Suddenly, the sound of several people laughing and chatting approached.
They were townsfolk out for a walk in this park.
Su Tan and Laxus simultaneously withdrew their respective auras and magic.
A battle between mages could be too destructive, especially with ordinary people nearby.
Seeing that these civilians were headed in their direction, neither mage saw any point in continuing. Besides, if they caused a commotion and the old man back at the guild interfered, they wouldn't be able to settle things definitively.
"Su Tan! I'm the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail! I will be the one to inherit Fairy Tail."
"It won't be long before I defeat you completely."
With a snort, Laxus turned and left.
It's so dull, Fairy Tail. I don't want a guild like this, and my patience is at its limit. I will take over Fairy Tail.
Su Tan looked at Gajeel. "How about it? Can you stand?"
Gajeel propped himself up with his arms and rose to his feet, albeit unsteadily.
He glanced at Su Tan. "Why? Why did you save me? I'm the one who destroyed your guild."
"A debt is paid by whoever owes it. The real culprit was Jose, and he got what he deserved. As for you, I already punished you back when we were enemies.
"Now you're a member of Fairy Tail—until you do something to endanger the guild, you're part of us.
"When a guild member is bullied, of course I won't stand by and watch."
Hearing Su Tan's words made Gajeel's heart tremble slightly. A member of Fairy Tail…
"As for Laxus, he's got a twisted personality. He's also way stronger than you, so next time don't bother fighting back."
"If you really want to repay this, then do your jobs well and protect the guild when it needs your strength."
With that, Su Tan turned and left.
Gajeel remained there, dazed. In truth, he had intended to let Laxus vent his anger on him, but he hadn't expected Laxus to be so monstrously strong. Gajeel had assumed Fairy Tail already had one monstrous wizard—Su Tan—and now he'd discovered another.
Yes, Fairy Tail had plenty of weaker wizards, but it also had plenty of very strong ones. He thought back to the Phantom Lord guild and their master's endless insults toward Fairy Tail. Gajeel himself had believed Fairy Tail was nothing but a gang of weaklings—until he actually fought them.
He used to be the strongest mage in Phantom Lord. But in Fairy Tail, he found that any S-class mage could give him a headache. Had Su Tan not been around back then, but Laxus instead, the Phantom Lord attack on Fairy Tail might still have ended in defeat.
Meanwhile, somewhere else:
Hilomente, headquarters of the dark guild Soul of the Corpse.
"Waaah!"
"Arghhhh!"
The door to Soul of the Corpse was smashed open, several members knocked aside.
"How dare you make fools of us!"
Three individuals strode through the gates of Soul of the Corpse.
"Barging into our guild—these bastards!!"
"Don't think you'll leave alive!!"
Hordes of the dark guild mages attacked the trio, fuming.
"This is so annoying," one of them said. "A guild that worships ghosts in secret, yet dares to challenge an official guild—what is this world coming to?"
The speaker, a bespectacled mage named Evergreen, calmly raised her glasses, and the members rushing at her turned to stone on the spot.
"Wh-what?!"
"Damn them! Kill them!"
Elsewhere, wooden dolls sprang up, firing magical beams.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Yahahahahah!"
"Waaahhh!"
Before long, every member of Soul of the Corpse lay on the ground, defeated.
Freed said, "That's enough, Bickslow."
"Ah? It's over already?" Bickslow grumbled as if still itching for more action.
"How did such a feeble bunch even form a guild?" Freed remarked. "I didn't really have to do much before you two wiped them out."
Evergreen said, "Too weak to be legal—no wonder they went dark."
"Not fun!" Bickslow's animated dolls spun wildly. "My babies haven't had enough!"
"I have news to share," Freed said.
"Is it about Laxus at last?" Bickslow asked, brightening. "He's finally going to make his move?"
"I've been waiting for that moment!" Evergreen added. "And so have my babies!"
"All right, let's head back—to Fairy Tail," Freed said.
The three turned and left. Around them, the few conscious members of Soul of the Corpse shuddered in disbelief.
"Just three people… wiped out our entire guild?"
"And that long-haired one barely even joined in—so it was just two…"
"That's the power of the Thunder God Tribe… Fairy Tail's Laxus?"
They couldn't fathom how Fairy Tail had such terrifying wizards.
Back at Laxus's home, he wore a grim smile. "The Thunder God Tribe is returning. Finally, the time has come. Fairy Tail's internal strife is about to begin. Old man, your era's over."
Magnolia Town was preparing for its traditional festival, the Harvest Festival. Lanterns and decorations lined the streets.
Master Makarov strolled down one of those festive roads, arms full of colored paper. "Magnolia always goes all out for the Harvest Festival," he said with a smile.
Mira, walking beside him, agreed. "Yes. Everyone's getting ready for the Magic Parade—that big event Fairy Tail's so proud of. I heard from Su Tan that Laxus came back to town. It'd be great if he joined us."
Makarov's expression grew a bit uneasy. "He's returned now, of all times, huh…"