"In this world..."
"Do all children love their parents, and do all parents love their children?!"
"Isn't that a self-evident truth?"
"Then why is it that His Majesty's child cannot receive love?!"
What a young person cannot obtain will ultimately torment them for life.
Even the most powerful master of magic in the world is no exception.
After Ian successfully rescued Makarov's parents, Yuri and Rita, from the timeline of death, he immediately launched his second simulation without hesitation.
"Simulation! Precht's timeline..."
After Ian took the family portrait for everyone, he went back to his room alone. He lay on the bed with his eyes closed, and gave an order to his system.
"Boom!!"
After a moment of consciousness blur, Ian's figure disappeared without a trace.
Time returned to August of X696.
It had been a full half a year since Mavis discovered that she was indeed cursed by the Ankhseram God. During this time, she had not eaten or slept. She was constantly torturing herself with the most cruel methods in the world, yet she still could not die. Just as the dark mage Zeref had said, she had become a complete monster with an immortal body.
Under such circumstances, the only two living beings in this world cursed by Ankhseram finally met. They tried to understand each other, tried to walk together, tried to face eternal loneliness hand in hand. Because they were the only two in the world who possessed eternal life, they were the only two who could truly understand each other.
Unfortunately, the end result of joining hands did not satisfy everyone. Perhaps Ankhseram's anger toward each of them was not the same, so the curse's power differed as well.
Or perhaps one of them had not fully understood what walking together truly meant. The final consequence was that the fairy-like girl would sleep forever.
The boy held the girl's "corpse" helplessly, looking at the desolate surroundings. His entire body trembled, and scalding tears slid down his cheeks...
In the end, the one who survived was him again, just like all the history he had traversed in these four hundred years. Anyone he loved would eventually have their life taken. There were no exceptions.
At this moment, the boy seemed to see a great existence in the void, silently mocking him. The words of those priests in the temple four hundred years ago rang once more in his ears: Those who show disrespect to the gods shall be cursed for a lifetime.
"Mavis, it seems that from now on, no one in this world will be able to stop me,"
the boy said, his eyes becoming resolute.
Since the gods had taken away his ability to 'love' others, he would return the favor to the gods by creating a world without any 'love'! He would conquer the entire world. The meaning of conquering the world was simply that he wanted to completely destroy it.
"Let it all end!"
He murmured, picking up the girl's 'corpse' and returning it to those who still loved her. Unlike him, who stood alone, behind the girl there were companions who cared about her.
As for himself, he would begin preparing to destroy this world that hated him.
Time passes to October of X696.
"How could this happen?!"
"This is absolutely impossible..."
Currently, after Mavis's departure, Precht, who was serving as the Fairy Tail Guild Master in her place, received Mavis's body from the boy's arms. He could not believe Mavis was truly dead.
Precht was undoubtedly a genius among geniuses. From Mavis's "remains," he discovered a trace of magical energy that even the boy had not detected.
"Mavis definitely isn't truly dead."
"Let me revive her..."
So Precht thought. He brought the girl's remains into the guild's underground chamber and sealed them inside a large magical crystal he had obtained years before, beginning his research.
Precht told no one about this—not Rita, not Yuri, not Warrod. He silently manipulated everything in secret.
It wasn't until a year later that he announced Mavis's death to the public and decided to build her cenotaph(empty tomb) on Fairy Tail's holy ground, Tenrou Island...
October of X697.
On the second floor of the Fairy Tail Guild, in the S-Class Mages' Hall:
"Precht, what kind of joke is this?!"
"How could Mavis be dead?!"
Yuri tightly gripped Precht's collar with both hands, roaring in anger.
"Yuri, calm down first."
Warrod stood between Yuri and Precht, looking rather troubled.
"Warrod, did you just hear what Precht said?"
"He actually said Mavis is dead! What kind of joke is that..."
Yuri's eyes were bloodshot. If Mavis had simply died like that, then for what had he been training so hard all these years?!
"Precht, you're not the type to joke. Mavis has been missing for a year and a half now. Stop scaring us, we can't take it..."
Warrod sighed helplessly as he looked at Precht, urging him softly.
In fact, Warrod was not just advising Precht; he was also advising himself. He absolutely refused to believe that the innocent and lovely Mavis, worthy of all the world's goodness, could die just like that.
"Mavis is indeed dead..."
"But I can bring her back!"
Precht first knocked aside Yuri's hands that were holding his collar, and then explained everything he knew—albeit with some artistic embellishments—to the two present: "A year ago, on the day of the Harvest Festival, when you all went out to celebrate the holiday, the Black Mage who taught us magic brought Mavis's corpse here! He undoubtedly killed Mavis."
"But Mavis did not truly die. As the senior once said a year ago, Mavis's body is cursed by Ankhseram. She has become immortal and ageless, and she will not die easily! As long as Mavis still has a breath left in her, I can resurrect her!"
"Although Mavis has not yet awakened, she currently exists in a miraculous state between life and death, which means she has avoided Ankhseram's curse!"
"For us, this isn't bad news—this is an opportunity! It shows that the curse of Ankhseram is not unsolvable. What we must do now is figure out how to break the curse before Mavis fully awakens."
Precht shared his thoughts with Yuri and Warrod.
"What do you need us to do?!"
Upon hearing Precht's words, Yuri, Rita, and Warrod paused before asking.
"I need knowledge, a massive amount of knowledge about curses! I will handle reviving Mavis, but breaking the curse is something I need you to accomplish."
Precht said this as he handed a list over to Yuri, Rita, and Warrod. He spoke softly, "All the books on this list are what I need. Also, Yuri and Rita, I want you to train in a certain type of Lost Magic."
"Lost Magic?!"
Yuri froze, doubt flickering in his eyes.
"Yes..."
