Chapter 586 - 586: An Unexpected Discovery

Night had settled beautifully over Black Moon Mountain, where moonlight washed across the elegant landscape and countless attendants moved through Selene's luxurious residence.

Inside one of the main rooms stood a long dining table covered with specialties from Elentear.

Natsu and Happy were already tearing through the food with great enthusiasm, while Gray and Lucy stared at the mess of crumbs and scraps flying everywhere with increasingly exhausted expressions.

A second later, Natsu stole a huge piece of fatty meat straight from Gajeel's plate.

Naturally, Gajeel exploded.

The two immediately launched into another manly one-on-one fight over dinner.

Not far away, Suzaku remained unconscious on a cushioned couch.

Wendy rested one hand over his forehead while warm green light flowed from her palm, gradually healing the wounds Erza had inflicted.

Haku crouched beside her like an overeager puppy, doing everything he could to win her attention, while Carla and Panther Lily kept a vigilant watch from either side to make sure he didn't get too close.

At the opposite end of the table sat Skullion, Madmole, and Kiria.

All three looked deeply uncomfortable.

They had changed out of their damaged clothing and now sat silently across from Fairy Tail and the others, clearly unsure how they had somehow gone from enemies to dinner guests.

"I already told you," Ankh said from the head of the table. "You can't beat Selene. Elentear is her territory on top of that, so why keep throwing yourselves at her?"

He genuinely sounded as though he were giving them friendly advice.

Skullion folded his arms.

"We're only backing down this time out of respect for you."

His tone remained stubborn.

"That doesn't mean we're afraid of her."

The Dragon Eaters still held plenty of resentment toward the Moon Dragon God, but Selene's earlier words had complicated that hatred enough to stop them from immediately attacking again.

More importantly, once they had calmed down and considered the situation rationally, Diabolos simply couldn't afford to keep worsening its relationship with Fairy Tail.

Guiltina was already in terrible condition.

If they also alienated powerful forces abroad, the western continent might genuinely fall completely.

That was exactly the conclusion Ankh had expected them to reach.

Fairy Tail and Diabolos had indeed fought as enemies before, but the elites of both guilds understood basic strategy.

Before the two groups destroyed each other, the Alvarez Empire remained the far larger threat looming over both continents.

Selene clearly found the Dragon Eaters' stubborn posturing ridiculous.

Still, with Ankh sitting beside her, she maintained the broad, elegant smile of a gracious noblewoman and acted as though their disrespect didn't bother her at all.

Erza quietly watched Selene refill Ankh's wine cup with such natural familiarity.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Something about the scene felt strange.

Unfortunately, Erza was still Erza.

The moment Selene noticed her staring, she smiled and smoothly changed the subject.

"Your companions are quite talented, by the way. They've lasted surprisingly long against Hakune and the others."

Erza immediately forgot what had been bothering her.

"Is Spirior difficult to learn?"

"The biggest difference between Spirior and conventional magic is that its power is fully integrated into the user's body," Selene explained. "You control it almost instinctively, without needing the same process of drawing up and circulating Magic Power before casting."

Erik, who had been listening quietly, suddenly looked interested.

"Instant casting…"

His eyes brightened.

"That could be useful."

Even accomplished mages had to train the efficiency with which they moved Magic Power before activating spells.

Weaker mages often needed a lengthy buildup just to produce a proper magic circle.

For elites like Ankh and the others, that delay had already been reduced to almost nothing. Magic could flow through the body and be released almost immediately, while visible magic circles were often little more than dramatic presentation.

Still, if they could incorporate the principles of Spirior into their own magic and streamline that process even further, there was clearly room for improvement.

Skullion quietly observed the noisy table for a while before finally speaking.

"Aren't you still in the middle of a mission?"

Kiria bit into a chicken leg and added,

"Yeah. Aren't there still some of your companions missing?"

"We already found them."

Ankh smiled and raised one hand.

A glowing screen formed in front of him through the Ancient Script Magic he had casually learned some time ago. Several red dots were visible across it.

"Jellal contacted me a little while ago and synchronized his position with mine. We're just waiting for his group to meet up with us."

"I see…"

Skullion nodded.

Kiria continued chewing for a moment before casually saying,

"If you need help, you can ask us."

Ankh smiled.

"Then I'll thank you on Laxus's behalf."

"Pfft—!"

Kiria immediately choked.

Her face turned purple as she pounded her chest several times. Once she finally swallowed, her eyes lit up and she slapped both hands onto the table.

"That han—"

She coughed.

"I mean, Laxus talked about me?"

"Of course."

Ankh didn't even bother looking up from his drink.

"He praises you all the time. Says you're a rare beauty and exactly his type."

Erza slowly turned toward him with a complicated expression.

That was absolutely not what Laxus had said.

As far as she remembered, his entire description of Kiria had been something closer to:

'Some naked lunatic stole one of my coats.'

Still, seeing the usually wild and aggressive Kiria suddenly blush while twisting shyly in her seat, Erza wisely decided not to expose the lie.

Ankh continued drinking as Kiria giggled to herself.

Then his gaze unconsciously shifted toward an apparently empty corner of the room.

That was where Wraith stood.

In his ghostly form, the Ghost Dragon Slayer watched over the unconscious Suzaku with an unreadable expression.

Ankh remembered something Makarov had once mentioned.

There had apparently been an older Fairy Tail member who died tragically right before the Master's eyes.

His name had also been Wraith.

'Could they be the same person?'

Ankh filed the question away for later, then returned his attention to the glowing screen showing Jellal's position.

Once everyone regrouped, they could focus on resolving whatever was happening in Elentear.

...

"Can we please wait until everyone gets here before going inside, Kagura?"

Far east of Black Moon Mountain, Jellal stood outside a concealed cave carved into a cliffside, desperately trying to stop Kagura from charging in.

Kagura's eyes were red.

She pointed furiously toward the cave.

"I saw Millianna and the others in there! They're actually—"

She could barely finish the sentence.

Not long after Jellal contacted Ankh, Kagura had suddenly spotted members of Mermaid Heel and immediately followed them to this location.

Once the group carefully ventured far enough into the cave to investigate, they discovered exactly what the missing Mermaid Heel members were doing.

Inside the mine, gaunt civilians were being forced to work like slaves.

Millianna and the others stood over them with vicious expressions, attacking anyone who slowed down and using magic to force the exhausted prisoners to keep mining.

The moment Kagura saw her own guildmates committing such atrocities, rage completely overwhelmed her.

She drew her sword and tried to rush in.

It had taken Jellal, Bacchus, and Ichiya considerable effort to drag her back outside.

Jellal looked at Kagura, understanding perfectly why she was so distressed.

Still, he shook his head.

"We don't have magic like Ankh or Wendy that can remove whatever is controlling them."

"If we charge in with nothing but force, we might defeat them, but we won't actually save them."

His expression turned serious.

"The priority is getting Ankh and the others here first."