"For Zeref," Mavis said, "establishing the Alvarez Empire served two purposes: something to occupy his time, and a foundation for war."
Makarov frowned. "War? Against us?"
"No. Against Acnologia." She folded her hands. "His thinking, most likely, was that the combined power of an entire continent could stand against him."
"And the result, was it a failure?"
"It cannot be called a failure, because the two sides have never directly clashed." She paused. "It is possible that even now, Zeref still lacks the confidence that the western continent's full strength would be enough to win. Which is also why he needs Fairy Heart."
Makarov went quiet for a moment. "An entire continent isn't enough to stop Acnologia?"
The thought took shape slowly in his mind before he could stop it. If every nation, every mage, every resource on the western continent still couldn't bring down a single dragon, did that mean Acnologia could defeat the entire world alone?
He had seen the Black Dragon with his own eyes. He forced himself to think back carefully to Tenrou Island. Acnologia hadn't seemed quite that untouchable. The dragons and the giant spider Rhodes had summoned appeared capable of injuring him.
But that line of thinking led nowhere good.
The creatures Rhodes summoned operated on a different scale entirely, power that felt like it had no business existing in this world.
Setting them aside, and viewing Acnologia purely through the lens of what ordinary mages could do against him, those scales that rendered magic nearly useless were enough to make the situation feel hopeless.
When someone reached Acnologia's level, numbers stopped mattering. It didn't matter how many mages the western continent could field.
Then again, what if it were Rhodes as he stood now, summoning all six dragons at once? Could that be enough?
Makarov turned the thought over and discarded it. The number of dragons Acnologia had killed four hundred years ago was greater than six. This wasn't something he could work out by guesswork.
Rhodes, unaware of what the old man was turning over in his head, pressed on. "What about Zeref's curse? Wouldn't it kill everyone in the empire?"
"It doesn't," Mavis said. "Because he treats the empire as a strategy game. The continent is his board. The people are pieces. He does not 'love' his pieces, so the curse has no trigger. However..."
She hesitated.
"Zeref was, at his core, a kind person. For a very long time, in order not to harm the living, he forced himself to feel nothing, to care about no one. But the kindness never disappeared entirely. The contradiction between what he forced himself to be and what he actually was eventually split him into two personalities."
"When the ruthless side is in control, he treats the western continent like a game. He wages brutal wars, expands territory, and finds it interesting."
"When the kind side resurfaces, he sees that behavior for what it is, a callous disregard for life, and orders his subordinates to stand down. He also leaves the empire and travels to uninhabited places. During those periods, he searches for a way to die."
"Then the ruthless side takes over again, he returns, the wars resume, and the cycle repeats."
Rhodes stared at her. "How does a country where every standing order can be cancelled without warning manage to conquer an entire continent?"
He genuinely could not work out how a ruler who reversed himself at random maintained any authority at all.
Mavis didn't seem entirely certain either, but she reasoned through it. "I don't know the specifics. Perhaps every time he calls off a war, it happens to fall right after a decisive engagement, a natural point to rest and recover. By the time war resumes, the empire has had time to rebuild. And beyond that, the empire likely has people capable enough to keep things running in his absence."
Rhodes thought about it.
A ruler with an offline mode that activates at any time and somehow the whole system keeps functioning regardless. Somehow.
Makarov, for his part, had already moved on from the question of how the empire was built. He worked through the timeline, his expression tightening.
"News of the FACE network's destruction and the Etherion going offline should have reached the western continent by now. But they haven't moved yet." He paused. "Which most likely means Zeref is currently in one of his wandering periods. And whatever date Alvarez actually launches its offensive, it depends entirely on when he comes back."
Mavis nodded. "That is the most probable explanation. Which means things have not yet reached a truly critical point."
Rhodes turned it over in his mind, and a certain temptation crept into his voice. "In that case, could I slip over there and quietly take out a few of the more troublesome ones while Zeref is still away?"
"No!" Mavis and Makarov said at the same time.
Makarov's expression was firm. "That is enemy headquarters. From what I know, several of the Spriggan Twelve possess genuinely dangerous magic, and their raw power may not fall short of yours. Going in without preparation is reckless."
Mavis was in agreement. "At the very least, we need to understand what magic each of them uses before anyone makes a move. There are abilities that cannot simply be overpowered, one misstep and you walk straight into a trap. Intelligence on the enemy isn't optional. Even if we can't find clear weaknesses, we should at minimum know what we're dealing with."
"Fair enough. We gather information first." Rhodes had no interest in becoming the kind of person who charged in headfirst, so he had no objection to taking more time to prepare. He thought for a moment. "What about Alzack and Bisca? They're both immigrants from the western continent, if I recall."
Makarov nodded. "It's worth asking, though they left a long time ago, so their knowledge may be limited. And they won't be back until the day after tomorrow."
Rhodes blinked with exaggerated surprise. "You actually know where they are right now?"
Makarov gave him a flat look. "Keeping track of guild members is part of being Guild Master."
"Truly," Rhodes said warmly, "an exceptional Guild Master. Irreplaceable, really."
"Of course," Makarov caught himself. He narrowed his eyes. What exactly is this kid getting at?
Before he could follow that thread, Rhodes had already turned to Mavis and moved on to logistics.
The plan, roughly: intelligence first. That meant waiting for Alzack and Bisca to return, and in the meantime reaching out to the Magic Council for what they might know. Alongside that, they needed to track Zeref's whereabouts, Crime Sorcière had been working that angle for years, so establishing contact with them was the logical next step.
Then there was the guild itself.
In a war of this scale, no one could guarantee that everyone made it through. The stronger each member was going in, the better their odds coming out. Which meant Rhodes intended to run the guild into the ground with training, in the best possible sense.
With exceptions made for the elderly, the pregnant, and the children, he planned to pull in everyone from the S-Class mages down to the cats for intensive drills. Under ideal conditions, he would leave them just enough time for sleep and whatever missions were needed to keep food on the table.
Given how competitive this particular group of people was, the method was simple: quietly tell each person, in private, that their biggest rival had already signed up. After that, he wouldn't need to say another word.
It wasn't the most upright approach to take with so many people at once. But there was a cleaner solution. He could tell Lucy, and let her do the rest. Rhodes was fairly confident he wouldn't even need to bend the truth to get Lucy moving.
That way there was nothing to feel bad about.
A day with a clear conscience. Rhodes smiled, satisfied with himself.
Nearby, Mavis reached out to tug at Makarov's sleeve. Being a ghost, her hand passed straight through. Makarov noticed the gesture anyway and looked at her. "What is it, First Master?"
"Nothing," she said. "It's just that Rhodes's smile was a little unsettling just now."
Makarov said nothing.
He would let it go. The boy never actually did anything truly terrible.
Probably.
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