Chapter 451: The Council's Timely Arrival

Chapter 451: The Council's Timely Arrival

All five of the Six Demon Generals, except for Mcu, were recovered, while Mcu... could only be placed in a box.

As for the peculiar skeleton wand, it had already been reduced to ashes at some point, and was placed in the box alongside Mcu.

After dealing with these matters, it was already late at night. Everyone went to Neko-Mebo-Hoshi to rest.

Neko-Mebo-Hoshi had plenty of vacant rooms, so accommodating these dozen people was not an issue.

Rabin lu warmly welcomed them, and it seemed like he wanted to say something, but seeing everyone's exhausted and wounded appearance, he invited them to rest well.

Not to mention the coalition, even Wendy, who was treating their injuries, was exhausted. If it were half a year ago, such an intensive treatment might have left Wendy dizzy.

The night passed uneventfully, and by the time they woke up the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky.

Rod woke up earlier than the others because sharing a room with Natsu and Gray was simply too noisy.

He quietly got up, tapped Gray on the head, causing his face to end up facing Natsu's feet, and his feet to be facing Natsu's face.

In his sleep, Gray seemed to sense something and unconsciously waved his arm, rolling over to embrace Natsu's calf, with his foot landing on Natsu's face.

Holding back his laughter, Rod left the room and washed his face. Just then, he heard a scream, followed by the sounds of fighting and commotion coming from the room.

An innocent Happy, who knew who had kicked him out, was caught by Rod, who asked, "What happened?"

Happy, still dazed, replied, "I don't know either. It seems like Natsu bit Gray's foot, and then they started fighting."

"They're so noisy, those guys," Shaluna grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Shaluna!" Happy disappeared from Rod's arms with a whoosh and flew over to Shaluna's side.

Shaluna pushed Happy's face away with one hand, "Good morning to you too, but don't get so close."

Happy whooshed back, "Did you hear that, Rod? Shaluna said good morning to me!"

"Yes, yes..." Rod humored him, thinking that this child was beyond help.

The sounds of banging continued to emanate from the room, and Shaluna asked with concern, "Do you think they'll tear down the house? Miss Mila said she'd stop them later, but I don't think this room can withstand it for long."

"I'll go and talk to them," Rod decided, feeling that the scene inside the room was too much to handle, and there was no need for Mila to witness it.

A few seconds later, a cry of "Ambush!" came from the room, followed by two loud bangs, and suddenly, all was quiet.

Rod emerged from the room, clapping his hands, "I've talked to them. They should be coming out soon, fully dressed, to continue the fight with me."

"Your method of mediating is quite unique," Shaluna remarked.

"I learned it from Elusa, but my personality is too good, so my intimidation factor isn't quite there yet... Inevitably, we'll have to fight again," Rod said, then added, "If only I could punch them hard enough to make them lose their memories and forget about this."

"Is that really what you call a good personality?"

"Of course, I'm very nice to Wendy, aren't I?"

"..." Shaluna had no rebuttal.

By the time everyone gathered for breakfast, it was almost ten o'clock.

Except for the members of Blue Pegasus, everyone had changed into the clothing of the Nilubitezu.

The men were one thing, but Jellal, Lucy, Erza, and Mira were each more beautiful than the last.

Mila gently bumped Rod with her shoulder, "Well, what do you think? Are you enjoying the view?"

"Hmm..." Rod dragged out the 'hmm' for a long time, staring at Mira for several seconds before finally finding the words, "I wasn't enjoying it just now, but I am now."

"I don't believe you."

"MEN~ Actually, I had a dream last night. In my dream, we were defeated by the Six Demon Generals, and then a fire-breathing dragon descended from the sky. Not only did it defeat the Overlord, but it also destroyed Nirvana.

There was even another dragon that used Earth Magic to help put out the fire... What a bizarre dream, hahaha..."

Despite being wrapped in countless bandages, he spent the night energetically striking various 'elegant' poses, sharing his amusing dream with everyone.

His magnetic voice was particularly lethal to women, especially when they weren't looking at his face.

Unfortunately, he was the only one in the room who found it funny.

Rod couldn't tell if this person had slept through the night or was showcasing his limited sense of humor.

Xibiji whispered to Yifu, "Yifu, that wasn't a dream."

"Wh...what?" Yifu showed a surprised expression but quickly composed himself. He clenched his right fist and placed it in front of his mouth, clearing his throat, "Ah, so it was a dragon. What a powerful aroma..."

"You've regained your composure so quickly, as expected of Yifu!"

Xibiji, Lian, and Yifu, the three excellent sidekicks, immediately began to praise him, and for some reason, they suddenly started writhing and shouting a peculiar chant in unison:

"Yifu?

"One night!" 3

"Active?"

"Active!" 3

"What kind of strange dance is that?" Lucy complained, but she was itching to join in.

Although it was baffling, it was indeed a joyful scene.

"After the big battle, it's good to stretch our legs like this too..." Erza was about to say something when she suddenly looked towards the direction of the village entrance.

"What's going on?" The others turned their heads in confusion, following her gaze.

They didn't see anything, but once the rowdy members of the Blue Pegasus calmed down, the crowd heard loud and powerful footsteps approaching.

Jula frowned and said, "It sounds like an army marching."

Levy asked, "Is there a military base nearby?"

"I haven't heard of anything like that," Shaluna replied.

Wendy shook her head, "I don't know either."

Could it be that the Balam Alliance's retaliation had arrived so quickly, and with such a large force?

Since neither of the locals knew, the group decided to go and take a look.

A large group of people dressed in white robes and holding magic wands stood at the village entrance.

The emblem on their chest revealed their identity, and Natsu and Gray's faces fell upon seeing them, as if the sky had just collapsed.

"Members of the Council!"

"Why are they here?"

The two troublemakers, usually fearless, now looked nervous, covering their heads with their hands and glancing around for a place to hide.

Lucy was also made anxious by their behavior, as if she had actually committed some crime.

A man known to Rod stepped forward and introduced himself, "I am Lahar, the captain of the Fourth Forced Detention Unit of the New Council."

The restructuring of the Council primarily affected the upper echelons; the lower-level units like his, with their unit numbers and personnel composition, had seen little change.

"The New Council?"

"Has it started functioning already?"

"I think I heard Mr. Yajima mention it before."

"Now that you mention it, Rod and Mira also seemed to have warned us about this."

The crowd murmured, some more surprised than others, but they all knew this was an inevitable development.

"To uphold the law and justice, we have been reborn. From now on, we will not tolerate any evil."

Lahar's opening statement was somewhat harsh, perhaps to represent the stance of the New Council or to explain its principles.

He scanned the crowd, and while Rod was likely the person he knew best, Jula was clearly the one with the highest in status.

Lahar chose to speak with Jula, his tone slightly softer than before, "Mr. Jula, our purpose here is to arrest the Six Demon Generals and all members of their subordinate guilds. Please hand them over to us."

Although they were meant to be handed over to the Council anyway, his stern attitude still made people feel a bit displeased.

No one could tolerate such a thing!

Jula seemed to understand the Council's style and didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble at this critical moment. He frowned slightly and nodded, saying,

"Alright, but we are here on a mission from the Local Guild Alliance to subjugate the Six Demon Generals. So, I need to contact the Alliance first and get their approval before handing the prisoners over to you."

"That's fine, but that's also the second thing I wanted to say." Lahar adjusted his glasses, feeling a bit of pressure, but he steeled himself, thinking about the importance of his actions for the law and justice.

"The Local Guild Alliance's decision to organize a coalition against the Six Demon Generals without the Council's permission is, strictly speaking, an illegal act. However..."

"What did you say?"

"That's outrageous..."

"How dare you dismiss our efforts like that?"

No one in the crowd expected him to say such a thing. Natsu's temper was about to boil over.

If Natsu were to be arrested for damaging buildings and burning down forests, he would probably just run away, never daring to resist.

But anyone who had fought with all their might and then was casually labeled as 'illegal' would not be happy.

"The Guild Masters sensed the dangerous intentions of the Six Demon Generals and made the swift decision to form a coalition. At that time, we didn't even know if the Council was functioning properly."

Jula calmly explained the situation before expressing his opinion, "If this is deemed 'illegal', I cannot agree with that judgment."

The others voiced their agreement with Jula's statement, criticizing the Council's actions.

