"It's pointless. I've tried every method I can think of. None of them worked," Zeref said quietly.
"Mavis… you can't fix this either. Maybe only Natsu can. He's the strongest demon I ever created."
He turned away from the throne.
"So I'm sorry. Your guild will have to die."
He walked toward the rear of the palace without looking back, ignoring Mavis calling after him.
"I'm tired. Kill everyone except Natsu. Send their bodies back to the eastern continent with him. That's all."
Mavis' appearance had shaken him.
Too much.
If he stayed any longer, his resolve would crack.
And if his emotions broke free, the curse would awaken again.
He needed his heart cold.
Sealed.
Empty.
Only then could his plan continue.
Rowan exhaled sharply.
"So that's it."
It finally clicked.
Zeref wanted to murder Fairy Tail to drive Natsu into despair, force him to grow through hatred, and one day kill Zeref himself to end the curse.
It was… insane.
Not impossible.
Just insane.
Natsu was a demon. A dragon-slayer. Packed with absurd potential. Zeref was immortal and a magical genius with all the time in the world.
He could've trained the kid properly.
Instead, he chose psychological terrorism.
Yeah.
The curse had cooked his brain.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Twelve Shields bowed in unison.
But once Zeref disappeared, they hesitated.
For the first time, they realized something horrifying.
Their emperor had been trying to die all along.
Rowan stepped forward.
"You don't actually want him dead, do you?"
Silence.
"You kill us. Natsu grows up. One day he kills Zeref. That's not a future any of you want."
Still silence.
"There's still room to talk—"
"Why bother?"
Larcade stepped out again, his eyes burning.
"If we kill Natsu too, the problem solves itself. The 'strongest demon' nonsense ends here."
"I'm the strongest demon Father ever made," he snarled.
The Desert King cracked his neck.
"Sounds good to me. I'll take care of it. I 'accidentally' kill him all the time."
The rest of the Twelve Shields didn't object.
That told Rowan everything.
They were going to disobey Zeref's order.
And Zeref had expected exactly that.
—
Zeref walked alone through the empty palace corridor.
"Natsu… if you don't taste real despair, you'll never grow."
If the Twelve Shields killed him, then this plan failed too.
Fine.
He'd invade the eastern continent, seize Fairy Heart, go back in time, and rewrite everything.
Either way, the world would bend.
—
Rowan cracked his neck.
"Welp. So much for diplomacy."
He stomped lightly.
The marble floor rippled like water.
The throne hall folded inward, and reality peeled away.
Everyone dropped into a vast mirrored space.
"Safer battlefield," Rowan said calmly.
"No civilians. No collateral. No risk of attracting certain dragon-shaped problems."
The Desert King snorted.
"You think you could've harmed the capital anyway? I alone can wipe all of you out."
Rowan's ears twitched.
"Alone?"
He paused.
"…Say that again."
Mavis leaned toward him, whispering urgently.
"Rowan, we should retreat. Even one of them is overwhelming. There are eleven more after him."
She wasn't wrong.
This was suicide on paper.
Rowan gave her a small smile.
"I know. That's why this is perfect."
The guild was outclassed.
Brutally.
But not helpless.
And the Desert King had just handed him a gift.
They weren't rushing together.
They were arrogant.
"One opponent at a time," Rowan murmured.
"Training arc, deluxe edition."
He could heal.
Refill magic.
Drag people back from the brink.
This was controlled hell.
The kind that forges monsters.
If things turned ugly, he'd step in.
If they got cocky, he'd end it.
Mavis stared at him.
"You're insane."
"Only professionally."
The Desert King's body dissolved into roaring sand.
"I said I'd handle all of you alone."
Rowan raised his paw and gave him a lazy thumbs-up.
"Bold. I respect it."
Then he grinned.
"Alright, tough guy. Your funeral."
...
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