Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 387: Thank You for the Contributions of Zeref’s Family

”Senior August, you said war is about to begin?!”

”I wonder what war you are talking about? A war against whom?”

Hearing this, Evan slightly narrowed his eyes, and his gaze carried a hint of doubt.

When August mentioned the word war, Evan thought of many things. Right now, it was the end of X779. After the New Year passed, it would soon be X780. There were not many years left until the original plot began, that is, the time when Natsu met Lucy.

And Evan remembered that in the original work, the Alvarez Empire on the western continent should have launched a probing attack toward Ishgar around this period. However, it was stopped by the Magic Council ERA using the super ancient weapons inside the council, Etherion, Face, and other weapons…

Of course, although on the surface, it was said to have been stopped by the Magic Councilʼs super weapons, in reality, eighty percent of it was still because August and the others did not want to attack the continent of Ishgar. What stopped the Alvarez Empire was not Etherion, but a great filial son who did not want his mother to be sad…

Otherwise, with Augustʼs power, the Magic Council at that time, as well as the continent of Ishgar, would probably have been beaten until they had no power to resist! After all, no matter how powerful the super weapons held by the Magic Council were, they still needed a chance to use them~

”Does this war have anything to do with the war in the original work?”

Evan thought inwardly. At this moment, he was somewhat curious whether the war August mentioned was related to the probing attack Alvarez Empire launched against the continent of Ishgar in the original work?!

However, although Evan was curious about the war August mentioned, he did not ask August further. Instead, he looked at August solemnly and quietly waited for August before him to actively continue introducing this so-called ʼwar.ʼ

”Mm…”

After hearing Evanʼs question, August lightly nodded.

At this moment, this old man standing before Evan, with an aged face and always appearing as a wise man! His eyes were deep and carried a hint of worry. It could be seen that August was worrying about something in his heart…

”You Ishgar should also have a Magic Council, right?”

Just as Evan waited for August to continue introducing this so-called war in detail, August did not continue speaking much about the war. Instead, he asked Evan about Ishgarʼs Magic Council.

”Yes. The current chairman of the Magic Council is Senior Warrod, a great senior who came from our Fairy Tail Guild and is also one of the founders of Fairy Tail Guild.”

”Besides that, the council members serving in the Magic Council ERA also have good relationships with our Fairy Tail. Among them, Senior Yajima and Senior Rob are both elders of our Fairy Tail Guild. Mr. Toki Anderbar, the warden of the Mage Prison BLACKVOX, also has a deep relationship with our Fairy Tail. Jellal, the newly appointed Wizard Saint, and Lahar, the captain of the Magic Councilʼs Mage Corps, can be considered half my juniors, and can also be considered somewhat connected to our Fairy Tail Guild. If I had to say it, they would be spiritual Fairy Tail people, right?”

Evan smiled slightly at August as he introduced the relationship between the chairman and council members of the Magic Council ERA and their Fairy Tail.

At the same time, Evan very subtly told August that the current Magic Council could no longer be called the council. After all, all the higher-ups inside the council were currently Fairy Tail people. The current councilʼs accurate title should be the Fairy Tail Guild nursing home. All the elders who once left Fairy Tail Guild and were unwilling to struggle on the front lines had already reemployed themselves in the council. Simply put, the Magic Council ERA had already become the shape of their Fairy Tail.

”Mm…”

In response, August only lightly nodded. His calm appearance was as though he had long since known the Magic Council ERAʼs current situation. He was not surprised in the slightest by the fact that the Magic Council of Ishgar, from chairman to council members, were all Mages of Fairy Tail.

”What I asked was not about the current personnel configuration of Ishgarʼs Magic Council ERA. I was merely asking whether you knew about this council. However, since Ishgarʼs current council has already fallen into Fairy Tailʼs hands, everything now makes sense…”

Augustʼs eyes were sharp. His deep eyes emitted endless wisdom. Clearly, August had associated something based on what Evan said.

