“Everyone, calm down! Calm down!”
“You two are the paragons of Fiore. As our predecessors, you shouldn’t lose face in front of the younger generation!”
“Yes, yes!”
The guild masters present began to play the role of mediators, constantly trying to placate the brewing conflict between Makarov and Jose.
Of course, watching the two strongest guilds in Fiore clash could actually benefit them. After all, Fiore’s resources were limited, and if Fairy Tail monopolized them all, it would threaten the existence of their own guilds.
However, if Makarov and Jose, who were like monsters to them, truly started fighting here, who knew how many of the guild masters would leave this place unscathed?
“Hmph! Since everyone is asking, I, Jose, will give you all some face and not act today.”
“But Makarov, our business is far from over.”
With several guild masters speaking up, Jose smirked. He had been waiting for this moment and retracted his terrifying magic.
His goal had already been achieved. Now, in the eyes of the other guild masters, Jose was on par with Makarov.
To be honest, his previous aggressive stance was merely to intimidate everyone present. Picking a fight with all the guilds here would be detrimental to Phantom Lord.
“I don’t recall Fairy Tail ever offending you…”
Makarov frowned. He couldn’t remember anything that would have offended Jose Porla.
“Ask your guild members yourself…”
Jose glared at Makarov, never forgetting the pain he endured three years ago on the riverbank opposite Fairy Tail’s guild doors in Magnolia at sunset. No one could understand the psychological trauma inflicted by that slap on a young man dreaming of becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
“Hehe, speaking of which, everyone brought some excellent guild members here today, didn’t they?”
“Why don’t we have our top seeds put on a show for everyone? It would add some excitement to this year’s guild master gathering!”
Jose smoothly shifted the topic, directing everyone’s attention to the top seeds from each guild.
Jose had already shown his strength, on par with Makarov. Now, if Phantom Lord’s members could also demonstrate impressive power, their guild’s reputation would be solidified among Fiore’s guild masters. This was the first step in Jose’s plan to make Phantom Lord the top guild in Fiore, overtaking Fairy Tail.
“That sounds good!”
“I agree…”
“It’s like a mini Grand Magic Games! Let’s do it!”
With Jose’s suggestion, the surrounding guild masters eagerly agreed. They wanted to use this opportunity to assess the strength of the other guilds’ top seeds and update their intelligence on the competition.
While their gathering aimed at mutual support, Fiore’s magical guilds inherently competed for limited resources and missions. This was a golden opportunity to observe their rivals.
“So, what do you guild masters think?”
Seeing that the other guild masters supported his plan, Jose turned to Bob, Goldmine, Ooba Babasaama, and Makarov with a smile.
“Bacchus?”
Goldmine didn’t answer Jose but looked at his guild’s future ace, Bacchus.
“No problem! Let’s get wild!”
Bacchus gave Goldmine a thumbs-up, excited after witnessing the power of the Wizard Saints.
“Ichiya, what do you think?”
Bob turned to Ichiya, who had just gotten up from the ground.
“Absolutely no problem. Leave it to me, men~”
Ichiya gave Bob a confident wink.
“Jura, make sure you beat them up good!”
Ooba Babasaama sternly ordered Jura.
“This is just a friendly match; I can’t go too hard…”
Jura smiled wryly at Ooba, but he didn’t object, confident in his ability to compete.
“Aria, I’ll leave this battle to you~”
Jose smiled at his confident wizards and spoke to the man behind him.
“Don’t worry, Master Jose…”
The man, wearing a top hat and with eyes wrapped in white bandages, nodded lightly.
“So, Makarov, we’ve prepared our young wizards. Who will Fairy Tail send?”
Jose turned to Makarov, expecting him not to shamelessly send one of their Wizard Saints. After all, Makarov should have some dignity as a fellow Wizard Saint.
“Originally, Fairy Tail wasn’t planning to compete.”
“But since you’ve all set the stage, we’ll take the victory.”
“Don’t say we’re bullying you, but Fairy Tail is full of powerful wizards!”
“Ul, I’ll leave these kids to you. Remember to go easy; they’re the future of Fiore’s magical world.”
Makarov looked at the top seeds from other guilds with a hint of sympathy. He was about to send someone who, for the other guilds’ seeds, would be a demoralizing opponent—Ul, a woman who even he might struggle to defeat in a one-on-one deathmatch, and a fellow Wizard Saint is known as the ‘Ice Witch.’
“Ul?!”
Jose’s expression changed at the mention of Ul. Makarov was shameless enough to pit a well-known wizard against their young seeds!
As a fellow Wizard Saint, Jose knew exactly who Ul was. If it was that Ul, there would be no contest, and his plan would fall apart.
“Hahaha, sorry, everyone!”
“Ul, this match is yours…”
Makarov laughed, hands on hips. He had no concept of shame; winning was all that mattered!
“Ul? Ul?!”
At that moment, Makarov seemed to bask in Fairy Tail’s victory. But when he looked towards where Ul should have been, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Ul, where did you go?! Ul!!”
One moment Makarov was triumphant, the next he was on his knees, staring at the empty space where Ul should have been.
“Ul left because she found Ichiya too disgusting. It made her stomach queasy, so she took off while he was knocked down by that guy’s magic…”
Evan, holding a drink, approached Makarov, explaining Ul’s absence.
“So?!”
Makarov stared at Evan, sweat pouring down his forehead. Even he didn’t want Evan to participate. Who knew what chaos would ensue if Evan got involved? He’d probably have to personally compensate Bob for the damages.
“So I’ll play with these kids instead. After all, by age, I’m still a kid~”
Evan, holding his juice, stepped in front of the guild masters with a smile.
No matter the juice in his hand, Evan wasn’t someone these youngsters could handle…
“Long time no see, Jose. I heard you earned the title of Wizard Saint?”
“Impressive, impressive!”
“Why don’t we have some fun~”
Evan said, walking up to Jose.
Playing with the kids meant taking down their guild masters…
As for Bacchus, Ichiya, Jura, and Aria?
No way! No way! They hadn’t even earned the title of Wizard Saint and dared to call themselves young talents? In Evan’s eyes, they were like newborn babies, weak beyond compare…
Nothing like him, strong and muscular from relentless training.
“It’s you!”
Jose’s pupils trembled as he looked at the red-haired Evan. Painful memories that should have been dead resurfaced, attacking him fiercely.
“Hey! You can’t just approach our guild master like that!”
Aria, seeing Evan walk up to Jose, stepped in between, frowning.
“What’s this? Do you want to play with me?”
“Slurp~”
Evan took a sip of his juice, looking at Aria.
“You’d better not get too cocky!”
Aria shouted at Evan, his anger rising.
“You must have recently joined Phantom Lord, right?”
Evan curiously observed Aria, not angered by his outburst.
“Oh? I did join recently, so what?”
Aria asked, puzzled.
“That explains it! I didn’t see you when your master came to pick a fight with Fairy Tail a few years ago.”
Evan laughed, holding his drink.
“Ah? That happened?”
Aria was stunned, not knowing Jose had previously taken people to challenge Fairy Tail.
“Uh…”
Jose sweated profusely. He recognized Evan, recalling the slap that still made his face ache.
Jose hadn’t expected Makarov to shamelessly bring in another Wizard Saint, contrary to the agreement to bring promising young wizards for an exchange. Wizard Saints were equal to guild masters, if not above them…
He wanted to ask Makarov: “Brother, where’s your dignity? You call this young wizards? Are you here to exchange or to destroy?”
“So?”
Aria frowned, not knowing what to do, and asked Evan.
“I just wanted to let you know I remember everyone I’ve beaten…”
Evan smiled at Aria.
“Huh?”
Aria frowned, not understanding Evan’s words.
But as he frowned, a shoe sole landed on his large face.
“Boom!”
A flash of black light followed by a delayed roar, and Aria was gone from the mansion.
The speed was so fast no one reacted, except for the man-shaped hole in the wall proving Aria had been there.
“Rejoice, now I’ll remember you too~”
Evan gently lowered his leg, smiling at the vanished Aria.
“Jose, didn’t you want an exchange?”
Evan asked the wide-eyed Jose.
“So fast! Faster than I could react. Not only have I grown stronger these years, but so has this bastard…”
Jose, who thought he was now equal to Evan with his new title, stared wide-eyed and trembling.
“Your turn now~”
“Have you thought about how to exit?”
Evan asked Jose.
“Don’t get too cocky, Evan Belserion!!”
Jose’s fear turned to rage, and he charged at Evan
.
“Goodbye!”
Evan forced Jose to teleport away.
“Boom~”
With a puff of smoke, Jose vanished. No one could explain how he disappeared.
On the mountain peak near Blue Pegasus’ mansion…
“What just happened? What kind of magic was that?”
Jose appeared alone, panicked, unable to comprehend his sudden teleportation…
“Boom!!”
Just then, the sky exploded, and a flaming meteor descended with a long tail.
At that moment, Jose finally understood Evan’s title, and why he was called ‘Star Destruction.’
He finally witnessed the impact of a falling meteorite…