Shadow Soul

by SoImAWriterSoWhat

[Dark Guild - SYOC CLOSED] - Dark Guilds. Over the years they have become less and less dangerous, except for the Balam Alliance, and with the emergence of new legal guilds and the strength of existing ones, the dark guilds have become an empty shell. It's time for the kingdom of Fiore to remember what it's like to be afraid of a dark guild and its power! The shadows are moving...

10. Meetings and foreshadowing

"We're dark mages!" - Talking

'We're dark mages!' - Thinking

"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy

"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming

"Fairy Law!" - Spells

[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time

Chapter 9: Meetings and foreshadowing

[Era – Ishgar Magic Council Headquarters/ 22ndOctober X784]

Several figures walked at a controlled pace through the corridors of the newly rebuilt palace and it was clear that the Magic Council, newly re-established at the request of the King of Fiore, had spared no expense in showing its grandeur. If the previous building was large and elegant, this was huge and full of artistic beauty. It was rumored that, although it was a personal request from the King of Fiore, the other sovereigns had also supported the idea, thus allowing the reconstruction of the headquarters in a very short time.

Acier could only look forward with bored eyes as he, and his fellow Head Captains, approached the finely decorated white wooden double-door at the end of the hall. Winter was at his side as the two of them where the leaders of the first two divisions, then behind them were the other fourteen captains, although Acier only remembered the name of the fourth division Head Captain, a rules freak named Lahar, and the sixth division Head Captain, a young boy named Doranbolt.

"It seems that this meeting is quite important, although I don't understand why it should be held here rather than in Fiore's Kingdom, as it is mostly about that land." said one of the other captains with clear confusion in his voice.

At his side, a woman snorted before looking at Winter and Acier "Probably because the main building of the Fiore Branch was recently attacked by a dark guild, and it seems that a prisoner managed to escape, while they lost a lot of documents kept in the archive."

Acier paid no attention to the woman, finding her voice somewhat boring, but Winter turned just to give her a heated glare, silencing her and the other captain.

"Don't listen to them." said Lahar, looking at his fellow Head Captain "You still managed to capture a large number of dark mages, and the loss of some prisoner records is no great loss."

"Those words don't bother me, as much as the fact that speaking them is a Head Captain who hasn't dealt with dark guilds for at least ten years." replied Winter with a calm voice, and the woman had to keep her mouth shut, as she was assigned to the Kingdom of Midi, where the crime rate was very low due to the poverty of the land; it is no coincidence that the Kingdom of Midi was considered the poorest kingdom of Ishgar, as such, criminals and dark mages avoided that place.

"Be that as it may, recalling all the Head Captains to a reunion is quite unusual as a thing...the only times recorded were for very serious situations." continued Lahar, attracting the attention of those who knew nothing about it "The first time happened thirty years ago, when many slavers from the Kingdom of Bosco attempted to kidnap princes and princesses from neighboring kingdoms; that time the bulk of the Magic Council army was sent to stop those criminals. The second time was nearly five years ago, during the Cabria War in the Kingdom of Pergrande, when a civil war between the eastern and western armies was ravaging the entire kingdom."

"Could it be related to the R-System case a few months ago?" wondered Doranbolt, looking at the others "If I remember correctly, Fairy Tail, one of the best guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, was also mentioned in the reports."

Winter stiffened for a moment on hearing that name, and only Acier seemed to notice. A few weeks ago, the former members of Jellal Fernandez's group had joined Fairy Tail and Winter had had to exercise all his self-control not to storm the guild and demand explanations from them. Obviously he had no problem with those mages, as it was clear they regretted their actions and he was more than happy that they finally decided to join a legal guild, but the problem was that they had information about his foster sister: Aki Tamashiro. As Acier had learned, Winter had stayed several hours in a room with the four mages but none of them had been able to give him concrete information about Aki, since in the short time they had been together, she had always been on the sidelines.

"I don't know." Winter said with a tone of finality, dropping the subject.

Finally, the group of Head Captains arrived in front of the doors and two guards opened them for Acier and the others, allowing them access to a huge circular hall made mostly of white and blue marble, with several statues along the walls and a large window in the center of the vaulted ceiling. The room consisted of a large decorated wooden table placed on a marble elevation, behind which there were nine large chairs, and in front of the table, there was a small podium. Behind the podium, arranged in a semi-circle on ten levels, there were several benches with chairs, similar to the classrooms of many universities and academies; with only a flight of stairs cutting them in half and leading to the doors that had just been opened.

Without saying anything, the Head Captains descended the stairs and reached one of the lowest levels, which had sixteen chairs; one for each of them. The only ring lower than theirs consisted of ten chairs and was for the Wizard Saints, should they decide to attend the meetings. Within seconds they were all seated and soon other people began to arrive, all guild masters of the various guilds of Fiore. Acier recognized several of them, but the ones that stood out the most were those of Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus and Fairy Tail, along with the masters of the less famous guilds Mermaid Heel and Sabertooth.

When everyone was seated, a double black wooden door behind the raised table opened and the entire Magic Council entered, headed by Gran Doma, the new chairman. While the other members sat down in their respective chairs, Grand Doma stood in front of his and carefully surveyed the hall, lingering for several seconds on Makarov, who was sitting next to his fellow guild masters instead of in the Wizard Saints ring. After nearly a full minute, he lightly tapped his staff on the floor and a simple metallic sound echoed around the room, closing all the doors.

"Thank you all for coming here today, despite being a long journey and the short notice given to you." Grand Doma began in a firm, empowered voice; not surprisingly since he was one of the ten Wizard Saints "We have several things to talk about, but I would like to discuss the less important topic right away. As many of you know by now, there are only seven Wizard Saints still active today, after the removal of Jose Porla and Jellal Fernandez, and the death of Alchime Valenti."

While a slight murmur was heard in the room, Acier did not even blink at that information. After all Jellal had been defeated in his own tower after betraying the previous Council, Jose Porla had been killed by Reveeina after being captured and, a few weeks before the fall of Phantom Lord, the mistress had found and killed Alchime in her isolated house, after having confronted her together with Shirros and Reina. If nothing else, Acier was slightly surprised that the Magic Council was only now addressing the subject.

"Given the importance of these figures, it is imperative that three new Wizard Saints be named as soon as possible." continued the chairman with serious eyes "I take advantage of your presence to tell you in person, while I will send a formal notice to all the other guilds of Ishgar: one of you or your wizards could be considered for the position of Wizard Saint, but the same goes for the Head Captains of the Rune Knights, as there are very valid elements among them as well."

Now, this was interesting. If Acier became a Wizard Saint he would have had access to more important and valuable resources and information than the current ones. He would have to try to find out who the alleged candidates were and see if he or the guild could take action against them.

Gran Doma tapped his staff once again "Now we will move onto a more important topic. As recently learned through the report from one of our Head Captains, and his subsequent meeting with the previous Council, it is now clear that the situation in the Kingdom of Fiore is out of control. Dark guilds and legal guilds causing damage for millions of jewels, unsanctioned wars between legal guilds, dark guilds in possession of artifacts of Zeref, secret wars between dark guilds with dozens of dead! All this can no longer continue!"

With a snap of his fingers, a large pile of paper materialized on the table in front of him and his gaze shifted back to Makarov along with that of the other Council members, and while Org looked displeased, the others had an aggressive and accusatory gaze.

"These alone are the reports inherent in Fairy Tail over the past few years." hissed Gran Doma and when some guild masters chuckled at Makarov's expense, the chairman glared at them "Don't believe yourself free from my wrath, I have records on all your guilds. Fairy Tail is simply the most destructive of Fiore's legal guilds."

The laughter stopped quickly and the guild masters immediately looked down as Grand Doma made the papers disappear with another snap of the fingers.

"Because of the previous Council, people have lost faith in us and I for one will do everything to regain that trust, starting with being more severe with all of you. Makarov..." said old man looked at Gran Doma in the eyes "I don't care about the success of your guild, your power or your position in the Wizard Saints. If your guild still causes a problem for us, you will be forced to disband it and you will not be allowed to reform it. Failure to follow this order will lead Fairy Tail to be considered an independent guild and you will lose any form of support, as well as being wanted as criminals."

A tense silence reigned for several seconds in that huge hall as Grand Doma and Makarov looked at each other without speaking once, but eventually the Fairy Tail guild master nodded.

"Good, now on to the next topic." after a short sigh the chairman looked at the Fairy Tail master once more "Makarov Dreyar, you have requested a meeting with us and possibly the other guild masters. Given the consent of several masters, as well as Org the second seat of the Council, you have been granted said meeting. You are no allowed to take word and speak freely."

"Thank you, Gran Doma." Makarov bowed his head before getting up and walking towards the podium in front of the Council. Once he stopped, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat "My guild was attacked, and six of my children were killed."

While many of those present looked at him with shocked and incredulous eyes, Gran Doma narrowed his gaze "Yes, I have read several reports about it. A week ago, during the recurring Harvest Festival, the city of Magnolia was badly damaged by fighting between mages; buildings were destroyed and many civilians were injured. I also know these fights were between wizards in your guild." he then leaned back against the back of his chair "However, many witnesses have stated that your 'children' mostly fought on rooftops or in areas away from civilians."

"That is true. My grandson Laxus tried to take the guild by force and, using the magic of one of his bodyguards, locked me up inside the guild and forced many of my children to fight each other but none of them intended to involve civilians. Obviously his plan has failed and I have already taken action regarding him." Makarov then clenched his fists until they were bleeding "Unfortunately for us...there were also dark mages in town that day. Thanks to many of my mages, we found out that they were present in the guild when my grandson Laxus arrived and then moved around the city and attacked the mages of Fairy Tail. One of them was Siegmund Hildolfr, a name I think you already know."

Gran Doma, as well as the other members of the Council, were surprised to hear that name and a Head Captain seated to Makarov's right stood up, completely pale "T-That monster is alive?! And he is in the Kingdom of Fiore?!"

Looking with bored eyes at the man who had just spoken, Acier recognized him as the Head Captain assigned to the Kingdom of Iceberg. From the rare times he had talked to Siegmund on a mission, Acier had discovered that the swordsman was practically the boogeyman for that kingdom's army, and many nobles feared or rejected his name with disgust.

"That I don't know, he may already have left the kingdom." said Makarov with his eyes on the Rune Knight before looking back at Gran Doma "What I do know is that he is allegedly responsible for the deaths of my children, after confronting and standing up to Erza Scarlet, one of my S-class wizards."

Many of those present were again shocked by his words, as the deeds of the woman called Titania were also known outside the Kingdom of Fiore. To think that someone was able to fight against her and stand up to her without being defeated; it was now clear that Siegmund Hildolfr was an extremely dangerous dark mage.

"In addition to him, we have confirmed the presence of four other dark mages, with the possible presence of a fifth, for a possible total of six dark mages who have attacked my guild; other than Siegmund, we know that two of them are called Asteria Nikos and Naco. In addition to my children who have lost their lives, others have been seriously injured and may never recover." continued Makarov with clear rage in his voice, and yet his face was set in stone as he looked at the chairman "According to what I have discovered, this Siegmund appears to be affiliated with a dark guild called Shadow Soul, and it is possible that the other dark mages also belong to this guild. Leafing through some diaries and documents left to me by my predecessor, I discovered that the second guild master of Fairy Tail has faced the guild master of this dark guild several times, without ever being able to defeat her."

Behind him, Bob and Goldmine were left speechless. With both of them being former members of Fairy Tail, they knew of the strength of Precht Gaebolg, Makarov's predecessor, yet they never knew of a dark mage able to stand up to him. Apparently it was something he didn't want the guild to know, but he still decided to write what he knew so that he could leave some information for the future generations.

"All I know is that this guild has been in existence for several years, possibly even before guilds like Oración Seis and Grimoire Heart, and that they possess a lot of resources if they have been able to stay in the shadows all this time without anyone getting to hear about them." after a small pause, he looked at all the members of the Council "Do you happen to know anything about this guild?"

"Are you implying something, Makarov?" growled a councilor with a patch on the right eye and protruding lower canines.

Makarov shook his head "No, not at all, but I know the Magic Council has a lot more resources compared to a single guild, so I'm just asking you if you have any useful information on Shadow Soul."

"We may have information about it." nodded Gran Doma before narrowing his eyes "However, I need to know what you would do with this information if you were to get hold of it."

