The entire battlefield had turned into a chaotic jumble of magical formulas, magic crystals, militia units, and Fairy Tail members, each team stationed in different zones, guarding their assigned sectors.
Rhode had spent hours carefully coordinating the defenses. He drew up dozens of battle strategies, worrying over every detail, constantly afraid that a single mistake might harm innocent civilians or destroy the city they were trying to protect.
And then…
The enemy arrived.
The old man made his move.
And the enemy disappeared.
All of Rhode's elaborate plans? Never used.
Makarov looked over at him with a chuckle and asked, "Want to learn how to do that?"
Rhode tilted his head up to the sky, sighed with a tinge of frustration, and muttered, "I am learning."
Gildarts, who had just approached, gave Rhode a curious glance. "Wait, are you studying Three Great fairy Magic?"
Rhode nodded. "Yeah. I came across the reference to it in the guild library a while back… but…" He let out another sigh. "I've spent all this time just building up my basics."
Gildarts gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
He'd heard the rumors, how Rhode had started from scratch just a year ago, with no magical foundation whatsoever. And to even begin understanding Great fairy Magic, you had to study an ocean's worth of magical theory, formulas, and ancient systems. It wasn't something you could rush.
Gildarts himself didn't have the patience for that sort of thing. To him, magic wasn't about studying or theory. It was about power...pure, crushing power.
Crushing spells. Crushing obstacles. Crushing the enemy.
That was the path he walked.
Still, he had no intention of discouraging Rhode. Every mage had their own path. This was Rhode's.
Turning toward the city below, Gildarts smiled as he saw people celebrating in the streets. "Anyway, the enemies are gone, and the town's pretty much back on its feet. Shouldn't we be figuring out how to get back home?"
"Mm, that's definitely our next priority," Makarov agreed. "The magic that brought us here was a massive subspace spell. Magic on that scale always leaves behind traces."
"If we can locate the remnants of the spell, some leftover spatial ripples or anchors, we should be able to reverse-engineer the process and open a path back."
"If we can't find the magic's residue," Rhode added, "we can always interrogate the enemy. Someone has to know."
"I'll go get him," Mira volunteered with a smile. Then, without hesitation, she leapt gracefully off the edge of the floating island, her long hair trailing behind her.
She was going to retrieve Hughes, the captain of Edolas's Magic War Troop. If he was still conscious, Gemini might be able to copy his form and extract key information.
Rhode crossed his arms, his brow furrowing in thought. "Master… before we leave, there's one more thing I think we need to take care of."
Makarov turned to him. "Hmm?"
"We have to make sure the Kingdom of Edolas never launches another Anima again."
"Of course," Makarov replied, his expression darkening as his gaze sharpened. "That's not something we can afford to overlook."
"That makes sense," Gildarts said with a nod, listening to Rhode and Makarov discuss their plan.
He wasn't one to overthink things, he preferred action to deliberation.
When he was out on his own, sure, he had to make decisions and handle things himself. But now that he was back with the guild, if someone else was willing to handle the thinking, he was more than happy to just nod along and follow through.
Still, as he listened, Gildarts couldn't help but be a little amazed. The younger generation... they were incredible. He realized that even without him or the old man, the kids could probably manage everything on their own.
There might be some hiccups along the way, but in the end...
His eyes wandered across the scene: the Fairy Tail mages standing guard around Magnolia, the shimmering spell formulas surrounding the town, Rhode calmly discussing strategy with Makarov—it all filled him with confidence.
Unbeknownst to him, the next generation of Fairy Tail had already grown strong.
The forty-five-year-old veteran let out a silent sigh. His thoughts drifted back to his own youth, the wild days when he used to tear through battlefields without a care.
Gildarts zoned out, taking a few unconscious steps forward...
"Gildarts!"
"Huh?" He snapped back to reality, just in time to see the ground rushing up toward his face.
Crack!
Rumble—!
Rhode stared in disbelief. Who would've thought a grown man in his forties could fall flat on his face just like Wendy?
What's more, the impact of Gildarts' fall was huge.
Cracks spread out from his body like lightning bolts. The once-solid ground beneath them lit up with glowing white lines. Then, with a violent rumble, it shattered cleanly into neat, square blocks.
Crush Magic had triggered, completely out of control!
If they'd been on regular ground, it wouldn't have been too big a deal. At worst, it would have formed a crater and shaken a few buildings.
But this was a floating island.
And when the foundation crumbled... so did its ability to float.
Chunks of stone began falling from the sky.
Even the people nearby couldn't escape the collapse.
Rhode and Makarov both lost their footing and plummeted into the air.
Rhode's brain buzzed. 'Mira and Erza were right... I should never have given him that medicine!'
"Partial Take Over: Cloud Dragon!"
A pair of shimmering blue-and-white wings burst from Rhode's back. Their feathers looked like sky-reflecting scales. With a single flap, he sliced through the wind, gliding effortlessly through the sky.
His left hand caught the Master by the arm. His right hand grabbed Gildarts, by the ankle.
'Wood?'
Rhode blinked. He gave Gildarts a long look, only to meet the man's calm and slightly embarrassed eyes.
Without a word, Rhode carried the two of them back up to the island.
Fortunately, Gildarts had only broken off a corner.
The trail of destruction ran nearly to the edge of Magnolia. At the border, shining glyphs and lines of arcane script hovered in the air.
Freed's enchantments, still holding strong.
They had protected Magnolia.
From their own side.
"What kind of situation is this?" Rhode muttered. He couldn't tell whether to laugh or cry.
At that moment, Mira flew back carrying Hughes by the collar. "What just happened?"
"You can ask him!" Makarov huffed.
Gildarts: "Hahahaha—!"
Mira blinked, then smiled faintly. No need to ask. She understood perfectly.
Freed arrived next, Evergreen and Bickslow right behind him.
"I detected a disturbance in the spell matrix," Freed said seriously, scanning the area. "Did more enemies show up?"
Gildarts turned to him with his usual sheepish laugh: "Hahahaha—!"
The Thunder God Tribe exchanged glances. Somehow… they understood.
Then came the mayor, rushing in a panic.
Before he could even open his mouth, Gildarts preemptively blurted out: "Hahahaha—!"
The mayor sighed deeply.
This was why they'd come up with the "Gildarts Alert Protocol."
'Why did Edolas have to drag Gildarts here of all people?'
Because of the tremor, the guild quickly explained what had happened to prevent widespread panic.
As for Gildarts? He was officially banned from stepping foot inside the active spell formula zone. He wasn't even allowed to stand.
He now sat cross-legged at the edge of the barrier, sulking like a scolded child.
Half an hour later, the calming efforts were complete, and Gemini's intelligence extraction from Hughes had finished. With that, Fairy Tail moved on to the next phase of their operation, splitting into three teams.
One would stay behind to guard Magnolia.
Another would join the Exceeds to search for traces of the Anima spell.
And the third would head straight for the Royal Capital.
Rhode was part of the third group. His companions?
Erza. Mira.
And… Gildarts.