The guild was still noisy as usual.
Lucy, who had just recovered from her cold, wasn't being pressured by Natsu to take on missions.
Lucy sat beside Wendy, watching ahead.
Natsu and Happy were performing a comical butt-wiggling dance on the table, making everyone burst into laughter.
"Haa—" Lucy sighed and said, "Lately, I feel like missions are becoming more difficult."
"Why is that, Lucy-san?" Wendy asked curiously.
"Probably because of my strength," Lucy replied. "I feel the gap between me and Natsu growing wider."
"Is that so..." Wendy nodded.
She herself had similar concerns.
As a Dragon Slayer Mage, she was undoubtedly the weakest one—not because the Sky Dragon's magic was ineffective, but simply because she wasn't strong enough.
Even Emily lately made her feel under pressure.
Ikuto's swordsmanship combined with Jehfrit's Deception Magic—though Emily could only be considered a novice in both—was already proving to be quite troublesome when used together.
At this rate, it felt like Emily would soon surpass her.
"Strength?" At this moment, Jehfrit walked over, spinning a card in his hand. "Isn't this a coincidence?"
He sat down opposite Lucy.
Both looked at him, puzzled.
"Lucy, I have a way to boost your strength immediately, but it won't come for free," Jehfrit smiled.
"What method? Buying your magic cards?" Lucy asked curiously.
Happy, having received a card from Jehfrit, couldn't help but show off, especially to Carla, boasting every day that he could now protect her.
"That's not suitable for you," Jehfrit said. "Happy's situation is special; he doesn't have much magic power, but his fine control is decent. You're the opposite."
Lucy's magic power naturally couldn't compare to monsters like Natsu or Gray, but among peers, she was fairly excellent. However, compared to Happy, who constantly used flight magic, her precision control was lacking.
It wasn't that she couldn't train, but rather that it wasn't necessary.
"What is it then?" Lucy asked.
"Let me show you first." Jehfrit placed the card on Lucy's forehead: "Just an illusion, don't panic and activate your magic."
Lucy opened her eyes to find herself standing in an empty park.
Apart from Jehfrit, there was no one else around.
"You possess a super spell called Urano Metria, which drains most of your magic power in one go, using the power of eighty-eight stars for saturation attacks," Jehfrit explained.
"That's right," Lucy nodded.
"I've simplified it a bit," Jehfrit continued. "Since I'm not a Celestial Spirit Mage, I can't truly harness the power of the stars, but you can use your contracted spirits to take shortcuts."
Jehfrit raised his hand, and a Laxus appeared ten meters away.
*Buzz*
A basketball-sized orb of light appeared beside Jehfrit.
*Boom*
In the next second, the orb flew towards Laxus, blasting him away. But immediately, another Laxus appeared.
Lucy's eyes lit up.
*Buzz*
Seven orbs of light appeared around Jehfrit, all flying out and launching continuous bombardments.
"This is the improved magic—it consumes much less magic power," Jehfrit said.
"Please teach me!" Lucy pleaded earnestly.
"Lucy, understand that this is a customized product," Jehfrit said.
At this moment, Lucy returned to the guild.
Jehfrit retracted the card and said, "You need to offer something in return to get it."
"Money?" Lucy gritted her teeth and said, "If I must, I'll ask my father."
Her relationship with her father, Jude, had improved significantly during this time.
And the allure of this magic was too great for Lucy.
Of course, she knew it wouldn't be cheap, and she likely couldn't afford it.
"No, not money," Jehfrit shook his head.
"Then what do you want?" Lucy asked, puzzled.
"A key," Jehfrit replied. "To be precise, I want to borrow one of your keys for a while."
"Which one?" Lucy hesitated. As a Celestial Spirit Mage, even though she trusted Jehfrit, lending her spirit keys felt like betraying a friend.
"Horologium," Jehfrit said. "I plan to conduct some research on him."
Though he didn't remember many plot details, he knew future enemies would only grow stronger.
