The next day, inside Fairy Tail's temporary headquarters, Makarov crushed the cane in his hand in fury, terrifying magic power erupting from his body.
"These damned bastards. If they had only destroyed the guild, I could still endure it. But no parent can stay indifferent after seeing their children bleed. We're going to war."
"OOOH!!!" ×N
At that moment, everyone erupted with excitement.
Watching their guild get destroyed while knowing who the enemy was yet being unable to retaliate had been unbearably frustrating.
"Awesome! We can finally teach those guys a lesson! I'm all fired up!" Natsu clenched his fists, his face full of excitement.
"Let's show them the true strength of Fairy Tail!" Elfman shouted loudly.
"Quiet down. Right now, we still don't know where Phantom Lord's headquarters is. However, they do have a branch in Oak Town. Let's go beat the hell out of them."
Makarov wore his Saint's coat, his voice rising with battle spirit.
"OOOH!!"
The guild members cheered enthusiastically and rushed out of the guild.
Makarov looked toward Mavis and entrusted the rear to her.
"I'll leave this place to you, First Master."
"Okay. I'll stay here and protect the guild while praying for everyone's safe return."
Mavis, unlike her usual playful self, spoke gently yet firmly, radiating the wisdom of a true founder.
—
Oak Town.
The Fairy Tail members arrived at Phantom Lord's branch in a massive, imposing procession.
"Watch me blast the door open!"
Natsu waved his arm, preparing to punch both the guards and the front gate flying.
Aylian stepped forward and stopped him, resting a hand on Arayashiki's hilt.
"I'll handle this in one shot."
Natsu met Aylian's calm golden eyes and immediately stepped aside.
He knew that look too well.
When Aylian entered this state, nobody dared interfere.
Aylian fully released his magic power. The entire space seemed to tremble as the atmosphere grew heavy.
Slowly drawing Arayashiki, crackling azure lightning wrapped around his body.
Expressionless, Aylian held the blade horizontally before his chest. The sword turned deep blue as thunder coiled around it.
Behind him appeared a massive azure dragon dozens of meters long, roaring toward the heavens.
Aylian thrust Arayashiki into the ground and shouted:
"Secret Art — Azure Dragon Break!"
The dragon transformed into arcs of lightning and burrowed underground toward the Phantom Lord branch.
Inside the branch headquarters, the Phantom Lord members were still smugly mocking Fairy Tail—
Then, in the next instant, a gigantic pillar of lightning erupted skyward, engulfing both the entire building and everyone inside.
Everyone in Oak Town looked toward the towering lightning pillar in shock.
After several breaths, the pillar condensed once more into a majestic thunder dragon roaring at the sky before finally dissipating.
When the lightning vanished, everyone stared at the former branch headquarters.
It had become nothing but ruins.
Countless cries of agony echoed from beneath the rubble.
Aylian had held back. Otherwise, that single attack could have reduced both the building and everyone inside to ashes.
"S-So strong… He destroyed the whole branch in a single attack…"
All the Fairy Tail members stared dumbfounded at the ruins before them.
"Wait a second! You seriously wiped them all out in one move?! At least leave some for me! I wanted to beat them up too!" Natsu protested loudly.
"Exactly. I was getting ready for a huge fight," Gray complained with folded arms.
Honestly, Natsu and Gray had a point.
The entire guild had come here ready for battle, only to end up as spectators.
"...Let's head back."
Makarov sighed and turned around to leave.
But inwardly, he was marveling at how much stronger Aylian had become.
Maybe it really was time for him to retire early.
"Aylian-sama, neither Jose, the Four Elements, nor Iron Dragon Gajeel were here," Ultear said as she walked over.
"Hmph. Let's see how long he can hide. Since he wants to play games, we'll play with him properly. I wonder what expression Jose will make once he learns all his branches have been wiped out."
Aylian exhaled lightly, clearly in a good mood.
"You did too good a job. Everyone was all fired up, and now all the momentum's gone," Erza said while walking beside him.
"What's wrong with that? We can just treat this as sightseeing," Mirajane tilted her head with a smile, her tone especially lighthearted as she watched her relaxed companions.
"Seriously… Is a Wizard Saint really this strong?" Lucy whispered quietly to Lisanna.
"Of course. Aylian-nii is publicly acknowledged as one of the strongest wizards in the guild right now. The only ones above him would be the Master and Gildarts… no, honestly, Aylian-nii might already be stronger than Gildarts now," Lisanna explained.
"Huh? Who's Gildarts?" Lucy had been in Fairy Tail for quite a while already, yet she had never met him.
Lisanna smiled and began enthusiastically explaining, while Levy, Bisca, and Laki occasionally chimed in.
In short, compared to how tense and fired up they had been on the way here, the return trip felt completely relaxed and cheerful.
It had basically turned into a sightseeing excursion.
Though not getting to fight personally was admittedly a bit disappointing.
—
Not long after they left, a large obese man appeared at the ruins.
His eyes were covered with cloth strips, and he wore a hat.
Soon, many others arrived and began digging through the rubble to rescue the buried Phantom Lord members.
"So this is Fairy Tail's Battle Tremor Nobleman… Your magic power is truly immense. If only I could steal your magic power… how tragic."
The man wept as his body dissolved into a gust of wind and vanished.
—
Inside Phantom Lord's headquarters, within a dimly lit room—
Jose's expression shifted from calm to furious.
He crushed the wine glass in his hand, red wine flowing between his fingers.
"Well done, Aylian Viviamilio. You've become even stronger than when we met at the regular council meetings years ago, Makarov. How fortunate you are to have the support of the Viviamilio Financial Group."
His expression twisted with resentment.
"But I'll make you understand that Phantom Lord is the strongest guild."
—
On the way back, Aylian kept pondering one question.
Why had Jose suddenly gone insane?
Sure, Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had always clashed, but not to the point of triggering an outright guild war.
"What are you thinking about?" Makarov asked.
"I'm wondering what exactly snapped in Jose's head. Why did he suddenly attack Fairy Tail? And not just attack—he came straight for full-scale guild war."
Makarov sighed and looked toward Lucy, who was currently chatting happily with Lisanna and Levy.
Seeing that, Aylian froze slightly.
Could this whole matter… actually be related to Lucy?