Recaps

Makarov returned to Fairy Tail to find the guild wrecked and its members passed out after a wild party, and he angrily struck Hughes with Giant Magic. When Erza accidentally knocked Makarov unconscious with her armor, she feared he was dying, while Hughes asked where Makarov had hidden his pension.

• Makarov arrived at Fairy Tail and found the guild in ruins, with most of its members asleep and the lake outside dried up.
• Makarov noticed Hughes had opened Gildarts's photo books and smashed him into a pit with his giant fist.
• Macao and Wakaba briefly woke, complained about Makarov disturbing their sleep, and went back to sleep.
• Erza arrived with Cana, noticed Makarov's bandages, and tried to hug him; her armor knocked him unconscious.
• Hughes woke and recorded Gildarts licking Wakaba's foot, then Erza called for help because she thought Makarov was dying.
• Hughes told Erza to ask Makarov where he had hidden his pension.

Hughes helped Cana think through telling Gildarts that she was his daughter, but Lisanna mistook their conversation for Hughes betraying Mira and sparked a guild-wide rumor. The chapter ended with Hughes and Makarov sharing breakfast while Gildarts beat Wakaba and Mira punished Lisanna.

• Hughes accepted Cana's breakfast and quietly asked whether she was thinking about telling Gildarts that she was his daughter.
• Cana admitted she was not ready to tell Gildarts, and Hughes offered to help when she was ready.
• Lisanna saw Hughes and Cana talking, assumed Hughes was two-timing Mira, and loudly accused him of betrayal.
• Hughes threatened Lisanna, who sought Makarov's protection, but Makarov stepped aside and left her to face Hughes.
• Mira arrived, heard what Lisanna had done, and took her away to punish her while Hughes shared breakfast with Makarov.

Hughes learned that Makarov had been injured while fighting a devil created by Zeref and protecting the Custody Enforcement Unit from a dark guild. Makarov gave Hughes a Magic Council subjugation request targeting the escaped members of Threads of Illusory Evil on Alon Island.

• Hughes asked Makarov about his bandages, and Makarov revealed the claw wounds he suffered fighting a devil with the Wind Curse.
• Makarov explained that Threads of Illusory Evil had helped the devil attack the Custody Enforcement Unit while he was distracted protecting his companions.
• Hughes asked whether the devil was still alive, and Makarov said he had annihilated it in anger instead of sealing it for the Magic Council.
• Makarov gave Hughes a Magic Council request to eliminate Threads of Illusory Evil on Alon Island.
• Makarov told Hughes that the guild master, Gogirde, and other surviving members had escaped and were hiding on the island.

Hughes accepted the high-paying mission to take down the dark guild Threads of Illusory Evil, and Makarov arranged for Laxus to accompany him. Hughes and Mira returned home to pack, leaving Mira flustered after Hughes carried her there by flight.

• Hughes negotiated with Makarov over the mission reward and accepted the request after Makarov offered him a hot spring district card and a chance to attend a Sorcerer Weekly photo shoot.
• Makarov told Hughes that Laxus would join him to take down Threads of Illusory Evil, and explained that Laxus's experience would help guard against dark mages' tricks.
• Erza brought Laxus to the guild, and Laxus agreed to team up with Hughes for the mission on Alon Island.
• Hughes told Laxus to pack at home before they met at the station, then asked Mira to come home with him.
• Hughes carried Mira through the air to their home, leaving her embarrassed and wishing they had bought a house farther away.

Mira tried to spend time alone with Hughes while helping him prepare for his trip, but Hughes kept missing her hints. After she calmed down from nearly using magic, they went to the kitchen together, where Mira planned to make his favorite food and pack cakes for his journey.

• Mira took over folding Hughes's sheets and packing his travel bag, while Hughes asked whether she knew about Alon Island or the Phantom Evil Silk Guild.
• Hughes realized Mira was acting strangely, but she sent him to soak his pillowcase and reminded him that Laxus would need much longer to reach the station.
• Hughes rested on the sofa, so Mira kicked him awake and claimed she was about to make lunch, though it was only eight in the morning.
• Hughes teased Mira by pointing out the time and then squeezed her cheeks until her rising magic power faded.
• Mira decided to make shredded chicken with lemon juice and cakes for Hughes to take on the road, and Hughes went to prepare the chicken.

