Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 354: The Strongest Man on the Ishgar Continent

”Thatʼs… so half-hearted…”

Org was a little speechless. In the end, Warrodʼs solution turned out to be just about what he had guessed…

Still, Org couldnʼt really say anything about Warrodʼs words, after all, Warrod was a senior figure in the magical world and the current Chairman of the Magic Council.

”Very well, thatʼs the end of todayʼs meeting. Everyone, get some rest, I mean, continue working hard for the future of the Ishgar Continent. This concludes the session regarding Phantom Lord. Dismissed.”

Warrod smiled gently, satisfied with his proposal, and directly declared the meeting over. He was eager to go find that blockhead Precht and go a few hundred rounds with him~

Though in reality, ”fighting” with Precht mostly meant arguing, actual combat was too rough and uncultured, not something befitting senior Council members or respected elders of the magical world.

Honestly, it was because Warrod couldnʼt beat Precht, that old rogue whoʼd been steeped in the depths of the magical arts for decades…

In the dim room, several council members sat in their chairs, surrounded by smoke, quietly smoking. With little more than a few murmured exchanges, they had just decided the fate of a legal light guild, Phantom Lord.

To them, deciding a guildʼs fate was as trivial as deciding the fate of an ant.

Because they were the Magic Council, the highest authority in the magical world of the Ishgar Continent.

Also known as the ”dogs of Fairy Tail” by many dark guilds… loyal watchdogs of the Fairy Tail mages.

If one had to draw an analogy, the relationship between the Magic Council and Fairy Tail might be likened to that between the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.

If a member of Fairy Tail got attacked, the Council would immediately dispatch the Ten Wizard Saints and mobilize the army to wipe out whoever dared defy them. Ahem…

”Speaking of which, currently on the Ishgar Continent, if we exclude Jose Porla, there are only seven active members holding the title of Ten Wizard Saints! And thatʼs including Precht.”

”Those currently holding the title are, Warrod, Precht, Makarov, Ur, Brother Evan, the reclusive Wolfheim, and Hyberion. That makes seven. Meaning, weʼre still short three members…”

As Warrod was about to leave, Jellal suddenly brought this up, listing all current members with the Saint title on the Ishgar Continent.

Because Serena was still off somewhere in a far corner of the continent searching for Dragon Slayer Lacrima, he wasnʼt yet well-known.

As such, Serena hadnʼt yet been selected as a member of the Ten Wizard Saints.

”Three open seats, huh? What a headache!”

”We need to fill those spots quickly! Canʼt leave the Ten Wizard Saints incomplete. It just sounds… wrong.”

”Do any of you have recommendations? Anyone who might be suitable to hold that title on the Ishgar Continent?”

Warrod, originally planning to leave, halted when he heard Jellalʼs words. Frowning deeply, he appeared genuinely distressed about how to choose the remaining Ten Wizard Saints.

Yes, not only during Crawford Seamʼs term, but even Warrod himself found choosing new Saints to be a pain.

”What about Gildarts? Isnʼt his strength good enough?”

Yajima thought for a moment, then asked Warrod softly.

”Gildarts certainly has the power, but he doesnʼt seem interested in becoming a Saint.”

”Heʼs our junior, after all, we canʼt force the title onto him like we did with Precht. That wouldnʼt be right.”

”Besides, Fairy Tail already has too many Saints. If we add more, the other guilds might start complaining…”

”Even though Bob and the others arenʼt in Fairy Tail anymore, they were still once part of the guild. We canʼt treat everyone equally, but we should at least avoid upsetting them…”

Warrod sighed. While Gildarts was certainly qualified, he simply had no desire to take on the role of Saint.

Moreover, out of all current Ten Wizard Saints, five of them, Precht, Warrod, Evan, Makarov, and Ur, were from Fairy Tail. That was already half the list.

If they added any more, the ”Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar” might as well be renamed the ”Fairy Tail Top Ten Power Rankings.”

In fact, if such a ranking did exist, aside from Evan, all the other current Saints from Fairy Tail might not even make the cut anymore…

After all, the Fairy Tail internal top 10 would be far more competitive than the Councilʼs own Saint rankings.

”Thatʼs true…”

The other Council members nodded in agreement. As Warrod had said, Gildarts didnʼt want the title, and Fairy Tail already dominated the ranks, other guilds would understandably feel bitter.

