The Phantom Guild Strikes

— — — — — — — 

"Master!!"

"All of you, stay put and go back! As the master of Fairy Tail, it's only natural for me to cooperate with the investigation. No one is allowed to act recklessly."

"But…" The guild members were unwilling to accept this.

Makarov shouted again, "Go back!!"

"…"

The entire guild fell silent. The old man was their master, and when he gave such a stern order, disobeying him would mean disrespecting him.

Makarov turned to Lucy with a reassuring smile. "Lucy, don't worry. We all know you didn't do it. As long as we cooperate with the investigation, we'll be back soon."

"Okay."

Hearing the master's words, Lucy felt slightly relieved. It was true—she hadn't done anything. That would be easy to prove.

Although she was being dragged into this mess, she didn't resent it. If she had the power, she might have destroyed the Phantom Lord Guild herself.

Before long, Makarov and Lucy were taken away by the Magic Council's Rune Knights for investigation.

— — —

Fairy Tail's Underground Hall

The atmosphere was heavy. Though they were thrilled that Phantom Lord had been destroyed, the fact that their master and a guildmate were taken away by the Magic Council left them feeling uneasy.

After all, Phantom Lord had struck first. Their retaliation was justified.

If Fairy Tail was being investigated, then Phantom Lord's master and the one who wrecked their guild should also be arrested!

The Council's blatant double standards made everyone in Fairy Tail furious.

BANG!

Natsu slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "No way! I'm going to rescue Master and Lucy!"

"Yeah! That's right! The Magic Council is unfair!"

"Let's storm the Council and bring them back!"

"If we have to, we'll fight the Magic Council!" …

With Natsu leading the charge, many members agreed, ready to barge into the Council and rescue their own.

Mira grew anxious at the sight. Right now, she was the only S-Class wizard in the guild, and she wasn't in a position to fight. She had no way of stopping them.

At that moment, a calm voice rang out.

"Enough. Just stay put."

It was Uchiha Kitaro.

Natsu turned to him, shouting, "Master and Lucy have been arrested! How can we just sit here and do nothing?!"

"And what do you think you'll accomplish by rushing in? Are you seriously going to fight the Magic Council? If you do, they'll demand that Fairy Tail be dissolved, and we'll all end up as a dark guild. Is that what you want?"

"…"

"There's nothing to worry about. Lucy didn't do it, and since she didn't, neither she nor Master will be convicted. Even if the Council wants to charge a guild master with a crime, they need solid evidence."

"Since there's no proof against them, it won't be long before they're released."

"…"

Hearing Kitaro's words, the guild members gradually calmed down. It was true. They had all been in the guild at the time. That person might have looked exactly like Lucy, but their magic and aura were completely different.

Transformation magic wasn't some rare ability—Mira could use it herself. Clearly, someone had taken Lucy's appearance to get revenge on Phantom Lord.

"Sigh… But who could've done this?"

Uchiha Kitaro casually answered, "Me."

"…"

The entire guild froze, eyes widening in disbelief as they turned to look at him.

"Wha—?!"

"K-Kitaro… it was you?!"

Kitaro nodded. "That's right. It was me."

"B-But you were in the guild the whole time yesterday!" Gray stammered.

"Yeah!"

"How did you pull it off?!"

Kitaro smirked. "Simple. I just used my bathroom break to create over twenty Shadow Clones. Then, I had them transform into Lucy and destroy all of Phantom Lord's branch guilds."

"…"

Happy tilted his head in confusion. "Why did you transform into Lucy, though?"

Wouldn't that just put Fairy Tail in a bad position? Now Master and Lucy had been taken away by the Council…

"Because Lucy said she wanted to be a famous wizard. I just gave her a little push. Now, she's probably the most famous wizard in Fiore."

"EHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

Indeed, Lucy was now the most talked-about wizard in all of Fiore. An individual who single-handedly attacked and wiped out all of Phantom Lord's branches.

Phantom Lord was one of the top guilds in Fiore—both in reputation and strength.

Its master was one of the Ten Wizard Saints. It had the Four Elements, Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel, and countless skilled mages.

They had over a thousand members, while Fairy Tail barely had a hundred.

And yet, this enormous guild's branches were effortlessly wiped out by a single person.

Kitaro chuckled. "Haha, I was just kidding. That was just a bonus. The real reason was to make it clear that Fairy Tail was responsible for destroying Phantom Lord, but without giving the Magic Council any proof."

"When Phantom Lord attacked us, they left behind Gajeel's iron pillars—clear evidence of their involvement."

"I wanted to do the same. I made sure everyone knew Fairy Tail was behind it, but left no solid evidence."

Mira frowned with concern. "But after suffering such a huge loss, do you think Phantom Lord will just let this go?"

Kitaro rubbed his chin. "Probably not."

Given Jose's personality, he was likely already on his way.

Suddenly—

Boom—!!

A violent tremor shook the entire guild.

"An earthquake?!"

"What's going on?!"

Alzack, who had been keeping watch outside, rushed down the stairs in a panic. "Everyone!! Look outside!!!"

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