To be mad to such an extent, even Zeref couldn't bear to watch any longer. But just as he was about to step in and stop her, Irene actually gave up on the idea of taking over the body.
Blood is thicker than water, and maternal love called back her sanity at the last moment. However, Irene also understood that her obsession with becoming human again would cause her mental state to deteriorate further and further.
If things continued like this, whether she wanted to or not, she would eventually hurt her daughter one day.
So, she made a difficult decision.
Enduring the pain, she took her daughter, who was still in swaddling clothes, and left her outside the door of a church in the nearest village, hoping she could live out her life in peace.
Afterward, to repay Zeref for his kindness in helping her, Irene joined the organization he had founded.
Listening to Zeref's narration, Hope's heart felt heavy.
He hadn't expected Erza's mother had left her like that. After four hundred years of pregnancy, mother and daughter ended up worlds apart, and Irene hadn't even had the chance to give the child a name.
And Erza didn't live a peaceful life as Irene had hoped. The village she lived in was slaughtered, and at a young age, she fell into the clutches of the Dark Magic Cult, becoming a slave who couldn't even get enough to eat... Destiny is a fucking heartless thing.
Now, Hope finally had a clear direction regarding the destruction of Dragunov Country.
The figure of the scarlet giant dragon that Belserion's Thought Projection had seen in the distance at the end was likely Irene, who had been driven mad by her own people and had completely turned into a dragon.
That country and those traitors didn't die unjustly at all.
The news about Irene sent Hope's thoughts spinning, but he didn't forget the other piece of information Zeref had revealed. "You, a guy who shuts himself away whenever nothing is happening, actually founded an organization?"
He even began to suspect that Zeref was the one behind the Dark Magic Cult; after all, it was a dark cult that worshipped Zeref.
"I wouldn't be that low-level."
Zeref quickly shook his head and explained, "Irene is in the Western Continent, and she is now one of the top leaders of the Alvarez Empire."
Alvarez?
That super empire that unified the entire Western Continent?
Isn't that the target Makarov sent Mest to infiltrate the Council for, wanting to use the Council's intelligence network to investigate... "So, you are the ruler of Alvarez?"
Hope looked at Zeref with a face full of suspicion. It wasn't that he looked down on this guy's governing abilities, but because of the 'Curse of Contradiction', Zeref certainly couldn't stay in one place for a long time.
Under such circumstances, how could he govern a country well?
Seeing the undisguised doubt in Hope's eyes, Zeref said somewhat awkwardly, "It's true that I am the Emperor of Alvarez, but for this country to grow from a tiny speck of land to unifying the entire Western Continent, it actually didn't have much to do with me..."
"It was mainly all thanks to August."
Hope's vision went dark for a moment.
He remembered Zeref saying that the guy named 'August' was a child he had picked up over eighty years ago.
But the time Alvarez unified the Western Continent was over sixty years ago... In other words, when 'August' was still a minor, he took on the heavy responsibility of expanding Zeref's power alone and unified a continent without spending too much time.
A phrase immediately came to Hope's mind.
Child labor exploitation!
I see this Black Wizard really deserves to die!
And 'August's' attainments in magic were also extremely high.
He was so hardworking it was off the charts; compared to him, Hope suddenly felt like he, a transmigrator with cheats, was just a salted fish on the side of the road... Zeref used magic to cover the horrific wound on his chest while saying, "I will try to stay in Alvarez for the next few years. If your strength is sufficient, then come and kill me; it can be considered as ridding the people of a menace."
"You don't want to take revenge on ankhseram?" Hope raised an eyebrow.
Zeref shook his head. He was helpless against even a single curse, so how could he take revenge on the god ankhseram, who treated him as a tool for collecting death?
He was too tired and only wanted to end everything completely.
Just before Zeref was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He reached into the void, and a figure was immediately dragged out from a black Magic Circle.
It was a humanoid goat wearing a suit and sunglasses.
"This guy tried to sneak attack the Leo Celestial Spirit earlier. I caught him in passing and almost forgot."
Zeref pointed at the unconscious humanoid goat on the ground and continued, "Please hand him over to Layla's daughter."
"Layla? You actually knew Lucy's mother?" Hope was a bit surprised.
"Layla was my friend. If I had been there at the time, she wouldn't have died..." Zeref sighed. "The specific details should be recorded by Layla in that book passed down through the Heartfilia Family. I won't explain further."
"Farewell."
Zeref's figure instantly vanished.
It seemed that although his body was heavily injured, it didn't affect his ability to use magic at all.
Hope curled his lip and glanced at the humanoid goat on the ground, who was clearly a Celestial Spirit. He didn't bother thinking much about it since he was just going to give it to Lucy to handle, so he raised his hand and threw it into a blank card.
Seeing the last blank card being filled, Hope couldn't help but complain, "To think I filled all the blank cards on me just by going out once. People who don't know better would think I'm a human prison."
Throwing the card into his Requip space, Hope glanced sideways at the woods not far behind him. "Eavesdropping on other people's conversations is immoral. Aren't you coming out yet?"
A breeze blew past, and the leaves swayed slightly, but no one responded.
"Alright then, let the game of hide-and-seek begin."
Hope shrugged, activated his 'Spirit Vision' magic with his right eye, and then his figure flashed. In an instant, he arrived under a tree and reached out to grab the ghost loli hiding behind it.
"Caught you... First Generation."
Meeting the panicked green eyes of the little blonde loli, Hope showed a greasy 'creepy uncle' expression. "Let's have a hug!"
"Gua!"
"No!"
Seeing Mavis so scared that she even forgot she was an incorporeal ghost, the corners of Hope's mouth curled up wildly as his wicked sense of humor was satisfied.
So this is the First Guild Master... She seems quite fun.
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