Before the Battle

After a night's sleep.

The major news in the papers ignited public debate across the entire continent.

Mages and ordinary people alike were fiercely discussing yesterday's and last night's headlines that morning.

Headline One: Fairy Tail had stormed Phantom Lord's guild, blown up the Guild Master's office, and injured quite a few people.

Clashes between two powerful guilds were exceedingly rare.

But the second headline was just as explosive.

Headline Two: Phantom Lord guild branches across the land had suffered retaliation from mysterious figures. Experts in the magical world analyzed that Fairy Tail's two S-Class mages were likely responsible.

"Mystogan got the news."

"Laxus really is brutal."

Inside the guild.

Everyone discussed the newspaper.

Last night, quite a few Phantom Lord branch guilds had been wiped out, with every member suffering at least serious injuries.

Reporters had captured images of lightning filling the sky.

It was obvious that Laxus had made his move.

"Ifrit, this trick of yours is really useful," Gray said involuntarily.

"Get ready. The second battle is coming," Ifrit said gravely.

"Ifrit." Guild Master Makarov approached with a sheet of paper in hand. "The Magic Council wants me to give an account of what happened."

"Guild Master, it's a trap!" Gray said hurriedly.

"Of course." Makarov nodded. "That means Phantom Lord is serious."

"Is the Magic Council corrupt too?" Erza frowned.

"Not quite." Makarov shook his head. "They're merely some self-righteous deaf men and blind men."

"Outdated and conservative," Gray commented.

"Prepare for battle," Makarov said seriously.

"Guild Master." At that moment, Ifrit called out.

Everyone looked at him.

"You should go," Ifrit said.

"What?" Makarov looked at him in surprise.

"Ifrit, this is clearly a scheme to lure the Guild Master away and attack our guild!" Everyone was confused.

"Of course I know." Ifrit rubbed the purple gemstone at the top of his cane with his fingers. "Rather than let Phantom Lord devise an even more vicious scheme and find some other way beyond our control to attack the guild, we might as well play along and have the Guild Master pretend to leave."

"Ifrit, we can't afford to be careless about this. One small mistake, and something terrible could happen!" Makarov said sternly.

Tap, tap.

Ifrit tapped the newspaper with his finger. "The route Laxus took while destroying Phantom Lord's branches is leading toward our guild. It's obvious that he knows Phantom Lord will attack us too. He wants to face Jose."

"With Laxus here, holding Jose off for a while won't be a problem."

At the mention of Laxus, everyone had headaches over his difficult personality, but they had to admit that they acknowledged his strength.

"Indeed." Mirajane nodded. "With Laxus and Ifrit, even against Guild Master Jose, they have enough strength for a fight."

"Miss Mirajane, you flatter me too much. You're always so gentle and kind." Ifrit smiled modestly.

"Ifrit." Mirajane glanced at Ifrit and said with a smile, "If you can protect everyone this time, I can agree to what you mentioned last time."

"Really?!"

Ifrit became excited, a rare sight.

Lucy was astonished. What could possibly make Ifrit act like Natsu?!

"Of course." Mirajane nodded.

"Haha!" Like Natsu, Ifrit threw back his head and laughed with his hands on his hips.

"..." Everyone was speechless.

Still, Ifrit did occasionally act like this.

Only then did everyone remember that he was less than a year older than Natsu.

"Ifrit." Makarov was still worried. "Can you keep Laxus under control?"

"Guild Master." Ifrit smiled. "Laxus isn't a wild beast. If even you don't trust him, then he really will keep walking down a dark path."

"And besides—"

Ifrit changed the subject, smiling. "Don't worry. I have a secret weapon that will make Laxus listen to me without question."

Laxus...

Seeing the obvious mischief in Ifrit's smile, everyone suddenly felt a surge of intense sympathy for Laxus.

Phantom Lord guild.

"That old man Makarov really fell for it?" Jose was actually beginning to doubt himself.

He had prepared several plans that were troublesome but had higher chances of success. Yet he had never expected the first plan to succeed.

"Guild Master, Fairy Tail wants to fight us as well. They're playing along and deliberately exposing an opening to us, but that is indeed what we wanted," said a somewhat intelligent mage.

"That's right. As long as Makarov can't return immediately, the rest are nothing to worry about!" Jose nodded.

That old fool didn't really think that brat who only knew how to launch sneak attacks was qualified to fight him, did he?

Ridiculous!

Afternoon.

The sun shone high.

Perfect weather for a fight.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The ground trembled.

"Phantom Lord is here!"

Bisca and Alzack, the gun-wielding couple, ran inside to report.

"Let's go," Ifrit said.

Everyone went outside.

Behind the guild was an open field, beyond which lay a cliff overlooking the sea.

A gigantic object had appeared on the ocean.

Phantom Lord's headquarters was an enormous mobile fortress.

A massive cannon barrel extended from the room at its summit, aimed directly at Fairy Tail's guild hall.

"Magic Cannon—Jupiter?!" Cana cried out in shock.

"Hey, hey, if that thing fires, won't our entire guild be completely wiped out?!"

"Phantom Lord has gone completely insane!"

The Fairy Tail members, who had been spirited just moments ago, were now somewhat afraid.

Seeing everyone like this, the courage Lucy had just summoned sank away.

"Lucy." Ifrit spoke gently. "At the beginning, the guild was a large family formed by people longing for love and friendship."

"You protect us, and we protect you."

"When one person becomes brave, that courage affects everyone, and everyone becomes brave too."

"And everyone's courage will give you the courage to surpass your former self."

"Then miracles can happen, and difficulties that could never have been overcome will be conquered."

"Why are you trembling? Look—"

"Isn't Natsu excited right now?"

After hearing Ifrit's words, Lucy looked toward Natsu.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Hot air rose, making people instinctively keep their distance.

Natsu was covered in raging flames so violent that they warped even the light. No one could make out his face; they could only tell from the fluctuations of his magic power—his fighting spirit was blazing!

"Don't run away."

Ifrit patted Lucy on the shoulder.

Then he slowly walked to the very front.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Ifrit's crisp footsteps gradually quieted the somewhat noisy scene.

By the time he reached the front, the field was so silent that a pin could have been heard dropping, and everyone was staring at his back.

Thud.

He planted his cane on the ground, stirring up a little yellow dust.

He raised his head and looked at Phantom Lord's guild. Beyond the dark cannon muzzle, he looked toward the structure at its highest point, where the powerful enemy—Jose—was waiting.

Hummm—

Phantom Lord's Magic Cannon began to charge. A terrifyingly powerful mass of magic power continuously compressed, forming a huge cannonball like a black hole.