Here is the forty-eighth chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. The Eclipse Gate has been destroyed, the future that led to this incident has been prevented, and the dragons have returned to their proper time period. At last the Dragon King Festival is at an end and it's time for the aftermath though there is still one person who doesn't know what transpired in the Battle Royale. Still, he knows who won it, right? Well let's see as that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions that need answers there is a guest reviews that needs a response so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.
To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your review and suggestions and as always I'll address them now. With the ball, I do have plans for Asta during it and of course Noelle and Mimosa will want to dance with him, if they can deal with now being fully aware of their feelings, so I may not have him dance with anyone else other than may Erza due to their battle. However, the idea of him getting along with Beth and being friendly with her works for his personality as they can talk about non-potatoes and her general farming as she'll likely be intruded by Hage's primary crop and discuss them in return with a fellow vegetable lover. Of course an in depth conversation on the nuances of farming would still make Noelle and Mimosa jealous as this is something they can't talk to Asta about. I'm still a few chapters away from the ball but I want to make it a large, grand, affair so there will be a lot of chatter during it to enjoy. I'll think on some other dance pairs as well as I'm sure many will want to ask Vanessa for a dance, Finral will be his usual self, and, well, the Black Bulls did win so some might get asked regardless. In terms of Asta talking with the Strauss family, I probably won't bring up the whole devil thing as it just feels off to me to have him mention it to them before the Black Bulls even if he forgot. This could potentially jog Asta's memory and he talks later to the Black Bulls that there really is a devil in his grimoire and confirms all that. However, there is a high chance that the Strauss siblings talk to Asta about his power given how similar it is to Mira's and want to learn more where he can explain his situation and Elfman agree with it as he had his own problems, providing that Elfman isn't off in a manly contest of manliness with Magna somewhere. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
Anyway, that is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the forty-eighth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 48: Igniting a Fire
Natsu remained standing there for a few moments as he looked at where the Eclipse Gate had been as Lucy held him and cried silently into his shoulder. It had been a rough few days for her, more than anyone else involved really, so she really needed this moment to let it all out now that it was finally over. As such all Natsu did was put his right over hers, and over Lucy's Guild Mark, and held it as the moment lasted.
"Yes we did." Natsu said breaking the silence despite the comfort of it and responding to Lucy's words. "We won but that's just what Fairy Tail does, we always come out on top no matter the odds. We are the number one Guild after all."
At that Lucy tensed slightly which surprised and confused Natsu. He knew that he was being a bit presumptuous about declaring their victory in the Grand Magic Games but come on, there was no way that they lost the Battle Royale. They were only three points behind the Black Bulls going into it and their team was top notch. Even with the power that the Black Bulls had shown throughout the week there was no way in Natsu's mind that they could hold out against Fairy Tail and win it all.
After all, they'd failed to beat Elfman in the one on one battles on the second day and while Asta had beaten Gray and Juvia in Hidden, his power was countermanded by Erza's superior swordsmanship so their biggest threat was off the table. True their Dragon Slayer was able to best Minerva but that had been underwater where she was at her strongest, as well as knocking Lucy out of the water but that had been to protect her and worked in the end while Minerva had beaten Juvia. Even their win in Chariots was due to strong support magic so they stood no chance against Fairy Tail's combined team.
"I hate to break it to you kid." Yami said in a tone that implied the opposite of that as he, Asta, and the others who'd been at the Eclipse Gate when the two Black Bulls had arrived were all still there looking at the scene before them. "But y'all lost to us in the end. My Black Bulls won the Battle Royale, got 68 points to your 66, so we're now Fiore's number 1 Guild."
"Come again?" Natsu asked turning to the man who'd spoken Lucy still holding him though now it was in part because Natsu was finally learning that Fairy Tail had not in fact won the Grand Magic Games. "That's not possible. There's no way that Fairy Tail would lose the Battle Royale after everything we've been through."
