"..." Before entering the border of the Fiore Kingdom, Zeref stopped in his tracks.
He closed his eyes, then reopened them after a moment.
The confident smile he had worn turned into one of helplessness:
"Although I anticipated the 'bookshelf' might be smashed by someone, this is way too fast."
Because the demons from the Gate of the Underworld were either absorbed by Mira or killed by Demonic Magic, Fairy Tail hadn't seen any demons "return to their original form."
In fact, every demon could return to the form of a book.
Every book was handmade by Zeref, thus the Gate of the Underworld was actually Zeref's bookshelf.
Three thousand Feis appeared from various places across the Ishujal Continent, causing such a large stir that Zeref could hardly ignore it.
He had been traveling around Ishujal lately—in truth, to be blunt, it was to evade a certain terrifying presence, constantly in flight.
The one with nearly destructive power seemed recently interested in him, the unbreakable undead.
Therefore, always pursuing his footsteps.
Originally, he thought of detouring to the Gate of the Underworld on his way to retrieve the Book of END kept there.
If conditions allowed, he might even settle things with Natsu.
But just now, he felt his bookshelf was smashed.
As if not even a single book was left for him.
Zeref suspected Natsu was responsible, but even if it were Natsu's interesting guild, they shouldn't have managed to smash his bookshelf this quickly.
As for the Book of END... he suddenly lost the sensation of sensing the book.
Either it was sealed away or crossed over thousands of kilometers instantaneously, beyond his sensing range...
Zeref couldn't determine the situation and could only investigate further later.
Moreover, despite the failure of the Gate of the Underworld's actions, there were indeed some "results."
For instance, Feis disappeared, and the Magical Elf Power seemed paralyzed...
Zeref stood in place, unconsciously pondering for a long time.
But when he snapped back to reality, the surrounding trees and flowers were intact, and a small bird had even landed on his shoulder.
When he turned his head to look, the bird hurriedly flew away in fright.
Zeref gazed at the distant sky, murmuring to himself:
"Here you come again... I'm already tired of this chase, at least I don't want to be considered your prey anymore. Maybe, it's time to go back—after shaking you off."
He gently waved his hand, his body vanished like a mirage, altering his route.
Soon after Zeref disappeared, a giant black dragon landed in the spot he had just occupied.
Acronologia!
The massive figure, the despair-inducing Magic Power, the blue markings, the dark wings.
Only compared to seven years ago, this black dragon's tail was shorter, there was a scar like it was made by a sharp weapon on the side of the neck, and signs of burn and flesh torn off at the throat.
On his shoulder and neck were bite marks from sharp teeth, his left wing bore torn scars, and several black feathers were slightly shorter than the adjacent ones.
Yet these scars not only didn't detract from the black dragon's presence, they added a few barbaric hints.
As he landed, the dragon's eyes appeared somewhat hollow but as he glanced around, his eyes gradually glowed red.
Before finding anything more entertaining, that undead was the best prey and toy.
The black dragon gently sniffed, snorted coldly, and flew up again, precisely in the direction Zeref departed hiding his figure.
——It's not easy to escape unnoticed from a target he's locked on.
Especially an undead with such a distinct aura.
...
"Cheers!" ×n
Celebration party after victory was essential, therefore, Fairy Tail doubtlessly greeted another lively day.
Although some complained during the party that today wasn't challenging enough, once Rhode returned with an idea, complaints quickly vanished.
'If you find it boring, here's a chance to challenge Erza and Laxus.' That's what Rhode said to Natsu and Gajeel.
'For my sake, to fight them at full strength.' He told Laxus and Erza.
A few seconds later, as fireballs and iron lumps lay twitching on the floor, no one within the guild complained about such things anymore.
Rhode managed it expertly.
"So, this is the atmosphere inside Fairy Tail?"
Beluno curiously observed these rowdy folks.
"Haha," Yajima responded with a laugh, "most times it can be a bit quieter than this. How is it? Though noisy, isn't it fun?"
Beluno hesitantly nodded: "Probably."
As an evaluator, she had often been troubled by Fairy Tail's antics, even held some dislike similar to many colleagues.
But it was her first time witnessing Fairy Tail's true nature; the chaotic scene was really—just what the stereotype predicted.
Beluno looked at the two large pits Natsu and Gajeel made in the floor and suddenly realized, the destruction they caused in missions might truly not be intentional.
After all, these people even wreck their own guild.
Moreover, she actually found these kids rather cute—perhaps because they saved her life, perhaps because she was no longer an evaluator, or perhaps because Gajeel found redemption in this guild.
The young man resembling her deceased son, Beluno genuinely felt glad he found his home.
Mikhailo tapped his cane forcefully: "No matter how happy you get, it's inadvisable to run amok like this, right? Aren't they Fiore's top guild? What about dignity? Image? Couldn't they be a bit more considerate?"
"They just saved the Ishujal Continent; nothing wrong being a bit uninhibited during celebration." Yajima chuckled, coaxing, "Almost getting hit by chairs was merely accidental; why so petty?"
Mikhailo became agitated: "Do you even know how old I am this year? Getting hit by such chairs would be fatal, okay?"
"Moreover, even setting these issues aside, isn't it inappropriate not to wear clothes in such occasions?! Mikaelia, stop looking over there! Also, why are you serving too?"
"Grandpa, since we're living here, we should help out a bit." The braided girl ignored her grandfather's scolding and spoke openly, "I'm not a child anymore. Wow, Gray's physique is quite nice."
Mikhailo was so angry that smoke almost seemed to emerge from the cat ears on his head, he furiously tapped his cane on the floor: "So indecent! What a disgrace!"
"Don't say that, I find Fairy Tail quite interesting." Mikaelia playfully remarked, "Grandpa, I want to stay and work here."
"Absolutely not!"