Recaps

Hughes compared his Flame-Flame Fruit powers with Natsu’s Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, then tried and failed to get Makarov and Mira to feed him. Later, Hughes went to the job board seeking easy work and found Nab there, who said Laxus had taken nearly all the requests.

• Hughes worked out that Natsu’s flames could consume magic and become compressed, powerful attacks, and the comparison gave him ideas for developing his own flames.
• Hughes asked Makarov to buy him a meal, but Makarov scolded him and refused; Mira offered him bread and milk before taking them back after Hughes teased her about marrying him.
• Hughes watched Natsu and the other guild members start another fight and complained that he was excluded because he was not enough of a goofball.
• Hughes went to the job request board looking for well-paid, easy work that would keep him in the guild and found Nab studying the requests.
• Nab told Hughes that Laxus had taken nearly all the jobs, leaving only unwanted D-Class and C-Class requests.

Hughes learned why Laxus was rushing to complete jobs for the early S-Class Exam, then Makarov ordered Hughes to accompany him to the Guild Alliance meeting in Clover Town. Remembering a past meeting where Makarov defeated Jose Porla, Hughes looked forward to what might happen.

• Nab explained that Makarov had moved the S-Class Exam to the middle of the year, forcing Laxus to finish the required jobs early.
• Hughes and Nab discussed how Laxus would fare against Gildarts, who had to approve his exam.
• Makarov told Hughes he would take him to the Guild Alliance meeting in Clover Town the next morning, overruling Hughes's refusal.
• Hughes recalled that Makarov had defeated Jose Porla at the X778 meeting after they argued over whose guild was strongest, and Hughes smiled at the memory.

Hughes and Makarov prepared to travel to Clover Town for a guild alliance meeting, but Hughes overslept and nearly missed their train. They reached Magnolia Station just before ticket inspection ended, where Makarov complained about being carried through the air.

• Mira woke Hughes early, but he went back to sleep while she packed his luggage and prepared his favorite foods.
• Hughes got up at noon, told Makarov about his disturbing dream, and ate Mira’s cooking with him until they finished all seven portions.
• Mira revealed that Hughes had forgotten he had set the magic clock half an hour fast, leaving them only ten minutes to catch the last train to Clover Town.
• Hughes grabbed Makarov and their luggage and flew toward Magnolia Station using compressed flames, while Makarov shouted over the wind.
• Hughes reached the station just before ticket inspection ended and tossed down Makarov and the luggage before handing over their tickets.

Hughes and Makarov attended the guild alliance meeting, where Hughes encountered Blue Pegasus master Bob and noticed the gathering split between Makarov’s group and Jose Porla’s. A system quest identified Jose as Blackbeard and tasked Hughes with defeating him, which Hughes accepted.

• Hughes asked Makarov about Fairy Tail’s history with Phantom Lord, and Makarov said the guild was now legal despite its predecessor Blue Skull’s past.
• Hughes warned Makarov to watch Jose Porla at the alliance meeting.
• Hughes and Makarov arrived at the meeting and greeted old friends Goldmine and Bob; Hughes recoiled from Bob and avoided shaking his hand.
• Hughes saw the meeting hall divided between Makarov’s lively group and Jose Porla’s tense gathering.
• The system identified Jose as Blackbeard and activated a quest for Hughes to defeat him, and Hughes accepted it.

At the guild alliance meeting, Jose Porla challenged Makarov’s claims about Fairy Tail, then Aria of the wind tried to attack Hughes while Jose confronted Makarov. Hughes shrugged off Aria’s magic and knocked him into a wall, leaving the confrontation between Jose and Makarov unresolved.

• Goldmine and Makarov held a drunken drinking contest while Hughes watched from the sidelines.
• Makarov boasted that Gildarts had completed four Ten-Year Quests and declared that Fairy Tail was the strongest guild, angering Jose Porla.
• Jose insulted Fairy Tail and unleashed his Death Breath dark magic as he advanced on Makarov.
• Aria of the wind sneaked up on Hughes and used Airspace: Destruction, but Hughes remained unaffected and continued eating fruit.
• Hughes kicked Aria in the face, sending him crashing through chairs and into the wall.

