The moment Mira's words fell, Natsu, Gray, and the others all crowded around.
"Ahahaha! Chase! You really outdid yourself! You totally trashed their entire guild headquarters!"
"Aye! I also took down seventeen Phantom Lord mages, you know~"
"…Do you really have to remember that so clearly?"
"Hey, hey, Gray. I heard you, pfft, beat some woman, pfft."
"What are you laughing at, you damn cat?! You wanna be frozen into an ice sculpture right now?!"
Normally, in such a lively and exciting situation, Lucy would have given her all as the guild's strongest straight woman with her sharp-tongued retorts.
But this time, she remained silent throughout. Even after leaving the ruins on the lake and returning to the shore, she kept her head hung low.
Looking at her companions, all battered and bruised, and at Chase, who couldn't even stand, endless self-blame consumed Lucy's every thought.
Even if Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had never seen eye to eye, when it came down to it, the root of this war, everything… everything had started because of her status as the heiress of the Heartfilia Konzern. She couldn't escape the blame.
"The guild really is in a bad state. I suppose we'll have to think about rebuilding it now."
Makarov, hands clasped behind his back, gazed at the guild, now completely reduced to rubble, and let out a troubled sigh.
"Master, I'm so sorry—"
Lucy walked with heavy steps to the center of the group. She didn't want to run from the responsibility she should bear.
"It's okay, Lucy. We can rebuild the guild anytime," Mira said with a smile.
"That's right, Lu-chan! Nobody's seriously hurt. This is a huge victory for us!"
Levy, who was close with Lucy, also came over, followed by Jet and Droy, who were smiling.
Natsu, Gray, Erza, and the others wore similarly relaxed expressions. They simply didn't care about such a small thing.
For them, winning the war against Phantom Lord and keeping Lucy from being forcibly taken away—that was more than enough!
However, Mira and Levy's gentle words, far from comforting Lucy, only deepened the guilt in her heart. She covered her face with her hands, sobbing quietly, trying hard to keep everyone from seeing her tear-streaked, wretched expression.
"Lucy," Makarov said in a low voice.
"Whether it's joy or pain, though we can't share it all perfectly, to a certain extent, we can experience it together. That's what a guild is."
"One person's happiness is the guild's happiness. One person's anger is the guild's anger. One person's tears are the guild's tears."
"There's no need to blame yourself. I trust you can deeply feel the feelings of everyone here, right?"
Makarov slowly turned to look at Lucy, who was now crying even harder. "Lift your head. After all, you, too, are a part of Fairy Tail."
At these words, Lucy's tense emotions finally reached their limit. She slowly lowered her hands.
"Waaaaaah!"
She crumbled to the ground, sitting limply as she threw her head back and wailed, exposing her most vulnerable, tear-streaked face to all her companions.
Mira and Levy quickly went to soothe her, while the others broke into content, relieved smiles.
In the corner of the ruined guild hall…
Chase, having reluctantly left the soft, fragrant embrace of the young woman, sat quietly in the corner.
Understanding what her companions felt—this was a crucial moment for Lucy to fully integrate into Fairy Tail. He didn't intend to interfere.
Shifting his gaze away from Lucy, now crying her eyes out, Chase turned his attention inward, deep into his consciousness.
In the ethereal, intangible card space, a new card hovered, slowly rotating.
This was a drop from Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. The card was a Spell Card.
On its face were the phantoms of two monsters, swirling within blue and purple vortexes, converging towards a central point.
Yes, its name was: Polymerization!
In the world of card duelists, there's a saying: "Polymerization is the noblest form of summoning."
Leaving aside the cards in his deck that could sublimate their power through fusion, what really intrigued Chase was what would happen if he used Fusion on other people.
After all, aside from specific named Spell Cards, cards like Lightforce Sword or Book of Secret Arts could directly affect mages!
Thinking of this, Chase lifted his gaze, a mix of anticipation and mischief in his eyes, towards Natsu and Gray, who were arguing about who had defeated the stronger opponent.
If he fused those two, it would definitely be really interesting, right?
Something like an Ice-Flame Dragon!
Sensing his gaze, Natsu and Gray, who had been in the middle of their squabble, both turned their heads at the same moment—and caught sight of Chase's unmistakably sinister grin.
"Hey, why do I suddenly feel like there are ants crawling all over me?" Gray crossed his arms instinctively.
"It pisses me off to agree with you, you icy bastard, but Chase is definitely up to something!"
Natsu nodded emphatically, momentarily forgetting their bickering, and started eyeing Chase with suspicion.
"Yo!" Chase raised a hand in greeting.
Right now, with the current scene, obviously wasn't the time for experiments. Besides, his magic power was far from restored. He'd have to save this for another opportunity.
Natsu and Gray clutched each other in alarm. "Now it's even creepier!!"
Thud, thud, thud.
A powerful, synchronized marching rhythm came from the other end of the street.
Led by a messenger from the Magic Council, a unit of soldiers in uniform intervened forcefully, surrounding the Fairy Tail members, as well as the bound Jose and the Phantom Lord mages.
"Nobody move!"
The frog-like messenger from the Council looked around expressionlessly. After confirming that Chase was sitting motionless in the corner, he relaxed slightly and spoke in a cold voice:
"Fairy Tail. Phantom Lord. You are suspected of severely violating the prohibition against warfare between guilds. You will now submit to a mandatory investigation!"
They sure know how to pick their timing, these Council lapdogs.
Chase glanced at the imposing military presence with disinterest.
From the destruction of Fairy Tail's headquarters to Gajeel's attack and subsequent defeat; from Mira, Erza, and the others evacuating Magnolia's residents to Jiemon's troublemaking;
Then, to Phantom Lord piloting that massive Magic Colossus across two towns to launch their assault on the lake…
The whole process had lasted at least ten hours. Plenty of time for a response. Yet these guys only showed up after the war was over. The implications behind that were certainly worth pondering!
"Ah, ah, ah, please let me explain—wait, I mean, please allow me to clarify! This whole incident was instigated entirely by Phantom Lord and Sabertooth! We were merely acting in self-defense!"
Makarov stepped forward to meet them.
Unlike the original story where he angrily led the guild to attack Phantom Lord after seeing Levy and the others injured, thanks to Chase's intervention, Fairy Tail's conduct here was nothing short of example.
Their guild was destroyed? They bore it.
Jiemon came looking for trouble? They dealt with it.
As for Phantom Lord? From an outsider's perspective, they were the ones who had clearly launched the attack!
What's that? Chase hung Gajeel from the tower?
First of all, Gajeel was the one who threw the first punch. Even if it came to that, it was merely a minor skirmish between mages.
Therefore, Fairy Tail could remain completely uninvolved. In fact, they had grounds to demand compensation from Phantom Lord for medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and more!
***
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