The members of the Forced Detention Unit tightened their grip on their wands, looking tense. The mages glared, seemingly ready to take action at any moment.

Rod was not a member of the allied forces, so he couldn't voice his opinion, but based on their previous acquaintance, he asked, "Laharl, are you serious?"

"Please hear me out," Laharl said, sweating slightly. This mission was the most troublesome one yet. He explained, "If we strictly follow legal procedures, it is indeed as you say. However, since the Guild Masters of the various Guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore are unaware of the Council's restoration, the Council only expects the Guild Masters to provide reasonable explanations for this matter."

In other words, they were going through the motions, and now that the Council was operational again, they wanted to follow the rules and give each other a way out. Jula seemed to understand their intention, but she felt that their attitude was a bit too high-handed, and this wasn't something they should be discussing with her. They should have contacted the Guild Masters before sending out the troops.

Now, with their aggressive posturing and communication via Communication Magic Crystals, what was going on? He fell silent for a moment, unable to understand the Council's logic.

Rod also felt that something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it at the moment. The timing was just too strange. He decided to test them: "Hmph, you sure picked a great time to show up, right after we've defeated strong enemies and resolved all our troubles. Why couldn't you have come a day earlier?"

Laharl's expression turned sour, and his subordinate also showed signs of indignation.

"Nonsense! We had already..." Before the vice-captain-like person could finish, Laharl raised his hand to stop him.

In fact, they had indeed dispatched their forces yesterday.

The plan was to set up a formation in the Waise Tree Sea to trap the Six Demon Generals and then arrest them.

But they never expected the allied forces to make such rapid progress, nor did they anticipate the Six Demon Generals activating Nirvana so easily.

The city was so large, and the six massive legs could easily traverse mountains and valleys with just a few steps, while their main force struggled to navigate the forests, unable to keep up.

By the time they reached the vicinity of where Nirvana had stopped, Natsu had almost extinguished all the fires.

If they were to be completely honest, it was difficult to determine whether the new Council's official start of operations or the local Guild Alliance's decision to dispatch the allied forces came first.

Their original plan was to annihilate the Six Demon Generals in one fell swoop, thereby establishing the new Council's image as a resolute and capable force against evil.

But their plans were disrupted by the actions of the local Guild Alliance.

According to the headquarters' orders, Laharl should have taken control of the allied forces last night and then forcefully taken the prisoners away.

While the effect might be slightly diminished, with some clever publicity, they could still achieve a decent outcome.

The saying, "New officials make three fires," refers to this very principle.

However, Laharl did not agree because he had seen two dragons soaring in the night sky, one after the other.

He knew he was no match for the dragons, and even if he had set up the formation in advance, it probably wouldn't have worked.

The Council could be firm when necessary, but these dragons, which should have been extinct long ago, were not something his troops could contend with.

The dragons might not even listen to reason.

He was not afraid of death, but he didn't want to die in vain.

So, Laharl urgently reported the situation, and after a heated discussion among the current Council members, they finally reached a negotiation plan this morning.

—They instructed him to do his best to maintain the new Council's dignity.

But seeing Jula's, Rod's, and the others' attitudes, he realized that if he didn't explain the situation honestly, there might be unnecessary complications.

Additionally, the matter of the dragons needed to be investigated. Although they seemed to have helped destroy Nirvana, they were incredibly powerful beings, and their intentions needed clarification.

Were they acting on a whim, standing on the side of justice, or, in the worst-case scenario, were they merely attacking humans?

They needed to investigate the dragons' attitudes towards humans, whether they had other dragon companions, their hiding places, and their intentions.

If necessary, they should also prepare for 'dragon slaying,' perhaps by utilizing Mage Spirit Power once more.

The Council's actions did seem to have a hint of bullying the honest, like surrounding the allied forces right after the defeat of the Six Demons and demanding the prisoners, threatening to attack if they didn't comply.

But on Tenro Island, when the Devil's Heart blew up their ship, there were no casualties, and they immediately wanted to retreat and seek help. They didn't mention going to the island to fight and arrest the Devil's Heart or help Fairy Tail.

When the Black Dragon appeared, they could only watch from a distance, too scared to move.

It was only because the civilians of the magical world needed their protection that they were of any use; otherwise, they would have just caused more chaos.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end