Hughes watched Makarov and Jose battle at the guild alliance meeting, while worrying about the destruction and recording it as evidence. After Makarov transformed into a giant and shattered Jose’s strongest spell, Hughes charged in, eager to claim the finishing blow.

• Hughes thought about Aria’s Wind Magic and Juvia’s Water Magic before thunder and magic power shook the guild alliance meeting venue.
• Master Bob and Master Goldmine brought Hughes to safety as Makarov and Jose began fighting.
• Jose attacked Makarov with Dark Rondo and Soul Devouring, but Makarov destroyed both spells and blasted away the mountaintop behind Jose.
• Hughes recorded the battle with a Magic Crystal and worried about the compensation bill for the damage.
• Jose used Death Storm, but Makarov became a giant and destroyed it with one punch before firing golden beams at Jose.
• Hughes shouted that he would take the finishing blow and launched a Fire Fist behind Makarov’s beams.

Hughes defeated Jose and received a major boost to his physical abilities, then Makarov warned him to hide sudden changes in his strength. Makarov gave Hughes a Magic Council request ordering him to return to Clover Grand Canyon and investigate the incident involving Primordial Demon Satan and destroy the god race’s sealing array.

• Hughes’s attack overwhelmed Jose’s shield, and Hughes finished him off with a blaze of magic.
• The system declared the mission to challenge the Four Emperors’ Blackbeard complete and granted Hughes a substantial increase in physical abilities.
• Makarov punched Hughes after noticing his sudden increase in strength, then warned him that other wizards might notice it too.
• Makarov explained that ancient wizards had specialized in physical strength and examined Hughes’s unexpectedly powerful physique.
• Makarov handed Hughes a Magic Council request ordering him to investigate Clover Grand Canyon, where Hughes had encountered Primordial Demon Satan, and destroy the god race’s sealing array.

Hughes led Makarov into Clover Grand Canyon to find the magic circle sealing Satan, but his poor sense of direction kept them wandering in circles. The chapter left them fishing for Feather Fish from a cliff while Makarov wondered whether Hughes would ever find the seal.

• Hughes asked Makarov whether the Magic Council had objected to Mira taking over Satan, and Makarov implied he had made sure it would not.
• Makarov asked Hughes to guide him to Satan’s sealing circle in Clover Grand Canyon, and Hughes confidently set off in the wrong direction.
• After two days of wandering, Hughes and Makarov returned to the same cliff for the third time, where Hughes wanted to fish for Feather Fish.
• Hughes claimed he could catch fish without hooks or bait, and Makarov reminded him that he had failed to catch one during a previous guild fishing contest.
• Hughes teased Makarov about Master Bob, and Makarov punched him into the air before telling him they could leave if he did not want to fish.

Hughes and Makarov found and uncovered the damaged magic circle that had sealed Satan in the Clover Grand Canyon. As Makarov studied it, Hughes reflected on the Primordial Demons and gods he had learned existed in the Fairy Tail world.

• Hughes caught several Feather Fish, and he and Makarov decided to take them to Mira to cook.
• Makarov froze the fish, and Hughes carried him through the sky to search the Clover Grand Canyon for Satan’s sealed location.
• Hughes and Makarov found Satan’s former battlefield and uncovered the cracked golden magic circle beneath fallen rocks.
• Makarov began examining the circle, hoping to understand and learn from its ancient magic.
• Hughes recalled what Makarov had said about Satan, the Primordial Demons, and the Eighteen Battle Gods of Calamity Demons, and wondered how little he knew about gods and demons.

Makarov confirmed that the Clover Grand Canyon’s magic circle had sealed Satan and destroyed the now-defunct array and the surrounding corpses. He tried to teach Hughes to control his power and avoid damaging the surroundings, but Hughes exposed a recording of Makarov destroying mountains during his fight with Jose.

• Makarov examined the sealing array and realized that the History of Earth-land might describe other escaped Primordial Demons and gods.
• Hughes claimed the magic circle had swallowed the forbidden and super magic meant for him, but Makarov teased him by claiming he had found and learned two spells.
• Makarov used his immense magic power to erase the defunct array and the heaps of corpses without damaging the canyon.
• Makarov told Hughes he had acted carefully to avoid property damage, but Hughes played a recording of Makarov destroying several mountaintops behind Jose.
• Makarov lamented that Hughes had mistreated an old man after seeing the recording.

Hughes kept the recording Magic Crystal and parted from Makarov before taking a train back to Magnolia with a frozen feather fish. After arriving, he flew home and reunited with Lisanna, who teased him for asking where Mira was.

• Makarov tried to retrieve Hughes's recording Magic Crystal, but Hughes refused to hand it over and kept it as leverage.
• Makarov gave Hughes his share of the reward for their work in Clover Grand Canyon, then left for the Magic Council to address the public uproar.
• Hughes ate at Clover Station, slept at a nearby inn, and boarded the train to Magnolia with the frozen feather fish.
• Hughes flew from Magnolia Station to his home, where Lisanna answered the door and teased him for asking after Mira.

Hughes returned home, gave Mira most of his reward money to manage, and agreed to help Lisanna meet up with Erza and the others. He later joined them at the guild as Erza prepared to lead the group on a D-Class job.

• Mira scolded Lisanna for teasing Hughes and served Hughes a bowl of meat porridge when he arrived home.
• Hughes gave Mira his remaining 2.9 million J, and she divided the money between savings, household expenses, and allowances for Hughes, Lisanna, and Elfman.
• Lisanna asked to join Erza, Natsu, and Gray on a D-Class job, and Hughes agreed to take her to the guild despite Mira's objections.
• Mira agreed to prepare the feather fish for dinner and save one for Makarov.
• Hughes kicked open the guild doors, where Wakaba backed down and Macao was quickly beaten after challenging him.
• Lisanna reunited with Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Happy, and Erza led the group out for the job while Hughes urged her to keep them safe.

Hughes interrupted Laxus and Gildarts while they were fishing, then learned that Laxus was using fishing to calm his mind and overcome a strength bottleneck. Laxus vowed to surpass Hughes, leaving Hughes to wonder whether that made him Laxus’s grandpa.

• Hughes secretly recorded Shanks and Enel fishing together, then threw a boulder into the lake and blamed Macao, soaking Laxus and Gildarts.
• Laxus struck Hughes with lightning, but Hughes endured it and used the Flame-Flame Fruit to dry him and Gildarts off.
• Gildarts praised Hughes for growing stronger, while Hughes took Laxus’s fishing spot and cast a line of his own.
• Hughes discovered that Gildarts had fallen asleep and learned that Laxus was fishing to calm his mind and overcome a bottleneck.
• Laxus vowed to surpass Hughes, and Gildarts urged him to train harder because Hughes had grown stronger again.
• Hughes realized that Laxus’s determination to surpass him might make Hughes Laxus’s grandpa.

Hughes and Lisanna conspired to steal Makarov’s feather fish, but Mira caught on and made Lisanna work off her punishment. As the July heat left the guild members exhausted, Hughes suggested they go swimming in the lake.

• Hughes left Gildarts and Laxus fishing and flew home, setting Laxus’s fishing line on fire.
• At dinner, Hughes teased Lisanna, then helped lure Mira away so Lisanna and Elfman could take Makarov’s feather fish.
• Hughes showed Mira a recording of the theft, and they made Lisanna stand by while they ate the remaining feather fish the next day.
• Lisanna agreed to a month of housework and laundry, while Elfman felt relieved he had avoided the worst of the punishment.
• As the guild members wilted in Magnolia’s July heat, Hughes suggested swimming in the lake behind the guild.

Hughes joined the guild’s lake outing and turned a playful water fight into a chaotic battle against Gildarts and the others. After the guild members turned on one another, Hughes, Gildarts, and Laxus watched safely from the edge.

• The guild rushed into the lake, while Mira stayed behind because she felt shy around Hughes.
• Hughes splashed Gildarts, and the two started a water fight that Hughes escalated with huge waves.
• The guild members teamed up against Hughes, and Lisanna falsely claimed he had challenged Gildarts to a one-on-one fight.
• Hughes fought free, then confronted Macao and Wakaba after they switched sides and tried to use Gildarts as a shield.
• The lake descended into another brawl as Gildarts escaped through the crowd and stood with Hughes and Laxus.

