Even if it was only one blow, Goldmine stared at the bottomless glassy crater for a long time before he finally came back to himself.
Even if everyone present tried to forget it on purpose, there was no way any of them would ever erase that azure descent from the heavens from their minds. It had looked like divine punishment.
"Where in the world did you find a monster like that?"
He turned to his old friend, his tone complicated.
"Makarov… your luck is enough to make anyone jealous."
"Hmph."
Makarov folded his arms and didn't even lift his eyelids, doing his best to look completely unfazed.
"What monster? Don't make him sound so awful. He's one of Fairy Tail's kids. He's just a little outstanding, that's all. What's there to be so shocked about?"
"This old geezer…"
Goldmine shot him a sideways glance.
Even though Makarov was desperately trying to put on a calm, everything-is-under-control front, the fingers crossed over his chest were trembling slightly. He was obviously just as shaken.
He had probably never imagined that one of the young members of his guild would already possess power this terrifying.
This was not just "potential." It was real, tangible strength.
Enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ten Wizard Saints—or even surpass them.
"Looks like the tide of the times really is changing…"
At some point, Bob from Blue Pegasus had wandered over as well.
He had dropped the exaggerated coyness he usually wore, and there was real gravity and awe in his eyes now.
"One by one, these kids are growing at a speed we can barely even imagine."
"At this rate… it won't be long before we can start thinking about retirement~"
"Retirement, huh…"
Hearing that word, Makarov's eyes flickered.
To be honest, he wanted to retire too.
Desperately.
He had even drawn up a shortlist in his head for who might someday take over as guild master.
But now that he actually thought about that list again, his head immediately started hurting.
Every last one of them was unreliable in one way or another.
In terms of raw strength, Gildarts was qualified, no question.
But with that drifter personality of his—always gone for months at a time—if the guild were handed to him, it would probably dissolve on the spot the very next day.
In terms of responsibility, Erza was absolutely the best choice. She was serious, dedicated, and cared more deeply about the guild than anyone.
But for now, her strength was still a little too immature compared to the Wizard Saint tier. It wasn't enough to lead the whole guild yet. On top of that, she was too earnest, too likely to get trapped in her own rigid thinking.
As for Shane…
His strength spoke for itself. Today's battle had already answered that perfectly. His personality might be a little jumpy sometimes, but most of the time he was a normal person, and he knew how to measure his actions.
The problem was, deep in his bones, the kid was a complete slacker.
If it didn't involve reading or forging, he had absolutely no interest in doing it. If Makarov tried to hand a position like guild master—full of tedious responsibilities and endless trouble—to that brat, he would probably shoulder a train and run away overnight.
Makarov sighed deeply to himself.
He was proud of how strong Shane had become, but his feelings were complicated.
And then there was Laxus…
That grandson of his was certainly obsessed with inheriting the guild one day, and in the future his strength would definitely be enough. But that personality of his was far too extreme. If the guild were handed to him, Fairy Tail might wind up walking down a very dangerous road.
"When you really think about it… there isn't a single perfect successor in the guild…"
The dream of retirement suddenly felt infinitely far away, and Makarov was hit by a wave of bleakness.
Just as the old man was lamenting the lack of a suitable heir, Bob seemed to remember something and leaned in curiously.
"By the way, Makarov… is your guild's financial situation really that good now?"
"Hm? What do you mean?" Makarov blinked.
Bob pointed at the giant crater in front of them, admiration on his face.
"You let your own kid smash the whole venue to pieces and just casually said you'd pay for it? That won't be cheap. Tsk tsk, rich people really are different."
"…"
As soon as he heard that, Makarov's entire body froze.
Slowly, mechanically, he turned his head and stared blankly at the empty crater.
The venue…
Where was the venue?
His mouth began to twitch as he finally realized just how serious this problem was.
"After all, you personally gave your full support," Goldmine added mercilessly as he adjusted his sunglasses.
"Otherwise, with that kid's level of judgment, he would've definitely held back a bit. Or at least dragged the fight elsewhere."
"I heard you loud and clear. You were the one shouting for him to 'go wild' and that 'all the compensation is on you.'"
"Well, I suppose it's normal to spoil a genius like that a little… even if it means paying an entire mountainside…"
"No——!!!"
The light vanished from Makarov's eyes.
The entire venue had been flattened.
Forget the massive compensation that would instantly murder his savings—just the flood of accountability letters from the Magic Council, the written self-criticisms, the hearings…
In one instant, Makarov felt his vision darken and the world spin.
He had thumped his chest and told Shane to go all out because he wanted to support him, yes—but this was way too all out!
He hadn't meant for him to obliterate the foundation itself!
Crack.
It was almost as if one could hear a stone statue splitting apart.
Under the teasing gazes of his two old friends, Fairy Tail's third guild master lost all color, turned into a gray-white statue, and stood there looking utterly desolate in the wind.
Meanwhile, as the other guild masters finally recovered from their shock, someone suddenly cried out:
"Come to think of it, Fairy Tail also has Gildarts—that monster of a man, right?"
"He should also be strong enough to stand at Wizard Saint level… and now with this newly risen 'Stainless Azurefall' Shane…"
"Doesn't that mean Fairy Tail now has three Wizard-Saint-level fighters?!"
The moment those words were spoken, the surrounding crowd exploded into uproar.
