The World's Number One Guild

As Irene's somewhat childish voice faded, a deathly silence fell over the vast Fairy Tail guild hall.

The usually boisterous drunkards, who were as noisy as a marketplace, all forgot to raise their glasses. Their mouths were agape, their jaws practically hitting their toes in shock.

The ultimate nightmare that has plagued the entire mage world for four hundred years is actually a medical accident caused in the name of saving the world. This plot twist is a hundred times more exciting than any third-rate romance novel written by Lucy.

Riyao leaned back on the sofa cushions, looking at everyone's dumbfounded expressions, a slight smile curving his lips as he slowly added insult to injury.

"That's why I saved the Black Dragon. In the past four hundred years, I've never heard of it indiscriminately slaughtering or harming anyone, oh, except for one unlucky guy."

As he spoke, his gaze seemed to drift unnoticed towards the most secluded table in the corner of the bar.

"Hey! You brat, I haven't even left the house yet! Who are you calling out to!"

Gildarts' forehead veins bulged, and he slammed his hand on the solid wood round table, making the wine bowls clatter and jump. He stood up angrily, pointed at Riyao's nose, and started cursing.

Wasn't it back in Mount Zonia, when he accidentally bumped into the Black Dragon and got half his internal organs, an arm, and a leg smashed by a casual slap?

Is it really necessary to publicly shame someone and use them as a negative example in front of the entire guild?

Faced with the guild's ace player's furious outburst, Riyao not only remained calm but also instantly switched to the posture of a wronged little wife, raising her sleeve to wipe away non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes, her voice trembling with grievance.

"Yeah, after I healed half of your body, you turned your back on me and now you're cursing at me. Waaah... I'm so sad."

This seemingly polite but actually morally manipulative statement was like a bucket of ice water poured over Gildarts's head, instantly silencing all the profanities he was about to unleash.

His mouth was agape, his fingers trembled as he held them in mid-air, and his old face turned a deep purplish-red.

Riyao truly did help him completely reconstruct his limbs and internal organs, which had been torn apart by the Black Dragon.

If word got out that he was slamming his fist on the table and glaring at his attending physician, how could Gildarts possibly survive in the underworld? Where the hell would he go to seek justice?!

After a full three seconds of stalemate, the once-mighty S-Class Mage, who was renowned throughout the continent, slumped back into his chair like a deflated balloon.

"I... you won."

"Pfft--Haha!"

After a brief silence, the entire guild hall erupted in deafening laughter.

Cana, who was hugging the barrel of wine, laughed the loudest, slapping her thigh and laughing until tears streamed down her face. This made her father Gildarts, cower in a corner, feeling utterly wronged, wishing he could disappear into the ground right then and there.

On the other side, Lucy had completely entered a state of frenzied research. She was lying on the table, her quill pen flying across her notebook, the pages rustling.

An ancient evil dragon emerges, attempting to rule the world. Dragon Slayer Magic is born to turn the tide, and ultimately, the invincible Black Dragon sweeps away all enemies... This is practically the golden outline of an epic bestseller!

Just as she was writing furiously, Irene, who had been sitting on a high stool, wandered over at some point, tiptoed over and put her little head behind her shoulder, tilted her head, and pointed to the words on the notebook with her delicate white finger.

"Give me the Dragon Slayer Magic developed by the Scarlet Heavenly Maiden, who possesses both beauty and wisdom!"

"Huh!? You scared me! Is this appropriate?"

Startled by the sudden voice beside her ear, Lucy's pen tip wobbled, leaving a long ink mark on the paper. Turning to look at the serious-looking Irene, her lips twitched involuntarily.

If such a long string of self-aggrandizing and shameful prefixes were suddenly inserted into a rigorous historical biography, readers would probably think the author had been paid off!

"What's wrong with this? Write it down."

Irene stood with her hands on her hips, her chin held high, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.

Before Lucy could even begin to write, Erza strode over, grabbed Irene under her arms without a word, and lifted her off the ground like a cat.

"Don't listen to her. Just keep writing your novel and ignore her."

"Hey, Erza, I'm your beautiful mommy, how could you do this to me?"

Irene protested by flapping her short legs in mid-air, but Erza gave her a bear hug, and with a thud, Irene's forehead slammed solidly into the hard, cold steel breastplate on Erza's chest.

Upon landing, the strongest female mage of the former Spriggan 12 immediately crouched down with her hands covering her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lucy's eyes twitched as she looked at the metal surface of Erza's breastplate, which didn't even have a white mark left. Her queen's embrace still had the same armor-piercing and devastating effect as always, with astonishing destructive power.

