Chapter 281

Chapter 281: Chapter 281

"What do you mean you’re not coming?! If you don’t fight, how are we supposed to win? You’re one of the guild’s core combatants!"

Makarov immediately lost his composure.

His confidence that Fairy Tail could win this battle had been based on the assumption that Marshall would be fighting alongside them.

Marshall’s Spatial Magic had enormous strategic value, and with the sheer variety of Magic he knew, there were very few situations he couldn’t adapt to no matter what the enemy threw at him.

His total Magic Power still had plenty of room to grow, but Makarov already regarded Marshall as possessing combat strength on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints—in other words, one of the world’s top-tier Mages.

Having Marshall and not having Marshall were two completely different situations.

No wonder Makarov was getting anxious.

Marshall sighed.

"I don’t really have a choice..."

For a moment, he considered telling the old man about the Curse of Ankhseram.

Then he immediately reconsidered.

With Makarov’s personality, the moment he learned Marshall had been afflicted with something that dangerous, there was a very real chance he would cancel the S-Class Promotion Trial outright and start throwing every available resource into finding a solution for him.

That was exactly the sort of thing the overly protective old man would do.

But the threat from Grimoire Heart was already lurking in the shadows.

As Marshall had concluded before, it was far better to eliminate such a danger in one decisive strike.

If they delayed things, who knew what unexpected problem might occur next?

So Marshall decided to keep his condition hidden until the Grimoire Heart matter was settled.

He could explain everything to Makarov, Erza, and the others afterward.

"Even if I can’t participate personally, I’ll send my Apostles over. Their combat ability is comparable to ordinary S-Class Mages, so they should still be extremely useful."

"Those artificial life-forms of yours..."

Makarov immediately remembered the little children with glowing halos floating above their heads.

At first, he had assumed Marshall had simply found children his own age too immature and created a whole group of smaller companions because he wanted to experience being the older brother for once.

It was only later that Makarov learned just how absurdly capable those little things actually were.

Honestly, if Marshall ever developed ambitions of world domination and mass-produced an army of artificial humans like them, there might not be much anyone else could do about it.

"Relax, Master," Marshall continued. "Grimoire Heart only has one genuinely troublesome opponent—the Second Master. Everyone else is basically cannon fodder by comparison. As long as we wipe out his subordinates, secretly destroy Hades’s external Magic Heart, and then gang up on him together, our odds are actually pretty good."

"No, no." Makarov shook his head. "A massive gap in Magic Power isn’t something you can simply overcome with numbers. If someone hasn’t reached a certain level of strength, throwing more people into the fight won’t accomplish much."

"Fair enough."

Marshall hesitated.

"Actually, I do have one more secret weapon. The problem is that it isn’t finished yet, so I can’t guarantee I’ll have it ready within the next two days."

Makarov’s eyes sharpened.

"What secret weapon?"

"Remember the giant magical dragon armor we brought back from Edolas?"

Marshall leaned forward.

"The technology used in Dorma Anim can negate roughly ninety percent of ordinary magical damage. Dragon Slayer Magic is basically the only type that can bypass that resistance effectively."

Makarov stared.

"My original plan was to dismantle the dragon and redesign that technology into wearable armor. I’ve already been working on it for a while, but I don’t know whether two more days will be enough to finish even a prototype."

"What?! You had something like that and never told me?!"

"You never asked."

Makarov’s beard twitched.

"Is its magical resistance really that high? Edolas technology can actually do something like that?"

"It really can. I think it’s basically black technology—uh, black Magic, I guess?"

Marshall shrugged.

"I still can’t reproduce that special metal in large quantities, so mass production is impossible. But if I dismantle the black dragon armor we already have, there should be enough material for several sets."

He thought for a moment.

"I’ll try to rush at least one prototype over the next two days. Armor like that should be especially effective against someone like the Second Master, whose main advantage is overwhelming Magic Power."

Then Marshall paused.

"Actually, Master... the Second Master doesn’t know Dragon Slayer Magic, does he?"

"Effective? That would be far more than merely effective!"

Makarov’s mood immediately brightened.

"Do you know why Mages in the old days had so much trouble fighting dragons? Their magical resistance was absurd! If armor with comparable resistance really exists, then most opponents wouldn’t even have a way to hurt the wearer!"

He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"As for the Second Master... Precht knows an enormous number of spells. Probably even more than you."

Marshall raised an eyebrow.

"But Dragon Slayer Magic should be one of the exceptions. Learning it through the traditional method is extremely difficult, and Dragon Lacrima are exceptionally rare."

Makarov didn’t hesitate in his conclusion.

If they could deploy a suit of armor capable of shrugging off ordinary Magic, then Hades’s enormous reserves suddenly became far less intimidating.

One suit alone might be enough to change the entire course of the battle.

"That settles it! Marshall, work hard over the next two days and get that secret weapon finished. Even if all you can complete is a functional shell, that’s enough. Whether we win this battle may depend on you!"

"I’ll do my best."

Marshall nodded.

"What about the rest of Grimoire Heart, though? Are you confident handling them?"

"Leave that to us."

Makarov’s confidence had returned.

"This time, I’m only taking the guild’s elites. Here—this is the final roster for the S-Class Promotion Trial and the partners each candidate selected. We settled everything two days ago."

Marshall opened the list.

Cana — Lucy

Levy — Older Wendy

Juvia — Lisanna

Natsu — Happy

Mest — Gajeel

Freed — Bickslow

Elfman — Evergreen

Gray — Loke

Not bad.

Aside from Happy, every single participant already possessed S-Class-level combat ability.

And that wasn’t even counting Makarov, Laxus, Erza, Mira, and Gildarts.

Fifteen S-Class-level fighters, with another five combatants operating around the level of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Honestly, that lineup looked strong enough to bulldoze half of Fiore if they felt like it.

Still... some of those pairings were strange.

How had Levy and Older Wendy, those two shameless girls, ended up on the same team?

Juvia had actually chosen Lisanna? Lisanna was arguably even weaker than Lucy.

Mest and Gajeel voluntarily cooperating with each other was unexpected enough by itself.

And Elfman with Evergreen?

Marshall narrowed his eyes.

’Wait... did those two actually start liking each other?’

He quickly returned to the important matter.

"With a lineup like this, even our weakest pair should at least be able to exchange a few rounds with one of the Seven Kin."

Marshall grinned.

"Fifteen against seven. The advantage is ours!"

"No."

Makarov grinned back.

"More accurately, it’s seventeen against five. Two of the Seven Kin are already on our side."

Marshall laughed.

"Haha! Right! Add the anti-magic armor and Gildarts into the equation, and we’ve got this. Even the Second Master won’t be able to stop us!"

Makarov’s confidence surged.

The panic he’d initially felt upon hearing Precht’s name had largely disappeared.

Once he calmly compared both sides, Grimoire Heart didn’t seem nearly as overwhelming as he had first imagined.

At worst, they were simply more troublesome than the Oración Seis.

And Fairy Tail had become much stronger since then.

They were Fairy Tail!

What the hell were they supposed to be afraid of?

Beat them down!

Makarov stroked his beard as another idea occurred to him.

"Marshall, I’m thinking of changing the format of the S-Class Trial."

"Hm? How?"

"How about turning it into a bounty system?"

Marshall stared at him.

"There are five genuine enemies among the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Whoever defeats one of them first advances to the next stage—the decisive battle against the Second Master."

Makarov’s grin grew increasingly pleased with itself.

"And whoever performs exceptionally well during that final confrontation earns promotion to S-Class. Hahaha! What do you think of my idea?"

"...Master."

Marshall looked at him strangely.

"Have you started learning my bad habits too?"

"Nonsense!"

Makarov immediately protested.

"This is called making efficient and reasonable use of available resources!"

He pointed emphatically at Marshall.

"Think about it. If we conduct the original S-Class Trial normally and let everyone exhaust themselves fighting each other, only for Grimoire Heart to attack afterward, wouldn’t we be wasting our own strength for absolutely no reason?"

"...You know what?"

Marshall nodded slowly.

"You’re right."

"Exactly."

Makarov looked immensely satisfied with himself.

"You focus on finishing that anti-magic armor. I’ll spend some time working out the battle plan properly. The intelligence you obtained this time is absolutely critical—you get first credit for this operation!"

Marshall smiled.

"Master, you’ve been sounding more and more domineering lately."

He gave Makarov an approving look.

"I think you might have the makings of the King of Ishgar."

"?!"

Makarov’s expression changed instantly.

"Such outrageous words must never be spoken again!"