This destination was unknown, who knew exactly where Raizel would teleport him.
But things had come to this, and Doranbolt could only choose to trust the fairy.
When Doranbolt materialized and saw Zubal, he knew he had gambled correctly.
Zubal, struggling angrily while tied to a stone pillar, bore the Grimoire Heart emblem proudly on his chest.
"This is one of the Seven Kin. Let's find the next one," Raizel said, already walking away.
Raizel eventually found Kain Hikaru, Rustyrose, Zancrow, and Zubal, handing their unconscious or tied-up bodies over to Doranbolt one by one.
"What about the others?" Doranbolt asked, noticing Raizel had stopped his search.
"Azuma is dead. Jellal and Meredy were originally tied up, but I've checked the island's signatures now—they're no longer here." Raizel thought it over and decided not to lie to Doranbolt by claiming the two were dead.
Finally, Raizel thoughtfully teleported Doranbolt and his bounties to the rocky reef island where the Council's medical camp was stationed.
"Just explain to Laharl that the Black Wizard Zeref has left. The rest of the cover story is up to you."
"Should we mention our cooperation?" Doranbolt asked Raizel before the fairy left.
"I think it's better not. Mentioning your cooperation with a Fairy Tail mage might ruin your promotion dreams," Raizel smirked.
Faced with the prospect of a massive promotion within the Council, Doranbolt wisely chose to follow Raizel's advice.
"Alright, the final battle... time to watch the show," Raizel murmured.
This time, Raizel didn't plan to teleport.
He slowly headed east through the jungle on foot.
The sky gradually darkened.
Pouring rain, flashing golden lightning, and roaring thunder rolled in, setting a heavy, apocalyptic atmosphere for the final battle.
...
After dealing with the remaining minor enemies in their sector, Natsu and the others took a short break to catch their breath.
"The weather is really getting worse," Lucy shivered, wiping rain from her face.
"This kind of thunder is terrifying," Wendy agreed, shrinking slightly.
Panther Lily had shrunk back into his small kitten form.
He was tightly covering his ears with his paws, trembling with every thunderclap.
"What's wrong with you, Lily?" Happy asked, tilting his head with an innocent expression
. "Are you scared of the sound of thunder?" Carla asked, discovering the tough warrior's weakness.
"I didn't expect Lily to be quite cute," Happy snickered.
"Pfft!" Carla covered her mouth, genuinely amused by Happy's teasing.
"Shut up!" Lily hissed, his fur standing on end.
"Alright, we should go now. Let's defeat Hades together! Lucy, Wendy, Happy, let's go!" Natsu cheered, punching his palm.
"Aye!" Happy saluted.
"Of course!" Wendy nodded, her fighting spirit ignited.
"Huh? Do I have to go too?" Lucy blinked, pointing a trembling finger at herself.
"Aren't we in the same team?" Happy raised his paw, stating the obvious.
"I know that, but do I have to fight Hades too? There are plenty of other S-Class members for that!" Lucy whined.
She was fine with handling small fry grunts, and she could grit her teeth and manage against one of the Seven Kin if she absolutely had to.
But fighting Hades, the mastermind? Lucy felt she couldn't possibly do it and survive.
"I... I'll go too," Lily said, still covering his ears.
"I still have to avenge Gajeel."
Gajeel, Elfman, and Evergreen were still unconscious back at the medical tent.
Bickslow and Freed were guarding them, with Lisanna and Levy helping out.
"Our enemy only has one left standing..." Natsu grinned.
"This is the final battle..." Erza noted, walking up behind them.
Lucy and Wendy looked toward the eastern shore as they spoke.
"We must do our best too!" Happy raised his paw to the sky.
"Was that even necessary to say?" Carla turned her head away proudly.
"Exceed Team, moving out..." Lily muttered, marching forward between them.
"Let's go!!!" Natsu roared skyward, his fists blazing despite the rain.
...
Eastern Coast—
Precht's dark cloak fluttered violently in the wind. "I never expected the Seven Kin and Bluenote would all be defeated by your members. It seems I should properly praise your disciples, Makarov."
Though he was left alone against the fairies, not a trace of panic could be seen on Precht's weathered face.
"How tiresome. To think I'd have to personally deal with children." Precht sighed, his lone eye glowing.
"But no matter. The game between demons and fairies should end here. I'll patiently play with you all for a while."
Across from Precht, Makarov and Laxus gasped for breath while clutching their chests.
Having fought this long, their magical power and physical stamina were greatly depleted, especially Makarov, who had long been aged.
Had Laxus not blocked several lethal attacks for him, Makarov would have lost his fighting capacity long ago.
Precht leaped gracefully onto his airship's deck, looking down at the shoreline from above.
Mira, Erza, Cana, Kagura, Natsu, and the others successively broke through the tree line, arriving at the Grimoire Heart airship.
Everyone looked up at Precht standing on the deck.
"Master, you should rest. Leave the rest to us," Erza declared, drawing a sword.
Ultear walked out from the forest, holding a glowing Magic Crystal orb under her arm.
"Laxus, take Gramps to the camp to rest first. Freed and the others are guarding the perimeter."
Raizel also emerged slowly from the shadows behind Ultear.
Raizel and Ultear had encountered each other by chance in the jungle and walked together.
"What about Gildarts?" Despite his own poor condition, Makarov still concerned himself with his Ace.
"Probably went fishing somewhere? Dealing with Bluenote was quite exhausting for him," Raizel replied casually.
Raizel hadn't deliberately searched for him—Gildarts had already completed his mission.
After all, his prosthetic arm wasn't healed yet, so it was better not to let him join the chaos that followed.
"I'll return after taking Gramps to the tent," Laxus grunted.
He hoisted Makarov onto his broad back and ran toward the Tenrou Island camp.
"In that case, leave the task of finding Gildarts to me. I'm quite familiar with Tenrou Island," Ur said as she turned and entered the forest.
Ur knew the battlefield should be left to the younger generation.
Erza, her daughter Ultear, Mira, Cana, and Kagura were all formidable in their own right.
Natsu and Gray were the types who grew stronger against powerful opponents, and even if all of them combined couldn't win, with Raizel present, she had no worries about their survival.
"The third generation of Fairy Tail, huh? Not bad. Come at me, Makarov's children," Precht taunted.
"Get down here!" Natsu shouted noisily from the mud below.
Precht ignored him and turned to enter the airship's interior.
"Who does he think he is?" Gray spat, very annoyed by Precht's condescending look.
"The Second Guild Master..." Erza stared grimly at the massive airship.
"Regardless, if we defeat him, they'll all leave Tenrou Island, right?" Wendy asked, looking at Lucy.
"Of course! We're going to drive them all out!" Lucy declared indignantly, cracking her whip.
"Lily, Happy, Carla. Continue with your previous mission—infiltrate this ship's heart and destroy it," Raizel ordered.
"Heart?" Happy blinked his big eyes, looking adorably confused at Raizel.
"Think of it as a mechanical power source," Raizel rephrased.
"Oh right! If he starts flying, it's all over—I mean for Natsu," Happy realized.
When Happy singled him out regarding his motion sickness, Natsu's face flushed red as he scratched his cheek.
"Shut up!"
"I understand. Leave this infiltration to us," Lily saluted.
"Just in case, let me cast Troia on Natsu first," Wendy offered, glowing magic enveloping the Dragon Slayer.
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