Chapter 283: You Are a Member of Fairy Tail
"If you find any clues about Igneel, make sure to let me know! Oh, and about Grandeeney too!" Natsu said to Gajeel.
"Why should I do that?! Don't look down on me!" Gajeel snapped back, looking annoyed.
"We're both Dragon Slayers, aren't we?" Natsu grinned.
"Next time I see you, I'll definitely kill you! Count on it! Wash your neck and wait for me!" Gajeel yelled.
"Geez, you're violent! I thought we were even now, so I wanted to make up..." Natsu said helplessly.
"Who's violent?! You bastard! Look what you did to our guild!" Gajeel pointed at the pile of unrecognizable wreckage in the lake.
"You guys attacked our guild first! If we hadn't stopped you, ours would look the same! Ah! Forget it! I'm not making up with you!" Natsu shouted back.
"Hm? Iron Dragon, do you have a problem with me destroying your guild?"
At that moment, Noah arrived, carrying the unconscious Jose. He looked at Gajeel calmly.
"N-No..." Gajeel glanced at the battered Jose in Noah's hand and shook his head vigorously.
"Good. Oh, here's your Master. Take him."
Noah tossed Jose to Gajeel, who scrambled to catch him.
Seeing Jose swollen, barely breathing, and completely unconscious, Gajeel felt a chill in his heart. For someone as strong as Jose to be beaten like this... Noah's strength was terrifying.
"The war is over. The winner has been decided. If you want to continue fighting, the result will be annihilation—you will be erased without a trace. Take Jose and leave immediately!"
Noah's gaze turned cold as he addressed Gajeel.
"U-Understood."
Panicked by Noah's glare, Gajeel quickly agreed.
Noah saw that most of the Phantom members were still unconscious, with only a few starting to wake up. The Element 4 had taken the heaviest beating and were still out cold.
Not wanting to linger, Noah left a Thought Projection to supervise the withdrawal alongside Ultear and the other S-Class wizards.
He then took the others back to where the main group was resting. Gray, Simon, and the others were sitting down, being treated by Wendy and Meredy.
Seeing that their injuries weren't severe, Noah didn't intervene. He decided to let Wendy and Meredy use this opportunity to practice and improve their healing skills. He simply replenished their magic and stamina as needed.
"Ah... it really is a mess..."
Makarov sighed, looking at the land behind the guild hall and the library.
The buildings themselves were untouched, thanks to the successful defense. But the area from the library to the lake, which had been the main battlefield against the Shades, was devastated. The ground was churned up, cratered, and scarred.
The earth wall Noah had raised to block the wave was battered and full of holes. The lake surface was covered in massive chunks of ice, grinding against each other with loud booms. Further out, the shattered remains of the Magic Giant lay in the water, reduced to unrecognizable debris.
"Um... Master..."
Lucy approached Makarov from behind.
"Hm? No need to blame yourself. I told you before, this wasn't your fault," Makarov said without turning around.
Lucy still lowered her head sadly.
"Don't make that face, Lu-chan!" Levy walked up to her, smiling. "We all know the situation. No one thinks it's your fault. You were a victim too."
"Lucy," Makarov said. Lucy looked up at his back.
"Whether it's happiness or sadness, while I can't say everything, we share a certain amount of it together. That is what a guild is. One person's happiness is everyone's happiness. One person's anger is everyone's anger. And one person's tears are everyone's tears.
"There is no need for you to feel guilty. Everyone's feelings should have reached you by now. Raise your head. You are a member of Fairy Tail!"
Makarov turned around and looked at her.
Drip... drip... drip...
Tears spilled from Lucy's eyes, and finally, she broke down sobbing.
"Waaaaahhh!!!"
Even though everyone—her parents, the guild—had supported her, and even though they had anticipated the attack, seeing her friends injured had filled her with guilt and pressure. Now, hearing Makarov's words, she couldn't hold back anymore. She let it all out.
"Hahaha!"
Hearing her cry, the guild members laughed warmly. Everyone was smiling. After all, through their combined efforts, they had defeated the invaders. It was something to celebrate.
Levy, Bisca, Lisanna, and the other girls gathered around Lucy to comfort her.
'But still... we really overdid it... The Council is going to be furious... Wait... I might even get thrown in prison...?!'
Makarov's thoughts took a dark turn. Sweat poured down his face, and finally, he burst into tears too.
"WAAAAAHHH!!!"
The guild members were startled by his sudden outburst. Noah, seeing his expression, knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Gramps, relax. We're the victims here. We prepared for this. We have plenty of evidence that Phantom started the war. No matter how you look at it, we aren't at fault. So don't worry about the Council. You won't get in too much trouble."
"Oh! Right! I forgot!"
Makarov snapped out of it. They had prepared. He didn't need to worry. He had been conditioned by years of Council complaints to expect the worst, forgetting that this time, they were in the right.
He let out a huge sigh of relief, his smile returning. Not having to worry about punishment felt great.
The battlefield still needed cleaning up.
The recovered guild members began to repair the land, clearing away magical residue and leveling the ground.
Noah went to the lake and dispelled the ice, turning it back into water.
The debris from the Magic Giant was trickier. He moved the wreckage to the shore and called Lucy, Levy, and the Thunder Legion over.
Lucy and Levy were well-read, and the Thunder Legion had extensive mission experience. Noah wanted them to help him sift through the debris to see if anything was salvageable.
Anything useless was pulverized by Noah and used as fill to level the ground and reinforce the shoreline.
Meanwhile, the waking Phantom members roused their unconscious comrades. Soon, they were helping each other limp away from the site of their defeat.
But they hadn't gone far when Noah heard the sound of many footsteps approaching from a distance.
He stopped his inspection. "Everyone, hold on a second. Let's deal with what's coming first."
Confused, Lucy and the others put down what they were doing and followed Noah toward the library.
Noah walked up to Makarov, who was sitting by the library door, smiling as he watched the cleanup.
"Gramps, the Council is here."
"WHAT?!"
Makarov jumped to his feet.
"Calm down. No need to panic," Noah said, rolling his eyes and putting a hand on Makarov's shoulder.
Makarov settled down. Hearing the Council's name had triggered his PTSD again.
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp!
A series of brisk, uniformed footsteps echoed. A large group of people wearing Council uniforms and carrying staves quickly surrounded the area.
"Nobody move!" the leader shouted at the Fairy Tail members. "We are the Rune Knights, the Magical Council's enforcement unit!"
"Not good!"
"Crap! They already know?"
Macao and Wakaba broke out in a cold sweat.
"Run!"
Natsu instinctively tried to bolt.
Before he could take two steps, Noah flashed to his side and slapped him to the ground.
"What are you running for? We didn't do anything wrong. Running makes us look guilty."
~~~
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