Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 401: Fairy Tail Guild Civil War

A place where talents emerge endlessly—Fairy Tail.

A place plagued by endless disasters—Magnolia...

The Kingdom of Fiore Special Expeditionary Corps had a total strength of about three thousand men. They were stationed atop the highest mountain near Magnolia Town. From there, they could clearly observe the entire town of Magnolia and even the situation within the Mage Guild Fairy Tail!

However, if one did not witness it personally, it would be hard to believe that in a kingdom whose total military strength, including reserves, did not even reach one hundred thousand, there would be an elite force of three thousand permanently stationed beside an insignificant little town.

Throughout the vast Kingdom of Fiore, there were no fewer than dozens of towns similar to Magnolia, each with populations exceeding ten thousand.

Given the Kingdom of Fioreʼs current military strength, it was completely impossible to assign a three-thousand-man mage corps to every town. In other words, Magnolia Townʼs situation was extraordinarily special within the entire Kingdom of Fiore...

Of course, that was not the most terrifying part. The truly terrifying thing was that this three-thousand-man force was considered elite even among the armies of Fiore. Every soldier within the unit was a master among masters!

Every seemingly ordinary soldier, sporting the exact same hairstyle, possessed remarkable strength. Even in an average mage guild, they could easily hold a middle-management position...

Using the strength evaluation system established by Evan, these ordinary soldiers averaged around Level Three magic power. Soldiers of this caliber were already comparable to regular soldiers of the Alvarez Empire on the Western Continent!

Although in the Alvarez Empire—which had united the strength of the entire Western Continent—soldiers of this level were not considered elite at all, merely regular troops numbering in the millions, even exceeding the total population of the Kingdom of Fiore...

Even so, such a large force composed entirely of Level Three soldiers could absolutely be called an advanced and powerful ace unit on Ishgar, which lagged behind the Western Continent in virtually every aspect. Against armies of equal size, this Fiore Kingdom unit was practically invincible across the continent...

Yet despite being such an invincible army, King Thomas of Fiore neither stationed them beside strategically important cities nor assigned them to economically significant towns.

Nor did he recall this powerful force to reinforce the royal capital or send them to the borders where Fiore met hostile nations.

Instead, he placed them beside this remote little town where hardly any enemy nationals would ever appear.

That was certainly worth pondering...

In fact, many rumors circulated throughout Fiore regarding this army.

The most widespread version claimed that the Fairy Tail Guildʼs behavior was simply too outrageous. They were constantly tearing down one wall to patch another. Although they always managed to properly eliminate dark mages, demons, magical beasts, and other threats troubling local residents...

The fairies themselves were often a far greater threat to the local populace...

As a result, even the great King himself could no longer tolerate it! Yes, these reckless fairies had finally angered King Thomas E. Fiore! The reason Thomas stationed this army beside Magnolia Town, home of the Fairy Tail Guild, was supposedly to keep Fairy Tail under strict supervision and prevent these lunatic fairies from harming others...

Unfortunately, that was not the truth.

Old Thomas was not angry at Fairy Tail at all.

After all, Old Thomas himself was also a Fairy Tail mage.

The real reason was...

This ace unit of Fiore was specifically stationed here by Old Thomas to ensure Fairy Tailʼs logistical support!

Their primary duty was to provide an endless supply of alcohol to the Fairy Tail Guild.

”Commander, something terrible has happened~”

”Fairy Tail exploded again! Magnolia Town has gone flying into the sky too!”

Just as the commander of this ace force stood alone atop the mountain, cigarette dangling from his lips while counting the inventory of alcohol and daily supplies in the warehouse, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.

”What are you panicking for? What day does Fairy Tail not explode?”

”Come report to me when Fairy Tail stops exploding and Magnolia Town stops flying into the sky!”

”Compared to Fairy Tail exploding and Magnolia Town flying into the sky, it would be much more terrifying if one day they stopped causing trouble in Magnolia...”

The commander, puffing away at his cigarette, immediately frowned and began scolding the rookie.

”Uh...”

