"Memory extraction."
The moment Rowan charged toward him, Sol reacted on instinct, reaching out with his magic to pry into Rowan's mind. That had always been Sol's preferred tactic. He searched his enemy's memories for emotional fractures, then shaped earth dolls into the likeness of loved ones, forcing hesitation at the fatal moment.
Around him, earthen figures still lingered. Faces of siblings, parents, partners, children. People meant to break the will of Fairy Tail's mages.
But when Sol tried to invade Rowan's mind, he hit a wall.
A solid one.
His magic found nothing. No cracks. No images. Just a sealed mental barrier that refused to yield.
Instead, Rowan followed the trace backward.
"Legilimency."
With the spell layered over his already-developed mental discipline, Rowan forced his way into Sol's consciousness. Sol froze mid-breath, eyes unfocused, his magic collapsing in an instant. The earthen dolls crumbled into dust.
"You bastard!"
Elfman roared.
The sight of Sol's illusions, especially those drawn from the memory of his deceased sister, snapped something inside him. His arm transformed into a monstrous limb as he surged forward.
"Beast Soul: Partial Takeover!"
His punch slammed Sol straight into the ground, burying him deep enough that the earth buckled. Sol didn't rise again.
"Nice hit," Rowan said. "Go help Gray."
Elfman nodded and ran.
As Rowan, Cana, and the others arrived at Gray's battlefield, the situation turned out to be almost absurd.
Juvia had fallen for Gray during the earlier clash with Phantom Lord. She no longer had any desire to fight for them. At the same time, she refused to abandon Totomaru, her friend.
The result was a chaotic mess. Gray and Totomaru fought seriously, while Juvia kept throwing herself between them, disrupting both sides.
In the end, it didn't matter.
Gray's ice overwhelmed Totomaru's multi-colored flames, and the fire mage collapsed. Juvia stepped back, lowering her magic and choosing not to fight any further.
At that point, Phantom Lord had only one combatant left.
Jose.
Erza, who had been holding him off alone, finally received reinforcements. Rowan arrived with the rest of Fairy Tail's mages, including Natsu.
Frankly, Natsu's recovery bordered on absurd. Anyone else would have been bedridden for days after pushing themselves that far. He shook it off in minutes.
"We are Fairy Tail!"
The shout echoed across the ruined lakeshore as every mage surged forward at once.
Jose was already running on fumes. The onslaught was relentless. Close-range strikes, long-range spells, coordinated pressure from every angle. Even a Wizard Saint couldn't fully defend against that kind of unity.
Rowan was the most infuriating of all.
Small, fast, and always hiding behind someone else.
Invisible slashes. Killing curses. Occasional bursts of cursed flame fed straight into Natsu whenever there was an opening.
For thirty minutes, Jose endured it.
Then Rowan slipped in a single moment of control, locking Jose's body for barely a second.
That was enough.
Erza gathered everything she had left and brought her weapon down in a full-force strike.
Jose collapsed.
Silence followed.
Then disbelief.
"We… won."
Someone laughed. Someone else cheered. Soon everyone was shouting, exhausted and triumphant.
They had done it. Without their guild master. Without their absent S-Class elites. Following Rowan's plan, they had defeated a Wizard Saint and crushed Phantom Lord's invasion.
"Well done, my children."
The familiar voice made everyone turn.
Makarov stood there, fully recovered, smiling proudly.
He had arrived earlier, quietly. When he saw Fairy Tail holding their ground under Rowan's calm command, he chose not to interfere. This was their trial. Their moment.
And they passed.
The cheers doubled when they realized he was truly fine.
Not long after, the Magic Council's investigators arrived. The verdict was swift and clear. Phantom Lord had initiated the conflict. Fairy Tail acted in self-defense.
Jose was arrested. Phantom Lord was dissolved.
The mobile fortress and crystal cannon were transferred to Fairy Tail as compensation. Makarov insisted on that point personally. They had earned it.
Peace returned.
Rowan's life settled into something quieter, but his standing within the guild had changed completely. No one questioned his strength anymore. Makarov began personally teaching him advanced light magic, one technique after another.
Whether intentionally or not, it felt like preparation.
Elsewhere, in another world entirely, Rowan's counterpart reached the end of his first academic year at Hogwarts.
Too easy.
As he stepped into the sunlight after the final History of Magic exam, he couldn't help but think it. The written tests answered themselves the moment he read them. The practical exams were even simpler.
Dancing pineapples. Transfiguration drills. Brewing Forgetfulness Potion.
He'd mastered them months ago.
Relentless study, compounded time across multiple selves, and shared talent had turned effort into inevitability.
Final exams weren't a challenge.
They were a formality.