Compared to borrowing the power of his card monsters, Chase usually preferred to summon them directly for battle.
To put it simply: while he knew a bit of black magic from Dark Magician and his pupil, his skill would never match theirs. It required dedicated time and effort to master.
Not that having more skills was a bad thing, but learning too much at once meant mastering nothing.
It felt like going the long way around.
And in high-level battles, it would strain his mental limits, preventing him from executing card chains with the speed and clarity he needed—compared to simply letting his monsters fight directly.
After all, his magic, Duelist Soul, wasn't limited to monster cards. It also included all kinds of Spell and Trap Cards!
More importantly, if a card monster was destroyed in battle, it would simply return to the deck to rest for a while.
If he died, it was game over.
So under normal circumstances, Chase only borrowed his monsters' abilities when his magic power vastly outclassed the opponent, or—like when he'd delivered the final blow to Jose with the thunderous roar—when he simply didn't have the strength left to summon a monster.
But…
The Sky Dragon was different.
The sheer amount of magic power required meant the Sky Dragon could only serve as a final trump card for desperate situations.
However, the God-Slaying Magic derived from it could greatly enhance his current combat style.
This was the power of a true God, after all.
With magical enhancement, his close-quarters combat ability was already solid, backed by plenty of experience (honed through daily guild life).
Now, with God-Slaying Magic to augment him, combined with the Right Arm of the Forbidden One—which grew stronger the longer he fought—he could achieve S-Class level combat ability even without using cards!
Imagine this: an evenly matched opponent goes to great lengths to bypass his cards, ready to take him down directly. Then Chase whips out the Sky Dragon's iron fist.
What a sight.
"Once the Council's interrogation is over, I'll need to properly study the Sky Dragon's power…"
Pushing aside the vivid image forming in his mind, Chase declined Dark Magician Girl's invitation to warm his bed and returned his consciousness to the real world.
It was already late at night. The camp was quiet, save for the sparse chirping of insects.
Oh, and the occasional sleep-talk from Natsu in the adjacent cot.
Stuff like, "Mystogan, let's fight!", "Erza, I'm gonna beat you today!", and "Where's Dad?".
He wondered how a certain father, hiding inside his son's body, would feel hearing that.
Chase chuckled inwardly, then pulled up his blanket and went to sleep.
The next day…
After a simple breakfast purchased by the Council from Magnolia, the tedious interrogation process officially began.
Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord were interrogated simultaneously, each in closed-room settings.
Fairy Tail's side was handled by Lahar, the captain of the Enforcement force. Phantom Lord's side was handled by the Council's frog messenger.
The reason for this arrangement was simple: the frog messenger really didn't want to be alone with Chase.
This method of interrogation ensured maximum accuracy in determining the details of the incident, filtering out any deliberate exaggerations or distortions.
But it had a clear drawback: it was slow. Really slow.
By the time it was Chase's group's turn for the first round, it was nearly noon!
"Gentlemen, who's first?" the officer escorting them asked.
"Me! Me! Me!" Natsu shot his hand up and dashed forward.
He usually had no love—even hostility—toward the Council, but this time he was surprisingly eager.
He didn't want to miss a chance to get ahead of Chase and Mystogan.
Not that it actually mattered or meant anything to him, but…
Macao and Wakaba were similarly affected, scrambling to keep up.
Fairy Tail members always had this inexplicable drive when it came to surpassing S-Class.
Soon, only Chase, Mystogan, and the "pet" Happy remained in the tent.
"Chase, you go first."
Mystogan rose slowly, his tone as calm as ever.
Normally, Chase would've made those three remember who was boss.
But now, with his mind focused on God-Slaying Magic, he couldn't be bothered. He casually lined up behind Wakaba.
And so, the group of five made their way toward the interrogation tent.
Along the way, Natsu and the others at the front puffed out their chests, wearing the same smug grin as a certain sword-wielding king, showing off to their guildmates in other tents.
"Are those three idiots?!"
Lucy, who had just finished her interrogation, couldn't help but facepalm.
Mira smiled from the same tent as she watched Chase. "My, my, this doesn't seem like him."
"Mystogan…"
Erza's attention, however, was fixed on the masked figure at the back of the line.
Under the curious eyes of their guildmates, Chase's group finally reached the interrogation tent.
Following the order, Natsu and the others went first. Then it was Chase's turn.
Lifting the tent flap, he stepped inside to find a square wooden table. Across from it sat Lahar, dressed in his Council uniform, his posture upright.
"Huh? Didn't expect you guys to be so humane. You even prepared tea. How thoughtful."
Chase sat down and unceremoniously took a sip from the cup on the table.
Lahar watched his overly familiar behavior with a headache, then picked up the documents beside him and got straight to the point.
"Chase. Male. 23. S-Class Wizard of Fairy Tail."
"According to Phantom Lord's account, you hung their guild's wizard, Gajeel Redfox, from the clock tower in Oak City as an act of provocation. Do you have anything to say about that?"
An expected line of questioning.
"He attacked our guild members first. I was just counterattacking to protect my comrades."
Chase slowly set down his teacup. "If you investigate West Street in Magnolia, you'll find out. Someone must have seen it."
Even though it was late at night, the commotion was loud enough to wake a sleeping pig.
"As for how he ended up on the clock tower—"
"Just a reminder: Natsu Dragneel, who went before you, has already boasted—ahem—admitted to it."
"Then yes, it was indeed me."
Cursing Natsu's recklessness internally, Chase admitted it openly.
Setting aside the fact that Gajeel had thrown the first punch, the provocations Phantom Lord had been making—vandalizing their guild, causing trouble all over—any single one was far more serious than this.
Even if certain factions in the Council were unreasonable and tried to press charges, at worst he'd be looking at "disturbing the peace." It wouldn't change the fact that Sabertooth and Phantom Lord had initiated this guild war.
Not that such a scenario was even likely. For one simple reason: Fairy Tail had won.
Lahar understood this as well. The questioning was largely just procedural.
In truth, the Council had already reached its conclusion. They were merely waiting for the documentation to be compiled and submitted.
***
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