Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 435: Lucy: I Understand! I’m Fairy Tail’s Combat Power Sewer

”In short, letʼs go back to the Guild!”

Just as Lucy looked confused, and once again began doubting Fairy Tail in her heart...

Irene gently touched the ground with the staff in her hand. The next moment, all of Magnolia Town lit up with dazzling light...

”Hm?!”

Immediately afterward, a huge opening suddenly split open in the sky above Magnolia Town, like a pitch-black mouth swallowing toward all of Magnolia Town...

”Hey, hey, hey?! No way, right? Again?”

Lucy looked at the scene before her and widened her eyes. She had finally calmed herself down a little, only to encounter this kind of situation again...

”BOOM!”

Before Lucy could think further, the pitch-black hole in the sky instantly released endless suction, pulling all of Magnolia Town into it!

”Uh...”

Lucy immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded.

A long while later, when Lucy opened her eyes again, she discovered that the magic power around her had changed!

The magic power around her was no longer violent and had become gentle. While this made Lucy feel relieved, she knew that they had already returned from Elentear to Earth-land.

”Weʼre finally back!”

Lucy suddenly took a deep breath, greedily breathing the air of Earth-land.

Originally, Lucy had never felt that the world that had given birth to her was all that wonderful. It was only after she went to Elentear that she completely realized it! How did that saying go? Only when you lose something can you understand how precious and beautiful it was when you once had it~

”In short, Lucy, come back to the Guild with us first~”

”After all, there are still many things you donʼt understand that we need to explain to you~”

Makarov stood beside Lucy with his hands behind his back and spoke with a smile.

”Back to the Guild? Although it may not be very appropriate, I still canʼt help wanting to ask you~”

”The Guild youʼre talking about wouldnʼt happen to be this pile of ruins in front of us, right?”

After hearing Makarov, Lucyʼs eyes twitched. She looked at the huge pile of ruins before her and fell silent.

A Guild? She wanted to go back too! She also wanted to have a Guild like other normal Mages, a place where she could accept jobs every day, take shelter from wind and rain on stormy days, chat freely with Guild members, and speak her mind!

But wasnʼt their Fairy Tail Guild already demolished by those monsters just now? Right now, only ruins remained...

”Hehe! It was only demolished! Not a big problem~”

After hearing Lucy, Makarov smiled lightly. Regarding the Guild being demolished, Makarov had long since gotten used to it...

”No, what do you mean it was only demolished and isnʼt a big problem?”

”Itʼs a huge problem, okay?”

After hearing Makarov, Lucy complained weakly.

”Ultear, show the newcomer Lucy something!”

Makarov smiled at Lucy without saying anything. He did not explain anything to Lucy, but instead called softly to Ultear beside him.

”Sigh...”

”Seriously...”

”Every time, Iʼm the one who has to clean up! My Arc of Time isnʼt meant to wipe everyoneʼs butt in the Guild!”

After hearing Makarov, Ultear sighed helplessly, her eyes full of speechlessness.

”Please, Ultear! Help me one more time~”

After hearing Ultear, Makarovʼs eyes were full of tears. He hugged Ultearʼs round thigh and begged.

”Ah, ah, fine, fine...”

”Hurry up and get off my leg! Donʼt wet my pants!”

Ultear looked at Makarov, who was taking the opportunity to act like a pervert, and her eye twitched.

Even though Makarov was Fairy Tailʼs former Guild Master, current Guild Master assistant, and the next Guild Master of Fairy Tail! Ultear had no intention of holding back. Her slender jade hand grabbed Makarovʼs head, then her fingers exerted force and directly pried Makarov off her leg. Then, while tossing him into the air, she powerfully shot him away...

”Bang!”

Accompanied by a roar, Makarov was kicked by Ultearʼs jade foot like a soccer ball, directly into the ruins.

”He was kicked flying! The Guild Master was kicked flying by a member!”

