— — — — — —
"Phantom Lord? Why would they do that?"
Mira, listening from the side, looked worried and shocked. Their guild and Phantom weren't exactly friends, but kidnapping a member of another guild… that was basically a declaration of war. How did Phantom even dare?
"I'm not sure," Virgo said. "Aquarius just told me to come ask for help. She was in a panic and didn't explain clearly. Everything I just told you is all I know."
Virgo shrugged, wearing her usual blank expression.
Then Kazuma remembered. Lucy might act like a hopeless nerd most days, but she was actually a real heiress. The Heartfilia Konzern didn't rule the continent or anything, but it was one of the top financial giants, with business everywhere—and even expanding beyond this continent. Her being 'kidnapped' was just her father sending people to drag her back home.
But Juvia? That made zero sense. Was Phantom seriously… kidnapping their own? Oh wait... Juvia left the Phantom Lord, right?
"Mmm… thinking about it. That might be because of you, Kazuma-kun," Mira said.
"While you were away, Juju showed up at the guild's front door every day."
"I asked her if she wanted to come inside, but she insisted on waiting at the entrance so she could see you the moment you came back. Phantom Lord must have gotten the news and captured her—Lucy is just a side prize."
Mira's expression turned slightly strange. Every time Juvia mentioned Kazuma, her eyes practically sparkled with pure affection.
"That girl is such a dummy…" Kazuma shook his head. He honestly hadn't expected Juvia to be like that.
"Alright, I get it. I'll go handle this." Kazuma stood up, fully ready to drop by the Phantom Lord guild on his own.
"I'll tell the Master and have him lead everyone over. That's safer," Mira said quickly.
"No need. I'm enough by myself," Kazuma answered.
"You—by yourself—how are you planning to solve this!?" Mira stared at him, anxious.
"I might not be able to solve the problem. But I can solve the people causing the problem. Sigh~ Fairy Tail needs me, no matter the world."
"Anyway, Phantom pulling something like this is basically challenging our guild. If we do nothing, won't that make us look weak?"
Kazuma clearly had no intention of negotiating. He was planning to eliminate the troublemakers. Simple and effective.
He walked out of the guild, summoned his motorcycle, and hit the gas.
---
"This guy! So reckless!" Mira stomped her foot in frustration, then dashed upstairs. She grabbed the communication lacrima and urgently called Makarov.
"Mira? Why are you calling in such a panic? Did something happen at the guild again?"
Makarov was currently at the newspaper office, talking with the editor to try and suppress that earlier… incident. The call surprised him.
"Master, it's bad! Kazuma went alone to challenge the Phantom Lord guild!"
"PFFT!"
"What did you just say?! What did Phantom do to provoke that brat? Why is he going to challenge Phantom Lord!?"
Makarov had just lifted a cup of water to drink when Mira's words hit him. He sprayed it everywhere.
"..." The editor, still smiling politely, wiped her drenched face.
"Master Makarov, you really have strong lungs… it came out like mist."
"Sorry—something serious came up," Makarov muttered before turning back to Mira. "Explain. Now."
"Virgo brought back news earlier—Lucy and Juvia were kidnapped by Phantom Lord!"
"What!? Those bastards! Do they want war?!"
Makarov was furious. Insult him all you want, he didn't care—but you never touched his guild children.
Otherwise he'd show you exactly what the Giant of Fairy Tail could do. What an angry Wizard Saint would do.
Without thinking, he slammed the table. It shattered instantly—along with the water cup.
"Ah…." The editor stared at her broken desk with a complicated expression, but didn't dare complain. She quietly stepped back a few paces, just in case she was next.
"Sorry. I got excited. I'll pay for it later."
"It—it's fine. Please lea... finish your call," she said with a stiff smile, soul already halfway gone.
"Mira, good job informing me."
"Hmph. I'll sort everything out when I get back. For now, stop Kazuma immediately. Don't let that brat act on his own!"
"…By the way, how many people did he take with him?" Makarov asked sternly.
"Um… Master, did you take your medicine this morning?" Mira said carefully.
"I did. I feel perfectly fine. Why are you asking me that?" Makarov blinked. This was supposed to be a serious conversation—why was she suddenly talking about medicine?
"Because I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" Mira asked softly.
"…Bad news."
The moment Mira became this gentle, this angelic, it always meant disaster.
"The bad news is… Kazuma already left. He's probably reached the closest Phantom Lord branch by now."
"And before leaving, he said if he wouldn't solve the problem, he would solve the ones who created it."
"So if you stay at the newspaper a little longer, Master… you might see the results yourself."
Mira softened her tone as much as she could, afraid that one wrong word would send Makarov's heart into shock.
"Cough—cough! Huff..."
Makarov clutched his chest. He felt like something was blocking his breath. "Then… what's the good news?."
"The good news is that Kazuma went alone. So right now, the conflict is still small."
"PUFFFFT... A...Alo...Alone...."
Mira had honestly expected the good news to calm him a bit. Instead, Makarov collapsed flat on the floor. "Master—Master, are you alright? Why do you look like you can't breathe!?"
"..."
"Master Makarov, you can't die on me!"
"If something happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it? Your guild members will kill me!"
"Please don't die in my newsroom! There are better places to die."
The editor-in-chief dropped to her knees with a thud. If this old man croaked here, she had exactly two possible futures: one, never sleeping peacefully again; or two, eternal sleep. She didn't want either.
---
Outside her office, someone came running while shouting.
"Chief! Chief! Breaking news!"
"A Phantom Lord branch was wiped out! Over a hundred members knocked flat!"
"And guess who did it? Kazuma of Fairy Tail!"
