The jet-black wings of the airship sliced through the sky, swiftly flying westward toward the mainland.
Hargeon Port—
The moment Raizel set foot on the wooden docks of Hargeon Port... he knew the course of events had begun to permanently change.
On December 16, X784, the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia, did not appear at Tenrou Island.
Because of this, the guild members would not be sealed by Mavis's Fairy Sphere, freezing their time for seven years.
Come to think of it, none of the members currently on Tenrou Island even knew how to cast Fairy Sphere.
Of Fairy Tail's Three Great Fairy Magics, Makarov only learn Fairy Law and Fairy Glitter.
'Looks like after returning to the guild, I should have Lucy learn Fairy Sphere from the archives,' Raizel thought, walking down the pier.
It could be useful in the future.
The tome for Fairy Sphere was safely stored in the guild's underground library.
Though it was kept in an inconspicuous spot, it wasn't a big issue—Raizel could find it quickly if he searched.
...
The members returned to the guild hall in Magnolia.
"So?! Who won?!" Macao and Wakaba eagerly pressed the exhausted S-Class candidates for the final results of the trial the moment they walked through the doors.
The reason for their burning enthusiasm? They had placed heavy bets on the outcome!
In the end, because the exam was officially canceled, the house took all the money.
Now the two older men were crouched in a dark corner of the guild, weeping over their empty wallets.
"This incident teaches us one valuable lesson: stay away from gambling. Gambling never ends well," Raizel said, raising an index finger to Wendy, who was sitting beside him.
"Mm! Got it!" Wendy nodded vigorously, taking the lesson to heart.
"Alright, please have breakfast everyone!" Mira, having returned to the guild early in the morning without showing any signs of fatigue, cheerfully set down massive plates of food.
Along with Lisanna and Ur, they had prepared a massive breakfast feast for the returning members.
"Thank you for the meal! Let's eat!" Raizel and Wendy clasped their hands together in thanks before immediately digging in.
After eating just one hurried meal on Tenrou Island yesterday and nothing since, Raizel was practically starving.
He still had matters to attend to after eating—he needed to return to Tenrou Island, as the sacred ground was left in disarray and hadn't been properly cleaned up.
"I'm going back to tidy up Tenrou Island," Raizel informed Makarov, wiping his mouth after finishing his meal.
Makarov was sitting quietly at the bar counter, nursing a mug of ale.
Tenrou Island was currently littered with the corpses of the Grimoire Heart vanguard mages.
While the wild monsters there could certainly eat them, Raizel didn't want those beasts developing a permanent habit of consuming humans.
"Wait a day or two before going, Raizel," Makarov suggested.
He had been deep in thought with his arms crossed, but snapped out of it to answer.
Makarov was well aware that Tenrou Island was a mess, but given the sheer urgency of their escape earlier, no one could guarantee Acnologia wouldn't still appear.
Escaping and resting was the top priority.
"It's fine, Gramps. I've already checked the network. There's nothing there." Before leaving the island, Raizel had left magical tracking markers on the monsters of Tenrou Island.
The island was calm and undisturbed, and Precht had already departed on his wrecked airship.
"Alright. Take a few people with you," Makarov relented. Raizel thought for a moment but shook his head, declining.
"No. Laxus, Elfman, Natsu, and the others are all injured. I'll just go alone."
"I'll go with you," Ultear said, standing up from a nearby table.
"I'll go too," Erza and Kagura also rose to their feet.
"We'll help too," Freed guessed Raizel's intentions and approached with Bickslow.
"Fine. But going back to Tenrou Island isn't exactly a pleasant task," Raizel warned them.
"I expected this," Ultear nodded.
She knew it was simply a matter of disposing of the enemy corpses.
"Good. With your Arc of Time, you can also help restore the damaged landscape," Raizel noted.
This time, Raizel chose not to take a slow boat.
Instead, he constructed a massive Teleportation Magic circle at the guild's entrance, instantly transporting the volunteer group back to Tenrou Island.
...
"Alright, let's get to work. Gather all the nearby corpses in your sectors into one spot, and I'll teleport the piles to the beach all at once," Raizel instructed.
"Understood," everyone nodded grimly.
Each mage took a designated area of the jungle to pile up the fallen dark mages.
After completing the grim task, they contacted Raizel via telepathy to transport the bodies to the sandy beach.
Freed used his Jutsu Shiki magic circles to safely encircle the massive mountain of corpses.
Raizel tossed several magical torches inside the barrier, and with the aid of various fuels, a raging fire erupted on the beach.
Thick, dark smoke billowed straight into the sky.
Raizel felt that even the distant port of Hargeon might see this towering plume of smoke.
While the fire burned, Ultear was busy using her Arc of Time to restore the ancient trees and cratered land to their original state across various battlefields.
Raizel and the others waited quietly on the beach for the corpses to burn.
The bodies took a long time to turn to ash—so long that Ultear had already fully restored the entirety of Tenrou Island before the fire was extinguished.
Finally, Raizel used Take Over to transform into Dynasmon and used his massive wings to blow all the remaining ashes and debris out into the deep sea.
At the very least, the fallen enemies had found their final resting place, spared from lying exposed in the wilderness to be devoured by wild animals.
"Sigh..." Erza closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath, the wind catching her scarlet hair.
Witnessing so many deaths at once was difficult for even the seasoned Fairy Queen to process calmly.
"There's no helping it, Erza. This is the ugly nature of war, which is exactly why I never wish to see it happen," Raizel said, gently patting her shoulder.
"Alright, the mission is accomplished. Let's head back home."
...
Meanwhile, far across the ocean—
Jellal and Meredy sailed quietly across the sea in a small, stolen wooden boat.
"Your town and family were killed by several members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory years ago. Strictly speaking, Meredy... Grimoire Heart is your enemy." Jellal hadn't planned to reveal this dark secret so soon, but Meredy kept tearfully pressing him about why they had to flee the guild, forcing him to confess the awful truth.
Jellal had a clear conscience regarding her tragedy—he had taken no part in the fiery destruction of her hometown.
Though that wasn't entirely accurate, Jellal did feel guilt for never having told Meredy the truth until now, letting her be raised by the very people who ruined her life.
"From now on, you are no longer a member of Grimoire Heart. Your name is simply Meredy, and you are your own person," Jellal said softly.
He looked at Meredy, who sat silently hugging her knees at the bow of the boat, staring blankly into the distant horizon as the waves rocked them.
Jellal's goals lay hidden in other kingdoms.
If he kept a low profile, it was unlikely the Magic Council would pursue him heavily while dealing with the fallout of the dark guild.
"Are we never coming back to Ishgar?" Meredy whispered, her voice cracking.
"No, we will return. Someday," Jellal promised, gently ruffling her pink hair.
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