AN: Thank you Goku275, MDM11, and fearchristopher. fearchristopher, Pisces is useless underwater because water transforms them into regular-sized fish. It happens in canon during chapter 310, when Lucy and Yukino fight Uosuke.

Also, I would have finished and post this chapter yesterday, but I ended up watching a nighttime showing of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It was a good movie.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.


"Stop?" repeated Irene, turning toward Ajeel and narrowing her eyes. "Oh, my! Has the Desert King turned traitor?"

"Of course not!" snapped Ajeel, bristling with outrage. "After your unpermitted use of Universe One, Emperor Spriggan sent Brandish, Jacob, and I to collect all of the remaining Spriggan and bring them back to his side!"

"I refuse," rejected Irene, turning back to the Fairies she was torturing. "I will act on my own initiative."

"You would ignore a direct order from the emperor!?" exclaimed Ajeel, incredulous.

"Acnologia has been sent away for the moment, and His Majesty is in the Fairy Tail guild hall. If Emperor Spriggan truly wanted to me to come, he would have sent August to retrieve me, not somebody I could defeat without using my full strength."

Ajeel winced at this, but not because of the (very accurate) insult.

"…Sending August is impossible," said the male Spriggan after a moment. Irene looked at him again, her curiosity piqued. "He died fighting the emperor's younger brother, Natsu Dragneel."

"…I see," replied Irene, growing serious. The death of the strongest Spriggan — in a one-on-one fight, from the sound of it — was beyond her wildest expectations. It appeared that she would have to act more cautiously. "If that is the case, then perhaps I should answer His Majesty's call after all."

Ajeel let out a sigh of relief.

"But," continued Irene, making Ajeel think that he sighed too soon. The female Spriggan glanced at the restrained Millianna and Juvia. "These two hurt my girls. They must be dealt with."

"Alright then," accepted Ajeel. He raised his hand and created a small sandstorm that engulfed the Fairies. "This sandstorm will suck the moisture from their bodies, killing them within a minute or two. If that works for you, then let's get going."

"How… merciful," stated Irene with a smirk. "I would have chosen something slower and more painful. Although, I suppose this is still satisfactory. Very well, I shall go now."

With that, the two Spriggan left the Fairies behind.


"Juvia! Millianna!" shouted Lisanna, running back to the battlefield. "I can't just leave you two behind to…"

As the Fairy approached her friends, she noticed a miniature whirlwind of sand. She dashed over to it, watching as it faded away to reveal the brutalized bodies of Juvia and Millianna.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Lisanna, lifting up Juvia by the torso to examine her more closely. "This can't be happening!"

She shook the water mage's body, desperate for a reaction.

"Ghk!" coughed Juvia, spitting out some sand. As she sat up and continued to cough, Lisanna moved over to check on Millianna, who gave a similar reaction. Once the two Fairies finishing coughing, they started talking.

"Ajeel saved us," murmured Millianna in a raspy voice, smiling as she looked at her un-desiccated hands. It was clear to her that their survival was not some sort of miracle, but the result of Ajeel only pretending to kill them so that Irene would leave. "Blaze must have gotten through to him, at least a little bit."

"We all need to get back to the guild hall as fast as possible!" declared Juvia.

"Yeah, I know," replied Lisanna apologetically. "I'm sorry for coming back, but—"

"That isn't what I mean!" cut off Juvia, her voice full of worry. "The Spriggan 12 are all going there!"


"It's been maybe a hundred years since we've had the chance to chat, hm?" asked Zeref. With the three Spriggan that had been here out collecting the remaining seven, he and Mavis were currently alone in the guild hall.

"95, to be exact," replied Mavis tersely. Internally, the Fairy Tactician was working overtime to determine how best to proceed. "My last-ditch plan to defeat Zeref… I completed the first step, returning to my original body, thanks to Cana. This unexpected turn of events means that I can go on to the next step. But what if he doesn't care about August? What if… what if he doesn't care about me anymore?"

The possibility bothered Mavis more than she would like to admit. Although, she also acknowledged that the fact that she cared so much meant her plan was more likely to succeed.

Unfortunately, this hesitation cost the Fairy her opportunity. In mere moments, her body was frozen with Ice Magic so powerful that even her illusory dress was affected.

Mavis had no idea how long she spent in ice. One second she felt herself being frozen, the next she was free — at least, until an icy collar appeared around her neck, numbing her thoughts.

As she struggled to think, the Fairy noticed two Spriggan had arrived in the guild hall. Jacob had returned, along with the man whose magic had frozen her mind (most likely Invel, based on F-Blaze's information).

Zeref told Mavis to follow him as he exited the guild hall, and her body obeyed against her will. He made her look down at the Alvarez Empire's army gathered at the bottom of the hill that the guild hall now stood atop.

Fear filled Mavis as she caught sight of Larcade, Brandish, Dimaria, Neinhart, Ajeel, and a woman who had to be Irene. All of the Alvarez Empire's forces were gathered here to stop anyone from reaching her.

And, as Zeref explained how Irene would extract Fairy Heart from her, Mavis felt her heart freeze from despair.

"Did I… miss my chance…?" thought Mavis dimly. "Have we… already lost…?"


"So who should I make Historia of?" asked Neinhart. "I believe that I could manage either August or the other three Spriggan. Maintaining more than that is just too much for me."

That night, while Irene began the process of removing Fairy Heart from Mavis, a meeting was being held by Zeref and the remaining Spriggan. Presently, the topic had turned to the use of Neinhart's magic. As no powerful Fiore mages had died so far, it was only natural that members of the Spriggan 12 be used for the Historia.