"Chief, this is huge! Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord have gone to war! I'm heading out for the exclusive!"
"This story has to be ours!"
"Wait—Chief, um… did you kill someone?"
The reporter rushed in and froze at the sight of her boss kneeling by an old man lying motionless on the floor.
"Yakoda, shut your mouth before I fire you! Help me get him up!"
The editor snarled, ready to strangle her. What breaking news? Fuck... her life was on line here.
"Hold on. Yakoda, what did you just say?"
"I asked if you killed this old man."
"Not that. The other thing."
"I said Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord are at war, and this exclusive belongs to us."
"Exclusive…? Yakoda, you're fired for today. Go cover the story under your own name! That way it's not tied to the paper at all!"
She didn't even hesitate. Their newspaper couldn't openly touch this kind of political landmine. But a "random citizen's submission"? That wasn't their problem.
And not a penny of responsibility would be theirs.
"Yes, Chief! And what about the corpse?"
Yakoda seemed completely unfazed. She got fired and rehired so often she'd gone numb.
"You're the corpse! Your whole family's a corpse! AHHHHHHH DAMN KAZUMA."
Makarov suddenly leapt to his feet and yelled.
"Master, you're alive!?" Mira looked stunned.
"Huh?? This old man didn't die!?"
"That means.... Zombie! Run!"
Yakoda sprinted out of the room.
"..."
"Almost died! But you people pissed me off so much I came back! Mira, call Erza and the others right now!"
"Every one of them needs to return! Have them drag Kazuma back here!"
"Back to the guild—no, forget the guild. I'm going straight to Jose myself. I want to know what that brat thinks he's doing!"
"He laid hands on my guild kids. Has he lost his mind!"
In his fury, Makarov completely forgot he was sick. Whatever had been clogging him up cleared instantly.
He rushed out like lightning, afraid that if he was even a second late, something even worse would happen.
"The old man's tougher than he looks. And Yakoda—run faster! Get that story before he settles things!"
The editor leaned out the window and hollered after her.
Yakoda didn't answer. She only raised a thumb high above her head. "Chief, leave it to me. As long as I live, this headline lives. If I die… the headline still lives."
The soul of a true reporter.
(Her family name might be Morgans.)
— — —
Meanwhile, inside one of Phantom Lord's branch guilds—
"You guys sure can keep your mouths shut. I like that."
"Let's see whether your mouths are tougher, or my fists are."
"I'll ask one more time. Where did your guild headquarters move to? Where's your guild master? And where did he take our people? Answer fast."
Kazuma sat in the center of the ruined hall. The entire branch was riddled with holes. Most members were unconscious on the floor, and the rest knelt trembling in front of him, shaking like leaves.
"I—I really don't know!"
"Still playing hard? After all that beating? Guess you need more."
Kazuma waved, and the shadow soldiers closed in again.
"Aaaaah! Stop! I really don't know! I'm not being stubborn, I swear! I'm nobody! I've never even been to headquarters!"
"Sir. Please stop beating us. How could we know where the Master is?"
The Phantom member genuinely wanted to cry. He just wanted a job. Why did he deserve this beating? If he'd known this would happen, he would've joined another guild instead.
"He telling the truth? Any of you know anything?" Kazuma looked at the others.
"We don't know either! We're not lying! This branch was only established recently, we seriously don't know anything!"
They shouted over each other, terrified of hesitating even a second.
"Fine. You don't know. But you still get beaten. Because you're Phantom members. Your master pissed me off, so you get the consequences."
He waved again. The shadow soldiers resumed the beating.
They could have fought back, but none dared. If they resisted the shadows, the next person beating them would be that monster standing in front of them.
Better to take the shadow beating and live.
---
"Phantom Lord is nothing like Fairy Tail. They have tons of wizards."
"They've got branches everywhere. Figuring out where Jose is won't be easy."
"Guess I'll just hit every branch. Once I crush their whole guild, Jose will show up eventually."
Kazuma remembered that Phantom Lord's headquarters was a mobile battle fortress. Its location wasn't fixed.
Which meant it was hidden. Fine. He'd just erase every Phantom outpost in sight until Jose crawled out.
When he was about to leave, his Observation Haki picked up four strong magic signatures approaching.
"Oh?"
He waited a moment, and four figures appeared.
Aria of the Great Sky, Sol of the Great Earth, Totomaru of the Great Flame, and Gajeel the Iron Dragon.
"..."
He looked calmly at the four of them. "The others don't know where Jose is. But you should. Tell me, take me there, and you can walk away alive."
"So... So... Sorrowful, it's too sorrowful! Where does this sorrow come from?" Aria sighed. "Because the arrogant lamb before me is about to die. Thinking about his fate fills me with sorrow."
He always spoke like that, but he was a ruthless bastard.
"You're scared, right? Worried? Doesn't matter. You're surrounded. You're dead already," Sol said.
"So much pointless talking. I could've handled this alone. Don't know why the Master called all of you." Gajeel didn't wait. He charged straight at Kazuma, arm turning into an iron blade.
"Iron Dragon's—!"
—BAM
Kazuma punched him into the ground.
"Who really shouts their attack names mid-fight, you idiot."
Then he looked at the other three. "I'm in a hurry. All three of you come at once."
---
Meanwhile, not far away, Erza had received word and was sprinting toward the scene, magic flaring.
"Phantom 's Four Elements… I've heard each one is on par with an S-class wizard!"
"Kazuma can beat one, two, maybe even three. But all four at once is impossible!"
"Just hold on until I get there!"
Erza pushed her magic output even higher as she raced through the streets.
.
.
.