Roger raised his hand, ready to unleash an attack spell, when he suddenly noticed something weird in the young guy's eyes across from him. There wasn't a shred of fear—just a glint of… amusement?
"Ah, I get it now," Roger said with a knowing grin, nodding to himself.
"So the heart is directly linked to your right eye."
"When it's closed, the heart stays in a relatively stable state."
"But the second you open that Devil Eye, the heart starts pounding like crazy—just like when a person's running flat-out—sucking in, compressing, and pumping nearly limitless magic power straight into you."
"Pretty bold and fascinating design, I've gotta say."
"No wonder you're so cocky."
The moment the word "heart" left Roger's lips, Hades felt his stomach drop. A wave of dread hit him like a truck.
Couple that with how calm and in-control the kid looked… yeah, this brat already knew the secret of the Devil's Heart.
No more waiting. He had to end this now!
A murderous glint flashed in Hades's eye. He jerked his right hand up and poured every last drop of his surging magic power straight into the airship's deck beneath his feet.
"Heaven's Executioner: Judgm—"
He only got halfway through the chant.
"GRAAHHH!!!"
A searing, tearing pain—like someone had ripped his heart clean in half—exploded from both his right eye and deep in his chest at the same time.
It felt like the very root of his life and power was being violently yanked out and scattered into nothing.
Hades screamed. The magic he'd gathered shattered instantly. His raised hand flew to cover his eye as he staggered.
"My—my heart!! What did you DO to it?!"
At the exact same moment, a chaotic surge of magic power erupted from the ship's hold where the Devil's Heart was stored.
Roger felt the unstable, dark-purple magic particles in the air starting to flicker and fade. A hint of surprise crossed his face. "I didn't think reverse-absorption magic would actually work on a living organ like the Devil's Heart."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Guess it makes sense, though. It doesn't have its own consciousness—just a ridiculously strong magic reactor. So I could treat it like an ownerless magic crystal, forcibly flip its internal structure, and make all that magic bleed out."
"NO—STOP IT!!" Hades could feel his pride and joy—his colossal magic reserves—draining away at a terrifying speed.
His power ebbed like the tide, and with it went his very life force.
His legs gave out. He dropped to one knee with a heavy thud, no longer able to stand.
In just a few breaths, his skin sagged and withered right before everyone's eyes. Deep wrinkles carved across his face and hands like canyons.
He aged twenty—no, thirty—years in seconds, turning from a terrifying dark mage into a shriveled, ancient husk.
He lifted his head with what little strength he had left, cloudy eyes staring at the blurry figure of Roger. His voice shook with disbelief and despair.
"I… I'm actually… going to lose… like this?"
"It's… laughable…"
"Zeref… was right there…"
"Just one more step… just a little further… and I would've reached… the Great Abyss of Magic…"
His final word dissolved into a weak sigh, carried away with the last wisps of escaping magic.
His raised arm fell limp. His body pitched forward and slammed into the cold, broken deck. Master Hades, leader of Grimoire Heart… was dead.
Roger looked down at the lifeless body and muttered, "Magic power is basically an extension of life force."
"When it's forcibly reversed and scattered into the world… the life that depended on it naturally follows."
"Though it drained a lot faster than I expected."
Ding!
[Acquired 8.9 million magic power]
[Acquired: Dark Chains, Amaterasu Magic, Law of the Devil, Devil's Heart, Heaven's Executioner: Judgment, Living Link Magic]
"Whoa, talk about a jackpot. First time I've ever seen someone drop this many spells. Guess that's Hades for you."
The second the words left his mouth—
THOOM!!
A deep, heavy heartbeat exploded from inside his chest.
Suddenly every last bit of lingering magic in the air—even the free-floating etherano far off in the distance—rushed toward him like rivers flowing into the sea.
The pull grew stronger and wider by the second.
Magic particles condensed into visible streams of colorful light, swirling around him until they formed a massive vortex that stretched from the ground all the way into the sky.
Trees in the nearby forest bent toward him. Leaves rained down like a storm.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Each heartbeat boomed louder, like an awakening dragon roaring inside his ribcage.
The magic power he'd been holding back erupted outward uncontrollably.
A blinding platinum pillar of light shot from the top of his head with a thunderous roar, punching straight through the clouds and scattering them like tissue paper.
With every powerful beat, the platinum magic grew denser, heavier, brighter.
Veins bulged under his skin like black dragons writhing beneath the surface.
Then faint threads of black began seeping into the pure platinum light.
