Recaps

After recovering some magic, Jiang Bai chose a dangerous B-rank Vulcan subjugation job, and Makarov forbade Erza from joining him. Erza accepted that she was not yet strong enough and left to train, determined to stand beside Jiang Bai as an equal.

• Jiang Bai recovered enough magic to get up and chose a 700,000 J B-rank request to exterminate the Vulcans near Hargeon.
• Makarov warned Jiang Bai that the Vulcan population was dangerous and urged him to take an easier job, but Jiang Bai insisted he needed money and combat experience.
• Erza asked Makarov to let her accompany Jiang Bai, but Makarov refused, fearing she would put them both at risk.
• Jiang Bai agreed with Makarov and explained that he could escape alone but could not safely protect Erza while fighting the Vulcans.
• Erza left for the training ground, resolved to become strong enough to stand beside Jiang Bai without holding him back.

Jiang Bai traveled to the eastern mountains of Hargeon to deal with the violent Vulcans and demonstrated how he could use Limitless to withstand their attacks. After cutting down several of them with Space Cutting, he sensed a much stronger creature awakening in their cave.

• Makarov gave Jiang Bai a map and emergency food, warned him to put safety first, and watched him leave the guild.
• Jiang Bai arrived in the eastern mountains of Hargeon, where miners warned him that the Vulcans had killed miners and defeated a team of mages.
• Jiang Bai entered the Vulcans' territory and repeatedly activated Limitless to stop their boulders, lava, and punches without exhausting his magic.
• Jiang Bai used Space Cutting to dismember the largest Vulcan and then killed several others with invisible slashes.
• The surviving Vulcans fled as Jiang Bai turned toward their cave and sensed a much stronger creature awakening inside.

Jiang Bai defeated the Vulcan leader with ease, but the effortless victory made him realize his attacks were too limited. He left the mountain determined to develop Limitless’s Blue and Red techniques.

• The Vulcan leader attacked Jiang Bai with ground fissures and a lava blast, but Limitless left him unharmed.
• Jiang Bai trapped the leader in a spatial cage and cut it into countless blocks, completing the mission.
• Jiang Bai recovered the leader’s magical horn as proof of the mission and reflected on how little challenge the battle had offered.
• Jiang Bai considered how Space Cutting might fail against enemies with regeneration, fluid bodies, or spatial magic.
• Jiang Bai decided to prioritize developing Blue and Red, then left the mountain with renewed focus.

Jiang Bai returned to Fairy Tail after completing the Vulcan subjugation quest and stunned the guild by presenting the leader’s horn. Makarov recognized Jiang Bai’s extraordinary strength and wondered whether he might one day understand and befriend Laxus.

• Jiang Bai traveled back by train instead of using spatial transfer, wanting to experience ordinary life along the way.
• Macao, Wakaba, and other guild members assumed Jiang Bai had abandoned the quest and mocked his return without a reward.
• Jiang Bai produced the Vulcan leader’s horn from his space pouch and dropped it on the bar, proving that he had completed the quest.
• Jiang Bai told Makarov that the B-rank quest had been too easy, leaving the guild members shocked and envious of his spatial magic.
• Makarov compared Jiang Bai’s confidence to Laxus’s, then wondered whether the two powerful young mages could become friends.

Laxus confronted Jiang Bai after hearing rumors of his B-rank feat and challenged him to a fight. Laxus’s surprise attack stopped inches from Jiang Bai, who dismissed his strength and prepared to test his repulsive power.

• Laxus returned to the guild, heard about Jiang Bai’s feat, and challenged him to prove his strength.
• Jiang Bai agreed to go elsewhere, but Laxus attacked his back with a lightning-charged punch.
• Jiang Bai’s defense stopped Laxus’s fist less than an inch from his head.
• Jiang Bai mocked Laxus’s speed and strength as repulsive energy gathered in his eyes.

Jiang Bai and Laxus fought a fierce battle that left Magnolia’s street in ruins, with Jiang Bai’s spatial defense and invisible slashes overwhelming Laxus. As both fighters neared their limits, Laxus prepared a devastating final attack while the guild members feared someone would die.

