Chapter Summaries

Hughes and Mira headed toward the Sabertooth guild, but Hughes stopped in a forest after receiving a quest to defeat “Three-Sword Liu Zoro.” After searching the forest and knocking out ten dinosaur-like beasts, they spotted what looked like a frog with a cat’s face.

• Lisanna left Hughes alone with Mira, who apologized for misunderstanding him and argued that he should have explained the ring’s importance.
• Hughes brought Mira along to the Sabertooth guild so she could take over demons while he absorbed their Devil Factors and increased his Flame-Flame Fruit Awakening.
• Two days later, the system gave Hughes a quest to defeat “Three-Sword Liu Zoro,” and he asked Mira to look for someone or something carrying three swords, especially with green hair.
• Hughes searched the forest with Advanced Observation Haki and knocked out ten dinosaur-like beasts while pursuing the quest target.
• Mira pointed out a frog with a cat’s face ahead of them.

Hughes and Mira found Frosch, who had become separated from Rogue, and helped reunite them in the forest. Rogue then warned them that ferocious beasts were chasing him, but Hughes and Mira stayed put as the dinosaurs emerged.

• Hughes recognized Frosch and learned it was searching for Rogue after getting lost.
• Mira offered to help Frosch find Rogue, and Hughes used his Advanced Observation Haki to locate him.
• Hughes and Mira reunited Frosch with Rogue, a young boy with no guild emblem.
• Rogue scooped up Frosch and urged Hughes and Mira to flee from the beasts pursuing him.
• Several dinosaurs emerged from the woods, while Rogue anxiously tried to get Hughes and Mira moving.

Hughes saved Rogue and Frosch from dinosaur-like beasts, then accidentally knocked them unconscious. After Mira helped them recover, Rogue thanked Hughes for rescuing them.

• Hughes hurled a flaming spear through the charging beasts and urged the frightened Rogue to face his fear.
• A quest notification appeared after Rogue and Frosch fell unconscious, and Hughes realized he had knocked them out.
• Mira examined Rogue and Frosch, said exhaustion and hunger had caused them to faint, and told Hughes to find them food.
• Rogue woke beside the campfire, and Frosch gave him the fruit he had saved for him.
• Rogue approached Hughes while he kept watch and thanked him for saving them, then assured him they would have fainted anyway.

Hughes learned how Rogue and Frosch came to the forest while they sought to join Sabertooth, then discovered Minerva surrounded by beasts after Jiemma had cast her out. Recognizing the scene that would transform Minerva, Hughes resolved to confront Jiemma.

• Rogue told Hughes that Phantom Lord had rejected him, and that he and Frosch had entered the forest to seek a place in Sabertooth.
• Hughes heard a noise and led Rogue, Mira, and Frosch into hiding to watch a wounded girl face several beasts.
• Minerva used Absolute Territory Magic to escape one beast, but her magic ran out as the others surrounded her.
• Hughes recognized Minerva and recalled that Jiemma had thrown her into the forest after killing Fingus and demanding she become stronger.
• Mira reminded Hughes that their master had told him to make a fuss on the trip, and Hughes decided he wanted to settle his grudge with Jiemma.

Hughes rescued Minerva from the beasts, then destroyed the Sabertooth guild and its surrounding mountain peaks to provoke Jiemma. He began fighting Jiemma, who trapped him in a spatial dome that prevented him from using Elementalization.

• Hughes blasted the beasts surrounding Minerva and left her behind, telling her that Jiemma would not come to save her.
• Hughes flew Mira and Rogue to the Sabertooth guild and told them to hide while he filled the building with green flames and blew it apart with Fire Fist.
• Hughes sensed Jiemma approaching with a group of people and waited to challenge him.
• Jiemma confronted Hughes over destroying a guild, but Hughes attacked him with Divine Fire: Shiranui.
• Jiemma dodged Hughes's next attack by swapping places with him and left a multicolored dome that trapped Hughes and stopped him from using Elementalization.

Hughes easily overpowered Jiemma and demanded to see his Eighteen Battle Gods of Calamity Demons magic before killing him. He prepared a Recording Magic Crystal and crimson flames as Jiemma rose to fight.

• Jiemma trapped Hughes in Confinement Space and attacked him with blazing spears, but Hughes shattered the barrier and defeated him with a kick.
• Hughes ordered the arriving Sabertooth members to stay put, then pursued Jiemma into the forest and stomped him into a crater.
• Jiemma secretly attacked Hughes with a spatial shock wave, but Hughes caught it barehanded and mocked his weakness.
• Hughes rejected Jiemma's offers of compensation and demanded that he demonstrate his Eighteen Battle Gods of Calamity Demons magic.
• Hughes aimed a Recording Magic Crystal at Jiemma and tossed crimson flames into the sky as Jiemma prepared to fight.

Hughes defeated Jiemma after recording his ancient spell, then saved Minerva from the attack and took control of Sabertooth. He left the guild members accepting him as their new master.

• Hughes threatened Jiemma with a falling fireball and recorded him reciting the ancient words of the Eighteen Battle Gods of Calamity Demons magic.
• Jiemma unleashed a massive energy beam as the fireball destroyed the mountain, but Hughes dodged it to protect Minerva.
• Hughes intercepted the beam before it reached Minerva and smashed it into stardust.
• Minerva realized Jiemma had tried to kill her, and Hughes knocked her unconscious before she could learn that he had killed her father.
• Hughes declared himself the new master of Sabertooth, and the guild members accepted his claim.

Hughes took over Sabertooth and activated a quest to make it the strongest guild on the Ishgar Continent. He set new rules for the guild, ordered its members to begin rebuilding, and revealed that Rogue was one reason he had taken control.

• After becoming Sabertooth's guild master, Hughes activated the quest to make Sabertooth the number one crew in the East Blue and unlock another Devil Fruit Slot.
• Dobengal asked Hughes whether Jiemma might return, and Hughes assured the former members that Jiemma was dead and that he would not kill them without cause.
• When Hughes asked who had managed Sabertooth's operations, nobody answered, so he decided to handle the guild's arrangements himself.
• Hughes kept Sabertooth's old ideals of strength but rejected Jiemma's rule that the weak must disappear, promising to provide resources and magic if members grew stronger without losing their humanity.
• Hughes ordered some members to rebuild the guildhall and others to placate the townspeople, while keeping his identity as guild master secret.
• Hughes told Mira to keep the takeover secret, then looked to Rogue and revealed that he had taken Sabertooth partly for him.

Hughes invited Rogue and Frosch to join Sabertooth, hoping to use Rogue’s potential to help the guild become the strongest in Ishgar. Rogue accepted after Hughes assured him that Skiadrum was alive and promised to help him grow stronger.

• Hughes considered how Rogue’s White Shadow Dragon Mode could lead to Dragon Control Magic and worried that Acnologia would detect dragons brought to Ishgar.
• Mira prodded Hughes into inviting Rogue and Frosch to join Sabertooth, and Hughes promised them food and lodging.
• Rogue doubted his own ability, but Hughes told him that Skiadrum was alive and urged him to grow stronger before meeting the dragon again.
• Rogue asked whether Hughes could teach him to become stronger, and Hughes agreed.
• Rogue and Frosch decided to join Sabertooth, and Hughes turned his attention to Minerva.

After killing Jiemma and taking over Sabertooth, Hughes accepted Minerva's request to join the new guild. When he learned the guild's funds had burned with its former headquarters, he decided to raise money from the town's wealthiest residents.

• Minerva asked Hughes why Jiemma had wanted to kill her, and Hughes told her that Jiemma was dead at his hands.
• Minerva asked to join the new Sabertooth, and Hughes welcomed her while warning her not to plot against him.
• Dobengal told Hughes that the guild had no money because its funds had burned in the destruction of the old headquarters.
• Hughes learned rebuilding Sabertooth would cost thirty or forty million J and decided not to borrow from Makarov again.
• Hughes ordered Dobengal to list the town's richest people so he could approach them for money.

Hughes raised money from Sabertooth’s town residents under the pretense of hiring the guild to clear beasts, then led Mira, Rogue, Minerva, and Frosch into the mountains to do the work. Two days later, the new Sabertooth guild was established with Dobengal managing it while Hughes kept his role as guild master secret and stayed away most of the time.

