"You're saying it was infighting within a Dark Guild?"
"That's impossible."
"Moreover, according to our estimates, Tartaros should already have considerable armaments."
"Org is getting old, after all."
Several Council Members simply didn't believe a Dark Guild would fight amongst themselves, as that would weaken their own power.
Wouldn't that be like cutting off one's own arm? There was simply no reason to do so.
"Wait, Org's opinion also makes sense."
"Chairman?!"
The others were stunned, they hadn't expected the Chairman to actually agree with Org's opinion.
Gran Doma said, "The issue of Tartaros, which has been shelved until now, has finally come time to be resolved. The enemy's true face is still unclear, but as long as we destroy it, the Balam Alliance will collapse."
"Now is the time for the Magic Council to exert its full strength and fight."
The other Council Members' expressions shifted. Tartaros was no ordinary Dark Guild, dealing with them wouldn't be so easy.
Org felt very gratified hearing the Council Chairman's words. Gran Doma was a hardline Chairman, but everything he did was for the sake of the Magic World. Compared to the previous Chairman's tendency to turn a blind eye, Gran Doma wanted more to contribute to the peace of the Magic World.
Suddenly—
A frog messenger burst in and shouted, "This is bad! Everyone!"
"What is it?!"
"Idiot! We're in the middle of a meeting!"
A Council Member shouted irritably.
This was an important meeting.
"There's no time to worry about that now, there's an intrusion..."
BOOM—
A violent explosion erupted throughout the entire building. The terrifying blast destroyed the structure completely. Everyone inside the building was caught in the explosion, killed before they could even scream.
"Ugh..."
Mest slowly opened his eyes. "Wha... what happened..."
The explosion just now had been too swift, he hadn't even had time to react before he lost consciousness.
"Lahar, pull yourself together! Lahar!"
Mest saw his close friend lying not far away and rushed to help him up, but he immediately sensed that Lahar had already lost all signs of life.
"You... you're joking, right..."
Mest turned his head and looked back, seeing the entire building destroyed. Gran Doma and the other Council Members were all lying in pools of blood, their lives gone.
"Impossible... this... are there any survivors?! Is anyone else there!!!"
At that moment, a weak voice sounded. "Doranbolt..."
Mest looked up and saw Org lying on the ground amidst the ruins, calling his name. He immediately wanted to go over.
Slap!
A hand pressed onto Org's head.
"You can't do that. It won't do if you don't breathe your last. Our goal is all 9 Council Members."
"St... Stop it!"
Seeing this, Mest immediately shouted to stop him.
"Doranbolt, run! You can't die too, run! To carry out your justice! Live on!"
"Escaping from my explosion is impossible. My name is Jackal, one of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. Remember it in Hell—the name of the man who wiped out the Council Members."
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted again, destroying everything in the vicinity.
—
Fairy Tail.
"Mira, a drink over here!"
"Coming!"
"This bug is so strange!"
Asuka pointed at the shrimp on the ground and said curiously.
Bisca warned, "Don't touch it, it'll hurt if it pinches your finger."
The guild was bustling. People were drinking, singing, rowdy, and flirting—a scene of harmony.
"Tartaros?" Makarov frowned upon hearing this.
Oración Seis and Grimoire Heart were already enough of a headache, and now there was Tartaros. Moreover, he had an ominous premonition that Fairy Tail would clash with Tartaros.
"Does Warrod have any news about Tartaros?"
Takeshi nodded. "Yeah, he said Tartaros is a very ancient guild, likely related to the demons from the Books of Zeref."
"Demons from the Books of Zeref!"
Demons from the Books of Zeref were demons created by Zeref. Legend had it that every demon from the Books of Zeref was incredibly powerful.
"What a pain!"
Makarov felt even more of a headache. Nothing good ever came from things involving Zeref.
Seven years ago, the incident on Tenrou Island was also because Zeref was involved.
"Takeshi, what do you think?" Makarov asked Takeshi.
If anyone could suppress Tartaros, the only ones he could think of, besides The Four Gods of Ishgar, was Takeshi.
Takeshi said, "Let's wait and see. If there's news of Tartaros, I'll take the initiative to deal with them."
"Yeah, that's all we can do."
Previously, Makarov worried that Takeshi's magic power was insufficient, but not anymore. This brat's magic power was now rivaling his own.
In fact, even if Takeshi encountered Acnologia, he knew Takeshi could easily escape.
Suddenly—
The guild doors were flung open, and Jet and Droy ran in, with Droy even falling face-first.
"Something terrible has happened!"
"Big news!"
"What's wrong?!"
"The... Magic... The Magic Council was attacked! All the Magic Council Members have been killed!"
"What?!"
Everyone was shocked to hear this.
The Magic Council was the highest authority in the Ishgar Magic World, and the Magic Council Members were at the peak of power. Now that these people had all been killed, it was undoubtedly the biggest event in the Ishgar Magic World.
"What happened?!" Makarov asked solemnly.
Jet hurriedly handed the newspaper to Makarov.
Makarov immediately opened it and looked closely. The newspaper recorded photos of the Magic Council being attacked. The Magic Council had been reduced almost entirely to ruins, clearly having suffered a terrifying assault.
There was a portrait of the attacker on it, along with the attacker's name.
Tartaros, one of the Nine Demon Gates, Jackal.
"Tartaros!"
Makarov hadn't expected that right after mentioning Tartaros, they would do something like this.
Everyone in the guild was shocked to see that Tartaros had attacked the Magic Council.
"Those guys actually dared to attack the Council Members?!"
"What are they trying to do?!"
"Do they want to start a war?!"