Like ink dropped in water, the darkness spread fast, clashing and mixing with the platinum until the entire pillar shifted into a deep, solemn gray-gold.
The whole process lasted about half an hour. Finally the towering gray-gold beam slowly shrank back, the raging magic storm died down, and his heartbeat returned to normal.
Roger took a deep breath and pulled the now almost liquid-like gray-gold magic power back into his body.
"This feeling… it's insane."
He closed his eyes and turned his focus inward, examining the changes around his heart.
(The Devil's Heart… got completely absorbed and fused with me?)
(It didn't stay as a separate organ—it straight-up upgraded my own heart!)
(It perfectly inherited, no, improved every function the Devil's Heart had: hyper-efficient generation, compression, storage…)
(And the compatibility with my body is off the charts!)
(It's like this was the missing piece I was born without, and now it's finally home.)
(The violent side effects that needed the Devil Eye as a "valve" to control? Gone.)
(Now it works as naturally as my heart pumping blood.)
(When I need a massive surge, it just kicks into overdrive on its own—no external restraints, no nothing. It's 100% part of me now!)
Grinning, he pulled up his system panel. When he saw the updated numbers, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Name: Roger
Level: Dragon King (Cannot level up further; specific conditions required for next tier)
Faith Points: 70,000
Magic Power: 220,000,000 / 220,000,000
"My total magic power… literally doubled?!"
"That's straight-up broken!!"
He calmed down quick, though, and realization hit him.
"Right—the Devil's Heart isn't just a battery. It's a perpetual magic generator that keeps building up power on its own."
"So now I've basically got two ultra-efficient magic reactors running in parallel."
"No wonder it doubled. This isn't just a boost; it's a complete evolution!"
He clenched his fist, crouched, and—without using a single drop of magic—pressed his palm lightly against the wrecked deck.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
A spiderweb of massive fissures exploded outward from his hand, covering the entire airship wreckage in an instant.
CRASH!
With a final groan of tortured metal, the remains split clean in two.
"It's not just magic power—my raw physical strength and durability got a huge upgrade too because of the heart's transformation."
He glanced back at the "Dragon King level" note.
"'Cannot level up'… makes sense. Fusing perfectly with the Devil's Heart fundamentally changed the nature of my magic power. I've hit the absolute limit of my current lifeform can reach."
"Piling on more quantity won't trigger another qualitative leap."
"The next step is probably comprehending a deeper essence—like life and death itself."
He shelved that thought for later, flashed away from the wreckage, and—
BOOM!!
The moment he was clear, the entire airship erupted in a massive fireball, flames swallowing the whole thing in seconds. Twisted metal screamed as it melted.
Roger didn't even look back, just kept walking toward the guild's camp.
"This way, Zeref will never find out about Fairy Glitter."
As he got close, the familiar chaos of Fairy Tail reached his ears.
He pushed through some bushes, and a fluffy white missile launched itself at his legs, rubbing against him and whining happily.
"Snow?" Roger crouched down with a laugh, ruffling the soft fur. Still just as fluffy as ever.
"What're you doing all the way out on Tenrou Island?"
"Woof!" Snow wagged his tail like crazy, took two proud steps back, squinted, lifted his little chin, folded his front paws, and let out a dramatic "Hmph!" while turning his head away like a certain tsundere Exceed.
Roger snorted. "That's totally Carla."
Snow nodded furiously, then curled into a tiny miserable ball, whimpering and rubbing his paws together with big watery eyes.
"And that's Wendy."
Another frantic nod, tongue lolling out happily.
"Let me guess—Carla was worried sick about Wendy but too proud to come herself, so she used you as an excuse and dragged you along?"
"Woof woof!!" Snow spun in excited circles, tail going propeller-mode.
Roger stood up chuckling. "Thanks for being the sacrificial wing-dog, buddy."
He walked into camp with Snow trotting right beside him.
"Welcome back~" Mirajane greeted him with her usual gentle smile, handing over a steaming bowl of meat soup.
"I figured you were back the second Snow bolted out of camp."
"Hey, Mira. Thanks." Roger took the bowl. The rich, savory smell hit him immediately.
He sipped while scanning the camp. His eyes landed on the giant tree sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle.
He raised an eyebrow. "That tree… Azuma?"
"Yep," Mira sighed, resting her cheek on her hand with a slightly disappointed look.
"I really wanted to test my new Take Over on him, but right after the fight he turned into that."
She shrugged. "The side effects of Arc of Tree are pretty wild, huh?"