The man who'd spoken was around 6 feet tall with tanned skin, black hair, and wearing a white tank top, black pants, and brown chaps with black boots with a gold border on the tops of them. He had a black and purple book floating next to him and carried a katana in his right hand as he calmly smoked a cigarette. To add to all this he was built like Elfman had been before he bulked up even more for the Grand Magic Games and that wasn't where the comparison ended as the man sounded like Elfman as well for some reason.
It took a moment for Natsu to notice it but the man was also wearing a black cape thing hung over his right shoulder with a gold bull's head emblem on it. Between that and the book that was floating by his side he was able to deduce that the man was a member of the Black Bulls though his statement had proven as much. However, Natsu had no clue who the man was which given that he seemed as powerful as Gildarts and was just as imposing as Fairy Tail's strongest member was saying something.
"Oh but you did lose." Yami said repeating the fact as he took a drag of his cigarette. "You put up a great fight, I commend your Guild on that, and plenty of your members made my Squad push past their limits in the Battle Royale which I thank Fairy Tail for but in the end we were the Guild with the most points when it ended. We also had the last man standing so we won the Battle Royale in general as well."
"Yeah sorry I'm not buying that." Natsu said shaking his head and oblivious to the fact that Lucy was still holding him as he fully turned to Yami and noticed that Asta, the guy who'd won Hidden and easily beat Ichiya in the double battles, was standing with the Black Bull that had addressed him. "Maybe you won the Grand Magic Games and all, I still struggle to see how you managed that, but perhaps you got more points in the Battle Royale to the point that we couldn't overcome it, but I can't see Erza or Laxus losing. We were going for a full victory but that might have been a bit too ambitious. Still, after Hidden there's no way that Gray would lose twice and Juvia and Gajeel would have given their all as well."
"Nice rational and if it had been any other team that had the last man standing that might have worked seeing as both our Guilds were more than 20 points clear of the other 4 Guilds at the end." Yami said. "But you're wrong. There was only one person left at the end, right Asta?"
"Yup, though I did pass out seconds after I beat Laxus." Asta said a little embarrassed at not being able to remain conscious through his final victory. "I took too many blows from him and Erza to stay standing at the end once I knew that Laxus was down. Managed to hear that we won though."
"You, you beat Laxus?" Natsu asked looking at Asta, he knew the kid was strong but that was a bit much though as Natsu knew from firsthand experience, Laxus was beatable and not processing the implied victory over Erza at all. "At the end? Where was Erza? She wouldn't have let that happen. You said she landed some blows on you so surely she was still standing by the end."
"Oh I already beat her before the final battle." Asta said as if it was nothing. "Man was that a duel though, never had one that intense in my life and I've had some intense fights in my time. I had to though, by then I was all that we had left and the only hope as you guys had a near insurmountable lead on us when I faced off with Erza. After that I had a chat with Sting to get him to surrender, gotta see how he's doing actually, and then faced Laxus, Gray, and Gajeel to finish it. The latter two were easy, I only needed on hit for each of them though they'd both had their own intense battles beforehand, but Laxus was almost as tough as Erza. Had to break out my final trick for him."
"Hold up." Lucy said finally letting go of Natsu and looking around him at Asta. "You beat Erza without using all the cards that you had to play?"
"It was one move but yeah, the battlefield wasn't conducive to it so I never used it against Erza." Asta said with a shrug. "But it was precisely what I needed to beat Laxus in the end given how that battle was going. Kinda glad I did hold it in reserve, I might had lost had Laxus known about that move."
"I still can't believe this." Natsu said his denial at what was being told to him too strong because he couldn't fathom someone unknown like Asta beating 4 of his guildmates including two of the 4 S-Class Wizards in Fairy Tail, one of whom he'd never been able to beat. "Gray and Gajeel I can understand, I've beaten them countless times, well Gray countless times but I've beaten Gajeel as well, and even Laxus is beatable with your power from what I've seen of it but not Erza and not her before the others. I've still not beaten her, no one we know has, so it's just not possible. Also you use swords, Erza's the strongest swordswoman in Fiore."
"That was basically what was on the line in that battle." Yami pointed out. "And Asta won it so I guess he's the strongest now though I'm better than he is if I do say so myself."
"Thanks Captain but honestly I don't think I'm better than Erza with a sword." Asta admitted his use of the title implying that the man was likely his Guild Master only going by a different title to what Natsu was used to. "She's unreal with them and I learned so much from watching and facing her so I know that I'm not there yet. It's thanks to you teaching me ki coupled with Black Asta, adapting to the situation, and the fact that Erza's trump card was useless on me that I won. That duel really could have gone either way in the end. We both gave it our all, pushed past our limits and drew on all those who supported us to try and win it, it just happened to fall to me this time."
"This can't be true." Natsu said shaking his head. "We can't have lost this after all that Fairy Tail's been through since what happened on Tenrou 7 years ago, after all that we've fought to recover since returning. We had it, I knew it from day 1, so it can't be that we've lost. I just can't see us losing it or Erza falling."
"They speak the truth." Hisui said stepping forward and getting Natsu's attention. "I swear on my inheritance as the heir to this kingdom's throne as the Princess of Fiore that what the Black Bulls' Guild Master and Asta say is true. Asta really did defeat Erza in a sword and magic duel that was the highlight of the Battle Royale and really the deciding moment of it."
Hisui paused for a moment just in case Natsu had anything to say to her. He didn't, though that might be because he was still processing what she was saying, so Hisui continued.
"After beating Erza, Asta then faced the three men on your team in the final confrontation, well following the surrender Sting of Sabertooth to him that is." Hisui said. "Two of them he defeated with a single attack, first Gajeel with his great sword and then Gray with his other two swords while mimicking a move that Gray had used earlier on to beat Rufus. Finally he defeated Laxus in the climactic conclusion of the event before passing out as the Battle Royale ended."
"You copied Gray?" Happy asked looking to Asta. "We weren't told that when we learned that we lost."
"I watched his finishing move on Rufus where he used two ice swords." Asta said. "They transferred ice to Rufus it seemed so it gave me an idea to do that with my own swords and how my power works with them. I got the chance to test that against Gray and it worked just as I envisioned it would. I call the move Black Ice in honor of its inspiration. It's going to be really useful."
"I thought that looked familiar." Yami noted as Natsu continued to try and process things though Happy voicing that they lost as well helped drive it home even more. "You're really something else kid. It's weird how quickly you pick things up and adapt them to your own style."
"Thanks." Asta said flushing at the praise.
"Not sure I meant that as a complement but whatever." Yami said. "Just keep doing what you do best Asta."
"We lost?" Natsu asked speaking for the first time in a few moments as it finally began to dawn on him and he looked around his guildmates who were present as well. "We really lost?"
"We didn't see it but we were told about it and we have no reason to doubt the Princess." Carla said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "So it would appear that we did, in fact, lose the Battle Royale and Grand Magic Games."
"I still can't believe Gajeel was beaten so easily." Lily said shaking his head. "We're going to be training so hard after this to make up for that."
"A shame but we were close." Mira said trying to see the bright side of it. "We did come second though and by a large margin so I would say that we successfully restored our name."
"That you did." Hisui said. "No one doubts the strength of Fairy Tail anymore, you are well and truly back. Plus anyone who watched the Battle Royale will know that it really could have gone either way."
"Wait." Natsu said knowing he was grasping now but there was one member unaccounted for in all of this. "What about Juvia? What happened to her?"
"Oh she lost to Charmy." Asta said. "She was pummeled by a large cotton sheep and then absorbed into some Cotton Magic capture spell that officially knocked her out of the Battle Royale before I beat Erza so she was the first of your team to be knocked out."
"Yup knocked over her food while fighting that girl in Lamia Scale with the God Slayer Magic." Yami said. "Bad idea that, never mess with Charmy's food. Gives me chills after what she just did as I didn't know she had that in her."
