Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Chapter 284

Zeref.

The strongest, most evil, and most feared Black Mage in the history of the magical world.

His name was known throughout Ishgar.

Some people feared him, some worshiped him, and others had spent their entire lives searching for him.

A major part of Grimoire Heart’s current operation was precisely to find Zeref.

As for why attacking Fairy Tail and finding Zeref had somehow become part of the same plan, Hades had never explained.

Ultear didn’t know either.

Until now, she had assumed that destroying Fairy Tail was Hades’s primary objective.

Yet somehow, they had actually discovered traces of Zeref on Tenrou Island.

That alone made Ultear suspect Hades knew far more secrets than she had ever imagined.

"Ultear. Go and bring back the sealed Zeref."

"Me?"

Ultear looked up blankly and met Hades’s gaze.

The old man frowned.

"What is it? Weren’t you the one who longed more than anyone to find Zeref in the past? Are you unwilling?"

"No. I’ll go."

Ultear immediately lowered her head to hide her expression.

She had spent so much time around Marshall that she had unconsciously begun relaxing her guard.

For someone who had spent almost her entire life walking on thin ice, that was almost unimaginable.

Hades was right about one thing.

In the past, finding Zeref and creating the Great Magic World had indeed been Ultear’s obsession.

But things were different now.

She had found something else to live for.

Zeref himself no longer meant much to her, which was why she had failed to react immediately when Hades gave the order.

Ultear lifted her head again.

"Going alone might be difficult. May I take Meredy with me?"

"Granted."

Hades turned toward one of the nearby subordinates.

"Fairy Tail should be in the middle of its S-Class Promotion Trial right now. Send some advance scouts first. Ideally, isolate them and defeat them one by one."

The subordinate hesitated.

"Master... the scouts have already reported back. Fairy Tail doesn’t appear to have split up."

"Hm?"

Hades narrowed his eyes.

"Has the exam already ended? Or has it not begun yet?"

"Neither."

The subordinate swallowed.

"They’re all gathered together... having a party."

"...What did you say?"

Hades snapped so sharply that the man immediately projected the scout footage into the air.

The image showed Fairy Tail’s members lounging around the beach without the slightest hint of tension.

They were eating, drinking, playing games, and generally behaving as though they were on vacation rather than participating in an S-Class exam.

Hades almost laughed from sheer irritation.

"Heh. I’ve heard Fairy Tail’s reputation has grown considerably in recent years. I thought that brat Makarov might actually have been doing a decent job."

His expression darkened.

"But this..."

Hades shook his head.

"Forget it."

He turned toward the goat-headed figure standing nearby.

"Caprico. Take the others ahead and surround them. Since they’ve lowered their guard this much, we’ll eliminate them all at once."

The goat-headed Caprico was, in truth, the Celestial Spirit Capricorn under the control of the Mage Zoldeo.

Zoldeo had once served the Heartfilia family before eventually betraying them for reasons of his own.

Ultear had already included all of that information in the intelligence she passed to Marshall.

"Yes, Lord Hades."

Zoldeo possessed the Lost Magic Human Subordination, which allowed him to bind humans through brutally restrictive contracts and summon them much like contracted creatures.

Despite the unsettling nature of the Magic, his mastery of it was unquestionably high.

Caprico brought his hands together.

In an instant, the subordinates stationed across Grimoire Heart’s airship disappeared.

Hades continued issuing orders.

"Ultear and Meredy will retrieve Zeref. The rest of the Seven Kin will deal with Makarov’s brats."

His eyes swept across them.

"You can handle that, can’t you?"

Zancrow, the wielder of Fire God Slayer Magic, laughed arrogantly.

"Hahaha! Of course! We’re the strongest! I’ve been sick of hearing about Fairy Tail anyway!"

Hades gave the boy a long, unreadable look before answering in a calm voice.

"I’ll deal with Makarov personally."

He turned away.

"Begin the operation. End it quickly."

...

Ultear brought Meredy down into an inconspicuous corner of Tenrou Island.

The moment they landed, Ultear turned toward her.

"Meredy, once we separate, leave the island immediately. Get as far away as you can. I’ll come find you soon."

"Ultear..."

Meredy looked at her timidly, like a young animal afraid of being abandoned.

"A-Are you betraying the guild?"

"After today, Grimoire Heart is going to be finished. This isn’t betrayal."

Ultear answered without the slightest hesitation.

"It’s an early emergency evacuation."

Her trust in Marshall outweighed everything else.

If Marshall said he had a plan to destroy Grimoire Heart, then Ultear saw no reason to believe the guild would survive the day.

Exactly how such an enormous Dark Guild was supposed to collapse?

That was someone else’s problem.

"Then what about Zeref?"

Meredy hesitated.

"And Gray...?"

"Gray?"

Ultear blinked.

"What Gray?"

Then she remembered.

"Oh. Right. That was something I told you about my childhood."

She shook her head.

"Forget all of that. I stopped caring about either of them a long time ago."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"As for Zeref..."

Ultear’s gaze sharpened.

"I’m going to meet him."

But not for herself.

She was going for Marshall.

Marshall had said he could solve the problem of Ankhseram’s curse on his own, and Ultear believed him.

Even so, there was currently someone on this island who had lived under that exact curse for hundreds of years.

There was no reason to waste such an opportunity.

If Zeref knew anything that could help Marshall, Ultear intended to obtain that information.

As for the danger?

For Marshall, that level of danger meant nothing.

...

Meredy sensed the fierce emotion radiating from Ultear, and that strange feeling returned to her chest.

For months now, she had increasingly felt as though Ultear were drifting away from her.

It had started sometime during the past half year.

Ultear would often sit alone smiling to herself.

Whenever Meredy asked why, Ultear refused to explain and merely told her that good days were coming soon and that she should look forward to them.

Meredy hadn’t looked forward to them at all.

Because little by little, she had begun noticing that she was no longer the only person reflected in Ultear’s eyes.

Ultear had found someone more important.

Meredy didn’t know what she was supposed to feel about that.

From beginning to end, Ultear had been the only person in her life.

If Ultear was happy, then surely Meredy ought to be happy too.

So why did it hurt?

Meredy had been rescued by Ultear as a child, roughly seven years earlier.

Ultear had only told her the truth about those events recently.

Her parents and the town where she had once lived had both been destroyed during an operation carried out by Grimoire Heart.

Ultear had missed that particular mission because of an unexpected incident.

By the time she arrived, the destruction was already over, but she happened to find Meredy alive and rescued her.

For years, Meredy had foolishly treated Grimoire Heart as her new home.

Only recently had she learned that the guild she belonged to was the very organization responsible for destroying the happiness she once had.

Leaving Grimoire Heart meant nothing to her.

She had never truly cared about the guild.

The only person she had ever cared about was Ultear.

And if that was true... then what she needed to do now was obvious.

Meredy reached out and caught Ultear’s hand just as she was about to leave.

"Wait."

Ultear turned.

"I’m not leaving."

Meredy tightened her grip.

"I’m going with you."

"No!"

Ultear’s expression changed immediately.

"It’s too dangerous!"

"I don’t care!"

Meredy met her eyes without backing down.

"For you, I’m not afraid."

Danger?

For Ultear... that little bit of danger meant nothing.