Taking Irene Along to Test the Five Dragon Gods

The atmosphere on the battlefield was somewhat tense and heavy.

Wizard King August gripped his wand, while Jacob Recho, whose mouth was bleeding, looked up and stared intently at Hughes.

Hughes, with Irene by the neck, stood on the horizon, gazing at the two of them from afar.

It wouldn't be accurate to say he was pinching her; Hughes didn't dare to use any force with his hand placed on Irene's neck.

Hughes wouldn't rashly provoke Irene. Don't let Irene mature, married woman demeanor and seemingly delicate appearance fool you; her physical abilities are among the best in Fairy Tail.

Because of the Dragon Slayer Magic, Irene had completely Dragonization 400 years ago. Now, she can transform back into human form like the Black Dragon, thanks to Zeref's help. Her physical essence is still that of a dragon.

Hughes, who had never ridden a dragon before, wasn't sure if he could fight Irene hand-to-hand with his current physical condition.

The reason Irene didn't resist at all was simply because Hughes had whispered something in her ear that had intimidated her. At this moment, Hughes gave August a disdainful look, thinking, "That shameless old man, secretly using his God Ear to eavesdrop."

God Ear is a type of magic that allows one to hear a person's every move, including their inner thoughts, mental activities, and voice.

It is a more advanced form of magic than even Observation Haki.

If it weren't for Hughes's Advanced Observation Haki constantly locking onto August, preventing him from noticing that he was whispering with Irene...

At that moment, a look of shock flashed across August's face.

Hughes had no idea that the old man was eavesdropping on their conversation.

With this in mind, Hughes silently repeated Mavis dozens of times.

He may not be good at much else, but when it comes to mind games, Hughes is a master.

Not only that, Hughes also silently repeated the fact in his mind dozens of times that Mavis was not dead and that her soul remained on Tenrou Island.

If Hughes dares to eavesdrop, he'll make August break down!

Despite his advanced age, Wizard King August yearns for maternal and paternal love more intensely than anyone else.

When the Alvarez Empire invaded Ishgar Continent for the second time, August, seeing Mavis's deep concern for Fairy Tail, chose to perish rather than harm Gildarts and Cana in the slightest.

As expected, under Hughes's deliberate revelation, August was provoked into gradually losing control, and a powerful magic that belonged neither to light nor darkness raged within him.

The terrifying aura, like that of a ghost or deity, startled even Hughes.

To prevent August from going berserk and fighting him again, Hughes quickly spoke up, "August, only members of Fairy Tail can see Mavis!"

He ventured to the Alakitasia Continent solely to witness the power of the Twin Shields and the newly formed Spriggan 12, and to test...

Let's see if we can trigger a quest from them.

Both objectives have actually been achieved: Irene revealed a mission that could raise Observation Haki to the perfect level.

August, on the other hand, triggered a mission that would allow him to raise his Armament Haki to its perfect level.

However, with the two of them together right now, Hughes doesn't have the strength to defeat the combined power of the Twin Shields, and thus complete the system mission to obtain the two rewards.

There's still plenty of time, we'll talk about it later...

Given August's magical prowess, he naturally didn't need the Fairy Tail guild's crest to see Mavis.

Hughes said this to let August know his identity, so that August wouldn't mistake him for a dark mage who harbored ill intentions towards Mavis's soul.

Seeing that August's wildly surging black and red magic power had temporarily subsided, and his blood-red eyes slowly returned to normal, Hughes quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"Strength is the capital to act recklessly; without strength, you can't even scare others!" Hughes couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Lacking the ability to overwhelm Twin Shields, he was always somewhat hesitant and cautious when facing them.

August, his eyelids half-closed, stared intently at Hughes and said in a deep voice, "Ishgar's mage, state your demands for releasing Irene!"

Hughes could tell from August's double meaning that he wasn't asking Hughes to release Irene; August could easily tell whether Hughes had controlled Irene or not.

This old bastard wants me to tell him more about Mavis.

After a moment's thought, Hughes said thoughtfully, "Irene, if you're willing to come with me, you can't stop you!"

After stating his request, Hughes then revealed the information August wanted to know. "She was a very kind person. Because of a curse, she died before someone was even born, and she knew nothing of that person's existence."

The cryptic words left Irene and Jacob Leshua confused, but August's expression changed drastically.

Irene parted her red lips slightly, as if to ask a question, but Hughes shook his head to interrupt her, saying that this matter had nothing to do with her.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know later!" Hughes whispered.

What he said to August was half true and half false, and ninety-nine percent of it contained ill intentions.

Using the information in his mind as bait to deceive Irene, Hughes harbored the intention of bringing Irene, the Dragon Mother, to the Guiltina Continent.

A tree will die if its roots are moved, but a person will thrive!

Since the mission in the western continent of Alakitasia cannot be completed, let's go to the northern continent of Guiltina.

The Guiltina Continent is teeming with powerful individuals, and there are bound to be many quests to be triggered. If I want to gain the strength to contend with the Black Dragon, I absolutely must go to the Guiltina Continent.

However, neither the Five Dragon Gods, who are said to be no weaker than the Black Dragon Acnologia, nor the Black Dragon Slayer Knights, who are rooted in the Dragon Eaters, nor the Gold Owl, the Alchemist Guild, are easy opponents.

With Irene accompanying him, as long as the God Ankhseram doesn't show himself, Hughes is absolutely confident he'll be invincible.

Wendy's High Enchantment will enable Lucy, Gray, and others to defeat the Dragonization Dragon Eaters in the future.

With his strength combined with Irene's, Hughes couldn't think of any reason why they couldn't win. It was a good opportunity to test the Five Dragon Gods ' strength...

On the other side, August was still caught up in Hughes ' words. Judging from Irene's behavior, the outcome was already clear: she wanted to go with Hughes.

However, Irene was a powerful figure invited by Zeref, and August couldn't explain to Zeref that Irene should leave with Hughes.

August was somewhat flustered. He knew his father Zeref's plan, but judging from Hughes's words, his mother Mavis might not be completely dead.

He couldn't disobey Zeref, but honestly, he couldn't continue to act according to the plan after learning about Mavis's situation!

Everyone in the room was waiting for August to make a decision, but August frowned and remained silent.

The scene then became somewhat quiet again.

Two or three minutes later, a slightly agitated Irene swung her wand, swatting away Hughes's hand that was gripping her neck, and made the decision for August.

"August, if Spriggan (Zeref) comes back, tell him I'm going out for a bit, but I'll be back. I haven't forgotten my promise to him!"

August opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, and finally fell silent.