The dust settled on the central plateau, leaving a silence that felt heavy. Zero lay defeated, the ultimate darkness snuffed out by a single, overwhelming slash of black light.
After getting over their shock, all the mages looked at Blake with awe. Even the arrogant members of Blue Pegasus and the stoic Jura Neekis couldn't hide their astonishment. They had known Blake was strong, but the sheer finality of that strike, the way he had dismantled a threat that terrified the Council with a single blow, was something else entirely.
"Well," Gray exhaled, breaking the tension. "That happened."
"He didn't even break a sweat," Lucy whispered, clutching her keys.
Blake sheathed Tensa Zangetsu, the sharp click acting as a signal that the war was truly over. He turned to the group, his demeanor shifting from executioner back to team leader.
"The threat is gone," he announced. "Let's go to Cait Shelter. It's nearby. We need to return Wendy safely."
Hearing that, Wendy gets excited. The fear of the battle melted away, replaced by the bubbling enthusiasm of a child returning home.
"Yes! It's close!" she chirped, bouncing on her heels. "You have to meet Master Roubaul! He's grumpy but nice! And there's Lulu, and Aria, and everyone is so kind! They'll be so happy to meet you all!"
The group made their way back to the vehicles. It was a surreal sight in the middle of the ancient forest.
All the Fairy Tail members get in Blake's car. Erza took shotgun this time to navigate, while Natsu was unceremoniously shoved into the back, flanked by Gray and Lucy to prevent any motion-sickness-induced escape attempts.
Blue Pegasus rolled out in a flashy, white-and-gold convertible limousine ("The Christina II") that perfectly matched their aesthetic.
New Dawn had a sleek, matte-black SUV that looked fast and dangerous.
Lamia Scale had a sturdy, reinforced off-road vehicle.
Except Wendy, who was not old enough to drive.
"You can ride with us, little one," Jura offered kindly.
She got into the Lamia Scale guild car, waving happily to Carla.
The convoy of magical vehicles tore through the forest roads, a parade of modern magic heading toward an ancient secret.
They arrived at the Cait Shelter guild as the sun began to set. It was a beautiful, rustic village of tents and woven cloth, nestled in a hidden valley. The tribe members, dressed in traditional garb, came out to greet them, cheering for Wendy's safe return.
Roubaul, the Cait Shelter Guild Leader, welcomes them. He was an ancient, small man wearing a skull-like helmet, his voice raspy with age and authority.
"You have done well," he grumbled, though his eyes shone with relief as he patted Wendy's head. "You protected our child. For that, this old man thanks you."
Then Roubaul tells his guild members to prepare food for the guests.
"Feast!" Natsu shouted, miraculously recovered from his car sickness the moment food was mentioned.
The night has been spent at the Cait Shelter guild partying. It was a classic mage celebration. Natsu tried to eat the tribal fire. Gray stripped and nearly started a war with Lyon over who could make a better ice sculpture for the villagers.
The Trimens tried to flirt with the tribal women and were politely confused by their lack of interest. Erza and Jura shared a drink, discussing the responsibilities of leadership.
Through it all, Wendy was the happiest, running from person to person, introducing her new friends to her old family.
Eventually, the exhaustion of the battle caught up with them. The fires dimmed. The mages drifted off to the guest tents.
When everyone was asleep, the village fell silent.
Blake, however, did not sleep. He walked silently through the camp. He made his way to the Master's tent, which sat slightly apart from the others.
He stepped inside. Roubaul was sitting by a small fire, staring into the embers. He didn't look up.
"I sensed you coming, young man," the old man croaked. "You possess a perception far beyond your years."
Blake sat opposite him. He didn't waste time with pleasantries.
"For how many more years will you be stuck in this spirit form?"
Roubaul froze. The air in the tent grew cold. He looked up, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. "What did you say?"
"I know what this place is," Blake said calmly. "I know who you are. You're the last of the Nirvit. The creators of Nirvana. And I know that none of this..." he gestured to the tent, the village outside, the sleeping guild members, "...is real. They're illusions. Spirits bound by your magic. You're a ghost haunting your own graveyard, Master Roubaul."
