Chapter 379: The Three Great Magics and a Ghost’s Secret

"First of all, my request definitely isn’t a perverted one."

"You’re lying! You’ve already slept with Bisca and Lisanna!"

"You—!"

Erza whipped her head toward Mavis, her eyes wide with absolute shock. She had harbored some lingering suspicions about Bisca’s behavior lately, but Lisanna? How could Mirajane possibly allow that?

"Should I expose the name of your lover to everyone right now so you’ll shut up for a moment?" Finn threatened, glaring down at the glowing ghost.

Mavis immediately clamped her mouth shut, her ethereal face paling.

Erza, Ultear, and Meredy all turned to stare at the First Master in complete bewilderment. Lover? Mavis was famously silent on the matter, looking away awkwardly.

"My request to Fairy Tail is simple," Finn continued, seamlessly taking control of the conversation. "Give me the blueprints and magical formulas for the Three Great Magics of Fairy Tail."

"...Is that all?" Mavis blinked, genuinely dumbfounded.

"Yes." Finn nodded firmly.

"Okay."

Without a single moment of hesitation, Mavis agreed. She moved closer to him, prepared to transfer the guild’s most guarded secrets.

"Drop your mental defenses," she instructed. "I’ll transfer the information directly into your mind."

Finn raised an eyebrow, slightly suspicious, but ultimately lowered his barriers to accept the vast influx of ancient knowledge. But, exactly as he expected, the First Master was a bit naughty. Under the guise of the transfer, she attempted to pry into his deepest memories.

Finn instantly slammed a mental wall down on her probe. Leaning in, he whispered dangerously, "Should I force my way into your mind instead?"

Mavis flinched, quickly retreating from his consciousness.

"We’re done here. Go back. I won’t tell the Council about your little beach meeting," Finn declared, waving a hand dismissively to shoo Mavis and Erza away.

"...That’s it?" Erza asked, bewildered by how fast it was over.

"Yeah."

"What about them?" Erza pointed her sword toward Ultear and Meredy, who remained standing behind Finn.

"Their situation is entirely different, and it’s none of your business," Finn replied coldly. Before Erza could argue, the space around them warped, and she and Mavis were instantly teleported away.

"..."

As they materialized back near the edge of the jungle, out of Finn’s sight, Mavis let out a long, heavy sigh. "His mastery over magic is terrifying."

"First Master... is it really okay for you to give our ultimate magics to a man like that?" Erza looked at Mavis, her face tight with complexity and guilt. She felt responsible; if they hadn’t let their guard down, Finn wouldn’t have acquired this massive leverage over them.

"It doesn’t matter," Mavis shook her head, unbothered.

Even if Finn possessed the theoretical knowledge of Fairy Law, Fairy Glitter, and Fairy Sphere, Mavis was confident he couldn’t cast them. Much like Cana, the magic required an absolute, fundamental bond with Fairy Tail to activate. In truth, Mavis had given him the magic as a deliberate gamble. She was planting a seed, secretly hoping that binding him to their magic might eventually bind him to their guild.

Despite his cold exterior and his controversial reputation among the Council’s higher-ups, Mavis had been observing Finn for a while. He didn’t shy away from abusing his authority for profit, but he wasn’t mindlessly greedy. He had quietly established dozens of orphanages, schools, and social programs across Fiore.

What terrified Mavis, however, was his offhand comment. He knew about her lover. He knew about Zeref. If Finn leaked that world-shattering secret to Makarov or the Council, the consequences would be apocalyptic. She knew she would have to speak to him privately again soon.

"But, First Master..." Erza’s voice trembled, pulling Mavis from her thoughts. "Is what you said about Bisca and Lisanna... is it the truth?"

Mavis looked up. Erza’s face was pale, her fists clenched at her sides. Lisanna was one thing, but Bisca was married. She had a beautiful little girl.

"...Did he force himself on them?" Erza asked. Her voice was low, but the sheer, lethal rage vibrating beneath her words was unmistakable. If Finn had abused his power to assault her friends, Erza would have drawn her blade and marched right back into that mist, regardless of the consequences.