Hughes and Laxus traveled from Magnolia to Hargeon on their way to Alon Island, where they planned to investigate the Phantom Evil Silk Guild and Gogirde. After recovering from the journey, they waited for their boat, and Laxus warned Hughes that their targets might have an advantage over him.

• Hughes arrived late at Magnolia Station with food Mira had made, and Laxus carried his bundle despite grumbling about the delay.
• Hughes shared Mira’s pastries with Laxus on the train, but Laxus became violently motion-sick during the ten-hour trip to Hargeon.
• Hughes took the exhausted Laxus to an inn for the night rather than continuing to the port.
• The next day, Hughes and Laxus ate Mira’s flatbread at Hargeon Port and waited for their boat to Alon Island.
• Laxus handed Hughes information about the Phantom Evil Silk Guild and Gogirde and warned him to be careful.

Hughes and Laxus reached Alon Island to investigate the dark guild Threads of Illusory Evil and its master, Gogirde, whose illusions could harm the mind. They found signs that the island’s residents had been killed, and the chapter ended as lights appeared in the village and a mournful opera began.

• Hughes reviewed Laxus’s intelligence about Threads of Illusory Evil and Gogirde’s dangerous Illusion Magic.
• Hughes woke Laxus when their boat reached Alon Island, and they sneaked into a coconut grove.
• Hughes and Laxus found a resident’s corpse hanging beside a mountain path, and Laxus judged that Gogirde’s illusion had frightened him to death.
• Hughes and Laxus reached a hill overlooking a dark village and noticed a stench that suggested the residents had suffered the same fate.
• Laxus went to search the village while Hughes kept watch, but lights appeared below and a mournful opera drifted toward him.

Hughes watched Gogirde’s illusion conjure a ghost from his childhood nightmare, Chu Renmei, and grew excited at the chance to get revenge. As Hughes and Chu Renmei prepared to punch each other, he failed to notice her golden lightning and Dragon Slayer magic.

• Hughes watched ghostly villagers emerge from the houses and walk into a dark pool while staring at him.
• Hughes recognized the scene as resembling his childhood nightmare, A Wicked Ghost, and became eager to confront Chu Renmei.
• Gogirde saw that Hughes and Laxus had become excited despite his illusion magic, so he ordered the Phantom Evil Silk Guild to carry out its second plan.
• Chu Renmei rose from the pool and appeared in front of Hughes, who readied a Fire Fist while she drew back her lightning-covered fist.
• Hughes and Chu Renmei shouted their attacks and swung at each other.

Hughes and Laxus realized Gogirde had trapped them in powerful illusions, then discovered that he had slaughtered everyone in the village. Gogirde ambushed them with the Threads of Sin, but Hughes survived the apparent slicing attack as Laxus confronted him.

• Hughes broke free of Gogirde's illusion after his flames blasted the apparent Chu Renmei away, then flew to find an unconscious Laxus.
• Hughes helped Laxus recover with medicine, and the two realized Gogirde had subjected them to Illusion Magic.
• Hughes and Laxus searched the village and found that every resident, including children and a baby, had been killed.
• Gogirde appeared and sliced Hughes in two with a strand from the Threads of Sin, but Hughes remained standing because of his Fire Element Magic.
• Laxus attacked Gogirde with lightning, which Gogirde deflected before warning that the Threads of Sin would damage Laxus's mind.

Hughes attacked Gogirde, but Laxus revealed that Hughes had been trapped in an illusion and that his apparent victory was imaginary. Hughes launched a new series of attacks while guarding against further illusions, then merged into the flames to see whether Gogirde had survived.

• Hughes charged Gogirde and struck him with a flaming kick, sending him into a hillside.
• Hughes fired his Fire Fist at Gogirde, believing he had destroyed him, while Laxus pointed out that Hughes was caught in Gogirde's Illusion Magic.
• Hughes saw Gogirde still leaning against the hill and realized his Fire Fist had only played out in an illusion.
• Hughes surrounded Gogirde with Firefly: Fire Daruma, then hurled two Divine Fire: Shiranui spears through the explosions.
• Hughes doubted Gogirde was finished and turned his body to fire, merging into the flames to investigate.