”Senior August, the war you mentioned could not also be related to our Ishgar Magic Council, right?”

Evanʼs brows furrowed tightly. Evan was not stupid. He heard many things from Augustʼs words. Right now, he simply looked at August, waiting for August to confirm it.

”Of course…”

In response, August had no intention of hiding it. He lightly nodded, confirming Evanʼs guess.

”...”

Evan was somewhat silent as he looked at August nodding. He furrowed his brows and silently thought, thinking about what relationship Augustʼs so-called war had with the council?!

”Evan, you know Crawford Seam, right?!”

August narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Evan and asked.

”Of course I know that name.”

”The former chairman of the Magic Council ERA~”

”Ever since Crawford Seam was driven out by our Fairy Tail…”

”I mean, ever since Crawford Seam was driven out of the council by Senior Warrod, the great senior who came from our Mage Guild Fairy Tail and made outstanding contributions to the continent of Ishgar by turning countless deserts into oases, that guy seems to have gone into seclusion…”

Evan raised his brows. He heard an interesting name from Augustʼs mouth.

”Evan, you were too careless. When cutting weeds, one must remove the roots. Since you drove Crawford Seam out of the Magic Council, you should have found an opportunity to get rid of him…”

After seeing Evan speak Crawford Seamʼs detailed information, August frowned and softly warned Evan.

”You mean…”

After hearing Augustʼs words, Evan froze for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.

”Hehe, yes! In fact, that sinister petty man Crawford Seam did not choose to go into seclusion. He has always been watching Fairy Tail, the Magic Council, and even the entire continent of Ishgar with greedy eyes…”

August lightly nodded, confirming what Evan thought.

”I see…”

Evan lightly nodded. He was not surprised by what August said. After all, in the original work, Crawford Seam was a sinister and petty guy.

In the original work, the Magic Council led by Crawford Seam had a huge scandal break out because of the Tower of Heaven incident caused by council member Siegrain, namely Jellal, making the people feel extremely disappointed in the Magic Council ERA. Because of this, the council was directly disbanded, and Crawford Seam, as former chairman of the Magic Council, also stepped down.

But in reality, Crawford Seam was unwilling. He was unwilling to give up the power in his hands. Therefore, in order to regain his immense power, this former Magic Council chairman, Lord Crawford Seam, did not hesitate to sell his soul to demons!

He secretly colluded with Zerefʼs bookshelf, Ishgarʼs most mysterious Dark Guild, Tartaros, hoping to use the power of Tartaros to eliminate the current Magic Council. At the same time, he agreed to help the demons of Tartaros use the ancient weapon Face to eliminate all magic power in the world of Earth-land, turning Earth-land into a magicless world like Edolas. At the same time, Tartaros promised Crawford Seam that after the matter was accomplished, they would help Crawford Seam become chairman of the Magic Council again…

In Evanʼs view, Crawford Seam was extremely foolish. If there was not even magic power in a world and the profession of Mage disappeared, then what need would there be for the Magic Council?! The meaning of the Magic Councilʼs existence would be gone.

In the end, Crawford Seam indeed paid the price for his stupidity. At the moment when Face was about to be activated and he had already lost his value, he was killed by Kyoka, one of Tartarosʼs Nine Demon Gates, ending his brain-dead life.

In truth, because Crawford Seam was only an insignificant minor character in Evanʼs eyes, Evan did not bother with this guy. After all, even if Crawford Seam found Tartaros to help, those demons absolutely could not break through the Magic Council guarded by Warrod. Moreover, in Evanʼs view, with Crawford Seam as bait capable of fishing out Tartaros, it would save him from searching the entire continent for Tartarosʼs shadow!

