In an instant, countless answers flashed through Precht's racing mind.
Quickly, he concluded that Raizel wasn't lying to him.
As the Second Master, he was well aware of the dark buried secret of Fairy Heart.
When Mavis suddenly "died" in his arms all those decades ago, he refused to believe it.
He had desperately searched for a way to resurrect Mavis and discovered that her physical heart was still beating inside the lacrima crystal, yet she never woke up.
"Where is Mavis?!" Precht's expression grew intensely agitated, his stoic facade cracking.
"Calm down, you're over a hundred years old," Raizel said unhurriedly.
"Do you know who taught Ultear the Arc of Time?" Raizel pointed his thumb toward the time mage standing below.
"You mean Mavis?!" Precht pressed urgently.
He knew Ultear could use the Arc of Time, but he had always assumed she had learned it elsewhere, since his own book on the magic was still safely hidden on his airship.
"That's right, the First Master taught me in secret," Ultear nodded.
"Are you saying Mavis isn't dead?!" Precht's agitation intensified, stepping forward.
"Wrong. She should be considered dead," Raizel said.
He didn't tell the complete truth this time.
Mavis wasn't entirely dead. By theoretically using Fairy Glitter, her spirit could be forced back into her physical body, allowing her to revive.
However, the Curse of Ankhseram remained active on her flesh, so Raizel couldn't risk using this method for now.
Precht's eye dimmed slightly before he roared in deep frustration, "Then how could she teach?!"
'Tsk tsk... The moment Mavis is mentioned, all that cold composure of a hundred-year-old man goes right out the window,' Raizel inwardly mocked.
"Consciousness," Raizel explained. "You've studied so many forms of ancient magic. There is a phenomenon where magical power is so incredibly immense that even after physical death, the consciousness doesn't dissipate. It forms something akin to a Thought Projection—let's just call it a spirit for now."
Precht began frantically recalling his own ancient research...
"I see. Then where is Mavis's spirit now?" Precht demanded.
He no longer had any desire to fight, he only wanted to find Mavis.
Many of his followers believed he was solely pursuing the Ultimate Magic World, but in truth, he just wanted a way to resurrect Mavis.
Zeref had been researching resurrection magic and was rumored to have succeeded with his demons, which was exactly why Precht had been obsessively searching for the Black Wizard all along.
The Ultimate Magic World? He simply wanted to revive that bright, shining white moonlight in his heart.
It wasn't about romantic affection or love—it was purely that without Mavis leading the way, his life felt endlessly dark and meaningless.
"Sorry, but about that, I can't say," Raizel shrugged.
In any case, the assault on Tenrou Island was now an undeniable fact.
"It's simple, Precht. If you want information about Mavis, defeat me."
Precht laughed heartily as if he had heard something ridiculous.
"Even Makarov and Laxus joining forces were helpless against my power! How could you brats possibly hope to defeat me?"
"Since you're so confident, how about placing a wager?" Raizel didn't answer directly but countered with a smirk.
"If I win, you must tell me exactly where Mavis is!" Precht was even more impatient than Raizel and immediately stated his condition.
"Very well. If you lose, you will permanently disband Grimoire Heart. As for where you'll go after that, I'll help you find a quiet place to retire." Raizel couldn't allow Precht to return to Fairy Tail again—the political risk was too great, and there was no guarantee that the secret of Fairy Heart wouldn't be leaked eventually.
As for a destination, there was one particularly suitable, isolated place.
His explosive temper would be better suited for gardening and cultivating his character far away from Ishgar.
"Agreed." Precht nodded without any hesitation.
There wasn't a single condition in this world that Precht would hesitate over if it meant getting Mavis back, let alone just sacrificing a dark guild.
"Alright, you all go ahead," Raizel raised his right hand and pointed lazily at Precht from the rafters.
"After all that big talk about taking action.... you're something else!" Ultear was nearly driven to laughter by Raizel's sheer audacity to sit back down.
"I've had enough of listening to you all talk! I'm going in!" Natsu, with flames coiling fiercely around his right arm, charged forward once again.
"Amaterasu: Formula 28!" Precht swept his hand sideways, instantly conjuring dual talisman arrays that closed in on Natsu from both sides.
Amaterasu Magic was a type of seal magic that could continuously be learned and refined over a lifetime.
To this day, Precht had cultivated Amaterasu Magic up to the Hundredth Style by drawing inspiration from various other magics.
In other words, he possessed a hundred different devastating spells through Amaterasu Magic alone, with each successive style growing more powerful.
"Dark Chains!" Precht's left hand wasn't idle either.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent several spiked dark chains crashing into the wooden floor, blocking the members who tried to rush to Natsu's aid.
Two of the dark chains even ensnared Lucy and Erza by their wrists, binding them tightly together before exploding.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Precht pressed his index and middle fingers together on both hands, firing dark magical power like heavy bullets in rapid succession across the hall.
The dark bullets were incredibly fast and numerous, making it inevitable that the members would be hit.
"Ice-Make: Triple Ice Shield!" Ultear quickly used Ice-Make to create a massive, thick ice shield, behind which the injured members hastily took cover.
Gray also joined in, pressing his hands against the ice, helping to reinforce and maintain the shield against the barrage.
"Planning to turtle up? You can't defeat me by just defending! I can dance alongside magic!" Precht's dark bullets continued to fire incessantly, shattering the ice layer by layer, as if his magical power reserves were limitless.
...
Meanwhile, deep below the deck, Happy, Lily, and Carla had stealthily infiltrated the dark ship's engine cabin.
Boom!
Another massive thunderclap roared outside.
Lily, sweating cold bullets on his furry forehead, covered his ears tightly as he ran while complaining.
"Does this piece of junk ship even have soundproofing?! Why hasn't the thunder weakened at all?! It's still so loud in here!"
Lily grumbled that with such a massive criminal enterprise, they couldn't even spare the expense for proper architectural soundproofing.
"Alright..."
Carla didn't know what to say either, never expecting the tough Lily to be so genuinely terrified of thunder.
And this wasn't something that could be solved by just telling him not to be afraid.
"Don't worry, Lily! The lightning won't strike down here! Let's go search over there!" Happy pointed with a paw.
...
Miles away, on the rocky reef where the Council's surviving battleship was anchored—
Doranbolt used teleportation to drop four bound, unconscious members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory heavily onto the wet deck.
"Who's there?! Doranbolt!" Laharl shouted sharply, drawing his weapon, but relaxing slightly upon seeing it was just Doranbolt.
With both Grimoire Heart and Fairy Tail involved in this chaotic situation, it was no wonder the Captain was so tense.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator