super Mage Giant Marshall was already stripping for valuables.

Then toward Jose, still half-dead inside Juvia’s water sphere.

Then toward all the Phantom Lord members currently being interrogated, recruited, searched, or looted.

A profound wave of despair washed over him.

’I really want to retire.’

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