Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 408: Hunter of the Ten Wizard Saints

Within the Kingdom of Fiore, the Mage Guild Lamia Scale...

Lamia Scale was considered a relatively famous Mage Guild within the Kingdom of Fiore.

Especially because some years ago, under the guidance of Magic Council Chairman Warrod, the Magic Council released the ranking of Ishgarʼs Ten Wizard Saints.

In the end, Lamia Scaleʼs ace Mage, Jura Neekis, overcame numerous candidate Mages and broke through from among the many candidates, ranking at the bottom of the Ten Wizard Saints. Because of this, Lamia Scaleʼs reputation across the continent grew even greater!

At that time, when Warrod distributed the list of the Ten Wizard Saints to the entire continent of Ishgar, Mages within the Kingdom of Fiore once called Lamia Scale, Phantom Lord, and Fairy Tail, these three guilds that had Ten Wizard Saints sitting in them, the three great Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore! Pilgrimage sites yearned for by countless Mages!

Over the years, as Jose Porla was imprisoned and existed in a half-removed state among the Ten Wizard Saints, and because the Mage Guild Phantom Lord had angered Fairy Tail and was directly forced to disband.

The Mage Guild Lamia Scale was even called the second-ranked guild in the Kingdom of Fiore by countless Mages within the Kingdom of Fiore, second only to Fairy Tail of Magnolia Town. This situation continued until Prechtʼs newly founded Grimoire Heart gradually revealed its edge, and only then was it squeezed back to third place!

At this moment, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and already quite a few Mages had successively walked into the guild. At this time, the members of Fairy Tail were still sleeping in, while Lamia Scaleʼs Mages had already risen early to work...

Different from the always chaotic situation inside Fairy Tail, the Mages inside the Mage Guild Lamia Scale had heartfelt smiles at the corners of their mouths, discussing work and magic in incomparable harmony!

The atmosphere of the entire guild gave people a thriving, upward feeling...

Except for Lamia Scaleʼs Guild Master, Granny Ooba, who, like Makarov, always sat at the bar counter facing the guildʼs front door, watching the Mages entering the guild at any time with tightly furrowed brows.

”Damn Makarov, damn Fairy Tail, damn Precht...”

”An old man who already retired from the Fairy Tail Guild, why did he have to return to the world?”

”Wouldnʼt it be good to properly retire in a nursing home? Why can the gap between old men who retired from Fairy Tail be so large?”

”Canʼt this Precht learn from Warrod and stop interfering in guild affairs, focusing on leading the Magic Council to contribute to the continent of Ishgar?”

”Damn fairies! They made our Lamia Scaleʼs ranking fall again...”

Ooba furrowed her brows tightly. She sat at the bar counter, holding a staff in her hand and knocking it against the wooden bar beneath her while constantly complaining.

It seemed that for Ooba, her own Mage Guild Lamia Scaleʼs ranking among the Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore, as well as its reputation within the industry, were incomparably important matters!

Originally being suppressed by Phantom Lord led by Jose Porla had already made Ooba displeased. She had finally endured until the Mage Guild Phantom Lord disbanded, finally breaking out from the position of third place in the Kingdom of Fiore and reaching the position of second place, just waiting for the fairies above them to one day seek death and get themselves disbanded...

In the end, because Fairy Tailʼs Second Guild Master Precht, who had long since retired from the world for many years, returned to the world and established a brand-new Mage Guild, they once again fell to third place...

This made Oobaʼs dissatisfaction reach its limit, while her resentment toward Fairy Tail broke through the heavens even more...

”Haha, Granny Ooba, how can you blame Fairy Tail for this kind of thing?”

”The reason our Lamia Scale is suppressed by Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart is still because our own strength is insufficient. I think that rather than complaining about others, we should look for the reason in ourselves...”

”Besides, although the Fairy Tail Guild led by Senior Makarov ranks above our guild in strength, in recent years, Fairy Tailʼs member loss rate has been extremely fast. In the near future, it will probably be very difficult for them to pose a threat to our Lamia Scale.”

