Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 8, x791.
On the outskirts of Altair, Gildarts stood facing a shirtless man built from massive amounts of muscle. And the tension between the two made it clear that a fight was imminent.
"Hahahaha!" The massive man laughed loudly as he glared at Gildarts. "You're really unlucky to run into me at a time like this. If it had been any other time, you would have had a chance to survive. But since I was ordered to not be seen, I have no choice but to kill you, Old Man."
"*Sigh*" Gildarts only exhaled a tired sigh in response as he walked towards the mountain of a man.
"But I'm not completely heartless." The massive man said while grinning ferociously. "I'll at least tell you my name. See, I'm really kind, aren't I? This way, you'll know who it was that sent you to hell."
Gildarts did not respond to the man's rambling. Instead, he just continued to walk forward as his magic power flared higher and higher.
Meanwhile, having not received a response, the massive man frowned.
*Boom!*
In the next instant, the massive man discarded the idea of giving his name. He then stomped the ground, the force of the impact causing the ground beneath him to crack and crater. He then bent down and picked up several fist-sized pieces of stone and cocked his right arm back to throw.
*Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!*
The man then launched the stones in his hands at Gildarts. Yet, Gildarts did not even try to dodge, allowing the stones to approach unimpeded.
*Fizzle!* *Fizzle!* *Fizzle!*
Yet, when the stones came within three feet of Gildarts, they just... disintegrated...
"What the...?" The massive man exclaimed in shock.
"*Sigh* You don't even know how outclassed you are, do you?" Gildarts asked, speaking for the first time since his earlier rant. "You're just like Natsu in that regard. Also, I don't need to know your name. I'll figure it out after I take you down, after all."
As he spoke, Gildarts continued walking forward with his expression not changing at all from the tired expression he had shown ever since he ran into the massive man.
"Damn you!" The man shouted as he vanished from where he stood in a burst of speed.
"Oh, you're pretty quick." Gildarts said as he slightly turned his head to the left.
*Bang!*
A moment later, the massive man appeared to Gildarts left and threw a punch. However, his massive fist never made contact with Gildarts' head. Instead, it was stopped dead in its tracks when Gildarts casually raised his left hand, stopping the punch with an open palm. Though, the impact did cause a loud sound that was comparable to that of a high-caliber sniper rifle shot.
On a side note, Gildarts would have grasped the man's fist to stop him from getting away. However, the fist was simply too large for him to close his fingers around it.
"Not bad." Gildarts said, still speaking in that casual, yet tired, tone. "You're pretty strong, too. And your magic power is dense enough to not be broken down into little pieces by my passively released magic power. It's a shame you're part of a Dark Guild. Otherwise, you could have done a lot of good for the people with strength like this."
"Shut the fuck up!" The man shouted angrily as he once again vanished from where he stood.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
*Sigh* Youngsters now-a-days are so rude." Gildarts said while shaking his head lightly. "They can't even accept a compliment."
While speaking, Gildarts continued blocking punches as the massive man circled him at high speed while attacking with magic power focused on his fists.
"Okay, can we stop this?" Gildarts asked, still sounding just as tired. "It's obvious this isn't working, isn't it? Why don't you just give up so I can capture you and turn you in?"
"Hmph!" The massive man snorted disdainfully at Gildarts' suggestion.
Despite his obvious disdain, the massive man stopped his attack. He then sped away from Gildarts, stopping near the crater he created with his stomp. However, if one were to judge things by the expression on his face, it would be clear that he had no intention of giving up or letting himself be taken in.
And when Gildarts saw the massive man lower his stance, cock his arm back to throw a punch, and concentrate his magic power into his fist once again, that thought was solidified.
"I guess that's a no, huh?" Gildarts asked while once again shaking his head. "Fine... Just get it over with. Just hit me with your best attack. Then, I'll end it, so you don't feel slighted."
"I'm going to kil you, Old Man." The massive man growled in rage. "No one looks down on me, Uvogin the eleventh leg of the Phantom Troupe, like that. [Enhancer Magic: Big Bang Impact]."
