"This is our new member, Juvia. Cute, isn't she?"
Makarov beamed as he proudly introduced Juvia beside him.
"Pleased to meet you all."
After the incident with Jellal was over, Juvia had returned early and formally submitted her application to join Fairy Tail. Everyone knew how the old man was—so even though Juvia had been a member of Phantom Lord, no one expected Makarov to refuse her entry.
"Haha! You actually let her in!"
"It's all thanks to you all. Juvia will do her best!"
"And we've got another new member to introduce. Hey, don't just stand there—say something."
Makarov turned to the side.
"Wait—there's another one?!"
Happy looked stunned. Adding two new members at once wasn't something that happened often in the guild.
The new figure turned around, and the moment they saw his face, several jaws dropped.
"Eh?!"
"Oi! This has to be a joke!"
"Gajeel?!"
Gray immediately turned to Makarov, disbelief in his voice.
"Why is he here?! Master, what's going on?!"
Juvia quickly explained,
"Wait—Gajeel was invited… by Juvia."
Erza's expression turned serious.
"Juvia is different. He was the one who destroyed our guild."
Makarov raised a hand in calm defense.
"Alright, alright. He only acted under Jose's orders. You know what they say—yesterday's enemies can be today's friends."
"Don't screw with me!!" Natsu stomped forward, furious.
"You expect me to work with that guy?!"
Gajeel narrowed his eyes.
"Relax. I've got no plans to be buddy-buddy with any of you. I just needed a job. Didn't expect I'd end up in the most irritating guild out there. Just thinking about it pisses me off."
"Wanna say that again?!" Natsu practically exploded.
Meanwhile, Juvia leaned toward Gray, flustered.
"Gajeel-kun is just lonely! Juvia was worried about him, that's all! Ah—not that I like him or anything!"
Makarov spoke again, this time more serious.
"Part of the responsibility of the older generation is to help guide wayward youth back to the right path. I believe he's not a bad person at heart."
Then he turned and glanced toward Kaien.
"What do you think, brat?"
It was no casual question. Makarov had already chosen Kaien Blaze as his next successor as Guild Master. It wasn't public knowledge yet, but he valued Kaien's judgment highly.
Kaien just smiled.
"Sounds good to me."
"Kaien?!"
Everyone—even Gajeel—was surprised. No objection at all?
"The Phantom Lord Guild's already gone. And I beat the crap out of him back in Oshibana. That was punishment enough."
He wasn't exaggerating. Back in Oshibana, Kaien had pounded Gajeel so badly that even with Dragon Slayer regeneration, it had taken him weeks to recover. It was only recently that Gajeel had healed up completely.
Now, every time Gajeel looked at Kaien, his instinct screamed danger. He'd once been proud, arrogant, thinking no one could touch him—until he met Kaien Blaze.
Same age. Different leagues.
Even Jose, the Phantom Lord Master and one of the Ten Wizard Saints, had been flattened by Kaien. From that moment on, Gajeel couldn't help but fear him.
But now… Kaien didn't even object to letting him in. That caught him off guard.
"As long as you don't betray Fairy Tail, or do anything to disgrace its name—then you're one of us. A mage of Fairy Tail."
Kaien's voice was calm, but firm.
Gajeel was different from Jellal. In the anime, Gajeel went on to become a true Fairy Tail member, contributing countless times. Kaien could afford to be more forgiving toward someone like that.
Back during the fighting tournament, if Gajeel hadn't provoked him so arrogantly, Kaien might've gone easier on him. But the guy had been asking for it.
Hearing Kaien's words now, Gajeel couldn't help himself.
"…Got it."
If someone from Phantom Lord had said that to him, he'd have decked them without hesitation. But Kaien? He didn't want to fight him—and strangely, he felt a flicker of pride instead.
"If both the Master and Kaien approve, then I won't object," Erza said at last. "But I still think he should be monitored for now."
"Fair enough," Makarov nodded. Erza was an S-Class Mage—her opinion always carried weight, even with the Guild Master.
"By the way, Kaien—come here for a sec. I've got something to ask you."
Makarov beckoned him over for a private chat.
"What's up, Master?"
"Kaien… were you involved in the R-System incident?"
A few days ago, the magical world had been shaken to its core. The Magic Council had fired Etherion—the Satellite Blast Array. A weapon so powerful it could wipe an entire nation off the map. Unless something cataclysmic happened, the Council never used it.
But Makarov had a friend inside the Council—Yajima. And from Yajima, he'd heard shocking news.
Ultear and Siegrain were traitors. Siegrain was Jellal. And Etherion had been launched under their manipulation.
But that wasn't the worst part.
Someone had redirected Etherion.
That meant the Magic Council's "absolute weapon" was no longer absolute. Their control over the continent had been shattered.
Makarov had nearly fallen over in shock. But then came the final blow:
Yajima said it might've been Kaien who diverted Etherion—because when Siegrain vanished, he'd shouted Kaien's name in fury.
So Yajima had asked Makarov to confirm it.
"Yeah," Kaien said simply.
There was no point denying it. Too many people had seen it happen.
"It really was you! Then… Etherion—"
"I was the one who redirected it."
"…"
Makarov fell silent.
Even though he'd suspected it, hearing Kaien admit it out loud was still overwhelming.
"You… You… How?!"
"I used Take Over on someone with powerful space-time abilities."
"You little monster… You're just getting more and more insane."
Makarov honestly didn't know how to describe him anymore.
Kaien had only joined Fairy Tail a little over a year ago.
Back then, his Take Over forms were impressive, but he barely had the magic to maintain them. At best, he could fight for a minute.
But now?
His magic capacity had exploded like it was cheat-coded. The characters he could Take Over were getting more absurd by the day.
He'd already defeated Jose, a Wizard Saint. Now another Wizard Saint had fallen. And even Etherion—the Council's nuclear option—had failed to stop him.
This kid… Is he going to break the world itself?