”As for the Mage Guild Grimoire Heart led by Grand Senior Precht, it is even more of a guild that implements an elite system. The guild only has around ten members so far, pitifully few, and fundamentally cannot affect the development of our Lamia Scale...”

Beside Ooba sat a young man wearing monk robes, looking like a monk. This young man was Lamia Scaleʼs ace, Jura, the bottom-ranked member of the Ten Wizard Saints. At this moment, Jura pressed his palms together, calm and composed. Regarding what his Guild Master, Granny Ooba, said, he merely smiled lightly.

It seemed that Jura was not worried about Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart, these two Mage Guilds, growing larger!

Because the threshold to join these two Mage Guilds was not ordinarily high...

First was Fairy Tail, ranked as the number one guild on the continent of Ishgar.

Because the Fairy Tail Guild possessed three Ten Wizard Saints within the guild, Makarov, Ur, and Evan, Fairy Tailʼs reputation resounded throughout the Kingdom of Fiore and even the continent of Ishgar. It was publicly acknowledged by Mages across the entire continent as Ishgarʼs strongest Mage Guild...

At the same time, the threshold to join Fairy Tail was not high either. One only needed to enter the guild, then greet the Guild Master or the S-Class Mage in charge of the stamp, have the Fairy Tail Guild mark stamped on oneʼs body, and then one would be a member of the Fairy Tail Guild!

But then what? After countless Mages on the continent came to Fairy Tail because of its reputation, they discovered that this guild was completely different from what they had imagined...

First, inside this guild, the Mages discovered that they basically never saw anyone go to work every day. The guild members were either drinking or drinking, either fighting or on the way to fighting...

Second, the difficulty of quests inside Fairy Tail was strangely high. Without real ability, even supporting oneself inside the guild was a problem. Also, Fairy Tailʼs customs were fierce. Generally, if they could use their hands, few people would beep-beep. In the end, weaker members who came to Fairy Tail were dissatisfied in all kinds of ways.

Simply put, these Mages who came because of its reputation and joined Fairy Tail discovered that they were not stupid enough, causing themselves to appear out of place among the guildʼs idiots. In the end, they helplessly left the guild! After all, not every Mage could endure the training rhythm of three group fights every day, morning, noon, and night! Most mediocre Mages joined Mage Guilds only to receive quests more easily and earn a mouthful of food...

As for the Mage Guild Grimoire Heart led by Precht, it was because Old Precht took the initiative to raise the threshold. Grimoire Heart had only one recruitment standard, and that was anyone Old Precht did not approve of would not be accepted at all. But what kind of person was Old Precht? He was the prized disciple of Black Wizard Zeref and the creator of the super magic Fairy Heart. His standards were not ordinarily high...

It was precisely because of this recruitment standard Old Precht set that Prechtʼs Mage Guild looked large, but actually did not have many people inside at all. In fact, in recent years, Old Precht had already loosened his standards for recruiting new members. Originally, Old Prechtʼs standard for new members was that anyone without the potential to reach the Ten Wizard Saints would not be accepted. Now it had changed to anyone without the potential to reach the S-Class Mage standard set by Fairy Tail would not be accepted...

Cough cough, it seemed this standard had not lowered at all, but instead rose quite a bit?!

Just like that, Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart, one because of fierce customs and one because of overly high standards, caused fewer and fewer new members to join. Quite a few Mages turned toward Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus, and other equally old and strong Mage Guilds...

So in Juraʼs view, Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart were indeed powerful, but they could completely let them be strong in their own way, while other guilds also took the opportunity to develop. They did not interfere with each other.

”Hmph, of course I know that. I just do not want to see our guild ranked beneath them...”

After hearing this, Granny Ooba snorted coldly. Of course she knew what Jura meant. She just could not swallow the anger of being easily suppressed by Makarovʼs guild.

”Haha...”

Regarding this, Jura merely smiled lightly. In truth, Jura did not tell Granny Ooba that these days, he often went to the Magic Council to help the Council handle work, and occasionally met Fairy Tailʼs Second Guild Master, namely the current Guild Master of the Mage Guild Grimoire Heart, Precht.

