Kagayama ultimately did not blow that flute.
Even though the flute was already at his lips, Makarov had no intention of stopping him, but simply stared at him sternly: "Nothing will change."
Kagayama widened his eyes, had his thoughts been seen through? Or did he know our purpose and demands from the beginning?
Makarov looked at the young man in front of him, his eyes filled with some compassion and pity: "Weak people are weak no matter when, but not all weakness is bad."
"Humans are inherently weak creatures. It's because one can feel anxious that guilds exist, that we need companions. To live strongly and support each other, clumsy individuals might bump into more walls, might take long detours."
"But as long as one believes in tomorrow and steps forward, power will naturally flow in, and one can live strongly, with a smile."
There's no need to rely on that kind of flute, isn't it?"
Kagayama listened quietly like a student receiving a teacher's lesson, allowing him to finish speaking.
In his past life, all he heard were complaints from 'companions', complaints about the Advisory Council's pursuit, complaints about exclusion from legitimate guilds.
And today, 'companions' actually wanted to kill him to prevent him from using magic to help Fairy Tail's mages unlock the Magic Wind Wall.
No one has ever taught him so attentively before.
And during a time when he held dangerous magic tools and intended to kill the other side.
Is this the style a legitimate guild should have?
Is this the heart of the Ten Wizard Saints?
The flute in his hand fell to the ground, and Kagayama knelt down: "I lost."
Makarov smiled; this child was not entirely hopeless after all.
"Oh!!!"
"President!"
"Old man!"
A cheer rang out, as Erza and the others rushed towards Makarov.
"Old man, you're amazing!" Natsu squatted down, speaking as he reached out to pat the President's head.
Erza pulled Makarov into her embrace: "You truly are remarkable! I'm so moved my eyes are red!"
Rhode heard a sound, and Mira laughed gloatingly.
The President's head is quite a good head.
"President, wasn't that too risky?" Rhode said, "I think knocking him out with a punch would be safer."
Makarov rubbed his head and smiled gently: "Because guiding young people back onto the right path if they stray is also the responsibility of veterans."
This sentence once again struck Kagayama's inner heart: "Can someone like me really be saved?"
"It's precisely someone like you who needs saving." Makarov patted his back, "Repent well, your road is still long."
"Annoying and troublesome!" Suddenly, the discarded flute emitted a sound, and suspicious smoke emerged from the mouth of the three-eyed skull.
"You're all useless! In that case, let's just..."
Bang!
Rhode immediately received the Mountain Sub-dragon's Claw with speed, punching the strange flute.
He's just not the type to quietly wait for the enemy to complete its transformation.
Rumble...
The ground crumbled, cracks spread like spider webs, everyone on the scene felt the vibration beneath them.
"Why a fist? And so powerful!" Lucy opened her mouth wide, "Wasn't Mr. Rhode known as a summoning mage with ingenuity?!"
"Aye! That's right," Hapi informed Lucy, "But more than half of the guild has been punched by him."
Of course, those people have all hit him too.
But with Mira's presence, Hapi didn't want to badmouth Rhode.
Kagayama, the closest to the flute, was picked up by Makarov and taken aside.
The young man looked terrified, thinking he was going to be killed by that punch.
"Impudent guy!"
The voice of the flute angrily shouted from beneath the fist's crater, and Rhode raised his hand to punch again.
But this punch missed, as the flute had already turned into smoke, drifting a hundred meters away into the woods.
The smoke condensed into a physical form, revealing a body like dead wood, rising to a height much taller even than the villa serving as the venue.
"I'm starving...I'm going to devour your souls!" Lalabai's lower half also solidified from smoke, transforming completely into a nearly twenty-meter tall giant tree monster.
The emergence of the complete form seemed to be accompanied by a raging wind, its immense size exerting a strong sense of pressure on everyone.
Presidents remaining at the villa expressed unease: "Should we be going to help?"
"Don't joke, something like that demon should have us escaping quickly instead?"
"Don't worry, Makarov is here."
Even with the tense atmosphere, Lucy couldn't resist the urge to mock: "There's something off, isn't its face unnaturally concave?"
"Aye, I think it was hit by Rhode just now."
Lalabai, having just completed its supposedly intimidating entrance speech, hesitated and glared angrily at the talkative Lucy.
"Yikes~~~~" Lucy clung tightly to Hapi in fear.
However, it didn't look at her long, instead focusing its gaze on the most hateful Rhode.
"Dare to offend me! Starting from your soul!"
A jet-black magic bullet exploded against Lalabai's face, the blast's light almost engulfing half its body.
Mira had already transformed into her Satan's Soul form, her right palm gathering a new magic bullet, and her left arm extended in front of Rhode.
Her delicate face was cold as frost, clearly yelling out: "Who do you say you'll eat?"
Lucy hugged Hapi even tighter: "It's the terrifying form of Miss Mira!"
"That's called Satan's Soul," Hapi explained, "It can defeat a hundred Lucys."
"Don't use me for comparison!"
"Then it can defeat 99 of us."
"Are you implying even you are stronger than me?!"
"Aye!"
Lucy pulled at Hapi's face: "I'll show you who's stronger right now!"
Do these two have no sense of urgency? My Mira looks so fierce, don't they know to appreciate it properly...
"Summoning, Cyan Engraved Golem, Crimson Marked Tree Monster!"
Rhode summoned two blue and two red, giving himself and Mira the Crown of Insight and Crown of Embers, then pressed her arm down, standing beside her.
Mira flashed him a brief smile.
Demon Mira's smile was like tossing a poppy on the snow, revealing a hint of danger amidst beauty, captivating.
"Let's go together!" Erza changed into Celestial Wheel Armor, though she only had two Celestial Wheel Swords in her hands.
Rhode immediately saw it was due to insufficient magic power, and commanded the golem to apply double buffs to her, with the remaining red and blue added to Gray and Natsu.
President Goldman looked at these eager children and couldn't help but remind them: "Don't be careless, that thing is a demon from Jellal's Book, it's living magic!"
"A demon?" Erza smiled, "We've fought them before."