Chapter 526 - 526: Return

The moment Happy shouted those words, the entire guild hall fell silent.

Then, a heartbeat later, the place erupted even louder than before.

This time, it was Mirajane who grabbed Happy first.

"Is that true?! Ankh's really okay now?!"

"Aye!"

Happy, nearly squeezed breathless in her grip, raised one paw while his eyes spun.

"Ankh said he'll come back today after saying goodbye to Mystogan!"

The guild hall exploded into cheers all over again.

Watching everyone throw their arms around one another, laughing and shouting with flushed, excited faces, Makarov finally let out a quiet breath of relief.

"It's been half a year," he said with a warm smile. "This is the first time I've seen the kids smile like this in months."

Sitting beside him, Gildarts watched the younger members sling their arms around each other's shoulders and break into a loud, half-drunken song.

"Well, Ankh's always been one of the people holding this bunch together."

The battle six months ago had eventually become known throughout Ishgar as the Three-Continent War, a chaotic conflict involving several races and forces from across the world.

Afterward, Fairy Tail had entered an unusually tense period.

Ishgar, Guiltina, and Alakitasia had all been drawn into the conflict, but in the end, the western continent had emerged with the smallest losses and the greatest gains.

Among humans, demons, dragons, and gods, the demons had been nearly wiped out entirely, while humanity had suffered the heaviest overall damage.

Ishgar had escaped with fewer losses than Guiltina, but as far as Fairy Tail was concerned, that battle had still been an undeniable defeat.

Seven and a half years ago, they had been powerless on Tenrou Island.

Six months ago, they had been powerless again.

And once again, when Ankh had been fighting with his life on the line, they had barely been able to help him.

It wasn't difficult to imagine how that realization had affected everyone.

For the past six months, nearly the entire guild had thrown themselves into training with frightening intensity, as though growing stronger could somehow ease the guilt gnawing at them—or at least bury the unease they didn't know how to face.

Because this time, Ankh had only been injured.

But what if, one day, he truly died protecting them?

That thought had quietly settled into the hearts of many people in Fairy Tail.

The guild that had once been noisy, warm, and carefree had grown noticeably heavier.

Makarov had seen all of it.

And there had been very little he could do.

That was why, seeing everyone laughing so freely again today, he finally felt some of the weight lift from his chest.

They were still the same earnest, hot-blooded fools they had always been.

Once Ankh returned safely, at least some of that tension would finally ease.

As for the fear buried deeper down… Makarov had no answer for that.

After all, he carried the same pain himself.

He had failed to protect his children on that battlefield too.

Makarov glanced toward Laxus.

The younger man's expression had barely changed, but the shadow that had lingered between his brows for months was finally gone.

Makarov took a sip of his drink.

"You can relax now too, can't you, Laxus?"

Laxus silently lifted his mug.

Only after a long pause did he answer in a low voice.

"When Ankh gets back and sees what the world's turned into, he's probably going to start worrying about everything all over again."

Makarov froze.

Then his face fell.

Without another word, he returned to drinking.

Unfortunately, Laxus had a point.

Earth Land had changed dramatically over the past six months.

During the three-way conflict, Ishgar had suffered comparatively light losses, but several kingdoms along the western border had fallen.

Those territories had since been turned into forward bases for the Alvarez Empire's expansion into Ishgar.

The nations now under Alvarez control frequently stirred up border conflicts, sending forces to probe neighboring kingdoms and gradually seize more territory.

As a result, the Magic Council had remained in a constant state of military readiness.

Guiltina had suffered far worse.

Makarov had not received any reliable information from the northern continent in a long time.

Even whenever he visited the Magic Council, the councilors themselves knew little about what was happening there.

Most of Guiltina's coastal regions had already fallen under the control of Alvarez's main army.

Ishgar had completely lost contact with Guiltina's Magic Council.

The only information they received came from waves of refugees and immigrants fleeing south from the northern continent.

And almost every report told the same story.

Another city had fallen.

Another region had been occupied.

Another defensive line had collapsed.

The Alvarez Empire, which had already unified the entire western continent, was now fighting simultaneous campaigns in both Ishgar and Guiltina.

Nothing in Earth Land's recorded history had ever matched its current reach.

It had become, without question, the most powerful force in the world.

Then came an even more shocking revelation.

The emperor ruling Alvarez was none other than the Black Wizard who had plagued the world for centuries—Zeref.

No one knew exactly where the information had first leaked from, but once the truth spread, Zeref's already terrifying reputation grew even worse.

And with Tartaros destroyed and the Balam Alliance effectively collapsed, the dark forces within Ishgar began growing more active again.

Dark guilds.

Cults.

Illegal magical organizations.

Smuggling, trafficking, forbidden transactions, and every other kind of criminal trade flourished amid the instability.

The Magic Council had been overwhelmed trying to maintain order.

Light and shadow had always existed in balance.

The brighter one became, the deeper the other seemed to grow.

Ishgar's current dark forces lacked the stable structure once provided by the Balam Alliance, but that had only made them more chaotic, more reckless, and far harder to eliminate.

Because of this, the Magic Council had been forced into much closer cooperation with the major legal guilds.

Nearly every powerful guild had received expanded authority, allowing them to handle local security and maintain order with far greater independence.

The alliance between the guilds and the Council had taken another major step toward becoming a unified system.

Laxus thought back over everything that had happened during the past six months, then looked toward the Fairy Tail members gathered before him.

Their Magic Power had grown noticeably stronger.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"When that guy gets back, it's probably going to feel like he's stepped into a different world."

His gaze darkened slightly.

"And then he'll start thinking ten steps ahead again because he's worried about everyone."

Before Laxus could say anything else, a heavy hand slapped down on his shoulder.

Makarov burst into loud laughter.

"No matter how much the world changes, and no matter how strong everyone becomes, the hearts of the people in this guild won't change!"

The old man pointed toward the cheerful crowd in front of them.

"Who cares how dangerous things get outside?"

He grinned broadly.

"This place hasn't changed."

"This home hasn't changed."

Then Makarov looked directly into Laxus's eyes.

His voice became firm.

"And no matter what waits ahead…"

"Fairy Tail faces it together."

Grandfather and grandson stared at each other for several long seconds.

Then Makarov abruptly looked away and scampered toward the others as though the serious conversation had never happened, immediately joining the shouting and cheering.

Laxus watched the ridiculous little old man disappear into the crowd.

After a moment, he smiled.

"Yeah…"

He lowered his voice.

"That's what we've been working toward this whole time anyway."

The tension that had weighed over Fairy Tail for half a year seemed to disappear all at once.

The guild finally became what it had always been—a bunch of reckless idiots laughing their way through whatever life threw at them.

Ankh had not even returned yet, and somehow they had already started a full-blown party.

It lasted all the way into the evening.

Nobody was entirely sure what they were celebrating anymore.

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