After a long moment of silence, Makarov sighed "I will not lie. If I were to find anything that would help me find this guild or its mages, I would declare war on them and wipe out their guild."

"What?! Don't you know that guild wars, even between legal and dark ones, are forbidden?!"

"You just got your last warning and you already want to spit on it?!"

"Are you testing our patience, Makarov?! Because it has a very specific limit and you are dangerously pushing us towards that limit!"

"Silence." with a single word, everyone fell silent, then shifting their gaze to Gran Doma. The chairman had not reacted in any way to Makarov's words, merely looking at him without saying anything. When it was ascertained that the other council members had calmed down, he spoke to the master of Fairy Tail "It is clear that you are driven by the desire to avenge the six mages who lost their lives, however I cannot in any way grant you the information regarding Shadow Soul, knowing that this would lead to a possible war with a dark guild, which could result in a full-scale war between legal guilds and dark guilds."

"Forgive me for the interruption, chairman, but I am of the opinion that Fairy Tail should be given the chance to find and dismantle this dark guild." said Winter, standing up and getting the attention of the entire room "I for one am against guild wars, as there is always the risk of defenseless civilians ending up in the crossfire, however as I wrote in my report, the dark guilds are becoming more and more resourceful and we are sure that at least twelve new dark guilds have been formed in the past year."

An elderly lady sitting to the right of the Grand Doma nodded "What you say is true, Winter Driver, however if we were to give legal guilds the freedom to attack dark guilds, we would risk doing more damage than expected."

"What if we give consent once all the risks have been assessed? If Fairy Tail were to find Shadow Soul's headquarters and it turned out to be an isolated place, they could be given the green light for them to fight against those dark mages, while we Rune Knights would be in the back to contain any collateral damage." proposed Winter, with several guild masters and Head Captains who seemed to agree with him.

Grand Doma closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again "What you propose makes sense from several points of view. Throughout Ishgar there are several hundred civilians who have never respected the Magic Council because, according to them, our rule that prohibited wars between legal guilds and dark guilds was as if we were protecting those dark guilds...which is as inaccurate as possible." shacking his head, he tapped his staff on the floor "Very well, Winter Driver, your proposal will be considered and tested as soon as possible."

Winter bowed deeply "My sincere thanks chairman, I hope not to disappoint your expectations."

The chairman of the Magic Council looked back at Makarov "Shadow Soul is an independent dark guild, one of the few left out of the Balam Alliance, along with Raven Tail for example." the guild master of Fairy Tail frowned at the name of the dark guild that his son had created "We have no concrete data on their numbers, but we do know that they are many and that they have eyes and ears everywhere. Several times we have come to know of illegal activities that may have been affiliated with Shadow Soul but before we could destroy them, they vanished into thin air or left lifeless 'partners' behind them. We haven't captured a single member of that guild yet."

"There is also the possibility that they were in league with Phantom Lord; we are not sure yet but many hypotheses point to an alliance between the two guilds." said Org, being the only one of the Magic Council who had been able to read the reports right away "Also Makarov, I would like if possible a physical description of the dark mages who attacked your guild. It is possible that we will be able to shed some light on the allegations made by the former members of Phantom Lord."

Makarov's eyes widened in surprise but nodded nonetheless. What very few knew was that a few days after the war with Phantom Lord ended, Makarov was accused of sending some of his mages to fight and torture former members of the opposing guild. Apparently someone with the guild mark of Fairy Tail had attacked a warehouse belonging to Phantom Lord and possibly killed two of the wizards present after torturing two more members.

When Makarov learned that one of the wizards had used a lightning spell, he immediately thought of Laxus, but his grandson confirmed that he had never been there. In addition, the former members of Phantom Lord had described the two attackers and one of them also had an eye patch, while the lightning wizard was smaller than Laxus and had black hair.

Because of that, the charges had been temporarily frozen, but Makarov had feared the worst nonetheless.

"We'll send the information we have about them to you and the other guild masters, but it won't do you much good. In the end it's just a bunch of conjectures and, while drastic as a method, your mages have learned a lot more about their war potential; that is if the wizards who attacked your guild really belong to Shadow Soul." said Gran Doma with Makarov nodding before returning to his seat "Now we must discuss the last topic for today, which concerns precisely the Kingdom of Fiore. It seems that the dark guild Oración Seis is planning something in your lands."

"How do you know they are plotting something in the kingdom?" asked a guild master behind Makarov.

"We know that the dark guilds under their influence have become much more active in the recent period." said Gran Doma looking at that guild master "Eisenwald, Ghoul Spirit, Naked Mummy, Dark Unicorn...these are just some of the guilds under their control that have caused damage. The dark mages we captured admitted that Oración Seis suddenly increased their demand for money, which led to all of these guilds attempting robberies, assaults on isolated cities and more. Plain money isn't something a dark guild might need, so it's very likely this pillar of the Balam Alliance is trying to divert our attention from their true goal. The latest movements of Oración Seis indicate that they are reuniting at Worth Woodsea where, according to our records, a magic called Nirvana appears to be sealed; we know it's very old but we have no idea what kind of magic it is."

Sitting in one of the top rings, Cait Shelter's guild master stiffened and his eyes widened in shock, but no one seemed to notice.

"Precisely for this reason we believe it is appropriate to stop them and destroy that guild." said another member of the Council, looking at the guild masters "Entrusting this assignment to a single guild, however reliable or strong it may be, would be too risky so we want to form a temporary alliance between the legal guilds of your kingdom."

"A temporarily alliance?" asked Goldmine with a raised eyebrow "Of what kind?"

"Being a rather risky mission, since it concerns one of the three pillars of the Balam Alliance, no guild will be forced; if you decide to become part of this Light Alliance, you will have to send some wizards to face Oración Seis." explained Gran Doma with a serious voice "Before you decide to join, however, know that you will be sending your wizards against six dark mages of immense power. Each of them is considered equal to an S-class wizard in many legal guilds."

Many guild masters were visibly worried by his words, and many of them looked down or shook their heads, knowing that they had no one in their guilds capable of dealing with such opponents.

"My guild and I will gladly join this alliance. I will definitely send some of my children." said Makarov with Gran Doma nodding at him while Org wrote something on a sheet of paper.

In front of Makarov, Ooba Babasaama, the master of Lamia Scale, pointed up by continuously spinning a finger "Those snooty dark mages have been on the loose far too much! I'll definitely send someone too."

"Some of my boys could help out everyone, I'll definitely send someone." added Bob, with a smile on his face and some masters around him immediately sensed who he was talking about.

Goldmine looked at Makarov and Bob before nodding "Unfortunately, I don't have many wizards of that level, but I can certainly send someone."

Org wrote the name of his guild on the sheet of paper "Good. So far we have Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus e Quatro Cerberus. Anyone else?"

"I'd like to send someone." looking up, they saw Roubaul standing as he watched the Council "Mine is not a guild of fighters but one of my mages has great support magic and will be able to lend a hand to the others."

Grand Doma nodded before looking around and saw that no one else seemed willing to join that alliance. Although the security of their kingdom was at stake, he couldn't blame them. After all, if not counting the guilds already participating, the others did not have any notable wizards. After a few seconds of silence, he stood up tapping his staff against the floor "Then it's decided. These five guilds will form the Light Alliance and have the task of stopping Oración Seis, however they will not be alone." he looked to the right "Winter Driver, you and your Rune Knights will go with them."

Winter looked at him with surprised eyes "Do you mean that we will try to use the method I have just suggested?"

"Yes, as said those dark mages are gathering at the Worth Woodsea, also it is a small guild but we still have to take into account that they may have some of the guilds under their control with them." said Gran Doma before adding "And if my memory serves me right, the Cait Shelter guild is not far from that forest, all the more reason to implement your tactic."

The Head Captain nodded with serious eyes and bowed again after getting up "I will not fail you!"

"I know you won't. Now, any of you want to add something?" asked Gran Doma looking at everyone, and when no one spoke, he tapped his staff against the floor, causing the doors to the room to open "Then I announce this meeting concluded. For the guilds in the alliance I want to know who you will send as soon as possible and I want you ready to act as soon as possible; same thing for Winter Driver and your knights."

Nodding, they all bowed to the Council before leaving the hall, knowing that the time had finally come for the guilds of light and guilds of darkness to battle against each other. Yet even knowing that a dark guild like Shadow Soul had eyes and ears everywhere, none of them realized that the shadows already knew everything.

Walking apart from the other Head Captains, Acier went down another corridor, looking for an isolated room. His mistress had to be notified of what happened, and he was certain that she would not remain on the sidelines.

'A pity they chose Winter for this mission. Five legal guilds, one of the pillars of the Balam Alliance and the Rune Knights...it would have been interesting to fight them all.'

A shame, really. Wars like that didn't happen every day after all, but Shadow Soul would not have missed such an opportunity. Lurking in the shadows, they would sink their fangs into their enemies and send a clear message to the entire Kingdom of Fiore. That was his mistress's will, and he would carry it out, even at the cost of facing the entire Magic Council alone.

'I must then check that the transfer of those prisoners has been accepted.' thought Acier after finding an empty room 'I just hope the others don't miss the chance to get the job done, otherwise I'll go kill those three myself.'

---

[Shadow Soul's Headquarters / 22ndOctober X784]

Siegmund moved quickly, throwing precise and compact punches, not wasting a single movement. His pose was perfect and he could react quickly to any attack, yet his opponent was incredibly agile and managed to avoid his blows while always managing to keep a safe distance.

In front of him, Sylva kept her arms along her body as she continued hopping in place with a relaxed gaze. Out of the blue, she lunged at him and avoided a punch to her face before hitting her opponent in the side with an elbow and then rolling away before Siegmund could grab her. After getting up, she avoided a series of punches before taking quick steps and managing to get into Siegmund's guard; he tried to 'hug her' to be able to crush her but she let herself slide to her ground where she hit him with her fingertips on his calves, and then moved away from him with feline agility.

Siegmund looked at her with an annoyed glare. Sylva was strong, that was undoubted, but she didn't have the physical strength to hurt him without her weapons. Both of them were wearing simple training clothes and she was faster and more agile than him, as Siegmund relied much more on strength and knowing how to use all his weapons, and this had led to a continuous hit and run where she hit him once or twice before moving away while he couldn't touch her, although on the other hand if he managed to hit her even once he would win.

Narrowing his gaze, Siegmund bent his legs slightly and lowered his center of gravity with his hands open and ready to grab his opponent, who looked at him with calm eyes.

'He has gone from striker to grappler...he will just try to grab me and now that he has lowered his body he has reduced the space where I can strike without too much risk.' thought Sylva, watching carefully the man in front of her. Quickly devising a plan, the girl sprinted forward and Siegmund did not wait in an attempt to grab her, but Sylva took a quick side step to avoid him and be able to hit him in the side, only that her opponent did not fully extend his arms, stopping them almost immediately.

Like a snake, Siegmund's right arm swiftly moved to the right and he managed to grab Sylva's ankle before lifting her into the air and slamming her back to the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs. Releasing her, he lunged at her and prepared a punch while aiming at her face, stopping as he touched the tip of Sylva's nose, however he said nothing as he felt the tips of her right hand's fingers pressed against his throat.

"Tie?" asked Sylva with a small smile without removing her hand.

Siegmund stared at her for a moment before raising to his feet "It's my loss."

"Oh don't be angry." joked Sylva while getting up "In a real battle, you would have killed me in no time."

The man glared at her for a moment "In a real battle you would have had your weapons and your illusions. There are no draws out there, so spare me your optimism."

Sylva raised her hands as if to give up "Fine fine, whatever you say. By the way, last time we trained together, you seemed more responsive. Is age catching up with you?"

"No, I'm just not used to it anymore. It's hard to find someone with your fighting style now." replied the Berserker while walking toward Yellow, who handed them two towels and drinks, beer for Siegmund and water for Sylva.

"You know you should drink more water, yes?" asked Sylva, earning another glare from him. Laughing at his reaction, Sylva later had to admit that Siegmund was right, it was now difficult to find wizards who bet on agility. Of course all of them mostly used their magic but most of the time they were heavy hitters, with some wizards using their speed to hit. However Sylva was one of the few wizards to take advantage of her agility a lot along with her speed; so many enemies who had faced her hadn't even been able to touch her.

"As long as I stay in the area I will ask you to fight other times, I have to get back in shape against people like you." said Siegmund, hating the fact that he had lost his hand in dealing with opponents like Sylva. He had to be able to face anyone; the trail of corpses behind him was a clear sign of his strength, yet he couldn't afford to lose touch.

