"Everyone, we're leaving..."
Evan stood at the opening of the broken warship and bent down to look at the sea before him. On the calm surface of the sea, countless smoking wreckages of burning warships floated up. There were more than a thousand wrecks in total, all of them warships belonging to the Alvarez Empire that he had shot down with Conqueror's Haki.
In the seawater, the mages who had been stunned by his Haki and then awakened by the stimulation of the cold seawater floated on the ocean, looking up toward the sky. Their gazes just happened to meet Evan's. A height of several hundred meters would not injure these mages whose magic power averaged around Level Three or even Level Four. At this moment, they were incomparably clear-headed as they looked at that proud figure in the sky.
"We lost!"
The warriors of the Alvarez Empire looked at the smoking warship in the sky, the only one still standing in the air, and revealed bitter smiles. That warship was the flagship of their Alvarez Empire, but now it had already fallen into the enemy's hands. As for the upper ranks of the empire, the lords of the Spriggan 12, they had lost! The emperor's shields had shattered...
"Hehe..."
With his hands behind his back, Evan looked at the despair in the eyes of the soldiers and their resistance toward war. Finally, he revealed a smile. The war was over, and peace had arrived. He was just that much of an archangel, that much Freedom!
"Let's go~"
As Evan spoke, he rose and flew into the sky. Behind Evan were Irene, Selene, Igneel, Kurnugi, and Animus...
The people floated in the sea and watched the dragons leave. The dragons who defended peace had not killed anyone here. They had merely destroyed their vehicles for crossing the continent! In an incomparably romantic form, they ended the war.
"Damn it..."
The imperial soldiers watched the backs of those dragons as they arrogantly departed, and in the end, they could not help shedding tears. The enemy was clearly right before their eyes, yet they did not have the courage to raise their fists toward them.
Time passed in the blink of an eye. A week had already passed since Evan reached the God Dragon level...
Western Continent, Alvarez Empire, royal capital, the meeting room of the Spriggan 12. At this moment, the four members of the Spriggan 12 who had participated in the Alvarez Empire's assault battle were sitting inside the meeting room, quietly waiting for August's arrival...
The original meeting of the seven members of the Spriggan 12 had become a meeting of five because two people were missing.
Aside from Neinhart, who had already decided to switch allegiance to Irene and become Irene's number one lackey.
Among this seven-person meeting, Larcade's figure was also missing...
On the second day after the Alvarez Empire launched a probing attack against the continent of Ishgar, which was also the second day after the empire was defeated by the dragons, at the moment when the whole country was grieving, the Moon Dragon God Selene, in the form of an incomparably beautiful nine-tailed divine fox, attacked the royal capital of the Alvarez Empire alone and carried away Larcade, who was in the middle of recuperating and recovering.
The imperial soldiers just stood there in place, watching that divine fox with despair in their eyes, yet no one dared to attack or resist. In the end, they could only watch as that nine-tailed divine fox took Larcade away, and not a single person mustered the courage to take even one step forward.
For a moment, endless humiliation washed over the hearts of the imperial soldiers. The soldiers grieved, the soldiers suffered, and the soldiers had no way at all...
On the seventh day after the Alvarez Empire's defeat, which was today!
The Magic King August, who had disappeared without a trace, finally arrived late and showed himself.
It was also precisely August's appearance that seemed to restore a bit of vitality to the entire empire.,
Those dejected imperial soldiers seemed to gain a bit more vigor. When they looked at August, they felt a vast power stirring inside their chests.
Yes, they had indeed lost! But the ones who lost were incompetent people like them. The empire had not lost! Because the empire's strongest mage, the great Lord Magic King August, had not made a move.
And right now, the people of the entire nation were all waiting for the result of the meeting. They were holding back a breath, waiting for Magic King August to lead them in a counterattack against the dragons, to counterattack the continent of Ishgar!
At this moment inside the meeting room, Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bloodman, the four defeated members of the Spriggan 12, were all wrapped in bandages from head to toe, as if there was not a single piece of good flesh on their bodies.
The Spriggan 12, who were always full of confidence in the past, now had pain and despair in each of their eyes. Their hearts were unwilling, yet they were powerless.
"My modifications still weren't thorough enough..."
Wahl sighed helplessly. He still had too many weaknesses. Mechanical creations were completely unable to defeat the dragons. He had to think of a way to create an entirely new mode to deal with dragons.