He himself wasn't afraid. Miko's scales could put him in an absolute defense state. Miko was very confident—even if they couldn't defeat Zeref or Acnologia, it wouldn't be easy for them to kill her either.
But others weren't so fortunate.
Especially Emily, who, like him, was fragile.
However, Emily didn't have a pure and powerful demon like Miko to contract with.
Lucy had a highly functional key—the Clock Constellation Horologium.
Every time in critical situations, Horologium would automatically jump out to protect Lucy.
His track record was impressive.
Thus,
Jehfrit wasn't interested in other spirits, but he was very intrigued by Horologium.
"This..." Lucy hesitated.
*Clap*
Jehfrit placed the card on the table and said, "Call the party involved and discuss it."
"Mm." Lucy reluctantly took out the key and summoned Horologium.
"Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation—Horologium."
A grandfather clock appeared.
"Master Lucy," Horologium bowed.
"Horologium," Lucy bit her lip and said, "I want to discuss something with you."
Lucy then informed Horologium about the matter.
"Thank you very much for considering me, Master Lucy," Horologium smiled. "Being able to enhance Master Lucy's strength by exchanging magic knowledge with Mr. Jehfrit is entirely worth it."
"Magic exchange, very fitting," Jehfrit chuckled. "I'm not going to smash him with a hammer or dissect him with a scalpel."
"I am more than willing to make this trade, but please let Master Lucy decide," Horologium said.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Horologium," Lucy said.
"It's yours," Jehfrit pushed the card forward with a smile and said to Horologium, "Pleased to work with you."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Jehfrit," Horologium politely responded.
*Ding ding ding*
At this moment, a bell rang throughout the town.
"Huh?" Everyone looked toward the guild in surprise.
"What's going on? And does this bell mean danger?!" Lucy anxiously asked.
"Because..."
"Gildarts is back!"
Before Jehfrit could answer, Natsu shouted.
"Gildarts is back!" Everyone cheered wildly.
Gildarts had been gone for three years without any news, and everyone was worried about him.
"Gildarts?" Lucy vaguely remembered, "The S-Class Mage who hasn't shown up yet."
"Mm," Jehfrit nodded. "Besides the Master, he's the strongest mage in the guild; even Laxus can't beat him."
"Eh?!" Lucy's eyes widened. To her, Laxus seemed incredibly formidable.
After all, Natsu + Gray + Gajeel hadn't managed to defeat him.
"How about compared to you, Jehfrit?" Lucy asked.
"Not comparable," Jehfrit replied. "He's stronger than me."
"Stronger than Jehfrit..." Lucy began to exclaim, but Erza interrupted, "Stop listening to his lies."
"Eh..."
"Gildarts is indeed strong, but before, it wouldn't be strange if Jehfrit lost. But now, I don't believe you can't beat him," Erza said.
"That's right," Gray agreed with a nod.
"Gildarts has been away from the guild for three years. Don't base your impression of him on how he was three years ago," Jehfrit said.
"Stop talking nonsense. We won't believe a word of you saying you're weak."
"Eh..."
Lucy asked, "By the way, why does Gildarts ring the bell when he returns?"
As soon as she finished speaking,
The ground began to shake.
"What's happening? Is it an earthquake?" Lucy panicked.
At this moment, someone outside shouted, "The whole town switches to Gildarts Mode!"
"What's Gildarts Mode?" Lucy was completely confused.
"You can think of it as the scene when Erza gets drunk in the guild. Gildarts Mode is to avoid such situations," Jehfrit explained.
"Erza getting drunk..." Lucy recalled.
Since the establishment of the new guild, Erza had gotten drunk several times and disliked the pillar near the entrance each time, wanting to cut it down. Every time, everyone had to work hard to dissuade her.
Mira said, "Gildarts uses Crush Magic, which can crush anything it touches. To prevent him from accidentally touching buildings or residents in town while spacing out, the entire town enters Gildarts Mode."
"Eh?!" Newcomers like Lucy were shocked.
