Chapter 342: Traitor
"What?!"
Natsu's hands slammed onto the wooden table, splintering the edges as he shot to his feet.
"All the magic on the entire continent..." Gray muttered, his dark eyes wide with disbelief.
"...Eliminated?!!" Lucy finished, her voice trembling as she covered her mouth in sheer horror.
The entire Fairy Tail guild hall erupted into a deafening uproar upon hearing Michello's panicked confession. The former Magic Council member shrank back against the bar, sweating profusely under the intense, furious gazes of dozens of mages.
"It's not just about losing our powers," Michello stammered, his voice cracking under the pressure. "Mages whose bodies are completely drained of their ethereal sources will suffer from Magic Deficiency Syndrome. It's... it's a terrifying disease. Your magic vessels will violently collapse inward. It is agonizing enough to torture a mage to death."
"Why would Tartaros do such a thing?!" Wendy cried out, clutching Carla tightly to her chest. "Won't they die along with everyone else?"
"No, they won't," Ren's calm, authoritative voice cut through the rising panic, instantly anchoring the chaotic room. He stepped forward, the heavy atmosphere seemingly parting around him. Erza, standing closely at his side, pressed her warmth against his arm. Even through her armor, Ren could feel the slight tremor running through her, prompting him to casually slide a hand down to rest reassuringly on her waist. The intimate gesture immediately eased the tension in her shoulders.
"Tartaros doesn't use magic," Ren continued, his gaze sweeping over his guildmates. "They use Curses. Their power isn't Magic Power, but Cursed Energy—a completely different source fueled by negative emotions. So, even if the ethernano in the atmosphere disappears entirely, they won't be affected."
Ren recalled what the demon Jackal had arrogantly boasted about earlier during their brief, violent clash. All mages will suffer and rot because they can't use magic, while the Demons of Tartaros remain completely untouched to rule over the ashes.
A chilling realization washed over everyone. They finally understood Tartaros's apocalyptic goal.
Master Makarov's expression darkened, the shadows in the guild hall suddenly deepening as his immense magical pressure began to unconsciously leak out. "To create such a terrifying weapon... Michello! Don't you know this could lead to the agonizing death of at least one-tenth of the entire continent's population?!"
Michello's portly body trembled violently. Of course, he knew. It was exactly why he hadn't wanted to breathe a word of it to anyone. If the mages of Ishgar learned of this, it would surely incite a continent-wide wave of resentment toward the Magic Council. A collective, violent rebellion against the remnants of ERA was practically guaranteed.
Etherion was one thing; after all, its devastating destructive power was localized, roughly limited to vaporizing a single small country in one blast. But the Magic Pulse Bomb, codenamed Face, was an invisible, existential threat to the very lives of every single mage across the entire continent.
No one wanted to live every day knowing a continental time bomb was quietly ticking over their heads.
"This... this couldn't be helped!" Michello shouted defensively, pointing a trembling finger at the Guild Master. "Others might not understand the complexities of global politics, but you should, Makarov! We didn't build it to destroy our own continent, but to protect it!"
Makarov's gaze turned razor-sharp, furious beyond measure. "What utter nonsense are you spouting?! To create a genocidal weapon and still have the sheer audacity to claim it's to protect the continent!"
The guild members were now seething with unrestrained fury. This was no longer just about the safety of the former Magic Council Members; it concerned their very lives, the lives of their loved ones, and the survival of every mage in Ishgar. For the Magic Council to secretly develop such an indiscriminate weapon was nothing short of a war crime.
Hearing Makarov's scathing rebuke, Michello couldn't help but frown deeply, his face flushing with a mix of shame and stubborn pride. He understood Makarov's anger, but the Guild Master was blind to the bigger picture.
The continent of Ishgar seemed powerful to its own citizens, boasting the Ten Wizard Saints and legendary guilds like Fairy Tail. But compared to its western neighbor, Ishgar was dangerously weak.
In the west lay the Alvarez Empire—a sprawling super-continent unified as a single, militaristic nation. Its military strength, bolstered by hundreds of thousands of elite mages and the terrifying Spriggan 12, was many times greater than that of Ishgar. The Alvarez Empire was ambitious, ruthless, and had nearly launched a full-scale invasion of Ishgar several years ago, only backing down due to the threat of Etherion.
The Magic Council's development of Face was essentially the ultimate nuclear deterrent. It was like holding a live grenade in a closed room; if the Alvarez Empire forced an invasion, the Council would detonate Face, wiping out the enemy mages' abilities and taking everyone down together in a desperate stalemate.
