Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 348: Irene Is No Mere Mortal, She’s a God!

”Um, Miss… Beautiful lady, if you donʼt mind us asking... Arenʼt heaven and hell, you know… places only the dead can go to?”

One of the mages tied up on the floor, drenched in sweat, nervously addressed the stunning woman before him. She was so dazzling, so noble and elegant, like a blooming rose adorned with thorns, breathtaking but dangerous.

At this moment, none of them had the mental capacity to appreciate beauty. All that occupied their minds was one thing, how to survive this woman.

”Congratulations, youʼre absolutely right. Now, pick your method of death~”

Irene blinked, momentarily caught off guard. To be honest, the words ”beautiful lady” had just barely saved their lives, but a pardon from death didnʼt mean a pardon from pain.

With a smile on her flawless face, she pulled out a long, black, barbed whip, crafted from the dragonhide of Kurnuki, a dragon she had once forced to shed its scales. The whip was enchanted to deal extra damage to living beings.

Simply put, it hurt like hell.

”Gulp...”

The Phantom Lord mages stared at Irene in sheer dread. All their earlier pride and bravado from entering Magnolia had completely evaporated. At this point, surviving was more important than revitalizing their guild.

Guilds could be rebuilt, sure. But lives? They only had one.

”Weʼre sorry, beautiful lady! We mustʼve come to the wrong place. We were looking for Evanʼs mother, not you!”

One of the mages hastily tried to explain, hoping this was all a big misunderstanding.

”Oh~?”

”Well, I just happen to be Evan Belserionʼs mother~”

”My name is Irene. Irene Belserion. If youʼre looking for Evanʼs mother, then congratulations, youʼve found her.”

Irene smiled sweetly as she dropped the bombshell.

”What?! Youʼre Evanʼs mother?!”

”No way! Thatʼs impossible!”

The Phantom Lord mages were visibly shaken. Irene looked far too young and beautiful to be Evanʼs mother, she looked more like his older sister!

”We… we heard Evanʼs mother was already 80 years old…”

Another mage blurted out the rumor theyʼd heard. But before he could finish, he felt a cold chill run down his spine, a piercing, icy gaze had landed squarely on him.

”Ugh…”

Realizing his mistake, the mage immediately shut his mouth and dared not speak again.

”Hehe~”

Irene chuckled softly. She didnʼt say much, but her eyes clearly told that mage, youʼre already dead.

”Um, Lady Irene! Esteemed Lady Irene! Please, might we ask for just one more chance at life?!”

Shaking with fear, the Phantom Lord mages begged for mercy.

They knew that thanks to that one idiotʼs slip-up, they had offended her, again.

”Snap!”

Irene cracked her whip against the ground, sending sparks flying. Her sharp eyes narrowed as she looked over the crowd.

”Hiss…”

Seeing the fire dance from the lashʼs impact, the mages all flinched. If a single lash could light up the floor like that, what would it do to human skin?

”W-What are you saying? I couldnʼt quite hear you~”

Ireneʼs voice was light and sweet, but that only made her more terrifying.

”We were wrong! Please spare us!”

One after another, the Phantom Lord mages collapsed to their knees, begging desperately.

”Oh, so you want me to spare you~?”

”That depends on how well you perform…”

Whip in hand, Irene gracefully settled into the throne prepared for her by her three maids, looking down like a cruel queen at her groveling subjects, her eyes glinting with mockery.

”What terrifying bloodlust… Is this really Evanʼs family?! What were we even thinking, targeting someone from the Ten Wizard Saints?!”

The mages trembled beneath Ireneʼs pressure. None dared lift their heads, for fear of being instantly sentenced to death with just a look.

”How amusing~”

But only Eden, Ian, and Ilia understood. Their great mistress Irene Belserion wasnʼt angry. Her amethyst eyes glittered with playful malice.

To Irene, these mages werenʼt enemies, they were toys. She was just passing the time.

”Hmm… Who should I start playing with first?”

She scanned the room of trembling mages, her lips curling in amusement.

”Eden~”

She called softly, turning to one of the maids beside her.

”Understood.”

Dressed in a sleek black bodysuit like a deadly assassin, Eden bowed respectfully. As one of Ireneʼs split personalities, Eden understood her mistress instinctively. Without further instruction, she vanished into the shadows.

Outside The Crimson Lady magic shop, the only one in Magnolia, Eden appeared from the darkness, calmly removed the ”Open” sign from the door and replaced it with a new one,

”Training Dogs, Closed for Business!”

Satisfied, she nodded and slipped back into the shadows.

”We have plenty of time. Iʼll play with you little pups... slowly~”

Ireneʼs smile widened. Now she was contemplating which planet to send these mages to for punishment.

”Now that I think about it… Thereʼs that world nearby, full of monsters and magical beasts. Should I toss them there and see how many survive?”

”Oh, and didnʼt that b*tch Selene have a bunch of flirty little minions who love draining the magic and souls out of men? Maybe I should send these mages to her?”

”Nah… theyʼre too ugly. And their magic reserves are pitiful. Not Seleneʼs type.”

”Alright, monster world it is~”

Her pale, delicate fingers gently touched her red lips as she mused.

Honestly, Irene was suffering from a bit of decision fatigue. It wasnʼt every day someone stupid enough came to provoke her, so she wanted to find the perfectly twisted game to punish them with.

After thinking for a while, Irene made her decision, sheʼd drop them into a monster-infested world and enjoy watching a little survival horror show.

”Ara~”

”To be honest, after that scumbag Gildarts left Magnolia, I wasnʼt sure how to pass the time.”

”Who wouldʼve thought such perfect toys would deliver themselves to my doorstep~? So, do your best to entertain me.”

Wearing a dazzling smile, Irene looked over the trembling mages.

As a mage of Fairy Tail, Irene rarely left Magnolia. That meant opportunities to punish arrogant fools were rare. She usually just passed the time chatting with Evan or Erza…

…Or perhaps, to ease her boredom, sheʼd usually pass the time by beating up that scumbag Gildarts.

But now that Gildarts had left Magnolia to take on a mission in another town, Irene no longer had her daily punching bag. She had just been wondering where to find a new source of entertainment, then these fools delivered themselves right to her door.

So Irene didnʼt even hesitate, she accepted the gift.

”Ugh…”

The Phantom Lord mages had no idea just how terrifying a fate awaited them. They stared dumbfounded at Irene, unable to predict what she was about to do.

”Off you go now~ Have fun!”

With a pleasant smile on her lips, Irene gave a light wave.

In the next instant, their bodies began to glow.

A second later, every last mage in the shop vanished from the Crimson Lady Magic Tool Store.

In a monster-infested world, not far from Earth Land, Elentear, or Edolas…

Deep within an endless forest, the Phantom Lord mages plummeted from the sky and crashed into the underbrush.

”What happened?!”

”Did we escape that woman?!”

”Who used spatial magic? Did one of our seniors rescue us?”

”No… no, somethingʼs wrong. This place isnʼt right…”

They looked around warily. Something about this forest felt… off.

”Wait, why is there a number floating above your heads?”

One of them suddenly pointed out that everyone now had a glowing number zero floating above their heads.

”Whoa, youʼre right! We all have zeros above us…”

Confused, the mages stared at each otherʼs foreheads.

And sure enough, every single one of them had a floating number, 0.

”ROAR!”

Before they could even make sense of it, a giant white tiger, five meters long, burst from the trees. In a flash, before anyone could react, it pounced and swallowed one of the dazed mages whole, then darted back into the forest.

”What?!”

They all gasped in horror, but then, to their shock, the mage whoʼd just been devoured began glowing, and reappeared, alive and unharmed.

”It hurts, it hurts so bad… Wait, am I in hell?”

”Youʼre all here? So… you all died too?”

”Wait, no, I didnʼt die? Or… did I? Did I just revive?!”

The mage looked down at his body in bewilderment. The excruciating pain from being mauled vanished without a trace. When he looked around, the other mages were just as stunned.

Above his head, his number had changed, from 0 to 1.

”No way… That number… Could it be our death count?”

One of the smarter mages stared in disbelief. As he pieced things together, a voice echoed from the heavens,

”So you figured it out?”

”Yes. The number above your head represents how many times youʼve died.”

”Youʼre no longer in Earth Land. This is a different world, one crawling with beasts and monsters that will kill you at every turn.”

”Every time you die, that number will go up.”

”Your goal? Stay alive as long as possible. Because once I get bored… anyone whoʼs died 100 times will remain in this world forever.”

”So, have fun~”

Ireneʼs voice drifted down from above, sending a chill through every mageʼs spine.

”Wait… Weʼre not in Earth Land anymore? Weʼre in another world, a so-called parallel dimension?!”

”This has to be a joke… What kind of magic could actually teleport someone to another world?!”

”This is fairy-tale nonsense! That kind of power belongs to divine spirits or fairies in legends, not real mages!”

Some stared around, overwhelmed by disbelief. To travel between worlds, wasnʼt that the domain of gods?

”Seriously, are there really mages this powerful in the world?”

”If weʼd known Evanʼs mother was this terrifying, weʼd never have picked a fight with her…”

Regret burned in their eyes.

”But thatʼs not even the scariest part!”

”Didnʼt you notice? When we died, it was like time rewound itself. We revived instantly!”

”Thatʼs not just healing, thatʼs resurrection!”

”Only gods are said to possess resurrection magic! Weʼre talking about a divine-level ability here!”

One mage, more knowledgeable than the rest, trembled. Even in a world full of magic, true resurrection was thought to be beyond human reach, a realm reserved for deities.

”We should have realized… The only explanation for Evan Belserion becoming one of the Ten Wizard Saints at such a young age is…”

”Heʼs not human. Heʼs the son of a goddess. Irene Belserion isnʼt human, sheʼs a god!”

”That means weʼve offended a divine being!”

Horror dawned on every face. They had stumbled upon a truth too terrifying to comprehend, Irene wasnʼt human. She was a goddess.

Had they not been trapped in another world, these mages probably wouldʼve started worshipping her on the spot, founding a new religion in her name. After all, her magic was beyond comprehension, miraculous, even in a magical world.

But in truth, Irene hadnʼt actually resurrected anyone.

She had merely used her Limitless Enchantment Magic to extract their souls and personalities, then bind them to dolls.

When a doll was destroyed, she simply transferred the soul to a new one.

Because her magic was so advanced, the mages hadnʼt even realized they were no longer in their real bodies, but just dolls.

The power gap between Irene and the Phantom Lord mages was so vast that they mistook her for a literal goddess.

Irene didnʼt bother to correct them. In fact, she kind of liked it.

And later, once Irene grew bored and brought them back from that world, they would indeed found a religion in her name, calling themselves the Church of Irene.

But Irene? She didnʼt care.

To them, she was the omnipotent goddess.

To her, they were nothing more than entertainment.

Meanwhile, outside the Crimson Lady Magic Tool Store…

Evan had returned home after discovering Phantom Lordʼs objective.

Standing quietly at the door, he looked at the scene unfolding inside, and said nothing.

”Yeah… probably best not to disturb Irene right now.”

With that thought, Evan disappeared from the storeʼs front steps.

Elsewhere…

In Phantom Lordʼs plan, besides the squad targeting Irene, another team had been tasked with capturing Evanʼs younger sister, Erza.

However, this group ran into internal conflict.

A black-haired youth decided he didnʼt need help.

Convinced he could take Erza down alone, he acted without backup.

And so, as Erza returned from a mission, she found her path blocked… by a lone enemy mage.