At this moment,
The layout of the town outside had changed dramatically.
A main street stretched from the town entrance all the way to the guild's front door.
"He's here!" Everyone watched expectantly.
An orange-haired man slowly walked to the guild's entrance and stepped inside.
He looked around in confusion and asked Mira, "Excuse me, miss, I remember there was a guild called Fairy Tail nearby."
"It's here. We rebuilt the guild. By the way, I'm Mirajane," Mira smiled.
"Mira, you've changed so much!" Gildarts exclaimed. "Also, I don't recognize the guild at all!"
"Not just the guild, you don't even recognize people anymore!" Lucy muttered quietly.
Gildarts looked at Lucy and said, "So you're Erza. Long time no see, Erza."
"Erza has red hair!" Lucy retorted, "Can't you tell that?!"
"True," Gildarts nodded and turned to Natsu, "Erza..."
"Gildarts, let's fight!" Natsu shouted.
"Oh, so you're Natsu."
"You didn't even distinguish gender?!" Lucy was shocked.
"Ah—Fire Dragon's—Iron Fist!" Natsu lunged at Gildarts.
*Bam*
Gildarts swatted Natsu away like a fly.
"So strong!" Lucy's eyes widened. Even Erza couldn't achieve that level!
"Gildarts," Guild Master Makarov sat on the counter, looking at Gildarts and sighed with relief. "How did the mission go?"
"Haha—" Gildarts chuckled a few times, then answered seriously, "No good. I couldn't handle it at all. Coming back alive was sheer luck."
"There's nothing wrong with giving up, as long as you came back safely," Makarov said. "This mission has never been completed by anyone. You're the first to return successfully."
"Yeah... barely made it back," Gildarts scratched his cloak, his expression somewhat grim.
"Woof woof?" At this moment, a puppy barked at Gildarts.
"Slow down, Milalit," Emily chased Milalit into the guild.
"This is strange. Why did the town suddenly change like this?"
While speaking, Emily approached Gildarts and picked up Milalit.
"Oh, Lisanna, long time no see. You haven't changed much," Gildarts reached out and ruffled Emily's head.
"Huh?" Emily was baffled and said, "Uncle, I'm not Lisanna-nee. I'm Emily."
"Huh?" Gildarts paused, scratched his head awkwardly, and asked, "Then where's Lisanna?"
As soon as these words left his mouth, the entire guild fell silent.
"...," Mira suddenly covered her face and ran into the rest room.
Lucy glanced at Natsu.
Not long ago, she had learned who Lisanna was.
"Lisanna is dead," Natsu finally said.
*Bam*
A sudden gust of wind swept through the guild, forcing everyone to close their eyes. Amidst the wind, they heard Gildarts' roar, "Jehfrit, you slacked off, didn't you!"
The wind subsided.
Everyone saw Gildarts grabbing Jehfrit by the collar.
*Slap*
Jehfrit grabbed Gildarts' hand, slowly pushing him away while calmly saying, "Yes."
"I also bear responsibility," Laxus' voice suddenly echoed from the second floor.
Everyone looked up to see Laxus gripping the railing, calmly gazing at Gildarts.
"Enough," Natsu and Gray simultaneously grabbed Gildarts' wrists. Gray said, "We all swore together back then—not just those two."
"What's going on?" Lucy was perplexed.
Happy explained, "Because the three of them once promised to protect everyone, including Lisanna."
"...,"
Gildarts released his grip and said, "Sorry, Natsu."
Natsu remained silent.
"I'm tired. I'll go rest. Natsu, come find me later; I have a gift for you."
Gildarts walked towards the guild wall absent-mindedly.
*Bam*
The wall instantly exploded.
"...," Everyone fell silent.
But when Gildarts exited the guild, they realized the wall was intact. He had actually walked out through the main door.
This was clearly Jehfrit's deception.
Jehfrit silently sat down.
Lucy felt the atmosphere was tense.
She quickly pulled Happy aside and said, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail."