Chapter Summaries

On the way to Warrod’s cabin, Lucy asked Jiang Bai how strong he had become and whether he could finally defeat Acnologia. Jiang Bai said he had stopped worrying about Acnologia five years earlier and was waiting for a chance to meet the dragon again.

• Natsu and Gray argued over who had been slower when a demon attacked the village.
• Lucy asked Jiang Bai how far his strength had advanced and whether he was confident he could defeat Acnologia for good.
• Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Carla, and Happy stopped to listen to Jiang Bai’s answer.
• Jiang Bai said he had not worried about Acnologia for five years and was simply waiting for another chance to encounter it.
• The group trusted Jiang Bai’s confidence, believing his strength had grown enough to make defeating Acnologia a certainty.

Jiang Bai told Lucy and the others that only reaching the Ten Wizard Saint level would let them begin to grasp how far above them he stood. Natsu and Gray fought over his boastful line while Jiang Bai continued toward Warrod’s house.

• Lucy asked Jiang Bai how strong he was, and he said no one on the continent could challenge him enough to measure his limits.
• Jiang Bai told the group that those below Ten Wizard Saint strength were like frogs in a well, while even Ten Wizard Saints were like mayflies gazing at the sky.
• Wendy praised Jiang Bai’s arrogant remarks, and Natsu excitedly decided to memorize the line and use it against Gray or Erza.
• Natsu and Gray argued over who would get to use the line, then attacked each other with fire and ice magic.
• Jiang Bai ignored their fight and headed toward Warrod’s wooden house, where Warrod was waiting with tea.

After the team completed the dangerous mission in Sun Village, Warrod tried to reward Lucy with a potato before paying her in gold. Back at Fairy Tail, the team learned Warrod was one of the guild’s founders, while Wendy threatened to show everyone photos of a shrunken Jiang Bai.

• Warrod praised the team for breaking the demonic ice and defeating the threat, then warned that Tartaros might be preparing a major operation.
• Warrod gave Lucy a potato as a joke reward, but handed over a bag of gold after she threatened to have Jiang Bai demolish his cabin.
• The team soaked in a natural hot spring, then returned to Magnolia and reported the mission to Makarov.
• Makarov revealed that Warrod had helped Lady Mavis found Fairy Tail, shocking Lucy, Gray, and Natsu.
• Lucy accused Jiang Bai of hiding Warrod’s identity, and Wendy threatened to circulate photos of Jiang Bai after he had been shrunk.

Wendy showed the guild photographs of Jiang Bai after Deliora’s curse had regressed him to a little boy, then recounted how he reversed the effect. The guild laughed over memories of Jiang Bai’s childhood while Mirajane clutched the photographs and teared up.

• Wendy laid out fresh photographs of little Jiang Bai at the guild bar, catching Erza and Mirajane’s attention.
• Mirajane recognized the photographs as newly developed, and Wendy explained that Deliora’s Curse of Regression had turned Jiang Bai into a child before he reversed it.
• Wendy revealed that she had taken dozens of photographs of Jiang Bai before he changed back, prompting the guild members to crowd around and examine them.
• Macao, Makarov, Wakaba, and Erza shared memories of Jiang Bai as a child, and the guild filled with laughter.
• Mirajane held several photographs to her chest and began to cry.

Mirajane begged Jiang Bai to turn into a child after seeing photographs from Sun Village, but he explained that his Regression Magic could not change his age or body size. She claimed the photographs for herself as Fairy Tail returned to its usual bustle, with Tartaros still looming in the distance.

• Mirajane studied photographs of little Jiang Bai and resented missing both his childhood and his brief transformation in Sun Village.
• Mirajane begged Jiang Bai to use Regression Magic to become a little boy so she could pinch his cheeks.
• Jiang Bai explained that his Regression Magic only suppressed energy and physical attributes, while the demon's Regression Curse relied on a fundamentally different power.
• Mirajane claimed the entire stack of photographs and threatened anyone who tried to steal them, making Macao and Wakaba abandon their plans to take some.
• Erza, Wendy, and Lucy watched the exchange as the Fairy Tail guild hall returned to its familiar commotion after the successful Sun Village job.

The Magic Council debated Fairy Tail and the growing threat of Tartaros before a sudden blast destroyed the assembly hall. Doranbolt survived the devastation but found Lahar dead in the rubble.

• Councilor Reiji questioned Oge about how he had lost his arm, and Oge refused to explain.
• Gran Doma convened the council to discuss reports of Tartaros demons raiding magical resources.
• Michello and Belno urged the council to prepare defenses against Tartaros.
• A violent blast tore through the Magic Council headquarters, reducing the assembly hall to rubble.
• Doranbolt recovered from the explosion and found Lahar dead beneath the debris.

Doranbolt watched the Magic Council’s leaders die in Tartaros’s attack, but found Councilor Oge still alive beneath the rubble. After Jackal killed Oge, Doranbolt escaped with Oge’s message to find Jiang Bai at Fairy Tail in Magnolia.

• Doranbolt searched the ruined headquarters and found Councilor Oge alive beneath the rubble.
• Jackal kicked Doranbolt away and prepared to kill Oge to complete Lord Mard’s purge order.
• Oge ordered Doranbolt to flee, find Jiang Bai at Fairy Tail in Magnolia, and report everything that had happened.
• Jackal’s explosive magic killed Oge and blasted Doranbolt through the ruins.
• Doranbolt used Space Transfer magic to escape, while Jackal identified himself as one of Tartaros’s Nine Demon Gates.

