Natsu didn't stop at one kick.
He kept going—driving Gray back with a relentless string of hits like the fight was personal.
Mira rested her cheek on her hand and watched with a long-suffering calm. "Oh my… it seems like the guild gets wrecked every time Natsu comes back."
Wakaba barked a laugh from behind his drink. "It's already being wrecked—!!"
Lucy stood near the middle of the hall, taking it all in with wide, shining eyes.
This was Fairy Tail.
Not quiet desks and tidy rules—just noise, motion, and people who looked like they lived at full volume.
Mira stepped away from the chaos and walked over to Kael. "Kael, welcome back. How was the mission?"
Kael smiled, easy and confident. "With me on the job, it was a piece of cake. Everything went smoothly."
"That's good." Mira's expression stayed bright, but her eyes flicked over him the way someone checked a friend who'd been gone too long.
Mira was one of the people in Fairy Tail who knew Kael best.
Kael was strong—frighteningly strong—but he had a weakness: he didn't have much stamina.
Every character he "Received" was overwhelmingly powerful, and the magic consumption that came with it was just as terrifying.
His magic could be completely drained in only a few minutes. After that, he entered a weak period—one where even a small monster could probably take him out if it caught him at the wrong moment.
That was why every time Kael went out on an S-Class mission, Mira always worried a little.
Her gaze shifted past Kael.
"Is this a new member?" Mira had, of course, noticed Lucy long ago.
Long blonde hair, a cute face, and a clean, "not-from-here" air in a hall full of people who looked born to brawl—Lucy stood out immediately.
And the fact that she'd come back with Kael stirred something tiny and sharp in Mira's chest, too quick to show on her face.
Her smile remained warm.
"Wow~! Mirajane!! It's really you!!"
Lucy's excitement spilled out the moment she saw Mira, like she couldn't stop herself.
To Lucy, it was like meeting a celebrity. Mira's beauty and sweetness were famous across Fiore.
"H-hello…" Lucy bowed quickly. "My name is Lucy. I'm a new member planning to join Fairy Tail. It's nice to meet you."
Mira gave her a bright, welcoming smile. "I'm Mira. It's nice to meet you, too."
Behind them, the fight got louder.
What had started as Natsu versus Gray had spread outward like a chain reaction, pulling in almost everyone nearby.
Tables scraped. Chairs toppled. Bottles clinked and rolled across the floor.
A bowl flew past someone's head and shattered against the wall.
Lucy flinched. "Shouldn't… shouldn't someone stop them?"
Mira smiled as if Lucy had asked whether the sun would rise tomorrow. "This is normal. You don't need to worry about them." She tilted her head slightly. "Besides, isn't it fun?"
"Fun?!!"
Lucy stared at her, then at the hall.
People were swinging like they wanted to bash each other's brains out.
How was that fun?
Crash!
Something blurred across Lucy's vision.
Gray flew past—completely naked—and slammed into a table hard enough to splinter it.
Lucy froze.
Her mind refused to process the image fast enough.
Natsu stood there grinning, waving Gray's underwear like it was a trophy.
"Ah—! My underwear!!" Gray shouted, scrambling up in a rage.
"Don't face me!!" Lucy snapped, horrified.
Gray, shameless even in disaster, turned toward her with wild eyes. "Miss, could I borrow your underwear?"
Lucy answered with her fist.
Bam!
She punched Gray straight in the face. "Like I'd ever lend them to you!"
Elfman roared, chest puffed out. "If you're a man, you talk with your fists!!"
He finished his sentence—
—and got punched mid-pose.
Bam!
Elfman flew backward as Natsu barked, "If you're gonna fight, then fight! Stop wasting time talking!"
"Aaaah! It's so noisy! It's keeping me from drinking!" Cana finally lost her patience.
A bottle whizzed by and shattered somewhere behind her.
"That's enough out of you!"
Cana pulled out a magic card. Lightning crawled across it, bright and dangerous.
"I'm angry now!"
Gray wiped his mouth, shoved one fist into the other palm, and cold air began to spill outward—sharp, biting, and ready to become a spell.
"Ooooooh!!" Elfman bellowed again as his right arm swelled and reshaped, fur rippling over it until it became a thick, black beast's arm.
"Hmph. A bunch of annoying guys." Loke touched the ring on his hand, eyes narrowing.
Seeing everyone about to use magic, Natsu looked thrilled.
Flames burst from both his hands as he leaned forward, grinning like a lunatic. "Bring it on!!"
Lucy's stomach dropped. "They're going to use magic?!"
Magic wasn't a bar fight.
Magic could tear buildings apart.
If they started throwing spells in here, wouldn't this whole hall be demolished?
Mira's gaze sharpened. "This is getting a little bad."
She looked to Kael.
Right now, only Kael could stop these reckless idiots.
Kael gave her a small nod.
"Full-Body Take Over: Fushiguro Toji!!"
The transformation hit like a hard cut.
In an instant, Kael became a middle-aged man in a black t-shirt and gray pants, with a scar at the corner of his mouth.
A playful smile hung on his lips.
His voice dropped—deep, steady, and oddly magnetic.
"Yo." He looked around the room as if he'd just arrived at a party. "A fight sounds interesting. Let me join in, too."
Swoosh!
The entire guild fell silent.
Not slowly—instantly.
Like someone had shut off the sound of the world.
Every face turned toward Kael.
Horror spread through the room.
"Nope! No! We weren't fighting!" Gray blurted out at top speed. "We were just joking! Right! Joking! Right, Natsu?"
"Aye~!" Happy chirped automatically.
Gray and Natsu slung their arms over each other's shoulders so fast it looked painful.
Both of them were shaking.
Legs trembling.
Smiles strained.
Lucy blinked. "Natsu's acting just like Happy?!"
"And you guys?" Kael's gaze swept over the rest of the hall.
Everyone else immediately copied Gray and Natsu, throwing arms around each other like lifelong best friends.
"We were just playing! Definitely not fighting!"
"Right, right! We all get along so well—why would we fight?"
"Kael, I'm begging you, please change back! I'm scared!"
Someone's voice even sounded like it was about to crack.
Lucy stared, completely confused.
Why was everyone so terrified of Kael in this form?
Mira smiled and explained, amused by Lucy's expression. "It's because they got into a huge brawl in the guild before. Kael transformed into this state and beat every single one of them up."
She glanced at Gray and Natsu—still shaking.
"Natsu and Gray, in particular, were beaten so badly they couldn't get out of bed for three days."
"Ehhhhh—?!" Lucy's jaw dropped.
"Everyone?!" She looked around the hall again.
There might not be a hundred people, but there were at least seventy or eighty.
Kael beat all of them by himself?
And these weren't ordinary people. They were wizards—wizards from Fairy Tail.
Lucy's head spun.
"Kael is that strong?" she blurted. "But why haven't I heard of his title? Like Natsu's 'Fire Dragon' title."
She turned to Mira—
—and froze.
Mira was staring at her with wide eyes, looking genuinely amazed.
Lucy's stomach tightened. "Wh-what… Did I say something wrong?"
Mira smiled and shook her head. "It seems you really are a complete rookie."
She leaned in slightly, as if sharing something obvious.
"Kael has many titles. For example—the 'Flame Emperor.'"
"'Flame Emperor'?!" Lucy's eyes widened.
The Flame Emperor was the powerful wizard who had risen to fame across Ishgar over the last six months.
"I've heard of him!" Lucy said quickly. "I heard he wiped out dozens of new, infamous pirate crews! He's Kael?"
No wonder Kael's fire magic was so strong.
"So he's the 'Flame Emperor'… The 'Flame Emperor' is a wizard from Fairy Tail?!"
Mira's smile didn't fade. "Also, the 'Tyrant.'"
"'Tyrant'?!" Lucy repeated, almost whispering now.
"Is that the 'Tyrant' who crippled over ten thousand bandits?!"
That incident had caused a huge sensation. A bandit group of over ten thousand had plundered a country—
and one man had taken them all down.
Mira pointed her chin toward Kael. "Yep. That's Kael's 'Tyrant' form."