As Mirajane spoke, the smug grin on Makarov's face vanished. In its place was a trembling old man drenched in cold sweat by the time she finished.
Bang!
Makarov collapsed straight off the table onto the floor, shocking all the other guild masters nearby. They rushed over in a panic—after all, the man was nearly ninety. If something happened to him here, it wouldn't end well.
"Makarov!!"
"What's wrong?! Are you okay?!"
Lying on the ground, Makarov was internally freaking out:
'We're doomed! What the hell is this?! Why are those two together again?! They really could destroy an entire city!'
'The meeting ends today. I'm going home tomorrow. Please, just don't let anything go wrong before then! I'm begging you!!'
Bob from Blue Pegasus blinked. "Makarov, Kaien Blaze… that's the legendary kid, isn't it?"
Goldmine, the guild master of Quatro Cerberus, froze for a moment, then his eyes widened. "It's him?!"
Makarov nodded grimly. "That little brat."
Goldmine and Bob were close friends of Makarov's. These regional conferences were half-meeting, half old-man bragging contests about their guild members.
And with Makarov's big mouth, Kaien Blaze's exploits were no secret.
Or rather, they didn't need to be bragged about—Kaien had pulled off several feats that shook the entire continent. It's just that not many knew his name or that he was part of Fairy Tail.
"Man, must be nice! I wish my guild had someone that capable."
"Seriously, what kind of dumb luck did Makarov have to find such a little monster?"
Bob and Goldmine were both green with envy. Makarov's kids were wild troublemakers, sure—but there were so many talented ones among them.
Fairy Tail had six S-Class Mages, each incredibly capable.
And Kaien in particular… what he'd done could make even these old-timers break out in a cold sweat.
Just then, someone burst into the room.
"Everyone! We've got news!! Big news!!"
"What news?!"
All the guild masters, ever the gossipers, swarmed forward to ask.
"A train headed this way was hijacked by the Dark Guild Eisenwald!"
"Eisenwald? Those guys are still around?!"
"They hijacked a train? What the hell are they up to?!"
Eisenwald had once been part of the regional guild alliance. But they'd started taking assassination requests—strictly forbidden for legal guilds—so they were expelled.
"What happened next? What's the situation now? Were they captured?"
The messenger nodded. "Yep! They were caught."
"Was it the Rune Knights who did it?"
You couldn't really expect the military to handle it. Eisenwald may have been small fry, but it was still a guild of mages—ordinary troops wouldn't cut it.
Especially now, with their guild master—Erigor, the Reaper—whose strength surpassed even many of the guild masters present.
The messenger shook his head. "Nope. One person took them out."
"One person?!"
"A single person took down an entire guild?!"
"Who the hell is that strong?!"
The crowd of guild masters gasped in disbelief. Makarov, meanwhile, let out a slight sigh of relief. After all, Erza and Kaien were two people.
"They say the scene was brutal. Most of Eisenwald was either seriously injured or crippled. The entire train was smashed to pieces. The engine was found hundreds of meters from the site—looked like someone threw it."
"Just tell us already! Who did it?! Don't leave us hanging!"
"They couldn't capture the culprit, but according to the Eisenwald members who were caught, it was the 'Tyrant.'"
"The Tyrant?!"
The Tyrant had recently become one of the most feared names in all of Ishgar. The battle where he single-handedly defeated the entire Locus Bandit Gang was still making waves.
Thud!!
Just as he'd managed to get back up, Makarov collapsed to the floor again at the sound of that name.
"Makarov!!"
"What now?! Quick, call a doctor!!"
Lying there lifelessly, Makarov stared up at the ceiling.
'It's over. We're so done.'
ERA, Magic Council Headquarters
Bang!
"Fairy Tail again! Wasn't destroying half of Hargeon's port enough last time? It hasn't even been that long—and now they've destroyed a whole train?! This is lawless! Completely lawless!!"
Councilor Org slammed the intelligence report down in a fury. Fairy Tail just wouldn't behave—they were constantly giving the Magic Council new headaches. The Council was beyond sick of cleaning up after them.
Councilor Yakima, a friend of Makarov's, tried to defend them: "But they were eliminating Eisenwald…"
He hadn't even finished the sentence when Michello cut in, "Even if they took out Eisenwald, it doesn't solve the root problem. There are countless Dark Guilds out there. Are they going to cause this much destruction every time they get rid of one?"
Trains were critical infrastructure—costly and essential to travel.
"Isn't it all because of Lullaby?"
Eisenwald was a small issue in the grand scheme. The continent was teeming with Dark Guilds, and taking down one or two changed nothing. The Council had tried cracking down in the past—
—but the retaliation had been brutal, with Dark Guilds even targeting innocents. That's why the Council often chose to turn a blind eye.
Not that they didn't know where these Dark Guilds operated—Eisenwald's location was no secret to them.
"Yeah, if anyone uses Zeref's magic again, we're in big trouble."
At that moment, Lullaby was resealed back into flute form.
"What's strange is how a magic this powerful got into someone's hands so easily."
"Sounds like the management is to blame."
Lullaby was under the Council's supervision. If something like that got out, it was their responsibility.
Siegrain spoke up, "We should be grateful that Fairy Tail, that guild everyone tries to avoid, stepped in this time."
Ultear hid a smile behind her sleeve. "To take down an entire guild alone—no wonder they call him the legendary 'Tyrant.' Truly impressive."
"Mhm…"
As the highest authorities in Ishgar's magical world, they naturally knew the Tyrant's true identity.
"You may not want to admit it, but those are the facts. If Lullaby had succeeded, and the guild masters were killed, the consequences would've been unimaginable. We should really put aside our biases and give them some praise."
"…"
No one said a word. The idea of praising Fairy Tail—the guild that constantly caused them problems—was about as pleasant as swallowing a fly.