"Yeah she doesn't take it too well." Asta said. "Both her and that Lamia Scale girl were knocked out at the same time though Gray beat her before she could realize moments later."
"She'll be happy to hear that." Lucy said. "Gray avenging her is going to really set her off."
"I'm pretty sure she already knows; we did heal everyone afterwards and are doing so again." Asta said. "When we're done here we should go to the base camp, you guys could use some healing and Mimosa's the best at that plus Charmy's food will replenish your magic so we've got that covered as well."
"My you lot really did cover everything." Carla said. "We really underestimated your Guild it seems."
"It's what the top Guild does." Yami said simply. "Plus healers are rare here and Mimosa's the only one with an area heal as far as I know."
"I saw what you did for the other Guilds, that was noble of you." Hisui said with a bow of her head to Yami. "Thank you, you showed great honor and dignity in the wake of your victory."
"Just doing our job ma'am." Yami said. "And it helped out even more seeing as the dragons attacked afterwards so we countered them at near full health and Ethernano which was no doubt a big difference in the battle."
"I, I'm still struggling to see this." Natsu said his head hurting as he tried to reconcile the reality of the situation with his expectation of victory. "One person beat 4 of us? One person? What happened to the rest of your team? I know you said that Gray beat Charmy but still, I just can't see one person besting four of us. Surely the others helped you out in beating us."
"They all played their role just as I expected from them." Yami said. "Magna and Luck took down that Olga guy together, after Magna took out two Blue Pegasus boys, though Luck was knocked out by Olga in the process. Magna was beaten by Laxus, inadvertently I think, right after he beat Olga but Magna was out of the fight by then. Those three victories, Olga, Juvia, and the God Slayer girl were probably key in the end as we won by two points in the end."
"I would concur with that." Hisui said. "If you hadn't have won those battles the efforts of Asta would have been for nought in the end."
"It wasn't just Asta's efforts that would have been for nought." Yami corrected. "Noelle held her own against Erza, Kagura, and Minerva if I recall the last name correctly. She even beat Minerva again, well with Asta's help after Minerva got rough with one of the other mermaids. After that it was a bit hazy."
"Kagura and Erza had their own issues to work out and Kagura asked for the chance to fight Erza alone because of them." Asta said though he wasn't aware of the precise details of the girls' relationship and their issues. "We gave it to her in exchange for having Millianna surrender to me so that I could send her to Mimosa via Finral to get healed."
"Right that's why that lot ended up with us." Yami said recalling. "And then Noelle surrendered to the winner because she'd broken her leg somehow and was out of Ethernano following her victory over Minerva so you faced the last woman standing which was Erza."
"Yes, it's what we expected though not exactly as we'd planned it though Noelle at least made sure that I got to face Erza at near full strength." Asta said. "So our battle was truly what we both wanted it to be."
"Ok so we beat three of you in the end." Natsu said pleased that they'd at least taken out some of the Black Bulls even if he was struggling with the full revelations. "But still, to lose to one person? It's…"
"Hey, fake Luck get over here." Gauche called as he finally spoke having gotten fed up with Fairy Tail's Asta's denials as they were as bad as their own Asta's and calling over Laxus who was still with Wendy and Luck and out of normal conversation earshot following the end of the attack. "Your version of Asta is not accepting that Asta beat you into the ground at the end of the Battle Royale and won it. Fry some sense into him."
"I've tried to fry sense into Natsu before but it never works." Laxus shouted back as he turned and walked over not surprised at all that Natsu had been the one to end things as Wendy and Luck followed him. "But yeah that's pretty much how it ended. Asta and I were battling in the air, I'd gotten the demon out and had figured him out so I could avoid his attacks as we clashed. I knew that I was on the brink of wearing him down and creating an opening but then he elongated his great sword."
"So you also have a sword that can change sizes." Lily said looking at Asta. "Interesting, I thought that I'd found the only one here."