Going to sit in the stands nearby, he motioned for Sylva to do the same. Arching an eyebrow, Sylva did as requested before looking at him with curious eyes "What is it?"

"I need some kind of favor." said Siegmund, shocking her to the core. Was Siegmund Hildolfr, the freaking Berserker of Shadow Soul, asking her a favor? She had to remember to write it down in her diary and make sure the end of the world wasn't near.

"What kind of favor?"

"This is about Arseille, I would like you to take her under your wing and teach her everything you know about things like infiltration, information retrieval and all those things." explained Siegmund with a calm voice "You are the best at this and I am sure Arseille would benefit from it."

Sylva stared at him, blinking slowly "I didn't know you had learned to create illusions like me...for a moment it seemed to me that I saw an unselfish father who wants only the best for his daughter."

"Then you need to have your eyes checked because now you see things that don't exist. If Arseille learns under you, she will be more useful to the guild."

"Do you talk to her?"

"Of course."

"Do you train her?"

"Yes."

"A mage has blocked her magic and holds her captive. Do you save her?"

"I trained her, she will know how to free herself, otherwise she would be useless."

"Apart from the last comment...those seem to me the answers of an excellent father." joked Sylva with Siegmund staring at her before summoning Tyrfing and decapitate her with a single slash, yet her body dissolved like mist and the real Sylva reappeared sitting in the stands, out of range of his blade.

"You knew it was an illusion, right?"

Siegmund looked at her and merely grinned before walking away, only to be stopped by Sylva calling for him.

"I was already planning to take Arseille under my wing and teach her something, but since this is a favor...I want you to return it now."

The man arched an eyebrow but nodded anyway. If he could return the favor right away at least he wouldn't have to wait. Only once had he asked Reina a favor and she still hadn't asked him for anything in return, saying that she was still thinking about it...and it had already been eight years!

"I want you to take Aki as a student in the art of the sword."

That...was not what he would have expected as a request. Turning completely to her, he asked "Why her? She is young and inexperienced but I think she knows how to handle a sword. She doesn't need a teacher."

"She needs experience and to face strong opponents, and you can give her both. I'm not saying to teach her all the sword techniques in the world, but I want you to make her strong." explained Sylva before adding "Her stepbrother is currently a Head Captain of the Rune Knights and if what Acier said is true, he is a force of nature and is hunting Aki, so I want her to know how to defend herself properly."

Siegmund would have liked to decline the request. In the end he wasn't a wet nurse and if this Head Captain was the problem, why didn't they kill now? He was sure Acier was capable of it, however it was something simple and Siegmund could get something out of it.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"Great!" walking toward him, she held out her hand "Deal?"

Rolling his eyes, Siegmund shook her hand "Deal."

---

"Is there any problem, Asteria?" asked Arseille with an annoyed glare directed at the other girl who was looking at her with a small smirk on her lips. By now everyone knew that the Arseille on a mission and the Arseille in the guild were completely different; if you add the fact that Sylva and Lorenzo had told her not to sleep last night it was understandable that she was not exactly sociable at the moment. Most likely she had been told not to sleep due to a possible mission, but the dark circles didn't suit her at all and she also had red eyes from lack of sleep.

Asteria didn't lose her smirk "Oh no, nothing special. I was just thinking that you and I never got to interact properly."

Arseille had to concede that point. She had been in the guild for thirteen days now, however there were still several Shadow Soul wizards she had never talked to due to training sessions or missions. She had exchanged only a few passing words with Asteria and had watched one of her training sessions against Atonnis, but other than that the two sorceresses were completely strangers to each other.

"And you would like to start now?" asked Arseille, hoping for a negative answer.

"Kind of. Your magic is a variation of Sound Magic that uses voice, right?" there was a strange light in her eyes when Asteria asked that particular question.

"Yes..." replied Arseille, unsure why Asteria wanted to be sure of the magic she was using.

"Good! Follow me then!" and without waiting any longer, Asteria grabbed Arseille by the wrist and dragged her to the stairs leading to Reveeina's office only to go left once they got to the top, where there was a double wooden door. Arseille had to admit that she had never noticed that door or the one behind her. There were a total of three doors on that 'floor' and she only knew that the central one was Reveeina's office...for a second she felt like slapping herself for her negligence in studying the guildhall.

Releasing Arseille, Asteria put her hands on the doors and pushed them open. What Arseille saw left her speechless, as one of the largest libraries she had ever seen stood in front of her. Shelves several meters high, full of books, covered the walls of that huge room, as well as the floor, where there were occasionally wooden tables with chairs, as dozens upon dozens of magical crystals floated in the air to shed light into the chamber.

"What is this place?" asked Arseille, walking into the library and feeling a strange feeling of discomfort the moment she stepped inside it.

"This is the guild library. Since its earliest days, hundreds of books of all genres have been amassed here. In this room you can find simple things like cookbooks and novels, but also ancient tomes, magic books and even scrolls dating back to the dragon war that took place hundreds of years ago." explained Asteria while walking between two shelves "The feeling of discomfort you have for sure experienced is the side effect of the portal that connects the guild to this chamber. Apparently the first master didn't want to risk all this knowledge being lost with the guild, so she created this...pocket dimension if you will. The concept is similar to that of the magic used by many mages such as Reina and Siegmund, but at the same time different. If the guild were to be destroyed, this place would continue to exist."

"I see." Arseille looked around, recognizing some of the tomes present in those shelves, then focuses on Asteria "So, why did you bring me here?"

"To help you of course!" stopping in front of a particular shelf, Asteria snapped her fingers and from the floor in front of her came a ladder with rungs that reached the top of the shelf. Climbing up the ladder, she stopped halfway and picked up a book before jumping off, showing it to Arseille "The one who tutored me in this guild after making me a member was a man named Rosen and he used a magic like yours. He told me that he learned many of his spells from this book, so if you want I can help you learn them!"

Arseille seemed intrigued by the idea "It would definitely be beneficial to me, but how can you help me? As long as I remember you have a different magic."

"Simple, I have faced Rosen several times and I know the effect that some spells should have so I can make an exact comparison between you and him, also I have learned my magic from a book and the mistress told me it's a rare thing these days." explained Asteria with a grin while giving her the book of her mentor.

Arseille picked up the book and leafed through the first pages before nodding "In that case I will accept your offer."

"Nice! Now all we have to do is go to a training room and we can get started!"

"I'm afraid your training session will have to be postponed." looking behind them, they saw Lorenzo walking toward them a calm face "I need Arseille for an important mission and we have to leave now."

Asteria frowned at him but eventually shrugged "Oh well...I'll wait."

Lorenzo thanked her, knowing that the girl was not very inclined to give up her fun or things she was interested in, then looked at Arseille "I see you haven't slept this night. Very good. Go to your room and put on an elegant suit suitable for a noble, but nothing too glitzy, then join me in the main room. Also don't wear your armored boots and don't take with you your dagger."

Arseille raised an eyebrow at the strange request but did as ordered and after about fifteen minutes he arrived in the main hall wearing a long red dress with puff sleeves and elegant black slippers. Lorenzo was there waiting for her wearing an elegant suit and, strangely enough, Atonnis was with him but the giant was now wearing a strange silver armor mixed with a white uniform and a broadsword sheathed on his back; even his classic black helmet was now silver and far less intimidating.

"Now we can leave." nodded Lorenzo before walking toward the room for the teleportation.

"Hello hello! What can I do for you today?" Niidia's lively voice came as the little lamia approached them smiling, and Arseille couldn't help but smile back. Of all the guild members, Reveeina's 'daughter' was the only one she couldn't show even an iota of bad temper and from what she'd noticed, even Siegmund couldn't make any negative comments about her.

"Hello Niidia, we need a three-person transportation to Dandelion Town." explained Lorenzo while giving her a big sack in the meantime "That's five kilos of candy, that should be enough for the ticket."

'Five kilos?!' thought Arseille with shocked eyes.

Niidia picked up the bag without difficulty and immediately ate a handful of candy before nodding with a big smile "Payment is sufficient, but I still want a jar of honey! They say that in Dandelion Town they make a very good honey!"

"All right, we'll bring you some." nodded Lorenzo before moving toward the center of the room with Arseille and Atonnis. Niidia approached them before using her magic and, like all previous times, a giant black snake burst out of the ground and swallowed the three wizards before sinking back into the floor, leaving the lamia alone in the room.

"And now...snack time!" and moving incredibly fast, Niidia pounced on the sack of candy to enjoy the fruit of her labor.

---

[Dandelion Town / 22ndOctober X784]

The huge snake re-emerged in the center of what appeared to be a basement and opening its jaws released Arseille, Lorenzo and Atonnis. The young sorceress looked around her curiously, not knowing where they had been taken; she had already had the opportunity to experiment with that method of transportation and it didn't seem so horrible, while some guild members apparently preferred to walk.

"Where are we?"

"In the basement of an old castle on the edge of Dandelion Town. This place belongs to my alter ego, Willer Rovinor, and is run by some members of Shadow Soul who are no longer suited to field work. It is one of the many bases that we have scattered around the Kingdom of Fiore." explained Lorenzo while walking toward the door leading outside.

Following him, Arseille had to protect her eyes for a moment from the sudden light of the sun, since they had gone directly outside and not inside the castle. Looking around, she saw only a dense forest surrounding the castle and an old gray-haired lady walking towards them.

"Hello there, it's been a while Lorenzo." said the woman before adding "You too Atonnis, I haven't seen you for at least two years."

"Good day to you, Abimama." nodded Atonnis, not at all surprised that the woman recognized him despite the change of look.

Abimama then looked at Arseille "Oh my, what do we have here? A new shadow perhaps?"

The young girl nodded "I've been in the guild for two weeks, my name is Arseille Hildolfr."

The woman looked at her with surprised black eyes "Hildolfr? Are you related to Siegmund?"

"I'm his step-daughter."

"Well this is interesting." chuckled Abimama "I never thought that battle maniac would go as far as adopting a daughter, but if he did it means he saw something in you, my dear. Now Lorenzo, I guess you're here for the carriage?"

Lorenzo nodded at her "Is everything ready?"

"Of course, just because I'm no longer one of the active wizards doesn't mean I don't know how to work anymore." chuckled Abimama beckoning them to follow her. In a few minutes they had made the tour around the castle and waiting for them they found a carriage of wood and metal, the kind that used magic to move rather than being pulled by horses. The entire right side opened allowing Atonnis to enter, after which Lorenzo and Arseille also got into the carriage.

"Good luck with your mission." said Abimama while waving at them as one of their mages took the position of coachman and started the carriage, heading away from the city. Inside the carriage, Lorenzo took a small box and pulled out a ring and a necklace which he gave respectively to Arseille and Atonnis before pointing to the bracelet around his wrist.

"These are special jewels designed by my company in secret. The small Lacrima embedded within them allows you to use Sylva's magic in a minimal way, so you can change your appearance without arousing suspicion." to give Arseille a demonstration, since Atonnis already knew this, Lorenzo activated his bracelet and quickly transformed into his alter ego, Willer Rovinor "They have been set to change only the face and complexion but not things like clothes or body, so you will have to wear different clothes than your usual ones."

Arseille looked at her ring with interest before putting it on and activating it, immediately feeling the magic envelop her body. Now in place of her was a young girl with auburn hair, pale complexion, green eyes and some visible freckles on her cheekbones.

In front of her, Atonnis activated his necklace and...nothing changed. Nothing strange considering that his skin was not visible, however he nodded towards Lorenzo to let him know that it worked.

"Isn't there a risk that someone might perceive the magical energy coming from the Lacrima?" asked Arseille after removing the ring.

"Don't worry, we have taken all necessary precautions; no one will understand that it is an illusion even passing very close to you." he then handed them a few documents "Now, read these please and store the information in them. They will be vital for carrying out the mission."

The more Arseille read those documents, the more her lips arched into a cold grin. That mission promised to be much more interesting than expected and, according to the information just obtained, the guild must have worked hard to prepare the ground.

"Siegmund told me that you are originally from Crocus, but even if they forgot you since you disappeared when you were a child, we preferred to change your appearance." added Lorenzo while reading other documents "When you are sure you have memorized everything, give me the documents back and I will burn them. Arseille, try to get into the part right now. The success of this mission also depends on you and your ability to act."

