"Wham!"
Just as Evan and Makarov tried to shift the focus onto Ooba, the villa's banquet hall doors suddenly opened with a soft sound. A mature and beautiful woman with short black hair walked in.
"Hey! Evan! Don't just use True Celestial Magic recklessly!"
"If I hadn't been outside and happened to see it, and saved these two, they might have really died…"
The newcomer was none other than Ul. She carried two ice-encased 'bodies' and tossed them into the banquet hall.
"What?! That's Jose Porla from Phantom Lord!"
"And his ace, Aria…"
The guild masters who had been chatting fell silent as they noticed the two ice blocks Ul had thrown. They stared, shocked, at the figures of Jose and Aria encased in ice.
"President, are you okay?!"
"Aria, are you all right?"
The other mages from Phantom Lord rushed to surround the frozen figures, anxiously questioning them.
But there was no response...
"What on earth happened?!"
"Did Jose teleport away to fight Ul and get defeated?"
"No, no, didn't you hear Ul say she saved Jose and Aria?"
The guild masters were puzzled and shocked. They couldn't comprehend how Jose and Aria, who had disappeared, ended up frozen and brought back by Ul.
"Hey, you're focusing on the wrong thing! Didn't you hear what Ul said?"
"Ul called out the name 'Evan,' right?"
"Could it be that this young man with auburn hair is Evan Belserion, the 'Star Destruction' of Fairy Tail?!"
A sharp-eared guild master caught the name Ul had mentioned.
"Wait, if that's true, then this young man is the 'Star Destruction' Evan?!"
"Hahaha, no way! That legendary mage, always soaring in the sky and using True Celestial Magic to crush enemies, is just a kid?!"
"Haha, that's a huge joke!"
"If that boy is Evan, then he would have been how old when he became famous? Ten? Eleven?!"
"Ten years old when he defeated Deliora? That's too exaggerated!"
"Indeed! Hahaha…"
Several guild masters laughed awkwardly, finding it absurd that the renowned 'Star Destruction' Evan could be a teenager. After all, Evan had been famous in Fiore's magic world for several years. Some of the guild masters hadn't even taken their current positions when Evan defeated Deliora. Back then, Bacchus, Ichiya, and Jura were still novices in magic.
If this were true, Evan would have been around ten years old when he and Ul fought Deliora. A Ten Wizard Saint-level mage at ten? It seemed implausible. The idea of such a prodigy existing in the world was hard to believe.
As the guild masters stared at Evan, confused and with forced smiles...
Ul walked up to Evan, her snow-white hands firmly pressing on his shoulders as he indulged at the buffet. "Hey, are you listening to me? Seriously, the guild master called both of us here, but I'm the only one working while you're enjoying yourself. Evan, answer me!"
"I don't know either," Evan said, swallowing his food and looking at Ul helplessly.
"There has to be a reason, right?" Ul, irritated by Evan's nonchalant attitude, questioned further.
Ul felt she was unlucky. As soon as she arrived, she was surrounded by guild masters and forced into socializing, which she disliked. She also had to endure Bob and Ichiya's annoying behavior. She finally sneaked out to relax in the nearby snow-capped mountains and saw a meteor falling. She knew it was Evan's doing since no one else used Celestial Magic to drop meteors.
Sure enough, Ul found the half-dead Jose and Aria in the wreckage. She deduced they had provoked Evan and ended up here. Reluctantly, Ul rescued them and brought them back, as they were members of a legitimate guild despite their misdeeds.
Evan knew Ul was nearby, which is why he didn't hold back against Jose and Aria.
"Oh, it's probably because I'm not as famous as you," Evan concluded after some thought. "I haven't been active in Fiore's magic world for years."
Evan explained he'd been busy with matters on the Northern Continent, searching on the Western Continent, and dealing with the conflicts among Earth Land, Edolas, and Elentear. He rarely concerned himself with Ishgar's or Fiore's magic world, finding them too small.
"So, you're not famous, huh? So if you were, it wouldn't be my problem anymore?" Ul smirked, her expression shifting.
"You're not going to do something troublesome, are you?" Evan asked, sensing something ominous in Ul's demeanor.
"Hey! Everyone, listen up!" Ul shouted. "Remember this kid's face. His name is Evan Belserion, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, ranked higher than me! His power far surpasses mine! So if you want to pester someone, pester this kid!"
Ul, grinning mischievously, lifted Evan and announced to the guild masters.
"What?!"
"This kid…"
"He's really the 'Star Destruction' Evan?!"
As Ul's words sank in, the guild masters stared at Evan in disbelief.
"So such a prodigy does exist in this world!"
After their initial shock, one guild master, lips dry, stared at Evan with complex emotions.