”Commander, I donʼt understand!”

”Why do you say Fairy Tail not exploding would be worse than their guild exploding?”

The rookie looked confused.

Since he could not figure it out himself, he asked the commander directly.

”Idiot! It doesnʼt matter how much Fairy Tail explodes!”

”Not only is it not bad, itʼs actually a good thing! It means those lunatics from Fairy Tail arenʼt running around causing trouble in other towns across Fiore.”

”As for whether their own guild explodes or not, thatʼs their own territory. Let them do whatever they want! Even the royal authority canʼt interfere...”

”But the day you see Fairy Tail completely peaceful and Magnolia Town unusually quiet, thatʼs when things become serious...”

”Heh, you should know by now that those lunatics from Fairy Tail can never settle down. If they arenʼt causing trouble in their own guild, where do you think theyʼll be causing trouble?”

”Who knows where on Fioreʼs land—or across the entire continent of Ishgar—theyʼll create a massive explosion next~”

”Rather than letting those lunatics run around demolishing things everywhere, itʼs better to let them make trouble in one place! Let them wreak havoc to their heartsʼ content!”

The commander frowned after hearing the soldierʼs question.

He was utterly speechless at the kidʼs intelligence.

Everyone knew Fairy Tailʼs members were disasters. Every one of them was at least a little crazy, with something seriously wrong in their heads!

Fairy Tail and Magnolia Town were essentially an asylum built to contain Fairy Tailʼs members.

As long as they stayed inside this asylum, it didnʼt matter how much chaos they caused.

After all, the townspeople had lived there for years without moving away. That probably meant they werenʼt entirely normal either...

However, once Fairy Tail members left Magnolia Town, the victims would no longer be limited to a single town.

It would become a problem for the entire Kingdom of Fiore, perhaps even the entire continent of Ishgar.

To exaggerate slightly, calling it a world-threatening crisis would not be inaccurate!

In the commanderʼs opinion, the Magic Council ERA should have long ago recorded Fairy Tail in the Apocalypse Records, listing them alongside Black Dragon Acnologia as a world-ending threat...

”I-I see...”

The soldier nodded vigorously in understanding before turning and leaving.

”Running around in such a panic...”

Watching the soldier rush away, the commander helplessly shook his head.

Not long afterward, he walked over to several barrels of fragrant liquor.

”Before those devils from Fairy Tail get to taste this wine, Iʼll taste it for them first...”

Thinking this, he opened a barrel.

The rich aroma of alcohol immediately spread through the air.

Without question, it was top-quality wine.

”What a fragrance! This is probably from the same cellar as the wine His Majesty drinks...”

”Tsk, tsk, tsk. Fairy Tail really has it good. Theyʼre all a bunch of lunatics, yet they get to drink wine like this! What a waste! I might as well drink it for them. Anyway, those Fairy Tail drunkards donʼt care whether wine is good or bad. As long as thereʼs enough, theyʼre happy...”

Grinning, the commander hoisted the barrel and began drinking heavily.

”Gulp, gulp, gulp...”

The refreshing liquor flowed into his stomach, making his eyes gradually blur.

”Commander! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible!”

Just as he was drinking heartily, the same soldier came running back again.

”What is it this time?”

The commander reluctantly lowered the barrel, wiped his mouth, and looked toward the soldier.

Sniff sniff~

”What a strong smell of alcohol! Commander, youʼve been secretly drinking the wine His Majesty allocated to Fairy Tail again, havenʼt you?”

”Youʼd better be careful someone doesnʼt catch you. Otherwise youʼll be punished again! Do you remember why the other commanders pushed you into managing logistics here? Wasnʼt it because they caught you drinking on the battlefield...?”

The soldier frowned.

Normally he was as dumb as a brick.

Yet somehow he was incredibly sharp in situations like this.

”You focus on the important matter! Whether Iʼve been drinking isnʼt important...”

The commanderʼs face immediately changed.

Yes, while criticizing Fairy Tailʼs mages for being drunkards, he himself was hardly any better...

Trying to hide his guilt by pretending to be angry, he hurriedly urged the soldier to continue.

”Oh! Right, right! The important matter!”

”Commander, I have an urgent report!”

The soldier nodded repeatedly.

”You have another report?”

”Didnʼt I tell you not to bother me unless itʼs something major?”

The commander frowned.

A bad feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

After specifically telling this soldier not to come unless something serious happened, the soldier had returned anyway.

That probably meant something truly disastrous had occurred...

The soldier took a deep breath and calmed himself.

”Commander, itʼs bad. Magnolia Town has disappeared.”

”Huh?!”

”Are you drunk, or am I drunk? How could an entire town disappear?”

The commander froze.

He never imagined Fairy Tail would go this far.

They had actually made an entire town vanish.

”Come see for yourself...”

The soldier scratched his cheek awkwardly.

He truly had no idea how to explain what he had seen.

”...”

The commander stared at the soldier for a long moment before saying nothing more and sprinting out of the warehouse.

He rushed directly to the observation platform overlooking Magnolia Town.

Looking toward where Magnolia Town should have been, he fell silent.

What entered his sight was not the familiar town trembling from constant explosions.

Instead, there was only a flat, clean, completely deserted wasteland...

”Whereʼs my giant town?! Where did it go?”

The commander stood there dumbfounded.

At that moment, his heart turned ice-cold.

Although Fairy Tailʼs antics technically had nothing to do with him, considering how unpopular he was among the kingdomʼs commanders, someone would probably find a way to pin the blame on him.

”Sigh...”

Thinking this, the commander sighed helplessly.

Yet his eyes remained fearless.

No matter what punishment awaited him, it surely couldnʼt be worse than his current situation.

He had long since grown tired of being neighbors with Fairy Tail.

He wanted to return to the frontier.

At least on the frontier, meteorites didnʼt randomly fall from the sky every other day.

Meanwhile...

As Selene unleashed her magic power, enormous water wings stretched between heaven and earth, swallowing Magnolia Town whole!

In an instant, space shifted.

The entire town departed from the Kingdom of Fiore, from Ishgar, and even from Earth-land itself, arriving in the magic-rich world of Elentear.

Somewhere unseen, Earth-landʼs World Spirit quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

If anyone panicked the most whenever Fairy Tail had a ”civil war,” it was undoubtedly Earth-landʼs World Spirit.

All those Apocalypse Records predicting world destruction were nonsense.

Fairy Tail was genuinely destroying the world!

At the same time, within Elentear...

”Welcome to my world~”

Within endless darkness, a golden full moon hung overhead.

Moonlight draped Magnolia Town in a veil of silver.

Beneath the moon, Selene resembled a goddess descended from the Moon Palace, smiling brilliantly.

Only within the eternal night of the Black Night Mountains could Selene unleash her full strength.

”What a nostalgic world~”

Magic King August narrowed his eyes.

Feeling the abundant magic power in the air, far surpassing that of Earth-land, he revealed a comfortable expression.

Because Elentear possessed such abundant magic power, the strength of magic used here far exceeded its power in Earth-land.

Moreover, this enhancement was proportional.

The stronger a mage was in Earth-land, the stronger they became in Elentear.

In other words, Magic King August—who already overwhelmed others through absolute magical power—became even more terrifying after arriving in Elentear.

”Hey! Everyone! Donʼt you think weʼve got the wrong competition?”

”I clearly remember saying this was Fairy Tailʼs Twenty-Four Hour Endurance Race!”

”Not Magnolia Townʼs Twenty-Four Hour Endurance Race!!”

”You couldʼve run around yourselves! Why did you move the entire town around?!”

”My heart... my heart is starting to hurt again...”

Feeling the overwhelming magic power in the air, tears welled up in Makarovʼs eyes.

At his level, he was extremely sensitive to spatial changes.

The moment Selene activated her magic, he immediately realized the world itself had changed.

”Huh? Fairy Tailʼs Twenty-Four Hour Endurance Race?”

”Iʼve never heard of such a thing...”

”Arenʼt we holding Fairy Tailʼs annual Fighting Tournament?”

Surrounded by flames, Natsu looked at Makarov and grinned.

”Aye! Fighting Tournament!”

Happy, flapping his white wings in the sky, echoed Natsuʼs words.

”No, no, no! No matter how bad your hearing is, you shouldnʼt mishear what I said that badly!”

Makarovʼs eye twitched.

”But Guild Master Grandpa, why donʼt you ask everyone whether theyʼd rather hold Fairy Tailʼs Twenty-Four Hour Endurance Race or Fairy Tailʼs Fighting Tournament?”

Natsu expressionlessly pointed toward the guild members around him.

”Is there even a choice?”

”We Fairy Tail members love combat more than exercise!”

”So we choose the Fighting Tournament!”

”Fight! Fight! Fight!”

As Natsuʼs words fell, the entire guild erupted into chants.

They still remembered swearing before Makarov on their first day in Fairy Tail:

If you can fight, donʼt waste time talking...

Makarov: ”You absolutely did not!”

”You little brats...”

Makarov took a step backward and looked toward Evan.

”Evan, please! Make these little brats stop!”

”With Fairy Tailʼs current strength, if everyone fights seriously, weʼll become sinners who destroy the world!”

Makarov spoke solemnly.

At this point, all his hopes rested on Evan.

”Donʼt worry, Guild Master. Iʼll stop them...”

Evan smiled gently at Makarov.

[Emergency Mission: Participate in this yearʼs Fairy Tail Guild Annual Fighting Tournament. Reward: One SS-Class Mission Medal.]

”Hm?!”

Evan suddenly froze.

He hadnʼt expected to receive such a mission.

Although an SS-Class Medal wasnʼt particularly useful to him anymore, even a mosquitoʼs meat was still meat.

So...

”You little brats! Since you chose the Fighting Tournament yourselves, I wonʼt hold back!”

The words of restraint that had already reached Evanʼs lips abruptly changed.

His eyes flashed like lightning as he coldly addressed the guild members.

”Who cares?!”

”If itʼs a fight, then letʼs fight!”

”If you donʼt accept it, then throw hands!”

As Evanʼs words fell, an enormous uproar erupted throughout Fairy Tail.

The guild members all knew they probably couldnʼt defeat Evan.

But what did that matter?

Losing was one thing.

Admitting defeat before the fight even started was another.

The first rule of being a Fairy Tail mage was never to chicken out.

”EVAN!!”

Makarov was speechless.

He truly didnʼt know what to say anymore.

Hadnʼt Evan promised to stop the Fighting Tournament?

Why had he joined the lunatics himself?

”August...”

After a moment of despair, Makarov turned toward August.

As one of Fairy Tailʼs only two remaining consciences, Evan was hopeless.

Now he could only rely on August.

”Donʼt worry, Makarov!”

”As the Fourth Guild Master of Fairy Tail, I will definitely help you stop the tournament!”

August smiled peacefully.

”August, at a critical moment, it really has to be you!”

Makarovʼs heart warmed.

Evan, Fairy Tailʼs last conscience?

Nonsense.

If there truly was a final conscience in Fairy Tail, it had to be August.

The more Makarov looked at August, the more pleasing he seemed.

August truly was the successor he had personally chosen.

”I have a few words. Please listen carefully...”

Accepting Makarovʼs request, August prepared to stop the noisy mages.

”Fighting Tournament~ Fighting Tournament~”

However, just as August was about to speak, he noticed a cute ghost girl sitting at the guild counter.

With long pale-golden hair and bare feet, she was murmuring excitedly to herself.

She seemed extremely interested in Fairy Tailʼs Fighting Tournament.

”...Everyone present, listen carefully! Come! Let us slaughter one another to our heartsʼ content!”

The moment August saw the girl, he immediately changed what he was about to say.

”This is completely hopeless now...”

Hearing Augustʼs declaration, Makarov instantly petrified.

Would someone please save him?

Life was simply too difficult.