• Jiang Bai wounded Laxus with an invisible spatial slash, and Laxus excitedly challenged him to fight outside.
• Laxus unleashed repeated lightning attacks while Jiang Bai defended with Limitless and countered whenever Laxus briefly faltered.
• The battle devastated Magnolia’s street, leaving Laxus covered in cuts and Jiang Bai nearly drained of magic power.
• Laxus declared that he would concede if Jiang Bai survived his final move, then gathered immense lightning in his throat as Macao and Wakaba feared the attack would kill someone.
• Jiang Bai assured the onlookers that he was there.

Jiang Bai blocked Laxus’s Lightning Dragon’s Roar, and the two became close friends through six years of intense sparring. By X777, Jiang Bai and Erza had turned twelve, while Jiang Bai, Erza, and Laxus had grown into prominent young mages in Fairy Tail.

• Laxus unleashed Lightning Dragon’s Roar, but Jiang Bai used his spatial barrier to split the attack and withstand it.
• Laxus collapsed from exhaustion, learned Jiang Bai’s name, and vowed to break through his defense next time.
• Over the next six years, Laxus repeatedly sparred with Jiang Bai, who mastered Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red but could not yet use Hollow Technique: Purple.
• Jiang Bai repaid Makarov, bought a two-story house, and Erza claimed its master bedroom after moving in.
• By X777, Erza could take on difficult B-rank missions alone, and Jiang Bai and Laxus were known as Jiang Bai the Infinity and Laxus the Thunder God.

Natsu Dragneel arrived at Fairy Tail searching for his father, the fire dragon Igneel, and the guild members mocked him when they did not believe his story. Jiang Bai recognized Natsu and his scarf but kept what he knew secret, while Makarov welcomed the boy as part of the guild’s future.

• Jiang Bai entered Fairy Tail and teased Macao about drinking too much before joining Erza at the bar.
• Makarov returned from a guild masters’ meeting with pink-haired Natsu, who asked the guild if anyone had seen Igneel and declared that the fire dragon was his father.
• The guild members laughed at Natsu’s claim, while Erza sympathized with him and Jiang Bai recognized him as Natsu Dragneel, a Dragon Slayer.
• Makarov explained that he had found Natsu in a nearby forest after sensing unusual magic and learned that the boy had become separated from his father.
• Jiang Bai teased Makarov for bringing another child into the guild and suggested he was relying on the younger generation to revitalize Fairy Tail.
• Makarov reflected on Jiang Bai, Laxus, Erza, and Natsu as the guild’s future, then declared that their era had begun.

Jiang Bai endured the physical strain of his rapidly growing magic power while Erza cared for him and Laxus challenged him to meet again at the S-Class Exam in two years. A year later, Jiang Bai had adapted to his power and began to question whether precise control still mattered.

• Macao and Wakaba joked with Makarov, and Jiang Bai promised to help make Fairy Tail the strongest guild in Fiore.
• Natsu burst into the guild demanding to fight Jiang Bai, but Erza knocked him unconscious before he could attack.
• Erza fed a tired Jiang Bai apple while the guild members complained jealously.
• Laxus returned from a mission, learned Makarov would let Jiang Bai take the S-Class Exam at fourteen, and vowed to challenge him there in two years.
• A year later, Jiang Bai had grown accustomed to his magic power and questioned the need for precise control.

Jiang Bai was sent on an urgent commission after a demon appeared in Kardia Village. He left Fairy Tail at once, though he could not recall why the village seemed important.

• Natsu challenged Jiang Bai, but his attack stopped at an invisible barrier, and Jiang Bai sent him crashing through a wall with Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.
• Makarov gave Jiang Bai a commission that specifically named the guild and said a demon had appeared at its destination.
• Jiang Bai reluctantly agreed to go after Makarov said the emergency required his strength and speed.
• Jiang Bai recognized the name Kardia Village as possibly connected to an important event but could not remember the details.
• Jiang Bai vanished to begin the job and asked Makarov to pass a message to Erza when she returned.

Jiang Bai investigated the reports of a demon in Kardia Village and found Mirajane Strauss alone in a cabin, her right arm transformed by demonic magic. He recognized her but turned away after accidentally startling her, and tried to think of a plausible way to explain his arrival.

• Jiang Bai arrived in Kardia Village to investigate a job and used his magic to overcome the village chief's doubts about his strength.
• The village chief told Jiang Bai that demonic noises had come from the church at night and that a girl who entered it had been possessed.
• Jiang Bai sensed a current of evil magic and used Space Transfer to reach its source in a wooden cabin.
• Jiang Bai found a silver-haired girl struggling to dress, and she screamed when she saw him appear.
• Jiang Bai recognized the girl as Mirajane Strauss, turned away, and decided to calm her without revealing that he knew who she was.

Jiang Bai found Mirajane Strauss in a cabin and explained that her demonized arm came from Take Over Magic, not possession. When he sensed villagers gathering in the center and Mirajane feared they had taken Elfman and Lisanna, she rushed there while Jiang Bai vanished using spatial magic.

• Jiang Bai introduced himself to Mirajane and explained that her arm was a rare form of Take Over Magic.
• Mirajane told Jiang Bai her name and became wary when he asked about her younger siblings, Elfman and Lisanna.
• Jiang Bai sensed villagers gathering in the village center and noticed the atmosphere seemed unusual.
• Mirajane remembered that Elfman and Lisanna had gone out to find food and feared the villagers had captured them.
• Mirajane raced toward the village center, and Jiang Bai vanished from the cabin using spatial magic.

Jiang Bai rescued Elfman and Lisanna from villagers who planned to burn them as demon spawn, then offered to take the siblings and Mirajane to Fairy Tail. Mirajane asked whether he minded her demon arm, and Jiang Bai told her he thought she was powerful.

• Jiang Bai used his magic to immobilize the villagers and free Elfman and Lisanna from the stakes.
• Jiang Bai told the frightened children he had come to help their sister, and Mirajane arrived and embraced them.
• Mirajane thanked Jiang Bai and forgave him for barging into her room earlier.
• Jiang Bai told the village chief that the demon had already been dealt with and offered to take Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna away.
• Jiang Bai invited them to Fairy Tail, and when Mirajane asked if he minded her demon arm, he said he thought she was powerful.

Mirajane left the village with Jiang Bai, Elfman, and Lisanna, then revealed that she had sensed an ancient seal beneath the church weakening and containing evil magic. Jiang Bai calmly told her he already knew, leaving the threat beneath the village unresolved.

• Mirajane chose to leave the village with Jiang Bai and her siblings, and the villagers let them go.
• As they walked through the woods, Mirajane told Jiang Bai that she had sensed a sealed source of magic beneath the church.
• Mirajane explained that Satan had been attacking the seal and that she had absorbed the demon to stop it.
• Mirajane warned that the seal was nearly broken and that the evil magic beneath it could escape.
• Jiang Bai showed no surprise or anger and told Mirajane that he already knew.

Jiang Bai explained that the village’s seal would gradually corrupt the villagers and shorten their lives, but he refused to intervene after they tried to burn Mirajane’s siblings. After Mirajane passed out from exhaustion, Jiang Bai took her and the children into the forest, where he reassured her about her arm and gave her a cloak to conceal it before they traveled to Fairy Tail.

• Jiang Bai told Mirajane that the sealed magic would cloud the villagers’ minds and shorten their lifespans by about a third, but he would leave them to face the consequences of their actions.
• Jiang Bai reassured Mirajane that protecting her family did not make her cruel, and she collapsed after her guilt and exhaustion overwhelmed her.
• Jiang Bai caught Mirajane, carried her with Elfman and Lisanna into the forest, and made them a meal after she woke.
• Mirajane asked whether her demonic arm could be restored at Fairy Tail, and Jiang Bai assured her that the guild master could handle it.
• Jiang Bai said they would take a train to Fairy Tail and gave Mirajane a hooded cloak to hide her arm from other people.