"Erza, if he had forced himself on my children, do you honestly think I would have stood there and spoken to him so calmly?" Mavis asked gently.

"..." Erza froze.

"I know the truth of their relationship," Mavis explained. "I didn’t intervene because it was entirely consensual. In fact... I’m fairly certain Bisca was the one who made the first move."

"....."

Erza was completely blindsided. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how Finn—the ruthless, calculating politician—had gotten entangled with them, or why Bisca would throw away her vows.

"And honestly, Bisca is likely the one who took his virginity," Mavis sighed, her tone shifting into a sharp, tactical analysis of human nature. "From everything I’ve gathered, Finn was an absolute workaholic. For seven years, he showed zero interest in anything other than his work, expanding his authority, and securing his wealth. He rose from absolute poverty to become one of the most powerful men on this continent. It’s astonishing, really. He’s built like a protagonist from a history book."

"...Is it really that amazing?" Erza murmured.

"It is," Mavis nodded firmly. "You are an incredibly powerful mage, Erza. But outside of a physical fight, can you control the continent with a few words? In battle, your odds are fifty-fifty. But if Finn signs a paper declaring you a Dark Guild collaborator, Fairy Tail is destroyed overnight without a single spell being cast."

While Fairy Tail was trapped in time, losing seven years of growth, Finn had sacrificed his youth. He had bled, schemed, and ground himself to the bone to secure absolute authority.

"He sacrificed everything to reach the top. But as he grew older, the natural curiosity and desires of a young man began to surface," Mavis explained softly. "Bisca and Finn have known each other for years. He largely ignored her. But recently, she noticed a shift. She saw the repressed attraction in his eyes. Combine that with the crushing stress of her failing marriage, raising a child in a dying guild, and the sheer loneliness of the last seven years... she cracked. She used her charm, rode the line of temptation, and finally broke his control, turning him into a man."

Mavis sighed, floating a little lower. "Unfortunately for her, a honey trap of that caliber wasn’t enough to secure his exclusive loyalty. He’s slept with several women since. But of all of them... I actually believe Lisanna has the highest chance of becoming his legal wife."

Erza stood in absolute silence, her face burning as scarlet as her hair. The sheer volume of illicit, deeply personal information Mavis had just casually dropped on her was staggering. Yet, beneath the shock, Erza’s resolve hardened. She was Bisca’s dear friend. She had to talk to her. She had to try and pull her friend back from the brink before she completely destroyed her family.

"ERZAAAAA!!!"

A frantic shout shattered the quiet. Breaking through the treeline, the rest of the Fairy Tail mages rushed toward them, their faces painted with immense relief upon seeing Erza and the First Master safely out of Finn’s barrier.

"Are you okay, Erza?! Did he do anything to you?!" Jellal demanded, rushing forward to check her for injuries, his eyes wide with desperate concern.

"I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me," Erza replied flatly, taking a subtle step back. "You should be worrying about your two friends instead."

Erza was perfectly safe. But Ultear and Meredy were still trapped inside that mist with the most dangerous man in Fiore.

"They should be fine. Don’t worry about them," Jellal dismissed quickly. For him, the only thing in the entire world that mattered was Erza’s safety.

"....."

Erza stared at Jellal. For a long, painful moment, she just looked at him, completely reevaluating the man standing before her. A true knight, a true leader, never abandoned their comrades. His casual dismissal of the women who had risked their lives to break him out of prison left a bitter, hollow taste in her mouth.

Without a word, she looked away, fixing her gaze on the distant horizon, silently praying that Ultear and Meredy would be okay.

Jellal, oblivious to the massive crack that had just formed in Erza’s respect for him, watched her closely. Finn didn’t do anything to her, right?

A dark, twisting knot of jealousy formed in his gut. It was the very first time he had ever seen Erza wear such a deeply conflicted, undeniably womanly expression.

And it absolutely killed him to realize that expression wasn’t directed at him, but at the man who was currently holding his friends hostage.