The girl nodded and concentrated intently on the papers she was holding, while Atonnis did the same with his documents. The three dark mages traveled in silence for an hour before arriving at the gates of Crocus, where they were quickly checked by a small group of soldiers. Lorenzo, wearing his illusion, gave them documents and permits (obviously bogus) and after a few minutes they were allowed to go further, heading towards the palace of the king, Mercurius.

Sensing the carriage stop, Lorenzo looked at the others "It is time to enter the scene. Remember the plan." and after seeing them nod, he waited for the coachman to open the door, allowing him to go out. In front of him he saw a small group of people; while six of them were mere soldiers, the two people at the head of the group were clearly more prominent individuals and Lorenzo quickly recognized them as Darton, Minister of Defense, and Riana, the leader of the White Tiger squadron.

'I was expecting the presence of a Minister, but the woman is a surprise.' thought Lorenzo while keeping a calm face 'Well it doesn't matter, it won't change the plan.'

---

Darton had to hold back a sigh when he saw the carriage stop in front of the castle gates, and when he saw the famous Willer Rovinor get out first he could only curse his luck. As the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Fiore, he was used to dealing and talking to other politicians, even from other kingdoms, but Willer Rovinor was not only a politician but also a shrewd trader. For about three years he had begun to supply the army with special Lacrima, much more resistant than the others, but he had still managed to impose an abominable price to conclude the agreement.

'Well the King said he would be there too, but I don't see the reason for a meeting. The signed contract should have a duration of at least ten years.' thought Darton before seeing the carriage open allowing a...giant to come out, rising to his full height. The Minister swallowed at the sight of the man, as even people like Arcadios and Neppa who were also very tall, seemed normal by comparison.

The huge knight looked around for a few seconds before stepping aside and allowing the last passenger to get off and when his eyes rested on that girl, Darton couldn't help but feel pity for her.

Deep dark circles, red eyes caused by crying, pale complexion...the young girl who just got off looked like she had lived through a nightmare all by herself. When she looked at him, Darton couldn't hold back the shiver that ran down his spine as he saw how empty those eyes were.

'My God...what happened to this girl?' approaching the newly arrived guests, Darton bowed his head slightly "Welcome to Crocus, I am Darton the Minister of Defense. William Rovinor, it's a pleasure to see you again, although I'm afraid the reason for your visit is not exactly pleasant."

"Unfortunately you are right, Lord Darton. Has the King already warned you of the reason for my arrival?" asked Lorenzo with a calm face while Riana looked at him and the others.

Darton shook his head "He just told me you were coming with guests today to talk to him. He is already waiting for you. Follow me, I will take you to him."

"Thank you very much." nodded Lorenzo before following the older man inside the castle. The six soldiers stood around them while Riana stayed behind them all, gazing intently at the three guests. Darton led them through several corridors before approaching a room and only then did Riana step between them and the room, looking first at Atonnis.

"You are about to meet the King. I need you to surrender your weapons before you can enter."

Atonnis was silent for a few seconds before nodding and handing his greatsword to one soldier, while another began to feel him along his arms and legs to make sure he had no hidden weapons. Beside him another soldier did the same with Lorenzo but when one of them approached Arseille, she backed away with a frightened air before looking at Riana.

"C-Could she do it? I don't feel...comfortable with men..."

The soldier lowered his arms, clearly sorry to have intimidated her, before looking at Riana who nodded and proceeded with the check, nodding when she found no weapon. Stepping aside, she let two soldiers open the doors to the room and Darton walked in, followed by the others.

There waiting for them, comfortably seated on a small sofa, was the King of Fiore's kingdom: Toma E. Fiore, and although they had seen him in several announcements, all three of Shadow Soul's mages couldn't help but be surprised to see how short he was. The man watched them enter with serious eyes but let out a small smile when he saw Lorenzo "Ah Willer, it's been a while! I've never seen you at any of the gala balls organized here at the palace."

Lorenzo bowed his head "My sincere apologies, my King. Unfortunately in the gala ball season I am overwhelmed with work and have several appointments. I will try to be present to the next that will be organized."

"Don't worry, I know running a company like the Lacrima Inc has to be as difficult as running a kingdom." said the king before looking at Arseille with a serious face "Is she...?"

"Yes, she is Vanellia Gridelf, the youngest daughter of Barbatos Gridelf and the only survivor of her lineage." said Lorenzo with a nod before gesturing toward Atonnis "While he is Acon, her personal bodyguard."

Arseille took a step forward before performing a bow worthy of the most educated nobles "It's an honor to finally meet you, King Toma E. Fiore, ruler of the Kingdom of Fiore."

"The pleasure is all mine, my dear. Please make yourselves comfortable." he said gesturing toward the sofa in front of him, and both Lorenzo and Arseille sat down while Atonnis remained standing behind the girl. When they were seated, Toma looked at a servant who had remained on the sidelines until that moment and asked him to bring some tea and biscuits for the guests; once the servant had left the room, the king looked at Arseille "I know I'm late for this, but allow me to extend my deepest condolences. Your father was a great man, and the same goes for your mother and your brothers."

A sad little smile formed on Arseille's lips before she bowed her head again "I very much appreciate your words, King of Fiore. My father held you in high esteem and considered you one of his closest friends, even though he was from another kingdom."

Toma E. Fiore was a respected king throughout Ishgar, it was no coincidence that it was he who had proposed the re-establishment of the Magic Council and that various sovereigns had supported his motion. Having been king for many years, he had been able to forge alliances and friendships both within and outside his kingdom, and among them was a noble family of the Kingdom of Wood, the Gridelf. Known by many as a family of warriors and leaders, despite being part of the Woodland Kingdom, the Gridelf had often come to the aid of Fiore, Iceberg, Stella, and Seven in times of crisis, repeatedly ignoring their king's orders.

Only their prowess as warriors had saved them from exile, however, a news that had caused a lot of scandal and uproar had been the sudden destruction of the whole family. Their castle had been almost razed to the ground, all the servants had died as well as the whole family and the corpses of Bosco's soldiers had also been found on the site of the massacre; this had led many to think that it was the king who ordered their destruction, but the man immediately defended himself by saying that he had never ordered anything like this.

On a completely unrelated note, a few days before the massacre Reveeina had sent Shirros and several other wizards to attack the Gridelf family castle, ordering to kill everyone and kidnap the youngest daughter, who had never appeared in public due to her poor health, and her bodyguard.

Needless to say, the two had met their end a few hours later, and with their deaths, Arseille and Atonnis had easily been able to appropriate their identities.

"And he was a dear friend to me." nodded Toma with a sad smile before shacking his head "I know you're still grieving your family, and I'm really sorry to ask you, but why did you come to me? I know that accusations have been made against the King of Bosco, but I don't think anyone like Jovan could ever plot something like this."

Despite being frowned upon by many rulers, Jovan K. Bosco was not such a petty man as to order the destruction of an entire family of his own kingdom, and Toma had known him for many years, so he was certain of the innocence of the king of Bosco.

Arseille looked worried at Lorenzo, but he nodded with a serious look "You don't have to worry Vanellia, whatever you say won't leave this room." and to support his words, he looked at the king who nodded in turn, giving his word on the privacy of their conversation. The few present in the room with them were all loyal to him and would never disobey his will.

After a shaky breath, Arseille looked at the cup of tea she held in her hands "The night of the attack...I...I was in my room. My mother was with me when we heard explosions at the castle gate. When we looked out the window we saw my father's soldiers fighting against...Bosco's soldiers, but there were also wizards among them."

Toma narrowed his gaze. Bosco's guilds were treated the same way as Fiore's, so it was very likely that they were a dark guild. Looking back at the girl sitting across from him, he invited her to go on.

"They fought mercilessly...I saw some servants die at the hands of those monsters...and as they were getting closer and closer to the castle my brother came. He helped my mom move my bed to show me a secret trap door where they made me hide." Arseille suppressed a sob and, in the back of their minds, both Atonnis and Lorenzo had to compliment her ability to act "My brother told me he would go find the others and then come back to pick me up. I stood there without moving...and the sounds of battle were getting closer and closer until someone broke down my bedroom door. I don't know how many there were but they overturned everything and I could hear them talking, wondering where I had ended up."

"Did they say something else?" asked Toma, fighting the urge to get her to stop and go to rest, but if he really wanted to help her he had to know everything.

Arseille nodded with a tear running down her cheek "They said my head was the only one missing...and that the King would be displeased if they didn't bring all the heads of my family."

Toma inhaled sharply 'No...Jovan don't tell me you really fell so low...what happened to you?'

"Then...then one of them said he couldn't wait to go home and that luckily Fiore's Kingdom was close."

The king looked at her with surprised eyes "They came from my kingdom?"

"I-I don't know. I was scared and I was trying to stay as still as possible! Some of them said something about your kingdom but I didn't hear right because they were already outside my room." Arseille sobbed before adding "As the minutes went by it became quiet and after several hours Acon came to my room, injured and tired and helped me out, after which he led me to safety. I...fainted when I saw what was left of my father's castle and soldiers...along with his corpse."

"You don't have to tell me more, my dear. I will do everything in my power to avenge your family, in the meantime you are my welcome guest for as long as necessary." said Toma with a serious voice, already thinking about setting up a meeting with the king of Bosco to discuss what happened.

"Thank you very much, my King." said Arseille while bowing her head.

Toma looked at her for a few seconds, realizing that leaving her alone, even with her bodyguard or the maids, would not help her health. With that in mind, he leaned forward with a small smile "You must be very tired my dear. Would you like to relax in the royal gardens? I'm sure you'll have a chance to get a little distracted."

Arseille looked at him confused but then nodded and, after thanking him once again, stood up and left the room along with some guards and Atonnis, while Lorenzo remained seated and focused on the king.

"I guess young Vanellia's presence wasn't the only reason for your visit, although I'd like to know why she contacted you." said Toma with an arched eyebrow.

Lorenzo shook his head "She didn't, her bodyguard contacted me. He was a former employee of mine when I opened branches in the Kingdom of Bosco. He was an excellent guard for three years before he joined the Gridelf family." Toma nodded, as it was not unusual for some employees to leave to perform their services elsewhere "Now, for the other reason for my visit, I guess you know what happened weeks ago between the Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord guilds."

The king nodded again, having been one of the most discussed topics in the palace for several days.

Lorenzo showed him his best business smile "I may have a chance to reproduce the technological marvels of Phantom Lord, if you were interested."

---

After a few minutes, Arseille finally arrived at the edge of the famous royal gardens and had to admit that they were truly magnificent. Looking around, she saw that there were very few guards, so she walked towards a large oak tree in the center of the gardens, but was surprised to see a young green-haired girl, perhaps a few years younger than her, reading a book at the foot of the tree. Hearing someone approaching, the girl looked up and her green eyes widened in surprise to see Arseille.

"O-Oh I'm sorry! I didn't hear you coming until now." placing the book on the ground, she stood up and bowed her head "My name is Hisui E. Fiore, Princess of the Kingdom of Fiore. A pleasure to meet you."

"No no, please raise your head, Your Highness." Arseille quickly bowed her head "I am Vanellia Gridelf, and the pleasure is all mine in being able to meet the princess herself."

Hisui looked at her in surprise before lowering her gaze "My father told me what happened to your family...I'm so sorry for your loss...I can't even imagine what it's like to lose your whole family."

Arseille shook her head "It's a terrible experience...but I don't want to sadden you, Your Highness. Your father was very kind and he offered me to stay here while he tries to avenge my family."

The princess looked at her with a small smile "It will be a pleasure to have you as our guest. Would you like to stay here in the gardens for a while? You will be tired I guess."

The undercover dark mage nodded with a smile and the two young girls sat down in the shade of the oak, under the watchful gaze of Atonnis who, however, remained at a safe distance, eyeing the palace guards from time to time and noticed that none of them were paying attention to the princess but to him.

'Lack of training. A stranger is less than a meter from the Princess and they focus on me.' Atonnis resisted the urge to shake his head 'If this were a simple assassination mission, we'd be done by now.'

Meanwhile, Arseille had just described to Hisui one of the most impressive forests in the whole of the Kingdom of Bosco.

"Really? Are there such big trees?" asked Hisui with shocked eyes and Arseille nodded.

"Yes, on my journey here I have seen several woods and forests, but no tree could ever compete with the towering redwoods of my kingdom." after a moment she added "Didn't your father ever take you around?"

