Chapter 86, Jehfrit: Give Old Man John a Surprise

The underground laboratory.

"What should we do, Mr. Franck?" After John fell asleep, Franck's subordinates couldn't help but ask.

They had originally planned to create a fake Elixir of Immortality to trick John into injecting it, then escape—among their many failed experiments, some could temporarily make people younger, but at the cost of consuming all their energy within minutes, leading to certain death!

But they hadn't expected John to inject them with poison.

Now, if John died, they would surely die as well!

"Don't panic. Does John really think his poison is invincible?" Franck gritted his teeth and said, "We are Scientists. Experts in blood research! We will definitely find a way!"

"I have an idea, Mr. Franck. Why don't we simply exchange our blood?" one person suggested.

"Good idea; we still have plenty of untested blood samples!"

So Franck and his men immediately looked for blood matching their types and fled.

"They're out."

A streak of black lightning shot out from the underground entrance.

Wilshito hadn't escaped through the underground passage because he wasn't part of the Ahanita family and didn't know where their underground exits were.

Moreover, he figured Laxus would chase him through the underground passage, so he decided to take the opposite route to escape—he waited until those mages entered the underground passage before emerging from his hiding spot.

"This time, the losses were truly severe." Wilshito looked at the bodies strewn across the ground. "It was just a simple commission, yet more than half of the guild has been wiped out."

"However, as long as I'm alive, I can rebuild the guild."

"Damn you, John." Wilshito cursed, "You haven't even paid me the last portion of the commission—I'll have to collect it myself!"

Wilshito wasn't loyal to John.

He had helped John fend off enemies only because John, the cunning merchant, had paid him in installments.

The amount of the commission was substantial, enough to rebuild several dark guilds.

Thus, Wilshito chose to stay.

But he only wanted the money, not to risk his life.

He wasn't stupid. Given the situation, even if John succeeded in achieving immortality, those mages would still kill him—he was destined to fail.

Wilshito found John's vault and his face lit up with joy.

"Laxus, stop chasing Wilshito. Turn right ahead; we'll meet up in the lab and give old man John a surprise," Jehfrit's voice reached Laxus.

"You've got him under control?" Laxus asked.

"Of course," Jehfrit replied.

"Alright."

John slowly opened his eyes.

He felt full of vitality.

Though he still couldn't stand, he definitely felt younger.

A mirror was handed over.

John reached out to take it.

In the mirror appeared a young, handsome man.

"This is... me..." John touched his own face.

"Franck, you all..."

Overjoyed, he turned to speak to Franck but saw several strangers instead.

John's face instantly changed. He used his Blood Vines to attack while simultaneously propelling himself backward—away from them.

'Pfft'

The Blood Vines pierced through one man's body, but the man still smiled as if unaffected.

The others used powerful magic to sever his Blood Vines.

These were all formidable mages.

Before today, John had heard of them.

Today's failure of the Skull Guild proved their strength—they were far beyond what he could defeat!

John's mind worked quickly. Though he practiced magic, he wasn't a registered mage but a businessman—after decades, he was accustomed to handling problems with a merchant's logic.

John smiled, almost ingratiatingly, and said, "Several strong members of Fairy Tail, possessing the power to defeat an entire dark guild at such a young age, truly astonishing."

The group watched him.

"But," John continued, "youth and strength are temporary. As people grow old, they weaken; time takes everything away. When hair turns gray, strength and magic fade. Then, you will surely feel lost."

"What do you want to say?" Jehfrit stepped forward and asked.

This person could turn the tide!

John immediately deduced that and said, "May I ask your name?"

"Jehfrit," Jehfrit replied.

"Mr. Jehfrit, I believe you may not fully understand the great things I am doing," John said.

"No, I understand," Jehfrit replied, "self-deception."

"Deception? Haha." John laughed, pointing to his face. "Do you see this, Mr. Jehfrit? I'm eighty years old, and this is the result after injecting the Elixir of Immortality. I now look twenty!"

"The experiment succeeded!"

"Mr. Jehfrit, and you noble mages," John spread his arms, excitedly saying, "don't you desire immortality?"

"Fairy Tail mages, your strength, magic, and energy can remain at their peak!"

"And you, beautiful mage lady, you can maintain eternal youth, forever eighteen—this isn't every girl's dream?"

John's voice dripped with temptation.

But the group remained unmoved.

Natsu said, "That doesn't matter."

Gray said, "If all my friends and family die, and only I live on, such immortality would be too painful. I don't need it."

Laxus snorted, "Boring."

"You're still too young to cherish time," John shook his head, looking at Jehfrit. "Mr. Jehfrit, I believe you understand. You're very much like me."

"Don't disgust me," Jehfrit immediately replied. "Stop talking nonsense, or I might not wait for the show and kill you on the spot."

"The show?" John was taken aback.

"It's about time," Jehfrit pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

"What's about time?" John was puzzled.

"Old man, dying like this is too merciful for you," Jehfrit said.

"Three"

"Two"

"One"

'Pfft'

John spat out a mouthful of blood, his face filled with disbelief as he collapsed.

