Deltara Forest—
After Raizel incapacitated the alchemist who had been lured by the bounty on Fairy Tail and crushed his camera beneath his foot, he and Wendy encountered two female alchemists.
One wore an openly arrogant expression, looking as though she were perpetually fed up with the world.
The other was not quite as extreme, though her gaze was similarly cool and detached.
They were the very Signario Sisters God Serena had mentioned—Gold Owl alchemists Enny Signario, the elder sister, and Luso Signario, the younger.
...
Even after Gennai told him to get lost, Sai continued begging for help.
"Gennai-san, hurry and save me!"
"Sai..." Gennai started to say something, only to be interrupted again.
"GENNAI-SAN!!!"
Gennai finally roared,
"SAI!!!"
Sai's body suddenly dissolved into smoke and vanished before Ultear and Mira.
The sight immediately reminded them of Wakaba when he had once been transformed into a smoke man.
And Sai was not the only one.
Every unconscious Gold Owl member scattered across the guild hall was also transformed into white smoke by Gennai.
"He attacked his own companions?"
Ultear and Mira exchanged strange looks.
With the guild hall finally quiet, Gennai broke into a delighted grin.
"Oro, oro. I told you to get lost while you still had the chance, Sai."
Ultear studied him.
"Smoke Magic? Or is this what you call alchemy?"
Gennai folded his arms and puffed out his chest arrogantly.
"This is Smoke Alchemy!"
Their eyes met.
Gennai was the first to move, pulling the enormous pipe from his waist.
"Oro, oro! Gennai-san is about to transmute some smoke!"
Ultear nodded calmly.
"Then treating it like Smoke-Make Magic should work well enough."
Gennai pointed his pipe toward her with a smug expression.
"Oro, oro. Then allow Gennai-san to teach you the difference between Magic and alchemy!"
White smoke poured continuously from the pipe, rapidly surrounding Ultear and Mira.
The two women stood back-to-back.
Ultear smiled faintly.
"Leave this to me."
"Arc of Time: Restore!"
The crystal ball beside her began glowing.
The thick smoke that had been closing around them suddenly reversed direction, retracing its path as though time itself had been wound backward.
"What kind of Magic is that?!" Gennai exclaimed in obvious shock.
"So much for that supposed difference."
Seeing that Arc of Time worked perfectly well against Gennai's Smoke Alchemy, Ultear could not resist a rare taunt.
As a Mage, there was no way she was going to remain perfectly calm after someone arrogantly lectured her about how inferior Magic was to alchemy.
"Radiance of the Gods!"
Dozens of crystal spheres materialized around Gennai under Ultear's control.
Gennai merely aimed his pipe around himself and released more white smoke.
One after another, the crystal spheres were transmuted into smoke as well.
Meanwhile, Mira activated Satan Soul across her entire body and simultaneously used Kyoka's enhancement Curse on herself before engaging Kotetsu.
Their hands collided claw against claw.
Suddenly, Mira felt her right arm become unusually heavy.
She glanced down.
Her demonic claw had taken on the texture and appearance of metal.
"I transmuted your arm into iron."
"So what if it's iron?!"
Mira closed her eyes.
A moment later, she activated Take Over: Mard Geer and entered her Etherious form.
In this state, Mard Geer's outer shell was already covered in a layer of lightweight metal, immediately nullifying Kotetsu's attempt to turn her arm into iron.
Ultear launched several more attacks, but none managed to reach Gennai.
His white smoke seemed endless.
No matter how large an attack Ultear used, Gennai could simply turn the incoming energy into smoke.
Gennai looked enormously pleased with himself.
"This is the greatest difference between Magic and alchemy! When Gennai-san and the rest of us perform alchemy, we don't consume anything called 'Magic Power.'"
"We have tools, and we have materials. We use those things for transmutation."
"In other words, compared to Mages, we're far more efficient!"
"If a Mage begins a battle at one hundred percent Magic Power, every spell they cast consumes some of it, meaning their strength gradually declines."
"But that doesn't happen to Gennai-san and us! We can keep fighting at one hundred percent the entire time!"
"I see..." Mira murmured.
She had actually noticed something similar.
Although Mira herself had continued increasing her speed and strength throughout their exchange, Kotetsu truly did seem as solid and unchanging as steel.
They had already traded several rounds of close combat, yet his strength and speed had not dropped at all.
Whenever Mira's claws struck him, the sound was unmistakably that of metal crashing against metal.
Ultear scoffed.
"Your stamina still decreases during battle, and injuries don't magically disappear. How could you possibly remain at one hundred percent forever?"
Gennai burst into laughter.
"Ah! That?"
"Neither Gennai-san nor Kotetsu was designed with anything called stamina in the first place! Oro, oro!"
"Designed?"
Ultear's brows drew together.
"What do you mean?"
"It means inexhaustible."
Another voice came from the second floor.
The four combatants temporarily stopped and looked toward the source.
A man descended into view.
He had long hair braided behind him, an eyepatch covering his left eye, and a Gold Owl emblem ornament pinned over his tie.
A long coat hung from his shoulders, and both hands rested casually inside his pockets.
Gold Owl's guild master—Duke Barbaroa.
"Master!"
"Guild Master Duke."
"So that's Gold Owl's master..."
Ultear and Mira watched him cautiously.
Duke smiled.
"To answer your question, Gennai and Kotetsu are both mechanical dolls that I created."
"Dolls?!"
Surprise filled both women's eyes.
Kotetsu, covered almost entirely in metal, certainly looked artificial enough.
Gennai, however, looked nothing like a doll.
Duke introduced himself at an unhurried pace.
"My apologies for arriving late."
"My name is Duke, master of the Gold Owl guild."
"I was once a pupil of Elefseria—and I am the alchemist who created Athena."
Ultear frowned.
"Elefseria's pupil?"
"No. He specifically said his pupil was already dead!"
Mira shook her head.
She was absolutely certain of what the Law Dragon had told them.
Athena was a weapon capable of killing the Five Dragon Gods, created by his late pupil.
Duke shrugged.
"So Elefseria has already told you about me."
He spread his arms while Gennai and Kotetsu stood below him on the staircase.
"I am an alchemist who transmutes 'humans.'"
"A specialist in human transmutation!"
Duke lowered his head, his expression taking on a faintly nostalgic look.
As proof that he truly was the "Duke" they had heard about, he began explaining Athena's origins.
"I truly did once train under Elefseria as a Mage."
"However... it seems I simply lacked the talent for that path."
"In the end, I left his side and devoted myself to alchemy."
"After I became famous, my teacher came to visit me."
"He asked me to create a weapon capable of defeating the Five Dragon Gods."
"And so... Athena was born."