Hisui looked down with an annoyed glare "No, he says I'm still too young and that I need to focus on my studies...since one day I will have to reign as Queen." she then looked back at Arseille with a smile "That's why I'm glad you're here...being able to talk to someone so freely is new to me and in fact..."

Arseille arched an eyebrow when she heard her mumble the last part, so she moved a bit closer "Forgive me, Your Highness, but I didn't hear what you said."

Hisui looked to the side with a small blush on her face "I...I was wondering if you would like to be my f-friend."

With her gaze turned away and the attention of the guards focused on Atonnis, no one saw the cold smile that formed on Arseille's lips, nor the strange light that lit up in her eyes.

"But of course, Your Highness." said Arseille, now with a warm smile "I'd love to be your friend."

---

[Kingdom of Seven / 22ndOctober X784]

"Again!"

Aki took a deep breath before gripping her weapon firmly and lunging again at Siegmund, who began to deflect all of her swipes, backing away slightly each time. His sword was one of many he possessed but it was strong enough to withstand Aki's assaults and it was clear that he knew how to handle it with incredible skill since, despite her skill, Aki had not yet managed to hit him.

Grabbing his blade with both hands he attempted a side swipe but Siegmund easily blocked it, however Aki used the backlash of the parry to rotate on its axis and try again with an even faster swing, but this time Siegmund stepped back and avoided the red blade. The height difference was clearly to his advantage as their weapons were roughly equal in length, allowing them to stay at a safe distance from Aki. Having also realized this disadvantage, she made a quick leap forward and went inside Siegmund's guard but the man proved his mastery by managing to defend himself despite having her very close to him; after yet another parry, Aki bent her knees lowering her center of gravity and threw a violent upward swipe, managing to repel and shatter Siegmund's defense.

However, her victory was short-lived as Siegmund took a step backward with a side swipe and Aki was forced to jump back to avoid his blade, however when she made to return to the attack she stopped when she saw Siegmund raise a hand, making his sword vanish in the process.

"That's enough. Now I have a better understanding of your skills." said Siegmund, noticing that the girl was not tired at all "At least you have some stamina, otherwise I would never have agreed to tutor you. Your physical strength is noteworthy even if inferior to others, while your magic is embarrassing. Even Poppea has more magical power than you and she is one of the weakest mages in the guild in that respect." after a moment of silence he smirked "This reinforces my idea that the Tamashiro Family is a group of idiots."

Aki narrowed her eyes but said nothing. First of all because she agreed with him for the most part, given her former family's aversion to magic, and secondly because Sylva had explained to her that Siegmund loved to instigate others to attack first.

"We can safely increase the capacity of your magic tank with a lot of training but not now. First we must finish the mission assigned to us by Reveeina, then we can think about how to make you stronger."

The girl nodded before following him when he walked among the trees of that small wood "Why did you agree to tutor me?"

Siegmund scoffed "Certainly not for the goodness of my heart. I don't give a damn about what happens to you or the others, but Sylva will help Arseille a lot by making her a better tool, and I'm not the kind of person who leaves things unfinished. First I return a favor and the sooner I take the trouble off." he then spared her a quick glance "Also given your magic, you could become a good sparring partner over time. Shirros and Acier are strong but as swordsmen they are mediocre, while Reina does not fight the way I like so she is not suitable."

Aki raised an eyebrow "They are all swordsmen?"

"Reina is, but like me she uses many weapons so she doesn't train only with her sword and even if she knows how to duel, she usually hunts her prey, she doesn't face them directly. Shirros and Acier mostly use their magic even though that masked bastard has a sword that interests me but he doesn't want to give it to me." Siegmund explained to her without much care "Then there is Atonnis who is good but is normally busy with the forge. There are other swordsmen in the guild but since I don't remember their faces or their names, they must be weak."

The girl sweat-dropped at his words before shacking her head "What is the mission?"

"Nothing difficult. We need to eliminate a noble family from this kingdom."

"A noble family?" Aki repeated while looking at him "For what reason?"

"Hell if I know. I have heard of them in passing, they are a small noble family that has just three generations behind them. I wish I had been sent to destroy those Gridelf folks. I bet Shirros had more fun than we will have." said Siegmund stopping at the edge of the wood, pointing at a small city ahead of them "They have a small villa in that city. We should arrive in an hour and hopefully we'll be done by evening. Let's move."

Aki watched him walk for a few seconds before following him 'I wonder if I'll have time to find a gift for Sylva to thank her.'

Siegmund might be a gruff bloodthirsty warrior but he was strong, and thanks to him she would become stronger.

All to finally destroy her former family.

---

[Border between Kingdom of Fiore and Bosco / 22ndOctober X784]

"I have a strong feeling of dejavu..."

The sun was now setting as Reina watched in boredom the country road, sitting on a large boulder with some berries placed on a napkin as a snack. Beside her, Grady looked at her curiously "What do you mean?"

"About twelve days ago I went on a mission with Shirros and it started exactly like that...with a long wait staring at an empty street." groaned Reina "The only difference is that this time it's you and Naco and not Shirros."

Grady nodded before grinning at her "You're not falling into a routine, are you?"

"If all the missions led to the result of the last one, I would gladly repeat this routine." said Reina, thinking of what she had discovered about those who had killed her family and her clan. Sylva was working hard to find out as much as possible about that Carbuncle guild, but Reveeina had already told Reina that she wouldn't send her right away to complete her revenge.

Obviously not for lack of respect or trust, but because the guild was slowly raising the stakes, with the attacks on the Magic Council, Fairy Tail and the impending war with Oración Seis, so Reveeina could not afford to send away for an indefinite period of time one of her best mages. Siegmund was also ordered to stay in the area and leave the Kingdom of Fiore only for quick missions, forcing him to use the fast travel portals every time.

"I guess this time you'll have to settle for something simpler." said Grady with a shrug "We still have to thank Acier for getting this transfer approved. Assaulting prisons is fun but only if it's worth it."

"I can only imagine." Reina then looked at Naco, who was sitting against a tree "Ready for a family reunion?"

Naco rolled his eyes "I'm not interested in seeing them again, but it's always better to get them out than to let them rot in prison. They could be useful to the mistress." he then looked at the empty road, waiting for the carriage that was carrying three prisoners: Zeedr Gradun, Ursa Gradun and Narsen Blatt.

The first two were respectively his father and mother, the ones who had taught him everything and who had been captured six years ago in an assassination attempt, while the last was the former master of Eisenwald, the de facto former guild master of Naco. After finally finding out where they were being held captive, they had harnessed Acier's influence to have them transferred elsewhere so that Naco and the others could free them along the way. Reveeina's orders were clear: free them and persuade them to join the guild; if not, kill them.

"Will you have problems with the mistress' orders?" asked Grady looking at his guildmate who shook his head.

"No, they may be my parents but they are not my family. Killing them or not will change nothing, and you will notice it as soon as you see my mother."

Reina nodded at him "What about Narsen?"

"He will not live past today." said Naco without missing a beat "The man was always reluctant to follow suggestions and tortured or killed several guild members when they opposed him. Rather than joining a guild he will prefer to die."

"We will be able to find out very soon. They are coming." said Grady looking at the carriage moving toward them, drawn by two horses with an escort of twelve Rune Knights.

"I thought the Magic Council took action considering what happened two weeks ago...but apparently they haven't learned their lesson." noted Reina while shacking her head, equipping her bow in the left hand before nocking an arrow "Ready to act."

The two mages prepared as required and a second later Reina fired an arrow that split into five, hitting the two horses in the head while the coachman and two knights were pierced at heart level. The three men had not even fallen to the ground that Naco and Grady leapt out of their hiding place and hit the remaining knights with a gravity press and a powerful bolt of lightning, killing them all in seconds with the help of Reina who had had time to shoot two more simple arrows, killing as many enemies. With a wave of his hand, Grady pulled the lock from the metal carriage doors and Naco opened them, allowing three people to step out into the sunset light, all dressed in simple prisoner clothes.

The first was a man in his forties, taller than Grady, with short dark brown hair in a crew cut. He had a slightly tanned, clear fair skin, a muscular build, light blue eyes and thick eyebrows. This was Zeedr Gradun, Naco's father.

The second prisoner was a woman in her forties, shorter than all the others. The woman had medium length light brown hair and upturned green eyes, with a slim body, high cheekbones and full red lips.

Finally, the last one was the former master of Eisenwald, Jacko Blaat; a man with a grayish complexion, in his fifties. He was as tall as Grady and had black eyes with short gray hair as well as several scars on his face. He seemed the first to notice Naco "Ah? If it isn't little Naco...took your sweet time huh?"

The young wizard rolled his eyes before removing the handcuffs from the three prisoners, ignoring the woman's glare "I never thought about how to actually free you. This situation arose only out of necessity."

"Naco." he looked at his mother, Ursa Gradun "How dare you talk to the guild master and your parents like that?! When we get back to the guild I'll make sure to punish you properly!"

"Good luck with that." snorted Naco while waving a hand toward her "Eisenwald no longer exists and I have not been a member of that guild for about six years."

"Yes, I know about that." hissed Ursa with white flashes dancing around her fingers "You dared to leave the guild! After all we have taught you!"

"You just taught me to kill." Naco shrugged at her words "It's not something one swears everlasting allegiance to, even if it was fun to learn. But now we are wasting time, we have freed you to ask if you want to join Shadow Soul."

"Shadow Soul?" repeated Zeedr with an apathetic look "You joined them then?"

Naco nodded, then shifting his gaze to Jacko, whose eyes were filled with anger "First you do nothing to try to free us, then you leave the guild and now you join those damned shadows too? I will make your punishment very painful!"

"So your answer is no?"

Long, sharp iron blades came out of Jacko's arm and he tried to stab Naco, but the boy transformed into a mass of electricity to get behind his former guild master. Zeedr and Ursa quickly turned to their son, the first with his arm wrapped in electricity and the second with a circular blade of white light in her left hand, but at the last second they both jumped to the side before the ground beneath Zeedr's feet cracked heavily and a spear plunged into where Ursa was.

"Now now...let's be polite." said Grady with an amused smile on his face "There are six of us, so I would say that three couples will resolve the situation much faster as it is now clear that none of you want to join us."

"Do you really think you are strong enough to defeat us?" asked Jacko with a scoff "I'll make sure you all scream in pain before the day is over. Ursa, take care of that girl. Zeedr, the guy with the eye patch. I'll take care of our little traitor."

"Don't kill me, master." said Ursa with a sadistic smile "I want to make him scream too after I bring his friend's body to his feet."

Reina said nothing, just staring at the woman with an amused expression despite the coldness in her eyes, and then following her as she walked towards the nearby trees. Meanwhile Grady looked at Zeedr and pointed to a spot not far away before the two mages walked in that direction.

Now alone with Naco, Jacko watched the younger wizard as a gray magic circle appeared under his feet "I always knew you weren't loyal to the guild. Today you will die for your betrayal."

"You have always enjoyed speaking before punishing or executing a guild member." replied Naco with electricity dancing around his body and a cruel smile on his face "Now let's see how you fare when you are the one being tortured!"

---

Reina was walking behind Ursa when they entered the trees and did not flinch when she felt her opponent accumulate magical power in her hands. Stopping suddenly, Ursa turned to Reina throwing four huge rings of light that cut the trees without any difficulty causing them to collapse to the ground, however her opponent had already disappeared.

Hearing an amused laugh, Ursa turned to the left where she saw Reina crouched on a tree branch "You know...killers and hunters should be the same."

The woman growled at her before creating more rings of light and hurling them at Reina, but the sorceress of Shadow Soul leapt off the branch and threw knives in turn. Ursa didn't hesitate to grab all five throwing knives before sending them back to her sender with a smooth motion of her arm. Reina also grabbed them all without batting an eye but then decided to put them back in her bandolier.

"Tricks like that won't help you, little girl. I have a lot more experience in combat and assassinations than you!" said Ursa, now with a sadistic grin "Once I cut off your arms and legs, I'll make you scream all night long! Even the dead will feel your pain!"

Reina watched her in silence for a few seconds before grinning "Requip: Shroud of Smokes." and in a small flash of light, a dusty gray cloak appeared over Reina's shoulders; it reached up to her ankles and completely covered the back and left side of her body, as well as having black clouds along the end of the cloak. Ursa arched an eyebrow at the sight of that strange cloak but, before she could react, a giant blanket of thick smoke was released from the cloak and Reina vanished inside the smokescreen.

