God Serena's defection was something Raizel and Jellal had expected, so they were not particularly surprised.
But for Jura, it was a completely different matter.
To him, it was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.
After all, in Jura's eyes, the current God Serena was an existence far beyond reach.
Serena, who possessed eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima, was truly a dimensional blow against ordinary Mages, because the attributes of those eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima were water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, rock, light, and darkness.
They basically covered all common attributes.
However, none of his eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima had reached Dragon King level. Otherwise, the strongest Dragon King-level Lacrima might have rejected the others.
Even so, it had to be said that this man could indeed be called someone favored by the Dragon Gods.
In truth, Serena had already defected some time ago.
It was just that the other three Gods had sealed off the information for a while, trying to communicate with Serena and persuade him to change his mind.
But the result was not satisfactory, which was why the three Gods only informed Jura and Jellal today.
Recently, the relationship between Ishgar and the Alvarez Empire had become increasingly tense, so every bit of combat strength was extremely important to Ishgar.
Facing Jura's doubts, Hyberion sighed.
"We tried, but Serena said he wants to become the strongest and kill the Black Dragon."
Wolfheim, the short-tempered third-ranked God of Ishgar, would occasionally transform into a giant beastman and argue with Warrod Sequen.
After all, their top-ranked God had run off and joined the enemy, yet Warrod still acted as if nothing had happened, spending his days at the Council growing flowers and plants.
Wolfheim truly could not understand him.
At times like this, Hyberion, the second-ranked God, had to mediate between them.
Hyberion was quite an interesting person as well.
He spent all day drinking milk from a wine glass.
"The relationship is indeed becoming more tense, but it has still not developed into war. How things proceed will require all of our joint efforts, so this is not the time for us to argue among ourselves."
Hyberion sighed.
"If we truly fight, we may not have much chance of winning... There are eleven others ranked alongside Serena..."
Jellal leaned against the wall with his arms folded and spoke calmly.
"Forgive my bluntness, but please do not be so pessimistic."
Precht nodded with satisfaction, then added,
"That's right. Although they are called the Spriggan 12, not every one of them will possess combat strength on Serena's level."
"It is just like Ishgar. Although we have the Ten Wizard Saints, among the current members of Fairy Tail, there are at least three people stronger than Makarov. And that is still a conservative estimate. Young people these days grow very quickly."
The ones Precht meant were Raizel, Gildarts, and Laxus.
But in reality, leaving aside Selene, Kurnugi, and Irene, there were Ur, Ultear, Erza, Mira, Kagura, Devil Slayer Gray, and Natsu in his external-battle mode.
If judged purely by one-on-one combat, this whole group of young people had long since surpassed Makarov.
At this point, Makarov was at most a combat power measuring unit in Fairy Tail.
For example, if the current Laxus had three Makarovs' worth of strength, then Gildarts had four Makarovs' worth, while internal-battle-mode Natsu had 0.5 Makarovs' worth.
In the future, the guild could test their strength using Makarov as measurement on how strong they are.
Of course, Makarov's Fairy Law was absolutely a lethal weapon, but that thing sacrificed lifespan, so Raizel had long since strictly forbidden him from using it.
That's right.
Strictly forbidden.
Raizel had made Makarov seal that spell.
Raizel had even spoken to Makarov in an almost commanding tone.
"You're already that old. From now on, seal Fairy Law for me. Enjoy your retirement properly and sit in the position of third master until you die."
"I'm your grandfather! What kind of tone is that?!"
Makarov was so angry he jumped in place, but he still agreed to Raizel's demand.
Jellal nodded.
"I believe all of you have seen the records as well. Not only Raizel, but Natsu and Gray, who were able to fight Mard Geer, are absolutely not simple people either."
Jellal was referring to the Council's records of the battle against Tartaros.
They included video recordings of Mira, Erza, and the others fighting Kyôka, Natsu and Gray fighting the Underworld King, as well as the five dragons and Raizel surrounding Acnologia.
"Indeed. I have to say, the Underworld King was very strong."
Even the short-tempered Wolfheim had no choice but to acknowledge Mard Geer's strength.
"Let us hope so..."
Hyberion took a sip of milk and nodded.
Regarding the idea that young people these days were growing quickly, Hyberion agreed.
Although Hyberion had not personally interacted with Raizel and the others, from the Council's perspective, Jellal was not the only one who had grown quickly.
Jura had also improved rapidly, and the same was true of former Oración Seis members Midnight, Richard, and Erik.
Jellal's strength was already enough for him to take one of the seats among the Four Gods of Ishgar, and perhaps even one of the higher seats.
It was just that Jellal had no interest in that.
Hyberion then turned toward Precht and said solemnly,
"However, Serena's defection still has an impact. We need a new leader of the Four Gods. Regarding this, we have already made a decision. That person is you, Mr. Precht."
Precht's strength was above Hyberion's.
They had already tested this before.
After opening his eye, Precht could even be said to be far ahead.
However, Precht had never fought God Serena, and there was a higher chance that Serena, who had gone to the western continent, was stronger than him.
"It can only be you, Precht."
Warrod, rarely for him, did not joke around.
His expression was extremely serious.
"All right."
Seeing Warrod so serious, Precht nodded solemnly.
...
After that, the Magic Weekly published the Council's announcement like a clap of thunder on flat ground.
Naturally, the members of the guild also received the news.
Macao loudly read the newspaper aloud.
"Former leader of the Four Gods, God Serena, has joined the western continent. The current leader of the Four Gods is Precht!"
"Pffft—"
Gajeel, who knew the inside story, had just taken a sip of alcohol and directly sprayed it all over Lily's face.
Lily folded his arms and took a deep breath.
Forget it.
Getting angry would only hurt himself.
This guy could not be reasoned with anyway.
Gajeel had no reaction to God Serena's defection.
The main issue was Precht.
"Interesting. Too interesting! The former guild master of the dark guild Grimoire Heart has become the leader of the Four Gods of Ishgar."
Gray slammed a fist onto the table, signaling for Gajeel to keep his voice down.
"Lower your voice! Are you trying to make sure everyone knows?!"
Only the members who had gone to Tenrou Island knew about Precht's matter. Even Macao and Wakaba were unaware.
Raizel rested his chin on one hand and nodded.
"The Council is pretty bold this time. Looks like Precht is doing quite well for himself."
Jellal had not told Raizel about this news. He probably felt that Raizel would not care about it.
Makarov slammed his wooden mug onto the bar counter and said irritably,
"Show some respect! That's the second master!"
Ur nodded.
"It is a good solution. Although it cannot completely erase the impact of Serena joining the western continent, it is definitely a very decent response."
The leader of the Four Gods had defected, so they immediately replaced him with someone new. Moreover, it was not even the original second-ranked God moving up to fill the position.
This showed that the title of leader of the Four Gods was not something only Serena could hold.
There were other candidates.
And from another angle, it also showed that Ishgar still had plenty of powerful Mages.
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