Clutching his bleeding wound, Hades quickly distanced himself. Just as he intended to use the life force of the 'Demon Heart' to recover his severed limb, he discovered to his horror that he was unable to do so.
"How is this possible?!"
Looking at Hades, who had finally lost his composure, Hope smiled slightly.
The death force of the Magnetic Field ultimate technique 'Hell Path' could block recovery-type abilities; even the transcendent Magnetic Field stat monster Orga could only withstand it through pure stats.
Let alone a Hades who relied on external objects.
Seeing that the "death force" was highly effective, Hope dropped the severed limb and arrived at Hades' side with speed so fast it was almost teleportation, his palm firmly gripping Hades' right shoulder.
Hades broke into a cold sweat instantly, not daring to move, or else he wouldn't even be able to keep this right arm.
Meanwhile, Hope, as if possessed by Li Yunlong, waved and shouted to Makarov: "Old man, come here. Give him back all the bullying he did to you before."
Me, hitting Hades?
Makarov was stunned, then took a deep breath and rejected Hope's proposal for revenge. Regardless of everything, this was once his most respected elder.
"Besides, the theme of our Fairy Tail is 'Love and Adventure.'"
Is this kid's methods a bit too unhinged... Hope was actually just joking; with Makarov's personality, it was destined that he wouldn't insult others, let alone slap his teacher's face.
"Master, how do you plan to deal with him?"
Hope released Hades; anyway, the man couldn't escape his grasp.
Makarov fell into silence. He didn't know how to deal with Hades either. Colluding with Tartaros to invade Tenrou Island—based on this crime alone, he could execute Hades immediately.
Only... "Finish me off, Makarov." Hades spoke up of his own accord. In his current state, dying at the hands of his disciple would be a decent end.
Makarov sighed deeply. "I learned a lot from you. In return... I'll let you off this time. Leave Tenrou Island quickly."
Regarding his Master's decision, Hope said nothing.
Heavy-handed, but not hard-hearted.
This was Makarov's consistent attitude toward enemies. Otherwise, Jose Porla, the former Master of Phantom Lord, wouldn't have had the chance to escape and then cooperate with Oración Seis.
And now, he wanted to let Hades go again.
Hope had no intention of stopping him. Even if Hades made a comeback in the future, with Hope backing them up, the old man was destined to be unable to cause much trouble.
Only Hades didn't think so. "You're as naive as ever... Brat, if you let me leave this time, I will definitely crush your guild next time."
Makarov shook his head gently. "My losing to you doesn't mean the guild's juniors will lose. Even without Hope, there would be other children to defeat you."
The two old men fell into silence again.
After a long time, Makarov looked up and asked the initial question once more: "Why did you fall into darkness?"
Hades lowered his head. "I should have said it already. Magic is a miracle born from darkness, but the world does not acknowledge darkness, so I wanted to find the truth of the magical path."
"So what if you find it?"
Makarov was somewhat disappointed. "Magic may indeed originate from darkness, but as the era advances, magic also changes."
"Magic can be light or darkness, it can be red or blue... Everyone's understanding of magic is different, but their magic is truly magic."
"Fairy Tail will coexist with freedom; these were all teachings you once gave me..."
Looking at Makarov's disappointed eyes, Hades only closed his eyes. His original intentions had been lost somewhere during the forty-odd years since he left Fairy Tail.
"No, the reason for your fall isn't entirely about pursuing the truth of the magical path." Hope suddenly interrupted their conversation.
He stared at Hades with a faint smile. "You've forgotten that I can know everything you're thinking right now."
Mind readers are truly troublesome. Hades sighed somewhat helplessly. "You're right. Pursuing the truth of the magical path wouldn't have made me fall so far as to establish a Dark Guild."
"The real reason is for the Abyss of Magic, the Great Magic World. As long as Zeref is allowed to open that true world of magic, the dead can be resurrected..."
Makarov immediately understood his thoughts. "You're actually still thinking about resurrecting the First Master?!"
Hades was noncommittal, which was a silent admission.
Hope was somewhat puzzled. "Does this Great Magic World you speak of really exist? Could it be that you've gone mad wanting to resurrect Mavis and imagined a fake world?"
"Impossible! The person who told me about the Great Magic World had no reason to lie to me!"
Hades' response was categorical, his Voice even rising a few octaves. That slightly undignified manner showed that something was wrong, not just to Hope, but even to Makarov.
Hope pressed: "So, who was that person?"
Hades opened his mouth. Realizing his thoughts were laid bare under Hope's mind-reading ability, he slowly uttered the name.
"During an expedition after I left the guild, I encountered the phantom of a great existence who helped me complete the 'Grimoire Heart'."
"He called himself... ankhseram."
The God of Life and Death?!
Hope and Makarov both changed expression. The fundamental reason Mavis's body could be preserved, the 'Curse of Contradiction', was rumored to be the work of this god.
Since the trip to the parallel world, the existence of gods was no longer a secret to a few within the guild; it was just that Hope had given a heads-up, so everyone had a tacit understanding.
Hope narrowed his eyes. After liberating his counterpart Hopeless from the control of the God of Despair, he had obtained a piece of information from him.
Countless years ago, the God of Despair Anti-Hoper was attacked and defeated by the god ankhseram, who destroyed his 'Hope' authority. This led to the loss of balance in Edolas's magic power, causing it to gradually decline.
From this, it was clear that ankhseram was no benevolent god.
He wouldn't help Hades for no reason.
What exactly is his goal?
A flash of inspiration hit Hope as he suddenly thought of the 'key' to opening the so-called Great Magic World that Hades mentioned—Black Wizard Zeref.
According to Hades' account, the god ankhseram told him that only Zeref could make the world he desired descend. But the current Black Wizard was in self-imposed isolation and needed to be found and awakened.
The legendary Zeref was an existence where death followed wherever he went, essentially a spokesperson for the God of Death.
Hope's intuition told him that the Great Magic World capable of resurrecting the dead didn't exist; helping Hades complete the 'Demon Heart' was only to better utilize him.
ankhseram's true goal... was likely Zeref.
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