Fairy Tail.
Whoosh!
Takeshi appeared in the guild with Michello, his granddaughter Michelia, and Jackal.
"Takeshi?!"
The whole guild swarmed forward when they saw him.
"You're back!"
"Already? That was fast!"
"Who are these people?"
Everyone eyed the newcomers in bewilderment.
Michelia was stunned, it felt like a blink and she was in a strange place—Fairy Tail's guild hall, apparently.
Then she spotted a familiar face and lit up.
"Loke!"
She ran and threw herself at him. Loke caught her, equally surprised.
"Michelia!"
They hadn't met since the seven years on Tenrou Island, when he'd been bound to Lucy and unable to appear.
"I missed you so much."
"Me too."
Loke treated every girlfriend well, and they adored him for it.
"Michello!"
The tiny ex-Council Member had often scolded Makarov, and for good reason—Fairy Tail caused plenty of trouble.
"Makarov!"
Seeing Makarov reassured Michello greatly.
"Takeshi, who's that on the floor?"
They turned their attention to the odd-looking Jackal.
"A member of Tartaros, the one who blew up the Magic Council."
"What?!"
"Him?!"
Shock rippled through the hall.
"Master, his blood might yield a vaccine." Takeshi said.
"Splendid! Get him to Porlyusica at once!"
Takeshi hauled Jackal upstairs to the infirmary.
Porlyusica blinked at his speed, then shrugged—his power made anything possible.
"Porlyusica, here's a guy from Tartaros. See if his blood can make a vaccine. If not, I'll fetch another."
"I'll try, though this fellow..."
"Don't worry, he won't move for a while."
"Even if he could, I'd stop him."
She produced a huge syringe and jabbed it into Jackal.
Takeshi asked, "What's that?"
Porlyusica answered, "Paralytic agent. One drop knocks a person out for three days. I gave him a hundredfold dose, he'll be frozen till the third sunrise."
Takeshi's lip twitched.
Overdosing could kill, and pharmacists showed no mercy.
He left her to her work.
Downstairs the guild clustered around Michello.
"Michello, why are Tartaros killing every Council Member?"
"How would I know? Plenty hate the Council."
"But why hunt former members too? It's more than revenge."
"I—no, impossible! Only a handful knew that secret..." Michello paled and clamped his mouth shut.
Takeshi warned, "Spill it or I'll toss you outside."
"I can't! If I die, the continent dies with me!"
"White Inheritance... Face..."
"Face?"
The name rang faintly in Takeshi's memory.
"Face is a Council weapon. Alongside Etherion, we stockpile others, each managed according to threat level. Etherion can obliterate a nation, but needs nine sitting Council Members to fire, which is now impossible."
So Tartaros had ensured the Council couldn't use Etherion.
"What does Face do?" Makarov pressed.
Michello trembled, reluctant.
"It's a pulse bomb that nullifes all magic across Ishgar." He finally whispered.
"What?!"
"All the magic on the entire continent..."
"...nullified?!!"
Everyone in the guild was in an uproar upon hearing Michello's words.
"Mages will all suffer from Magic Deficiency Syndrome, a disease painful enough to torture a Mage to death."
"Why would Tartaros do such a thing? Won't they die along with everyone else?"
"No, they won't. Tartaros doesn't use magic, they use Curses. Their power isn't Magic Power but Curse Power. So even if magic disappears, they won't be affected." Takeshi recalled what Jackal had said earlier.
"All Mages will suffer because they can't use magic, while Tartaros remains completely unaffected."
Everyone now understood Tartaros's goal.
Makarov's expression turned grim as he said, "To create such a terrifying weapon... Don't you know this could lead to the death of one-tenth of the entire continent's population?"
Michello's body trembled. Of course he knew, which was why he hadn't wanted to speak of it. If Mages learned of this, it would surely incite resentment toward the Magic Council, and a collective rebellion against the Magic Council was possible.
Etherion was one thing. After all, its destructive power was limited, roughly to the extent of wiping out a single country.
But Face was a threat to the safety of every Mage on the entire continent. No one wanted to live every day with a time bomb hanging over their heads.
"This... this couldn't be helped! Others might not know, but you should, Makarov. We didn't do it to destroy the continent, but to protect it." Michello's gaze turned toward Makarov.
"What nonsense are you talking? To create such a horrific weapon and still claim it's to protect the continent!"
The guild members were now furious. This was no longer just about the safety of the Magic Council Members. It concerned their lives and the lives of every Mage on the continent. For the Magic Council to create such a terrifying weapon was nothing short of a crime.
Hearing Michello's words, Makarov couldn't help but frown. He understood the meaning behind Michello's words.
The continent of Ishgar seemed powerful, but compared to its two neighbors, Ishgar appeared somewhat weak.
In the west lay the Alvarez Empire, a continent unified as a single nation. Its strength was many times greater than that of Ishgar.
The Alvarez Empire was ambitious and had even nearly invaded Ishgar several years ago.
The Magic Council's development of a weapon like Face was essentially for the protection of the continent. It was like holding a bomb in one's hand. If the enemy forced an invasion, they would detonate it and take everyone down together.
"Where is that weapon now? We must destroy it before they get to it." Makarov asked urgently.
"I... I don't know. It's true. I've heard of the sealing method, it involves the Organic Link Magic of three former Council Members. Only the former Chairman knows who those three people are."
"Organic Link Magic... the lives of three people are the key to breaking the seal."
"So they don't care about information on the weapon at all. They simply chose to kill all the Council Members."
"As long as they kill the three former Council Members responsible for the seal, Face will fall into the hands of Tartaros."
"We need to find those three people quickly and protect them." Makarov said in a low voice.
Suddenly, Takeshi's voice rang out. "No, actually, there's another solution."
Everyone looked toward him.
"What solution?"
"That is to kill everyone in Tartaros before they can activate Face." Takeshi said solemnly.
His words caused everyone to react immediately.
"Right! We can just take those guys out."
"Those bastards actually want to kill every Mage on the continent. It's only right and natural for us to take them down."
"Yes! Exactly!"
"But where are those guys?"
Tartaros was too mysterious, there had never been any news regarding the location of their guild headquarters.
"Didn't I capture one of them?"
"Right! There's still that guy. If we interrogate him, we might find out where the Tartaros guild base is."
"No need for such trouble. Leave it to me to solve."
Takeshi went to the infirmary, knocked on the door, and then opened it and walked in.
"Porlyusica-san, are you done with this guy? I have some things I want to interrogate him about."
Porlyusica nodded. "Yes, I'm done. But interrogate him? This guy can't say anything right now. How are you going to interrogate him?"
"It doesn't matter, as long as he's still alive."
Takeshi said as he picked up Jackal and walked out.
***
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