"Yeah, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes today, I wouldn't have believed such a monster exists. Someone who defeated Deliora at just ten years old?"
Another guild master echoed the sentiment.
"Damn it, why is there such a huge gap between people?"
"Is there really such a prodigy, born already at the pinnacle of the magical path?"
A guild master, looking at Evan, voiced their frustration and complex feelings.
Faced with prodigies like Bacchus, Ichiya, and even Jura, the guild masters felt only astonishment. These prodigies were within their realm of understanding. Bacchus and Ichiya-like talents emerged yearly, and Jura's level wasn't unheard of. But Evan, a boy who defeated Deliora at ten and was already unfathomably strong at fifteen or sixteen, was beyond their comprehension. His mere existence made their pursuit of magic seem futile, an unreachable peak no matter how hard they tried.
Evan looked calmly at the guild masters, their eyes filled with despair. He thought, if they felt hopeless seeing him, what would they think if they met true geniuses like August or Irene? They might give up magic altogether.
However, Evan understood their feelings. Even Precht, the second guild master of Fairy Tail, had despaired when he saw August, the newborn with power far surpassing his own accumulated over a lifetime.
"When a man hailed as a black magic genius, immersed in magic for decades, finds a newborn surpassing his lifelong achievements just by existing, the despair is unimaginable," Evan mused.
"Hey, Evan, the atmosphere feels off," Ul noted, seeing the guild masters' despair.
"It does…" Evan, with his powerful perception, could sense their complex emotions.
"Ul, Evan, let's go…"
Just as Ul and Evan stood in a daze, Makarov seized the moment. His arms elongated, wrapping around Ul and Evan, and whisked them out of Bob's villa with lightning speed.
As a guild master, Makarov's expression was serious. He knew he had to protect Evan, not in terms of strength, but by standing firmly behind his guild member, regardless of others' understanding or opinions.
Makarov bundled Ul and Evan into their magical vehicle and drove off swiftly...
In the car...
"Um, sorry about that, Evan!"
"I didn't expect this to happen."
Ul apologized to Evan, acknowledging her role in the situation.
"Huh? No need to apologize."
"How others see me has nothing to do with me."
"I don't care about their opinions…"
"As the master would say, let those who don't understand eat shit!"
"We, Fairy Tail, never care about the world's opinions!"
Evan, smiling, patted Ul's shoulder.
"Huh?!"
"Haha, true. Let them eat shit!"
Ul, surprised at first, smiled after hearing Evan's words.
"Hey, you two, don't slander me!"
"I never tell people to eat shit. I say they should eat sewer filth!"
Makarov, driving, turned to protest.
"No, there's no difference between what you said and what we said."
Ul and Evan retorted in unison.
"There's a big difference! Sewer filth is nastier, a mix of everyone's waste…"
Makarov explained as he drove.
"Don't lecture us about disgusting things, old man!"
Ul and Evan yelled, exasperated.
"Hahaha…"
Amid laughter, Makarov drove the magic vehicle away, unconcerned with the other guilds' understanding or fear.
Meanwhile, back at Bob's villa...
"Damn it, it must have been that monster…"
"That monster beat up President Jose like this!"
"We can't forgive them!! We need that monster out of the magic world…"
The members of Phantom Lord shouted angrily.
"This…"
"Jose being a Ten Wizard Saint makes this a big deal."
"Indeed…"
"No matter what, Fairy Tail is at fault here."
"Right! We need to report this to the Magic Council and get justice!"
"Let's all report it together! The Council can't ignore this. They won't risk offending all the guilds for Fairy Tail!"
"Right! Let's do it…"
"We must get the Council
to expel that reckless monster, Evan, from Fiore's magic world…"
Encouraged by Phantom Lord's members, the guild masters conspired. They decided to jointly report the matter to the Magic Council to ensure their concerns were taken seriously. This collective action would prevent Fairy Tail from retaliating, as even Fairy Tail couldn't eliminate all the guilds in Fiore.
Despite their unity against Evan, their true motivation was fear. They dreaded the existence of such a powerful being within Fiore. A single guild hoarding all missions threatened their own survival.
If they could force Fairy Tail to expel Evan, they would weaken Fairy Tail and secure their place in the magic world.
Ironically, Evan had no interest in the low-level missions these weaker mages were concerned about.
It was like a dragon landing in a forest, unintentionally crushing thousands of ant nests. The ants, enraged, decided to unite and retaliate. They climbed onto the dragon's toenail, biting it, thinking they were causing harm. Meanwhile, the dragon remained oblivious, sleeping peacefully.
The ants couldn't understand the dragon's perspective or power. They believed they could drive the dragon away by working together…