The rain was still drizzling, but compared to the torrential downpour earlier, things were already much better.
At that moment, an old man with snow-white short hair, a long beard, armor, and an eyepatch over his right eye had already reached the bow deck of a magical airship moored along the coast. He silently watched the now-quiet forest of Tenrou Island.
The entire island was utterly silent. There was no longer any sign of the battle from earlier, and the countless troops he had sent out, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, the vice president, and the others had all failed to return.
Thus, he already had a faintly ominous premonition about what had happened on the island. With his arms folded, he stood there, waiting to confirm his unpleasant suspicion.
"Hm?"
Before long, looking down from above, he indeed saw a group of people walking toward him from the distant forest. From the hurried glimpses he caught between the branches, he could also tell that those people did not seem to be his subordinates.
"..."
"I never thought the Seven Kin of Purgatory and Bluenote would all be defeated..."
Seeing those people file past a certain place, the short-haired, long-bearded, powerfully built old man sighed gloomily.
"Heh!"
"Looks like I really ought to openly praise Makarov and his disciples..."
"This is enough..."
"Since that's how it is, come on. Let me personally play a round with those brats!"
"The time for games should be over..."
The tall old man draped in a black cloak muttered under his breath, completely ignoring the drizzle that was soaking his hair. He waited until a troublesome little girl, together with Makarov, brought Erza, Mirajane, Gildarts, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Elfman, Lucy, several cat-like creatures, and all the other members of Fairy Tail still on the