After all, many wizard guilds on the continent had deep ties to Fairy Tail. Their philosophies may have diverged, but in essence, even if they werenʼt family, they were still comrades. They couldnʼt be treated like enemies the way Phantom Lord had been.

”Speaking of which… Jellalʼs strength should qualify him for the title, right?”

Org pondered for a moment before turning to Warrod with the question.

”Eh? Me? Iʼm still too young. With my current strength, I donʼt think Iʼm worthy of the title ʼSaintʼ or its influence!”

Jellal blushed at Orgʼs suggestion, waving his hand in refusal.

”What work does a Saint even do? Itʼs just a title…”

Org didnʼt mind. The Ten Wizard Saints title was ultimately symbolic, those who took it too seriously often ended up regretting it.

Even with that clarification, Jellal still looked like he had no intention of taking the title.

This gave Org a headache, until suddenly, an idea lit up his mind.

”Speaking of which, Evan is a Saint too, right? If you became one too, wouldnʼt that mean… youʼd be one step closer to him?”

Org rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then asked Jellal with a knowing smile.

”One step closer to Brother Evan?!”

”Please! Let me take on the role of Ten Wizard Saint, I wonʼt disappoint your expectations!”

As soon as Org brought up Evanʼs name, Jellalʼs expression changed instantly. He leapt to his feet, bowed solemnly to Warrod and the others, and accepted with full sincerity.

”This guy is really easy to manipulate, huh? Just mention Evan, and heʼs as obedient as a puppy…”

Orgʼs eye twitched slightly as he watched Jellal do a complete 180 the moment Evanʼs name was mentioned.

Maybe he had been overthinking things before, maybe Jellal wasnʼt that hard to deal with after all.

”Oh! Youʼre willing to take the Saint title, Jellal? Thatʼs great news…”

”Well then, that leaves two more spots to fill…”

Warrod looked a bit surprised, clearly not expecting Jellal to agree so readily.

But now that Jellal had accepted the title, they only had two remaining openings left to fill.

And when it came to Jellalʼs power, no one knew it better than Warrod, who worked with him daily.

Frankly, if Jose Porla were to go one-on-one with the current Jellal… the outcome would be uncertain.

If Jose had qualified to be a Saint, then so could Jellal.

”By the way, in the past year, that guy Jura from Lamia Scale has been pretty active. I wonder if his strength might qualify him for the title?”

Councilor Rob, who had remained quiet until now, finally spoke up after some thought.

”Jura, huh? Heʼs about 23 this year, right? Very capable, and extremely hardworking. Give him another year or two, and he might truly reach Saint level…”

Warrod thought for a moment and responded.

He did remember Jura. The young man had both talent and, more importantly, patience and diligence, qualities that Warrod respected greatly.

”A Ten Wizard Saint at age 25, huh? Maybe not as shocking as Jellal, but still enough to be called a genius…”

Yajima squinted his eyes, surprised that such a prodigy existed outside of Fairy Tail.

”Why not grant him the title early? It might also be a good way to strengthen ties with Lamia Scale… and keep that old lady from the guild from running her mouth everywhere…”

Robʼs forehead broke out in a cold sweat, he clearly felt a lingering fear when mentioning that old hag from Lamia Scale.

”Alright, letʼs do that then~”

”Come to think of it, Juraʼs a good kid. I really like him, honest, sincere, and grounded!”

”Letʼs arrange for Jura to visit the Council soon. Iʼll personally give him some guidance.”

Warrod nodded in agreement after hearing Robʼs words.

”With that, weʼve now selected nine members for the Ten Wizard Saints. Only one seat remains…”

Rob let out a sigh of relief and felt genuinely happy for Jura. Though Jura wasnʼt from Fairy Tail, Rob was still glad to see such talent emerging from the Ishgar continent.

And if Jura could receive guidance from Warrod or Precht, his breakthrough into full Saint-level might come much sooner.

With both Jellal and Juraʼs appointments finalized, the only thing still in front of Rob and the others was filling the last remaining seat of the Ten Wizard Saints!

”Huuuh…”

Rob took a deep drag from his pipe again.

”How about this? Letʼs temporarily not announce that Jose Porla has been removed from the Ten Wizard Saints. Weʼll keep his title for now, not because weʼre compromising, but to maintain stability in the magical world. Once we find someone more suitable, weʼll immediately strip him of the position.”

