### Chapter 72: The Next One
"So that's good?"
Mirajane froze for a moment when she heard that.
"Master… that's good?"
Mirajane thought she had misheard.
Makarov looked at the ruined guild, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
This guild was old and small, but it had sheltered many children as they grew up, like an old friend.
With the guild destroyed, Makarov was naturally furious, but Phantom Lord was not a simple opponent, and he couldn't drag the guild's children into a war.
Moreover, if things escalated into a large-scale fight, the Magic Council would definitely intervene, and that would be even more troublesome.
However, if only Riku acted alone, that wouldn't be a big problem.
Guilds weren't allowed to wage war, but friction between guild members was unavoidable.
Like this time—everyone knew Phantom Lord did it, but even if it was reported to the Magic Council, Phantom Lord would at most receive some painless, token punishment.
Compared to the humiliation of Fairy Tail's guild hall being destroyed, that kind of punishment was nothing.
By the same logic, Riku could do the same thing.
That bastard Jose—petty hostility was one thing, but this time he had smashed the guild itself, so he had to be taught a profound lesson.
If the Magic Council pursued it, Makarov would take responsibility—at worst, he'd quit.
Phantom Lord branch guild.
"Hahahaha!! This is priceless!! Look at the newspaper!! Fairy Tail is in ruins—hahahaha!!"
"Yeah!! Serves them right! Who told those guys to love showing off lately!! Now their guild's been smashed—how humiliating, hahahaha!!"
"Cheers! To miserable Fairy Tail!"
Boom——!!
The Phantom Lord branch's front door exploded apart, and the laughter inside abruptly stopped.
A figure appeared at the entrance.
"Who is it?!!"
"Fairy Tail—Riku," Riku said calmly.
"Riku?!"
"Thunder God Riku!!"
"He's actually here!"
Thunder God Riku, the hottest mage in the Kingdom of Fiore right now—of course Phantom Lord had heard of him, but this was their first time seeing him in person.
"Bastard! Fairy Tail dares to come cause trouble in Phantom Lord?! Kill him!!"
The Phantom Lord members immediately rushed at Riku.
"1,000,000 volts—Discharge!!!"
Crack-crack——!!
Violent high-voltage electricity burst outward from Riku's body.
"Aaaagh!!"
"Eeeaah!!"
Lightning conducted through every Phantom Lord member; they all screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor.
"Is Phantom Lord only this level?" Riku said.
"With this level, you dared provoke Fairy Tail—truly courting death."
After speaking, Riku walked out.
"M-Monster!!"
The Phantom Lord members lying on the ground stared at Riku's back in terror—one move, just one move, and he had taken down so many of them.
Thunder God Riku was an even more terrifying monster than the rumors said.
After stepping out of the branch guild, Riku paused.
"Almost forgot."
With a casual flick of his hand, a mass of lightning appeared above the Phantom Lord branch.
A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky onto the guild building.
Boom——!!
The Phantom Lord branch exploded and, in the blink of an eye, became a pile of rubble.
Riku took out a pen and crossed something off on a paper slip.
On the sheet Mirajane had given him, five locations were already crossed out.
"Next."
Bzzz!
Riku's body turned into lightning and vanished.
Hearing the commotion, people nearby ran over to watch; when they saw the Phantom Lord branch destroyed, they were all shocked and started talking loudly.
With such a huge disturbance, it naturally drew attention; after several branch guilds were destroyed in succession, Jose also received the news.
Crack!!
Jose furiously smashed his wineglass to the ground.
"Makarov! That coward—he won't come in person, and only sends a brat?!"
"This is outrageous!!"
He completely forgot that he was the one who had sent people to destroy Fairy Tail's guild in the first place.
One of the Four Elements, the earth wizard Sol, suggested: "Master, should we capture Riku? Then we can force Makarov to hand him over."
"No, no need."
"Go report this to the Magic Council."
Jose's eyes flashed as an idea formed in his mind.
"Report it to the Council?"
"That's right!"
"I'll report it and sue Makarov for instigating his guild member Riku to attack Phantom Lord."
"This is making a huge scene—there's no way the Magic Council will ignore it."
"And then I'll…"
Jose explained his plan; after hearing it, Sol looked full of admiration.
"As expected of Master Jose!"
"Go do it, quickly!"
"Yes!"
Fairy Tail guild.
"Hahahaha! As expected of Riku! He actually wiped out so many Phantom Lord branches! That feels amazing!"
"Yeah! Those Phantom Lord bastards dared provoke Fairy Tail—let's see if they dare again!"
"Riku, that bastard! He went to beat up Phantom Lord and didn't even call me!"
"That's so not cool! I want to beat those Phantom Lord bastards flat too!"
Natsu regretted it a little—if he'd known earlier, he would've gone to smash Phantom Lord too.
"Cheers to Riku!"
"Cheers to unlucky Phantom Lord!!"
Fairy Tail's members had all been holding in their fury; after hearing that Riku had destroyed Phantom Lord's branches, everyone felt much better.
After all, Fairy Tail had only had one guild hall destroyed, while Phantom Lord had more than ten branches destroyed by Riku—by losses alone, Phantom Lord had suffered far more.
Just then, a sound of footsteps approached.
"What's that sound?"
"Go out and look!"
Fairy Tail's members went outside and saw a group surrounding the guild.
"No one move!!"
"We are the Magic Council's Forced Supervision Unit—the Rune Knights!"
"Fairy Tail's Guild Master, Makarov Dreyar—Guild Master Jose Porla of Phantom Lord accuses you of ordering your guild member Riku to attack Phantom Lord."
"Come with us!"
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