Macao and Wakaba outmaneuvered the guild members on the lake while Wakaba showed off his sudden-stop technique. Their taunting ended when Warren and Marcus struck Wakaba with giant hammers, leaving him floating in pain as Macao called after him.

• Wakaba used his unusual braking technique to help Macao evade Reedus and the other pursuers.
• Wakaba taught Macao about his front brake in exchange for two extra hours at Hot Spring Street.
• Hughes and Gildarts worked out how Wakaba's technique functioned, while Laxus scorned it.
• Macao and Wakaba taunted the guild members and splashed Natsu, Gray, and the other children.
• Warren and Marcus ambushed Wakaba underwater with giant hammers, and Wakaba cried out as Macao pleaded for him not to leave.

After Wakaba and Macao were knocked out and tossed onto shore, Hughes and Mira relaxed by the lake until he pulled her into the water and teased her about acting like an old man. When Lisanna asked for an exciting water game, Hughes proposed a swimming competition between the children and adults, with magic forbidden but interference allowed.

• Hughes washed Wakaba and Macao in the lake and threw them onto shore after defeating them.
• Mira told Hughes she wished everyone could live freely and happily forever, prompting him to wonder whether she had come from the future.
• Hughes pulled Mira into the lake and splashed her, then sat nearby while she blushed and watched him.
• Lisanna asked Hughes for a fun water game, and he suggested a swimming competition between children and adults with magic prohibited and interference permitted.
• Lisanna paddled off to tell Natsu, Erza, and the others about Hughes's idea.

Hughes and the Fairy Tail guild organized a swimming tournament with no magic allowed, and the underage race began with Erza taking a commanding lead. Hughes found Macao and Wakaba’s betting sheets and discovered that Natsu was considered a hundred-to-one long shot to place in the top three.

• Mira covered Hughes’s mouth, accidentally ended up straddling him, then slapped him and hurried back to the guild.
• Hughes proposed a swimming race without magic, and Laxus and Gildarts agreed to race each other after the younger members finished.
• Marcus announced the tournament rules, and Lisanna cheered for Natsu while Elfman glowered at her support for another contestant.
• The underage race began, and Marcus reported that Erza quickly surged far ahead of Gray and Elfman.
• Hughes found Macao and Wakaba taking bets and saw Natsu listed at one hundred to one to finish in the top three.

Natsu and Cana teamed up to disrupt the race and surged toward second and third place while Erza finished first. Hughes lost his chance to bet on the minors, then reclaimed his 400,000 J after Macao and Wakaba tried to misinterpret his bet; the chapter ended with Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and Cana still battling near the finish.

• Cana joined Natsu in his lane, and they knocked Toroi and Jed out of contention with a mix of speed and dirty tricks.
• Natsu accelerated as guild members cheered, while Macao closed betting on the minors’ race because Cana and Natsu had made the outcome unpredictable.
• Wakaba offered Hughes an adults’ betting sheet that included Wakaba himself, and Hughes decided to put 400,000 J on himself to win.
• Macao and Wakaba misunderstood Hughes’s bet, so Hughes knocked them down and demanded a betting slip before slipping away with them to discuss a money-making scheme.
• Erza finished first, while Natsu, Gray, and Elfman raced neck and neck for the remaining places and Cana continued distracting Gray.

Elfman took second place and Gray narrowly beat Natsu for third in the swimming race, while Hughes teased Lisanna and Happy about their devotion to Natsu. After the finish, Natsu and Gray attacked Marcus over his commentary, Erza knocked them both unconscious, and Macao and Wakaba collected their winnings from the losing bettors.

• Elfman ignored Gray's call to team up, swam underwater, and took second place in the minors' division.
• Hughes teased Lisanna about Natsu's poor contest record, then threatened to show Mira a recording and add to Lisanna's housework; Happy tried to bargain for fish.
• Gray touched the finish line before Natsu and claimed third place, while Natsu took fourth with Cana's help.
• Natsu and Gray chased Marcus and struck him with fire and ice magic, sending him flying and dropping his microphone-shaped magic item.
• Gray took the microphone from the unconscious Natsu, but Erza knocked Gray out before he could claim the hosting role.
• Macao and Wakaba collected bets from Nab, Reedus, Warren, and the other bettors who had wagered on the wrong results.