Hughes and Laxus damaged Gogirde’s Threads of Sin, but Gogirde’s allies began sinking Alon Island to create a chance for him to escape. The island’s collapse exposed an underground tunnel, and Gogirde fled through it, vowing to return.

• Gogirde protected himself from Hughes’s flames inside a shield formed from the Threads of Sin, but Hughes’s punches made him bleed.
• Hughes asked Laxus to strike the shield with lightning, and their combined attacks cracked the Threads of Sin.
• Gogirde contacted his followers underground and told them to approach through the tunnels while he started their second plan early.
• Hughes spotted parts of Alon Island sinking, and the valley collapsed before he and Laxus could reach Gogirde.
• Hughes and Laxus found an exposed tunnel where Gogirde had been, while Gogirde escaped underground with the Threads of Sin.

Gogirde and the surviving members of the Phantom Evil Silk Guild fed Alon Island’s magic power into the Threads of Sin, transforming it into a gigantic plant as the island began to collapse. Hughes and Laxus recognized the growing plant as the Threads of Sin, but Hughes’s Fire Fist failed to damage it, and a branch struck down toward him.

• Gogirde returned to the underground chamber, where Gar and Gadon mocked him before eagerly accepting a whipping from the Threads of Sin.
• Gar and Gadon opened a pit at Alon Island’s magic source and placed the Threads of Sin inside to absorb the island’s magic power.
• The Threads of Sin grew into a huge plant, broke through the underground chamber, and began tearing up the island.
• Hughes and Laxus noticed Alon Island shaking and saw the black plant rise above the island’s highest point.
• Hughes attacked the plant with Fire Fist, confirmed it was the Threads of Sin, and was targeted by a descending branch.

Hughes used mental potions, Perfect-Level Tekkai, and his enhanced strength to attack the Threads of Sin, while Laxus and the others watched. The Threads of Sin’s mental attacks failed to stop Hughes, and Gogirde grew furious as he tried to understand why.

• Laxus struck away a pitch-black branch that was about to ambush Hughes with Lightning Dragon's Crushing Fist.
• Hughes drank five of Granny Porlyusica's mental potions, activated Perfect-Level Tekkai, and tore the branch in two with his hands.
• The remaining branch dragged Hughes toward the Threads of Sin's trunk, where he charged in and smashed through its branches with his fists.
• The system announced a hidden mission to defeat a Gigantic Sea King, but Hughes was too absorbed in fighting to notice.
• Gogirde, Gadon, and Gar watched Hughes through a Magic Crystal, and Gar suggested Gadon fight him before Gogirde slapped Gar down.
• Gogirde wondered why the Threads of Sin's mind-damaging branches affected Laxus but not Hughes.

Hughes and Laxus joined forces against the Threads of Sin after Gogirde transformed it, combining fire and lightning in a Unison Raid that began to crack its trunk. Laxus realized the attack was their first successful Unison Raid together.

• Hughes destroyed the Threads of Sin’s black branches while Laxus blasted them to ash with Lightning Strike.
• Gogirde drew magic power from the Threads of Sin, causing it to shrink and grow tougher.
• Hughes asked Laxus to combine their attacks, and Laxus agreed despite having little magic power left.
• Hughes unleashed Firefly: Fire Daruma as Laxus used Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Narukami.
• Their combined fire and lightning cracked the Threads of Sin, and Laxus recognized their attack as Unison Raid.

Hughes and Laxus’s Unison Raid damaged the Threads of Sin, forcing Gogirde to absorb its magic power and transform. Gogirde destroyed the Threads of Sin and attacked Hughes while sending Gar and Gadon after Laxus, leaving Hughes to confront the brothers as Gogirde prepared a larger spell.

• Laxus and Hughes used a Unison Raid that cracked the Threads of Sin, while Hughes and Laxus argued over whose magic had made it work.
• Gogirde struck Gar, then explained that Hughes’s attack had ruined his plan and that he had absorbed the Threads of Sin’s magic power instead.
• Gogirde destroyed the Threads of Sin and unleashed enough magic power to extinguish the Unison Raid, forcing Hughes to land and signal Laxus to retreat.
• Gogirde ordered Gar and Gadon to pursue Laxus while he faced Hughes, and a huge magic circle began forming across Alon Island.
• Hughes intercepted Gar and Gadon as they traveled underground and scorched the ground to force them out, but a black-furred claw attacked him from behind.