"Where is that weapon now?" Makarov demanded urgently, stepping closer and forcing Michello to back up against the bar. "We must find it and destroy it all before Tartaros can get their hands on it!"
"I... I honestly don't know!" Michello cried out, raising his hands in surrender. "It's true! I swear! Although I've heard of the sealing method—it involves the highly classified Organic Link Magic tied directly to the lifeforces of three former Council Members—only the former Chairman himself knows the true identities of those three people."
"Organic Link Magic..." Erza muttered, her brow furrowing deeply as she leaned into Ren's touch. "The lives of three people are the literal keys to breaking the seal."
"So, Tartaros doesn't care about extracting the location of the weapon at all," Mirajane chimed in, stepping out from behind the bar. Her usually gentle face held a dark, predatory edge that sent a shiver down Michello's spine. "They simply chose to systematically slaughter all the former Council Members."
"Exactly," Makarov grunted, crossing his arms. "As long as they indiscriminately kill the three former Council Members responsible for the seal, Face will automatically unlock and fall into the hands of Tartaros."
"We need to find those three people quickly and protect them at all costs," Makarov said in a low, commanding voice. "If we fail, Ishgar is doomed."
Suddenly, Ren's smooth, confident voice rang out, instantly silencing the murmurs of the guild.
"No, actually, there's a much simpler solution."
Everyone turned their full attention toward Ren. Whenever he spoke with that particular tone, it usually meant he was about to turn the impossible into a Tuesday afternoon chore.
"What solution, Ren?" Makarov asked, his desperate eyes finding a glimmer of hope.
"That is to proactively hunt down and kill every single demon in Tartaros before they can even think about activating Face," Ren said solemnly, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips.
Ren's blunt, aggressive words caused an immediate ripple of excitement through the guild.
"Hell yeah! We can just take the fight to those bastards!" Natsu roared, igniting his fists with brilliant crimson flames.
"Those freaks actually want to kill every mage on the continent. It's only natural for us to wipe them off the map first!" Gray agreed, cracking his knuckles as freezing air wafted from his skin.
"Yes! Let's crush them!"
"But where are those guys hiding?" Wakaba asked, blowing a puff of smoke. "Tartaros is way too mysterious. There's never been a single reliable rumor regarding the location of their guild headquarters in the underworld."
"Didn't I literally just capture one of their Nine Demon Gates an hour ago?" Ren smirked, tapping the side of his head.
"Right! There's still that bomber guy!" Elfman slammed his fists together. "If we give him a manly interrogation, we can beat the location of the Tartaros base right out of him!"
"No need for such barbaric trouble. Leave it to me to solve this cleanly," Ren said. He gave Erza's hip a final, affectionate squeeze, earning a soft, trusting smile from the Titania, before turning and heading toward the guild's medical wing.
Ren approached the infirmary, knocked casually on the wooden door, and then pushed it open.
"Porlyusica-san, are you done treating this guy?" Ren asked, stepping into the room that smelled strongly of medicinal herbs and sterilized gauze. "I have some things I need to interrogate him about."
The pink-haired elderly healer glared at him from across the room, wiping her hands on a towel. "Yes, I'm done stabilizing his miserable life force. But interrogate him? Are you blind, boy? This demon is heavily comatose from the beating you gave him. He can't say a single word right now. How exactly are you going to interrogate him?"
"It doesn't matter if he can speak," Ren said smoothly, walking over to the operating table where the bruised and battered form of Jackal lay strapped down. "As long as he's still technically breathing."
Ren reached down, grabbed Jackal by the scruff of his neck, and effortlessly hoisted the heavy demon up with one hand as he walked out of the infirmary, ignoring Porlyusica's irritated huffs.
Returning to the main hall, Ren tossed Jackal onto the floor before the gathered guild. The demon groaned weakly but remained unconscious.
"System," Ren thought. Equip.
[System Message: Initiating Full Body Take Over...]
"Full Body Take Over: Nagato!"
A pulse of dense, eerie energy erupted from Ren's body, causing the ambient mana in the guild hall to violently ripple. His physical appearance began to rapidly shift. His hair lengthened and turned a striking, blood-red hue. His skin paled to an almost ethereal shade, and an aura of profound, god-like authority settled over his frame.