Cana and Erza struggled to host the competition until Natsu and Gray tried to take over and were punched into the sky by Erza. As the swimming race was about to begin, Hughes prepared to carry out a plan to put Laxus in first place, while Gildarts worried that Hughes might disrupt his bet on himself.

• Cana and Erza nervously tried to host the competition, but Natsu and Gray dropped their platform and took the microphone before Erza punched them away.
• Lisanna, Elfman, Happy, and Mira waved flags for Hughes, including one that said he had been forced to compete.
• Hughes confirmed that Wakaba had paid Mira the agreed-upon 5 million J and saw Mira silently confirm the money had arrived.
• Hughes prepared to provoke Laxus and help him win the swimming race, following the plan he had discussed with the others.
• Gildarts told Hughes not to do anything reckless because he had bet his remaining 5 million J on himself.

Hughes joined a rigged adult swimming race while helping Wakaba and Macao manipulate the results and bets. After Macao secretly dumped a Lightning Storage Magic Crystal into the lake, Hughes knocked Reedus out and threw him ashore to protect him before it activated.

• Marcus began hosting the adult division as Hughes, Wakaba, and Macao carried out their plan to cheat the race and profit from the guild's bets.
• Gildarts surged into the lead at the start, with Wakaba and Laxus following, while Hughes stayed behind and joked that he was the protagonist.
• As Hughes drew the crowd's attention with his boastful remarks, Macao secretly emptied the Lightning Storage Magic Crystal into the lake.
• Hughes launched himself into the race, caught Reedus by the ankle, and hurled him back onto shore before the crystal could activate.

Hughes used Geppo to disrupt the swimming race and help Laxus and Wakaba catch up to Gildarts. As the racers neared the finish, Hughes clung to Gildarts to keep him from winning.

• Hughes flew through the air using Geppo, grabbed Warren, and dropped him safely near the shore before knocking out two other contestants.
• Lightning Storage Magic Crystals sent blue arcs through the lake, slowing Gildarts and Wakaba while Laxus absorbed the electricity and sped up.
• Gildarts suspected Laxus had put the crystals in the lake, but Laxus denied it and absorbed the nearby electricity.
• Hughes boosted Wakaba with a kick as he flew past, then wrapped himself around Gildarts to hold him back near the finish.

Laxus won the swimming race after Hughes held Gildarts back, then attacked the crowd and the two men when they mocked his victory. Hughes and Gildarts stood together to face Laxus’s powerful lightning strike.

• Hughes kept Gildarts restrained while Laxus and the electrified Wakaba passed them, and Laxus crossed the finish line first.
• The disappointed bettors mocked Laxus, who struck them with lightning and insisted he had won fairly.
• Hughes kicked Wakaba onto shore to save him from Laxus’s attack, and Wakaba blamed Macao for loading him with too many Lightning Storage Magic Crystals.
• Hughes and Gildarts wrestled in the lake to avoid taking Laxus’s Raging Volt, then joined forces when Laxus unleashed Narukami.
• Hughes and Gildarts stood calmly side by side as Laxus’s gold-and-blue lightning struck them.

Hughes won third place in the guild competition by tricking Gildarts, earning the Shigan technique from his system. He spent the evening teasing Gildarts and feeding Natsu flames, until an injured Makarov returned at dawn.

• Hughes and Gildarts taunted Laxus after surviving his lightning, and Laxus walked away in frustration.
• Hughes tricked Gildarts into turning around and punched him into the sky, completing a competition task that granted him beginner Shigan.
• Marcus announced Hughes's third-place finish, while Macao and Wakaba collected money from the losing gamblers.
• At the guild, Hughes fed Natsu increasingly powerful flames, causing Natsu and Happy to catch fire briefly.
• Hughes joined the guild members in teasing Gildarts, then Makarov returned injured at first light.