Rosemary Village — Late February, X775.
Two more peaceful months passed in Rosemary Village.
The snow began to melt, replaced by the damp chill of early spring.
During this time, Raizel and Ultear regularly used their long-distance communication Lacrima to report their safety to Makarov and Ur, keeping the anxiety of their absence at bay.
Inside their rented house, Raizel began implementing his training plan for the two future swordswomen.
He purchased two ordinary iron longswords from the nearest town for Erza, along with a custom-made wooden sword for Kagura.
The wooden blade was light, slightly curved inward, perfect for practicing basic cuts and thrusts without risking injury.
"First, Erza," Raizel instructed in the backyard. "You need to maintain your sword. Channel your magic power constantly to keep the weapon summoned from your pocket dimension. Once you're accustomed to the drain, we'll try applying it in actual combat."
Erza nodded, gripping the hilt of her iron sword.
Her Requip magic was intuitive; maintaining the weapon wasn't difficult, but building the stamina to do it for hours required discipline.
"As for Kagura," Raizel turned to the younger girl. "You'll repeat these movements: thrust, pierce, slash, chop, sweep, and lift. Do them slowly. Find your rhythm."
"Kagura is only seven years old," Ultear interjected from the porch, where she was sipping tea.
"Learning combat now... perhaps she should focus on her studies first. She just learned the alphabet."
"Then she can hold onto the wooden sword for now," Raizel conceded.
He recalled that he and Laxus had started training around age nine.
Seven might be pushing it.
"I want to learn!" Kagura piped up, gripping the wooden sword with both hands.
Her eyes shone with enthusiasm.
To her, the sword wasn't a weapon of war but a symbol of strength, like Raizel and Erza.
"Alright," Ultear sighed, a small smile playing on her lips. "But be careful. Don't push yourself."
...
The village was silent under the moon.
Inside the house, Ultear was teaching Kagura how to read by the candlelight, while Laxus and Raizel guided Erza and Simon in meditation in the living room.
BOOM——————!
A tremendous explosion shattered the silence. The ground shook violently, knocking over a vase.
Laxus and Raizel's eyes snapped open instantly.
"Stay here!" Raizel shouted.
He kicked the door open and rushed outside, Laxus close on his heels.
In the distance, a house on the edge of the village had been blasted apart.
Debris rained down, and thick black smoke billowed into the night sky.
Fortunately, Raizel knew that house was empty.
"Bwahahahaha!"
Standing in the street were a dozen figures clad in black robes, holding staves tipped with glowing purple crystals.
Their faces were twisted in sinister grins.
They were members of the Dark Magic Cult from the Tower of Heaven.
After five months of waiting, they had finally arrived.
"Enough playing around!" the leader, a scarred man with a metal eyepatch, barked at his subordinates.
"Hurry up! The R-System construction is behind schedule. We need fresh labor. Grab everyone you see—men, women, children!"
"Laxus, stay back. Protect the house. Don't let Ultear or the kids come out," Raizel commanded, his voice cold.
"Got it," Laxus growled, sparks of yellow lightning dancing around his fists. He retreated to the doorway, standing guard like a sentinel.
Raizel stepped forward.
"Take Over: Jesmon."
A pillar of crimson light erupted. When it faded, the silver knight stood in the street.
Three data spirits—At, Rene, and Pol—materialized around him, humming with lethal intent.
"Leave them alive," Raizel instructed the spirits mentally. "For now."
The cultists saw a flash of red and white light. Before they could even raise their staves, invisible shockwaves slammed into them.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One by one, they collapsed, groaning in pain.
Only the leader remained standing, trembling as the silver knight towered over him.
"Who... who are you?" the leader stammered, backing away. "We are the servants of Zeref! You dare to interfere in our business?"
Raizel ignored the question.
He grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"You have one chance," Raizel's voice was distorted and metallic. "Take me to the R-System's construction site."
"How... how do you know about that?!" The leader's face contorted in terror.
Their operation was top secret!
"Wrong answer."
Slash.
Raizel's arm blade moved faster than the eye could follow.
The leader went limp.