As he exhaled a cloud of smoke, Rob voiced his suggestion to the others.

”Oh?! That makes sense!”

”I agree!”

”Senior Rob has a point…”

”That way, weʼll finally complete the Ten Wizard Saints of the Ishgar Continent!”

”Rob, youʼre actually smart for once…”

As Rob finished speaking, Jellal, Org, Laharl, Warrod, and Yajima all nodded in agreement.

”Now that the Ten Wizard Saints are complete…”

”More importantly, this news will probably overshadow both the meteor incident and the disbanding of Phantom Lord, right?”

Jellal sighed in relief and gave Org a small smile.

”Jellal…”

Org was taken aback, he finally realized that Jellal had been listening to him all along. The reason Jellal brought up the Saints right as Warrod was about to adjourn the meeting was precisely to shift public attention away from the conflict between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord by giving people something new and exciting to talk about.

”Yeah, the news of the Ten Wizard Saints being complete will definitely steal the headlines…”

Org nodded gently, agreeing with Jellalʼs intention.

”Now that the Saint positions are filled, itʼs also time to announce their rankings…”

Since the Saints had never been a complete ten-person group, the Council had never published a formal ranking. But now that all positions were filled, Warrod decided this was the right moment to rank them.

”Indeed…”

”Then weʼll leave it to Chairman Warrod to determine the rankings…”

The other councilors nodded and handed full authority to Warrod to rank the Saints.

”In that case, based on my understanding of the current Saints, Iʼll now rank them accordingly.”

Warrod smiled lightly, then announced his pick for the top spot,

”Rank #1 among the Ten Wizard Saints is, without question, Evan! I assume no one has objections?”

”Nope. If anyoneʼs ranked first, it has to be Evan…”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Evanʼs strength was undeniable, even if ranks 2 through 10 teamed up, they likely still wouldnʼt be able to defeat him.

”For second place, Iʼd say Precht is the strongest of the rest. As much as I hate to admit it, unless someone cracks the secret behind his heart, no mage of the same level can beat that bastard…”

”Third should be Hyberion, young, but a true genius!”

”Fourth goes to that old goat Wolfheim. If weʼre talking pure combat, I canʼt beat him…”

”Iʼll place myself fifth, smack in the middle. Sixth should be Ur. Heh, give her a bit more time and even I wouldnʼt be a match for her~”

”Seventh will be Makarov. Eighth is Jellal, his potential to surpass us is only a matter of time. Ninth will be the placeholder, Jose Porla. And tenth, even though heʼs not quite Saint-level yet, weʼll give it to Jura to round out the list…”

”Any objections or suggestions?”

Warrod quickly completed the ranking,

Evan

Precht

Hyberion

Wolfheim

Warrod himself

Ur

Makarov

Jellal

Jose Porla (pending removal)

Jura (provisional)

”No objections!”

”Looks good…”

”Letʼs go with that~”

As Warrod finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement. To them, this was the most fair and reasonable ranking possible.

”In that case, letʼs spread the news across the continent, the Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar are now complete!”

Warrod smiled as he officially announced the completed lineup.

”Understood!”

The councilors nodded in unison.

And thus…

Through secret discussions among the Council, a brand-new official ranking list of the Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar was released, under the quiet direction of the Magic Council ERA, and spread across the entire magical world of the continent.

At Lamia Scale Guild

”Jura! Youʼve been chosen as one of the Ten Wizard Saints!”

The guild master, Oba-baba, held the ranking list in her hand as she walked through the guild and shouted to Jura, who, with his bald head, looked like a monk.

”Iʼm honestly surprised… I donʼt think Iʼm quite strong enough yet to be one of the Saints.”

Jura looked at the list with wide eyes, clearly flattered and shocked. He always believed heʼd reach that level one day, but never expected to be chosen so suddenly.

”Heh heh, whatever the case, our Lamia Scale is now a guild with a member of the Ten Wizard Saints!”

Oba laughed with pride. To her, nothing was more gratifying than having a Saint emerge from her own guild.

”But seriously, why is that brat from Makarovʼs family ranked number one?!”

What annoyed Oba was that all the Fairy Tail Saints were ranked above Jura.

Still, she was confident, Jura would one day surpass them all.

At Fairy Tail

”Huh? Why do they have to make such a big deal out of this?”

Evan frowned as he looked at the ranking list.

What others saw as glory, he only saw as a nuisance.