A gigantic purple foot slowly descended through the clouds.
"It's huge!"
That enormous foot did not distinguish friend from foe and directly crushed a group of cultists flat.
Arlock, whose collar was being grabbed by Natsu, grinned savagely.
"This is the true Purification Operation. The souls being sacrificed are the hearts of faith belonging to Avatar's believers. The people in town never mattered."
"The souls of those who die while carrying faith in Zeref are the finest sacrifices!"
Gradually, the figure of the War God Ikusatsunagi appeared before everyone.
Of course, this was only a clone of Ikusatsunagi.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a projection.
"That thing is way too huge, isn't it?" Gray could not help muttering.
Compared to Ikusatsunagi, things like magical giants were nothing. From afar, Ikusatsunagi's head seemed to be hidden among the clouds.
Ikusatsunagi held a massive sword in its hand. When it brought the blade down, it felt like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting apart.
Erza and the others each used their abilities and flew into the sky.
As for Natsu, he climbed up Ikusatsunagi's giant sword and reached its head.
"I'll never forgive you!!!"
Natsu's momentum made Erza, Mira, and Kagura all stop.
"Fire Dragon King's Demolition Fist!"
The flames on Natsu's right fist dyed the sky red, and his punch slammed heavily onto the top of Ikusatsunagi's head.
Countless cracks spread across the enormous body of Ikusatsunagi like a statue breaking apart.
Then it shattered with a thunderous explosion!
Both Selene and Irene saw Natsu's punch, because the strange Magic Power from summoning one of the Yakuma Eighteen War Gods was enough to slightly catch their interest.
Only slightly.
But what interested Selene more was Natsu.
Thinking of Raizel's words, Selene could not help raising an eyebrow.
"So this is what he meant by hitting hard in real battles..."
Compared to when he fought Raizel earlier, this punch was indeed much stronger.
The gigantic Ikusatsunagi shattered into countless pieces of stone.
"So... this is the result of your training?"
Looking at Natsu's punch, even Erza could not help smiling.
The purple clouds vanished, and Natsu landed along with them.
Natsu's punch shattered Ikusatsunagi.
It shattered Arlock's heart.
And it shattered the faith of Avatar's cultists!
The cultists began fleeing in panic, but the Magic Council's army arrived in time. Under Cobra's command, the Council forces arrested all the cultists.
"Not bad, huh? You even made it into the Council."
Natsu excitedly patted Cobra on the shoulder.
"Show some respect! I'm the captain of the second Custody Enforcement Unit now."
Cobra irritably slapped Natsu's hand away.
"Careful, or I'll arrest you!"
"I'll leave calming the townspeople and handling the aftermath to you. We'll be heading off first."
"Don't worry."
Facing Raizel's instructions, Cobra did not dare speak the way he did to Natsu and nodded solemnly.
...
On an ordinary mountain peak that was usually deserted, one could see the sea beneath the thin layer of clouds, along with cliffs and waterfalls.
Zeref sat on the grass, recalling his life.
Recalling everything he had done in order to revive Natsu.
After those memories passed, he slowly walked along the mountain path and arrived at a quiet cave glowing with a deep blue light.
Today, having received permission, he had come here alone.
The cave was completely empty, with only a young man with blue hair and a black cloak sitting on a rock.
Compared to his strength, his chosen place to stay could only be called shabby.
Zeref's voice carried a trace of joy.
"I never expected you would actually be willing to meet me. So you really do usually remain in this form. How is the injury to your arm, Acnologia?"
Acnologia frowned.
"What do you want, Black Wizard?"
There was confusion in Zeref's tone.
"You crave destruction, yet the scale of your actions has always been small. If you wished, you clearly possess the power to dominate the world, yet you do not do so. There are far too many mysteries in your actions."
Acnologia neither confirmed nor denied it.
"You are not much different."
Zeref continued speaking.
"I have always hesitated, so I remained only a bystander, unsure whether I should help humanity, oppose you, or help you stand against humanity."
"Only later did I realize that such an extreme choice between two options was wrong from the very beginning. Whether it is you or humanity, I will be the one to destroy all of it. That is my mission."
As he spoke, Zeref's tone and expression became extremely indifferent.
"The final battle between the Dragon King, the immortal, and humanity will be started by us!"
Acnologia did not answer.
He only gave a soft laugh.
...
"Avatar is merely a group of people who worship Zeref. They do not have much real use, and we did not get any useful intelligence from them."
On the magic crystal screen, Erik—Cobra's real name—was reporting the interrogation results to Raizel.
"Thanks."
"No need. Just help me look after Kinana a little."
Kinana, whose curse had been lifted by Makarov, had lost her memories.
Erik and Kinana could only start over from the beginning. Fortunately, Kinana's impression of Erik was not bad.
"Don't worry. There's no need for me to look after her. Mira, Yukino, and Lisanna all get along well with her."
Including Kinana, the four of them were the guild's regular waitresses.
Of course, there were also some unnamed members who took on the same work. It was just that these four were more famous.
Mira was now mainly responsible for handling job requests, while the other three each managed groups of people in charge of service.
"Oh, right. She's already learned Magic."
"Is that so?"
Erik had been busy with Council affairs recently.
With the western continent stirring restlessly, he had not had much time to pay attention to these things.
"I have something I need to tell Raizel."
Jellal came to the magic crystal screen.
"God Serena, the strongest of the Four Gods of Ishgar, has betrayed the Council and gone alone to the western continent. He has become a member of the empire."
Jellal's tone was very calm.
"He has become one of the Spriggan 12 who protect Emperor Spriggan."
"I understand."
"It seems you are not very surprised."
Raizel gave a soft laugh.
"I guessed as much. Didn't you guess it too? He never attended a single meeting."
...
Serena's betrayal was not a major matter to Raizel.
After Gray and Juvia returned, their members were finally all gathered.
Raizel also intended to put his plan into action.
If he wanted to prevent the flames of war from being ignited and spreading to the Kingdom of Fiore, or even to Ishgar, then there was only one option—go to the Alvarez Empire and attempt negotiations!
There was no need to worry about the rear.
Irene had no intention of participating on either side, so Selene also had no need to move out.
She could stay behind and keep watch over the guild. Raizel could also call Precht back to guard Fairy Tail.
Raizel was basically certain that August would remain impartial.
Even if August decided to act, there was still Selene.
In addition, Jellal and Meredy were stationed at the Council in Crocus and could reach Magnolia at any time through the teleportation array.
With Precht and Selene, plus Makarov and Ur, anyone who came would find it useless.
Raizel, Kurnugi, Natsu, Erza, and the others...
The best outcome would be successful negotiations.
But first, they still needed to confirm Zeref's current state.