Hughes defeated Chishi and Gar and discovered that the woman he pursued was actually a man, while Gogirde prepared a massive magic circle across Alon Island. Hughes sent Laxus flying out to sea so he could deal with the danger without having to protect him.

• Hughes overpowered Chishi’s Beast Soul transformation, slammed him into the ground, and received a hidden mission reward that enhanced his physical attributes.
• Gogirde ordered Gadon, Gar, and the buxom woman to distract Hughes, but the three fled in different directions instead.
• Hughes caught Gar in midair and killed him, then grabbed the buxom woman and learned that she was a man before throwing him away.
• Laxus warned Hughes that a dark magic circle covered Alon Island, and Hughes sent Laxus flying over the sea so he could act without protecting him.

Hughes searched the darkness for Gogirde, resisted a deceptive illusion of Laxus, and watched Gogirde seal Alon Island inside a vast magic barrier. The island was then struck by thick black rain that caused Hughes intense mental pain.

• Gogirde activated the magic arrays covering Alon Island, plunging the island into darkness as Hughes searched for him with scattered flames.
• Hughes followed a sound and found an apparent Laxus begging for help, then killed him after realizing Gogirde had created an illusion.
• Gogirde watched Hughes’s reaction ruin his planned ambush, then used his magic to split the island’s array into two rising arrays and seal Alon Island.
• Hughes noticed the island had changed and felt thick black rain fall on him, bringing a piercing pain to his mind.

Gogirde’s black rain triggered Hughes’s mental agony, but it also brought out a vicious side of him that overwhelmed Gogirde. After Gogirde trapped Hughes in an illusion and bombarded him, Hughes reappeared behind him, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Gogirde revealed that his black rain inflicted mental pain, and Hughes struggled against it as the ruined island offered no shelter.
• Hughes’s agony subsided as a vicious persona took over, and he appeared beside Gogirde before headbutting and kicking him across the island.
• Hughes mocked Gogirde and deliberately stepped into the illusion liquid, freezing in place as Gogirde escaped.
• Gogirde unleashed a barrage of magic bullets at Hughes for three-quarters of an hour, while Laxus anxiously struck the barrier around Alon Island.
• Gogirde celebrated his apparent victory over the crater where Hughes had stood, but Hughes appeared behind him, battered yet still standing.

Hughes killed Gogirde, but Gogirde’s death triggered an explosion that destroyed Alon Island. Hughes and Laxus survived at sea, where Hughes learned he had earned Soru and teased Laxus as he woke.

• Hughes crushed Gogirde and killed him, causing the island’s magic array to return Gogirde’s magic to the source beneath Alon Island.
• The magic source exploded, destroying and sinking Alon Island while Hughes used Elementalization to survive and pull Laxus away.
• Floating at sea, Hughes swallowed a mental potion to ease the pain from his episode and complained about the cost of the mission.
• The system announced that Hughes had completed a hidden quest by defeating the Threads of Illusory Evil and rewarded him with mastery-level Soru.
• Hughes planned to learn Rankyaku, Kami-e, and Life Return after returning to Magnolia Town.
• Laxus woke up, shocked Hughes with lightning after Hughes joked that the operation had turned him into a girl, and regarded him with disgust.

Hughes and Laxus swam across the sea until they reached Hargeon, where they ate before planning to take a coach back to Magnolia. They left the restaurant after Hughes's enormous appetite drew a crowd and the owner begged him to stop eating.

• Hughes flew ahead to guide Laxus as Laxus swam through the open sea, and the two bickered over hunger and Hughes's attempts to provoke him.
• Hughes set Laxus's clothes on fire, dodged Laxus's retaliation, and inspired him to resolve to learn flight magic from Ojiichan.
• Hughes spotted land, and he and Laxus arrived in Hargeon, where they recognized the town and planned to eat before catching a night coach to Magnolia.
• Hughes ate for an hour at the Hargeon Grand Restaurant until the owner begged him to stop, while Laxus insisted on paying the full bill.
• Hughes asked the owner to give him the discount in cash, and he and Laxus left while Hughes called the restaurant trashy.

Makarov tried to hold an educational meeting about Laxus and Hughes’s mission, but the guild repeatedly interrupted him before Hughes returned and recounted a dramatic version of the battle. The chapter left Makarov rereading the Magic Council’s investigation results and questioning Hughes’s story.

• Makarov gathered Fairy Tail’s members to discuss the Alon Island mission, and their worried reactions led him to silence them with Giant Magic.
• Hughes returned by kicking down the guild doors, prompting Makarov to attack him for interrupting the meeting.
• Hughes told the guild that Threads of Illusory Evil had slaughtered Alon Island’s residents and that Gogirde had gravely wounded Laxus.
• Hughes claimed he fought through hundreds of dark wizards, destroyed much of the island, and wiped out the guild, while Lisanna listened admiringly.
• Makarov reread the Magic Council’s investigation results and began to doubt Hughes’s account.

Hughes returned to Fairy Tail and found the guild celebrating by fighting, betting, and teasing one another, while Laxus briefly appeared before leaving to train for the S-Class Exam. After Erza punished Natsu and Gray for fighting, Hughes noticed Mira blushing and tried to take her to Porlyusica for a checkup.

• Makarov called for a party to celebrate Hughes and Laxus's return, but the guild quickly turned it into bets on Natsu and Gray's duel.
• Laxus arrived, told Hughes he was going to train in the eastern forest for the upcoming S-Class Exam, and left the guild.
• Erza caught Natsu and Gray fighting again and punished them after Happy revealed they had fought forty-five times that week.
• Hughes noticed Mira blushing beside him and learned she had drunk from the glass he had just used.
• Hughes took Mira's hand and insisted on bringing her to Porlyusica, but Mira protested that she would be fine.

Hughes joined Laxus and the others for early-morning training in the eastern forest, where he worked to complete the Six Powers. He discovered that using Perfect-Level Tekkai to stab stones rapidly raised his Shigan proficiency to perfect, and he suspected he had found a way to master Rankyaku as well.

• Laxus woke Hughes at four in the morning to take him to train in the eastern forest, and Mira convinced Hughes to hurry by reminding him Natsu and Gray might mock him for being late.
• Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman joined Hughes and Laxus, while Laxus said Natsu, Erza, and the others would meet them at the forest.
• At Laxus's secluded training valley, Laxus and the others meditated while Hughes practiced the Six Powers alone.
• Hughes used Perfect-Level Tekkai while rapidly stabbing stones and discovered that the exercise raised his Shigan proficiency.
• Hughes's Shigan proficiency reached perfect level, and he thought he knew how to train Rankyaku the same way.

Hughes practiced Rankyaku until he reached perfect proficiency, while Mira, Erza, and Laxus watched from above. Afterward, Hughes asked for food, and Mira told Erza that the group needed five more beasts.

• Hughes abandoned his attempts to modify Soru and began practicing Rankyaku, quickly learning the beginner-level technique.
• Hughes improved Rankyaku to intermediate proficiency as Natsu and the others cheered, while Mira speculated that he was developing Taijutsu suited to him.
• Laxus agreed that Hughes had grown stronger and left to train so he could catch up.
• Hughes unleashed a barrage of Rankyaku slashes and reached perfect proficiency.
• Hughes asked Mira for food, and Erza returned with a large beast before Mira told her to catch five more.

Hughes helped prepare a summer feast, looked after Mira, and gave Natsu flames to eat. After everyone ate, Hughes asked Laxus to attack him so he could train in Kami-e.

• Hughes washed the wild greens while Erza played with the children and Mira cooked the meat over the bonfire.
• Hughes took over at the fire and sent Mira to rest in the shade, leaving her flustered by his attention.
• Hughes made Natsu turn the meat and then fed him several crimson flames.
• Gray cooled the group with Ice-Make Magic, and everyone ate and relaxed beneath the trees.
• Hughes asked Laxus to attack him without defending so he could practice evading attacks with Kami-e.