"Boom!"
Just as Jellal was demonstrating his fairness and justice, the seven Magic Circles arranged according to the pattern of the Big Dipper in the night sky suddenly burst into brilliant light!
Endless golden light directly enveloped the entire spectator stand belonging to the Mage Guild Sabertooth!
"Boom!"
Immediately afterward, accompanied by waves of thunderous explosions, the golden light descended, and endless rain of light fell upon the Mages of Sabertooth!
"Ah!!"
At this moment, extremely miserable screams resounded throughout the entire Grand Magic Games arena!
Endless smoke rose into the sky, while endless waves of air surged outward, blowing the surrounding spectators until they could barely remain standing!
After a while, when the golden light finally dissipated, every Mage belonging to Sabertooth in the spectator stands had already passed out completely.
"Too! Too astonishing! Mr. Jellal actually defeated the entire Mage Guild Sabertooth all by himself! What incredible strength!"
Pumpkin held the microphone in his hand and continuously advertised Jellal's overwhelming strength. As for the matter of Jellal violating the rules by punishing Sabertooth, he did not mention it at all!
No, that wasn't right...
Violating the rules?! Where had he violated the rules?
Punishing a group of small fry who did not respect Fairy Tail, the Mage Guild, was something completely in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Fiore. In other words, Jellal's actions today not only did not violate the rules, but instead deserved to be greatly praised and widely encouraged!
Pumpkin looked at Jellal floating in the air and thought this to himself.
"He actually took down an entire Mage Guild all by himself?!"
"Hahaha, isn't that a little too ridiculous?!"
"So this is the strength possessed by a powerhouse known as one of the Ten Wizard Saints? No matter how I look at it, it's far too exaggerated!"
"Whether it was Senior Precht, who just fought seven contestants by himself and won, or Jellal, who defeated an entire powerful Mage Guild in an instant, they're all monsters!"
For a moment, countless spectators sighed in amazement. Everyone had been led by Pumpkin's words and had completely forgotten that Jellal privately punishing Sabertooth was inappropriate. Everyone was much more concerned with Jellal's terrifying strength.
"Wait, since Sabertooth was able to pass the preliminaries of the Kingdom of Fiore, doesn't that mean Sabertooth is one of the top eight Mage Guilds in the continent of Ishgar?! In other words, the eighth-ranked Mage Guild in the Kingdom of Fiore couldn't even survive a single round against a Ten Wizard Saint?!"
While the spectators were marveling at the scene, one of the Mages seemed to realize something and spoke in shock.
"No, among the eight teams that passed the preliminaries of the first Grand Magic Games, two of them are teams from the Magic Council. In other words, Sabertooth's ranking might actually be two places higher..."
"Besides, that black-lightning user, the Lightning God Slayer Mage, isn't weak at all. Although the other contestants from Sabertooth aren't as dazzling as that God Slayer Mage, they're still powerful individuals! Combined with that unfathomable Guild Master, Sabertooth's actual strength might not be inferior to Blue Pegasus or Four Hound. It might even be stronger than Four Hound!"
"Yet such a powerful Mage Guild could barely withstand a single move in front of Jellal, one of the Ten Wizard Saints..."
Among the contestants from the Mage Guild Lamia Scale, a Mage recalled the strength displayed earlier by Sabertooth's Mage, Orga Nanagear, and analyzed the situation.
"Sure enough, none of the people ranked among the Ten Wizard Saints can be underestimated..."
"However, we of Lamia Scale don't need to belittle ourselves either! After all, speaking of the Ten Wizard Saints, our guild has one of them as well."
After saying this, the Mages of Lamia Scale gradually regained their confidence.
Yes, although the Ten Wizard Saints were all monsters, Lamia Scale was not weak either. After all, when it came to the Ten Wizard Saints, Lamia Scale also had one.
Although their Ten Wizard Saint had only taken third place in the previous match, that did not prove that Jura was weak. It could only prove that his opponents had simply been too powerful...
"Um, because the contestants from the Mage Guild Sabertooth have all suffered severe injuries due to an unexpected incident, it is unfortunate that they will be unable to continue participating in the battles to come..."
"But everyone, there is no need to worry. The battles of the Grand Magic Games will only become more exciting from here on out, so please rest assured!"
After the spectators discussed the matter for a while, Pumpkin held the microphone and announced Sabertooth's unfortunate elimination.
"Eliminated?!"
"That fast?!"
"Refund... Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything!"
Pumpkin's words caused dissatisfaction among many of the spectators present. Some even wanted to shout for refunds again, but halfway through their words, they noticed the fiery gazes of the Magic Knights patrolling around them. As a result, those who had been planning to demand refunds a moment earlier swallowed the words they were about to say.
"Now then, let me announce the arrangements for this afternoon's matches!"
"This afternoon's matches will consist of one-on-one battles between the various Mage Guilds."
"Lamia Scale will battle Four Hound!"
"Grimoire Heart will battle Blue Pegasus!"
"Please look forward to it..."
Pumpkin held the microphone and announced the afternoon's matches.
"Oh!!"
As Pumpkin's voice fell, the spectators erupted into excited cheers. The dissatisfaction they had originally felt disappeared without a trace because of the exciting battles that would take place that afternoon.
"All right, that concludes this morning's matches! Please leave the venue in an orderly fashion..."
After Pumpkin finished speaking, he disappeared from the spot and returned to the special VIP viewing stand of the Grand Magic Games.
"So tired..."
Pumpkin said this as he removed the mascot costume from his head, revealing a slightly weathered face. At the same time, countless beads of sweat slid down his face.
"Your Majesty, it is time for the meeting..."
Before Pumpkin could rest for long, a minister immediately walked toward him and spoke respectfully.
"All right, I'll be there right away!"
Pumpkin took out a towel and gently wiped the sweat from his face. Then he snapped his fingers.
Transformation Magic immediately activated, golden light enveloping his body. A few seconds later, Pumpkin, the comedic mascot of the Grand Magic Games arena, had transformed into the dignified King of the Kingdom of Fiore, His Majesty Toma E. Fiore.
"Why did you summon me so urgently?!"
Old Toma walked through the corridors of the royal palace with his hands behind his back, while the minister followed closely beside him.
"Your Majesty, the Eclipse Gate that you have always ordered us to monitor has emitted strange fluctuations. According to our analysis, there is a fifty percent possibility that the Eclipse Gate was opened recently."
The minister followed closely beside Old Toma as he seriously reported everything they had observed concerning the Eclipse Gate.
"Hmm?!"
Old Toma frowned when he heard this.
"What did you say? The Eclipse Gate was opened by someone?"
After hearing the minister's words, Old Toma's brows furrowed into a deep frown. He stood motionless where he was while constantly thinking.
"Yes, there is indeed such a possibility..."
The minister hurriedly explained.
"I don't care about possibilities or impossibilities. What I need is a definite answer! Investigate it immediately..."
"And send a copy of every possibility you have deduced to Zeref, and another copy to Evan. Immediately. Right now."
Old Toma's gaze was as sharp as lightning as he looked seriously at the minister beside him and spoke coldly.
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty!"
After hearing Old Toma's words, the minister hurriedly bowed respectfully and accepted the order.
"Hmm..."
Only after seeing the minister's respectful attitude did Old Toma slowly relax, and his tightly furrowed brows eased slightly.
"I hope this doesn't delay the thousand-year plan of our Fairy Tail Guild!"
"The Eclipse Gate involves matters of far too great an importance. Absolutely no mistakes can be allowed!"
Old Toma stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky outside the window as he muttered to himself.
"Yes!"
"I will make the arrangements immediately!"
The minister knelt on one knee and bowed deeply to Old Toma. Then he turned around and ran off.
Even though the running caused his plump belly to bounce continuously, sweat poured from his forehead, his breathing became ragged, and his heart ached, he still did not dare delay the major matter arranged by Old Toma for even a second.