"Look! Look!!" Kana came barreling over, practically bouncing, and shoved her right arm in his face, showing off the stretched-out, glowing red Fairy Tail mark on her wrist.
"Guess what this is!!"
Roger smirked. "Fairy Glitter, obviously."
Kana's proud grin instantly deflated. "Man, you already knew? You suck the fun outta everything."
She took a big swig from her bottle anyway and kept going. "Whatever, it was pure luck! Levy and I took down one of the Seven Kin—this weird white dumpling-looking guy—and then Snow showed up with Carla. We were wandering around near the first trial's tunnel, following him, and boom—we stumbled right into First Master Mavis's grave!"
"There was this golden orb on the stone tablet with the full Fairy Glitter spell and instructions inside."
Roger glanced over at Levy, who was delicately sipping soup at a table.
"Levy, the second part of the S-Class exam was 'find the First Master's grave,' right?"
"So… does that mean you passed?"
Levy gave an embarrassed little laugh. "Technically, yeah."
"I thought pure luck wouldn't count, but the Master said that luck and opportunity are part of a mage's strength too. So he passed me."
She added, "Kagura had to leave early for something, right after I got confirmed."
Kana threw an arm around Levy's shoulders and shot a smug look at the sulking group behind her. "Sooo that makes me and Levy and me the only two who passed this year~"
"What a shame~ Looks like nobody else is making S-Class this time~"
That lit the fuse.
Natsu and Gray, already grumpy the exam got cut short, exploded at the same time.
"KANA, YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!!"
"DON'T GET COCKY JUST 'CAUSE YOU MADE S-CLASS!!"
Kana flipped her hair with the smuggest grin imaginable. "Am I wrong, though? If it were you two, you'd be ten times more obnoxious right now."
Natsu and Gray turned red, opened their mouths… and couldn't argue. Because she was 100% right.
Fuming, Natsu stomped over to Makarov, who was casually drinking.
"Old man! Why can't we just keep the exam going?!"
"We already beat all the dark guild losers! Just make a new final trial!"
Makarov scratched his beard, looking conflicted.
"Well… an S-Class exam tests more than raw power. It also checks adaptability and intelligence."
"You guys already proved your strength in those fights."
"This whole Grimoire Heart mess kinda counts as the adaptability part."
"As for intelligence…"
(Natsu's never passing that part.)
(Plus coming up with a new trial is a pain. The grave one was perfect—tested brains and taught history at the same time.)
He glanced at Natsu's hopeful face (and Gray eavesdropping nearby), got an evil idea, and pointed at Erza, who was happily devouring a limited-edition strawberry cake.
"Tell you what, Natsu. If you can beat Erza while she's eating that cake, I'll count it as clearing the final trial and promote you to S-Class on the spot. Deal?"
"DEAL!!" Natsu's eyes lit up. Flames burst around his fists as he charged Erza and dropped into a fighting stance.
The second he wound up—
A wave of pure murderous intent, thick and cold as ice, rolled off Erza.
She turned her head… very… very… slowly.
Her previously blissful cake-face was now dark as a thundercloud, lips curled into a terrifying "smile."
"Oh my? Trying to fight me… while I'm eating cake… Natsu?"
"E-E-E-EK!!!" The second her eyes met his, Natsu's survival instincts kicked in. He teleported backward twenty feet, hid behind a tree, and started sweating bullets.
"I-I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN IT PLEASE KEEP EATING!!"
Erza's glare shifted to Gray, who was trying to look innocent.
Gray snapped to attention, hands raised. "SAME HERE MA'AM TOTALLY NOT CHALLENGING YOU PLEASE ENJOY YOUR CAKE!!"
Lucy deadpanned, "And there go Aye Sir #1 and Aye Sir #2 again…"
Satisfied, Erza hummed and went back to cake heaven.
Makarov secretly flashed a victory sign behind his back. (Problem solved—no more final trial needed.)
Roger watched the whole circus with a fond smile.
He set his empty bowl down, thought for a second, then walked over to Makarov and spoke quietly.
"Master, if we're not restarting the exam, let's pack up and head back to the guild ASAP."
Makarov blinked. "We can, but… why the rush?"
Roger glanced up at the sky, expression turning serious.
"Not sure. Just a gut feeling… something really strong might get drawn here soon."
"To be safe, we should leave Tenrou Island and reseal it with the barrier as fast as possible."
"Something… really strong?"
Makarov's face hardened. He knew Roger well enough—if he said "really strong" in that tone, whatever was coming was way beyond normal scary.