Moving her arms quickly, Ursa threw two javelins of light but hit nothing or anyone and was even more furious when she heard Reina's amused laughter echo around her.

"Where are you aiming? I'm right here~!"

"You damn bitch! Show yourself!" shouted Ursa while throwing more javelins and rings of light.

"Are you really a killer?" Reina asked with clear confusion in her voice "Didn't I tell you? Hunters and assassins should be the same. We both have a prey, we study their habits, we devise a strategy to take them down and when the situation arises...we strike. Now please, tell me..."

Ursa froze on the spot when she felt Reina's warm breath caress her ear.

"...how does it feel to be the prey?"

---

Grady stopped after a few minutes, looking around and noticing that there was not a soul. Turning to Zeedr, he saw him a few meters away with an apathetic look on his face.

"Now I understand why Naco hasn't talked to us often about you. You don't exactly look like a happy family to me." joked Grady while cracking his knuckles "Although he told me he learned his magic from his father."

As if to answer his hidden question, several electric sparks began to dance around Zeedr's body.

"Also...Naco has golden eyes and black hair but neither of you have those characteristics. Are you sure your wife hasn't cheated on you over and over again?"

"I don't really care. She can do whatever she wants as long as she doesn't bother me." replied Zeedr before shooting a beam of lighting from his right hand.

The aforementioned attack, however, was dispersed in the air as soon as it was close to Grady, who was now grinning at his opponent "I'm sorry but I've been dealing with your son for four years and I can handle your magic. It seems you have no chance of winning. Are you sure you don't want to join our guild? It could be fun."

"Not interested." Zeedr began to charge lightning into his hands "I also know that if I wanted to just leave you wouldn't let me go now that I know my son is part of Shadow Soul."

"You guessed it! Unfortunately we have to protect the guild from loose lips and while in some cases we can easily track down who has information about us, it could be more difficult with you." the air around Grady began to warp "So if you have any last words for Naco, please tell me."

"I've nothing to tell, except for...Twin Lightning Bolt."

With two powerful beams of electricity directed at him, Grady couldn't help but grin.

"Maybe you really are his father...Gravitational Dome!"

---

Jacko and Naco attempted to hit each other with a beam of electricity and sharp metal blades, but neither of their attacks landed and the two remained several meters apart as the road around them was littered with bits of metal and burns. Jacko closed both hands before opening them again and showing some strange metal blocks that he hurled at Naco, however the boy already knew about this spell and, turning into lightning, quickly moved away before those metal blocks exploded into dozens of sharp splinters.

"So you've learned something over the years." said Jacko with a smirk "If I remember correctly the first time you stayed in the infirmary for two days and the second time you almost lost an arm."

"I was only ten, but thank you for the compliments." Naco mimicked his smirk "You, on the other hand, seem much slower to me than before. Did you let yourself go while you were in prison? You look fatter to me."

The grin quickly faded from Jacko's face, being replaced by an angry look "Looks like I'm going to have to remind you what it means to turn against me." a gray magic circle appeared below him "You haven't forgotten why I'm perfect for representing Eisenwald, have you?"

(A.N: 'Eisenwald' is German for 'Iron Forest')

Naco remained motionless without reacting as what looked like leaves made of iron formed along Jacko's body before breaking away and starting to float above him. The process repeated for several seconds, faster and faster, and eventually a huge cloud made up of those hundreds of iron leaves moved above Jacko.

"You have one last chance to apologize, Naco. I will not kill you but I will make you suffer for your affront." hissed Jacko before sending a wave of iron leaves against the bodies of the Rune Knights and the carriage, which were torn to shreds with a single swipe of all those leaves, which were razor sharp.

With a flick of the wrist, he drew the leaves back to him and the cloud of iron leaves behind him began to swirl quickly, while he looked at Naco with an amused look "Maybe you haven't learned enough after all. You have seen this spell in action before and yet you have done nothing to stop me from using it. Did the memory of what I can do with all these blades make you so scared that you can't move anymore?"

Naco shifted his gaze from Jacko to the cloud of iron leaves and finally back to his opponent, only to chuckle without any trace of fear or dread in his voice "Oh sure a memory has to do with it...however the person in my memory is not you, but someone much stronger and more dangerous than you."

Jacko narrowed his eyes "What are you talking about?"

Naco did not deign to give him an answer, as the unmistakable shape of Acier Gray now stood in place of Jacko. A younger Acier stood with his usual cold gaze and not even a drop of sweat on his body; in front of him, on the ground, the bleeding forms of Naco and Grady who had entered the guild a few days ago, immediately trying to test themselves against other wizards.

Lightning is supposed to be my weakness, yet you are not even worthy of being considered a nuisance.

It had been four years since then, yet neither of them had tried to challenge him again.

Cracking his neck, Naco released a massive amount of electricity from his body before pointing his right arm at Jacko "You're not as strong as he is, but killing you will still give me some satisfaction! Lighting Bolt!"

With a quick movement of his hand, Jacko placed a small amount of iron leaves in front of him and compacted them into a shield with which he blocked Naco's attack, however he quickly noticed how his defense was being pushed back and that many of his leaves were being melted by the intensity of the lightning. Narrowing his eyes, Jacko decided to counterattack and with the other hand he sent a wave of leaves towards Naco, who was forced to stop the attack to be able to move from his position.

With his body turned into electricity, Naco circled Jacko, but Eisenwald's former master sent wave after wave against his opponent, forcing him to keep moving. Jacko knew that Naco couldn't keep that form forever, so he tried to get ahead and sent more waves of iron leaves to the other side to intercept him. His plan, coupled with his great control of his magic, allowed Jacko to block Naco's escape route until he was locked inside a large floating sphere of iron leaves ready to tear him apart.

"Last warning Naco!" shouted Jacko with hands ready to activate his magic "Are you really willing to die here?!"

"I am ready to die for Shadow Soul!" shouted back Naco from his prison, and Jacko could feel an enormous amount of magical power being accumulated by the boy "But I certainly won't die against someone as weak as you today! Supreme Lighting!"

Jacko was immediately blown away by the shock wave caused by the huge column of lightning that struck the sphere of iron leaves, pulverizing them all. It only lasted a handful of seconds, yet that was enough to make the whole area a smoking crater. Rocks, trees, dirt, grass, even what was left of the Rune Knights caravan, all had been blown away and only scorched earth remained, with Naco in the center of the crater.

Jacko looked at him with amazed eyes as Naco started walking slowly towards him; small electrical bursts dancing around his body with every step and his eyes glowing with power. Naco seemed to notice the shock in his eyes and couldn't help but grin "What's up? You look surprised. You didn't really think you could defeat me like that, did you?"

"That's impossible! Not even your father is that strong!" hissed Jacko while standing up "Who gave you all that power?!"

Naco arched an eyebrow "What are you talking about? This power is mine and mine alone."

"You weren't this strong when you were part of Eisenwald!"

"Of course, I can only thank you for that. You have always been afraid that someone would become stronger than you, that's why you only targeted people without magical power so that no one could improve. You had Erigor as your second-in-command and you let him do what he wanted just because you knew he would stick with you as long as you let him kill whoever he wanted." explained Naco while shacking his head before showing him a feral grin "But in Shadow Soul the situation is different. I've lost count of how many times I've been thrown into the grinder for a handful of jewels. Extreme training, increasingly difficult missions, strong opponents ready to kill me...I have grown more in the last year than in my entire life with Eisenwald."

Jacko said nothing, attempting to hit Naco with some iron blades thrown from the palm of his hands, but Naco turned into electricity to avoid the attack and get in front of his opponent, and then hit him with a beam of lightning at point-blank range. Jacko screamed in pain but Naco didn't stop and kept attacking his former guild master until he saw him fall to the ground, covered in burns and barely conscious.

Slowly approaching him, Naco saw his opponent's body shaking with slight spasms and when he was at his side, he placed his right foot on Jacko's throat, with the man's frightened eyes fixed on him.

"Killing you with my magic has never been my goal." said Naco while putting pressure on Jacko's throat.

"W...a...it..."

CRCK!

Naco removed his foot from Jacko's broken neck and crouched beside him, noticing that the man's eyes were still following him. Grinning, he showed him the finger "You won't die fast, Jacko. This is one of the first things I learned with you. A broken neck does not mean immediate death. You can't hear, breathe or move...you can only slowly die of suffocation."

Standing up, he turned to walk away and let his former master die alone, but after a few steps he turned around making sure his lips were clearly visible, knowing that Jacko was able to read lip "Oh, one last thing. Kageyama sends his regards."

Naco's grin. Those last words. Those few things were enough to make Jacko understand that Kageyama had also betrayed him and the shock in his eyes was the last thing Naco saw, before turning around and never looking back.

After four years, he could finally leave his past behind.

---

Ursa was worried. No, not worried, but terrified. The fight against Reina was not going at all as she had foreseen and a short while ago she had seen an immense column of lightning fall from the sky, but she knew that her husband was not capable of that. Could it have been Naco? Since when had he gotten so strong?!

Aside from that dilemma, she was still stuck in the middle of those trees and that damn smokescreen, with multiple wounds all over her body. Since her Reina had disappeared from her sight, she had done nothing but hit her in her blind spots, and she seemed to be aiming for the non-lethal spots on purpose.

"Mmm...it looks like your son is finally done with your former guild master." said Reina, hidden in the smoke, and Ursa still hadn't been able to figure out where exactly she could be since the voice seemed to come from multiple directions "I'm sorry for you, but I have to finish this hunt quickly. I don't want to keep my teammates waiting too long."

Ursa growled while looking around "You talk as if you could have finished the fight when you wanted!"

"In fact that's exactly what I mean."

"Then show me how you are going to defeat me, you filthy coward!" shouted Ursa while creating a sphere of light between her hands. It was true that during their fight Ursa had mostly suffered attacks without being able to react, even if she was sure that with some attacks she must have hurt her opponent, but she had understood by now that Reina attacked with throwing knives or arrows and by now Ursa was used to the speed of her bullets.

'As soon as she attacks me, I'll let her hit me to secure victory with the counterattack.'

"True Strike."

As soon as she heard Reina's voice, Ursa concentrated hard and heard a knife hiss in the air behind her; turning in that direction she ignored the blade that lodged in her right thigh and released her attack, firing dozens of bullets of light, from the sphere in her hands, that also managed to dissipate part of the smoke screen and destroy several trees and bushes.

Her grin, as well as her belief that she had killed Reina, vanished the moment two knives lodged in her right shoulder and behind her left knee, knocking her to the ground.

"Did you really think I wasn't able to attack from multiple directions at the same time?" said Reina with mocking voice. Ursa did not answer her, merely removing the three blades from her body and then standing up, albeit with difficulty, and then running in a random direction, hurling blades and rings of light around her.

'Screw this! I will not die today! I just have to find my idiot of a husband and tell him to get us out of here!'

Finally after a few meters she came out of the smoke screen, but as soon as she reached the edge of the main road, she saw with horror what remained of the battlefield of Naco and Jacko, with the latter dead on the ground and her son intent on leaving without any remorse. Naco was with his back to her at that moment and that was enough to make her create a spear of light in her right hand, ready to be thrown.

"Nac-"

STAB!

"-bleerg!"

A massive amount of blood escaped from her mouth and the spear instantly dissolved as her eyes slowly lowered to the blade sticking out of her chest, dripping with blood. Her blood.

"A mother should love her offspring unconditionally...but it is clear that there are exceptions in the world." hissed Reina with a cold voice behind her "Now I fully understand why Naco has never missed you...and never will."

Ursa felt nothing when Reina pulled the sword out of her body, but the last thing she saw was her own body as her head, removed with a single slash, rolled a few meters away. Unceremoniously, Reina pushed Ursa's body to the ground and unequipped her sword as well as her cloak before heading towards Naco.

Normally she would also show some form of respect to a fallen prey, but some people were better off dead than alive and she was sure Shirros wouldn't want someone like Ursa in his legion of the undead either.

"You done?" asked Naco looking at her as soon as she was closer.

"Yes, what about Grady?"

A slight tremor of the ground made them turn to a small group of trees not far away; pointing in that direction, Naco said "It shouldn't take long. We might as well go towards him."

Nodding, Reina began to walk toward the last battlefield with Naco at her side; neither of them worried about the fate of their friend or the destruction they were leaving behind.