Meanwhile...
A man dressed in a black robe stood in the venue, quietly watching the Grand Magic Games arena before him.
"How nostalgic!"
"I never thought I would actually return to this period in time, X785!"
"The first year after Fairy Tail's main forces directly confronted the Black Dragon King Acnologia and became stranded on Tenrou Island."
"At the same time, this was also the beginning of our Mage Guild Sabertooth's miracle of going from an incomparably weak guild to winning the Grand Magic Games championship consecutively!"
"If I remember correctly, according to history, our Sabertooth should dominate the magical world of the entire Kingdom of Fiore for six whole years, until X791, when Fairy Tail's main forces from Tenrou Island return and finally break the championship legend of our Sabertooth..."
"Hehehe, I wonder whether Fairy Tail can still create miracles after I traveled through time and space?! Should I first make contact with my past self and increase his strength? If my past self possessed my current strength, then taking down the entire Fairy Tail all by himself wouldn't be impossible, right?! It's rather exciting to think about..."
"Bullshit!"
The black-robed man leaned against the wall beside one of the entrances to the Grand Magic Games, quietly overlooking everything happening in the arena. Suddenly, the emotions of this black-robed man, who had remained silent all this time, became extremely agitated.
"So... what the hell is going on with Sabertooth being eliminated as a whole?!"
"And how did that Jellal become a guest at the Grand Magic Games? Shouldn't he still be imprisoned in prison right now? Even if he escaped prison ahead of schedule, shouldn't the Council be hunting him down? How did he end up here as a guest judge?"
"And... Hyberion, Wolfheim, and Warrod forming the Magic Council shouldn't happen until after the new Magic Council is destroyed, right? This shouldn't be happening at this point in time, should it?"
"The most unbelievable thing is, I remember Precht and Bluenote were both members of a Dark Mage Guild, weren't they?"
"Right, there's also something wrong with this ranking of the Ten Wizard Saints, isn't there? Who the hell is Evan Belserion, the one ranked first among the Ten Wizard Saints? I've never even heard of him..."
"Did I really travel back into the past? No, forget the past. This isn't even the same world, is it?! Didn't Zeref's Eclipse Gate supposedly allow people to travel through time and space? This thing actually sent me directly into another parallel universe, for crying out loud!!"
While Future Rogue was frantically complaining inwardly, he removed the hat from his head, revealing a distinctive hairstyle that was half black and half white.
Yes, this black-robed man was none other than Future Rogue. More precisely, he was Future Rogue from another timeline, or rather, another parallel universe.
"So... what should I do next? Should I make contact with Sabertooth first?"
Future Rogue thought about this as he looked toward the members of Sabertooth being carried away one after another on stretchers.
"Forget it! I'm only thirteen or fourteen years old right now, and I haven't even joined Sabertooth yet!"
"For now, I should investigate why this timeline has become such a complete mess."
"If I had to say what is different between this world and the world I came from..."
Future Rogue fell into deep thought. He planned to first understand the world he had arrived in before beginning his plans. After all, knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.
Since Rogue had already realized that this was not his past, and was most likely a place similar to yet different from the world he came from...
Then what he needed to do now was not rush to execute his plan, but collect as much information as possible and investigate the differences between this timeline and his own. Only then could he revise his original plan according to the current timeline... Only in this way could he ensure that his plan would be successfully carried out.
"Sure enough, it really is this Evan Belserion, who I had never even heard of before in my timeline, ranked first among the Ten Wizard Saints? But the surname Belserion does feel somewhat familiar to me..."
After thinking for a while, Rogue took out the information he had just snatched from someone concerning the current rankings and introductions of the Ten Wizard Saints.
"Evan Belserion, currently ranked first among the Ten Wizard Saints, one of the members of the Mage Guild Fairy Tail, an S-Class Mage."
Future Rogue looked at the information in his hands, the corners of his lips slightly curling upward.
