The Return of a Hero

When Erza led the dust-covered team members through the doors of the Fairy Tail Guild, they were greeted by a brief silence, followed by thunderous cheers like a landslide and tsunami.

"OOOOOH—! They're back!"

"Erza! Gray! Lucy! Welcome back!"

The members who had remained at the guild surged forward and surrounded the three of them. Cana immediately handed over three huge mugs of chilled ale, while Levy, Jet, and Troy eagerly asked about the details of the mission.

"Did you... complete the mission?" Guild Master Makarov poked his little head out from behind the bar and asked nervously. After all, it had been an S-Class curse that even the Magic Council had been helpless against.

Erza took the mug, drained it in one bold gulp, then announced loudly with pride and emotion in her voice:

"The S-Class Mission—'Cursed Mine'—has been completed successfully!"

"Woohoo—! As expected of Erza!"

"That's amazing! Fairy Tail is the strongest!"

The entire guild instantly erupted, the cheers nearly lifting off the roof that had only recently been repaired.

However, when the excited members turned their eyes toward the back of the group, to that out-of-place green-haired man, their expressions turned curious again.

"Hey, Lucy, that lost idiot... ah, Mr. Zoro, didn't cause any trouble this time, did he?"

"Yeah, Gray, did he wander off to some strange place again?"

Faced with their companions' curious questions, Gray and Lucy exchanged a glance. Both wore extraordinarily complicated expressions. There was shock, admiration, and even a faint daze that seemed to say, "My entire worldview has been shattered."

"Trouble?" Gray gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "No, quite the opposite. Without him, we might... not have made it back at all."

"Huh?!"

Gray's words silenced the entire guild.

Then, beneath the gaze of every member, Lucy vividly recounted the mission in an animated voice that trembled slightly.

She spoke of how, within the Cursed Mine that resembled a swamp, every wizard struggled to take even a single step, while Zoro alone walked as though on level ground.

She spoke of how, when everyone had been crushed by the curse to the point that they could barely breathe, Zoro used the invisible force field known as Haki to create a "safe zone" where they could catch their breath.

She spoke of how Zoro had single-handedly swept away the Rock Golems that even Erza had found troublesome, creatures impervious to blades and weapons.

When she reached the final and most crucial point—the indestructible Curse Core—her voice filled with indescribable awe.

"We... all of us were helpless. No magic, no attack, had any effect on it." Lucy's eyes shone as she recalled that scene. "But Mr. Zoro... he merely closed his eyes, and then... swung his sword once."

"That slash... I don't even know how to describe it. It struck nothing, yet it felt as though it had severed everything in the world. Then, that S-Class curse simply... vanished."

"He... severed the curse itself."

When Lucy voiced that conclusion, the entire guild hall sank into a long, deathly silence.

Severed... a curse?

What kind of concept was that?

A curse was an intangible "concept" that acted upon laws and souls. Yet this man had used the sword in his hand to... sever that very "concept"?

If what Zoro had displayed before had been overwhelming "power," then this time, what he had displayed was an incomprehensible, godlike realm of "mastery"!

Every eye turned in unison toward the man leaning against the bar. He showed no reaction to Lucy's account, merely taking a mug from Cana and tilting his head back to pour it down his throat.

It seemed as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.

That casual indifference stood in enormous contrast to the fantastical thing he had accomplished, delivering an unprecedented shock to everyone present.

Only after a long while did Guild Master Makarov recover from his shock. He jumped onto the bar, raised the mug in his hand, and shouted with all his strength:

"Kids! What are you all standing around for?!"

"Let's hold the grandest victory feast for our hero—for Fairy Tail!"

"OOOOOH—!!!"

The stifling silence was instantly replaced by even more fervent cheers!

Mirajane and Lisanna immediately rushed toward the kitchen to prepare the most lavish dishes. Cana, meanwhile, leaped onto a table and kicked open the lids of several enormous barrels of treasured liquor that had been stored for years. The rich aroma of alcohol instantly filled the entire hall.