With that, the massive man, Uvogin, dashed forward. As he did, the magic power concentrated in his fist began to increase in power and density. IN fact, the increase was so massive that the air around his fist began to look distorted.
"Oh, that's pretty impressive." Gildarts said with a nod. "Still, it's not enough. [Crash Magic: Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean]."
Before Uvogin's fist could even make contact, all the magic power concentrated into it was negated. Then, Gildarts once again stopped his punch with his left hand. Next, while Uvogin was gaping in shock at what just happened, Gildarts pulled his right hand back and made a fist near his waist.
"You should shut your mouth and grit your teeth." Gildarts said, the sound of his fist clenching sounded along with his words. "Otherwise, you might just bite off your tongue."
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
In the next instant, Gildarts right hand shot upwards, before landing a devastating uppercut on Uvogin's chin, the impact so loud that the people living in the outskirts of Altair thought a magic explosive went off nearby.
An instant later, Gildarts was standing alone. However, the contrail leading straight up into the sky made it quite clear what happened to Uvogin. His uppercut had been so powerful that the mountain of a man was sent flying up into the cloud layer.
Luckily, because this fight happened after the sun went down, most people did not even notice how the clouds were so violently dispersed.
"Hmm... I think I overdid it a little." Gildarts muttered while looking up while shading his eyes with his right hand. "He's gonna come back down, right?"
A moment later, Gildarts saw a violet flash of light shooting up into the sky from the city. He then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore." Gildarts said as he lowered his head. "Looks like the Kid's got him. Anyway, I'm really tired. I should head into the city and find Ur. She should have already booked a room, right?"
With that, Gildarts flexed his neck for a moment. Then, he started walking towards the city again.
When Gildarts eventually reached the walls surrounding Altair, he realized that he had somehow veered away from the city gate. However, Gildarts had no intention of letting that delay his entry into the city. And unfortunately for Altair, the city did not have something like the Gildarts Shift in Magnolia.
Meaning, in a few minutes, there was more than likely going to be a blocky, man-shaped hole in the city wall if nothing happened soon.
Luckily for the residents of Altair, something did happen.
"Stop right there!" A woman shouted from atop the city wall.
Hearing that voice, Gildarts came to a sudden halt. He then raised his head with a doting smile on his face.
"Cana! Daddy missed you!" Gildarts shouted loudly.
"Don't give me that, Dad!" Cana shouted angrily. "Just what the hell were you about to do?"
"Huh? I was about to go find Ur." Gildarts replied, sounding somewhat confused. "Is there something wrong with that?"
Cana's exasperated sigh echoed over the area shortly afterwards. And the reason for that was simple.
The hotel where Ur was staying was clear on the other side of the town. Meaning, Gildarts would have ended up walking straight through most of the city, as well as the buildings along the path, while on his way to Ur. And that doesn't even account for the fact that Gildarts probably had no idea which hotel Ur was staying at.
"Why did they make it my responsibility to deal with Dad when he got here?" Cana grumbled in an annoyed tone. She then glared down at Gildarts, causing her father to flinch. "You're not destroying this city, Dad. Or do you want Alfonzo to beat you up for messing up his perfect record?"
Then, without giving Gildarts a chance to respond while also ignoring the flinch that came with her question, Cana pointed towards the closest city gate.
"You are going to enter the city like a normal person." Cana said sternly. "Then, you are going to walk through the streets without destroying any of the buildings. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear. Dad?"
Gildarts could not help letting his shoulders sag when he heard Cana's tone.
"Yes, Sweetheart." Gildarts mumbled, sounding like he just got scolded for misbehaving. "But... That's gonna take so long~."
Cana felt one of her eyebrows twitch at the sound of her father whining. Then, she gritted her teeth because she knew what her next words would cause.
'Damn it... There's no way he's not going to be an embarrassment after this.' Cana thought to herself.
"And to make sure you don't cause any trouble, I'll be coming with you to find Ur." Cana said through her gritted teeth.
Immediately, Gildarts' head popped up to look at Cana. And when Cana looked into her father's eyes, she squinted involuntarily at how brightly they were shining.