"I can enlarge it to a point." Asta said. "But that's it. It would be cool if I could change it even more though, your sword sounds amazing!"
"It is." Lily said with a nod. "Good to see someone else who appreciates that ability."
"Yes well I didn't know that it could do that as well as reflecting magic so I wasn't able to get away in time." Laxus said interrupting the chatter to get the conversation back on topic. "That knocked me into the ground and he kept the sword like that when he brought it down on me before I could get up Man did that hurt."
"I had to; you were still conscious." Asta said looking at the bigger, older, man. "We wouldn't win otherwise."
"It was the right thing to do." Laxus said with a nod. "Would have fried you again if our positions were reversed so I understand. Just pissed that I couldn't bring it home for us after the rest of the team fell. It came down to me as the last chance what with you being the Black Bull team leader and I let the Guild down."
"Then we really did lose." Natsu said as Laxus's words as a member of the team finally got through in a way no one else had fully managed to yet. "To one person?"
"Other than Juvia, yeah." Laxus said looking at Natsu. "Though only Erza really lost to Asta. The rest of use, including Asta, were beat to hell going into that final fight. All it would take was two or three blows and any of us would go down. I got lucky and almost won it but in the end we were just beaten plain and simple. We underestimated the Black Bulls; we won't do that again."
"Yeah Erza really only had minor injuries from her fight before ours so we were basically even health wise going into it." Asta agreed. "And if I'd not had Dweller out when you punched me I'd have gone down to the after effects of that blow. Dweller absorbed most of it which saved me."
"Tell me about it, that spell took down a Wizard Saint so I thought it would take you down as well." Laxus said. "Accept it Natsu, we lost. I watched Erza's battle with Asta, it topped mine with Jura no question and my own fight with Asta was nothing compared to it even if I got the demon out like her."
"Demon?" Natsu asked confused as that was the second time he'd heard Laxus make reference to the term in relation to fighting Asta.
"Oh right I er…" Asta said looking to Captain Yami. "What do I do actually? Black Asta, what is it? I've never really thought about how it is."
"Hmm." Yami said thinking on it and as he did he recalled the strange beauty contest battle and what that Fairy Tail girl had done, a girl who was conveniently present. "Hey, you, white haired girl in Fairy Tail, what's your magic called?"
"Me?" Mira asked confused. "I can use Take Over, Water, Sleep, and Transformation Magic, which do you mean?"
"The one where you turn into a devil." Yami said using their term as he wasn't aware yet that there were no devils in Earth Land and that demons here were something completely different to the devils that Yami and Asta knew. "It's probably Transformation Magic but I want to make sure."
"Oh no, that's called Satan Soul and it's actually Take Over Magic." Mira said with a sweet smile that was at odds with the name of the spell. "Why? Does Asta have some kind of Take Over Magic as well? I thought he had some variant of Requip what with how he pulls those Wave Magic swords of his out of his grimoire."
"Asta's unique but yeah that's what it's like down to the whole devil thing." Yami said. "Or demon, Satan, whatever you want to call it."
"It really was a demon, well part of one anyway as it only affects his right arm, shoulder, and the right side of his head, but yeah, Asta's got Take Over Magic as well from what I can tell." Laxus said. "Though it felt even more sinister than what Mira does. None of us realized that Asta had that magic as well until Erza forced him to use it in their duel. I'm glad that I was enough of a threat to merit it as well even if I couldn't beat Asta in the end."
"Hold up." Happy said his eyes wide as he and the others processed what Laxus was saying. "You're telling me that the person who beat Fairy Tail has magic that is similar to both Erza and Mira? We saw those swords at the end, he controls them like Erza does and the whole pulling swords from a book thing is kinda like what she does only via a different medium but now he can change like Mira as well."
"Pretty much though as I said the change isn't complete so a bit like Elfman was before the whole Phantom Lord stuff." Laxus said. "That's a good comparison though. In a way facing Asta was like facing a mix of Erza and Mira. Tough combo to fight."