Lucy looked at the scene before her in shock. She suddenly felt that Makarov, as Fairy Tailʼs Guild Master, seemed no different from the members.

”Seriously, next time you want me to help repair the Guild, remember to pay me!”

Ultear held the crystal ball in one hand and angrily scolded Makarov in the ruins.

Who knew how much time she had to spend every day cleaning up after Fairy Tail? She did not even have time to do jobs...

So Ultear decided that from now on, helping Fairy Tail repair the Guild and the towns they destroyed was fine, but she would charge according to certain standards~

”Okay!”

Makarov, who had already been buried in the ruins, stretched a thumb out of the rubble, indicating that there was no problem.

”Honestly!”

Ultear secretly felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do. Who told her to also be a member of Fairy Tail?!

Helplessly, Ultear lifted the magic crystal in her hand and activated her ability on all of Fairy Tail...

No, to be precise, on all of Magnolia Town!

”BOOM!!”

Accompanied by the clock-hand-like light flashing in Ultearʼs eyes, the Guild that had originally been destroyed by the fairiesʼ internal war suddenly lit up. The next second, the countless ruins began continuously restoring themselves to the state Fairy Tail had been in before everyone destroyed it, like a video being rewound!

A moment later...

Fairy Tail, as tall as a castle with a total of eighteen floors, was restored before everyoneʼs eyes!

”S-So amazing!”

Lucy looked at Fairy Tail, restored to its original state, and widened her eyes. She swore this was the first time she had ever seen such a miraculous scene.

”Lost Magic, Arc of Time! It can freely manipulate the time of all things except living beings! Itʼs super magic that has already been lost~”

Just as Lucy was shocked, Happy spread his snow-white wings and flew beside Lucy, explaining the scene before her.

”Lost Magic?”

The relatively attentive Lucy immediately caught this new term and asked Happy.

”Aye~”

”So-called Lost Magic is magic that has almost disappeared from the market and is very difficult to learn!”

”For example, Ultearʼs Arc of Time, Natsuʼs Dragon Slayer Magic, Grayʼs Devil Slayer Magic...”

”These magics that have been lost from the world share one common trait, and that is that every single one of them possesses incomparably enormous power!”

After hearing Lucyʼs question, Happy softly explained.

”So thatʼs how it is...”

Hearing this, Lucy nodded lightly, indicating that she understood.

”Everyone, go in~”

Just as Lucy and Happy were chatting, under Augustʼs supervision, the eighteen-story building had already been restored to its original appearance before everyoneʼs eyes!

As Ultearʼs voice fell, the Mages of Fairy Tail immediately swarmed inside...

In just a moment, only Lucy was left standing before Fairy Tailʼs ancient door, deep in thought.

”Inhale! Exhale~”

Lucy looked at the door before her bearing the words FAIRY TAIL and took a deep breath.

Inside her mind, everything she had seen over the past two days slowly flashed by...

Those dreamlike fragments flickered through Lucyʼs mind, giving Lucy a deep sense of unreality...

It was as if everything she had seen before had been fake!

”Perhaps everything I saw before was nothing but a dream!”

Thinking this, Lucy forcefully pushed open the seemingly ancient door before her, which seemed to have gone through countless years and been carefully preserved by the members of Fairy Tail, but in reality had already been destroyed who knew how many times.

”Boom~”

The door opened, and what entered Lucyʼs eyes was...

Cana, holding a barrel of alcohol and continuously pouring it into her mouth.

Lyon the boxer, naked and with Kuroko no Basket covering his crotch, loudly declaring freedom of dress.

Macao and Wakaba, who had already washed their hands of gambling because they had started families, but were currently teaching young people the joys of gambling. At the same time, not only did Wakaba corrupt quite a few children, he would occasionally take out a pipe, narrow his eyes, enjoy a few puffs, and then breathe out clouds of smoke, looking as happy as an immortal...

”As expected, what I experienced just now wasnʼt a dream!”

”This Guild really has pornography, gambling, and drugs all together! What kind of light Mage Guild is this?”

