Jose Porla desperately wanted to claim that his guild was the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, but he was a realist at heart.
He knew that Phantom Lord was currently weaker than Fairy Tail, especially when it came to monsters like Gildarts, against whom Jose himself wasn't confident of a sure victory.
However, he still had his ambitions.
Jose had been formulating a plan ever since he learned that Lucy Heartfilia, the daughter of the wealthy Jude Heartfilia, had joined Fairy Tail.
Jose had always wanted to secure the financial support of the Heartfilia Conglomerate, believing that with their backing, he could develop his guild more effectively.
Unfortunately, Jude was completely unmoved, and no matter how eloquently Jose pleaded his case, the business tycoon simply wouldn't agree.
Naturally, Jose turned his attention to Jude's only daughter, the sole heir of the Heartfilia family.
Last year, when he heard she had begun traveling with the intention of joining a guild, he secretly laid the groundwork by continuously promoting Phantom Lord's reputation and showcasing its strength in front of her to entice her to join.
That was why Lucy had heard so much about the conflicts between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail and the rumors of Phantom Lord's power during her travels.
But luck wasn't on his side.
Despite exhausting all his methods, Lucy Heartfilia ultimately joined Fairy Tail.
He could have invited her directly during her travels, but he feared Jude would see through such transparent tactics, so he never acted on it.
Yet, it seemed the members of Fairy Tail were unaware of Lucy's status as a conglomerate heiress, as she was still living alone in a rented apartment.
This gave Jose a new idea: kidnap Lucy and turn her into a long-term bargaining chip to force Jude to provide funds for Phantom Lord.
But this plan was abandoned before it could even be put into action because Jose received troubling news from his informants.
Natsu the Salamander and his talking cat kept showing up at Lucy's house, and they had been virtually inseparable since they first met.
"Don't you have your own houses?!" Jose felt like slamming the table in frustration.
So, Jose came up with a second plan: while most of Fairy Tail's main forces were away, he would attack the Fairy Tail Guild building to plant the seeds of anger.
Then, after Lucy returned, he would ignite that anger by attacking the members of the Fairy Tail Guild.
Once he provoked Makarov's fury and lured him into leading an all-out attack on Phantom Lord, Jose would take advantage of the chaos to secretly abduct Lucy.
Moreover, if a guild war broke out, Makarov wouldn't be able to clear his name, and the worst possible outcome for him would be the dissolution of Fairy Tail.
Now, however, he was hesitating.
Should he stick to the original plan and wait for Makarov to come knocking, or should he formulate a new plan?
"Alright, you may leave now."
Jose, who had been lost in thought for a long time, finally realized he had left Gajeel standing idly in the room.
Gajeel silently left the room while muttering, "Tch, no effect huh?"
It wasn't that Gajeel disliked Jose, but he simply wanted to be an agent of chaos and was sick and tired of hearing everyone sing Fairy Tail's praises all day long, he just wanted to see the two guilds go to war!
...
Magnolia.
A figure cloaked in a black hood slowly blended into the crowd entering the city, appearing unremarkable aside from being somewhat slender and tall.
He had completely suppressed his magic power since approaching Magnolia to conceal his tracks.
Jose Porla had personally come to Magnolia.
At two in the morning, after communicating with his informant, he arrived outside the house Lucy rented.
According to the intelligence, Natsu still lived here, but fortunately, it was only the Salamander—someone Jose didn't consider a significant threat.
After pinpointing Lucy's room, Jose used a spatial spell to bypass the walls and enter directly.
"Who's there?!"
Natsu was a heavy sleeper, but his sense of smell was keen, so the moment Jose entered, he caught the intruder's scent.
"Lucy!"
Natsu burst through the door to Lucy's room and immediately saw Jose's hooded figure standing over her bed.
"Dead Wave!"
Jose released a massive cloud of black mist from the magic circle on his left hand, obscuring his form as he grabbed the unconscious Lucy, intending to escape.
However, Jose's teleportation magic had its limitations; while powerful in combat for short-range maneuvering, it was rather mediocre for fleeing long distances while carrying a hostage.
"Happy!"
"Aye!"
Relying on his nose and Happy's speed, Natsu pursued Jose relentlessly through the open window and onto the roofs.
"Kidnapper!" Natsu shouted while chasing, not caring that it was the middle of the night since Lucy's safety was more important.
"Thief!"
Not knowing what else to yell, Natsu kept shouting randomly to raise the alarm.
"Shut the hell up?"
"Aren't you sleeping at this hour?"
"Are you trying to cause chaos?"
The residents of Magnolia turned on their lights and opened their windows to look outside as Jose and Natsu raced through the streets toward the city gate.
'This location should be within his earshot!' Natsu judged internally.
"RAIZEL!!!!!" Natsu took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
...
"Raizel? Who's calling for Raizel? Huh? That sounds like Natsu's voice," Mirajane mumbled, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she groggily climbed out of bed.
"RAIZEL—"
The desperate shouts reached Mirajane's ears clearly now, and she was certain it was Natsu.
"LUCY'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!!!"
Mirajane's expression changed instantly, and she immediately activated Satan Soul, bursting through her window in a streak of dark light.
"Natsu! Where's Lucy?" Mirajane asked as she flew swiftly toward Natsu's voice.
"And who's that?"
"No idea!"
Mirajane and Happy dodged the various dark spells Jose hurled at them to slow them down.
"Jose Porla!"
Raizel, having also heard Natsu's shouts, hurriedly got up.
"Take Over: UlforceVeedramon!"
Transforming into the blindingly fast Holy Knight, Raizel rushed over in an instant.
"Tch!"
Jose knew the situation was hopeless as he sensed Raizel approaching.
It wasn't just Raizel, for he could sense several other powerful magical signatures converging on their location.
To prevent Natsu and the others from pursuing him, Jose threw Lucy down from the tree line.
She had been magically knocked out earlier and still hadn't regained consciousness.
"Lucy!!!"
Happy accelerated, and Natsu leaped forward, finally catching Lucy just before she hit the ground and Jose used the distraction to vanish into the night.
"Let's take Lucy to my place first," Raizel said to Mirajane and Natsu, landing beside them.
...
Back at Raizel's estate, Mirajane called Lucy's name a few times as she lay on the sofa, but there was no response.
"Lucy must have been magically knocked out by him, but she'll be fine once she wakes up," Mirajane assured them after checking her vitals.
"Was that man really Jose Porla, the Guild Master of Phantom Lord?" Natsu asked, clenching his fists.
"Yes, most likely him," Raizel nodded grimly. "Even though Jose wore a robe and hood, the nature of his magic power couldn't be disguised."
"The dark spells he used earlier were signature moves of his Shade magic," Mirajane added.
"To obstruct us, he even summoned Phantom Soldiers."
As someone who handled all matters big and small for the Guild, she naturally had some understanding of the masters from various rival guilds, and Phantom Soldiers were indeed a unique magic Jose was known for.
Coupled with the recent conflicts between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail, Mirajane felt the probability that it was Jose had greatly increased—one could even say it was 99%.