Woku City, the stronghold of Phantom Lord.
"Damn it! This has to be Fairy Tail's doing!"
Inside the hastily built guildhall, Phantom Lord's master, Jose—one of the Ten Wizard Saints—slammed his fist on the table. "I didn't expect that old geezer Makarov to have the guts to launch a night raid?!"
Jose, wearing a tall hat and a purple-black robe, sported a scruffy mustache. In his forties or fifties, his face was grim, sly, and downright ugly.
"Tch, what's there to get mad about?" Gajeel, who'd just returned, sat at the bar, munching on iron and sipping a drink, unfazed by Jose's tantrum. "I trashed their guild, so they trashed ours. Sounds fair to me."
Jose was speechless. He wasn't the type to let things slide, especially not against Makarov. The grudge from six years ago at the regular council meeting still burned. "You followed my orders and went after Fairy Tail's people, right?" he asked Gajeel.
Gajeel grinned smugly. "Of course! If Erza hadn't shown up at the last second, I would've hung those punks up and beaten them senseless!"
"Good work!" Jose laughed with satisfaction, then turned to his guild members. "Get ready! They're probably coming for us soon!"
"Oh, a war with Fairy Tail?!"
"This is gonna be epic!"
"After this, we'll be the undisputed strongest guild in Fiore!!!"
Amid the cheers of his lackeys, Jose smirked and strode off.
The excitement in Phantom Lord's tavern didn't last long. A loud boom cut through the noise, and everyone turned to see Fairy Tail members storming in, demolishing their temporary base.
Leading the charge was Makarov, transformed into a giant. He roared, "Jose!! Get out here!!"
With one massive swipe of his hand, Makarov sent a dozen Phantom Lord members flying, sounding the horn for battle.
Makarov didn't hold back, charging straight into the fray. He had one goal: to pummel Jose. The rest of Fairy Tail followed suit—words were unnecessary. They dove right into the fight.
It was war, after all. Both sides knew Phantom Lord's actions would spark a guild battle. No point in talking—magic, fists, and weapons did the speaking.
The clash was ferocious from the start.
"Fire Dragon's…"
"Ice-Make…"
"Requip…"
"…"
Every Fairy Tail member fought with fury, while Phantom Lord's members were eager for battle.
Fists flew, weapons clashed, and magic exploded in a dazzling array of colors. Shouts, grunts, the clang of steel, gunfire, magical blasts, roars, and screams filled the air, echoing across the battlefield.
In numbers, Phantom Lord dwarfed Fairy Tail, but in individual strength, one Fairy Tail member was worth three of their grunts—some could even take on ten. At the lower levels, the two sides were evenly matched.
"Go to hell!"
"Take this!"
"Eat my fist, you bastard!"
Soon, the gap in high-end power became clear.
Against Phantom Lord's fodder, Erza, Kira, Natsu, and Gray were unstoppable, cutting through them like tigers through sheep. No one could stand up to them. Kira's [Bullet Barrage] alone matched the firepower of a hundred men—until…
Clang, clang, clang!
Sparks flew as metal clashed. Kira's Word Soul Magic bullets were blocked by an iron shield. It was Gajeel.
"Well, if it isn't the Iron Dragon! Been a while. You're looking even more punchable!" Kira taunted.
Gajeel's eyes gleamed with provocation. "We didn't get to settle things at the council last time. I'm not missing my chance now! I've been waiting for this. Come on, let's fight!"
"Sorry, buddy, you're not my opponent today!" Kira flashed a mocking grin. "Natsu, take him out!"
"?!"
Before Gajeel could react, Natsu charged from the side, his flaming fist smashing into Gajeel's face, sending him flying a dozen meters into a group of Phantom Lord members.
Kira didn't even glance back, sprinting toward Makarov. "This one's all yours!"
A few Phantom Lord grunts tried to block Kira's path. They might not know Jose's full plan, but their orders were to keep everyone except Makarov here.
"You're not getting through—argh!!"
Kira kicked the nearest grunt flying. "A few nobodies think they can ride my coattails?"
Take out the leader to win the battle.
Jose's plan was simple but effective. He knew if Makarov fell, Fairy Tail's morale would crumble, even if they could still fight. So he'd instructed his subordinate Aria to use "Airspace: Zero" to ambush the old man.
For wizards, magic power was stamina—life itself.
A wizard brimming with magic was vibrant; one low on magic was weak. Everyone knew this.
As long as a wizard had even a sliver of magic left, they could recover over time. But if their magic was depleted for too long, they'd suffer from magic deficiency syndrome—mild cases led to severe illness, while severe cases were fatal.
Airspace: Zero was insidious. It completely drained a wizard's magic. Once hit, with no magic left to regenerate, the victim would fall into critical magic deficiency, with death as the only outcome unless their scattered magic was quickly gathered and restored.
Jose knew Makarov would come for revenge personally and wouldn't let others interfere in their fight. This gave him an opening. By having his men hold back Fairy Tail's members, isolating Makarov, Aria could land the sneak attack and secure victory. After that, no one could stop Jose, a Ten Wizard Saint.
It was a solid plan—too bad he was up against Kira.
Years ago, Kira had created the External Magic Source, a device that could store a wizard's specific magic and be activated only once, essentially giving the user a second magic pool.
Unlike regular magic crystals, which powered magical tools like portable batteries, the External Magic Source was unique to its user.
Before setting out, Kira had Makarov infuse his magic into one, just in case. Even if Makarov's magic was drained, he could recover instantly without the hassle of collecting scattered magic.
With Fairy Tail's main force deployed, only a handful stayed behind at the guild, tending to the injured like Levy while worrying about their comrades.
Per Kira's orders, they'd stayed put, but when Phantom Lord attacked to kidnap someone, sending two of their S-Class wizards, it didn't matter where they were.
S-Class wizards varied across guilds. Lamia Scale's Jura ranked among the Ten Wizard Saints, while Phantom Lord's S-Class wizards couldn't even beat Natsu or Gray.
Overall, Fairy Tail's S-Class wizards were among the strongest, which made sense for Fiore's top guild. Their standards were just higher.
Lucy came from the Hartfilia Conglomerate, Fiore's largest railway empire, led by her father, Jude. With business struggling, Jude wanted her to marry a noble from an oil conglomerate. Learning she was with Fairy Tail, he hired Phantom Lord—whose reputation rivaled Fairy Tail's—to bring her back.
Jose seized the chance to declare war on Fairy Tail while also extorting them.
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