Hyberion glanced at Totomaru, who immediately understood and left, leaving the Room of Honor to the three of them.
Seeing Hyberion send Totomaru away, Hope realized that Brain might be involved in a major incident. "Senior, is the situation serious?"
Hyberion smiled. "I'll answer your question from earlier. I only just received notification from the Council regarding Brain's whereabouts."
"He is now an executive of the Dark Guild 'Oración Seis,' using the codename leader."
Erza's eyes widened slightly; she had heard of this guild.
Oración Seis was a dark horse that had suddenly emerged among the dark forces in recent years. They were quite powerful and had become a giant among Dark Guilds in just a few years.
Along with the strongest Dark Guild 'Grimoire Heart' and the most mysterious Dark Guild 'Tartaros,' they were known as the Three Great Dark Guilds.
Hope had also heard of Oración Seis. When he first crossed over, he didn't know if his identity as an undercover agent was for the light or the dark, so he paid extra attention to the forces on both sides.
Seeing that they both knew of them, Hyberion immediately dropped a bombshell: "At the beginning of this year, 'Grimoire Heart,' 'Tartaros,' and 'Oración Seis' formed a dark alliance—the Balam Alliance."
"What?!"
It was rare for Erza to lose her composure. These three ruled over more than ninety percent of the Dark Guilds; their union meant that the vast majority of dark forces were now united.
This meant that as long as the Balam Alliance wished, they could eliminate any righteous force in a very short amount of time.
Even the Magic Council, which possessed 'Anima,' would surely be extremely wary of the Balam Alliance, because they truly had the capability to overthrow the Council.
Moreover, the current Council had just undergone restructuring. They likely hadn't even gathered nine councilors yet, leaving them without enough command capability to operate such a massive entity.
Hope suddenly reacted and asked Hyberion, "Senior, could it be that the Council wants to take action against the Balam Alliance?"
"Oh?"
Hyberion's eyes lit up. "You actually guessed it."
Hope hadn't just guessed. He had been exposed to politics to some extent while following the Great Commander of Hell in his previous world.
After the Tower of Paradise incident, the Council's current prestige could be said to have dropped to its lowest point in history; even restructuring wouldn't quickly restore its reputation.
Therefore, the New Council needed a massive achievement to restore its status in people's hearts.
As the maintainers of order in the magical world, what achievement could be greater than striking down the dark forces? Thus, Hope naturally thought of the Council's intention to move against the Balam Alliance.
Listening to Hope's analysis, Hyberion nodded. "It would be great if you were from our academy. Why don't you transfer? I'll directly give you the treatment of a Three-star Instructor."
"Dean Hyberion!"
Seeing Hyberion trying to poach him right in front of her, Erza immediately grew anxious. During her time visiting Mildian Magic Academy, she had clearly realized how large the gap was between the guild and this academy.
In terms of resources, environment, and funding, Fairy Tail was far inferior to Mildian Magic Academy.
She was afraid Hope would actually transfer, causing the hard-earned affection between them to be cut short... Hearing Erza's inner thoughts, the corners of Hope's mouth curled up slightly. As expected, Erza couldn't bear to let him go.
I really am a charming man!
After a brief moment of narcissism, Hope took Erza's hand to calm her down. "Don't worry, I was born in the year of the tiger. Haven't you heard that tigers don't like moving their dens?"
Seeing Hope's sincere expression, Erza finally believed he had no intention of transferring. After secretly breathing a sigh of relief, she remembered his words and asked, "What do you mean by being born in the year of the tiger?"
"It's the Zodiac sign from my hometown. You can understand it as something similar to a Horoscope."
"Then what's my sign?"
"Probably a monkey, but you know your mother's situation is a bit special, after all..."
Watching the two of them suddenly veer off-topic, Hyberion had no intention of interrupting. Looking at Hope and Erza's joined hands, he showed a meaningful smile.
It's good to be young.
By the time Erza realized what was happening, several minutes had passed. She let go of Hope's hand and said to Hyberion with a blush, "I'm sorry, I..."
"It's fine, it's fine."
Hyberion interrupted Erza's apology. He simply liked the vitality of young people; otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting in the position of academy dean.
Hope continued the previous topic. "Senior, did the Council invite you to deal with the Balam Alliance?"
"Not exactly." Hyberion shook his head and continued, "They told me this news because I am now an Honorary Consultant for the New Council."
"Eh—"
Hope looked at the academy dean in surprise, not expecting him to join the Council.
Hyberion laughed. "Don't be so surprised. It's just a title. Your Master Makarov is also an Honorary Consultant for the Council now."
"I see. Recruiting the Ten Wizard Saints to boost the public's confidence in the Council." Hope saw through the New Council's objective at a glance.
The more Hyberion looked at Hope, the more satisfied he became, though it was a pity the other party didn't care for the conditions Mildian Magic Academy offered. He continued:
"The Council doesn't plan to deal with all three dark giants at once."
"Instead, they want to strike first and crush one of them with thunderous force before the Balam Alliance can make any major moves."
Hope understood. The New Council was actually quite prudent.
If they could quickly eliminate one of the three dark giants, they would not only weaken the Balam Alliance and suppress the arrogance of the Dark Guilds but also enhance the Council's prestige.
Killing two birds with one stone—wouldn't that be wonderful?
As the saying goes, pick the softest persimmon to squeeze.
Since the Council wanted to use one of the three dark giants to establish their authority, the best target was naturally the 'youngest and most promising' one, 'Oración Seis.'
And to eliminate 'Oración Seis' with thunderous means, they couldn't do without the elite forces of the legal guilds.
Hope looked at Hyberion. "Senior, you're not going to tell me that Erza and I have been drafted by the Council, are you?"
"Haha, the Council doesn't have that power."
Hyberion continued, "However, the Council has invited Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Blue Moon to each send a team led by an S-Class Mage to form a Guild Alliance to jointly crusade against 'Oración Seis.'"
Erza suddenly became curious. For something like this, the Master would usually have her lead the team, but since she wasn't at the guild now, who would be the S-Class Mage Makarov sent?
Gildarts was drifting somewhere outside and out of contact.
Laxus, in his rebellious phase, mostly focused on being contrary.
Mystogan was nowhere to be found.
Mirajane's current state was that of an ordinary person...
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