Thus, Evan handed the Magic Councilʼs affairs fully to Warrod to handle, including how to deal with Crawford Seam, the former Magic Council chairman. Clearly, Warrod also did not put Crawford Seam, this minor character, in his eyes…

What Evan did not expect was that perhaps because of his butterfly effect, this Magic Council chairman Crawford Seam, who stepped down early, was even more able to cause trouble than in the original work. Not only did he provoke Tartaros, he actually even planned to contact the Alvarez Empire on the western continent. This slightly exceeded Evanʼs expectations…

Of course, it only slightly exceeded Evanʼs expectations. Evan merely felt emotional that those minor characters he looked down on might perhaps stir up towering waves.

”And this war, just as you said, has a huge relationship with Crawford Seam.”

”In fact, that fellow Crawford Seam, some days ago, went alone to the western continent. Using the identity of chairman of the Magic Council of Ishgar, and using the intelligence in his hands that could help us defeat the continent of Ishgar as a bargaining chip, he contacted the higher-ups of our Alvarez Empire. At the same time, Crawford Seam made some demands of us! One of Crawford Seamʼs demands was to have our Alvarez Empire eliminate the Mage Guild Fairy Tail and the Magic Council ERA…”

”Fortunately, at the critical moment, I heard this news and promptly took over the contact with Crawford Seam from the hands of the Alvarez Empire higher-ups, secretly erasing Crawford Seam. However, although I acted in time, paper cannot wrap fire. The news that Crawford Seam brought intelligence sufficient to help our Alvarez Empire conquer Ishgar and visited our Alvarez Empire was still learned by some main war faction members, and under the use of certain people with intentions, it spread throughout the entire capital of the Alvarez Empire. As a result, the probing attack plan our Alvarez Empire originally scheduled for two years later against Ishgar could only be carried out ahead of time…”

August told Evan the entire course of events.

”I see.”

Evan lightly nodded. He already roughly understood the specific situation of this war.

The only thing Evan had not expected was that August actually could not achieve absolute control over the Alvarez Empire…

If it were like the original work, where aside from August, the Alvarez Empire also had Irene, whose strength was as powerful as August or perhaps even stronger than August, then it would be understandable and excusable that August could not completely control the Alvarez Empire and make it his one-man rule…

But right now, in the entire Alvarez Empire, there was no Mage capable of matching August! Under such circumstances, August still could not achieve control over the Alvarez Empire. This left Evan somewhat puzzled. He wondered whether Augustʼs methods were somewhat too gentle?!

”I understand the matter, but I still have some doubts.”

”Senior August, with your strength, can you really not achieve absolute control over the Alvarez Empire? That should not be the case, right?”

At this point, Evan directly asked August the doubt in his heart.

”...”

After hearing Evanʼs words, August became somewhat silent. At the same time, his expression seemed not very good.

”If we speak only in terms of strength, then in the entire Alvarez Empire, there is no existence capable of threatening this old man. But a powerful empire cannot be established through strength alone. The empireʼs forces are vast, its people numerous and complex, and it is not something that can be firmly controlled entirely in oneʼs hands through personal strength alone…”

”Moreover, the Alvarez Empire itself was formed by the merger of countless countries and countless Mage Guilds on the western continent. It is only normal for there to be some voices and opinions against me…”

August spoke very implicitly. One did not air family shame in public, so he did not intend to tell Evan about the internal situation of the Alvarez Empire. In truth, the situation August faced was even more complicated than the current explanation. At present, the internal situation of the Alvarez Empire was even more chaotic than in the original work. It could not even be called united like an iron plate. Aside from the faction August belonged to, there were other factions that were extremely rampant. And the reason the empireʼs internal situation had become so chaotic was entirely because of Larcade Dragneel, the fellow who claimed himself to be the offspring of Zeref Dragneel…

Because Larcade Dragneel claimed himself to be Zerefʼs offspring, and at the same time, Zeref had never explained anything, as if Zeref did not care about Larcadeʼs title at all, it ultimately led to many existences within the Alvarez Empire now regarding Larcade as the crown prince. And this force was precisely Augustʼs opponent within the Alvarez Empire…

In truth, Larcade Dragneel did not like being pushed to the front stage. He did not like leading the Alvarez Empire, because in Larcadeʼs eyes, those humans were all low-level and could not compare to his noble birth! In Larcadeʼs eyes, his creator, his ʼfatherʼ Zeref, did not need so many humans among his subordinates and did not need so many miscellaneous soldiers. Having him alone was enough. In the eyes of the great Black Mage Zeref, having only him, Larcade, was enough.

