Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 468: The Rise of the Various Races, Swords Pointed at the Gods!

Fiore Kingdom, the Capital City of Flowers Crocus, inside the Kingʼs bedroom!

King Old Thomas of the Fiore Kingdom was sitting face-to-face with a black-haired young man.

”You are…”

As Old Thomas sized up the young man before him, his aged face was filled with panic, while endless worry could be seen in his eyes. This was because Old Thomas discovered that no matter how he looked at the young manʼs face, he simply could not remember what the young man looked like. In the previous second, he would still have an impression of the young manʼs appearance, yet in the next second, he would naturally forget it. This left Old Thomas utterly alarmed.

In fact, the black-haired, black-eyed young man dressed in ethnic clothing before him was not his distinguished guest, but an uninvited guest. After all, Old Thomas had lived for half his life and had never had the habit of inviting men into his private bedroom! This young man had appeared inside his bedroom without anyone noticing, right after Old Thomas had finished his meeting that morning and was preparing to return to his bedroom to rest.

The previous person who had been capable of bypassing the defensive system he had spent a fortune setting up and directly invading his bedroom was none other than Evan Belserion, who stood at the pinnacle of the Ten Wizard Saints. Before Old Thomas joined the Fairy Tail Guild, he had been worried about Evanʼs overwhelmingly powerful strength for quite some time, until he realized the principle of joining if you could not beat them…

”Donʼt be nervous~”

”I have no ill intentions…”

The black-haired young man seemed to see the endless worry in Old Thomasʼs eyes. As he smiled faintly, he revealed the Fairy Tail Guild emblem engraved on his body, while simultaneously dispelling the identification-obstruction magic he had cast upon himself.

”This is…”

Old Thomas carefully examined the emblem before him. Only after confirming that it was exactly the same as the stamp on his own butt did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

”So itʼs one of our own!”

Old Thomas muttered, then carefully sized up the black-haired young manʼs appearance. After the young man revealed the guild emblem, Old Thomas was finally able to clearly see what he looked like. Combining this with what Evan had once told him, he suddenly reached a conclusion.

”You… Could you possibly be that legendary Lord Zeref?”

Old Thomas rubbed his hands together continuously as he tentatively asked the young man before him.

In fact, as a member of the Fairy Tail Guild, Old Thomas had also heard about that black wizard Zeref joining the guild.

However, Zerefʼs name had become rather infamous across the continent of Ishgar because of the various Black Magic Cults. Therefore, to people outside Fairy Tail, the matter of Zeref joining Fairy Tail was still a secret…

After all, if other people mistakenly believed that Fairy Tail was a Dark Wizard Guild or a Black Magic Cult simply because that legendary black wizard had joined Fairy Tail, that would be troublesome…

At the same time, the Fairy Tail Guild had deliberately concealed Zerefʼs appearance and information. Furthermore, as the King of the Fiore Kingdom, Old Thomas naturally could not frequently appear inside the Fairy Tail Guild, while Zeref himself rarely visited the guild because of the special nature of the curse afflicting his body.

Moreover, even when Zeref visited the guild, he would cast various appearance-obscuring spells upon himself, so that the guildʼs chaotic mix of members would not accidentally expose his information. After all, the Fairy Tail Guild Hall was not exclusively used by Fairy Tailʼs members. From time to time, there would also be journalists from various weekly publications.

Therefore, this could be considered Old Thomas and Zerefʼs first face-to-face meeting…

”Looks like you know who I am?”

Zeref sat opposite Old Thomas with his legs crossed. His fair fingers held an exquisite little teacup as he calmly savored the Fiore Kingdomʼs finest black tea, looking exceptionally elegant…

When he heard Old Thomas call his name, this legendary black wizard merely smiled gently. Contrary to the legends, the founder of black magic who was notorious throughout the continent of Ishgar and even the entire world of Earth-land looked nothing like the Demon King who had created countless demons. Instead, he looked more like a young nobleman from a family with a long-standing heritage.

”Of course I know! Mr. Evan has mentioned you to me!”

”May I ask, what brings the legendary Lord Zeref here to see me?”

Old Thomas sat before Zeref, his head slightly lowered. His proper attitude made him look like a student standing before his teacher.

After all, in front of Zeref, who had lived for more than four hundred years, middle-aged Old Thomas was merely a child.

”Hehe, thereʼs no need to add ʼLordʼ after my name. It sounds rather strange…”

Zeref looked at Old Thomasʼs proper attitude and smiled faintly, shaking his head to indicate that Old Thomas did not need to be so formal.

”Uh…”

”Then how does Mr. Evan, and everyone else in the guild, address you? That way, I can follow everyone else in the guild. After all, I am also considered a member of the Fairy Tail Guild.”

Old Thomas still could not quite figure out Zerefʼs personality. Even though Old Thomas knew that Zeref was now technically a fellow guild member, and he understood that Zeref probably would not attack him precisely because they belonged to the same guild, he was still somewhat restrained. After all, Zerefʼs fearsome reputation had spread across the continent of Ishgar for hundreds of years!

”Hehe…”

”Evan usually calls me ʼBoss Jie.ʼ As for the others in the guild, some call me ʼYour Majesty,ʼ while others regard me as a god of magic! Of course, in my opinion, all of those are merely empty titles. Just call me Zeref.”

Zeref held his black tea and smiled at Old Thomas as he spoke.

”Uh…”

After hearing Zerefʼs words, Old Thomas was instead rendered speechless.

”So you werenʼt actually dissatisfied with the way I addressed you earlier. You just think I was belittling you, huh? First Your Majesty, then a god…”

Although Old Thomas showed no expression on the surface, he could not help complaining about Zeref internally.

”Then, Mr. Zeref, may I ask what brings you here? As long as it is something I can accomplish, I will certainly do everything in my power to assist you!”

Old Thomas thought for a moment. He did not directly call Zeref by his first name, nor did he use the way Evan and the others addressed Zeref. Instead, just as he would add ”Mr.” after Evanʼs name, he also added ”Mr.” after Zerefʼs name.

In Old Thomasʼs opinion, placing Zeref and Evan on the same level should mean that even that legendary black wizard would have nothing to say about it…

However, in reality, Old Thomas had simply overthought things. Zeref truly had not been dissatisfied or felt belittled by Old Thomasʼs previous form of address. Boss Jieʼs answer afterward had merely been an honest response to Old Thomasʼs question, nothing more. There was no intention of showing off whatsoever, and Zeref genuinely had no interest in empty titles!

”Actually, it isnʼt anything major!”

”I came here this time to look for the door I left here!”

”Seeing that your Fiore family has protected the door I created so well, I am truly gratified.”

After hearing Old Thomasʼs words, Zeref gently placed the teacup in his hand on the table and explained the purpose of his visit.

”The door? Which door are you talking about?”

Old Thomasʼs eyes shifted slightly. The moment Zeref mentioned the door, he had already guessed what he meant. However, he remained calm and asked Zeref tentatively, afraid that he had misunderstood. At the same time, Old Thomas still held a sliver of hope. What if the door Zeref was talking about was not the same door he was thinking of?!

In fact, that door had already fulfilled its purpose. Back then, after Evan and the others opened that door, the woman who walked out of it had asked him to destroy it. However, he had some selfish motives and kept the door instead. Now Old Thomas was afraid that Zeref had come looking for him precisely because he had failed to destroy it. Therefore, he chose to play dumb and try to muddle through.

”The Eclipse Gate!”

Zeref seemed not to notice Old Thomasʼs intentions. Or rather, Zeref simply did not care about his hidden intentions.

”Uh…”

Old Thomas seemingly had not expected Zeref to be so direct. For a moment, he did not know how to continue the conversation.

”Um, are you planning to take that door back? Do you need my help? Just give the order and I will immediately have people dismantle that door from beneath the kingdom!”

Old Thomas thought for a while before taking a deep breath and asking Zeref.

Although Old Thomas felt somewhat reluctant at this moment, after all, the Eclipse Gate was a treasure capable of traveling through time. Even among the treasures accumulated by the Fiore Kingdom over hundreds of years, it was an absolutely unique and precious supreme treasure! Moreover, unlike the Dragon Cry, the conditions for using this supreme treasure were not particularly harsh. As long as the Celestial Spirit Keys corresponding to the twelve zodiac signs were gathered, along with sufficient magic power, it could be activated…

But ultimately, the Eclipse Gate belonged to Zeref. If Zeref wanted it, Old Thomas could not refuse to give it to him!

