So This Is a "Wizard"?

Silence.

Deathly silence.

If defeating Natsu in a single move could still be chalked up to elemental restraint or luck, then crushing Gray—who stood shoulder to shoulder with Natsu—in such a humiliating fashion completely overturned the understanding of every Fairy Tail member present.

Fire Dragon Natsu, Ice Mage Gray.

They were the outstanding talents of the guild's younger generation, the future S-Class wizards, powerful figures renowned throughout the Fiore Kingdom.

Yet now, they were like two rag dolls—one embedded in the east wall, the other in the west—symmetrical as two miserable murals.

As for the green-haired man who had caused all this, he merely shook the ice crystals from his pant leg as though he had just done something utterly insignificant.

The entire hall erupted in uproar!

"Y-You've got to be kidding, right?"

"That was Natsu and Gray! And they... weren't even worthy of making him draw his sword?"

"Who the hell is he? I can't sense any magic power from him at all. Is he some kind of martial-arts wizard? But what kind of martial arts could possibly be this strong?!"

"Monster... This guy is a complete monster!"

The murmurs spread like a plague. Every face was filled with shock, horror, and a trace of anger at having their pride violated.

Zoro swept his gaze around the room, his eye passing over the stunned people radiating all sorts of colorful "energy"—magic power. He could sense that those energies varied in strength. Some were like tiny flames, while others were like bonfires, but compared to the monsters he had once faced, they all seemed so... mild.

He tilted his head, his lone eye filled with pure, undisguised confusion.

This place was too strange.

He had fallen from the sky and smashed through the roof. Then, for no apparent reason, they had started fighting. His opponents' attacks were flashy—one breathed fire, the other played with ice. They looked impressive enough, but their actual power was pitifully weak.

He muttered to himself. His voice was not loud, but in the pin-drop silence of the guild, every person heard it clearly.

"This place is strange... Are all the people here this weak?"

Those words were like the sharpest blade, stabbing viciously into the hearts of every wizard proud to call Fairy Tail home.

Weak?

They were Fairy Tail! One of the strongest guilds in Fiore! Their companions, their family, had been described as "weak" by some unknown stranger?

This was an unbearable humiliation!

"Don't you dare... look down on Fairy Tail!"

A roar erupted from the crowd. Elfman Strauss's towering figure stepped forward. The rage from being struck by that chair earlier had now fully merged with his anger at seeing his comrades defeated.

"Take Over: Beast Arm!"

His right arm instantly swelled and transformed into a beastly limb covered in black armor. Powerful magic power surged from his body. "Let this man show you what I'm made of!"

"That's right! You don't get to insult our comrades and our guild!"

"Even if we can't beat you, we'll show you our spirit!"

Marcus, Warren, Bisca, Alzack... familiar faces stepped forward one after another. They might not have been as strong as Natsu or Gray, but they were Fairy Tail! They would never allow anyone to insult their family on their own turf!

In an instant, magic power surged through the entire guild hall. Flames, frost, plants, bullets—every kind of magical fluctuation intertwined as everyone locked their hostility onto the man standing beside the crater.

A larger brawl was on the verge of erupting.

Zoro looked at the group that had suddenly become united against a common enemy, and his brow furrowed even deeper.

"Troublesome..."

Slowly, he placed his hand on Wado Ichimonji at his waist.

He did not like trouble, but if trouble came looking for him, there was only one way he knew to deal with it—

Cut it down completely.

Just before that cold Sword Intent was about to erupt and sweep the entire guild into it.

A crisp, commanding "Stop!" rang through the hall like a morning bell and an evening drum.