Chapter Summaries

Mystogan surrendered to August after recognizing that August’s immense magic power made a fight hopeless, leaving Sanya Animus as the last S-Class Mage Examination candidate. August uncovered that Animus was a Dragon Soul separated from Sanya and used Attach Magic to return him to her body, setting up their battle.

• Mystogan explained that August could not copy Holder-Type magic, but surrendered because August could defeat him with other copied spells and overwhelming magic power.
• August turned to Sanya Animus as the final remaining candidate, and Sanya admitted that dragon power slept within her body.
• August sensed Animus’s Dragon Soul nature, saw through his cat form, and deduced that his soul and power had been separated from Sanya.
• Animus boasted that he would defeat August and claim the S-Class position after the other candidates had been eliminated.
• August used Attach Magic to return Animus to Sanya’s body and invited the dragon to fight.

August deflected Animus’s Crystal Dragon’s Roar and survived his Shattering Fist, while their fight badly damaged Fairy Tail’s guild hall. After Mavis encouraged him, August unleashed his immense magic power and declared that he would protect Fairy Tail, leaving Animus terrified as the battle reached its turning point.

• Animus fired his Crystal Dragon’s Roar at August, who used Refraction Magic to redirect it through the guild ceiling and into the clouds above Magnolia Town.
• Animus charged August and pierced his body with Crystal Dragon’s Shattering Fist, but August reassembled himself unharmed using magic Gildarts recognized as a variant of Crush Magic.
• Makarov pleaded with August and Animus to stop before they destroyed the guild, while Mavis cheered August on and told him to fight without holding back.
• August stopped dodging and explained that he had been protecting the spectators, then released magic power that stunned the Fairy Tail mages and frightened Animus.
• August told Animus that he would inherit Mavis’s will and protect Fairy Tail, then announced that the game was over.

August defeated Animus and Sanya with his magic, destroying the Fairy Tail Guild in the process, then paid for its reconstruction with gold from Zeref’s military funds. Makarov asked August to succeed him as Guild Master, while Ywen watched and prepared to pressure August into choosing between his parents.

• August unleashed Holy Spirit Judgment, defeated Animus and Sanya, and accidentally reduced the Fairy Tail Guild to ruins.
• Ywen’s magic shield protected the guild’s mages, while Makarov mourned the destruction and August apologized.
• August produced gold left by Zeref to cover the reconstruction costs, and Makarov accepted it.
• Makarov asked August to become Fairy Tail’s next Guild Master, leaving August to weigh the burden alongside his role in the Alvarez Empire.
• Ywen revealed his plan to press August to choose sides if Mavis and Zeref fought.

August hesitated to become Fairy Tail’s Guild Master because accepting the role could expose his identity and force him to confront Zeref. Ywen persuaded Mavis to win August over by telling her a distorted account of his past, and August ultimately chose Fairy Tail for his mother’s sake.

• August declined Makarov’s request to take over as Fairy Tail’s Guild Master while he considered the consequences.
• Ywen told Mavis that August was Zeref’s spy and urged her to win him over rather than drive him from the guild.
• Ywen recounted August’s tragic birth and childhood, portraying Zeref as a father figure who had led him astray.
• Moved by the story, Mavis agreed to approach August, and Ywen encouraged her to guide him with motherly affection.
• Mavis asked August to stay and become Fairy Tail’s Guild Master, and August accepted, choosing his mother and Fairy Tail over the Alvarez Empire.

August joined Fairy Tail after Mavis welcomed him like family, while Ywen planned to bring the Alvarez Empire under Fairy Tail’s influence. August thanked Ywen but warned that war was about to begin.

• Mavis asked August to join Fairy Tail, and her words about being like a mother moved him deeply.
• Ywen considered the Alvarez Empire no longer a threat after August and Aileen joined Fairy Tail, and planned to redirect its military toward Guiltina.
• Zeref searched for a way to break Ankhseram’s Curse and believed Ywen was the only person who still cared about him.
• August asked to train under Makarov before becoming Guild Master, then requested a private conversation with Ywen.
• Ultear used her Arc of Time to restore the guild after August’s destruction, and August confronted Ywen for manipulating him through Mavis.
• August thanked Ywen for bringing him closer to Mavis, rejected his request to send Alvarez’s talented Mages to Fairy Tail, and warned that war was about to begin.

August told Ywen that Crawford Seam had secretly approached the Alvarez Empire and that pro-war factions had forced an invasion of Ishgar to be moved forward. He asked Ywen to defeat the invading army and weaken Larcade without killing him, and Ywen accepted after his system issued two Ten-Year Missions.