Lucy looked at everything before her, raised her jade hand to her forehead, and loudly complained.

”Sigh...”

”But who told me this is the Mage Guild Iʼve always yearned for and expected?”

At this point, Lucy could not help letting out a long sigh, her eyes carrying some helplessness.

Yes, although she kept complaining, this was the Mage Guild she had once dreamed of joining, Fairy Tail~

Since this was the path she chose herself, even if she had to crawl, she would finish walking it! This was the ninja way of the Heartfilia family...

Cough, cough, family teaching!

Besides, Lucy was also somewhat looking forward to forming a Mage team with Natsu and completing jobs together!

In Lucyʼs eyes, that would definitely be a very beautiful scene~

Then, one week later!

”Iʼm going to die! Iʼm really going to die!”

Lucy sat inside Fairy Tail and cried out lifelessly.

”Lucy, welcome back~”

”I heard that in order to complete jobs better, you formed a Mage team with Natsu?”

”I wonder how the jobs went for the Mage team formed by you, Natsu, and Happy?”

Just as Lucy sat on the chair with a lifeless expression, Mirajane walked toward Lucy with a drink and a smile...

Because Mirajane had signed contracts with multiple weekly magazines and worked part-time as a model, Mirajane earned a lot every month and counted as one of Fairy Tailʼs high-income individuals...

At the same time, Mirajane, who received a high salary every month, no longer needed to earn living expenses through jobs issued by the Guild. In addition, Elfman and Lisanna had already grown up and could support themselves...

So now, aside from occasionally doing some S-Class jobs and finding some S-Class Magic Beasts to vent her emotions, Mirajane rarely left the Guild.

Precisely because of this, Mirajane had been assigned by Makarov to recruit new members for the Guild and provide mental support for new members...

So when Mirajane saw Lucy returning from her first completed job, she immediately walked over with a welcoming smile.

”Mm! I did form a Mage team with Natsu and Happy~”

”The job was successfully completed too!”

”Itʼs just that the process of completing the job wasnʼt very pleasant...”

After seeing Mirajane, Lucy immediately smiled.

Lucy did not know why, but after seeing Mirajane, she felt as if both her body and mind had been healed...

In response, Lucy guessed that perhaps Mirajane was the kind of truly beautiful person even girls liked?

”Ah? Is that so? Hehe, I can probably understand how you feel...”

After hearing Lucy, Mirajane revealed a faint bitter smile. She could probably guess the various troubles Lucy had encountered during the job. After all, Lucy had formed a Mage team with that Natsu~

”Wuwuwu...”

”I finally found someone who can understand me!”

After hearing Mirajane, tears glittered in Lucyʼs eyes. She grabbed Mirajaneʼs hand and spoke emotionally.

Although she had recovered a Zodiac Celestial Spirit Key during this job, which could be considered a fairly large gain...

Who knew what she had gone through these past few days?!

First, on the road with Natsu to meet the client, they coincidentally encountered mountain bandits, so Natsu abandoned Lucy and ran off by himself to fight the bandits! Natsu moved decisively, but unfortunately went too far! With one fire, he burned through the bandit nest and the mountain where the bandits were located with one punch. Then they were discovered by soldiers protecting the forest and chased by the army for two days and two nights...

Then, after finally meeting the client and being able to carry out the job, Lucy discussed with Natsu about using infiltration techniques to enter the mansion, steal the book, and burn it!

Therefore, Lucy once again brought out her specialty, Seduction Jutsu~

Then Lucyʼs charm, as expected, was looked down upon again...

This made Lucy feel especially tired...

And so, Lucy held Mirajaneʼs hand and continuously complained.

In response, Mirajane was like a young mother-in-law, smiling gently as she quietly listened to her young daughter-in-law complain about her son. From time to time, Mirajane would nod lightly and criticize Natsu together with her.

”Laxus, duel me!”

Just as Lucy and Mirajane were gossiping about Natsu, Natsuʼs voice sounded inside the Guild.

”Hm?!”

Lucy heard Natsuʼs shout and turned to look.

She saw Natsu continuously shouting at a blond man wearing a dark coat and headphones.

”Ah? Is that Natsu?”

That blond man was none other than Laxus, who had just returned to the Guild after completing a job. At that moment, after hearing Natsuʼs shouting, he turned sideways and looked over, nodding his chin lightly at Natsu as a greeting.

”Less nonsense! Hurry up and duel me!”

Natsu looked at Laxus enthusiastically and shouted loudly.

”So annoying! I just got back to the Guild. Canʼt you let me rest a little?”

”If you simply want to get beaten up, go find Gildarts, Erza, Mirajane, or Ur. Theyʼre all good choices...”

Laxus looked at Natsu blocking his path and spoke with a tired expression.

”Gildarts, Erza, and Ur all went out on jobs! I challenged Mirajane just a few days ago. Right now, I only want to fight you!”

Natsu shouted loudly at Laxus.

”So did you win or lose when you challenged Mirajane?”

When Laxus heard Natsu had challenged Mirajane, he became somewhat interested. If Natsu had beaten Mirajane, he could play with Natsu a little.

”He was instantly killed~”

Just as Natsu was about to say something, Happy spread his wings, flew beside Laxus, and spoke softly.

”As expected!” Laxus revealed an expression of ”just as I thought,” then reached out and lightly waved at Happy, greeting him. ”Long time no see, Happy~”

”Aye~”

”Itʼs been one month~”

Hearing this, Happy nodded lightly and gave the exact number of days.

”So Iʼve been out for a month already?”

”Looks like I really do need to rest properly...”

As Laxus spoke, his body turned into lightning and directly bypassed Natsu, who was standing in front of him, heading toward the Guildʼs second floor.

”Laxus, donʼt run away!”

Natsu looked at Laxus, who was planning to ”slip away,” and shouted loudly.

”Sorry! I really donʼt want to fight you right now. Next time!”

Laxus spoke without turning his head.

”Damn it...”

Natsu glared at Laxus, who had gone up to the Guildʼs second floor, roaring, but did not chase after him.

After all, Fairy Tail had a rule. Only S-Class Mages could go to the Guildʼs second floor...

Unlike the original, after experiencing several years of S-Class Mage Promotion Trials, Natsu now only wanted to pass Fairy Tailʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial through his own effort, then stand openly on the Guildʼs second floor and mock Gray, Lyon, and those other guys who were still not S-Class Mages~

Yes, the reason Natsu wanted to become an S-Class Mage was first to prove his own strength, and second to mock competitors and bad friends like Gray...

This was Fairy Tail-style family encouragement!

”Is that blond man strong? Stronger than Natsu?”

Lucy sat on the chair and watched the scenes before her, feeling puzzled. And so, she asked Mirajane beside her.

To be honest, Natsu was already powerful enough in Lucyʼs eyes. He was the strongest Mage Lucy had encountered so far. When they were on jobs, after Natsu entered combat state, Lucy had not even encountered an enemy that required Natsu to throw two punches...

Of course, Natsu was still behind the dragons. Lucy understood that in her heart...

”Mm~ That blond man is called Laxus. He is Guild Master Makarovʼs grandson, and like Natsu, he is a Dragon Slayer Mage! At the same time, his strength is indeed much stronger than Natsuʼs~ After all, he is an S-Class Mage of the Guild~”

”He is also one of Fairy Tailʼs strongest reserves...”

After hearing Lucy, Mirajane nodded lightly and spoke with a smile.

”Strongest reserve? S-Class Mage? Natsu isnʼt an S-Class Mage?”

Lucy froze. Recently, she had often heard people in the Guild mention the title S-Class Mage. She knew that S-Class Mages represented the strongest group of people in a Mage Guild. What puzzled Lucy was that Natsu, who was already as strong as a monster, was still not an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail?