"I think I'm going to have nightmares about that." Lucy said the thought of someone combining Erza and Mira's powers scaring here. "Erza's swords and Mira's transformation, how is that possible?"
"Nightmares for sure." Happy said with a nod. "Both are scary in their own rights but combined, I can't fathom it."
"It's unimaginable." Carla said.
"I agree." Natsu said. "I won't believe that until I see it."
"You will get that chance soon." A new voice said and they all turned to see a short man with a small scar on the left side of his nose and big ears approaching them wearing simple clothes, which seeing as he was naked the last time he'd been around here thanks to Zirconis's magic was a good sign. "Because there was a lacrima recording of Battle Royale in general that will be reproduced and made available for sale. Additionally, the Magic Council is working on splitting it up to show all the great battles from the event on their own as separate recordings that will also be available for purchase."
"Minister Darton, I see that you managed to stay safe." Arcadios said not bringing up the man's embarrassment as he looked at the man. "That is good to see."
"Yes, me and the soldiers who were, er, affected by that dragon's magic were able to regroup and sort ourselves out during the chaos of the battle." Darton said. "And thanks to a chat with his majesty I learned of the recordings. He is a big fan of the games after all so he wanted them made so that he could enjoy them again at his leisure."
"I presume that we will see proceeds from the sales." Yami said to the new arrival, Minister Darton apparently though Yami had no clue what that meant. "They will feature members of my Guild after all so I expect some compensation for it. We all know which battle will sell out right away and I want to make sure that we get our fair share of it."
"Yes, that battle will be talked about for years to come and is going to be the first to be reproduced due to the expected demand for it." Darton said. "But it's not the only one we expect to sell well. The final battle, the male and female brawls, Gray's two solo duels, the Iron and Shadow Dragon Slayer showdown, all of those will also be made available and the proceeds split between the Guilds that participated in those battles and the Kingdom, or all 6 Guilds in the case of the full Battle Royale recording."
"Excellent." Yami said. "And of course there's the prize money as well, I look forward to seeing that. Man, coming here was one of the best financial decisions of my life."
"While you will get the prize money for winning the Grand Magic Games without any issues." Hisui said aware of the deeper meaning to Yami's words when no one else was, well other than Asta, Luck, and the final Black Bull present who's name she had yet to get. "Any sales from the lacrima recordings will be withheld until you've paid off the damages to the Royal Palace that you caused though given Asta's battles that shouldn't take long. It may have been acceptable but you still cute a line clean through the whole Royal Palace."
"Wait really?" Natsu said as he turned and saw said line while Yami grunted as it wasn't an unreasonable ask given what he'd done and the Princess was right, they'd pay that off soon enough, plus it wouldn't be the first time they lost money due to destruction related fines and wouldn't be the last. "Damn, I did some damage inside but that's nothing compared to cutting through it like that. What magic did that?"
"Dark Magic." Hisui said surprising Natsu so she added. "That's literally Guild Master's magic, there's nothing sinister to it."
"Oh, ok then." Natsu said not sure what to make of that but he didn't sense anything sinister coming from the Black Bulls' Guild Master so it didn't seem like an issue.
"We'll make sure to send a copy of all the battles and the Battle Royale to the various Guilds so they can watch, consider it a gift from the Royal Family." Hisui said deciding that on the spot though she was sure her father would approve of it. "And that way you can see for yourself what happened in the Battle Royale."
"Yeah that will help because I still can't believe that this happened but seeing as everyone is saying it I've got no choice but to accept it." Natsu said with a sigh of resignation before the full scope of what Fairy Tail's loss meant and he grinned and fire burst from him causing Lucy to let out an eep and dive away lest her clothes get burned off as Natsu pointed at Asta. "Which means that you're now my rival, Asta."
"I've already got a rival back home." Asta pointed out not sure what Natsu was going on about. "And another actually, well three more to be precise and two of them use Fire Magic."