Besides, honestly speaking, if Zeref was determined to obtain the Eclipse Gate, Old Thomas did not possess the power to keep this treasure in his hands against Zeref.

”Donʼt be nervous. I didnʼt come here to take that door back…”

Zeref sat before Old Thomas and smiled gently as he looked at the worried expression on his face.

At this moment, Zeref seemed to have seen through something. He seemed to have seen through Old Thomasʼs worries…

”Uh, hehe…”

Old Thomasʼs face flushed red. He could only accompany Zeref with an awkward smile.

”Actually, the reason I came to see you this time is because I have a favor to ask!”

”As long as you can help me complete this matter, once it is done, the Eclipse Gate can be considered a treasure I am giving to your family! At the same time, I will also provide you with the correct method of using the Eclipse Gate. What do you think?!”

Zeref sat opposite Old Thomas and spoke softly.

”Look at you, look at you, how could I possibly accept that?!”

”You are a legendary wizard, the true founder of the Fairy Tail Guild! It can be said that without you, there would be no me today. How could I possibly have the nerve to accept your gift?!”

”Just tell me what you need me to help you with. You donʼt need to worry about anything else! I will use the strength of the entire kingdom to make sure I accomplish it for you!”

After hearing Zerefʼs words, Old Thomas immediately beamed with delight and spoke politely to him.

”Hehe…”

Zeref knew that Old Thomas was merely being polite. In reality, he was already laughing his head off inside.

But Zeref did not care. Even if he truly gave the Eclipse Gate to the Fiore Kingdom, Zeref would not care, because given the extremely harsh conditions required to use the Eclipse Gate, it would be difficult for Old Thomas to bypass Fairy Tail and open this gate capable of traversing time! Therefore, Zeref did not care if Old Thomas and the family behind him abused the Eclipse Gate and thereby disrupted the river of time…

Besides, in the future, the Eclipse Gate would no longer have any effect! It would be no different from an ordinary door…

Of course, Zeref did not tell Old Thomas any of this. Letting Old Thomas be happy for a while was pretty good.

”Since His Majesty Thomas is being so polite, then I shall be frank…”

”This time, I really do need you to use the strength of the entire kingdom to help me with a small favor!”

Zeref smiled faintly at Old Thomas. Since Old Thomas was being so polite, then he would not hold back.

”Huh?!”

Old Thomas froze when he heard this. His statement about using the strength of the entire kingdom had merely been a polite remark. If Zeref really asked him to mobilize the entire kingdom to help, Old Thomas would still have to think carefully about it.

”May I ask what you need me to help you with, Mr. Zeref?”

Old Thomasʼs gaze carried a trace of worry. If Zeref wanted him to hand over his kingdom and use the military forces of the Fiore Kingdom to attack other nations, then there was no way Old Thomas could agree…

This was not because Old Thomas was greedy for power. As the King of the Fiore Kingdom, he had to take responsibility for his people!

”Donʼt worry. It isnʼt anything that will put you in a difficult position!”

”I simply need to borrow a location and manpower from your Fiore Kingdom to hold a grand martial arts tournament! Through the magic power released by the wizards fighting in the arena, we can help the Eclipse Gate gather sufficient energy!”

Zeref sat before Old Thomas and spoke with a smile.

”You want to open the Eclipse Gate?”

Old Thomas was stunned when he heard Zerefʼs words, then immediately frowned.

”Yes…”

Zeref answered without the slightest hesitation, directly admitting his plan.

”Good!”

Old Thomas did not even ask what Zeref intended to do. He directly agreed.

”You donʼt want to ask what I intend to do?”

Zeref looked at Old Thomasʼs immediate agreement and smiled faintly before asking him.

”I just feel that sometimes, knowing too much isnʼt a good thing!”

Old Thomas gave an awkward smile. He did not know why, but instinctively, he felt that Zeref was probably planning some enormous event. An event of this scale was likely enough to shock the entire world, perhaps even to be recorded in the annals of history. Such things were usually accompanied by endless risks, so it was better for him not to know.

”Hehe…”

”You know the principle behind the Eclipse Gate. It actually uses the eternal and unchanging stars in the sky as landmarks to travel through time! Therefore, we need to borrow the powerful strength of the Celestial Spirits…”

”So I was thinking, if possessing a landmark allows us to traverse any space, and if we can even freely traverse time, then surely we should also be able to send mortals to the domain where the gods reside!”

Zeref felt that he should at least give Old Thomas an answer. Therefore, regardless of whether Old Thomas wanted to hear it, Zeref explained his reason to him.

”You intend to slay the gods?!”

Old Thomas was not a fool. After hearing Zerefʼs words, his first reaction was that this legendary black wizard, whose fearsome reputation was known far and wide, was no longer satisfied with playing with the lives of mortals. Instead, he had set his sights on even greater and more ethereal transcendent beings—the gods!

”Donʼt you think it is incredibly unfair that the gods are allowed to descend punishments upon humanity, while humanity is not allowed to retaliate against the gods? These gods are far too arrogant. They have never once lowered their gaze to the world beneath them. Perhaps mortals have already arrived beside them, with blades in hand, without them even realizing it…”

”Prepare to face the wrath of the fairies! You gods who stand high above the heavens, yet never take action and only amuse yourselves by playing with the lives of others!”

Zeref sat in his seat, his gaze directed toward the sky, as though somewhere within those supreme heavens, a great existence sat upon a lofty throne, looking down upon all living beings! Treating all things as chess pieces and all living creatures as mere dogs!

Zerefʼs gaze was as sharp as a sword. The Eclipse Gate would become the key to slaughtering those lofty gods!

”Esteemed Ankhseram God, we will meet very soon!”

Zeref sat opposite Old Thomas, a smile on his face while his eyes were filled with madness.

Yes, Zeref had already gone mad! He was even crazier than the Zeref of the original story! This crazed Zeref had abandoned the idea of wielding a blade against the people of the world and instead chosen to challenge the gods! He was determined to drag those lofty gods down into the mortal realm!

”Madman! Everyone in the Fairy Tail Guild is a bunch of madmen! They actually dare to slaughter the gods?!”

After hearing Zerefʼs words, Old Thomas was completely stunned.

He admitted that Zerefʼs idea was truly insane…

It shocked him from the bottom of his heart!

They actually intended to raise their blades against the gods?! This was truly… far too characteristic of Fairy Tail!

”Iʼm in!”

Old Thomas stood up. His short little legs planted firmly on the ground, yet he was still only as tall as Zeref sitting in his chair, making him look even taller than when Old Thomas himself was sitting down…

Yet at this moment, Old Thomas was still imposing. He could feel the hot blood in his chest boiling!

”Leave the collection of magic power to me!”

”Boss Jie, rest assured! I will hold the grandest banquet in this world!”

Old Thomas shouted excitedly. Legend had it that approximately four hundred years ago, humanity and the dragons had constantly waged war, and every year on July 7th, the day for determining the Dragon King, the Dragon King Festival, would be held! And Old Thomas was going to launch an even more magnificent war, an even more glorious undertaking admired by all people. It would be a festival for slaughtering the old gods and establishing new gods in the heavens! Its name would be… the God-Sealing Festival!

For a moment, Old Thomas seemed to see a magnificent scroll unfolding before him. Within that scroll, the ancient gods roared while humanity rose up in resistance!

Humans, Mechanical Races, demons, dragons, and fairies! The various races would rise together, their swords pointed toward the gods!

Yet how could such a magnificent battle possibly be missing the current King of the Fiore Kingdom, Thomas E. Fiore?!

”Hehe, then Iʼll leave it to you…”

Zeref looked at the excited Old Thomas and smiled gently.

Yes, he was a madman, Evan was a madman, and everyone in the Fairy Tail Guild was a bunch of madmen! As a member of the Fairy Tail Guild, Old Thomas was naturally a madman as well!

Just as Old Thomas and Zeref were discussing how to deal with the gods, on the other side, at the Fairy Tail Wizard Guild…

”Everyone, hold on tight!”

”Because the journey is rather far, there will be some turbulence along the way~”

Irene stood inside the enormous Fairy Tail Guild Hall and spoke to the many wizards in the guild with a smile.

”Oh!!”

At this moment, everyone still inside the guild were wizards who intended to head to Guiltina to improve themselves. When they heard Irene, everyone let out low roars.

At this moment, the troublemakers of the Fairy Tail Guild could barely contain their excitement about heading to Guiltina to cause trouble… Ahem, to venture forth.

”Depart!”

As soon as Ireneʼs voice fell, brilliant light immediately enveloped the entire Fairy Tail Guild.

”Boom!!”

Accompanied by a violent surge of magic power!

The Fairy Tail Guild, which after several expansions had reached a full twenty-three stories, with each floor four meters high and a total height of nearly one hundred meters, making it a landmark building in Magnolia Town, simply vanished from above the town!

”That is…”

”The Fairy Tail Guild disappeared?”

”Could they have moved away?”

”Hehe, perhaps they went to cause trouble in some other world again. Donʼt worry about it!”

”Once theyʼve caused enough trouble, theyʼll naturally return to Magnolia…”

The residents of Magnolia Town were clearly so familiar with the Fairy Tail Guild suddenly disappearing that they could not have been more accustomed to it. They were not particularly worried.

However, the Fiore Kingdom soldiers stationed around the Fairy Tail Guild, who were supposedly there to guard the guild but were actually serving as babysitters for Fairy Tailʼs members, were completely dumbfounded!

”This is bad! The demons sealed inside the Fairy Tail Guild have finally escaped from the Magnolia Town where they were sealed! Perhaps the world will end before tomorrow!”

Upon hearing that Fairy Tail had disappeared, Lord John, the commander of the garrison stationed in Magnolia Town, immediately had a drastic change of expression and rushed to the former site of the Fairy Tail Guild. This famous Grand Knight of the Fiore Kingdom stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly at the vast empty space before him as he muttered.

”Buzz! Boom!!”

At the same time, tens of thousands of kilometers away from the continent of Ishgar, in the northern continent of Guiltina, a place that would take several days to travel back and forth even using the most advanced Magic Airships, brilliant white light suddenly appeared within a certain town!

A giant building standing one hundred meters tall, resembling a towering pagoda before the houses in the town that averaged only a dozen meters in height, suddenly appeared without warning on the eastern edge of the town, atop a vacant plot of land that someone had purchased long ago but had never used!

”Everyone, weʼve arrived~”

After the Fairy Tail Guild successfully arrived in the new town, Irene, standing inside the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, finally smiled at the wizards lying scattered around in disarray and spoke.

”Weʼre finally here?”

Inside the Fairy Tail Guild, when the guildʼs wizards heard Irene, they gradually climbed up from the floor. Honestly, this was Ireneʼs first time using a large-scale building teleportation magic capable of crossing an entire continent, so her control was not particularly perfect. As a result, the guildʼs wizards all experienced something akin to motion sickness.

This time, even the non-Dragon Slayer wizards felt nauseous…

”Whew…”

After hearing Ireneʼs words, the wizards slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

They had truly had enough of that bumpy feeling from the ultra-long-distance teleportation magic!

Although it had only lasted a few minutes, to them it felt as though an entire year had passed!

”Natsu, wake up. Weʼve arrived!”

Lucy and Happy walked over to the dizzy Natsu, helped him upright, and spoke.

”Weʼve finally arrived in Guiltina!” With Lucy and Happyʼs help, Natsu slowly regained his senses. Then flames began burning in his eyes. ”Where are the enemies?! Come fight me to the death!”

”I can already smell the enemies!”

”Theyʼre nearby, and theyʼre incredibly strong!”

Natsu was extremely excited. The moment he arrived in Guiltina, he was already thinking about having a great battle with his opponents!

”Natsu, we just arrived in Guiltina. How could we possibly encounter an opponent right away?”

Lucy smiled gently after hearing Natsu.

”Yeah! Natsu! We should first go eat a delicious fish after arriving in Guiltina~”

Happy flew around Lucy and Natsu as he spoke.

As he talked, drool began dripping from Happyʼs mouth…

”Happy! All you ever think about is eating! And your drool is disgusting!”

Lucy immediately looked at Happy with disgust as drool dripped from his mouth.

”Iʼm so hungry~”

Happy looked helpless. He gently rubbed his stomach, his face looking somewhat gaunt.

”Although Happy really is far too gluttonous…”

”But what he said isnʼt wrong!”

”We just arrived in Guiltina. How could we possibly encounter an enemy immediately?”

Gray stepped forward at this moment and spoke in defense of Happy.

”Although, I know you really want to say a few words in defense of this stupid cat, Happy!”

”But I still have to say this: the sentence you just said wasnʼt said by Happy. I said it, okay?!”

The corner of Lucyʼs eye twitched. She was nearly too exhausted to complain about Gray, Happy, and the others.

”Huh? Really? Sorry, Lucy…”

Gray was startled after hearing Lucyʼs words, then apologized to Lucy.

”Damn Lucy, she actually made Lord Gray apologize!”

Juvia now had another reason to hate Lucy.

”Iʼm having such a hard time…”

The corner of Lucyʼs eye twitched as she looked at Juvia, Gray, Natsu, and Happy. She felt as though her heart was about to shatter.

”Um, although I donʼt want to interrupt you, I still have to say one thing!”

”Actually, Natsu is right~”

”Your enemies really are nearby~”

Just as Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and the others were bickering, Ireneʼs voice interrupted their conversation.

”Huh?!”

Lucy froze after hearing Irene.

”Thereʼs no way weʼre that lucky, right? We just arrived on the continent of Guiltina and immediately encountered an enemy?”

Lucy could hardly believe it. No matter how she looked at it, this was far too coincidental, almost as if someone had deliberately orchestrated it.

”It isnʼt a coincidence~”

”Because I moved the Fairy Tail Guild to the town where the wizard guild that is our enemy is located~”

”Two tigers cannot share one mountain, so letʼs happily drive the original owner of this town away~”

Irene shook her head at Lucy. Of course it was not a coincidence that they had encountered enemies the moment they arrived in Guiltina! There were not that many coincidences in the world. Everything was within Ireneʼs calculations.

”Huh?!”

”So we actually brought the guild right to the doorstep of an enemy faction?”

Lucy froze where she stood, then spoke in shock.

”Alright! Warriors of the Fairy Tail Guild! Brave wizards! The enemy is within this town! Go and crush them!”

Irene did not give Lucy a chance to say anything more. She raised the staff in her hand, pointed it toward the guildʼs entrance, and spoke passionately to the many wizards inside the guild.

”Oh!!”

As soon as Ireneʼs voice fell, the wizards of the Fairy Tail Guild all roared loudly before charging out through the guildʼs entrance. They had only one goal—

To cause trouble!

Meanwhile…

The town in the continent of Guiltina where Fairy Tail had teleported was also the town where the Dragon Slayer Wizard Guild Diabolos was located!

After the original Diabolos Wizard Guild had been destroyed by a single meteor from Evan, they had put down roots in this town, and several years had already passed. During those years, Diabolos had recruited many new members. It would not be an exaggeration to say that their strength had increased tremendously…

At this moment, after sensing the enormous magical fluctuations coming from the town!

Two wizards from Diabolos were standing before the entrance of the Fairy Tail Guild, silently observing.

”That enormous magical fluctuation just now was caused by this thing?!”

A voluptuous, beautiful young woman dressed rather revealingly stood directly before the entrance of the Fairy Tail Guild, her brows tightly furrowed.

”Kyria, donʼt be rash!”

Behind the young woman stood a burly man wearing armor. The manʼs thick eyebrows and large eyes gave him an honest appearance at first glance.

”Cut the crap! Daring to suddenly appear in the town where we are is a complete provocation against our Diabolos! FAIRY TAIL? Watch me smash their sign!”

The young woman named Kyria had a fiery temper. Seeing the Fairy Tail Guildʼs sign, she was about to attack.

”Igniaʼs Explosive Fist!”

However, before Kyria could make a move, accompanied by a violent surge of flames, Kyria was sent flying into the sky by a single punch!

Immediately afterward, dozens of wizards walked out of the Fairy Tail Guild.

”Youʼre members of the wizard guild Diabolos?!”

”I heard youʼre the strongest wizard guild in Guiltina?”

”Sorry, but starting today, you arenʼt anymore!”

”If you want to know why, itʼs because Fairy Tail has arrived.”

For a moment, every wizard of the Fairy Tail Guild looked like a villain!