”No~”

”In Fairy Tail, if you want to become an S-Class Mage, you must pass the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial held at the end of the year~”

”Although Natsu has also participated in the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial for several years, in the end, his luck has been a bit lacking, so he has never passed~”

Mirajane sat beside Lucy and smiled.

”Huh? Even Natsu canʼt pass that trial?”

”Then what kind of people are the ones who passed the S-Class trial?”

After hearing Mirajane, Lucy swallowed. She could not imagine what kind of monsters those people who passed Fairy Tailʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, which even Natsu could not pass, were.

”Fairy Tailʼs combat power levels can probably be divided into five tiers!”

”First, the first tier is those who stand at the very top of Fairy Tail and sit on the Guildʼs strongest throne!”

”Representative figures, Lucy, you should have already seen them. They are Brother Evan, Senior Irene, Senior Selene, Senior Ignia, seven people in total...”

Mirajane explained Fairy Tailʼs combat power levels and the combat power ceilings to Lucy.

At the same time, because Mirajane was relatively close to Precht and Seilah, she had slightly more information than ordinary people. Therefore, she had learned about Soul Dragon Magic in advance, and she knew that a dragon crowned with the title of Dragon King was sleeping inside Natsu. Thus, Mirajane defined Fairy Tailʼs peak combat power as seven people: Evan, Irene, Selene, Igneel, Ignia, August, and Zeref...

”Seven people? I have seen dragons like Evan and the others, right? Could it be that aside from them, Fairy Tail is hiding three more dragons at the same level as Evan and Senior Irene? Just how powerful is our Guild?”

When Lucy heard that Fairy Tail had a total of seven existences as powerful as Evan and Irene, her expression could no longer stay calm, and she could not help complaining.

”Hehe, as for the remaining three existences in Fairy Tail crowned with the title of strongest! Whether they are dragons or humans will need Lucy to find out for herself...”

”You only need to know that every existence in Fairy Tail crowned with the title of strongest is powerful enough to destroy a country, conquer a continent, and even cause enormous influence on the entire world! In other words, if their existences were exposed to this world, perhaps the Book of Apocalypse would need seven more pages~”

Mirajane calmly spoke to Lucy.

”Fairy Tailʼs combat power is enough to add seven more pages to the Book of Apocalypse, that disaster manual specifically used to record world-destroying disasters that may appear in this world?”

”So scary! Fairy Tail is so scary! Is this combat power really something an ordinary Mage Guild should possess? Why did the Guild recruit so many monsters? Could it be for the sake of destroying the world?!”

Lucyʼs expression was horrified, and she muttered to herself while frantically complaining.

As the heir of the Heartfilia family, Lucy had naturally heard of the Book of Apocalypse. She had even once read the Book of Apocalypse. She knew very well what that book was used to record! It was used to record existences in history that appeared and were enough to pose an extinction-level threat to humanity, turn the world into hell, and bring about humanityʼs apocalypse!

That book did not have many pages even now! And Fairy Tailʼs existence could add seven more pages to such a dangerous book. How terrifying was that?

”Is this hell? What hellʼs seven demon kings?”

Thinking of the fact that Fairy Tail had a total of eighteen floors, Lucyʼs eyes twitched as she continuously complained.

”The above is the first tier. Next is Fairy Tailʼs second tier~”

”Fairy Tailʼs second-tier combat power is the Mages who passed the Guildʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial held every year-end! If we define the power of Jose Porla, the last seat of the Ten Wizard Saints, as the threshold of the Ten Wizard Saints...”

”Then every S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail has strength comparable to or even surpassing the Ten Wizard Saints~”

”Among Fairy Tailʼs active S-Class Mages, among the people youʼve met, there are me, Erza, Kurnugi, Laxus, and Ultear, five people...”

”Besides the five of us, Fairy Tailʼs current active S-Class Mages include Gildarts, Animus, Ur, Silver, Neinhart, Serena, Kagura, and Seilah, for a total of thirteen people!”