But the most striking change was his eyes. They transformed into a hypnotic, pale purple color, characterized by concentric ripple-like patterns that seemed to draw in the very souls of anyone who dared look directly into them.
The mages of Fairy Tail had all witnessed this specific, awe-inspiring transformation before. He had utilized this form's terrifying, god-like telekinetic strength during the Grand Magic Games to completely dominate his opponents, leaving an indelible impression on everyone present.
"Ren, this character you've taken over... what exactly are you planning?" Makarov asked, slightly unnerved by the sheer coldness radiating from Ren's new form.
"These eyes are called the Rinnegan," Ren explained, his voice echoing with a slight, otherworldly resonance. "They are the pinnacle ocular dojutsu from the world of the character I've taken over. They possess the ultimate power to dictate the cycle of 'life and death'."
He took a slow step toward the unconscious Jackal.
"In addition to the gravitational and elemental abilities I demonstrated during the Grand Magic Games, the Rinnegan grants me mastery over the soul itself. Including the ability to forcibly read a person's most deeply buried memories."
[Akarin's Note: In the Naruto universe, the 'Human Path' (Ningendō) grants a Rinnegan user the ability to read the mind of any target by placing their hand on the target's head or chest, instantly absorbing all their knowledge. This process inevitably ends with the user extracting the victim's soul, resulting in immediate death.]
As Ren spoke, he knelt down. His pale hand reached out, his fingers ruthlessly gripping Jackal's head.
Suddenly, Jackal's eyes snapped open. The demon gasped, his feral pupils contracting in sheer, unadulterated terror as an invasive, cold energy forcefully bypassed his mental defenses. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He could only endure the absolute violation of his mind as Ren effortlessly flipped through his memories like the pages of an open book.
After a few tense moments, Ren's eyes flickered. "I see. I've finished reading all of his memories."
Then, without missing a beat, Ren activated the soul-absorption technique of the Human Path.
With a sickening, ethereal tearing sound, Ren pulled his hand upward. Right in front of the wide-eyed Fairy Tail members, a translucent, screaming, spectral version of Jackal was violently wrenched out of the demon's physical body.
"This... this is..." Lucy stammered, her legs feeling weak.
"This is his Soul," Ren stated coldly, gripping the glowing, thrashing ethereal mass in his palm.
"His Soul?!"
Everyone in the guild recoiled in pure terror and awe. Ren had literally reached into the demon's body and physically pulled out his immortal soul. The sheer, terrifying dominance of such an ability defied all known magical laws in Earth Land.
"Then this guy..." Gray muttered, staring at Jackal's lifeless physical shell on the floor.
"His soul has been extracted by my hand, so he is naturally dead in the most absolute sense," Ren said casually, as the screaming soul in his hand dissolved into nothingness, fully absorbed by the Rinnegan's power. "If I had simply killed him with physical or magical trauma, the curse of his Etherious nature would have allowed him to return to Tartaros and be resurrected in their Hell's Core. This way, he's permanently erased."
"He's dead!" Natsu cheered, pumping a fist, completely unbothered by the brutal method. The rest of the guild quickly shook off their shock, feeling a profound sense of satisfaction. An enemy who wanted to commit global genocide deserved no mercy.
Makarov swallowed hard, stepping forward. "Ren, did you get any useful information from his memories?"
Ren's red hair shifted as he slowly stood up, nodding. "Yes. The Nine Demon Gates' ultimate target is indeed Face. They plan to use it to eliminate all the mages on the continent to pave the way for their master, E.N.D."
Makarov's body trembled upon hearing this absolute confirmation. "Those monsters... really... how on earth did they find out such highly classified, top-secret information? You should know that the number of people in the entire Council who even know the name 'Face' can be counted on one hand!"
"That's simple," Ren said, his voice dropping to a dangerously icy whisper that carried perfectly through the silent hall. "Because there is a traitor among the highest echelons of the Council Members."
"A traitor?!" Makarov roared angrily, his fists clenching tight. "Who?! Who would risk the lives of millions to betray the Council and side with demons?!"
Someone was actively trying to butcher his old colleagues, and Makarov wanted a name.
Ren's Rinnegan eyes narrowed, his tone indifferent yet laced with absolute finality.
"The former Chairman of the Magic Council himself... Crawford Seam."
"What—?!!"
The entire guild gasped in unison.
"The former Chairman of the Magic Council... is actually a traitor?!" Makarov staggered back, his mind reeling as the terrifying reality of their situation finally set in.
[Akarin's Note:
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