Fortunately, Wendy, Irene's best friend, arrived just in time. The little girl ran over with tiny steps, squatted down, and skillfully placed her small hand on Irene's red forehead. A soft, cool, emerald-green light appeared in her palm.

"The pain is gone!"

As Wendy's soft, soothing voice began to coax the child, the red mark on Irene's head visibly faded away.

The sight of the two little girls huddled together, heads close together, giggling, instantly melted the hearts of the onlookers, who cupped their faces and exclaimed how adorable they were.

On the sofa, Riyao reached out and put his arm around Mirajane's supple waist, pulling his wife into his arms, and watched with a smile the chaotic and lively scene in the living room.

"Wow, now our guild can be considered the number one guild in the world."

Putting everything else aside, just adding up those gourds on the tree, it's like all the legendary giants from four hundred years ago were having a tea party in Fairy Tail.

Mirajane snuggled closer to him, nuzzling his chin with her Riyao head, and blinked her blue eyes as she asked a soul-searching, fatal question.

Are we still considered part of the Guild of Light?

After all, the guild now not only houses two pillars of the former Alvarez Empire, but also features the Dark Mage Zeref and the Black Dragon Acnologia hanging in the trees.

This setup looks more like a villain's stronghold than all the dark guilds on the entire continent combined.

"What's there to be afraid of? The Magic Council is practically our people now. They can turn black into white. Besides, we get paid to destroy things."

Riyao casually ruffled Mirajane's smooth, silvery-white hair, his fingers skillfully hooking and playing with the signature little tuft of hair on her forehead, his tone wildly arrogant.

Makarov, sitting at the other end of the bar, overheard the young couple's whispered conversation, and the muscles on his old face twitched violently twice.

He picked up his glass and took a big gulp of beer, his heart filled with bitter tears.

Over the years, if it weren't for his consistently positive and upright attitude in cleaning up the mess, writing self-criticisms, and emptying his coffers to pay compensation, Fairy Tail would have been kicked out of the official Magic Council eight hundred years ago and directly designated as the number one terrorist organization!

Have you ever seen a reputable guild whose daily KPIs are either about demolishing towns or on their way to demolish towns?

Makarov put down his glass and let out a heavy sigh, clearly annoyed.

"Give me a break, senior Warrod is retiring soon, and there won't be anyone to clean up your messes."

"Why are you telling us this? We're not Natsu's group."

Riyao spread his hands innocently, decisively and accurately shifting the blame to the main demolition team in the center of the hall.

Natsu ears were as sharp as radar, who was originally fighting with Happy for fish, suddenly jumped up from his chair.

"Hey! I heard you, you bastard Riyao, who are you calling an idiot?!"

"What kind of idiot are you? When did I say that?"

Riyao picked at his ear, looking completely bewildered. His sentence had only contained a dozen or so words, and he hadn't uttered even a single syllable of "idiot"!

"I don't care, take this punch! Fire Dragon King's Collapse..."

Natsu ignored all explanations, his right fist bursting into flames, and he charged toward the sofa at the top of his lungs.

Before he could even finish raising his fist and calling out the name of his move, a giant golden hand the size of a millstone descended from the sky and slapped Natsu, along with the flames, into a crack in the floor like swatting a fly.

Makarov blew the dust off his fist, his forehead creased with annoyance. This unlucky kid just couldn't resist getting a good beating every day!

Behind Natsu, Gray and Gajeel, who had secretly taken off their coats and were rubbing their hands together, ready to rush up and beat up the Riyao Fist, froze at the same time when they saw the old chairman's giant hand that hadn't retracted yet.

With lightning speed, the two retracted their half-stretched legs, sat up straight side by side with extremely obedient manners, placed their hands properly on their knees, and kept their eyes down, afraid that if they were even a second too slow, Makarov would mistake them for accomplices and slap them into the ground together.

Riyao glanced sideways at this group of clowns, rolled his eyes, and made a sarcastic comment.

"A bunch of idiots."

In the pit in the floor, Natsu, who had been slapped into a starfish position and covered in wood chips, struggled to lift his head, pointed a trembling finger at Riyao, and even had a hint of smug satisfaction in his voice as if he had successfully solved a case.

"As expected... idiot!"

The hall fell silent for a second, then everyone simultaneously covered their foreheads and sighed in unison.

"It's hopeless."