Precht, as someone close to the abyss of the path of magic, often gave Jura some guidance. Over time, Juraʼs relationship with Precht had also improved considerably. A few days ago, Precht had even invited Jura, asking if Jura had any interest in leaving Lamia Scale and going to his Grimoire Heart...

Regarding this matter, Jura did not tell Granny Ooba. He was afraid that after hearing it, Ooba would explode entirely! Of course, Jura thanked Precht for his kindness and clearly told Precht that for the time being, he had no intention of going to another guild.

”Boom~”

Just as Jura sat beside Granny Ooba, silently forcing a smile, accompanied by a rumbling sound, the front door of the Mage Guild Lamia Scale was suddenly blasted open by someone.

”Mm?!”

This made all the Mages of Lamia Scale tremble one after another. They turned and looked toward the figure that caused the rumbling.

”Ahaha, sorry, sorry...”

”I didnʼt expect your guildʼs door to be this flimsy. It broke open with just a little force from me~”

The newcomer wore a white trench coat, had long orange-red hair, and tied that long hair into twin tails. He faced the Mages of Lamia Scale and laughed loudly.

This older chuunibyou twin-tailed young man gave people a feeling of vigor. His whole person looked incomparably spirited, completely like a spirited young man.

”You are?!”

The Mages of Lamia Scale looked at the newcomer before them and stood up from their seats one after another. They had already seen that the person before them had come with bad intentions.

”Me? I am GOD super strong, GOD Serena!”

After hearing this, the young manʼs eyes flashed with white light. Then he suddenly spun three times in place, striking a pose that made normal people feel incomparably embarrassed, while introducing his identity.

”This guyʼs head doesnʼt seem very normal. Could he be from that Fairy Tail?”

The Mages of Lamia Scale looked at the young manʼs sickly movements and all retreated half a step, looking at him cautiously.

”No, no, no! I am not a Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild. I am a wandering Mage who has not joined any Mage Guild...”

After hearing this, Serena stretched out his right hand, raised his index finger, shook it toward everyone, and explained his identity.

”A wandering Mage who has not joined any Mage Guild?!”

After hearing this, the Mages of Lamia Scale first froze, then gradually relaxed their guard. They had originally thought Serena was from another guild and had come to smash Lamia Scaleʼs place, but now it seemed that was not the case.

”So, as a wandering Mage, what did you come to our Lamia Scale for?”

”Could it be to join us? We Lamia Scale welcome every wandering Mage to join!”

After exchanging glances, the Mages of Lamia Scale issued a friendly invitation to Serena.

”No, no, no! GOD super strong me did not come to join your Mage Guild! I came to challenge you. I heard that inside your Lamia Scale, there is a Mage named Jura Neekis, whose strength is GOD formidable, one of the ten strongest Mages on the continent of Ishgar, an expert with the title of Ten Wizard Saints? I wonder if that is true?”

Serena shook his head at everyone. God Serena disdained being in the company of weak Mages. He had come to fight, to challenge the strong! Moreover, even if he wanted to fight, he would choose Mages stronger than him, or Mages who had long since made a name for themselves on the continent.

”This...”

As Serenaʼs words fell, everyone in the Mage Guild Lamia Scale froze. Then they looked at Serena with incomparably mocking eyes, as though looking at a clown who did not know his own limits.

”Guild Master, another person has come to challenge Mr. Jura.”

Among them, after Serena stated his purpose, someone had already shouted loudly toward the depths of the guild, toward Granny Ooba, who was sitting at the bar counter with her eyes slightly narrowed.

”Hmph~”

”You donʼt need to say it. This granny is not so deaf that she cannot hear someone speaking from such a close distance...”

Granny Ooba looked at the brats who were making noise and snorted coldly, speaking coldly to everyone.

”Hahaha, thereʼs no helping it, Granny Ooba...”

”When we think that we can see Mr. Jura make a move again, we canʼt help feeling excited!”

”Thatʼs right! Thatʼs right! Granny Ooba, you must know that chances to see Mr. Jura make a move are not common...”

After Oobaʼs words fell, the Mages of Lamia Scale immediately started making noise.

In fact, there had been no shortage of people challenging Jura, the bottom-ranked member of the Ten Wizard Saints, over these years. But there had never been a single person who could win against Jura! Most of the time, Jura completely defeated the challenger in an instant. When he met some troublesome opponents, such as Quatro Cerberusʼs S-Class Mage Bacchus, it merely took a little more effort...

”You brats!”

”You honestly want to see Jura make a move? You say it as though even if Jura explained magic to you every day, your strength would advance! You brats, work hard and train properly!”

Regarding this, Ooba merely scolded everyone angrily, but she did not refute anything.

Just as these brats said, after Jura ranked among the Ten Wizard Saints, he rarely made moves in front of guild members! Because of his identity as a Wizard Saint, Jura, in order to serve as a role model for Mages across the entire continent, ran to the Magic Council all day to help the Magic Council handle work such as exterminating dark magic cults and eliminating magical beasts outside the Kingdom of Fiore. He even rarely handled guild affairs...

Of course, this was also something that could not be helped. Who told Jura to be both a Ten Wizard Saint and an honest and loyal person? Every time the Magic Council issued a summons for the Wizard Saints, Jura would be the first to arrive. As for the Magic Council, namely Warrod and the others, they were also happy to see Jura being diligent...

After all, what the Magic Council ERA maintained was not just a small place like Fiore, but the safety of the entire vast continent of Ishgar. Therefore, they were always short of manpower. Having a Ten Wizard Saint-level expert help was naturally better than anything. Of course, as Jura constantly worked hard for the Magic Council, he naturally also received many benefits that the original Jura did not receive. These benefits made Juraʼs strength improve by leaps and bounds!

After all, the current Magic Council ERA was not managed by that group of useless people from the original work. Current Magic Council ERA Chairman Warrod had magic power that seemed non-human! Moreover, because of Warrod, Precht also often went to the Council to help...

Under the guidance of two great seniors, Warrod and Precht, and while often sparring with experts of the same level, namely Jellal and others, the current Jura had without doubt officially stepped into the domain of the Ten Wizard Saints, which was Level Seven according to Evanʼs system! At the same time, Jura had also walked quite far among the Ten Wizard Saints and was advancing toward the limit of humanity, namely Level Eight according to Evanʼs system...

Although Juraʼs strength might not count as much when looking at the Western Continent and Northern Continent, when looking at the entire continent of Ishgar, there were already not many people outside the Fairy Tail Guild who could defeat Jura. In the eyes of outsiders, the current Jura was one of the small group of Mages standing at the very top of the Kingdom of Fiore...

”And you! Your name is Serena, right? You aim too high! At such a young age, you come to challenge a Ten Wizard Saint?!”

After Granny Ooba scolded her guild members, she began lecturing this twin-tailed chuunibyou before her. For some reason, she felt annoyed just looking at this chuunibyou.

”Huh?! Does challenging someone still need to depend on age? I thought as long as oneʼs strength was enough, it would be fine...”

After hearing Oobaʼs words, a trace of doubt flashed across Serenaʼs expression. He looked at Jura and the others and asked in confusion.

”You fellow, donʼt be too arrogant!”

”What do you mean, as long as strength is enough? Donʼt tell me you really think you can win against Mr. Jura?”

”Do you know how powerful Mr. Jura is? Even mountains and rivers can be leveled by Mr. Jura! Mr. Jura is without doubt a natural disaster-level existence...”

However, Serenaʼs words were too arrogant in the eyes of Lamia Scale and the others. To Lamia Scale and the others, Serenaʼs meaning seemed to be that his strength was already comparable to Juraʼs...

Thus, the Mages of Lamia Scale all roared angrily at Serena.

”Ah, this...”

Serena had never seen such a scene before. He subconsciously took half a step back, then looked toward Jura, who had remained silent the whole time.

”Everyone! Quiet...”