"Since Ankhseram is a god, high above us, then I will use magic designed specifically to destroy gods against them!"
"Legend has it that in ancient times, humans created a type of magic specifically to kill gods—the God Slayer Magic—to deal with the 'evil gods' running amok on earth. This God Slayer Magic is our hope of defeating Ankhseram's curse."
Precht explained God Slayer Magic—this magic, which had been lost on the continent of Ishgar for centuries—to Yuri, Rita, and Warrod.
"I understand..."
Yuri nodded lightly. If it was for Mavis, he was willing to train in this lost God Slayer Magic, no matter what it entailed.
"As for the books, I'll leave that to you, Rita..."
Precht turned to Rita, speaking seriously.
"Got it! This is all for Fairy Tail and for Master Mavis."
Rita nodded firmly. She absolutely did not want to be a burden. She too would train in magic to become a powerful mage who could be of help.
"Precht, I want to see Mavis's remains."
At this moment, Yuri looked seriously at Precht and spoke.
"Impossible!"
Precht refused Yuri's request without hesitation. He frowned and spoke sternly, "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow anyone other than myself to go into the basement to see Mavis's body! I have yet to fully grasp the nature of Ankhseram's curse. If the curse erupts and I die, then you must continue to guard Mavis's body until she revives. Do you understand?!"
"This..."
"We understand."
Yuri, Rita, and Warrod were unwilling... but compared to the past, they were much more mature now. They understood that concern leads to chaos. The best they could do now was to carry out Precht's arrangements as best they could.
"Whew..."
After finalizing these arrangements, Precht breathed a slight sigh of relief.
After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "That's all then. Don't delay my research. Go and undertake your tasks freely. Magnolia Town, the Fairy Tail guild, and Mavis—I will protect them all."
"Okay."
Yuri and the others remained silent for a while, then left with the list and materials Precht had given them. They had many tasks ahead.
As for Precht, after patiently sending off Rita, Warrod, and Yuri, he returned to the Fairy Tail Guild's underground chamber alone, soul lost and helpless. Staring at Mavis's body inside the magical crystal, and at a certain baby in a cradle beside it, he spoke in confusion, "So how exactly should I deal with Mavis's child?! A child who violates all principles of life, born of chaos, who should never have existed in this world, right?"
After long contemplation, Precht finally made a decision.
"Abandon him!"
"If this child can survive..."
"Then it proves he's protected by heaven and not meant to die!"
"If this child dies..."
"Then it proves that even the gods above cannot tolerate his existence."
After a full day and night of inner torment, Precht made up his mind to return this child, who never should have been born, back to the heavens. Let the gods decide his fate.
Thus, Precht abandoned this child, who naturally possessed neither light nor darkness, born of chaos, and never meant to exist, in the wilderness.
Precht spoke of giving the child back to the heavens, letting the heavens decide life or death. In reality, he never intended for this sinful child to live.
After all, this was the wild, where monsters roamed. Even an adult or a low-level mage could encounter danger here, let alone a newborn child. Abandoning a newborn in such a place said it all.
Precht did not want the child to live; he wanted him dead...
"Where did this child come from? So cute~"
Just as Precht was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of a baby's cries and the gentle teasing of an adult.
"Huh?"
Precht's face changed drastically. He had just abandoned that child in this deserted wilderness. If someone passed by and took him away the next second, wouldn't that mean even the heavens could not bear his actions?!
Thinking this, Precht turned around angrily, determined to see who was working against him in secret.
As he turned, the figure who appeared before his eyes was the very same person who had mysteriously appeared on the day Makarov was born and Mavis left Magnolia—who had saved Rita from the brink of death, who had told them of Ankhseram's curse, who had then vanished without a trace. He wore a white coat and a clown mask, acting incomprehensibly. A senior Grand Mage.
"Se-senior?!"
Precht's pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the newcomer. His voice trembled as he tried to address this masked man. It had been so long he wasn't even sure if this was the same mysterious senior as before.
"Yo, Precht, long time no see..."
"The moment I see you again, I catch you abandoning a child!"
"How utterly unforgivable..."
The masked man was, of course, Ian. He glanced at Precht while holding the baby, greeting him as he spoke in an icy tone.
"Senior! I have my reasons..."
"That child in your arms is no ordinary child!"
Precht still tried to argue. He fixed a venomous gaze on the baby in Ian's arms, his voice fierce, "With your strength, you should be able to sense the magic in this child's body. It belongs neither to light nor darkness, nor any known attribute in this world! He should never have been born into this world. His very existence is one of the greatest variables and crises! I am merely returning him to where he belongs, nothing more! I did not intend to abandon him."
"Excuses..."
Ian couldn't be bothered to argue. Holding the boy in one arm, he pointed a finger at Precht, his voice cold, "No matter what, you must be taught a lesson, Precht!"
"..."
Precht fell silent. He knew all he said was just an excuse.
But how many people in this world knew his pain?!
What does it feel like to personally deliver the child of the one you love? Do these bastards really understand?!
Most importantly, the child he delivered had nothing to do with him!
That child's father was a bastard, and the child himself was a sin.
At least that was how it seemed from Precht's perspective.
In theory, he should have killed the child outright!
But this was Mavis's child, and he couldn't bear to do it.
Maybe abandoning him was the only option.
Everyone asks why His Majesty's child won't be loved?!
Then who would love him, Precht?
"Precht, enough nonsense. Take this!"
Ian couldn't be bothered to understand Precht - a simp's thought process is different from normal people to begin with, and someone like Precht who was in the terminal stages of simping was even more vastly different from ordinary people. So Ian skipped the understanding step and delivered a heavy punch straight to Precht's face.
"Boom!!"
Accompanied by a thunderous sound...
Precht went flying backward, silently crying as the unloved person he was.