Date: July X786 — Two Days After Teresa's Exit from the Vault
Location: Era — Council Citadel, Inner Chamber of Eyes
The high ceiling of the citadel chamber glowed with ancient runes, each one humming like a low chant only the First Wardens were allowed to hear.
Warrod sat cross-legged, still as an old tree bracing against wind that had not yet arrived. Across from him, Org stood with his arms folded behind his back, eyes fixed on the central lacrima.
The projection shimmered: a topographical model of Ky'run, its old veins marked with glowing heat lines. Teresa's route glowed brightest — a single, unbroken arc.
She had entered without triggering a single perimeter alarm. She had exited without taking a relic or leaving a scar.
Except for the knowledge she carried.
Commander Vayne's voice crackled through the echo. His armor still bore scorched runes from the magical backlash their scouts encountered.
"The Vault is sealed. It rejected even our highest-access signatures," he reported. "Whatever she saw... it is closed to everyone else now."
Warrod gestured, causing Teresa's path to spiral open like a flower.
"No other paths are needed," he said.
Councilor Bran's voice snapped across the room, sharp and brittle. "You approve of this? She disobeyed every limitation we set."
"She prevented a cataclysm," Org shot back. "Without her, Voldane would have cracked the Vault and seized what lay beneath."
Bran scoffed, though his voice trembled. "We have only her word."
"No," Warrod said, eyes locked on the lacrima. "We have proof."
The projection shifted. A crystalline wing fragment hovered midair — draconic resonance spiraled around it in luminous waves. Energy metrics flickered beside it, each reading impossibly high for any human or normal magical artifact.
Silence took the room like frost.
That kind of magic hadn't been seen since Zeref's final days — or Acnologia's last descent.
"She found draconic residue," Warrod whispered. "And she sealed it."
Org nodded. "She buried what our ancestors failed to destroy. And she asked for nothing in return."
Bran swallowed hard. "Then... we owe her?"
Warrod turned away.
"No," he said quietly. "We fear her."
Western Fiore — Desolas Range, Voldane's New Excavation Site
Voldane stood at the edge of a freshly unearthed crater. Dust spiraled around him, carrying whispers of old leylines now exposed to the open air.
Around him, masked acolytes, hybrid mages, and zealots shivered like reeds in a hidden storm.
Before them, an ancient seal split open under the strain of nine synchronized relics.
A door yawned open, not humming with balance like Ky'run. This one exhaled something closer to hunger.
A dark-cloaked engineer hesitated. "Sir... this site predates Ky'run by centuries. Maybe more."
"That's exactly why it matters," Voldane said, eyes gleaming. "Ky'run was a cradle."
He pointed into the endless dark.
"This... is the tomb."
Magnolia — Fairy Tail Guild
Teresa stood on a ridge above Magnolia's southern edge, wind tugging at her cloak. Her blade was sheathed, her gaze sharp.
She had seen enough within Ky'run — not all, but enough to know Voldane's next move.
The game had changed.
They weren't hunting scattered rogues anymore. They were stepping into the marrow of the world, places even shadows had abandoned.
She returned to Magnolia quietly, without announcement.
At the side gate, she slipped in. Her armor was dulled by dust, but unmarred.
Macao stood behind the bar. When she passed, he didn't speak. He simply poured a cup and set it at her usual place.
She accepted it with a small nod.
At last, in a voice softer than dusk settling over fields, she spoke.
"They're still digging."
Macao didn't ask who. He didn't need to.
That night, she stood atop Fairy Tail's highest spire, watching the stars.
To most, each one seemed still. But to her, the world trembled — a soft, distant hum on the edge of fracture.
Ky'run had not been the end. It had been a test.
She had passed.
Which meant Voldane was done hiding.
And so was she.
Era — Sealed Observation Chamber
In a windowless room with no doors, a single figure in gray sat before an unopened report. His voice slipped into the dark around him, low and certain.
"She will become what they fear most... because she already became what none of them understand."