”And we active S-Class Mages in the Guild are Fairy Tailʼs strongest reserves~”

”Itʼs just that Kagura and Seilahʼs S-Class Mage identities are a little special~”

”Oh! Right, the seven people standing in Fairy Tailʼs first tier, like Evan and the others, are also all S-Class Mages of the Guild~”

Mirajane sat in front of Lucy and continued explaining Fairy Tailʼs second-tier combat power.

”So strong! So aside from Evan and the others, the Guild still has at least thirteen Mages comparable to the Ten Wizard Saints?”

Lucy listened very attentively. She firmly memorized all the combat power levels of Fairy Tail that Mirajane explained to her.

”After that is Fairy Tailʼs third tier~”

”They are Fairy Tailʼs S-Class reserves! Representative figures are Natsu, Gray, and Lyon, the people who often get into group fights inside the Guild~”

Mirajane briefly explained Fairy Tailʼs third combat power tier.

”Natsu is that strong, but in Fairy Tail, he can only rank in the third tier?”

Lucy narrowed her eyes and gained a brand-new understanding of Fairy Tailʼs strength.

”Next is the fourth tier. This tier corresponds to some of the older members in the Guild. They have been in Fairy Tail for some years. Among them, there are Mages not lacking in strength compared to the Guildʼs third tier, but either because of age or because they are no longer willing to take risks, they have already given up participating in the Guildʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, so they are ranked in the fourth tier~”

Mirajane continued explaining the fourth tier of Mages making up Fairy Tailʼs five combat power levels.

”Fighting is something you should do in moderation~”

”Drinking and smoking feel much better~”

Macao and Wakaba seemed to have heard Mirajaneʼs words. Before Mirajane took the initiative to mention them, they actively chose to take their seats.

With the magic power Macao and Wakaba gained after unlocking their Second Magic Sources, they did indeed have the level of S-Class Mages, which was Level 6 according to the system evaluation! Placed in other Guilds, they would absolutely be aces among aces!

If the two worked hard, it was not impossible for them to compete with Natsu and the others for Fairy Tailʼs S-Class Mage seats. It was just that they were older and unwilling to compete with young people...

Of course, the truth was that Fairy Tailʼs yearly S-Class Mage Promotion Trial was too brutal! The two felt that they were already old, and if they got injured, they would definitely recover slower than young people. There was no need to risk their lives for the empty title of S-Class Mage...

”So thatʼs how it is!”

Lucy looked at Macao and Wakaba drinking and playing cards, indicating that she understood.

”Then comes the fifth tier that makes up Fairy Tailʼs combat power~”

Mirajane stopped here. She only smiled at Lucy, and everything was self-evident.

”...”

Lucy, who had originally been waiting for Mirajane to continue explaining Fairy Tailʼs combat power tiers, immediately realized what was going on after discovering that Mirajane had remained silent and was smiling at her.

”So Iʼm at the bottom of Fairy Tailʼs combat power?!”

Lucy held her head with both hands, wearing an expression of despair.

”No, no, Lucy, you misunderstood~”

”The fifth tier of Fairy Tailʼs combat power is made up of Mages who have stayed in Fairy Tail for a full year! As for Mages like you, Lucy, who just joined Fairy Tail...”

”Mm, after thinking about it, ranking Fairy Tailʼs combat power into five tiers isnʼt strict enough! There should be one more tier! That is the sixth tier! This tier corresponds to pure newcomers like you, Lucy, who just joined Fairy Tail and even still only half-understand the magic world~”

Mirajane thought for a moment. In order to better help Lucy, she rebuilt a brand-new tier for Lucy.

”I...”

After hearing Mirajane, Lucy revealed a bright smile.

”I thought I was on the first floor! The sole of Fairy Tailʼs combat power!”

”But in reality, I still overestimated myself! So my combat power in Fairy Tail can only rank in the sewer~”

Lucy happily complained in her heart.