One guild. Three Wizard-Saint-level combatants.
And one of them was still an absurdly young boy with limitless potential.
"We may have just witnessed history."
"So this is the depth of Fiore's number one guild…"
"I can't hold it in anymore. Everyone has to hear about what happened tonight!"
One guild master in a long robe scrambled for a communication crystal, his voice rising in excitement as magic surged through it.
"Hello?! Weekly Sorcerer magazine's editorial office? Put me through to the editor-in-chief! Right now! Immediately! I have a massive exclusive!"
"What? Too late at night? Don't give me that nonsense! If you don't want to miss tomorrow's front page, get someone over here right now!"
Someone else had already pulled out pen and paper and begun scribbling: "Fairy Tail… has produced the youngest monster…"
They talked excitedly among themselves, their voices full of awe and envy, completely forgetting Jose, who had once been so imposing and was now lying ignored at the bottom of the crater.
At that moment, Shane walked over.
"Lord Shane! That was a magnificent battle!"
"Lord Azurefall, who would've thought someone so young could have such power!"
The guild masters immediately swarmed around him, smiling warmly and rushing to greet him first.
"Uh, Azurefall? Who's that? Me?"
"Too kind, senpais."
Shane answered simply, not quite used to this sudden wave of excessive enthusiasm.
"The world really is that realistic…"
he thought to himself.
Just half an hour ago, hardly any of these people had paid him any attention at all.
In this world, strength really was the only pass anyone needed.
After finally breaking free of the crowd, Shane walked over to the "stone statue."
"Master? What's wrong with you?"
He waved a hand in front of Makarov's face.
"Hehe…" Bob covered his mouth and laughed wickedly. "Maybe he got too excited seeing the younger generation grow so fast and became a little oxygen-deprived~"
"Is that what it is?"
Shane nodded and didn't think too much about it.
"To be honest, I haven't had such a satisfying fight in a long time."
He rolled his sore shoulders and smiled in real contentment.
"Thanks to you, Master, for letting me go all out. That's the only reason I could enjoy that battle without any burden."
From the bottom of his heart, Shane added,
"You really are a dependable elder, Master."
"…"
Crack. Crack.
The gray-white Makarov statue seemed to gain several more horrifying fractures.
Shane didn't notice anything wrong with him. He was still replaying the battle in his head.
A bit of a shame, really—Jose's weird, tricky attack style definitely lived up to the Wizard Saint name, but in terms of defense, he had been a little ordinary.
He hadn't even survived long enough for Shane to fully test all of Arondight's properties before being dropped in one hit.
As Lancer's strongest Noble Phantasm, Arondight's greatest asset wasn't just its absurd single-target destructive power. It seemed that because fairy and dragon elements had been mixed into it, the Noble Phantasm's recovery speed was unbelievably fast as well.
As long as there was enough mana to fuel it, it could almost be fired in succession.
And mana… just happened to be the one thing Shane no longer lacked, now that he possessed the Dragon Furnace Core.
In terms of actual combat utility, this kind of simple, efficient brutality was way more practical than Senji Muramasa's Heavenly Sword Projection, which needed all sorts of setup.
…
With the venue destroyed so thoroughly not even the foundation remained, there was naturally nowhere for anyone to stay.
Normally, after a meeting like this, everyone would spend the night before leaving. Now they could only depart early or find inns nearby in Kuroba City.
Fortunately, because Makarov had smashed open the wall to get everyone out in time, no one except Jose—and the unfortunate building itself—had been harmed.
"Since you're all a little occupied right now, I'll take Jose with me," Goldmine volunteered.
He might not like dealing with troublesome situations, but he was still far more suited to cleaning up this mess than a shell-shocked Makarov or Bob, whose only interest was enjoying the drama.
"…Please do."
Makarov was still visibly dejected, his mind entirely occupied with regretting just how recklessly grand his earlier declaration had been.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
At last, Shane noticed something was off.
"Did you overuse your magic just now? Want me to take you back on the dragon wings right away?"
"…Whatever."
Makarov waved weakly.
"Just… let me recover for a bit…"
His heart hurt. His wallet hurt. Even his liver seemed to ache.
If he'd had the option, he would've liked to retire on the spot and dump this whole mess onto literally anybody else.
"Alright then, let's go!"
Shane was full of energy, assuming only that the old man was tired.
This was exactly the kind of fast-paced rhythm he liked—one day, all problems solved, whether fighting or meetings, no dragging things out, then a nice comfortable sleep back home.
"Hold tight, Master!"
He didn't leave his Lancer form.
Zheng—
The dark dragon wings spread once more behind him, kicking up a gust of wind.
At his current speed, bringing Makarov back to Magnolia wouldn't even take an hour.
High in the sky, the sharp wind was pushed aside by the wings, and the world suddenly became broad and silent.
Shane carried Makarov through the clouds.
Then suddenly, several bright streaks of light tore across the black night sky.
Meteor trails.
Not just one—but a whole cluster of them.
The meteors dragged long tails of flame as they scattered across the earth in every direction, like a magnificent fireworks show, beautiful and tragic, turning the night into something dreamlike.
Shane slowed, hovering in midair. Looking down at the little old man who was still sighing and lamenting, he smiled and said:
"Pretty lucky, huh, Master."
"Look—it's a meteor shower."
~~~
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