The bespectacled man quickly bowed, placing a hand on his chest, and explained respectfully.
"Ankh-sama, I am Lahar, captain of the New Council's Fourth Forcible Detainment Unit."
"To uphold justice and the law, we have been reborn and will not tolerate any crime! You are currently being detained for questioning."
Jura frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you won't tolerate crime, why are you detaining us? We just saved the world."
Ankh chuckled lightly and teased Jura.
"The great reborn Council failed to capture Jellal before he escaped, so they have to detain someone else to save face, right?"
"I wouldn't dare."
Facing two Ten Wizard Saints, Lahar was clearly less arrogant than in the original story timeline.
He knew better than to act recklessly toward people of this caliber.
He bowed even lower, adjusting his glasses, and said.
"Our purpose here is solely to arrest the man behind you all—Hoteye of Oración Seis. Rest assured, any rewards due to you will not be withheld by us. This barrier is merely a precautionary measure."
Upon hearing this, Jura immediately protested. "What? But he's already repented! He fought with us!"
A large hand gently patted Jura's shoulder.
Turning around, Jura saw Hoteye, his face filled with resignation and peace.
After Ankh's emergency treatment and Wendy's Sky Magic healing, Hoteye, who had suffered a fatal injury, had basically regained mobility.
"Forget it, Jura-san. Even though I have sincerely repented, my sins won't diminish in the slightest."
"It has been an honor to meet all of you," Hoteye smiled warmly. "My true name is Richard. Other than finding my younger brother, I have no regrets left. Let me reflect on my actions in prison. Love will guide me."
Seeing Richard's calm demeanor, Jura's own impatience faded.
He could only sigh helplessly and said.
"Well then... in that case, let me be the one to search for your brother while you serve your time. Consider it the bond formed from our acquaintance."
'What a pity,' Jura thought.
Though they were enemies before, after Hoteye was purified by Nirvana, Jura had grown quite fond of Richard.
Richard likewise held Jura in high regard, mainly because Jura's bald head resembled the potatoes he and his brother loved eating...
Richard exclaimed with joy, grabbing Jura's hands: "Really? Thank you so much, Jura-san! My younger brother... his name is Wally Buchanan..."
The Fairy Tail members froze momentarily.
"That blocky quadrilateral man?"
"You're Wally's brother?!"
Noticing Erza's surprised expression, Richard seemed to realize something and asked excitedly.
"Could it be... you know him?"
Erza nodded and said: "I parted ways with him not long ago. Wally is currently traveling across the continent with his companions. They are safe."
Richard collapsed to the ground, silent tears streaming from his eyes.
Laughing and crying simultaneously, he choked out.
"Is that... true...? Knowing he's doing well... that's wonderful!"
"Is this the mercy of love...? Hahaha..."
"Wah..."
After several bursts of laughter, Richard knelt on the ground and wept openly.
Jura's expression softened as he crouched down and comfortingly patted his shoulder.
Ankh's face broke into a smile at the reunion, but when he turned his head back to Lahar, his expression immediately turned cold again.
"You've got your man. Now release this Magic Formula."
Lahar began sweating, though his voice remained steady as he continued to uphold protocol.
"Please understand... the other defeated members of Oración Seis haven't been located yet, and we need to conduct brief interrogations of everyone to ensure no one is hiding them..."
"BAM!!"
A tremendous slamming sound echoed, shocking the entire area into silence once more.
The Council soldiers reflexively raised their weapons in panic.
Ankh had violently struck the invisible Magic Formula barrier with his fist.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
"Am I giving you too much respect?"
...
The atmosphere grew tense.
Silenced by the loud noise and the palpable aura of danger, Lahar didn't dare press his demands further.
He quickly waved to stop the soldiers behind him from raising their weapons and said urgently.
"Ankh-sama, please! These are new Council regulations—stricter management and inspection of all Mage guilds, especially teams that have just completed violent subjugation missions. We are just doing our job!"
Jura frowned and said: "We just went through a difficult battle, and now we have to face scrutiny from our own people? That doesn't seem reasonable."
Though Natsu and the others were usually somewhat intimidated by the Council that frequently punished them, with their taller comrades (Ankh and Jura) standing up front, they straightened their backs with newfound confidence.
They were all rubbing their knuckles behind the scenes, looking ready to charge out and fight the Council at a moment's notice.
Lahar sighed inwardly, thinking the Council's danger assessment of Fairy Tail was indeed well-founded—every one of them was fiercely formidable and unruly.
"CRACK--"
Just as Lahar was considering whether to concede and vaguely report back later to avoid a conflict...
A clear cracking sound slowly emerged.
Lahar looked up in astonishment to see Ankh applying pressure with his palm.
He was actually crushing the high-level Magic Formula barrier to pieces with raw magic power!
An entire unit's deployed magic, and a highly secure text-based Magic Formula at that, had actually been breached single-handedly by Ankh...
Immediately afterward, Lahar felt as if a thousand-pound weight had been pressed upon him.
"Gravity."
It made it hard to breathe.
The soldiers behind him couldn't even hold their weapons steady; spears clattered to the ground.
"You're just a messenger, so I won't make things difficult for you personally," Ankh said coldly, stepping through the shattered barrier.
"We'll cooperate with your basic work after we've rested."
"But go back and tell those old fools—either come themselves with their pig heads to subdue the Dark Guild, or don't bother setting rules for me afterward!"
Ankh walked straight through the center of the restraining unit as if they weren't there.
Not a single soldier could stand up against the gravity to stop him.
Behind him, Erza, Natsu, and the others from their guild were the first to follow.
Wendy, worried about her own guild, quickly caught up as well.
It wasn't until they had left that the gravity weighing down Lahar vanished.
Gasp.
Jura walked up to Lahar.
Unlike Ankh, he wasn't one to confront the Council head-on, so he just sighed and kindly said.
"Cait Shelter guild is not far from here. We'll be there to undergo your inspection and rest up. You can follow us there."
"Um... Lahar, Ankh's temper wasn't directed at you. It's just that the methods of your superiors are somewhat... lacking in respect."
Jura didn't finish, but Lahar understood his meaning and shook his head with a bitter smile.
Ankh was a notorious figure on the Council's blacklist.
Even before becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints, he had made council members seethe with anger but not dare speak out, showing them no respect at all.
How much more so now, with the new Council's precarious position?
Lahar saw the situation clearly.
The reason he had been sent here was precisely because the higher-ups thought this allied force would be difficult to deal with, using him as cannon fodder...
Angry? How dare he be angry? He didn't have the guts!
On the way here, Lahar had mentally rehearsed this scenario several times, and this was actually the best outcome he had imagined—no one died.
The members of Lamia Scale had also moved off into the distance, and Lahar didn't dare to question them about Jellal and the missing Oración Seis members either.
'Did these two guilds send Ten Wizard Saints to lead just to block me?' Lahar wondered.
Lahar grumbled inwardly, then turned his gaze to Ichiya, who was still standing there trembling.
"Mr. Ichiya? Aren't you going to rest?"
Ichiya wore an expression as if he were about to ascend to heaven.
His ultrahandsome face was flushed red as he gasped angrily in a coquettish tone, vibrating intensely:
"No... I can't take it anymore~ Men!"
Huh?
Wait!
"Mr. Ichiya, please hold it in!!"
PSSSSSSSHHHH!
Too late.
The pressure of the situation (and his bladder) had finally broken the dam!