Weston did not answer Darwin's question, merely stroking the Book of END in his hand as countless memories suddenly surged through his mind.
"The Book of END—this demon is very special to Zeref. Perhaps he will come knocking on our door because of it!"
"Are you talking about... Zeref?"
Darwin's expression turned peculiar. Few in the magic world knew that the guild master of the Council standing before them and the rumored Black Wizard Zeref had actually been acquainted as "online friends" behind the scenes for many years.
For decades, the two had essentially shared bits of their lives with each other every so often. For instance, Darwin would often complain to Zeref about the trouble caused by wizards who worshiped him; Zeref, in turn, would share his "Imperial Game" on the Western Continent, detailing which cities he had conquered.
When Darwin got married and when he became a father, Zeref had personally come to deliver gifts; when Zeref completely unified the Western Continent, Darwin also sent a message of congratulations. The relationship between the two was incredibly complex—resembling enemies, mentors, and friends all at once.
Weston put down the Book of END, began eating snacks and drinking black tea, and asked casually: "I remember you two added each other as friends a long time ago. Are you still in contact?"
"...Yes, though I didn't tell him about this operation."
Regarding his friendship with Zeref, Darwin had laid his cards on the table with Weston many years ago. At the time, Weston's reply was: "You are an adult and should have your own judgment in how you act; I will not interfere." Since then, he truly hadn't questioned the matters between the two; a display of concern like today's was a first.
"A while ago, the Alvarez Empire was restless, showing a posture of wanting to invade Ishgar."
"Zeref is the ruler of the Alvarez Empire. Even if he didn't personally order it, this must have received his tacit approval."
"It just so happens that Tartaros is a guild founded by demons he created years ago, and they have been lurking in the magic world causing trouble. So, I chose to dig them out from the darkness and eliminate them, lest they cause trouble behind the scenes if the two continents truly go to war in the future."
With an air of understatement, Darwin revealed the fundamental reason why he had gone to such great lengths—even personally taking action—to launch a surprise attack on Tartaros and wipe out the dark guild in one fell swoop.
As the guild master of the Ishgar Magic Council, his scope of work included not only managing all magic guilds on Ishgar but also handling magic-related diplomacy with the Western and Northern Continents.
The Northern Continent was easy enough to handle. Guiltina also had a Magic Council, and their operating mechanisms and styles were almost identical to Ishgar's. Coupled with the fact that the Northern Continent had its own internal issues, communication between the two was relatively straightforward.
The Western Continent was different.
There were neither Councils nor magic guilds there; only a massive magical military empire. It was an empire where the "Emperor travels abroad year-round and does not return home, forcing ministers to step in for every negotiation." Their method of managing wizards was vastly different from Ishgar and Guiltina, making it impossible for the two sides to sit down and negotiate properly most of the time.
This time, the Alvarez Empire had even displayed ambitions of eastward aggression. Since there was a first time, there would be a second, a third, or even more in the future!
By annihilating Tartaros, Darwin could not only prevent this bomb from exploding at any moment but also serve as an effective external deterrent. It made the Alvarez Empire realize that Ishgar was not to be trifled with, forcing them to weigh their own strength before starting a war.
Weston nodded slightly after listening to Darwin's analysis.
Because he had imprinted the plot of Fairy Tail into his own magical database when he first transmigrated and revisited it from time to time, he still remembered some important plot points.
He remembered that the original work mentioned that the Alvarez Empire had attempted to move eastward many years before the start of the story, but the idea was ultimately abandoned due to magical weapons like "Etherion" and "Face." Later, Zeref explained that it was a decision made by subordinates without his knowledge.
However, Weston knew better than anyone that what Zeref said wasn't necessarily the truth. After all, the original work did not provide explicit "story flashbacks"; everything that had happened existed only in personal accounts. And Zeref was someone with a compromised mental state—who knew how much of what he said was true or false?
Furthermore, now that this world had been interfered with by himself, various developments were completely different from the original! Without the help of August, the overall strength of the Alvarez Empire was certainly not as high as it was in the original timeline, but no one could guarantee whether the resulting changes were good or bad.
Perhaps the Alvarez Empire would choose to behave because its own strength was too weak; but it also couldn't be ruled out that after August was gone, someone more aggressive would rise to power as the empire's second-in-command. This person might ignore the gap in military power between the two continents and head east alone with troops, seeking to rule the whole world.
Based on these considerations, Weston did not interfere with Darwin's approach or say things like "The Alvarez Empire is not worth worrying about." Quite the opposite—though he remained behind the scenes, he always silently supported all of his son's decisions, providing as much help as possible, such as providing the data on Tartaros this time.
Regarding the intelligence on Tartaros, Weston had investigated it many years ago. The only difference from his memory was that Silver among the Nine Demon Gates had been replaced by Deliora. He was somewhat surprised when he first learned this, but after thinking it over, it felt reasonable.
In the original work, Deliora was invincible across the north of the continent, and even Ur could not kill it, only managing to seal it with "Iced Shell." Since Ur clearly possessed power above the "Wizard Saints" level and was no weaker than Gildarts, the strength of Deliora was evident. It wasn't strange for such a demon to be ranked among the Nine Demon Gates.
"I've heard the results of this operation."
"You, the guild master, personally set out, taking ten thousand elite magic soldiers plus the magic 'star' squad 'Seven Kin of the Holy Knights,' and wiped out the demons of Tartaros in one go!"
"Beautifully done!"
Weston's eyes crinkled with a smile as he couldn't help but praise: "The young people nowadays are each more terrifyingly strong than the last!"
Though a few of their names were quite surprising...
"I heard they are all students of the 'Fairy Academy'?"
Darwin nodded, then shook his head: "Actually, most are exchange students from the Royal Capital Magic Academy, currently just studying at the Fairy Academy..."
"However, they have all joined Fairy Tail!"