"Well now you've got another one because hearing that you beat Erza, Laxus, Gajeel, and Gray and prevented Fairy Tail from winning has lit a fire in my belly." Natsu proclaimed. "You've beaten someone I've never beaten; I've got to test myself against you to see how I compare to the others so that I know what I need to do because next year Fairy Tail will be back on top. You heard it here first; we will defeat the Black Bulls in the next Grand Magic Games!"
"Alright then." Asta said grinning at the challenge, he could sense the strength and determination in Natsu's ki and the kid had shown to be easily on Fuegoleon's level with Fire Magic so it would be a good challenge for Asta as he had to surpass Fuegoleon anyway if he wanted to become the Wizard King. "Bring it because I'm not going to let the Black Bulls slip. We're finally number 1 and we won't relinquish that anytime soon."
"Oh I'm fired up now!" Natsu shouted as more fire shot from his body. "Come on, let's go! Right here and now! Face me Asta!"
"You got it!" Asta said raising his swords to a ready stance. "I'll…"
"Nope not happening." Yami said kicking Asta down and ending the potential battle before it could begin.
"What, why not?" Asta said looking up. "This is a chance to push past my limits again, I've got to take it!"
"Because we just finished a major battle, two in fact though the first was more a competition than anything else, so there's no point." Yami said. "And besides, between your skills and that fire kid's fire the destruction is going to be immense and I don't want to pay for it. When you're good and healthy, and after some more time has passed, we'll set something up in a desert for you two. He did just drive a burning dragon into that gate thing after all so we need a controlled environment for this battle."
"I guess." Asta said as he thought on it. "Plus the others could watch it as well which would help them."
"You know that's a great idea." Yami said. "We can even show it with the lacrimas and record it as well, that should rake in the money given yours and the fire kid's reputations. I'm sure Makarov will agree as well."
"My grandfather wouldn't be opposed to that especially given how we'd lose any money if it was held elsewhere due to how much infrastructure Natsu would destroy." Laxus said. "But yeah, we're all exhausted so it's best to hold off and recover after what we've all been through."
"Too true and on that note I think it's time we end this here." Hisui said a command tone in her voice that got everyone's attention. "We all need to recover and the Black Bulls have that covered so Mr. Yami, if you could contact your Spatial Wizard and have him make a portal to the recovery station we can get everyone over there so that they can heal up. We've got to rebuild as well but that will be quick with magic and my father has already planned for this due to the Battle Royale though the scale of the project is a bit bigger now. Plus, there's a Grand Ball to celebrate the end of the Grand Magic Games and our new number 1 Guild. Naturally, all the participating Guilds are invited to it as well."
"A good idea though this does mean I'll have to dress up." Yami said with a slight grumble as he pulled out his communication device to contact Finral. "Still, will be nice to have something in our honor."
"It does sound fun." Asta said while most of the others nodded at the idea of a Grand Ball to end the whole festivities.
"Alright people when the portal appears go through it and we'll get you sorted." Yami said ignoring Asta's comment as Finral picked up so he turned to his ride and gave his order. "Finral, we need a portal at the Palace."
With that the final vestiges of the Dragon King Festival faded as the sun began to rise on a new day in Fiore. As it did, Princess Hisui looked to it while Yami shepherded all of the others through the portal to the Black Bulls' healing area, and thought on all that was to come. There was a lot to plan and prepare for over the coming days but there was one thing that Hisui knew she'd have to do alone and with that in mind Hisui began to give orders to Arcadios and Darton as she coordinated the aftermath of the Grand Magic Games.
I think that's a good place to end this chapter off with a little tease of things to come in the near and distant future in this story. A nice, short chapter but I felt like Natsu learning of what happened in the Battle Royale, processing and accepting Fairy Tail's defeat, and his challenge to Asta at the end needed its own chapter and this way with what else is coming the Grand Ball will be chapter 50 so it's all working out well. There really isn't much more to say about this chapter though so I will leave it off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog