The Guild Master's Secret!

The Grand Magic Games have come to a complete end.

The Fairy Tail crew returned to the tavern where they were stationed.

The tavern doors were tightly shut.

The stone wall on the outside of the building.

Jiang Bai leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets, and casually kicked a piece of gravel at his feet.

Laxus crossed his arms and leaned against a wooden pillar.

Makarov stood directly in front of the two men.

Laxus looked down at Makarov.

"That guy asked me something earlier at the competition."

Laxus raised his right hand and rubbed the back of his neck. Although he didn't say the name, Jiang Bai and Makarov both knew that Laxus was referring to Ivan.

"He didn't care about winning or losing the game at all; he was just relentlessly pressing for information the whole time."

"They kept asking where Lumen Starshine was."

Laxus lowered his arm.

"They even arrogantly declared that once they obtained that thing, the entire world would be trampled under their feet."

Makarov instantly gritted his teeth.

Makarov raised his right foot and slammed it into the ground.

"That unreasonable bastard!"

Several thin cracks appeared in the stone slab.

"They're still eyeing that thing from the guild, and they've even gone so far as to exploit their own son!"

Makarov clenched his fists tightly.

"I was so blind back then!"

"If I'd known that bastard would turn out like this, I should have just slapped him to death when I expelled Ivan from the guild!"

Laxus watched as Makarov flew into a rage.

The old man was truly enraged.

Laxus straightened up and took a small step forward.

"Grandpa, what exactly does that word he was using mean?"

Makarov stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at Laxus's face.

"What's the meaning."

Laxus neither dodged nor evaded.

"What exactly is this so-called Lumen Starshine that people are searching for it like madmen?"

Laxus paused for two seconds, then turned his face to the side.

"If it's inconvenient to say it outright, just pretend I never asked."

"Well, that's something we really shouldn't talk about casually under any circumstances."

Makarov coughed twice loudly and straightened his back forcefully.

"This is Fairy Tail's most closely guarded secret."

"An absolute secret known only to the successive chairmen; not even a single word can be revealed to their own grandson."

Jiang Bai straightened up and slowly picked at his ear.

Jiang Bai felt that the old man was being completely unnecessary by keeping things in suspense at this crucial juncture.

Jiang Bai put his hands back into his pockets and looked at Laxus.

"Alright, there's no point in hiding it."

Jiang Bai immediately revealed his secrets.

"You can think of the so-called Lumen Starlight as a super device with Infinity magic power."

Laxus's brows furrowed tightly.

"Infinity magic?"

Jiang Bai nodded readily.

"As long as that thing is successfully activated, we will gain an inexhaustible amount of magical power."

Makarov was so anxious he jumped up and down.

Hey! You brat!

Makarov pointed at Jiang Bai's nose and loudly accused him.

How could you be so rude!

"That's the guild's trump card, how come it's become some cold, impersonal device in your mouth!"

Makarov slapped his thigh with his hand.

"And as I just reiterated, this is an absolute Hidden known only to the successive presidents!"

"Are they completely ignoring these rules?!"

Jiang Bai spread his hands out, palms facing up.

"Come on, old man."

Jiang Bai pointed to his nose.

"I'm not a former guild leader anymore, but I know everything perfectly well."

Makarov was so choked up that he couldn't utter a single word.

You can't beat them in a fight, and you can't win an argument with them.

Jiang Bai continued his attack without showing any mercy.

"Furthermore, logically speaking, during the seven years that Tenrou Island disappeared, Uncle Macao was the rightful fourth-generation guild leader."

Jiang Bai crossed his arms and looked down at Makarov.

"Did you, sir, confide in Uncle Macao?"

Makarov took a half step back, quickly avoiding Jiang Bai's gaze.

"Well... that's a completely different situation."

Jiang Bai exposed the truth.

"What's the difference? Does that mean the fourth-generation chairman isn't a legitimate chairman?"

Makarov gripped his cane tightly, and it took him a long time to finally manage to utter an answer.

"Macao failed to uncover this secret entirely because he wasn't strong enough!"

Makarov raised his voice in defense.

"That power is too immense. Even the slightest leak of its aura could attract a frenzied scramble from the Magic Council or even more terrifying enemies!"

"The reason we kept it a secret was entirely for the safety of Macao and the entire guild!"

Makarov started counting on his fingers, recounting old grievances.

"Think about it carefully, with Macao's mediocre skills—he gets chased for debts even when he just goes to a pub for a drink—could he possibly handle such a groundbreaking secret?"

"I almost didn't make it back from hunting a regular monster. If I knew there was something this terrifying buried beneath the guild, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night!"

Makarov raised his cane and struck it heavily.

"To protect intelligence of this level, without overwhelming strength, you'll be crushed in no time. Even if you speak frankly, it will only bring annihilation to the entire guild!"

Jiang Bai raised his right thumb.

"Old man, that excuse is a bit too pragmatic."

Jiang Bai shook his head and sighed.

"Uncle Macao worked hard for seven years under pressure, but in the end he couldn't even find out what his own resources were."

Laxus roughly figured out the logic behind it.

Although the specifics are unclear, this force is certainly powerful enough to cause disaster.

Laxus stopped asking for details and instead posed another question.

"And what about the other word he mentioned?"

Laxus looked at Makarov.

"In the final moments of the battle, he referred to Lumen Starshine as the Fairy Tail Darkness."

Laxus clenched his fists again.

"Is that some kind of cursed dark power?"

Before he could finish speaking...

A slight ripple appeared in the air.

The light suddenly coalesced and took shape.

Mavis appeared out of thin air right in the center of the three.

"That's not some kind of Fairy Darkness!"

Mavis put his hands on his hips and loudly refuted the claim.

"That is absolutely the beacon of hope for the future!"

Makarov was startled.

"First Generation!"

Laxus looked at Mavis who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slowly loosened his clenched fist.

"It turns out it wasn't some dangerous item that would bring destruction."

Laxus put his hands back in his pockets.

"Since it doesn't have any terrible side effects, then I have nothing to worry about."

Jiang Bai turned his head, looked Laxus up and down, and then pointed with one finger.

"You've changed way too much."

Laxus turned his head away.

"What inexplicable change?"

Jiang Bai imitated Laxus's former appearance.

Jiang Bai spread his legs apart, stretched his arms out exaggeratedly, and raised his hands above his head.

Jiang Bai made a lightning strike motion in the air, while simultaneously making a hissing sound.

"In the past, you would have kicked the table in front of you to pieces at this moment, your whole body glowing with golden light as you shouted."

Jiang Bai lowered his voice to a rough, gruff tone.

"Get out of the way, all of you! Old man, get back to the nursing home!"

"I am the strongest!"

"I will wipe everyone out and become the one and only supreme new guild master of Fairy Tail!"

"This Infinity magic must be kept safe by my own hands!"

Jiang Bai lowered his arms, resumed his normal standing posture, and looked at Laxus with a mischievous grin.

"If I remember correctly, back in the day, this was the arrogant attitude of someone who thought they were the most important person in the world, standing by the railing on the second floor of the guild building."

Laxus's entire face instantly turned bright red.

Laxus suddenly took a step forward and pointed a finger at Jiang Bai.

"Hello!"

Laxus gritted his teeth.

"Why bring this up now when it happened so long ago?!"