After eating and drinking their fill, having thoroughly bled Lucy dry, another wave of guildmates took on quests and left the guild.
The crowded, noisy hall suddenly became much quieter, leaving only a scattered dozen or so people.
"Non-legal guilds not regulated by the Council—in other words, dark guilds. Like the Guild Alliance, they also have their own coalition—the Balam Alliance."
Since Chase and Lucy had happened to encounter Tartaros during the SS-Class quest, and with dark guild activities becoming increasingly frequent lately, Mirajane—having nothing better to do—began explaining the relevant knowledge to Lucy, as well as the new members Éclair and Momon.
Using Reedus's Picture Magic as an aid, Mirajane drew a tree diagram of dark guilds in the air with a magic pen.
"The Balam Alliance is composed of three powerful dark guilds: Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros. Most other dark guilds are affiliated with these three."
With that, Mirajane raised her finger and pointed to the guilds at the edges of the diagram. "Beyond these, there are also a few guilds that don't belong to any faction—like Raven Tail and Deep Swamp Abyss, which Chase already dealt with."
Staring at Tartaros, positioned at the very center of the diagram, Lucy couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment. "The strongest dark guild? That weird middle-aged guy named Silver had such a terrifying background?!"
Not even the master, yet he could fight someone as monstrous as Chase to that extent. And there were three dark guilds like that.
Having experienced Bondari Forest firsthand, Lucy had a very intuitive understanding of how terrifying the Balam Alliance was. Goosebumps stood up all over her body.
If at all possible, she would definitely take a detour around these three guilds in the future. No—not if. There was no "if"!
The guild newbie quietly made up her mind.
"When I and Gajeel were still in Phantom Lord, we also took down quite a few dark guilds. They were all affiliated with Oración Seis~" Juvia said with a nostalgic smile.
Lucy was startled. Please don't say such terrifying things with that cute expression!
"Hehe, so you see, Gray-sama~ Compared to that blondie who let Tartaros get away, Juvia is clearly the better choice~" Juvia immediately turned to Gray and started swooning.
So I was just a stepping stone for you to show yourself off?!
And don't make me out to be your love rival!!
The little person inside Lucy's mind was madly complaining.
"There's not much information on Tartaros, but Oración Seis is said to have only six members," Wakaba said, blowing purple smoke rings.
"How small can a guild like that be?" his old buddy Macao said with a hint of disdain.
Hearing this, the timid Lucy's expression instantly changed. A confident smile bloomed on her face.
Though she had no intention of comparing herself to Juvia, a guild with only six people didn't sound like such a big deal~
"Yet those six members alone are enough to become one of the most powerful factions, commanding countless affiliated guilds to do their bidding. That's the truly terrifying part!"
Mirajane's serious reminder directly dealt a heavy blow to the sliver of confidence Lucy had just barely mustered.
She really needed to stay far, far away from these dangerous people...
Listening to everyone's discussion about dark guilds, the newly joined Éclair and Momon looked completely lost.
Even so, they listened very intently. Since they had decided to stay in Fairy Tail, they needed to keep this in mind knowledge.
"Just jot down the basics. Dark guilds are still very far from your level. Your top priority right now is to get stronger," Chase said from across the table, offering some comfort.
Since Éclair currently had no combat ability whatsoever, under Mirajane's suggestion, she would start as a waitress. While adapting to the guild environment, she could also begin studying and learning magic.
On that front, Chase already had some ideas in mind.
Éclair, possessing the Phoenix bloodline, wasn't actually devoid of magical ability. Momon, for instance, was a product of her power.
Bestowing spirit and consciousness upon inanimate objects—the potential of such power was anything but weak.
On the small scale, it resembled Bickslow's Doll Magic. On the larger scale, it was akin to Hades's forbidden Living Magic, which could summon demons from clumps of earth!
"Mm! Chase, I'll do my best!" Éclair's eyes sparkled as she nodded firmly.
This was the necessary path to completely destroy the Phoenix and fulfill her destiny.
"I... I'll do my best too. At the very least, I won't lose to Happy!" Momon also clenched its fist.
That resolve was certainly commendable, but why compare itself to Happy?
At that moment, sitting not far away and silently scarfing down free food with Natsu, Happy had no idea that his "big brother dream" had been stillborn before it even began.
"Haha, setting the bar that low?" Chase said with a grin.
Happy—a fish head dangling from his mouth—sense some
thing and whipped his head around, staring in their direction with wary eyes.
But Chase's attention had already shifted. He looked up toward the guild entrance.
Not because he was afraid of getting caught by Happy talking behind his back, but because an old man's figure had appeared there.
"Oración Seis... we will be the ones to subjugate them."
Makarov, having returned from a council meeting, had overheard everyone's discussion. His aged face showed an extremely serious expression.
The sudden announcement startled everyone, leaving them frozen in place. Only Mirajane was still able to smile and say, "Welcome back."
"Master, what exactly is going on?" Erza quickly asked.
"I don't know why, but the increasingly active Oración Seis became a topic at the council meeting. According to the Council's investigation, this is already an urgent situation that cannot be ignored."
Recalling the intelligence he had heard at the meeting, Makarov said gravely, "The legal guilds must be the ones to subjugate them!"
"We won the lottery again, old man," Gray marked with a knowing sigh.
"Wouldn't it be too dangerous for Fairy Tail to take on this mission alone?" Juvia asked, her face full of concern.
The calmest person in the room was, of course, Chase, who had already gotten wind of this from Ultear. He sat there leisurely sipping his tea.
For him, knowing all the information on every member of Oración Seis, the difficulty of this dungeon was even lower than that of the Demon Village!
"No. This enemy is too powerful. If our guild alone took them on, the Balam Alliance would turn their spearhead directly at us. So the final proposal passed at the meeting is to form a coalition to collectively confront Oración Seis!"
Makarov slowly walked down the entrance steps, approaching everyone, and raised his hand to whip back his cape.
"A coalition?!" everyone exclaimed.
Just as expected.
Chase continued silently drinking the black tea Mirajane had personally brewed for him.
His calm, composed demeanor, as seen by Éclair and Momon across the table, was the very image of a confident, powerful mage. They couldn't help but quietly marvel at how impressive Chase really was.
"That's right. Five guilds—Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Cait Shelter, and Sabertooth—will each select their elite members to join forces and subjugate them!" Makarov continued.
The coalition guilds were the same as in the original, too.
Wait—Sabertooth?!
Chase's tea-sipping motion suddenly paused.
***
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