”All Mages who come to our Lamia Scale are our guests!”

”Since the guest wants to challenge me, I naturally should accompany him to the end and have a fierce battle with the guest!”

Listening to the mocking voices of the Mages in the guild toward Serena, Juraʼs expression changed, and his heart felt somewhat displeased. Thus, he spoke and stopped the noisy Mages inside the guild.

Jura did not like mocking others...

”Uh...”

”Mr. Juraʼs teaching is correct!”

After hearing Juraʼs teaching, the Mages inside Lamia Scale nodded one after another and revealed regret.

Clearly, Jura still had considerable status inside the Lamia Scale Guild.

”Mm...”

”Granny Ooba, I will go and return shortly.”

Jura gently nodded. He stood up beside Ooba and softly whispered to Ooba, then walked outside the guild.

”Mm! Go! Be a little lighter. For these young challengers, a slight lesson will be enough!”

After hearing Juraʼs words, Ooba gently nodded and instructed him.

”Rest assured, Granny Ooba...”

After hearing this, Jura stood in place. He turned and smiled lightly toward Ooba, then walked straight before Serena.

”I apologize for what happened just now. Actually, they did not have any ill intent!”

”This young brother, why donʼt we go outside and fight?”

Jura looked at Serena and spoke softly.

It seemed that in order to preserve Serenaʼs face, Jura planned to find a place with no one and fight Serena there...

”Sure~”

Serena did not care. He had come to verify his own strength. Whether there were many people around or few people, either was fine.

”Good. Then Mr. Serena, please come with me!”

Seeing that Serena was easy to talk to, Jura smiled lightly.

Just like that, Jura and Serena walked one in front and one behind toward the back mountain of Lamia Scale.

”Go, go, go! Letʼs watch Mr. Juraʼs battle...”

Although Jura and Serena planned to find a quiet place with no one, there were always people who liked watching excitement and would come after hearing the news. Regarding this, Jura and Serena did not care.

”Guild Master, do you think Jura can win against that boy? I keep feeling that the boy challenging Jura is not simple.”

Not long after Jura and Serena left, inside the Lamia Scale Guild, an old man looked at his Guild Master and asked.

He did not know whether he was thinking too much, but he always felt that Serena was not simple...

”Rest assured! The battle will end quickly.”

After hearing this, Ooba merely smiled lightly. She had never doubted that Jura could defeat that twin-tailed brat.

At the same time, on Lamia Scaleʼs back mountain!

”Mr. Jura, I wonder if you have met other Ten Wizard Saints. How does their strength compare to yours?”

Serena did not attack Jura. Before attacking, he first stood in place, looked at Jura, and asked.

”Uh, my strength is only at the bottom among the Ten Wizard Saints. This is merely an empty name. You need not care!”

After hearing this, Jura pressed his palms together and spoke to Serena with incomparable humility.

”Is that so? Then thatʼs really great!”

”I was still wondering what I should do if the other Wizard Saints were also trash like you.”

”Now that Iʼve heard what you said, I can finally relax!”

However, just as Jura was being humble, Serena suddenly laughed happily.

”Uh...”

After hearing this, Juraʼs expression trembled. He was shocked by Serenaʼs words.

”Cavern Dragonʼs Rock Crushing!”

Before Jura could react, Serena moved.

”Boom!”

Immediately, the entire back mountain of Lamia Scale trembled.

”I already said, do not make such a big mess!”

Inside the Lamia Scale Guild, Granny Ooba roared angrily. In her eyes, this was definitely caused by Juraʼs magic.

”Itʼs bad, Granny Ooba...”

However, before Ooba could say more, several members with lost souls suddenly rushed in from outside the Lamia Scale Guild. They looked at Ooba in panic, their expressions tragic.

”What happened?”

Ooba looked at them and opened the eyes she had always kept narrowed. A bad premonition suddenly rose in her heart.

”Guild Master Ooba! Mr. Jura, he... lost!”

Those members used their last strength to look at Ooba and speak, then immediately knelt to the ground.

”What?!”

For a moment, Ooba was shocked.