Chapter 1098 435: Heh Heh Heh...

"What did you do to Lucy?" Mira was on the verge of tears. "Why is she wearing my clothes?"

Rhode froze for a moment, then pinched his chin. "Keh keh keh..."

Mira sobbed as she spoke. "Please don't hurt her, I... I'll do anything!"

Rhode sized her up from head to toe. "Keh keh keh..."

"Waa— waa—"

Just as the couple were really getting into it, Zu Yilu suddenly started crying.

"Oh, oh, don't cry, Mommy's just pretending to cry~"

"Don't cry, don't cry, Daddy's just fake laughing~"

The two hurried to calm the baby down, each convinced that their daughter crying was the other one's fault.

The guild was still as lively as ever. Even though it had started as a celebration of Zu Yilu's one-month birthday, everyone quickly forgot the main character and went back to doing their own thing.

Natsu, who had just come downstairs, didn't seem affected at all. He even had two red devil horns on his head, jumped up onto a table, and shouted as he breathed fire:

"I'm the strongest Demon!"

Gray sent a flying kick to knock Natsu off the table, black markings spreading over his body as he emitted an evil aura. "Then I'm a Demon Destruction Mage! I'm gonna become a Demon sooner or later too!"

"A man!" Elfman elbowed Gray off the table and transformed into a Beast King himself. "Obviously I'm the one who looks most like a Demon!"

As expected, the three of them started brawling, dragging everyone nearby into the mess as per usual.

They fought while fighting over the title of strongest Demon and its symbol—those red devil horns on Natsu's head.

Carla muttered, puzzled, "Those Devil Horns look kind of familiar..."

Wendy had just finished straightening her shoulder-length hair and said helplessly, "Because that's my hair accessory."

Carla covered her face. "I knew it..."

Bang!

A black serrated saber chopped down at the center of the crowd, sending everyone who was fighting flying.

Erza's face was dark. "No wrecking the guild!"

Everyone crashed to the floor, pointed at that terrifying figure, and shouted in unison, "De… Demon!"

Lucy whispered a complaint. "You're the one who just did the most damage..."

The racket in the guild was going to last late into the night. After Rhode and Mira watched with smiles for a while, they took Zu Yilu and went home.

Wendy and Carla went back with them too. Tonight it was their turn to sleep with Zu Yilu.

Anyone who's taken care of a baby gets it—this little ancestor can wake up and cry at any random time, and getting a good night's sleep is pretty hard.

Fortunately, there were plenty of people at Rhode's place. Elfman, Lisana, Wendy, and Carla could take shifts helping out.

With one person handling one night, nobody would be driven to collapse.

As soon as she got home, Mira went to take a bath.

Rhode first went to Wendy's room, coaxed his daughter to sleep, and only then left. Wendy had some experience now, so she didn't need much instruction.

"Looks like I can relax again tonight... huh?"

Rhode walked into the room to see Mira wearing a hazy silk nightdress, leaning sideways against the bed, staring straight at him.

"Darling..." Mira's voice was dripping with allure.

Rhode: "..." So much for relaxing.

...

A month passed quickly, and Rhode was busy every day.

Not only did he have to take care of the little fairy who wore him out, he also had to deal with the big fairy, the Demon.

If this kept up, he felt like he'd be giving Zu Yilu a little brother or sister pretty soon.

But things probably weren't going to stay this "leisurely" much longer.

The Council released word that the Western Continent was massively transporting supplies, mobilizing flying ships, and seemingly had intentions of mustering troops.

War really was coming.

Before this, the Council had already issued warnings to all the countries.

But only a few countries on the Ishujal Continent took defense seriously; many didn't care at all.

This time, those Kings finally started to panic. They sent people to the Council every few days, hoping to get first-hand information and more aid.

Even the King of the Gioa Kingdom hastily contacted Rhode, hinting all over the place that he hoped the Duke would move there permanently.

Rhode, of course, didn't agree—he just reassured him a bit and told the King to train his army properly.

In fact, given the Gioa Kingdom's location and terrain, even if the Western Continent's army really marched over, they might very well bypass it and leave it to deal with last.

So there was no need to be too anxious, because if it really came to that point, then there wouldn't be anything to worry about anyway—they definitely wouldn't be able to stop them...

All the other countries were racking their brains over their own safety, but the Council's proposal of "all countries joining forces to fight in coordination" was simply impossible to carry out.

There was nothing to be done—many countries were blood enemies. Even facing a crisis like this, they couldn't trust each other.

So many countries couldn't even manage basic cooperation, let alone hand their military forces over to other countries to command.

They wouldn't hand them to the Council either.

Because the Council Headquarters was ultimately built in the Pegrandi Kingdom, not in some neutral zone.

By contrast, power on the Western Continent was highly centralized, and its strength was terrifying.

Judging by the situation alone, the Ishujal Continent would be defeated piece by piece sooner or later.

Just thinking about this was enough to make Evaluators like Hayberion and Uluvheim tear their hair out in despair.

In response, Rhode's opinion was: instead of waiting for the enemy to come, we should go hit them first.

Fairy Tail was already prepared for battle.

Everyone had undergone special training for so long, and their strength had improved a lot.

Each restless nutcase had practiced some new finishing move and was itching to try it out.

Instead of letting them tear up the place every day, it'd be better to unleash them outside.

But nobody agreed with this proposal.

Even Uluvheim, who was usually pretty aggressive, felt Rhode's suggestion was too radical.

Given Ishujal's current situation and power, if they took the initiative to start a war, there would be no way to wrap it up.

Compared to offense, they preferred to formulate a defensive plan and look for opportunities within that defense.

Wait until they'd worn down most of the enemy's strength, or cut off Zeref's head, and then negotiate properly.

"You're actually still thinking about wrapping it up..."

Rhode didn't think much of their plan.

Their own President Mebius didn't believe there was any room for negotiation.

She said Zeref had been searching for the meaning of living for over four hundred years.

Once he locked onto a goal, he would never stop.

Even if it meant staking the entire Western Continent.

After all, to him, that continent was just a nation-building game he'd been playing over his long years.

In his cold, detached state, Zeref would feel that sacrificing it wouldn't matter.

Rhode couldn't change the other Evaluators' minds; all he could do was remind them to prepare for the worst.

That part they didn't object to.

When Rhode returned to the guild, Makarov had just gotten back too.

—The King of Fiore had invited representatives from all the major guilds to the Royal Capital for a meeting.

Fiore might be small in size, but it held one-fifth of the Mages' Guilds on the continent.

As a permanently neutral country, it was the most martial nation on the Ishujal Continent.

And given Fiore's location—staring straight across the sea at the Western Continent—it went without saying they would inevitably be the main force in this war.

Makarov and Rhode exchanged information from both sides, then decided to recall all members, suspend long-distance jobs, and prepare for war with full force.

Right on the next day, Ultear came knocking, bringing a bombshell of news:

"President Hades has been captured."