'Yeah, he's definitely gonna embarrass me.' Cana muttered internally.
["Yeah... There's no point in even gambling about this."] Hoyle added from Cana's inner world.
'Ugh! I need a drink.' Cana thought to herself with resignation as she started walking towards the city gate atop the wall.
When he saw Cana start walking, Gildarts followed her eagerly. Then, when Cana jumped down to the street after he entered through the gate, he held out his elbow for her to take like he was the one escorting her, instead of the other way around.
However, Cana did not accept the offered arm. Instead, she started walking towards the hotel where Levy, Ur, and Ultear were staying at a brisk pace.
'*Sigh* At least Tear will be coming back with me after Gildarts gets there.' Cana thought to herself. 'Having us all back together again will be nice. It won't substitute for the alcohol, though.'
Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse on the opposite side of Altair, several people were gathered. While most of the people in the warehouse were gathered on the ground floor of the warehouse, there was one man sitting on a ledge above the rest.
"Does anyone have an idea where Machi is?" The man sitting on the ledge, looking to be about 5'10" tall with black hair, grey eyes, and a cross-shaped tattoo in the center of his forehead and wearing an unbuttoned, long black coat with white fur on its collar and cuffs that showed off his muscular torso, asked calmly. "It's not like her to be late."
This man was the leader of the Phantom Troupe, the Spider's head, Chrollo Lucifer.
"No, she's still not here yet." A man wearing a Japanese-style robe, a pair of black shorts, and a sarashi wrapped around his midsection with a sword strapped to his waist and his long black hair styled into a topknot replied calmly. "Then again, neither is that idiot Uvogin."
"We expected Uvogin to be late." Chrollo replied, his tone making it clear he was unbothered by Uvogin's tardiness. "But Machi was only supposed to be out scouting."
"Do you think someone discovered her?" A tall, slender woman with neck-length, straight blonde hair who wore a black business suit with purple lapels and a matching skirt asked in an apathetic tone. "If so, she's probably taking her time to throw them off."
A moment later, the blonde woman's expression sharpened.
"Because if she were to lead anyone to our hideout, I would kill her myself for endangering the Troupe." The woman continued in a sharp tone.
"That would never happen, Pakunoda." Machi said as she entered the warehouse through a broken window. "Though, I may have been discovered. But after running around the city for hours, I believe I lost them."
Hearing that Machi may have been discovered, all the members of the Phantom Troupe present in the warehouse tensed.
"You may have been discovered?" Chrollo asked, his tone unchanged. Though, his narrowed eyes made it clear that he was taking Machi's words seriously.
"Yes." Machi replied with a nod. "First, I found a number of threads made with thread magic laid out over the city..."
From there, Machi explained everything that happened from the time she cut Elicia's [Thread Detection] spell, to how she felt as though someone was watching her for a time, to the strange feeling she got before the surveillance ended, and finally how she spent a long time making sure that she was not being followed.
"I see." Chrollo said after a moment spent considering Machi's report. He then thought back to the faint sound of explosion he heard not too long ago. "Well then, we'll move to the secondary hideout once Uvogin gets here. And if he's not here by midnight, we'll leave a message and make the move anyway."
The Spider's legs all nodded in understanding. Yet, Chrollo was not done just yet.
"By the way, Machi." Chrollo continued. "Since you were outside, do you have any idea what that sound was earlier?"
"No, I'm not sure." Machi replied. "But after I heard it, I saw a flash of light shooting up into the sky. They're probably related."
"I see." Chrollo replied. "Well, after we move, I want you to see if you can find anything about it. I don't want any surprises that could ruin the deal."
"Understood." Machi replied with another nod.
With that, the members of the Phantom Troupe prepared to change hideouts while waiting for Uvogin to arrive. However, when midnight struck, they left as Chrollo ordered, leaving a message that only Uvogin would be able to understand behind.
Unfortunately for them, they had no idea that they would never see Uvogin again. Because unbeknownst to even Gildarts, that uppercut had broken Uvogin's neck, and he died before even reaching the clouds.