Marco couldn't help but laugh.
Duke Savalu was indeed the quintessential local powerbroker—had he even gotten involved with the Dark Guild here?
Was this Dark Guild truly under his control?
But thinking about it, it wasn't that surprising.
During their last meeting, Duke Savalu had been surrounded by many mages—likely among them were the Dark Mages of Swamp Neck.
"Cygnus Bronze Cloth!"
Facing the guild hall of Swamp Neck, which gaped like a maw ready to devour prey from the swamp, Marco summoned the Cygnus Bronze Cloth and donned it.
The swan helmet's wings spread, and the silver-white armor pieces attached themselves to his body one by one.
Once fully clad in the armor, Marco began to dance, his dance as graceful as a swan preparing to take flight.
As he danced, the constellation of Cygnus above shone brilliantly, its light so vivid it seemed visible even in the daytime sky.
At the climax of his dance, Marco clenched his fists and thrust them forward, unleashing a torrent of frigid magical energy from his arms.
"Aurora Thunder Attack!"
Starlight cascaded as magical energy rapidly gathered toward Marco's body.
"Zzzzt!"
A massive tornado of freezing lightning erupted, carrying terrifying frost and crackling thunder.
The icy magical surge roared toward the swamp, crashing into the guild hall shaped like a gaping goblin's mouth.
Wherever the azure-blue magical torrent passed, everything was instantly encased in layers of ice—even the foul, soggy swamp froze over with a thick sheet of ice.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The howling frost magic swept over the guild hall, freezing the entire structure solid in an instant.
The goblin-mouthed building was transformed into a colossal ice sculpture.
The twin brothers stood gaping, rendered speechless by the sight before them.
This was magic beyond their comprehension.
The terrifying frost magic had nearly frozen the entire swamp.
What was once a stinking, greenish-yellow swamp had become a frozen wasteland, its colors shifting from decayed hues to a sacred azure-blue.
Marco's overflowing magical power turned into frost, continuously condensing in the air, as if the sky had suddenly begun to snow.
"Changing the color of the world..."
The elder of the twin brothers shivered in awe.
They were right beside Marco, and if not for the black feathers covering their bodies, they too would have been frozen solid by now.
Marco ignored the twins.
He stepped forward, walking across the layers of solid ice until he reached the entrance of the Swamp Neck guild hall, now frozen into a massive ice sculpture.
"Crack! Crack!"
The ice sealing the guild entrance rapidly split and melted, opening a path for Marco to enter.
Stepping inside, Marco found the guild hall eerily silent—everything within had been frozen solid.
The chilling gale swept through, freezing all in its path.
Various figures sat or stood in the guild hall, still alive yet encased in layers of blue ice.
Walking across the frozen floor, Marco stopped beside a middle-aged man and lightly tapped the ice covering him.
"Is this him?" Marco asked the twin brothers, who were being carried inside by two crows.
"Yes, that's him! Our guild master!" the elder twin replied, nodding vigorously.
His gaze at Marco was now one of reverence, as if beholding a deity.
Was this the power of the legendary Star Rose God? No wonder he cacn defeat the guild master of phantom lord, twice at that!
"Sizzle!"
The ice melted, and the frozen middle-aged man regained his mobility.
"W-what... what's going on?!" he stammered, shivering uncontrollably the moment he could move again.
Whether from the cold or sheer terror was hard to say.
"Don't ask questions. Just answer," Marco's voice cut in, making the man flinch.
His face was now a mask of pure fear.
"Is Duke Savalu the one funding your operations?" Marco asked the first question.
He was certain this Dark Guild, Swamp Neck, had ties to Savalu.
"M-maybe..." the man stuttered, watching Marco's expression.
The answer made Marco frown.
Had he guessed wrong?
Was this Dark Guild not as closely connected to Duke Savalu as he thought?
"Yes or no. No maybes," Marco said coldly, his voice as slyre as ice.
"W-well... Duke Savalu did give us a lot of money, but technically... it wasn't support. It was protection money we collected from him," the man explained, his throat aching from the frigid air.
"Protection money..." Marco frowned, scanning the Dark Mages in the guild.
Their answer was inconsistent—no, actually, it was consistent.
They were all small-time lackeys, utterly insignificant.
Even this guild master was mediocre.
Not a single one had been able to withstand his freezing aura.
"A third-rate trash Dark Guild like yours can sit at the table and collect protection money? What the hell is Savalu playing at?" Marco found it quite perplexing.
A Dark Guild like this could easily be taken down by any moderately capable legal guild, right?
This guild couldn't even compare to Eisenwald.
At least Eisenwald was a somewhat notorious Dark Guild, but he'd never even heard of this "Swamp Neck" before.
"..."
The middle-aged man flushed red with embarrassment at Marco's words.
He wanted to argue but couldn't.
Compared to Fairy Tail, they were indeed nothing—not even worth a glance.
Yet in their local area, they did hold some influence!
It just showed how high Fairy Tail stood, completely unaware of the affairs in the middle and lower echelons of the mage world!
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