"Relying on my strength alone, I absolutely cannot fight against the dragons! Should we gather all the demons from the Books of Zeref scattered across the world? Only by uniting every force that can be united can we fight against that level of mighty power!"
Bloodman's brows were tightly furrowed. Having been defeated in battle against the dragons, he thought of his demon companions.
"From the very beginning, we should have listened to Lord August! This battle should not have happened in the first place..."
"As warriors of His Majesty Zeref, everything should be done according to His Majesty Zeref's instructions!"
Jacob Lessio's brows were tightly furrowed. He regretted accompanying Larcade in attacking the continent of Ishgar. At that time, he should have directly stepped forward and firmly stood on August's side.
"We lost. The Alvarez Empire no longer has any chance of victory. This place can no longer continue to extend my talents. However, although the Alvarez Empire can no longer display my talents, there is one place that can..."
Invel Yura lowered his head. His gaze was gloomy, and his brain kept thinking about something.
After the invincible Alvarez Empire was defeated and the Spriggan 12 lost two members, Invel Yura even developed the thought of defecting from the empire and changing the person he served like Neinhart.
In any case, what he wanted was only to prove his own talent. Since the Alvarez Empire no longer had the ability to attack the continent of Ishgar, he might as well join the continent of Ishgar and then help the continent of Ishgar capture the Western Continent...
He could even rely on the power of those dragons from the continent of Ishgar after capturing the Western Continent to sweep across the Northern Continent, Guiltina, and finally complete the grand unification of the world!
"Tsk~"
Thinking up to this point, Invel Yura raised his brows. At this moment, two words slowly appeared in his mind: "Feasible."
"Cough cough..."
"Lord August has arrived!"
Just as the Spriggan 12 each had their own thoughts and schemes, along with the opening of the meeting room door, and amid the shout of the guard, an old man with a grizzled beard walked steadily toward the members of the Spriggan 12 inside the meeting room.
"Lord August!"
The moment the old man with grizzled hair and beard entered the meeting room, the four defeated members of the Spriggan 12 all stood up together and bowed to greet the old man.
"Mm..."
That old man was naturally Magic King August. He looked at these four members of the Spriggan 12 before him, whose faces showed respect and who had put away their former pride and madness, and gently nodded.
This was more like it~ Shields should have the appearance of shields~
The purpose of a shield was to protect, not to attack! The Spriggan 12 led by Larcade before had clearly walked the wrong path. The current Spriggan 12 were the shields that could better protect Zeref's safety!
"Lord August, Neinhart has defected, and Larcade's whereabouts are unknown. The empire now needs you to preside over it incomparably! Only you can help the empire walk out of its current gloom!"
Jacob Lessio stated his attitude as soon as he came up. From now on, he was firmly in August's faction. No matter who came, it would be useless. Uh, unless His Majesty Zeref returned from his travels. Of course, that situation would be discussed separately~
"Mm."
August gently nodded. Of course, he knew about Neinhart's defection.
Speaking of which, it was rather complicated. Theoretically, anyone who betrayed his father deserved death, but Neinhart had betrayed his father and had now become Irene's lackey. Converting it, that was equivalent to Neinhart betraying Zeref and joining Mavis...
Regarding this situation, August also had no way around it. He could only say that Neinhart was not suitable for the position in the Alvarez Empire, so he had transferred to Fairy Tail to continue serving his parents' cause.
As for Larcade, that fellow had been taken away by someone and turned into a perpetual-motion self-X stick. The person who took Larcade away was someone he could not provoke, and he could not get him back in the short term either...
So it was fine to just treat Larcade as if he had never existed in this world!!
"That's right, that's right. Right now, His Majesty Zeref is not here, and Larcade's whereabouts are unknown. Only you can preside over the empire now!"
Bloodman gently nodded in agreement. Right now, within the entire empire, there was not a single person surnamed Dragneel, so naturally the strongest person in the empire should preside over it.
"According to my calculations, if those Dragon Kings are judged only by the amount of magic power, they are merely about equal to Lord August..."
Wahl took out a tablet computer. The computer recorded the magic power released by Irene and the others that he had recorded. Of course, this data was not accurate, because Wahl's recording device had an upper limit. Whether it was Evan, Irene, or even the Magic King, all of them had far exceeded this upper limit.