Raizel dropped him and looked at the next cultist, who was trying to crawl away.
"Next."
"I... I don't know..." the man whimpered.
Slash.
Raizel moved down the line.
Such scum deserved no mercy. They were kidnappers, enslavers, murderers.
"Speak."
By the time he reached the fifth man, the surviving cultists were weeping in terror.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" a man screamed, pressing his forehead into the dirt. "Don't kill me!"
"Take me to the location. Who is the leader?" Raizel demanded, pointing his blade at the man's neck.
"The leader... he isn't human! He's a goat demon! I don't know his name, but he wears a suit!"
"Capricorn," Raizel murmured.
It confirmed his theory.
The Celestial Spirit Capricorn had been fully possessed by Zoldeo.
"Yes! Yes! That sounds right!" the cultist nodded frantically.
"How many towers are being built?"
The man shook his head violently. "I don't know! We operate in independent cells! We just bring the slaves to the drop point!"
"Makes sense," Raizel mused. "Zoldeo wouldn't trust his minions with the big picture."
He signaled his spirits to bind the survivors.
Laxus walked up, looking at the carnage with a grim nod.
"Are these the ones?" Laxus asked.
"Yes," Raizel said, reverting to human form. "I plan to have them take me to the R-System. I'll leave the village to you. I don't know how many other teams are out there."
"Go," Laxus said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll keep the fort safe. Nobody touches the kids."
...
The captives, tied together like livestock, led Raizel back to their ship hidden in a nearby cove.
It was a magic-powered vessel, fueled by Lacrima.
Raizel forced them to pilot it.
From the bow, he watched the dark ocean.
Hours later, a jagged silhouette appeared on the horizon.
It was an uncharted island, dominated by a half-built, spiraling tower that pierced the clouds.
The Tower of Heaven.
Thousands of slaves were visible on the scaffolding even at night, toiling under the whips of guards.
Raizel's eyes narrowed. "Scum."
He waited until the ship docked. Dozens of guards rushed to meet them, expecting new prisoners.
"Take Over: Omegamon."
The white knight descended!
"Garuru Cannon!"
A volley of absolute zero missiles rained down on the docks.
The guards didn't even have time to scream before they were frozen solid.
Raizel leaped from the ship, landing on the beach with a shockwave that cracked the bedrock.
"Absolute Zero!"
He fired a beam into the ground.
The ice spread instantly, flash-freezing the entire beach and trapping the cultist reinforcements in place.
High above, in the unfinished throne room of the tower, a figure sat watching.
He wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses. He had the head of a goat.
Capricorn (Zoldeo).
"What is happening?" Capricorn stood up, sensing the immense magical pressure. "An intruder?"
He leaped from the tower, landing on a high rock overlooking the beach. He locked eyes with the white knight below.
Raizel bent his knees and launched himself upward, landing ten meters in front of the possessed spirit.
"Capricorn," Raizel's voice was calm but resonated with authority. "You cannot escape today."
"Oh?" Capricorn sneered, adjusting his sunglasses. "And why should I fear a human in a costume? I am—"
He tried to cast his Human Subordination magic.
It failed.
Capricorn froze.
His body began trembling uncontrollably.
It wasn't just fear; it was a primal reaction.
His instincts were screaming at him to run, to hide, to kneel!
He tried to speak, but his throat constricted.
He fell to one knee, gasping for air.
Raizel stepped forward.
His magic power flared, distorting the air around him.
The white cloak of Omegamon billowed upward, bathed in a holy, terrifying light.
To Capricorn, the figure before him wasn't human.
It was a predator. A god of judgment.
"You are possessed by a ghost, Capricorn," Raizel said coldl. "And that ghost is about to be evicted."
Capricorn struggled to lift his head.
Around him, his minions were prostrate on the ground, pinned by the sheer weight of Raizel's presence.
"What... what are you?" Capricorn wheezed.
"Your nightmare," Raizel replied, raising the Grey Sword.
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I'll be uploading 5 or more chapter/day until we reach chapter 100, as for the pairing... i cant say for now it was between Erza and Ultear.