---

With a single flick of his hand, Grady crushed a tree to the ground causing it to vanish in moments, but his opponent had managed to escape the gravitational pressure thanks to his speed. Zeedr landed a few meters away and hurled an orb of electricity at Grady but, despite having his back to the incoming attack, the mage of Shadow Soul activated his magic and the electric orb was scattered in contact with the gravitational shield.

"You should have realized by now that lightning can do nothing against gravity." said Grady before looking at his opponent, who still had that apathetic look on his face "Also I seem to no longer feel the magical power of your wife and your master...I wonder what happened."

"They are both dead." said Zeedr without too much emotion in his voice. He could also feel Reina and Naco as they were moving toward them.

"So now you are a widower! My deepest condolences!" replied Grady with a smirk "You know maybe none of this would have happened if you had treated your wife properly, without her being some kind of psycho tyrant...or at least she seemed that kind of person to me. A guy like me would definitely be able to handle someone like her on all fronts."

Zeedr was silent. He did not care about the fate of his wife or Jacko, but rather be able to survive another day, but it was clear that his magic could little against his opponent. After all, Grady had said he had a lot of experience with Naco, so he must have developed an effective way to block all electrical attacks, not to mention the huge amount of lightning that hit the area not far from there. It was now clear that Naco too had grown stronger during those years away from Eisenwald.

"You've probably sensed it too, but the others are on their way...and with Naco's light show I bet the Rune Knights who are miles from here will send someone to investigate soon too, so we need to sort it out quickly." said Grady with a calm face while the air around him began to distort "You will probably feel a weight on your shoulders...Gravitational Pressure!"

Zeedr immediately fell to his knees, feeling crushed against the ground but still managed to resist as Grady began to advance towards him. Letting the magical power flow into his arms, Zeedr discharged a large amount of electricity into the ground "Hell's Lighting."

Grady stopped just then before flinging to the side, avoiding a bolt of lightning that exploded from the ground. He was then forced to avoid several others and his concentration waned, weakening his spell and allowing Zeedr to activate his magic and transform his body into lightning, not noticing the cold light that lit up in Grady's eye.

'Bad move! I know the weak point of that spell!'

Without pretending further, Grady activated his spell again at full power and immediately noticed how the lightning bolt that was Zeedr was distorted by his gravity, forcing him to return to his human form, but Grady dashed forward thanks to his magic and just as Zeedr was about to become human again, Grady placed his right hand in the center of his opponent's chest.

Zeedr didn't even have time to feel pain as he vomited a large amount of blood on Grady's arm, who looked at him calmly "Lightning Body is a spell that allows you to become a lightning bolt to mitigate damage and move quickly...however the transformation of the body is gradual albeit very fast, and if you interfere with the spell when it comes to returning to normal...the consequences can be very severe, as you can clearly feel."

The man looked at him with narrowed eyes, which was strange "Nac...o...?"

Grady shrugged "He told me that after our...sixth fight maybe? The point is...I know his magic almost as well as mine, so you didn't have a chance to beat me, despite a few different spells."

"I...see..."

"So...any last words?"

Zeedr merely shook his head and Grady nodded before removing his arm from his opponent's chest, dropping his lifeless body to the ground. Watching his bloodstained gauntlet, Grady used his magic only on his arm and let the blood float away before dropping it to the ground. With both hands clean he walked towards the direction from which Naco and Reina would arrive and, after a few seconds he found them in front of him.

"Yo! I'm done here."

Naco nodded "Did he give you problems?"

"Hell nah. You are much more difficult to manage, even if he had a few tricks that I will tell you later. They might be interesting for you." said Grady while walking away with the other two.

At some point, Reina looked at Naco "How are you feeling?"

"Very calm. I already knew that I would not have mystical crises or such nonsense. My mother was a sadist and my father was always distant and narcissistic; let's say we never really got to create real family ties." said Naco with a shrug.

Grady grinned before looking at Reina "I think he'll be at the bar tonight getting drunk to forget while crying for mom and dad."

Reina had to suppress a chuckle "Yeah, most likely."

"Fuck you..."

The huntress looked at him with amused eyes "You wish."

Despite the slight blush on his face, Naco continued to glare at her "Why don't you take Shirros and go somewhere? I bet you can't wait to jump all his bones."

"Eh maybe I'll do that."

"He's just jealous Reina, leave him alone."

"I hate you...really..."

"We love you too, Naco."

---

[Kingdom of Seven / 22ndOctober X784]

Two figures moved silently through the dark streets of the town, while the moon was already high in the sky. The first figure was a simple girl with navy blue hair tied in a ponytail, while the second was a massive man wearing a black armor with a broadsword on his back, and the few people who crossed their path quickly stepped aside.

"You're attracting a lot of attention." said Aki while looking around.

"Most of them are too drunk or tired; they'll have forgotten us in the morning." explained Siegmund with a bored tone of voice "The others will perhaps report us to the Rune Knights tomorrow, giving a physical description. Maybe you will get a bigger bounty on your head."

Aki said nothing, just nodding while looking ahead. Every now and then she forgot she had a bounty on her head for three years. She was wanted, dead or alive, with a reward of three hundred thousand jewels in the Kingdom of Fiore; obviously it was her former family who announced that reward to the whole kingdom but Aki had never had too much trouble avoiding patrols or bounty hunters (in fact, she had gladly faced them to become stronger).

"What about you?"

"I should check again. It has remained unchanged in recent years, but after what happened to Magnolia they may have raised it again."

"How big was your bounty?"

"One and a half billion jewels, only dead, in the Kingdom of Iceberg."

Aki eyes nearly popped out oh their sockets "That much?!"

Siegmund shrugged "It happens, now focus. We are here."

Stopping in the middle of the road, the two looked at the villa, surrounded by stone walls, which stood before them. It was nothing grand, but it suited a noble family like the one they were to eliminate. After a couple of seconds, Aki looked at her partner "Shouldn't we meet with the client first?"

"Did you mistake us for a legal guild?" asked back Siegmund, and Aki was sure he was getting annoyed by her questions "The client contacts the guild via secret channels and we complete the mission. No meeting before or after the mission. The money has already been delivered and we guarantee the success of the mission."

Drawing his greatsword, Siegmund vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared before the two shocked guards who could not defend themselves before being beheaded with a single slash. When Siegmund turned back to Aki, the girl realized that the mission had already begun and that she was being tested, so she didn't hesitate to summon her cursed sword and run to the wall around the mansion before jumping it with a single leap.

Landing in the small courtyard between the walls and the villa, Aki immediately saw five soldiers running towards her. Two armed with spears and three with swords and shields. Clutching the hilt of her katana, Aki sprinted forward and struck a violent blow against the first soldier, managing to cut his shield as if it were butter, also opening a long gash in his chest and cutting off part of his left arm. Ignoring his screams of pain, she kicked her opponent to send him against one of the two remaining shield-wielding soldiers as she focused on the other. The enemy in question attempted to lunge at her but she used her left hand to strike the blade from below and change its trajectory, before plunging her katana into the soldier's shield and heart, killing him instantly.

Sensing the two spear-wielding enemies come closer, she slashed the enemy's body to release her blade and send large spatters of blood on the faces of the two spearmen, effectively blocking them in place. Without hesitation, she ran up to them and decapitated them with a single movement of her arm, before grabbing one of their spears and hurling it with her left hand towards the last soldier left who had just got up after throwing his companion's body aside. His armor could do nothing against the force Aki had put into the launch and the spear lodged smoothly into his chest, killing him after a few seconds.

Hearing a deafening noise behind her, Aki turned in that direction only to see the front door on the ground, knocked over by Siegmund with a kick. The man in armor entered the courtyard and looked around "At least you're fast at dealing with insects. Come on, the family is still inside."

A series of quick slashes and the villa doors fell to the ground, giving them access to a large room where they found the noble family, consisting of a man, a woman and two children, wearing night gowns, protected by a small handful of soldiers. Seeing them enter, the man stepped forward, drawing a golden-bladed sword with a cross guard "Who are you, murderers?!"

"That's not important." said Siegmund eyeing his sword with a small grin behind his helmet "Why don't you show me if you know how to use that sword?"

The man felt drops of sweat trickle down his finely shaved cheeks but that didn't stop him from ordering the soldiers to take his family to safety and, despite some protests, they obeyed by carrying the woman and two small children to a side door. Siegmund saw them disappear and could only sigh in boredom "Well...I'm going after them."

"You sure?" asked Aki, slightly surprised.

Siegmund looked at her and Aki could feel the disapproving look on her skin "I know that you have often spared people who were unarmed or who could no longer fight. We can't afford it now. So you kill the head of the family, I'll take care of the rest." and without waiting for a reply, he sprinted to the door where the soldiers and the rest of the family had disappeared.

"I won't let you kill my family! Golden Army!" shouted the man and, after raising his sword toward the ceiling, he summoned twelve heavy knights in golden armor with tower shields and halberds. Three of them tried to stop Siegmund but the man cut them down with a slash for each knight and their bodies dissolved into golden dust, shocking the summoner. In the next second Siegmund was gone, hunting down the rest of the family.

"It's you and me now." said Aki, looking at the worried man with calm eyes.

"You bastards...I will protect my family!" he pointed at her with his sword "Kill her!"

The remaining nine knights rushed at Aki and she quickly realized she had no time to waste, so she raised her sword above her head "Cursed-Sword Style; Third Form: Tartarus!" and brought it down, releasing huge blades of dark energy that instantly destroyed two golden warriors while three others managed to raise their shields and protect themselves from the attack while being thrown back several meters.

The other four tried to hit her on the sides, but she jumped back and avoided two halberds, before moving to the right and dashing under the shield of one of the two knights on that side, then managing to cut it at the knees but without being able to sever its legs. The golden summoning didn't care for its wounds and after turning it tried to crush Aki with the shield but she hit said shield with a front kick and her physical strength was more than enough to make it stagger backwards as she turned and, after lowering herself to avoid a sweep of the other knight's halberd, she severed its armed arm at the elbow.

Without stopping, she also severed the knight's right leg to make it fall to the ground and then sprinted towards the man who had summoned them. Seeing her arrive, the man ordered the others to protect him and the three knights who had previously blocked her attack stood between Aki and her target. The other three remaining knights were quickly approaching from behind her, but Aki didn't seem worried and instead remained still until she was completely surrounded before bringing her sword to one side just as all six knights attempted to strike her with their halberds.

"Cursed-Sword Style; Second Form: Naraka!"

A powerful whirlwind of wind and blades was generated around Aki as she moved her sword and all halberds were blocked by the wind as the six knights took damage all over their bodies before being thrown backwards and in that moment Aki shot forward with such speed and ferocity that she cracked the floor beneath her, managing to sever the armed arm of the head of the family. The man screamed in pain as he fell backwards but unfortunately for him he could not even touch the floor that Aki pierced his heart from behind, making him vomit a lot of blood.

"P-Pl...ase...m-my...fam...y...!"

"I'm sorry." after removing the blade from his body, she gently placed him on the floor "But we have to complete the mission."

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching, he saw Siegmund arrive with his bloodstained broadsword. The man stopped a few meters from her "Not even a wound. That's good. Now, let's leave this place." and without looking back, he walked away. Aki watched him go for a few seconds before deciding to follow him, but then Siegmund's voice reached his ears "You should take his sword. It is magical and could be useful."

"I don't collect swords."

Siegmund shrugged without looking back "Might as well, I keep them as trophies but I won't take the weapons of those who didn't die by my hand."

Aki shifted her gaze to the sword a few meters away and stared at it for a few seconds. Finally, she released a long sigh "Yeah...might as well." and after recovering the sheath from the body of her victim, she took the sword and sheathed it before placing it on her back; after that, she followed Siegmund and the two of them quickly left the city.

"What now?"

"Now? Now we go home, but we will not sleep or rest. Only training."

Aki sweat-dropped "Isn't that a bit...harsh?"

"Don't know, don't care. Now, raise your weapon!" and without waiting any further, Siegmund tried to hit her with his sword but she managed to block him, while being pushed back. After separating from him, Aki assumed a fighting stance and, as they exchanged blows after blows, she couldn't help but admit that she preferred this type of training to the classic guild training.

'Mh...I should really find a gift for Sylva...'

That little distraction earned her a cut on the cheek.

'Gift later, survive now!'

Fortunately for her, or perhaps unfortunately, the road home was still very long...

