You Little Brat! Use the Front Door!
Seeing the shocked and bewildered expressions on Lucy and Wendy's faces, Mirajane smiled and explained:
"That's because Gildarts' magic 'Crush' can Crush anything he touches."
"Because he's sometimes not careful, he might accidentally bump into the buildings next to him while walking, and then..." Mirajane made a "bang" gesture.
"The house is gone. So to avoid this situation, the town will automatically revert to this state whenever he returns."
Lucy's lips twitched.
How incredibly confused must he be for the entire town to make such an exaggerated change for him alone!
"That sounds amazing, Carla." Wendy's eyes were filled with admiration.
Carla crossed her arms and pouted, "Yeah, sounds like another amazing idiot."
Just as the group was talking, a tall figure appeared at the end of the straight road.
The man had a stylish, slicked-back orange haircut, a neatly groomed stubble on his chin, and wore a dark green cloak. He looked somewhat unkempt, but exuded the charm of a mature man.
He is Gildarts Clive, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail.
However, at this moment, the strongest mage was looking around, his face full of confusion.
"That's strange... I remember Fairy Tail guild should be around here..."
Then, his gaze fell on Mirajane, Lucy, and Wendy, who were standing at the guild entrance.
He strode over, flashing what he thought was a very handsome smile, "Ladies, excuse me, is there a guild called 'Fairy Tail' around here?"
Mirajane covered her mouth and chuckled, "This is it. By the way, I'm Mirajane."
"Mira?" Gildarts looked her up and down, his face full of disbelief.
"You've changed so much! By the way, has our guild been rebuilt? It doesn't look like it at all."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a fiery figure rushed out of the guild.
"Gildarts! I challenge you to a duel!" Natsu roared, his fighting spirit soaring.
"Oh! It's Natsu!" Gildarts smiled nostalgically when he saw Natsu.
"Long time no see! You've grown so much! I've heard so much about you, Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon!"
"Haha! Enough with the nonsense, let's have a showdown!"
Natsu yelled excitedly, and his fist, wreathed in flames, charged towards Gildarts.
Gildarts simply raised one hand casually.
"Bang!"
Natsu blasted away like a cannonball, crashing into the ceiling and creating a large, human-shaped hole in it, where he hung.
"Sorry, Natsu," Gildarts withdrew his hand without even glancing at him.
"I need to go see my daughter now."
"You... are still... so strong..." Natsu's weak yet satisfied voice came from the ceiling.
The guild members also gathered around.
"Gildarts, welcome back!"
"Hey! You haven't changed a bit!"
"A man who's only slightly less capable than my brother-in-law has returned!"
Gildarts greeted everyone with a smile, "Haha, there are quite a few new faces in the guild."
After exchanging greetings, he immediately spotted Cana, who was holding a barrel of wine and pretending not to be looking at him.
Gildarts immediately narrowed his eyes, a lewd smile spreading across his face. His tongue twisted into a heart shape as he moved closer to Cana.
My dearest Cana, have you missed your dad? I've been thinking about you so much!
"That's so cheesy! You old geezer!" Cana kicked him, though it had no effect.
"If you missed me that much, why did you come back so late!"
Gildarts regained his composure, scratched his head, and his expression became serious. "Ah... a lot happened on the way."
Just then, a dignified voice came from the second floor.
"Gildarts!"
It was Makarov.
"Oh! It's the guild master!" Gildarts immediately stood up straight.
Makarov leaped from the second floor, landing steadily in front of him, and asked with a serious expression, "How did the mission go?"
Upon hearing this question, Gildarts' smile froze instantly, and he began scratching his head, laughing and looking away, avoiding eye contact with the guild master.
Seeing his expression, Makarov's heart skipped a beat; he already knew the outcome.
Sure enough, Gildarts announced the result the next second.
"Sorry, President! I failed the mission!"
"Wh... what?!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"That Gildarts... he actually failed?"
The entire guild fell into a deathly silence, everyone staring at Gildarts with disbelief.
In their hearts, before Jiang Bai had grown up, Gildarts was the epitome of invincibility and the strongest man in Fairy Tail.
But now, he actually admitted that he had failed his mission.
"Then... Jiang Bai, he..." Someone subconsciously looked at Jiang Bai, who was sitting at the bar, leisurely eating.
Both 100-Year Quest, but Jiang Bai successfully returned!
Gildarts slowly raised his head and looked at Jiang Bai. His eyes showed a hint of resentment at the mission's failure, but more than that, they held a bitter smile of relief.
"They're really... no match for today's young people!"
"I'm sorry, President, I've embarrassed you."
This is more than just a failed mission.
For the man who was once known as the strongest in Fairy Tail with overwhelming power, this was more like an indelible stain, deeply hurting his pride as a top-tier mage.
However, Makarov did not care about these empty titles.
He jumped down from the bar, walked over to Gildarts, gently patted his hand, and said in a reassuring tone, "What nonsense are you talking about! The most important thing is that you're back safe and sound!"
"As far as I know, of all the people who went on that mission over the years, you're the only one who's ever come back alive."
Gildarts relaxed slightly after hearing the chairman's words.
"Uncle," Jiang Bai, who hadn't spoken until now, slowly walked over.
"It seems you've encountered some major trouble beyond what's required for the mission. Otherwise, with your abilities, you wouldn't have failed."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Gildarts again.
Yes, with Gildarts' strength, how could he possibly fail? There must have been some unavoidable factor!
Gildarts gave a wry smile and stood up from the ground.
"Well, I guess you could say I encountered a huge accident." He didn't explain in detail, just shook his head with a hint of relief on his face.
"But the mission wasn't completed because I lacked the ability. There's no excuse for that."
He then cast an approving glance at Jiang Bai.
"You, Jiang Bai, the only person in the magic world to have completed 100-Year Quest, you've done a really good job!"
Gildarts patted Jiang Bai's shoulder forcefully, as if to pass on some kind of will.
Then, he stretched and yawned widely.
"Alright, that's enough. I'm exhausted after three years of traveling. I need to go back and get some rest."
As he spoke, he glanced at the pink head beside him, which had been in a state of excitement ever since he appeared.
"Natsu, come over here later, I have a little surprise for you."
"Really?! Great!" Natsu jumped up excitedly upon hearing this.
Just as Gildarts was about to leave, Jiang Bai's gaze fell on his large, dark green cloak, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Uncle," Jiang Bai suddenly spoke.
"I'll go over there in a bit."
Gildarts paused in his steps, turned around, and met Jiang Bai's gaze, which seemed to know everything.
He knew that Jiang Bai had already noticed the changes in his body.
"Okay." Gildarts nodded, not asking any further questions, which was taken as agreement.
"Then I'll head back now!"
After saying that, Gildarts turned around and strode straight toward one of the guild's walls without even looking in the direction he was going.
"Hey! Uncle! That's a wall over there..." Lucy instinctively tried to warn him.
But before she could finish speaking, something happened that left her speechless.
"Boom--!"
With a deafening roar, the sturdy guild wall, the moment Gildarts made contact with it, crumbled like paper, its massive, human-shaped hole blasted open by his "Crush" magic.
He walked out, bathed in dust, without looking back.
The entire guild fell silent once again.
Several seconds passed before Makarov's furious roar finally echoed through the sky.
"You brat! You'd better get out the door properly!"