Jiang Bai returned to Fairy Tail with Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna, hoping to have them join the guild, while Makarov and Laxus also brought new children. The chapter ended with Freed Justine, Evergreen, and Bickslow declaring that they wanted to join and follow Laxus.

• Jiang Bai brought Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna to Fairy Tail, where the guild’s chaotic atmosphere frightened the newcomers.
• Jiang Bai told Macao and Wakaba that Mirajane could become powerful with Take Over Magic, then called for Makarov to register the children.
• Makarov arrived with Gray Fullbuster and explained that Gray wanted to join Fairy Tail.
• Laxus returned with Freed Justine, Evergreen, and Bickslow, who had followed him after he met them on a job.
• Freed Justine, Evergreen, and Bickslow announced that they wanted to join Fairy Tail and follow Laxus.

Makarov began admitting Jiang Bai and the other newcomers to Fairy Tail, while Jiang Bai explained Mirajane’s demonic arm and the villagers’ persecution to him. When Mirajane revealed the arm, the guild greeted it with excitement and admiration, leaving her feeling accepted and safe.

• Makarov led the newcomers to the bar to complete their guild admissions.
• Jiang Bai told Makarov that Mirajane’s arm had changed after she took over the demon Satan and explained what had happened in Kardia Village.
• Makarov approved Jiang Bai’s actions and gently asked Mirajane to show him her arm so he could understand how to help her.
• Mirajane revealed her scaled, clawed arm, and Natsu excitedly praised it instead of reacting with fear.
• The guild crowded around Mirajane’s arm with curiosity and admiration, and she cried with relief as she realized Fairy Tail accepted her.

Laxus challenged Jiang Bai to meet him in one year, while Natsu and Gray quickly became rivals until Erza stopped their fight and returned from her mission. Mirajane mastered basic Take Over Magic and, upon meeting Erza, felt an immediate urge to compete with her.

• Laxus told Jiang Bai that one year remained before leading Freed and his other followers upstairs.
• Natsu and Gray argued over their fire and ice magic and prepared to fight, while Makarov hoped their quarrel would help Gray recover from Ur's sacrifice.
• Erza returned from an escort mission, knocked Natsu and Gray unconscious, and scolded the guild members for their behavior.
• Erza greeted Makarov and asked Jiang Bai to go shopping with her for strawberry cake.
• Mirajane showed Jiang Bai that she could control her transformed arm, then felt a sudden desire to test herself against Erza.

Erza and Mirajane competed for Jiang Bai’s attention, each insisting he come with her. Jiang Bai settled the dispute by taking both of them to the dessert shop, where Erza could eat cake and Mirajane could show him her magic.

• Erza grabbed Jiang Bai’s arm and invited him to eat strawberry cake before the shop closed.
• Mirajane seized Jiang Bai’s other arm, transformed hers into a demon claw and back, and asked to show him the magic she had learned.
• Erza called Mirajane a newbie and told her to wait, while Mirajane argued that Jiang Bai was responsible for checking her progress.
• Jiang Bai freed himself from both girls and announced that they would all go to the dessert shop together, with him paying.
• Erza and Mirajane reluctantly agreed and left the guild beside Jiang Bai as Makarov watched them go.

A year after joining the guild, Mirajane had become a bold, powerful mage and her rivalry with Erza had grown into frequent clashes. Their latest fight ended when Jiang Bai stopped them with Telekinesis and sent them off to do a job, leaving the guild relieved that he alone could keep the two in check.

• Over the year, Mirajane transformed from a timid girl into a defiant mage, while Erza became an even more imposing guild disciplinarian.
• Natsu and Gray started another fight, and Erza moved to stop them before Mirajane mocked her and provoked a quarrel over Jiang Bai.
• Erza and Mirajane summoned their magic and prepared to fight, but Jiang Bai seized them both with Telekinesis after they woke him.
• Jiang Bai told Erza and Mirajane to go do a job, then dropped them onto the floor when they refused to listen.
• Erza and Mirajane walked away in opposite directions, and Macao and Wakaba remarked that Jiang Bai was the only one who could keep them in line.