---

[Shadow Soul's Headquarters / 23rdOctober X784]

"You want to improve your magic?" asked Poppea looking at Lycorian, while placing a slice of cake in front of Kazumi, who was sitting on the other side of the table. The mute boy thanked her before starting to eat his breakfast, as it was only nine in the morning.

Lycorian nodded without raising his head as he was drawing something in his notebook "My magic is versatile but currently it can't do much; I can't even help others properly with the few things I know how to draw."

"Well we can help!" she sat down next to Kazumi "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well right now I have nothing to block enemies with so...something like chains?" he looked at them and arched an eyebrow "Why are you wearing an apron?"

"Oh sometimes I like to help the bar! Since Lorenzo is not present it's up to Green to cook, so I help Red and Blue!" explained Poppea with a smile.

"I see..." well he wasn't the type to comment on someone else's hobbies "Anyway, I was thinking about chains or something like that...even if I have to learn to activate my creations from drawing, without having to touch them with my hand."

[ Couldn't you just draw your drawings in the air and activate them from there? ]

"No, I can't do something like that."

"Why not?" asked Poppea with confused eyes.

Lycorian looked at her with confusion as well "Because I can't...? I need something where I can draw, like my notebook."

[ You need a Light Pen. ]

The boy in front of him stared at Kazumi for something like a minute in complete silence before slamming his fist on the table "Of course! I need to find one of these pens! Thank you, you helped me a lot!" and after getting up, he ran to the exit of the guild.

"Well he seemed happy. I'm glad we were able to help him!" said Poppea with the smile still on her face "But why does he need a Light Pen?"

[ With a Light Pen you can write in the air. ]

"And that will help him?"

[ He can try to draw in the air. ]

.

.

.

"Ooooooooooooooh! Now I understand! You're a genius Kaz!"

Kazumi smiled at her [ Thank you. Can I have more cake? ]

"Of course!"

---

[Road near the Worth Woodsea / 23rdOctober X784]

Shirros was walking silently along that isolated road, surrounded on both sides by trees and bushes. Behind him, Bonnie, Asher and Kageyama followed the masked mage without saying anything, but while Asher was focused on the road and Bonnie was sleeping on her floating pillow, Kageyama seemed to be staring constantly at the trees. Suddenly, he heard a rustle in the middle of some foliage and pointing a hand in that direction, he created a dark magic circle in front of him "Shadow Orochi!"

Several snakes made of shadows came out of the magic circle and crashed against the branches of the tree but a few moments later, a female voice rang out from another tree "Vine Shot!"

Kageyama easily avoided the vine that otherwise would have hit him in the arm and pointed his hand at the other tree, but Abilene jumped out of the branches and lunged at him to attempt to fight him hand-to-hand. Leaving aside the magic, Kageyama drew a short blade and tried to hit Abilene several times but the girl proved much more agile than expected and avoided all his slashes without problems, managing then to trip him with a low kick to make him fall to the ground, but Kageyama fell into his own shadow and then came out of Abilene's shadow and attempted to grab her. Abilene however felt him behind her and turned to hit him with a kick but Kageyama blocked her leg with both hands and then jumped out of the shadows to distance himself a little, when she tried to him with several vines, but he noticed with surprise that his blade was clasped in the hands of Abilene, who was looking at him with amused eyes.

"How?"

"I'm good with vines!" grinned Abilene tossing him his blade.

"She tricked you with the kick and the other vines while she was preparing a smaller, quieter one. When you jumped away she pulled the blade from your hand." explained Asher without looking at them.

Kageyama looked from him to Abilene "Well they weren't kidding when they said that you know how to fight in this environment. You evaded my senses very easily."

Abilene grinned even more at being praised before walking over to Bonnie and lying next to her on the pillow "Abi loves the forest! Much easier to hide and steal!"

"Yeah I can see that." nodded Kageyama walking at their side.

A few yards away, Asher looked at their team leader for a moment "I trust your judgment Shirros, but why this team?"

"The mistress said that the time has not yet come to face Oración Seis, the pieces are not yet in place. This is a simple recon mission." said Shirros with a calm voice "You and Kageyama are great for reconnaissance and infiltration, Bonnie is perfect as a support mage and can sense magical energies even from far away, while I am the muscles in case of confrontation with enemies."

Asher nodded "And Abilene?"

"Same as Bonnie, but she can also become invisible in the middle of a forest thanks to all the years spent among the trees." Shirros looked back for a moment "Also yesterday was her birthday."

Despite that being useless information, Asher nodded anyway and continued walking in silence, until Shirros made them all stop at the top of a cliff.

"We are here."

Shirros and the others looked at the immense forest below them, and while Asher and Kageyama felt nothing in particular, Bonnie and Abilene immediately got goosebumps.

"What...this place?!" asked Abilene while hugging herself "This place...is dead!"

"Dead?" repeated Kageyama while looking around "How so?"

"The land is dying..." explained Bonnie with both eyes open "Something...something near is killing the very land..."

"Correct." said Shirros before pointing in a specific direction. Looking in the same way, the others noticed what looked like dark smoke raising from the earth and trees "Nirvana, the magic that the Oración Seis are looking for, is very ancient and not much is known about it. However, it must be an artifact or something similar to have a similar effect on the surrounding terrain."

"Should we start looking for it?" asked Kageyama but Shirros shook his head.

"No, for today we just have to see if anyone has already arrived, after which we will return to the guild. Lady Reveeina has already decided which teams will take part in this war." he then released a wave of purple energy over Abilene and Bonnie, so that they couldn't feel anymore the effects of Nirvana "Our aim will be the complete destruction of Oración Seis, the recovery of Nirvana and the annihilation of a legal guild."

"A legal guild?" Asher turned to the masked wizard "Which one?"

Shirros stared at the land for a moment before walking back.

"The guild we are taking down is..."

---

[Cait Shelter Guild / 23rdOctober X784]

Roubaul had to admit it. Sometimes being a simple soul had great advantages, such as being able to instantly return to the place of your death. Cait Shelter's little master was walking peacefully towards his guild after returning home once the meeting with the Magic Council and the other guild masters was over. Once he got away from the others he had to do nothing but let himself be transported to the place of his eternal rest and in a few hours he was back home, even if a little distant from the guild, but those were minor problems.

Finally arrived among his fellows (or rather creations), Roubaul sent for the only girl who really lived in that place while he went to sit inside the guild building. Luckily it didn't have to wait long for a young blue-haired girl to join him in the guild, closely followed by a white cat.

"Ah Wendy! It's good to see you!"

"Welcome back master!" she said with a smile on her face "How was the trip?"

"Bah...boring as hell...the meeting was a bit interesting at least." he said with a grin before looking at her with serious eyes "Wendy, you remember when I told you about the dark guilds, right?"

Wendy nodded while sitting in front of him "Yes, and the three most dangerous guilds are Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros."

"Very good. You must know that in this meeting with the Magic Council and the other guild masters it was decided that we legal guilds will form an alliance to face and defeat one of these dark guilds, Oración Seis." said Roubaul while drinking a beer "I have decided to join this alliance, even knowing that I have to send someone as a reinforcement. From the first moment I only had you in mind, Wendy."

"M-Me?!" Wendy pointed at herself with a trembling finger "B-B-But I'm not strong enough!"

"And it's dangerous! We are talking about the Balam Alliance!" shouted the cat while glaring at the guild master "How can you send someone like Wendy against those ruthless monsters?!"

Roubaul raised both hands to calm them down "I can understand your concerns, but Wendy won't be alone. There will also be the best wizards from different guilds who will fight alongside her. She will never be alone and she won't have to fight if she doesn't want to, but I'm sure her magic will come in very handy."

"B-But I'm slow...and I can only heal the others..."

The guild master patted her on the head while smiling "That's your greatest strength! I don't know anyone who can heal like you! You could be a perfect doctor if you weren't in this guild!"

Despite the tears in her eyes, Wendy smiled at his words.

"Obviously if you wish I will contact the Magic Council immediately to warn them that you will not go, however be aware that we will be forced to leave the guild for some time as it appears that Oración Seis is up to something in the nearby forest, Worth Woodsea."

Wendy's eyes widened in shock "What? B-But our guild may be in danger!"

"I know, that's why the Magic Council is taking action, but if we don't want to interfere, it's best to leave this place." said Roubaul, feeling guilty about using Wendy's love for the guild in this way "In the end this is not our battle."

"No, I'll protect the guild! I'll help!" said Wendy standing up "Don't call the Magic Council master! I'll help everyone!"

Roubaul smiled at her "I won't, don't worry. Now, why don't you go to the river and get some rest? The meeting with the other guilds is expected in a few days so you will have time to prepare."

Wendy took a deep breath before nodding with a smile, leaving shortly after with her white cat in tow.

'I just hope nothing happens to her...I could never forgive myself.' thought Roubaul before gulping down his beer, however after a few minutes he felt a strange magical power approach the building. Looking towards the entrance, he saw a hand pull back the main curtain and a young girl walked into the building soon after.

He could see neither her eyes nor her hair, both covered by the peculiar hood of her jacket; said jacket was white on one side and black on the other with a cat-shaped hood, and she was also wearing a pair of light blue jeans and aqua green sneakers, along with a backpack behind her. Roubaul could also see a particular dagger hanging from her pants.

"Hello young girl, can I help you?" asked Roubaul with a smile "Are you here to join the guild perhaps?"

"To join an illusion would be the same as to accept a lie. I refuse to accept a life based on a lie." replied the girl while looking around. After a couple of seconds she touched the wall and then moved toward a chair, raising it with both hands "This feeling...it's like illusion magic but different. A veil of lies over the eyes but...they not really lies. Interesting."

Roubaul was staring at her with confused, yet worried eyes. What was she talking about? She couldn't be wary of his magic, right?

"Maybe...soul magic mixed with illusion magic? It seems like the most promising answer." said the girl before writing something on a small notebook.

"Who are you?"

She looked at Roubaul from under her hood "You are no longer among the living, yet still yearn for details of this kind? If you must really know...I'm Ranmaru, but I won't tell you more since I don't know the consequences of revealing certain information to a soul."

"What are you doing here? What are you looking for?" asked Roubaul, now really worried about this girl who had managed to see right through his illusions. Was it possible that she was one of the Oración Seis?

"Your soul is old, yet you don't pose according to your age. The more vague a question is, the more ignorant and useless an answer can be." she sat across from him with the agility of a cat without making any noise "I am looking for many things, but here in this place, in this time, I only seek one thing..."

She raised her head a little to look him in the eye and Roubaul felt a shiver go through his soul.

"What do you seek here...?"

.

.

.

"Knowledge."

TO BE CONTINUED...

---

YEEEEEEEEEESSSSS! IT'S OVEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR! It's finally done! 42 pages but it's finally done! It wasn't my intention to write a chapter so long but I really hope that you liked it! Especially with no updates in the month of June! As always let me know what you think in the reviews, which are always beautiful!

NOW! Let's talk!

- We saw a grand meeting between guild masters, Magic Council and Rune Knights! One thing I never liked about the manga is that kingdoms were created to be abandoned to their fate, which is why I will try to integrate them all into my story, as well as the various captains of the Rune Knights! Also I made Gran Doma one of the Saints, because to me he seemed very strong in the manga, but he is killed instantly...in some ways some characters were really put there to die in the manga.

- Here's one thing I've never understood...why Quatro Cerberus didn't join the alliance in the manga? In the official wiki it says that he and Erza fought while doing jobs for their guilds so he was already part of Quatro Cerberus and he was on par with mf Erza! But no! Much better sending a little girl...

- We have our first meeting with a young Hisui and this meeting will lay the foundation for events even years into the future! I hope you will follow the story until then!

- I decided in the course of work to add the bounties, using a system halfway between One Piece and Naruto. The base will be that of OP, but each Kingdom will be able to give a different size to someone, as in Naruto. After all there must be a good reason to hunt down dark mages, no?

We are at page 43 now yeeeeeee! Anyway I really hope you enjoyed the chapter even if some characters have had more space than others.

Now, as usual, I remind you that if you have any love interests for your OC, contact me to let me know and I'll see what I can do! On the other hand, all of you have marked spells for your OC, but it is clear that all of them will age over the course of the story, so if any of you had any changes in mind for your OC (in terms of clothing, physical appearance, magic, etc...) or any new spells you would like your OC to learn, let me know!

This is it and I hope you will read many and leave many reviews! I love reading them!

See you next time!

P.S: I changed the logo, which was modified by a friend! I prefer it now, what do you think?