• Ywen asked August about the coming war, and August clarified that Ishgar’s Magic Council was involved.
• August revealed that Crawford Seam had contacted the Alvarez Empire, prompting its pro-war faction to advance an attack on Ishgar.
• August explained that the Alvarez Empire was divided between his faction and Larcade Dragneel’s supporters, and asked Ywen to crush the invading army to help reunite the empire.
• Ywen accepted August’s request, and his system issued him a Ten-Year Mission to defeat the Alvarez Empire army.
• August asked Ywen to teach Larcade a lesson but spare him, and the system issued another Ten-Year Mission for Ywen to publicly beat Larcade.

Makarov named August and Sanya Animus as Fairy Tail’s new S-Class Mages, while Animus resolved to train Sanya so they could someday defeat August. When Sanya asked how he would teach her Dragon Slayer Magic, Animus decided to learn from other Dragon Slayers and dismissed human rules as irrelevant to him.

• Makarov announced August as the S-Class Examination winner and granted Sanya Animus an additional S-Class position.
• Kagura accepted her defeat and vowed to sharpen her skills before next year’s examination, while Fairy Tail members reflected on how competitive their guild was.
• Animus told Sanya they had to overcome their humiliation by combining their strength and training her Dragon Slayer Magic until she awakened Dragon Force.
• Sanya agreed to train, but Animus admitted he had never taught anyone magic and did not know how to begin.
• Animus decided they would learn from the children of Igneel, Grandeeney, Metalicana, and the other dragons, dismissing Sanya’s concern that secretly learning their methods was wrong because human morality did not apply to him.

Animus went to Fairy Tail’s back mountain hoping to learn Natsu’s training methods, only to discover the others were using Natsu’s flames, Wendy’s wind, and Laxus’s lightning to temper Gajeel. Sanya asked to train with them, while Erza’s insistence that Gajeel was a weapon because he lacked a cat left him questioning who he was.

• Animus decided to secretly observe Natsu and the others training, and Sanya followed him to Fairy Tail’s back mountain.
• Gajeel asked Natsu how to harden his body, and Natsu gathered Wendy, Erza, and Laxus to try forging him into a stronger weapon.
• Natsu, Wendy, Erza, and Laxus tied Gajeel to an iron rack and subjected him to flames, wind, and lightning until Gajeel could endure no more.
• Animus revealed himself while criticizing their experiment, and Sanya emerged from the bushes to ask Erza and the others to train her in magic.
• Erza introduced Gajeel as Fairy Tail’s shared weapon, then argued that his lack of a cat proved he was not a true Dragon Slayer Mage.
• Gajeel challenged Erza’s claims but ended up confused about his identity.

Animus asked Natsu and the other Dragon Slayer Mages about their training, then burned what he thought was Ywen’s brutal training plan and left with Sanya. Meanwhile, Kagura trained to combine swordsmanship and Gravity Magic, Precht prepared to teach Mirajane, Seilah, and Ultear the magic of the Book of Zeref, and Ywen received August’s warning that Alvarez would soon attack Ishgar.

• Animus asked Natsu about Ywen’s training plans, and Natsu gave him a seawater-soaked booklet listing extreme exercises.
• Animus burned the booklet and left with Sanya, while Laxus discovered it was actually a punishment plan made for Natsu and chose not to explain.
• Kagura began training with Ikaruga and Bluenote, declaring that she would combine gravity with her sword and become a Gravity Blade user.
• Precht prepared to teach Mirajane, Seilah, and Ultear the magic of the Book of Zeref.
• August informed Ywen that Alvarez would launch a probing attack against Ishgar in the coming days.

August clashed with Larcade over whether the Alvarez Empire should attack Ishgar, then revealed the true danger behind the invasion plan and left the meeting. Larcade persuaded the remaining Spriggan Shields to proceed, while August contacted Ywen and announced that the war had begun.

• Larcade urged the Spriggan Shields to invade Ishgar before Zeref returned, but August argued that they should wait for the emperor's orders.
• Larcade accused August of betraying Zeref and demanded to know what had happened to Crawford Seam's intelligence; August admitted he had killed Crawford Seam.
• August unleashed his magic power across the conference room and explained that the invasion was meant to reach Fairy Tail and take Mavis's heart.
• August withdrew from the meeting, warning the others that he would not accept responsibility for the war or its outcome.
• Larcade persuaded the remaining Spriggan Shields to attack Ishgar, and August contacted Ywen to say the war had begun.

August revealed that he had secretly wanted Larcade to invade Ishgar so the Alvarez Empire’s hardliners would be defeated and he could take control of the empire. At Ywen’s lead, six powerful Dragons prepared to strike the invading forces first, leaving August to guard Fairy Tail.

• August reflected that he had arranged to distance himself from the coming war and planned to use Larcade’s defeat to gain control of the Alvarez Empire and reconcile Zeref and Mavis.
• August teleported to Fairy Tail and learned from Ywen that the Alvarez army was expected to reach Ishgar within a day or two.
• Ywen summoned Aileen and Selene, then revealed that Igneel would join them by using Natsu’s body.
• Ywen also brought in Animus and Kurnugi, leaving August stunned by the overwhelming force assembled against the Alvarez Empire.
• Ywen, Aileen, Selene, Igneel, Animus, and Kurnugi left to strike first, while August stayed behind to guard Fairy Tail.

Larcade led the Alvarez Empire’s million-mage invasion toward Ishgar, but Kurnugi and several dragon kings appeared to block the fleet. The chapter ended with the army surrounded by dragon roars before reaching Fairy Tail.

• Larcade ordered the Alvarez Empire’s fleet to invade Ishgar despite Jacob Lessio’s doubts about August’s warning.
• Kurnugi attacked the leading warships, revealed that he was a dragon, and transformed before the soldiers.
• Igneel appeared as a blazing sun and was identified by Larcade as the Fire Dragon King.
• A nine-tailed dragon appeared beneath a golden moon, and more dragons emerged among the clouds.
• Larcade and the Alvarez army realized they had encountered a nest of dragons before reaching Fairy Tail.

Larcade dismissed the Dragons confronting the Alvarez Empire fleet as illusions and ordered the army to advance, despite Bloodman and Jacob Lessio urging caution. When the fleet charged, Ywen and Aileen unleashed Conqueror’s Haki, knocking millions of soldiers unconscious.

• Larcade, Bloodman, and Invel Yura watched the dragon king-level Dragons outside the battleship, and Bloodman stopped Invel from attacking them.
• Bloodman warned Invel that the army should focus on escaping the Dragons, and Invel reluctantly gave up on challenging them.
• Jacob Lessio urged Larcade to retreat, but Larcade claimed August had arranged the encounter and that the Dragons might be illusions.
• Larcade ordered the fleet to advance, and the soldiers charged toward the Dragons believing them to be illusions.
• Ywen and Aileen unleashed Conqueror’s Haki at the advancing fleet, causing millions of Alvarez Empire soldiers to collapse unconscious.

Ywen and Aileen incapacitated Alvarez’s million-soldier army, while the Shield of Spriggan faced Ywen, Igneel, Selene, and another powerful woman aboard their flagship. Neinhart surrendered to Aileen, and Larcade attacked the others with his Pleasure curse, which Selene enjoyed rather than resisted.

• Ywen and Aileen used Conqueror’s Haki to knock out the Alvarez soldiers and send their warships crashing toward the sea.
• Bradman and the Shield of Spriggan spotted a dragon watching their flagship, then Ywen appeared inside their command room with Igneel and two powerful women.
• Igneel revealed that Larcade was Zeref’s final creation before Natsu and said he was Zeref’s former partner, not his subordinate.
• Neinhart approached Aileen, knelt before her, and begged her to spare his life; Aileen agreed and stepped on his head.
• Larcade released his Pleasure curse at Ywen and the others, but Selene willingly absorbed its effects and declared that she wanted Larcade for herself.

Ywen defeated Larcade and the remaining Shield of Spriggan, completed his missions, and used a Hundred-Year Mission Medal to raise his Azure Dragon Form to level 15 and enter the Dragon God tier. He turned his attention toward surpassing Acnologia, while Acnologia continued destroying bait on the Ishgar Continent.

• Selene claimed Larcade as a useful pleasure and sleep tool, but Larcade’s Death’s Sleep magic failed to stop her or the other dragons.
• Larcade summoned Acnologia, but Ywen’s barrier blocked the signal; Ywen struck Larcade with Azure Dragon’s Crushing Fist and sent him crashing into the Alvarez royal palace.
• Ywen forced Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bradman to submit, then had Kurnugi and Animus blast them into the sea.
• Ywen completed two missions, combined his Ten-Year Mission Medals into a Hundred-Year Mission Medal, and raised his Azure Dragon Form from level 14 to level 15.
• Aileen congratulated Ywen as Selene eyed him with desire and Igneel marveled at his rapid growth; Ywen resolved to keep strengthening his Dragon Slayer Magic to surpass Acnologia.
• On the Ishgar Continent, Acnologia destroyed another green dragon used as bait and roared in anger at the repeated attacks.