Although Larcade did not care about the empire, Larcade also did not want to watch the Alvarez Empire, painstakingly established by his father Zeref, become Magic King Augustʼs possession. It was precisely because of this reason that Larcade stood out and personally confronted August! And this was also one of the butterfly effects caused by Evan abducting Irene away from the Alvarez Empire, resulting in there being no existence inside the Alvarez Empire capable of counterbalancing August…

As for Augustʼs attitude toward Larcade, it was extreme disgust! August hated Larcade very much. It could be said that Larcade was the person August hated most within the Alvarez Empire, without exception! Of course, the reason August hated Larcade was not because of childish things like Larcade competing with him for power over the Alvarez Empire. Like Larcade, August did not care at all about the power of the Alvarez Empire. If not because the Alvarez Empire was established by Zeref, he would not even bother managing it!

The reason August felt incomparably angered and incomparably disgusted by Larcade was because in Augustʼs eyes, Larcade was a hateful thief! In Augustʼs eyes, Larcade not only stole Zeref, the father who belonged to August, but also stole Zerefʼs heavy fatherly love toward him. Even though August knew Zerefʼs love was not something he could withstand, even though August knew Zeref did not love Larcade at all, otherwise Larcade would have died long ago, he still could not let it go…

In other words, the reason Alvarez Empire currently showed a trend of splitting, and the reason there was a trend of Augustʼs faction and Larcadeʼs faction standing against each other, was not because August and Larcade were fighting over the empireʼs power. It was because August and Larcade were fighting over the ʼfatherly loveʼ given to both of them by the Black Mage Zeref…

”Then, Senior August, what do you plan for me to do?”

Evan looked at August, whose expression was not very good, and did not probe into the secret that made Augustʼs face look ugly. He simply asked August what he could do for him.

Evan knew that August told him about the Alvarez Empire about to launch war against the continent of Ishgar for a reason.

”I hope you, Evan, can defeat the Alvarez Empire army attacking Ishgar head-on. At the same time, completely crush the main war faction inside the Alvarez Empire! Make them understand that now is not the best time to attack the continent of Ishgar, and that their propagated idea that the continent of Ishgar is weak and fragile is wrong…”

August paused slightly. He knew Evan could understand his meaning, so August no longer hid anything and directly told Evan what he hoped Evan would do. August planned to use this chance to thoroughly control the entire Alvarez Empire and make the gradually splitting empire into one peaceful whole.

After all, if His Majesty Zerefʼs child was merely trash, a person who could not be supported, then probably no one in the Alvarez Empire would continue stupidly pledging loyalty to Larcade! Even if Larcade declared himself to be Zerefʼs descendant, it would have no meaning. The Alvarez Empire regarded Zeref as a god. A god would not make mistakes. Those who made mistakes were humans. And once Larcade made a mistake, then he naturally would not be worthy of being godʼs child.

”Understood.”

Evan lightly nodded, indicating that he understood Augustʼs thoughts.

Evan decided to help August. After all, helping their future Fairy Tail Guild Master do things was only natural, wasnʼt it? Moreover, once August fully grasped the power of the Alvarez Empire, this would also benefit their Fairy Tail…

As for crushing the western continentʼs army or the like, as long as August did not make a move, then to Evan, it was not a problem. He would simply treat it as after-meal exercise~

 [Sudden Mission: Crush the Alvarez Empire army that has prepared for dozens of years on the western continent and is attacking the continent of Ishgar. Mission reward: one Ten-Year Mission Medal!]

It was also at the instant Evan nodded that the system in Evanʼs mind reacted, and a Ten-Year Mission appeared. This made Evan, who had originally been dozing off, instantly open his eyes. After seeing a Ten-Year Mission, he was no longer sleepy.

Counting the various and diverse Ten-Year Missions Evan had completed before, together with the S-Class Missions and SS-Class Missions he had continuously completed over the past two years, he was only short of the final two medals before gathering ten Ten-Year Medals and fusing them into one Hundred-Year Mission Medal. In other words, as long as Evan completed two more Ten-Year Missions, he could continue upgrading one of his abilities. Once Evan raised his Dragon Slayer Magic to Level 15, then Evan would officially enter the ranks of Dragon God-level existences, and he would absolutely not be weak even among Dragon God-level beings!

 ”Besides that, do you have any other requests? Do you need me to directly get rid of your opponent?”

Perhaps because Evan had received the mission given by the system, and before long, he would be able to gather a Hundred-Year Mission Medal, his mood became very good.

Evan, whose mood had become very good, even spoke much more politely to August. Evan kept asking August whether he had any requirements regarding the details of this mission. After all, Evan was also one of Fairy Tail Guildʼs Mages. Completing the mission issued by the person who posted it with the highest efficiency and best standard was the professional quality of their Mage Guild Fairy Tail…

”If possible, teach that guy Larcade a slight lesson! But do not kill him. That guy is still somewhat useful to my father, namely His Majesty Zeref…”

After hearing Evanʼs words, Augustʼs eyes released a burst of killing intent!

But this killing intent vanished in an instant. In truth, August had long since wanted to get rid of Larcade. With his strength, dealing with Larcade would be simply far too easy. He could guarantee getting rid of the fully armed Larcade in the dead of night without anyone knowing…

However, August did not do so, simply because Larcadeʼs magic, or more accurately, his Curse, was indeed extremely special and provided immense help to the emperor of their Alvarez Empire, namely his father Zeref.

”I understand…”

In response, Evan did not say anything more. Since August wanted him to beat up Larcade, then he would just beat him up.

[Sudden Mission: Publicly beat up Larcade. Reward: one Ten-Year Mission Medal!]

At the same time Evan nodded, another sudden system mission suddenly triggered in his mind.

”Hmm?”

Evan froze for a moment as he looked at the mission inside his mind. Then the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

All he could say was August…

No, more accurately speaking, Zerefʼs entire family were all good people!

Whether Zeref himself or Zerefʼs son August, they were all incomparably generous. Whenever Evan lacked Mission Medals, there was no need for him to search. They would actively come before him and issue small missions for him~ Moreover, the quality of the missions issued was not ordinary at all. They directly started at the level of Ten-Year Missions~

Evan even thought carefully, and ultimately discovered that half the Mission Medals on his body had actually been wool pulled from Zerefʼs family. They either came from demons created by Zeref, or from major plans Zeref participated in! Otherwise, they were missions personally issued by Zeref himself. More or less, they all had some connection to Zeref…

It could be said that the reason Evan could reach his current position today, sitting at the first seat of the Ten Wizard Saints on the continent of Ishgar at such a young age and becoming the strongest Mage on the continent in name! Aside from his own hard work, he relied on the investment of Zerefʼs entire family, as well as the systemʼs powerful point-adding function, cough cough…

”Senior August, you can rest assured. Leave this matter entirely to me! Besides these, Senior August, is there anything else you need me to do?”

Evan grabbed Augustʼs aged hand.

At this moment, Evan looked at August with a faint glowing light in his eyes.

It made August feel somewhat creeped out inside…

”N-No, temporarily there is nothing else…”

Augustʼs body trembled slightly under Evanʼs gaze. He bit the bullet and spoke to Evan.

”Is that so?”

Hearing this, Evanʼs eyes carried a trace of unconcealable disappointment.