The moment Athena excitedly declared that she already possessed emotions and only needed Duke to use his power to make her complete, Duke's expression abruptly darkened.
He suppressed his anger as he asked, "Is that really true, Athena?"
"Yes!" Athena answered with a bright smile.
Duke's face grew even gloomier as he crooked a finger at her. "Come here."
Athena, unfortunately, failed to notice just how murderous his expression had become. Raizel saw it clearly, though.
From the moment Duke heard Athena's words, his entire demeanor had changed, and the look in his single visible eye had turned cold and merciless.
Athena walked up the stairs until she stood directly in front of Duke, still smiling as she said, "The emotion I'm feeling right now... I think this is happiness—"
"Enough! So you really are defective after all."
Duke cut her off and immediately thrust one clawed hand toward her, intending to destroy Athena on the spot.
There were barely two steps between them, less than a meter of distance, and Athena had been completely unprepared for an attack.
Duke had expected destroying her to be as effortless as reaching into his pocket.
Instead, his hand closed around empty air.
The instant Duke moved, Raizel had already teleported Athena away.
He had practiced Teleportation Magic for years, and within a building the size of Gold Owl's guild hall, every inch of space might as well have been under his control.
Raizel first turned toward Athena with an exasperated look.
"You've still got a lot to learn about emotions. His face was practically screaming that he wanted to kill you, and you somehow didn't notice."
Then he looked back at Duke.
"And you need to work on controlling your expression. At the very least, you should've kept a straight face. Terrible acting—I'm giving you a failing grade. If you ever become an actor, you'll have to survive on your looks alone."
Carla had no idea where Raizel found the nerve to criticize someone else's acting.
"Your acting isn't exactly good either..."
Duke's expression darkened even further, his face turning red with suppressed rage as though his lungs were about to explode.
Athena, meanwhile, simply stood there in shock and stared at him.
"Wh-Why...?"
She had felt Duke's killing intent perfectly clearly just now.
There was no misunderstanding it—he had genuinely intended to destroy her.
"You bastard!!!"
Flames wrapped around Natsu's right fist as he stamped forward and charged at Duke, only for God Serena to suddenly appear in his path.
"You're a hundred years too early to attack our guild master. GOD!"
Serena immediately kicked Natsu back across the hall.
Only then did Raizel finally notice that God Serena had been standing there the entire time.
When the man wasn't dancing, shouting, or striking poses, his presence was surprisingly easy to overlook.
No wonder he constantly made such a spectacle of himself.
Natsu caught himself with one hand and flipped backward several times before landing, then immediately inhaled.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The torrent of flames struck God Serena head-on, but instead of burning him, the blazing fire steadily began to shrink.
A moment later, Serena's figure emerged through the flames as he casually devoured them.
"Against an Eight-Dragon Dragon Slayer, how could elemental Magic possibly work?"
Although the eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima had already been removed from Serena's body, they had been implanted within him far longer than Laxus's single Lacrima ever had.
His body had long since assimilated all eight forms of Dragon Slayer Magic, meaning he could still use their powers even without the Lacrima themselves.
"Sea King Dragon's Water Formation!"
Water suddenly burst from beneath the stone floor throughout the Gold Owl guild hall, surging and trembling violently like the beginnings of a tsunami.
"Don't wreck the guild!" Gennai shouted.
"What a troublesome GOD," Kotetsu added flatly.
Just as Gold Owl was about to be flooded, Ultear's crystal ball began to glow.
The seawater Serena had created gradually reversed its course and receded.
"Oh? Time Magic."
Duke looked toward Ultear's crystal ball with mild surprise.
"I'll never forgive someone who treats his own companions like they mean nothing!"
Natsu was already furious enough to charge Serena again when Raizel called out,
"Natsu, stop."
Natsu clearly did not like it, but he still skidded to a halt.
A moment earlier, Raizel had received a message from Elefseria asking him to bring Athena back to Magia Dragon.
Raizel looked toward Duke.
"You over there... what was your name again? I forgot. Doesn't really matter."
Duke's expression twitched.
"I'm taking Athena with us. And seriously, work on that acting before we meet again."
Raizel waved casually.
"See you."
Red light enveloped the group as he activated Teleportation Magic, transporting everyone directly back to Magia Dragon in the south.
Gennai and Kotetsu tried to intervene, but the entire group vanished before either of them could do anything.
Duke stared at the empty space they had left behind and gave a cold snort.
"Fairy Tail's Raizel, was it...?"
...
Magia Dragon Guild Hall—
"Huh? Where are we?"
Natsu immediately started looking around until his gaze landed on Elefseria.
"Magia Dragon," Raizel explained. "I teleported everyone back. As for why, ask him. He's the one who told me to bring Athena here."
Natsu was never known for patience, so he immediately asked,
"Why?"
Elefseria looked toward Athena, who had lowered her head and remained completely silent.
"Because we need to save Athena."
His expression softened.
"It's been a long time, Athena."
Athena still did not respond.
She did not even seem willing to raise her head and look at the Law Dragon.
Her emotions were far too complicated right now. Perhaps she was sad, perhaps angry, or perhaps both. She herself could not tell.
Erza had plenty of questions as well.
"I remember you saying that you didn't know where Athena was. Selene and my mother, Irene, even entered the Dogramag Labyrinth because we were searching for her."
Elefseria lowered his head.
"I wasn't deceiving you about that. I only discovered her location very recently myself. What I never expected was to find her inside an alchemist guild."
To Elefseria, Gold Owl had effectively been the last place he would ever think to search.
Athena had originally escaped from Duke and disappeared, so it had never occurred to him that she might eventually return to Duke's side.
Ultear immediately followed up with another question.
"Then there's something else that doesn't add up. Gold Owl's guild master, Duke, claimed he was once your pupil and that he created Athena. But you specifically told us that the pupil who created Athena was already dead."
She looked at Elefseria seriously.
"We need an explanation."
Elefseria fell silent for a moment before finally nodding.
"He was once my pupil, yes."
"But Duke is dead."
"Eh?!!"
Everyone reacted in shock.
Elefseria's thick brows drew together.
"That man you met isn't the Duke I knew. He's someone else wearing Duke's appearance."
Lucy looked completely baffled.
"What exactly is going on?"
Kagura nodded.
"Please explain everything in detail."
Natsu, however, slammed his fist onto the table with an angry expression.
"I don't care about the story, so I'm not listening! Just tell me when you're done talking. I'm already ready to go back and punch that guy!"
Duke's attempt to destroy Athena had completely infuriated him.
Mira smiled with narrowed eyes.
"It does sound like it'll be an interesting story."
She never said it outright, but the gentle smile carried more than enough pressure to tell Elefseria that he had better explain properly.
Elefseria sighed helplessly and nodded.
"Don't worry. I'll tell you everything."