Roubaul sighs. The tension left his shoulders, replaced by an infinite, weary sadness.
"You see too much, boy," he whispered. "My tribe created that abomination 400 years ago. We sought to switch light and dark to end the war, but we only created chaos. We were destroyed by our own creation. I am the only one left. I stayed behind as a spirit to guard the seal. To ensure Nirvana never wakes again."
He looked at his hands, which flickered slightly, translucent in the firelight. "My guild... Cait Shelter... they are merely projections of my memory. Company for a little wizard who stumbled upon this place."
"You don't have to wait anymore," Blake said.
"Brian tried to find it to use it," Blake said. "I want to find it to break it. If the construct is destroyed, your duty is finished. You can rest."
Hearing that, Roubaul was skeptical. "Destroy it? Nirvana is a magic of ancient, lost magnitude. Even I couldn't destroy it in my prime; I could only seal it. Do you think a single sword can undo the greatest mistake of the ancients?"
He looked at Blake. He saw the young man's eyes—dark, deep, and utterly confident. He remembered the reports. He remembered his old friend Makarov speaking of a prodigy who defied logic. Makarov was a good friend of his, and Fairy Tail may have a reputation for causing destruction, but they are people with good hearts. If Makarov trusts you... Then perhaps I should, too. So he chose to believe Blake.
Then Roubaul agrees to show Blake Nirvana.
"Very well," the old man said, standing up, his spirit flickering. "I will take you to the seal."
"Then tomorrow morning we will destroy it," Blake said, standing as well. He paused at the tent flap, his voice softening. "Say your farewell to Wendy. After you leave this world, she and Carla will join Fairy Tail."
Roubaul flinched. The thought of leaving Wendy, the only real thing in his illusionary world, was the hardest part.
"She will have a family?" he asked, his voice trembling.
"She will have the loudest, craziest, strongest family in the world," Blake promised. "I'll look after her."
Hearing that, Roubaul gives a sad smile. "Thank you."
After that, Blake takes his leave and goes to sleep.
---
The next morning, the sun rose over a confused alliance.
"Where are we going?" Natsu yawned, scratching his head.
"Master Roubaul said he has something to show us," Erza said, alert and armored.
Roubaul takes them all to the site of Nirvana. It was deep in the forest, a clearing marked by ancient, moss-covered pillars.
"This is it," Roubaul announced. "The resting place of the great magic."
He raised his staff. He chanted a language dead for four centuries.
The ground rumbled. The seal broke.
A massive, pillar of black and purple light erupted from the earth. It solidified into a colossal, mechanical structure—a walking city, a fortress of inversion. Nirvana.
"It's huge!" Lucy screamed.
"This is the magic Oracion Seis was after?" Jura gasped, feeling the malevolent energy radiating from it. "It feels... wrong."
"It is the root of my sin," Roubaul said. And activates it.
The structure began to hum, preparing to unleash its light.
"Blake!" Roubaul shouted. "Do it now! Before it fully awakens!"
Blake walked forward. He didn't run. He didn't yell.
Once it is activated, Blake unsheathes his sword.
The air around him changed. It grew heavy, dense, and terrifying.
His Anti-Magic flares, a void of black energy that ate the light.
Along with Conqueror's Haki, red lightning crackles and tears up the ground beneath his feet.
And some spiritual aura of the Tensa Zangetsu, a sharp, cutting pressure that felt like it could slice the sky itself.
He raised the blade above his head. The energy extended, forming a massive, skyscraper-sized phantom blade of black and red energy.
"This is the end of your watch, old man," Blake whispered.
"Moon Fang Infinite slash Eqinox!!!"
He swung.
It wasn't a beam. It was a calamity. A wave of absolute destruction, infused with the concept of severance, tore through the forest.
The slash hit Nirvana.
The ancient super-weapon, made of lost magic and indestructible stone, didn't explode. It was bisected.
He slashes the Nirvana in half.
The massive structure groaned. A clean line of light appeared down its center. Then, the Anti-Magic took hold. The spell holding the structure together unraveled.
Which breaks apart and blasts.
With a sound that deafened the world, Nirvana shattered into a trillion particles of harmless light, fading into the morning sky. The great sin of the Nirvit was gone.
Seeing that Nirvana is finally destroyed, Roubaul sighs. A weight he had carried for four hundred years vanished from his soul. He felt light. He felt... ready.
But others, seeing Blake's attack, were astonished.
Natsu's jaw was unhinged.
Gray dropped his shirt.
Jellal stared, his mind trying to calculate the magical output and failing.
They thought yesterday's attack against Zero was powerful, but this was on a whole other level. That was a precision strike. This was a natural disaster. This was the power of a man who could challenge anyone in the world.
The silence stretched.
Then, a roar broke it.
"BLAAAAKE!"
Once out of shock, Natsu charges at Blake. He was vibrating with excitement, fire leaking from his mouth.
"YOU HID THAT?! YOU COULD DO THAT THE WHOLE TIME?! BLAKE, FIGHT ME!"
He launched himself, a fist of fire aimed at Blake's head.
Blake, still holding his sword, didn't even turn. He just sidestepped and brought the flat of his blade down.
BONK.
Natsu was driven into the ground like a tent peg.
"Another time," Blake said, sheathing his sword. "We're not done here. First, we have to go to Cait Shelter."
Hearing that, everyone agrees, though they were still casting wary glances at the monster walking in their midst.
---
They returned to the village. The mood was strange. The villagers were standing outside their tents, lining the path. They weren't cheering. They were smiling, a peaceful, serene smile.
There upon reaching, they see Cait Shelter disappearing.
Not all at once. But the edges of the tents were fading into mist. The feet of the villagers were becoming transparent.
"Master?" Wendy asked, her voice trembling. "What's happening? Why is everyone..."
Roubaul stood before her. His own body was beginning to glow with a soft, white light.
"Wendy," he said gently.
He told her of the Nirvit. Of their sin. Of his death, centuries ago. And of the illusion he had maintained, solely to give a lost little girl a home.
"And that Nirvana is now destroyed, he can leave this world. My penance is over. The magic that sustains this village... sustains us... is fading."
Wendy shook her head, tears flying. "No! No, you can't! You're my guild! You're my family!"
"We were a memory, child," Roubaul said, his mask fading to reveal a kind, old face. "But you... you are the future."
Hearing that, Wendy begins to cry and hugs Roubaul. Her small arms went around his waist, but he felt less solid than before. "Don't go! Please don't go!"
Then Roubaul consoles her. He looked up at the fading villagers. "My tribe... my friends... we have waited a long time for this rest."
He looked at the gathered mages. At Erza, at Natsu, at Gray. And finally, at Blake.
"You have found true companions, Wendy," Roubaul said. "Join Fairy Tail. They will protect you. They will love you. You will never be alone again."
The light grew brighter.
And then they start to disappear.
The tents vanished into sparkles of light. The smiling villagers waved, their forms dissolving into the wind.
"Goodbye, Wendy," Roubaul whispered, his hand fading from her head. "Thank you... for letting an old ghost play master for a while."
He vanished.
Wendy stood alone in an empty clearing. The village was gone. The guild was gone. There was nothing but grass and the wind.
Wendy was sobbing as they disappeared. She fell to her knees, clutching the air where Roubaul had stood. The grief was absolute. She was an orphan again.
The alliance watched in respectful silence, many of them tearing up.
Then, footsteps crunched on the grass.
After they disappear, Blake places a hand on Wendy's shoulder.
He didn't tell her to stop crying. He didn't tell her it would be okay.
He knelt down.
"They were trapped, Wendy," Blake said softly. "For four hundred years, they were stuck in a dream, waiting for forgiveness. You gave them that. Your friends aren't gone. They're free. They can finally rest in peace."
He turned her gently to face the group—Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Carla—who were all watching her with warm smiles.
"And you aren't alone. Your old adventure ended. Your new one starts now."
Wendy nods hearing that. She wiped her eyes, looking at the empty space one last time, whispering a quiet "Goodbye."
Then she turned to Blake and the others. She sniffles, a brave, teary smile breaking through.
"Okay," she whispered. "Okay."
She took Blake's hand, and together, they walked toward her new family.