Gildarts Clive returned to Fairy Tail, and Makarov announced the guild’s S-Class Mage Promotion Exam. Jiang Bai and Laxus Dreyar were the only candidates, leaving the other guild members stunned.

• Jiang Bai found the guild unusually quiet and saw Gildarts Clive back from his Ten-Year Quest.
• Makarov scolded Jiang Bai for sleeping through Gildarts’s return and explained that Magnolia had activated the Gildarts Shift.
• Gildarts praised Jiang Bai’s improved magic power and told Makarov to begin the gathering.
• Makarov announced that Fairy Tail’s annual S-Class Mage Promotion Exam had begun and named Laxus Dreyar and Jiang Bai as its only candidates.
• Erza congratulated Jiang Bai, while Mirajane quietly wished him luck.

Makarov announced that each S-Class Exam candidate could choose one guildmate as a teammate, and Erza and Mirajane both insisted on joining Jiang Bai. As the two went outside to fight over the choice, Laxus challenged Jiang Bai to show his strength in the exam.

• Makarov announced that the S-Class Exam would begin in an hour and that candidates could each choose one guildmate as a teammate.
• Jiang Bai saw Cana watching Gildarts leave and decided he would talk to her about their relationship after the exam.
• Erza and Mirajane argued over who would team up with Jiang Bai, knocked Natsu unconscious when he volunteered, and went outside to settle the dispute in a fight.
• Laxus confronted Jiang Bai and challenged him to show how much he had improved, and Jiang Bai answered that Laxus might lose too quickly.
• The guild members celebrated the coming clash between Jiang Bai and Laxus while Jiang Bai worried more about Erza and Mirajane's rivalry.

Erza won the contest to team with Jiang Bai, and the candidates traveled with Makarov and Gildarts to Huonia Forest for the S-Class Exam. Makarov started the exam with a paired challenge, while Gildarts announced that the first-round winner would have to endure thirty minutes against him to pass the second round.

• Erza defeated Mirajane and joined Jiang Bai's team, while Mirajane vowed to beat her next time.
• Makarov and Gildarts led Jiang Bai, Erza, Laxus, and Freed to Huonia Forest, where Jiang Bai rested his head on Erza's lap during the carriage ride.
• Makarov announced the first round, 'King and Knight': Jiang Bai and Laxus would fight along the King's Path, while Erza and Freed would clear magic beasts and power devices on the Knight's Path.
• Makarov explained that each king's teammate had to power a device before the king won, or the king could not advance.
• Gildarts announced that the first-round winner would face him and pass by lasting thirty minutes without falling.

Jiang Bai defeated Laxus in their trial battle, countering his attacks with Infinity, Blue, and Red. After Laxus exhausted himself on one final secret art, Jiang Bai continued to the mountaintop and stood alone at the ancient King's Altar.

• Freed and Erza entered the Knight's Path as their race began.
• Laxus attacked Jiang Bai with lightning, but Infinity stopped every strike.
• Laxus used Blue's pull to accelerate a point-blank Lightning Dragon Crushing Fist, but Jiang Bai repelled him with Red and sent him crashing into the mountainside.
• Laxus rose and unleashed Narumikazuchi, but Jiang Bai devoured it with Blue, leaving Laxus unable to continue.
• Jiang Bai praised Laxus, explained that most magic could not overcome him, and reached the ancient King's Altar alone.

Erza defeated Freed on the Knight's Path, but the two set aside their conflict to activate the Trial Platform's devices. At the summit, Jiang Bai entered the second round of the test and faced Gildarts, who challenged him to survive for thirty minutes.

• Erza used her Heaven's Wheel Armor to destroy Freed's rune traps, then broke through his Absolute Domain with her Adamantine Armor and defeated him.
• Erza and Freed reached the Trial Platform, cleared its magical beasts, and each channeled magic into one of the devices.
• The devices sent two pillars of light into the sky, activating the ancient altar beneath Jiang Bai.
• Jiang Bai appeared on a barren plain, where Gildarts announced the second round: Jiang Bai had to last thirty minutes without falling.
• Jiang Bai said thirty minutes was too long, challenged Gildarts to finish quickly, and vanished from his spot.