It was just that according to Wahl's speculation, the magic power of Evan and the others should be about the same as August's, or in other words, roughly equal.
Only because Wahl truly did not dare to imagine the terrifying situation that Evan and the others' magic power was still above the Magic King's...
Because once such a situation appeared, then the Alvarez Empire truly would have no way to fight.
"..."
Invel Yura did not speak. He merely silently watched August. He was waiting, waiting for August to speak first. Only after August opened his mouth could his conjecture be verified.
"Mm, the empire, well, no matter who is allowed to preside over it, it doesn't matter!"
Just as the four members of the Spriggan 12 were waiting for August to give everyone a bottom line, August suddenly inserted a very smooth sentence.
"Mm..."
It was precisely this sentence that stunned all the Spriggan 12.
"After all, we are all wholeheartedly working for the people of the Alvarez Empire and for His Majesty~"
Just as the four shields were shocked, August continued to add.
"Phew..."
The Four Spriggan Shields slowly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing August's words. August's words just now had truly been too frightening. They had thought August did not intend to care about the Alvarez Empire anymore~
"Lord August, please don't be modest. In this vast empire, other than you, no one else can preside over it!"
Just as August's words fell, Invel Yura suddenly interrupted with a smile, which also counted as expressing his stance.
For a moment, the only four remaining shields all stood on August's side. In fact, at present, other than standing on August's side, they had no other choice.
"Haha..."
Regarding the words of the four, August merely smiled lightly, then said nothing more.
"Uh..."
This made the Spriggan 12 all freeze for a moment.
Immediately afterward, Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bloodman, these four members of the Spriggan 12, exchanged glances.
In fact, at this moment, all four of them had many questions they wanted to ask August. Originally, everyone had planned to wait for August to explain himself. But in the current situation, it seemed August had no intention of explaining anything at all. Since August would not speak, they could only ask. But who should ask, and who should open their mouth? That was the problem.
"May I ask Lord August, what should we do next?"
In the end, it was still Jacob Lessio who braced himself and looked at August as he asked.
After all, among the four of them right now, the one with the best relationship with August was Jacob Lessio.
And Jacob Lessio asked August a painless question...
"Do now what you did before."
August answered very quickly.
"Uh..."
Following August's answer, Jacob Lessio, Wahl Icht, Invel Yura, and Bloodman fell silent once again.
Then the four exchanged glances again...
Everyone used their eyes to signal Jacob Lessio to continue asking, but Jacob Lessio, who had already asked one question, refused to speak no matter what.
"Sigh..."
Helplessly, Invel Yura sighed. Among the Spriggan 12 right now, he was the most anxious one.
After all, he needed to ask clearly what August's future policy for the Alvarez Empire was, and whether they would still attack the continent of Ishgar.
"Mr. August, please allow me to presumptuously ask you a question. If you and His Majesty both take action, do we have any chance of defeating the continent of Ishgar?"
The eyes of Invel Yura, hidden beneath his glasses, radiated a wise light. He planned to indirectly probe August's inner thoughts, and at the same time, test August's bottom line and confirm the ratio of combat strength between enemy and ally.
"Defeating the continent of Ishgar is very simple, but also nearly impossible..."
"I think you should already know what the true enemy standing before the Alvarez Empire is, right?"
Magic King August sat in his seat and looked at everyone before him as he asked.
"Is it those dragons?"
Invel Yura asked directly without even thinking after hearing this.
"Hehe, no..."
"Did you not see what those dragons had in common?"
After hearing this, August could not help laughing. As he smiled lightly at everyone, he shook his head and asked.
"Uh..."
Following August's question, everyone immediately found themselves troubled. At that time, they had only been focused on being afraid. How would they have had time to observe the similarities on those dragons?!
But right now, they also could not say this to August, because it was truly too embarrassing.
They were the Spriggan 12, the strongest mages of the empire! They, these mages who represented the face of the empire, did not even dare to observe the enemy after seeing them and only focused on being afraid. If this were said aloud, would that be proper? Although right now, the empire's face had already been completely lost by them anyway...
"Eh! Did you really not notice that they had the same mark on their bodies? That is the mark of a mage guild on the continent of Ishgar. As for this mage guild, I think you should have heard of it, because it has always been our target..."
Looking at the troubled expressions of everyone, August's eyes revealed helplessness. Was this the level of each and every member of the Spriggan 12? And they still called themselves shields? And they still shouted all day about fighting Fairy Tail? With these few pieces of trash, how were they supposed to fight the Dragon Kings of Fairy Tail? In the end, August could only remind them.
"You mean Fairy Tail?!"
After August reminded them, Invel Yura finally reacted.
"Yes."
After hearing this, August gently nodded and calmly said two words.
"Is Fairy Tail that strong?"
Bloodman was stunned. He subconsciously asked August, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Do you know Fire Demon END?"
August looked at Bloodman and asked casually.
"I know! His Majesty Zeref's most perfect creation, the strongest demon possessing terrifying curse power and magic power far surpassing ours!"
Bloodman gently nodded. Of course he knew Fire Demon END. Perhaps in the entire world of Earth-land, there was no demon who did not know the great name of Fire Demon END. That was the secret weapon Zeref used to deal with the Black Dragon King Acnologia.
"Mm. The strongest demon you speak of is one of the many underlings of the Fairy Tail Guild..."
August gently nodded and introduced Fairy Tail's strength.
"Huh?"
After hearing this, Bloodman was completely dumbfounded.
"You mean that the Fairy Tail Guild not only has six dragons, even Lord END has joined that guild?"
Bloodman's brows were tightly furrowed. His head began to hurt.
"Not only that, among them there is no lack of experts comparable to you members of the Spriggan 12! Besides that, there are also many mages who control Lost Magic, most of whom are Dragon Slayer Mages..."
August revealed Fairy Tail's mid-level combat strength to everyone.
"Hiss..."
After hearing this, Bloodman immediately became even more serious. According to the information August provided, this Fairy Tail Guild was truly incredible~
"Just what kind of divine being is the Guild Master of this Fairy Tail Guild? To actually possess such strength?"
Just as August sat in his seat and quietly watched everyone's expressions, Invel Yura suddenly asked.
"Are you asking about the current one, the previous one, or the next one?"
August raised his brows and looked at Invel Yura as he asked.
"The current one."
Invel Yura froze for a moment. He did not understand what August meant by those words.
"Hehe, the current one~"
August laughed. As he laughed, he removed the white glove he had always worn.
He revealed the back of his hand, which was marked with the symbol of a fairy dancing in the air, and aimed it at everyone present.
"Uh..."
When everyone saw the mark on the back of August's hand, they were all stunned. Then their expressions changed. A bad premonition suddenly rose in their hearts.
"Well, I actually wanted to say this earlier."
"Here, look carefully! This is the mark of a member of the Fairy Tail Guild. Remember it from now on. Once you see someone with this mark on their body, run as far away as you can! You are absolutely not Fairy Tail's opponents!"
August looked at everyone with a smiling face and spoke.
"Um, Lord August, why do you have this mark on your body?!"
At this moment, the four members of the Spriggan 12 before him were all trembling slightly. They did not even dare to breathe loudly.
At present, everyone had not the slightest interest in this mysterious Fairy Tail Guild. There was only one question in their minds now, and that was why the mark of the Fairy Tail Guild was on the back of August's hand. This question was very important, extremely important...
"Eh! Look at my memory. What did you ask me just now? Right, you asked me who the Guild Master of Fairy Tail is..."
"The Fairy Tail Guild has currently gone through four generations of Guild Masters in total. The First Guild Master, Mavis Vermillion. The Second Guild Master, Precht Gaebolg. The Third Guild Master, Makarov Dreyar. The Fourth Guild Master..."
When August spoke up to this point, he paused. As he spoke, the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
"The Fourth Guild Master of the Mage Guild Fairy Tail, Magic King August!"
The instant August's words fell, vast magic power instantly pressed down on everyone. For a moment, the expressions of the Four Spriggan Shields all changed.
"Our enemies are six dragons, the ultimate demon END, and Magic King August?!"
Invel Yura's face turned ashen. He looked even worse than if he had eaten shit.
Right now, their emperor's whereabouts were unknown, the Spriggan 12 had lost two people, and only five remained, one of whom was the strongest and was also the enemy. Besides that, the enemy also had six dragons, and among those six dragons, four were Dragon King-level.
As well as the ultimate demon END, who was said in legend to possess the power to destroy the world. Was there still any way to fight this battle?!
Just how were they supposed to win?!