• Hughes clarified that he planned to persuade wealthy residents to fund beast-clearing work, and Dobengal agreed to compile a list of them.
• Hughes visited the residents wearing Dobengal’s ninja clothes and mask, collected money, and returned Dobengal’s ruined disguise and sword.
• Hughes took Mira, Rogue, Minerva, and Frosch to clear beasts from the surrounding mountains and forests.
• The wealthy residents complained to the mayor, then agreed to give false testimony and claim Hughes had robbed them of two hundred and twenty million J.
• Two days later, the new Sabertooth guild opened with about thirty people, and Hughes appointed Dobengal to manage it while he remained an absent, secret guild master.

Hughes left Dobengal in charge of rebuilding Sabertooth as an independent guild, then encountered a Magic Council investigation over a false report that he had stolen 220 million J. He ordered an investigation into the town’s wealthy residents and mayor before telling Mira they would return to Magnolia Town and then seek an uninhabited island to release two demon-containing objects.

• Hughes appointed Dobengal to manage Sabertooth and promised to arrange training plans for the guild members.
• Hughes told Dobengal to recruit Sting, Yukino, Rufus, and Orga, and he left Sabertooth with Mira.
• Hughes met a Magic Council investigation team and a toad messenger, then learned that the townspeople had reported him for stealing 220 million J.
• Hughes told the toad messenger to ask Crawford Seam to investigate the town’s wealthy residents and mayor for unexplained assets and possible dark-guild ties.
• Hughes contacted Dobengal and told Mira they would return to Magnolia Town before releasing two demon-containing objects so he could absorb their Devil Factors.

Hughes returned to Magnolia Town after killing Jiemma, destroying Sabertooth, and taking over the guild, then explained to Makarov that he intended to keep Fairy Tail as his home while using Sabertooth to prepare for threats from the western continent. Makarov agreed to handle the consequences of Jiemma’s death but reacted angrily to Hughes becoming Sabertooth’s master before hearing his plan.

• Mira beat Hughes for leering at a melon seller, who later revealed to a neighboring vendor that she had once been a man and had changed her body to attract customers.
• At Fairy Tail, Hughes gave Makarov half a watermelon and told him that Jiemma had died by his hand.
• Makarov warned Hughes that killing an official guild master could violate Magic Council regulations and said he would handle the matter.
• Hughes told Makarov that he had destroyed Sabertooth without killing anyone and had taken over as its guild master.
• Makarov threw the watermelon at Hughes and accused him of betraying Fairy Tail, but Hughes said he was staying and planned to use Sabertooth to secretly train powerful allies against the western continent.

Hughes persuaded Makarov to help train Sabertooth’s members, then summoned a demon on a deserted island to absorb its Devil Factor and strengthen his Flame-Flame Fruit. He found the scythe demon too weak to provide enough power, just as a bloody streak shot out of the dust toward him.

• Hughes gave Makarov Sabertooth’s members’ requests and convinced him to prepare training plans and suitable magic for them.
• Hughes went to a deserted island with Makarov, Granny Porlyusica, and other guild members to test absorbing demons and observe their Magic Barrier Particles.
• Hughes summoned Blood Scythe Daemon by breaking the blood dagger, and she attacked him with her scarlet scythe.
• Hughes seized Blood Scythe Daemon’s wrist and kicked her through boulders, absorbing a small amount of Devil Factor and raising his Flame-Flame Fruit Awakening to 75.01%.
• Hughes judged Blood Scythe Daemon too weak to provide enough Devil Factor, then a streak of bloody light shot out of the dust toward him.

Hughes defeated Blood Scythe Daemon, collected the Magic Barrier Particles, and helped Mira take over her Curse. Mira found that the Curse was a poor fit, so Hughes sent her to deliver the particles and scythe to Granny Porlyusica before preparing to take over another demon’s Curse.

• Blood Scythe Daemon attacked Hughes with her Blood Fang Slash, but he caught the attack and turned it back on her, splitting her body in two.
• Hughes pinned Blood Scythe Daemon with her scarlet scythe, forced her to release the Magic Barrier Particles, and collected them in a bottle.
• Hughes burned Blood Scythe Daemon to death, then helped Mira take over her Curse as Makarov opened the magic barrier.
• Mira learned that the Curse controlled the blood of anyone wounded by the scarlet scythe, but she shook her head when Hughes asked whether it suited her.
• Hughes gave Mira the scythe and bottle to deliver to Granny Porlyusica, then told her to prepare to take over another demon’s Curse.

