Just Letting Them Get Away?

Watching the "Twilight Ogre" members scramble and stumble as they fled the guild in a disheveled state, Macao and the others finally felt a sense of satisfaction.

"Jiang Bai, we just let them get away like that?" Macao wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, somewhat puzzled.

Based on his understanding of Jiang Bai, this kid was no soft-hearted person.

"Run?" Jiang Bai yawned lazily, glancing in the direction the pack of hyenas had disappeared.

"I just think it's too much trouble to swat flies one by one. It's easier to wait until they all fly back to their nests and then take care of them all at once."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood.

This is an attack to raid their homes and destroy their association.

Sure enough, this was the Jiang Bai they knew.

Outside the guild.

Romeo, Bisca, and Alzack, who had just finished their quest and were walking back, bumped into Tebo and his group, who were bruised and battered and looked like stray dogs fleeing from the direction of their guild.

"It's a member of the Twilight Ogre!" Romeo's expression changed instantly.

Alzack frowned deeply. "Why are they like this? Could it be... something happened in the guild?!"

The three of them felt a sudden jolt, and without thinking twice, they quickened their pace and rushed back towards the guild.

When they rushed into the dilapidated tavern, panting, the expected scene of the guild being smashed to pieces and Macao and the others being beaten to the ground did not occur.

Instead, there was a room full of people they had always dreamed of seeing again.

Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy...

And then there was the black-haired youth standing in the very center of the crowd, lazily talking to Chairman Makarov.

Bisca stood there, stunned.

Alzack stood there, stunned.

Romeo was also stunned.

Their eyes were fixed on the group of figures that were all too familiar to them, and their minds went completely blank at that moment.

Just then, the little girl, Asuka, who was being held in Bisca's arms, reached out her little hand and touched her mother's cheek.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

Her childish voice, like a pebble, broke the stillness in the air.

Bisca then came to her senses. She hugged her daughter tightly, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Because... because Mom is so happy..."

"Brother Jiang Bai!"

Romeo's tearful cries drew everyone's attention to the three people at the door.

"Hey! Isn't this Romeo?" Jiang Bai turned around, smiling and waving at them.

"You've all grown so much! And Bisca and Alzack, it's so good to see you all."

The joy of reunion once again overwhelmed the entire guild.

After briefly explaining the "Fairy Sphere" mix-up that happened on Tenrou Island, the men gathered together and began to share their experiences from the past seven years.

The women, naturally, gathered around Bisca.

"Wow! Bisca, you actually got married!" Lucy exclaimed with envy.

Erza and Mirajane, however, focused their attention on the adorable little girl.

"Who proposed first?" Erza asked sternly, as if interrogating a criminal.

"She even has a child!" Mirajane's eyes shone with maternal love.

"Yes," Bisca said, stroking her daughter's hair with a happy expression.

"I proposed first, after all, that guy Alzack was just too indecisive."

She proudly introduced her daughter to everyone, saying, "Oh, by the way, my daughter's name is Asuka, isn't she adorable?"

After receiving unanimous praise, this "winner in life," who had successfully become a wife and mother, suddenly changed the subject and looked at Erza and Mirajane with a mischievous gaze.

"So, what about the two of you?"

When do you and Jiang Bai plan to get married and have children?

"Give birth... give birth... give birth to a child?!"

Erza's face suddenly turned as red as a boiled shrimp, and visible white steam even began to rise from the top of her head.

Mirajane was slightly better off, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her inner turmoil.

"Well... this matter mainly depends on what Xiao Bai thinks..."

"Tch~" Bisca, with an air of "experienced," nudged Mirajane with her elbow.

"It's not a bad thing for us girls to take the initiative in these kinds of things."

In short, he successfully turned Mirajane, who could barely maintain a smile, into a second Steampunk Girl.

Meanwhile, from Macao's words, Jiang Bai finally learned that Fairy Tail had begun its complete decline two years prior.

The reason is simple: the five-year protection order issued by the Magic Council has expired.

"Oh!"

Jiang Bai let out a disdainful sneer.

"Those idiots really know how to play their cards."

"They're afraid I'm not dead, but they don't dare offend me directly, so they came up with this so-called 'five-year protection' to test me."

"If I don't return within five years, it means I'm most likely really dead, and they can naturally cancel the protection and pretend nothing happened."

"If I come back, they can use the 'debt of protection' they've shown me over the past five years to curry favor, hoping that I'll spare them the trouble they caused by 'aiding the enemy' in the first place."

"That's... truly outlandish!"

"You brat, watch your mouth," Makarov patted him on the back and advised.

"Regardless of their motives, the objective fact is that they did protect the guild for five years, preventing everyone from being completely devoured by those Jackals when they were at their most vulnerable."

"Giving them a lesson is enough."

"Don't worry, old man." Jiang Bai grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

"I won't kill them."

He silently added the last sentence in his mind.

However, losing limbs or something similar is probably inevitable.

Looking at Jiang Bai's expression, Makarov could easily understand his underlying meaning.

However, he didn't say anything more.

As long as he stays alive, that's all that matters; the rest is none of his concern.

Come to think of it, if those idiots hadn't foolishly unleashed some Etherion, they wouldn't have been trapped on Tenrou Island for seven years, and they certainly wouldn't have been nearly wiped out by that black dragon.

This is a matter that definitely needs to be carefully analyzed.