Jiang Bai joked with Bisca and Alzack in the guild hall before Mest suddenly emerged from a spatial rift, gravely injured and out of magic power. The guild members recognized the former undercover agent, and Jiang Bai told Wendy to treat him.

• Jiang Bai gave Asuka a glowing fruit, and Bisca and Alzack protested that he had encouraged her to call him big brother.
• Jiang Bai defended himself by boasting about his looks and strength, leaving Bisca speechless and Alzack irritated.
• A spatial rift opened in the guild hall, and a bloodied Mest fell out onto the floor.
• Wendy and the other guild members recognized Mest, while the Tenrou Island participants recalled his undercover role and memory-manipulation magic.
• Jiang Bai examined the unconscious Mest and asked Wendy to treat him.

Wendy healed Mest while Fairy Tail suspected Jiang Bai of attacking the Magic Council, and Jiang Bai threatened the guild with a month of special training. Mest woke and told Jiang Bai that the Council, including Lord Oge, Lahar, and all nine councilors, had died in an explosion.

• Wendy used her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic to stabilize Mest’s injuries as Fairy Tail members wondered who had beaten him.
• The guild members turned their suspicions toward Jiang Bai, who denied attacking the Council and reminded them he had just returned from the hot springs.
• Jiang Bai threatened to send the guild to a month of special training, prompting Natsu, Gray, Macao, and Wakaba to theatrically rally around Mest.
• Mest woke, grabbed Jiang Bai’s trouser leg, and revealed that Lord Oge, Lahar, and all nine councilors had died in an explosion.

After learning that one Tartaros demon had destroyed the Magic Council headquarters and killed its councilors, Fairy Tail prepared to strike back. Makarov called for reconnaissance to locate Tartaros’s hidden base, but Jiang Bai said there was no need for that.

• Mest told Fairy Tail that a jackal-like demon acting alone had destroyed the Magic Council headquarters and killed the nine councilors and Lahar.
• Mest pleaded with Jiang Bai to destroy Tartaros, saying Lord Oge had sent him to find Jiang Bai before dying.
• Jiang Bai ordered Fairy Tail to prepare for battle, and the guild members eagerly readied their magic and weapons.
• Makarov proposed sending a reconnaissance team to find Tartaros’s hidden lair before the guild launched its main attack.
• Jiang Bai said there was no need to search for Tartaros’s lair.

Jiang Bai proposed gathering the former Magic Council members at Fairy Tail to lure Tartaros into an ambush, and the guild approved. He sent Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe to retrieve Yajima and prepared to bring the remaining former council members to the guild before announcing the bait plan.

• Jiang Bai pointed out that Tartaros would likely target former Magic Council members and proposed gathering them at Fairy Tail as bait.
• Mest warned that the plan would bring Tartaros's full strength to Magnolia, then realized Jiang Bai could handle the demons and withdrew his objection.
• Jiang Bai ordered Laxus, Bickslow, Freed, and Evergreen to bring Yajima back from his restaurant.
• Jiang Bai said he would gather the other former council members within half an hour and told Mirajane and Levy to broadcast their presence.
• Jiang Bai called Fairy Tail to prepare for battle and declared that they would feast on Tartaros's demons.

Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe arrived to protect Yajima from Tartaros, which had targeted former Magic Council members after killing the current council. Laxus struck the cloaked attacker twice, sending him crashing through the alley and into a warehouse.

• A Tartaros attacker tried to kill Yajima outside the 8 Island restaurant, but Laxus arrived in a lightning bolt and kicked him through the alley walls.
• Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen arrived to protect Yajima, and Freed explained that Jiang Bai had anticipated Tartaros would target former Magic Council members.
• The attacker rose from the rubble and threatened Yajima and his protectors, while Laxus challenged him.
• Laxus attacked at lightning speed with Lightning Dragon's Crushing Fist and sent the attacker flying into an abandoned warehouse.

Laxus defeated the demon Tempester, who then sacrificed himself and unleashed a spreading black fog. The chapter left Freed and the others facing the expanding fumes.

• Tempester emerged from the ruins as a lion-faced demon and attacked Laxus with wind blades created by his Curse.
• Laxus dispelled the wind with lightning and told Tempester that Fairy Tail held many monsters stronger than he was.
• Laxus overwhelmed Tempester with Lightning Dragon’s Jaw, driving him into a pit and leaving him unable to fight.
• As Freed prepared to restrain him, Tempester revealed a dark core in his chest and said the Lord of the Underworld would revive him.
• Tempester exploded, releasing dense black fog that spread across the area as Freed, Yajima, Evergreen, and Bickslow’s dolls guarded against it.

Laxus swallowed the Magic Barrier Particles to save his fallen comrades, then collapsed unconscious. In Magnolia, Mest learned that he had once erased the guild’s memories of his identity while going undercover for Fairy Tail, and Makarov worried over a sudden bad feeling.

• Demon Tempest revealed that his destruction would not kill him while the Core of the Underworld remained, and that his black fog contained Magic Barrier Particles that caused Magic Depletion Syndrome.
• Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Yajima succumbed to the spreading particles as the black fog engulfed the street.
• Laxus swallowed the Magic Barrier Particles to clear the street and protect his comrades, then collapsed after entrusting Freed with getting everyone back to the guild.
• Makarov felt a sudden pain in his chest and told Mest that Mest had once used Memory Manipulation Magic to conceal his identity as a Fairy Tail spy inside the Magic Council.
• Makarov explained that Mest had later believed himself to be a champion of justice and brought Lahar to Tenrou Island to investigate Fairy Tail.