After Ywen’s dragons crushed the Alvarez Empire’s invasion, August met with the surviving members of the Shield of Spriggan and revealed that he was Fairy Tail’s Fourth Guild Master. The empire’s leaders learned that their strongest ally was also their enemy, leaving them facing an overwhelming coalition with no clear path to victory.

• Ywen ended the battle by destroying the Alvarez Empire’s warships, then departed with Aileen, Selene, Igneel, Kurnugi, and Animus while the defeated soldiers watched.
• A week after the defeat, August arrived at a meeting with Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bradman; Neinhart had defected, and Selene had taken the recovering Larcade.
• The four surviving Shields pledged their support to August and questioned him about the empire’s next move and its chances against Ishgar.
• August explained that Fairy Tail was the true threat, revealing that it had six Dragons, E.N.D., and many other powerful wizards.
• August removed his glove, showed the Fairy Tail mark, and revealed that he was the guild’s Fourth Guild Master, leaving the Shields stunned by the revelation that their strongest ally was their enemy.

August persuaded the Shield of Spriggan to keep serving the Alvarez Empire while redirecting its war preparations toward the Dragon Gods of Guiltina and Acnologia. He raised Fairy Tail’s flag over the Empire, using his parents’ relationship to justify the change, and left the Alvarez Kingdom effectively under Fairy Tail’s influence.

• August frightened Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bradman by revealing that he had become their enemy, then assured them they should continue serving as the Shield of Spriggan.
• August told the Shield of Spriggan that the Empire should not attack Ishgar, but should instead unite with its people to confront the Dragon Gods and Acnologia.
• August revealed that he was both the Magic King and Fairy Tail’s Guild Master, and called the six Dragons who had defeated the Shield of Spriggan their companions.
• August ordered the Shield of Spriggan to raise Fairy Tail’s flag beside the Empire’s flag and explained that Zeref had once loved Mavis Vermillion.
• Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bradman agreed to keep Mavis and Zeref’s relationship secret, while August brought the Alvarez Kingdom under his control.

Zeref continued searching for the gods while August watched over the Alvarez Empire. At Fairy Tail, Makarov announced his retirement and named August as his successor, but August and Ywen revealed they had arranged for Makarov to remain as acting Guild Master.

• Zeref reflected on his work with Ywen and August and vowed to find Ankhseram and the other gods.
• Makarov announced that he was stepping down after forty-four years as Guild Master and shared an emotional farewell with Fairy Tail.
• Makarov named August, who had surpassed him in strength, as Fairy Tail's new Guild Master.
• August took the microphone and declared that the guild would obey his orders, alarming the members and angering Makarov.
• August ordered Makarov to become acting Guild Master until he could take over as the fifth Guild Master, and the guild celebrated the reveal as a planned prank.
• Ywen admitted he had masterminded the scheme, and Makarov realized he had been made Guild Master again.

Makarov launched Fairy Tail’s 24-hour endurance race, but the gathered guild members turned it into a catastrophic magical brawl. The fighting destroyed the guild and sent Magnolia Town flying into the sky, leaving the town’s fate uncertain.

• Makarov announced that everyone had to join the race and that the last ten to finish would face Fairy Tail’s cruelest punishment.
• Ywen summoned Aileen and Selene, who arrived with Neinhart and Larcade, while Sanya, Animus, and Kurnugi also joined the gathered guild members.
• August agreed to participate, and Makarov said the only rule was that nobody should die.
• Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, Laxus, Gray, Lyon, Kurnugi, and Animus prepared to fight, and Makarov pleaded with everyone to go easy on one another.
• The mages unleashed their magic, obliterating Fairy Tail’s guild building and creating a spectacle of sun and moon shining together.
• A flaming meteor struck Magnolia Town, and the impact blasted the shielded town into the sky.

Selene transported Magnolia Town to Elentir, where Fairy Tail prepared for a Brawl Tournament instead of the endurance race Makarov had planned. Ywen joined the fighting after receiving a mission, and August abandoned his promise to stop the tournament.

• A Fiore Kingdom commander learned that Magnolia Town had vanished and saw only a flat wasteland from his observation platform.
• Selene used her magic to move all of Magnolia Town from Earth-land to Elentir, where August felt the world's stronger magic.
• Makarov objected when Fairy Tail's members insisted on holding a Brawl Tournament instead of the planned endurance race.
• Ywen received a mission to join the Brawl Tournament and challenged the guild members rather than stopping them.
• August promised Makarov he would stop the tournament, but changed his mind after seeing a ghost girl excitedly anticipating it and urged the Mages to fight.