"Why is this a question?" asked Dimaria. Neinhart's question had been directed mainly at Zeref, though the emperor had no issue with the Spriggan 12 discussing the matter first. "Of course we should go with August. He is… was the strongest."

"It's a matter of quantity versus quality," Invel told her. "As powerful as August was, he could still only be in one place at a time. Creating Historias of Wall, Bloodman, and God Serena would allow for more versatility. Additionally, seeing as how August was killed by a dragon and Irene is preoccupied with Fairy Heart, a dragon slayer like God Serena would be advantageous.

As the conversation turned to August, the three Spriggan who had been held captive in the guild hall grew uncomfortable. They exchanged glances, confusing Zeref and their fellow Spriggan.

"Um, actually… there's something we need to tell you before you make a decision, Emperor Spriggan," said Ajeel, gulping. "You see, when we were imprisoned by the Fairies, we found out something that August revealed in his dying moments. Apparently, he… he was your and Mavis's son."

The room grew silent. Zeref frowned, silently recalling all of the memories he had of August and using them to fact-check this new information. The unaware Spriggan simply stood there in shock, trying to process the revelation. All except one.

"I wonder if that's why he lost," stated Larcade, scowling. His words were full of envy toward his 'father's' true son.

Larcade's fellow Spriggan stared at him in disbelief, not expecting suck potent bile to spew from his mouth.

"He must have gone easy on our uncle," continued Larcade. A cruel grin formed on his face as he disparaged his deceased 'brother.' "I bet he inherited that weakness from his mother. Although, it doesn't really matter why he lost. The reason for it doesn't change the fact that he died in the end, making him a failure. Isn't that right, Father?"

Larcade looked to Zeref expectantly, craving even the slightest sign of approval. However, he instead found a look of fury.

Before the Spriggan could react, Zeref used his Black Arts to blast a hole in Larcade's chest. Larcade collapsed onto his back, giving his father a look of confusion and sorrow as he fell down.

"Wh-why… Father, why…?" asked Larcade, the misery in his voice making even Invel feel a twinge of sympathy. Zeref, on the other hand, simply stomped on the hole he made in Larcade's chest, grinding his foot into the wound.

"I am not your father," replied Zeref coldly. "You're just a demon from the Book of Zeref. Natsu chose being a dragon over being a demon, and your and Bloodman's defeats at the hands of those other dragon slayer proved how right his decision was. All of you Etherious were just a failed experiment, inferior to the power of dragons."

"But… but I'm… your son. You name… named me Dragneel…"

"I have no children," rejected Zeref, surprising everyone. "Not you, and not August either. The two of you were only ever tools to accomplish my goal. And, between your failures and these pathetic emotions you're displaying, I'd say it's well past time to replace you."

The emperor gave Larcade a kick, sending him tumbling across the floor. When the dying Spriggan came to a stop, his head facing upward, the sight of him with tears trailing down his face transfixed the other Spriggan.

"Neinhart," uttered Zeref, snapping the remaining Spriggan out of their daze.

"Y-yes!?" squeaked out the mage in question.

"You would not be able to reproduce August's full power, and a weakened version would be unable to defeat any of Fairy Tail's true powerhouses. It is more strategic to make several weaker Historias and use them to occupy less powerful enemies. As such, you will be creating Historias of Wall Eehto, God Serena, and Bloodman."

"Understood, Your Majesty!" exclaimed Neinhart. On edge after Zeref's ruthless killing of Larcade, the Spriggan chose to emphasize his loyalty with a salute. "Forget that red-haired Fairy! Emperor Spriggan is the scariest by far!"

It was to every Spriggan's relief (aside from Invel, who had swiftly accepted his emperor's actions) when Zeref ended the meeting shortly after and left to check on Irene's progress.

They all needed some time to rest before the final phase of the war began. Some of them also used the break as an opportunity to quiet their growing doubts.


Unnoticed by Mavis, the Spriggan 12, or Zeref, a small fly buzzed around the guild hall. It flew around for a bit, before finally landing on Emperor Spriggan's back.

A moment later, it fell to the ground, dead.


As the sun rose, signaling the start of a new day, clusters of Fiore mages nearby the guild hall woke up. All of the groups had followed Zera's directions and made it close enough to see the Alvarez Empire's army awaiting them. They knew that the remaining Spriggan 12 were also there, ready for battle.

It didn't matter. All of the Fiore mages were prepared to fight the Alvarez soldiers, the Spriggan 12, and even Zeref himself. They would defeat the Alvarez Empire, stop Zeref from exterminating humanity, and then take out Acnologia.

To put it in the words of a certain Fire Dragon, every last one of them was all fired up.


Omake

"So, everybody other than the emperor, Invel, and myself has been defeated by mages from Fiore?" asked Irene. She gave a condescending sneer to her fellow Spriggan, who all bristled with anger. Aside from Jacob and Invel, all of them were present outside Fairy Tail's guild hall.

"They caught me off guard!" said Dimaria, attempting to defend herself. "They were more powerful than expected!"

"Didn't Emperor Spriggan warn us not to underestimate them?"

"Now, Dimaria, settle down," interjected Neinhart, trying to stop her from engaging in a losing battle. "Soon, we'll have the chance to prove that their victories over us were just flukes."

Irene snorted at his words. "That's hilarious coming from the man defeated by a Fairy who was already injured from crushing another Spriggan!"

Neinhart flinched, then shivered as he recalled Erza. "With how terrifying they both are, they must be mother and daughter!"


AN: To be clear, the reason why Millianna and Juvia were in such poor shape when Lisanna arrived despite Ajeel not harming them was because of Irene's torture session. As for how the Desert King was able to fool his fellow Spriggan, well, she was distracted by the death of one of the few people stronger than her.

That's all for now. Bye!