Hughes stopped Fudia’s surprise attack on Mira and discovered that consuming the magma from Fudia’s body increased his Flame-Flame Fruit awakening progress. After Fudia emerged as a magma demon and pleaded for his life, Hughes learned that Balrog had been created from a flame taken from Fudia.

• Fudia’s warm stone attacked Mira, but Hughes kicked it away and brought her to Makarov, who shielded the others.
• Hughes sensed life within Fudia’s spreading magma, swallowed some, and learned that it advanced his Flame-Flame Fruit awakening.
• Hughes consumed more magma, raising his awakening progress to 88%, before Fudia gathered his body into a magma giant.
• Fudia revealed that Zeref had created him from a volcano and that Balrog had been made from a volcanic flame taken from him.

Hughes learned that Fudia and Balrog had been created as prototypes for END, then brought Natsu and Mira to confront Fudia after Natsu began craving something. Hughes’s Flame-Flame Fruit reached Complete Awakening as Natsu started devouring Fudia’s flames, and Natsu’s eyes and aura changed ominously.

• Fudia revealed that he and Balrog had been created as the foundation for END, and Hughes struck a hole through Fudia’s chest despite promising to let him go.
• Natsu collapsed with rapidly flowing magic and an intense hunger, while Porlyusica and Makarov determined he was not dying.
• Hughes took Mira and Natsu after Fudia, then attacked the demon with Rankyaku and absorbed Devil Factors from his wounds.
• The Flame-Flame Fruit reached Complete Awakening, allowing Hughes to make flames erupt from Fudia’s body.
• Hughes dropped Natsu onto Fudia, and Natsu lost control and began devouring the demon’s flames as his eyes turned deep crimson and a violent aura rose.

Hughes discovered that Igneel had suppressed Natsu’s devil instincts, then absorbed Fudia’s Devil Origin himself after Natsu was no longer able to take it. Mira took over Fudia and tested her new form, leaving a hollow between the hills destroyed by her magic.

• Igneel’s voice suppressed Natsu’s violent aura and ended his hunger, while Hughes realized Igneel had intervened from inside him.
• Hughes collected Magic Barrier Particles from Fudia and sent Natsu away with the bottle.
• Hughes battered Fudia and absorbed his Devil Factor, raising the Flame-Flame Fruit’s Awakening to 95%.
• Mira took over Fudia completely and transformed, gaining crimson hair, horns, and black-and-red armor.
• Mira gathered dark purple magic and unleashed a series of explosions that flattened a hollow between the hills.

Hughes teased Mira during her first attempt at taking over Fudia, but an accidental punch to his groin led him to unleash his flames against Makarov. He overwhelmed the guild members with his newly awakened fire powers and left the island in chaos.

• Hughes coached Mira on releasing her attack more quickly, then teased her about her human-beast form until she ended her Take Over and pretended to be angry.
• Hughes dodged Mira’s punches and pinched her nose, while Makarov sneaked up and slapped him on the back, knocking him into one of Mira’s punches below the waist.
• Mira blushed and fled, and Hughes angrily turned on Makarov as Macao and the others ran away.
• Hughes trapped Makarov inside towering flames and attacked him with volleys of Divine Fire: Shiranui spears after his Flame-Flame Fruit reached Complete Awakening.
• Erza led the others toward the island’s edge, stopping Natsu from approaching the flames, while Hughes continued attacking Makarov.

Hughes and Makarov fought at full strength, with their attacks devastating the deserted island before Makarov finally acknowledged Hughes's power. After Hughes joked about using Granny Porlyusica to retaliate, she arrived and struck Makarov with her cane, while Hughes fled back to the guild.

• Hughes and Makarov exchanged powerful attacks that shook the island and sent huge waves across the sea, prompting Erza to shield Natsu and Gray.
• Hughes hurled a gigantic fireball at Makarov, who released his full magic power and met it with a mountain-sized punch.
• After their attack reached a stalemate, Hughes dispelled the fireball, and Makarov praised his strength before striking him into a pit.
• Hughes threatened to use Granny Porlyusica against Makarov, and Porlyusica overheard them as she approached.
• Porlyusica struck Makarov on the head with her cane, and Hughes hurried back to the guild, saying he would talk to everyone later.