Chapter 657 - 657: The Philosopher’s Stone

Seeing the uncertainty in Athena's eyes, Raizel nodded.

"That's right. You may have originally been created as a weapon meant to defeat the Five Dragon Gods, but if what you truly want is to possess emotions, then the first thing you need to do is try living as a person."

"And to live as a person, you need freedom."

Raizel looked directly into Athena's eyes. He slowly opened his hand, then closed it into a fist as his voice grew more resolute.

"Freedom belongs to every living being."

Somehow, Raizel and the others kept running into people who wanted to become human.

First there had been Selene, who wanted to live as one, and now there was Athena, a doll searching for emotions.

At this point, Raizel was getting surprisingly practiced at giving this sort of speech.

Lucy met Athena's gaze as well.

"You've already found the 'emotions' you wanted, haven't you?"

She straightened in her seat, her expression turning serious.

"So from now on, you should decide your own path!"

Athena stared at her for a moment before another smile slowly appeared on her face.

This time, she stopped hesitating.

She had made her decision.

Clenching both fists as though encouraging herself, Athena declared, "Then I'll return to the purpose for which I was originally created. Let's defeat Viernes!"

Ultear, Mira, Kagura, and Wendy all smiled at that, though Erza was more concerned with the practical problem.

"Then how exactly do we defeat Viernes?"

Athena finally gave them the answer.

"Enchant: Separation and the Philosopher's Stone."

Raizel had already guessed that Enchant: Separation would be involved after Athena explained that Viernes existed through an Enchantment.

The Philosopher's Stone, however, was completely unfamiliar to him.

Under everyone's questioning, Athena quickly explained.

"First, we use Enchant: Separation to strip Viernes's will away from Gold Owl. Then we use alchemy's greatest treasure—the Philosopher's Stone—to give Viernes a physical form."

She suddenly raised one fist.

"And then we beat him up!!!"

Lucy's face immediately twisted with the urge to complain.

"SO IT REALLY DOES COME DOWN TO BEATING HIM UP!!!"

Raizel shrugged.

"So the answer really is to punch hard enough to solve everything."

Athena's expression became troubled again as she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, there are several major problems. Almost no Mage is capable of using Enchant: Separation. As far as I know, there has only ever been one person in Ishgar capable of doing so—Irene Belserion—and she reportedly disappeared long ago."

Raizel raised one finger and wagged it back and forth, cutting her off.

"Outdated information. There are two now, and I expect there'll be three before long. Irene herself can also be here whenever I ask, so we can cross that problem off the list."

Besides, Raizel had a strong suspicion that Selene and Irene were already watching from somewhere.

He sometimes wondered whether Selene had spent all that time training her Magic Power purely so she could use it to spy on people.

Wendy raised her hand.

"I can use Enchant: Separation!"

"I'm still learning it," Erza added, raising her own hand.

"That makes things much easier."

Athena nodded, then rested a hand beneath her chin and closed her eyes in thought.

"Which leaves the second problem—the Philosopher's Stone. I don't know of any alchemist capable of creating one."

Mira frowned.

"Alchemy is much more widespread here in Guiltina than it is in Ishgar or Alakitasia, isn't it? There must be some reclusive master somewhere who can make one."

Her reasoning was simple enough. The situation was probably similar to Ishgar's Ten Wizard Saints, whose ranking depended on reputation, strength, and a variety of other factors rather than raw power alone.

There were plenty of people who simply had no interest in the title at all. Raizel, Laxus, and Gildarts were obvious examples.

Mention the possibility of making any of those three one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and their reaction would probably be something along the lines of—

'KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!!'

Raizel could almost picture the three of them recoiling in horror from the ceremonial cloak.

The moment Natsu heard they needed to find an alchemist, he immediately wanted to start searching alchemist guilds.

Raizel stopped him.

"If we're going to search, we shouldn't just wander from guild to guild without a plan. Gold Owl is supposed to be the greatest alchemist guild in Guiltina. If even they don't have anyone capable of creating a Philosopher's Stone, I doubt the other guilds will."

Lucy disagreed this time and shook her head.

"We still can't just give up without checking. I think we should at least try."

Ultear looked toward Raizel.

"We have time. There's no harm in searching."

Raizel nodded.

"All right. We'll do it your way."

They divided into two groups, with Raizel and Ultear each leading one team, then set out to investigate Guiltina's alchemist guilds as quickly as possible.

...

Alchemist Guild, Butterfly Antenna—

Raizel arrived with Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Happy and asked whether the guild had any alchemist capable of creating a Philosopher's Stone.

"The Philosopher's Stone?"

The guild master asked again to make sure he had heard correctly.

The moment Lucy confirmed it, the entire guild hall erupted in laughter.

"..."

Raizel and the others stared expressionlessly at the laughing alchemists.

"That's the absolute pinnacle of alchemy!"

"No one has ever successfully created one!"

"Not even Duke, the greatest alchemist on the entire continent!"

The guild members threw their comments in one after another.

Raizel turned around without hesitation.

"Looks like you can't help us. We're leaving."

He was about to take Wendy and the others to the next guild when someone called after them.

"Hey, wait. Are girls from Ishgar always this cute? Why don't you ladies stay and have some fun with us?"

Two of the alchemists reached toward Wendy and Lucy.

Their hands stopped against an invisible wall in midair.

It was not actually a wall at all, of course. It was simply Raizel's Magic Power preventing them from getting any closer.

Raizel calmly led Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Happy outside, then looked up at the guild's sign.

"Natsu."

"Take it down."

"No problem!"

When it came to demolition, Natsu was a professional.

He promptly demolished the entire guild building and gave the alchemists inside a beating for good measure.

Lucy awkwardly scratched her cheek as she watched the aftermath.

"Um... doesn't this violate the treaty forbidding conflicts between guilds?"

Raizel shrugged.

"This isn't Ishgar. And even if Guiltina has the same rule, do we honestly look like people who would care?"

Lucy thought back over Fairy Tail's history.

Eisenwald. Phantom Lord. Oración Seis. Grimoire Heart. Tartaros.

One after another, entire hostile organizations had ended up being smashed apart by Fairy Tail.

Suddenly, Raizel's argument sounded extremely convincing.

Lucy spread her hands helplessly.

"Whatever. Let's just go to the next guild."

...

Ultear's group, consisting of Erza, Kagura, and Mira, was doing the same thing as they traveled between alchemist guilds throughout Guiltina.

Without exception, every guild told them the same thing: no known alchemist had ever succeeded in creating a Philosopher's Stone, and they would be better off abandoning the idea entirely.

The two groups spent nearly an entire day visiting more than thirty guilds.

Every single one gave them the same answer.

None of them could create a Philosopher's Stone.

They also demolished more than ten guild buildings that had apparently been in serious need of "renovation."

Perhaps it was because most alchemist guilds were overwhelmingly male, while Ultear, Lucy, Wendy, and the others were far too attractive for their own good, but they kept running into idiots who thought it was acceptable to get handsy.

Of course, actually laying a hand on them was another matter entirely.

Anyone who managed that could consider it Kagura's loss.

Usually, all it took was for Kagura's eyes to turn cold as she drew her sword and activated Gravity Magic, and the offending alchemists were already on their knees before they could get anywhere near her.

Their search was not entirely fruitless, however.

At the alchemist guild Iron Eagle, Ultear and the others finally received one useful piece of information from its guild master...