Elsewhere,

Franck and his fleeing men suddenly stopped, then an irresistible fear overwhelmed their hearts, and they all fell—no time to think or resist.

Wilshito emptied the vault.

This was only a small portion of John's assets, but it still made Wilshito feel this risky trip was worth it.

"Hmm? Ikuto?"

Wilshito saw someone in the distance, his face darkening—that damn woman was still alive!

Outside the estate, in a civilian house's yard.

Because a battle occurred here, the civilians who lived here had already fled to friends' houses.

Lucy and the others rested here.

There was water and food.

Though their actions amounted to nothing less than theft.

Everyone was tired and thirsty.

Of course, they weren't plain robbers; they would compensate later, ensuring no innocent person suffered losses.

Lucy and the others were resting here.

"Miss Lucy... Miss Juvia..." Ikuto shyly smiled.

It was the second time

In the same scenario again.

Last time, she lay in the cabin, wounded all over, bandaged up, covered with one of Jehfrit's mage cloaks.

Then Lucy and Juvia found her.

This time, she leaned against the wall, still bandaged all over, still covered with Jehfrit's mage cloak.

Even more coincidentally, Lucy and Juvia found her again.

"Miss Ikuto, are your injuries alright?"

Lucy worriedly asked.

Last time, they had already talked—Jehfrit saving her meant there could be basic trust.

"It's fine, I won't die, hiss—" Ikuto forced a smile, but tugged at her wounds, wincing deeply.

"You should rest properly," Lucy quickly said.

"Yes, rest well, Ikuto. Soon you will have eternal peace," suddenly a stranger's voice rang out.

Ikuto's face changed drastically, wanting to move but completely unable to.

"Who's there?!" Juvia reacted swiftly, turning to blast magic outside.

"Water Slash Breakthrough!"

"Oh, quite a dangerous magic," Wilshito dodged the attack and walked into the yard.

"Miss Lucy, Miss Juvia, be careful!" Ikuto warned. "This person is the master of the Skull Guild—Wilshito! A ruthless dark mage who kills without blinking!"

"Never expected, Ikuto, you're still alive," Wilshito smirked, "but this time, you can't escape, can you?"

'Pika'

Electricity flickered on Wilshito's hands.

Underground.

"Bad!"

Jehfrit suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong?" Everyone looked at Jehfrit.

"Natsu, Gray, break through the tunnel, we must rush back immediately!" Jehfrit urgently said.

"Alright!"

Natsu erupted in flames, and Gray also unleashed his magic.

"Ice Make: Ice Geyser!"

'Boom'

A massive ice pillar broke through several layers of ceiling.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu broke through several more layers.

"Lightning Dragon's Crushing Fist!"

The earth itself trembled.

'Pfft'

Wilshito had just taken a step when his face suddenly contorted, trying to retreat to the side, but it was too late!

"Ahh—"

Suddenly, a giant head emerged, opening an even larger mouth, biting off Wilshito's head from behind in one swift motion!

'Thump'

The headless corpse fell, still twitching.

"Ahh—"

The children screamed.

Facing this bloody scene, Lucy and Juvia turned pale.

Of course, the bigger reason was...

Outside the yard stood seven figures emanating ominous auras!

One of them bit off Wilshito's head.

The man dressed like a gentleman on the upper body but exposed below—wearing a suit and tie on top, but only tight briefs below, revealing two hairy legs.

His neck retracted, his head shrank, and finally returned to normal.

Then he took out a handkerchief, elegantly wiping his mouth, commenting as if on a delicacy, "Shadow Lightning Magic, eh? Quite good magic, delicious."

Suddenly,

The seven people stepped back in unison.

'Hum'

A six-meter diameter black beam struck the ground where they stood, burning a bottomless hole.

"Lucy!"

Natsu transformed into flames, shouting as he rushed over.

'Boom' Laxus turned into lightning, arriving first to shield Lucy and Juvia.

'Tak tak tak'

Dozens of ice spears flew like bullets.

One person stepped forward and said, "Cease your dangerous actions."

'Tak'

All the ice spears halted in place.

'Swoosh swoosh swoosh'

Except for Jehfrit disappearing.

Erza and the others arrived.

This time, everyone's faces were grave, including Erza and Laxus.

These people were absolutely incomparable to the small fry of the Skull Guild!

Even Wilshito seemed weak before them!

"Partners of Pudden? Followers of Ansa?" Jehfrit's voice came though he hadn't appeared.

"Correct," several nodded, speaking in unison despite different tones. "We worship the great god—Ansa."

"By the great Ansa's command—"

"The Eight Knights maintaining world peace!"

One stepped forward and said, "Jehfrit de la Valière, you killed the Knight of Mercy—Pudden. You are a demon reincarnated from hell. For the sake of world peace, you must be judged!"

"We shall hold the most merciless of trials—"

"So that you may truly confront the weight of your sins!"

"Know this: not even death can wash them away!"

"Heaven is forever closed to you—"

"And in the fires of hell, you shall repent... for eternity!"