"Sure enough, I still have to make contact with Fairy Tail~"
"However, at this point in time, Fairy Tail's main forces should all be sleeping on Tenrou Island because they unfortunately encountered that bastard, the Black Dragon Acnologia. In other words, Fairy Tail only has a group of battered remnants left behind. I wonder if these people can answer my questions..."
With this thought, Future Rogue's body transformed into a pitch-black shadow and disappeared from the spot.
Naturally, his destination was Fairy Tail Guild in the town of Magnolia.
Meanwhile...
After Old Toma discovered that the Eclipse Gate might have been opened, he immediately informed Evan and Zeref of the matter.
"The Eclipse Gate was opened..."
At this moment, Evan, who was vacationing in the Northern Continent, Guiltina, raised an eyebrow after receiving Old Toma's message.
"As for the matter of the Eclipse Gate being opened, I actually have some information."
"In fact, four hundred years ago, Anna and I discovered that the Eclipse Gate we constructed had been opened several times in the future. This is also why Anna and I were uncertain whether our original plan—to send Fire Dragon King Igneel, Natsu, and the others to the magic-rich future to fight Acnologia—would succeed..."
In front of Evan was a remote communication crystal. Reflected within the crystal was a black-haired boy wearing a set of ethnic clothing. The boy looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, but his pitch-black eyes radiated a wisdom and weariness far beyond his age.
This boy was none other than Zeref, Big Bro Zeref.
The moment Zeref received Old Toma's message, he immediately contacted Evan to discuss it.
"Not a big deal! We already dealt with Acnologia. Even if someone used the Eclipse Gate to travel here from the future or the past, it won't have much of an impact on us..."
Evan sat in his seat and spoke calmly to Zeref.
Evan knew that the person who had arrived in the past through the Eclipse Gate might be Future Rogue. Of course, Evan had also considered the possibility that, because of his own influence, the person who traveled through the Eclipse Gate to the present might not be Future Rogue at all, but someone else.
However, Evan did not care in the slightest!
Because, with Evan's current strength, in his eyes, whoever had arrived in this timeline through the Eclipse Gate—whether it was Future Rogue or someone else—was completely meaningless to him...
Even if it were the Acnologia from the original story, who had traveled through the Eclipse Gate to the past after absorbing the magic power of the Space-Time Rift, Evan would still deal with him without issue.
For the current Evan, there was only one true enemy...
Those supreme gods standing high above in the heavens!
"Oh! Seeing how calm you are, Evan, I can rest assured!"
"Looks like whoever has arrived won't affect our plans..."
"By the way, Evan, I have a gift I want to give you. You know my circumstances are special, so it isn't suitable for me to keep that thing by my side. Therefore, I can only hand her over to you! In any case, I hope you'll make good use of that girl. Once you meet her, you should understand. She's actually a good girl."
Zeref looked at Evan's calm appearance and slowly breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, as long as nothing interfered with their final campaign against the gods, then no matter what strange thing had crossed through the Eclipse Gate, Zeref did not consider it a big problem.
"Huh?!"
Evan looked at Zeref's vague manner, as though he deliberately intended to hide something without explaining what exactly he was sending. Evan could not help raising an eyebrow.
He had a vague feeling that Big Bro Zeref was digging a huge pit for him.
"Anyway, good luck..."
After saying this, Zeref suddenly stopped talking and automatically turned off the remote communication crystal.
"What's going on?!"
Evan's brows furrowed tightly. He was somewhat curious about the thing Zeref had mentioned, so much so that he planned to use his Observation Haki to peek into the future in advance and see what would happen.
"Evan, your package is here!"
Just as Evan was preparing to use Future Sight Observation Haki, Irene's voice came from beside him.
At precisely the moment Irene finished speaking, a large black box suddenly appeared in front of Evan.
"That fast?!"
Evan narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the black box before him. He had a feeling that Zeref had planned this from the very beginning and had long intended to trick him!
"What is this thing?"
Evan did not immediately open the black box before him. Instead, he first looked at Irene beside him and asked.
"Zeref sent it to you. He said it was something you asked him to obtain for you. Aren't you going to open it and take a look?"
Irene explained to Evan how the thing had arrived.
"Sure enough, the thing Zeref was talking about just now was her?"
"All right! Let me see what exactly Zeref mysteriously sent me."
After thinking for a while, Evan lightly pointed his finger at the black box before him.
"Bang~"
With a light sound, the black box immediately shattered apart.
"This is..."
As soon as the box opened, Evan immediately looked toward it, and his expression changed in shock.
After the box shattered, what entered Evan's field of vision was a beautiful young girl lying inside the box, as beautiful as a doll!
"A doll!"
Irene naturally noticed the girl inside the box as well. Looking at the parts of the girl's joints where an extremely obvious metallic luster could be seen, she immediately determined the girl's identity.
"Hmm~"
Just as Evan and Irene stared helplessly at the doll-like girl before them, the girl suddenly woke up.
The girl opened her long eyelashes, then gently stood up from the box. In front of Evan and Irene, she lazily stretched herself before opening her eyes wide and looking toward the two of them.
"You are Lord Evan, right?"
The girl looked at Evan and asked softly.
"Yes. And you are?"
Evan frowned slightly as he questioned the girl.
"I am the Athena you have been searching for!"
After hearing Evan's question, the girl immediately excitedly introduced herself.
"Athena?"
Evan was stunned after hearing the girl's name. The first thing that came to his mind was a certain goddess of wisdom from ancient Greece.
"You are the anti-dragon weapon Selene mentioned?"
On the other hand, when Irene heard the name Athena, she seemed to realize something. She then asked the girl before her.
"Yes! I am the anti-dragon weapon created by that bastard Duke Barbaroa!"
The girl, who looked like a doll and wore pure white clothes with snow-white hair, smiled as she answered Irene.
"Oh, the anti-dragon weapon!"
Only then did Evan remember the identity of the girl before him.
To be honest, when he originally heard Selene and the others talking about anti-dragon weapons, he had treated the whole thing as a joke. If such weapons really existed, then the world would not have been troubled by the Dragon Gods and Acnologia for hundreds of years...
Therefore, Evan had never taken the anti-dragon weapons seriously from the beginning. He had asked Zeref to deal with the White Mage merely to prevent that so-called Golden Owl from causing trouble in the future by using the anti-dragon weapons and the White Mage Cult...
The result was completely beyond Evan's expectations. Zeref had actually packed Athena up and sent her directly to him.
Clearly, Big Bro Zeref had completely misunderstood what he meant!
"So what did you come to me for?"
Evan looked at the anti-dragon weapon before him and asked.
"Lord Zeref asked me to come find you! That bastard Duke Barbaroa spent nearly a hundred years unable to help me obtain a human body, but Lord Zeref accomplished it for me with ease!"
"However, although this body looks human, in essence it is still just a pile of steel. Lord Zeref told me that if I want to obtain true life and become human, there is only one way, and that is to come find you, Lord Evan~"
The anti-dragon weapon Athena smiled sweetly at Evan before explaining her troubles.
"I see."
Evan lightly nodded after hearing Athena's words. He more or less understood why Zeref had sent Athena to find him.
"The Enchantment Magic that Irene and I possess can bring you even closer to becoming human, but it still cannot turn you into a true human being... If you truly want to become human, then you will need to wait patiently."
Evan honestly explained his and the others' situation to Athena.
"Don't worry, Lord Evan!"
"I have already waited for a very, very long time. I can patiently wait through these final days..."
"However, please forgive me for being presumptuous, but could you tell me exactly what method you intend to use to turn me into a true living being?"
Athena looked at Evan and asked with a gentle smile.
"To be honest, neither Irene nor I, nor even Fairy Tail as a whole, can turn you into a true living being. Not only can I not accomplish such a thing, I don't think anyone in the entire world can, including the alchemists who created you, the Golden Owl!"
Evan continued to tell Athena the truth.
"Hmm!"
After hearing Evan's words, Athena did not become angry. Instead, she lightly nodded because she knew that everything Evan had said was the truth.
"But although we cannot do it, that doesn't mean there is truly no existence in this world capable of accomplishing it, of granting life, an act that can practically be called a miracle..."
"In a few years, we plan to launch a campaign against the master of all life in the world of Earth-land! The great God of Life, Ankhseram! I believe that after we defeat him, we will naturally have a way to solve your problem."
Evan told Athena about their grand plan.
"Lord Evan, if I heard you correctly, are you planning to slay a god?"
Athena's eyes widened after hearing Evan's words, and she spoke in shock.
"That's right~"
"What, are you afraid? If you want to defy the heavens and change your fate to become human, then you can't accomplish it without at least this much courage..."
Evan looked at Athena with great interest as he asked. To be honest, he was somewhat curious whether these dolls created through alchemy could feel fear as well.
"Afraid?!"
"I am not truly a living being, so naturally I cannot understand what fear is!"
Athena smiled and shook her head after hearing Evan's words.
"Heh heh..."
In response, Evan merely smiled lightly.
To be honest, aside from Athena's body not being flesh and blood, almost everything else about her was practically identical to a human...
Evan even suspected that Athena herself already possessed life, but simply did not realize it.
One had to know that not every life-form in this world was carbon-based. There were also non-carbon-based life-forms, such as the mechanical race...
"By the way, Lord Evan, setting aside your great undertaking of slaying the gods for now, do you need me to serve you? According to my data, after I serve you, both you and I will evolve into an existence known as an 'adult'! Perhaps this is also one of the important methods for me to become human..."
Just as Evan was examining Athena and falling into deep thought, Athena seemed to think of something. She looked at Evan and asked.
"Ah?!"
Evan froze on the spot.
He finally understood why Zeref had sent this thing to him. Big Bro Zeref was probably afraid that Athena would cause unnecessary conflict between him and Mavis!
But this thing was also a landmine in Evan's hands!
"Evan, you've grown up~"
"Your strength has also become stronger, already surpassing your mother!"
"Your mother can no longer control you! But as your mother, I still have to remind you that you and Athena are two different species. Even the basic elements that make up your bodies are different."
"Even if true love is invincible... I still suggest that you find yourself a carbon-based girl. It will be good for both you and that girl."
Irene looked at Athena and Evan, sighing helplessly as she advised Evan.
"Irene, enough!"
Evan knew that Irene was deliberately teasing him, so he gave her a helpless look.
"Hehehe~"
"Anyway, Miss Athena, since you want to become human, you first need to learn some common knowledge related to humanity! For now, you should study some basic knowledge about humans with me."
Seeing Evan's speechless expression, Irene immediately chuckled. She stopped teasing Evan and instead went over to Athena, intending to teach her some knowledge that every human being should know.
"Okay."
After hearing Irene's words, Athena did not argue and simply nodded lightly.
Meanwhile...
While Evan, who was in the Northern Continent, Guiltina, was kept extremely busy by the matter concerning Athena, Future Rogue, who had traveled through the Eclipse Gate, had already used his Shadow Magic's incredible speed to travel from the Flower Capital, Crocus, to the town of Magnolia.
"This town is really quiet!"
Rogue, who considered himself invincible, did not bother hiding his presence at all. Instead, he swaggered through the streets. Looking at the somewhat desolate streets of Magnolia, he frowned deeply. The streets were also somewhat different from the Magnolia in his memories.
"Anyway, I'll first find the Fairy Tail Guild!"
However, Rogue did not pay much attention to it. He swaggered down the streets and, after asking several helpful citizens for directions, Rogue stood before Fairy Tail Guild.
"..."
However, after Rogue found Fairy Tail, he instead froze.
He stood before the ancient-looking gate bearing the words FAIRY TAIL, his expression momentarily dazed.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on with this building that's over a hundred meters tall?"
Rogue looked at the luxurious hotel-like guild before him and asked.