"Seraphim! What are you doing? Didn't you hear my order!? Eliminate the Vegapunk clone—now!"
The Five Elders' representative, Shepherd Ten Pieter, shouted, his face twisting in disbelief as the Seraphim stood completely motionless before him.
Until a moment ago, he had managed to maintain his composure—barely—after learning that Gildarts and his entire group were members of Fairy Tail. His only solace, his final trump card, had been the Seraphim.
After all, as one of the Five Elders, his authority was ranked above even Dr. Vegapunk and his six clones. With a single command, he could reassert control over these divine weapons of war and restore balance to the battlefield.
But now…
Something was terribly wrong.
Despite his order, the blazing-winged Seraphim remained utterly still, their eyes glowing faintly, unresponsive—as though his words meant nothing.
"What's going on!? Seraphim, can't you hear me? I command you to move—execute my order immediately!"
Shepherd Ten Pieter's voice rose in anger, trembling with frustration.
Yet the Seraphim did not stir.
They simply stared upward toward the sky, silent and expressionless. Even the young empress among them—a Seraphim modeled after one of the world's strongest women—turned her eyes toward Pieter with a look of utter disdain.
"Ahh… truly pitiful," came a voice from the prow of the Fairy Tail flagship.
Sugisawa Yuuto stood there, calm and smiling faintly, his presence radiating an almost divine arrogance.
"To think this is one of the Five Elders—the so-called highest authority of your world. What a disappointment."
"You…!" Pieter's pupils contracted sharply. His voice cracked with panic. "Impossible! My control rights can't be restricted! The Seraphim's command hierarchy isn't determined by Vegapunk alone—others monitor it as well! Even a clone of Vegapunk wouldn't be capable of revoking my authority!"
"You're right," came a cool, mechanized voice.
Punk-02 Lilith stepped forward from the shadows of the battlefield, her black coat fluttering in the wind.
"Even we clones cannot override the Five Elders' authority," she explained, her tone almost mocking. "However… the Seraphim's command protocols have recently undergone a system-wide update."
Her crimson eyes glowed faintly.
"A new level of command has been added—one that stands above the Five Elders."
"You mean…" Pieter froze, his heart pounding as the realization struck him like lightning.
Of course he understood what that meant.
"What's going on!?" shouted one of the Marines nearby, pale with confusion. "Aren't the Five Elders supposed to have the highest command authority? Why can't they control the Seraphim!?"
Zhan Taomaru, standing at the front line, clenched his fists. His voice was grim as he spoke:
"I always believed the Five Elders held the absolute highest authority. But it seems Dr. Vegapunk anticipated this… and left behind a failsafe. That failsafe—the true master of the Seraphim's command hierarchy—has now been transferred to the President of Fairy Tail."
His eyes hardened.
"As long as Sugisawa Yuuto lives, the Seraphim will obey only him. Not even the Five Elders can override that."
A hush swept over the entire battlefield.
"Then… doesn't that mean," muttered a trembling Marine officer, "those Seraphim—whose power equals or surpasses the original prototypes—are now part of Fairy Tail's forces!?"
Every Marine elite present fell into stunned silence.
When they had previously discussed Fairy Tail's overwhelming power, none of them had factored in the Seraphim.
But now…
Even the balance of the world itself seemed to tilt.
Across the sea, other factions watched the broadcast in disbelief.
"Hey, hey… I don't know what's happening with those seven little brats, but whatever it is—it's terrifying," said Perospero, eldest son of Big Mom, his candy cane trembling in his grasp.
The second commander of the Beasts Pirates, King the Wildfire, narrowed his eyes. His black wings spread slightly as he stared at the screen in silence.
"Black wings and fire… Jin, those little monsters—they might be connected to Fairy Tail now," murmured Charlotte Smoothie, her brow furrowed.
No one replied.
The entire Big Mom crew had gone pale.
"No matter what Fairy Tail truly is… this lineup is beyond monstrous," whispered Oven, his fists shaking.
"Even if we join forces with Kaido's Beasts Pirates, we might still be crushed!" Daifuku growled, his voice trembling.
"Let's just… pull out," one of the senior officers muttered. "Forget this fight—we're no match for them!"
They weren't alone in that thought.
Even the World Government's Five Elders—who had descended upon the battlefield in absolute confidence—now found themselves frozen in fear, their supposed divine authority rendered meaningless.
The realization hit them like a tidal wave:
The blazing angels, their final trump card, were no longer theirs to command.
Their power had shifted entirely into the hands of Sugisawa Yuuto—Fairy Tail's master.
And once that balance of power had shifted…
there was no going back.
But the worst part was—
Even if they wanted to retreat now…
They couldn't.
When to withdraw, or whether they'd even survive long enough to do so—
was no longer a decision that belonged to them.