"The Jaegers… betrayed us?"

Having first remained motionless for a few seconds, the emperor had ended up asking this question, while one of his ministers had just given him an account of the battle that had taken place in the city.

" Huh… yes! According to reports from Budo-san and Wild Hunt, the Jaegers have teamed up with Night Raid in order to attack them! Now, aside from Esdeath-san, they are all considered traitors."

Watching him, Makoto suddenly ended up leaving his throne. A piece of ham in his hand, Honest saw him walk towards a window and start looking at the capital in front of him. Silent, Makoto seemed thoughtful. Then, finally, he asked.

"All Jaegers are traitors…? Even Wendy?"

"Yes! According to our information, it seems that Seryu and her are the ones who started this battle, by attacking Wild Hunt! The other Jaegers then joined the battle! Therefore, Wendy and Seryu were probably the first people to join Night Raid."

Not bothering to look at the man, Makoto continued to stare outside. Yet, observing him, Honest saw the emperor's fist clench.

The child couldn't hide his anger. He couldn't believe that the Jaegers could betray him, the Emperor. Yet what angered him the most was Wendy's betrayal.

Gritting his teeth, Makoto thought back to his first meeting with the girl and the many pieces of advice she had given him. Then, from time to time, it was Makoto himself who had come to see her when he had problems with the management of the empire, and he was ashamed to admit it to the other ministers. Wendy had always been understanding and friendly with him. In fact, Makoto had never admitted it to her, but being able to talk to a child his age had made him so happy that he wanted to consider Wendy as his friend.

But now he felt betrayed.

" Why Wendy? Why? Weren't you the one who advised me to do what was best for the empire? Then why did you join the evil one? What good was all the advice you gave me? Were you sincere with me or were you just trying to manipulate me? "

"Emperor? What should we do with this problem?"

Finally, turning around, Makoto directed his gaze towards a single person and asked.

"Prime Minister, what do you advise me to do?"

At that moment, the long smile that appeared showed that Honest was the only person who was happy about Wendy's departure.

"To begin with, it seems obvious to me to make the population understand that the Jaegers are nothing but traitors and that Wild Hunt are now the only people who can ensure the security of the capital."

" Who are these guys? "

Trying to eat a piece of bread, Wave could only be embarrassed while seeing the flames of a campfire disappear into Natsu's mouth, and hearing the cracking sounds Gajeel made while eating a metal plate.

"Say, guys... have your stomachs been altered or something?"

"No, why?" the two mages asked.

"Pretend I didn't say anything."

"It's always surprising at first." Lubbock told him. "However, the most annoying thing about all this is the cost of their food! For Natsu, we don't have much to spend so he can eat fire! However, Gajeel costs us a fortune in forks! Especially since he only eats luxury silverware."

"What's the problem? I don't eat just anything." Gajeel said.

" Ingrat ! "

" Cheapskate ! "

"Hey, shut up while I eat." Natsu ordered.

"Do you have a problem?" Lubbock and Gajeel asked.

"What? You want to fight or something?"

"No way to eat in peace anymore." Happy remarked, eating in the background with Lily and Tatsumi.

"It's always like this." The boy simply stated, seeing the trio in front of them start to fight. "We're used to it."

Astonished, Wave stood still as the fight took place a few meters away from him.

"Damn it! These guys are completely crazy."

Suddenly receiving a plate in his face, he fell backwards. Getting up with a bump on his forehead, he roared.

"HEY! BE CAREFUL!"

"SHUT UP!" Three voices roared.

" Grrr ! " Said Wave.

Immediately grabbing his sword, he let out a war cry, before jumping straight towards the scene of the fight, and began to join in. Seeing this, Kurome could only sigh.

"He's definitely just a kid."

"They all are." Akame retorted, while eating a huge leg of lamb. "But this at least sets the mood within the group."

"They're just loud." Mine grumbled, eating a strawberry sorbet.

Suddenly, a piece of metal was ejected towards her and smashed against her dessert. Falling to the ground, the sorbet transformed into a pink slab, which Mine could only watch, paralyzed.

Gritting her teeth, she caused flames to appear around her, which immobilized the fighters not far from her.

"M… Mine…?" Lubbock wondered, seeing her looking at them with a dark look.

"I'm going to slaughter you all." The girl roared, pointing Pumpkin at them.

Screaming in fear, the quartet immediately ran, the moment she fired. Bombarding the place, Mine began to aim anywhere and even those who had done nothing.

So, moving aside in time, Tatsumi, Happy and Lily were able to make out a ray passing between them, brushing past them.

" Hey ! ARE YOU CRAZY ? "

"Do you have a problem?" Mine asked, aiming at him.

"Damn kid!" Lily said, running towards her, while regaining her warrior form. "I'm going to give you the beating of your life."

"Let's go for some group entertainment." Gajeel announced.

"YEAH! General brawl!" Natsu rejoiced.

Watching the whole scene, Wendy remained completely still. Yet, nothing seemed to be able to wipe away the smile on her face.

"You seem particularly happy," a voice remarked.

Letting Seryu sit next to her, the child announced to her.

"I am! In fact, I almost feel like I'm back in Fairy Tail."

Seeing Natsu pretending to strangle Wave and Tatsumi, by wrapping his arms around their necks, while Gajeel and Lily faced Mine, Seryu finally noticed.

"If that's the case, Fairy Tail must really be a bunch of weirdos."

"That's not wrong! But, if you ask me, we're all like them."

Suddenly grabbing her from behind, a pair of hands eventually lifted her off the ground.

"I got you." Leone sneered, holding a bottle.

" Leone ? " S'étonna Wendy.

"Cheers!" said the blonde, pointing her bottle at the child's mouth.

"Huh? No, no alcohol."

"Come on! Relax and enjoy the party."

"Stop!" Wendy begged, struggling.

Eventually letting go of her, Leone finally noticed.

"So, you Jaegers are really very uptight! Especially him..."

Pointing her thumb behind her, she indicated Run who was sitting against the base of a tree, reading a book while drinking a cup of tea.

"A problem?" the angel wanted to know, understanding that she was talking about him.

"Damn it, there's everyone screaming or fighting around you, so how can you just stand there doing nothing and all alone?"

"I'm fine like this! It's my way of life." The man assured him, his mind returning to his book.

However, Seryu and Wendy knew very well that there was something wrong with him. It wasn't his behavior, but rather the expression on his face that was somewhat troubled. The man was angry with himself.

For years, he had been tracking Champ. And now, he had the chance to kill him. Yet, he had failed. And he couldn't forgive himself for that.

" Why? What was it I was missing, damn it? I had everything! The rage, the motivation, a reason to kill him without feeling guilty… even the numbers were in our favor. "

Whining thus, he was surprised to feel an object hit his head.

"Hey!" he growled, grabbing a glass.

"Come with us." Leone ordered him, sitting cross-legged with a bottle in her hand. "If you want to be part of Night Raid, prove yourself."

"How is drinking alcohol going to make me an active member of your group of weirdos?"

"I only trust those who drink with me," Leone said with a smile.

Simply shrugging, Run pretended to resume his reading. However, he froze again, when Leone stated.

"You are frustrated, and it shows on your face! However, if you dwell on this failure and spend your time devaluing yourself by asking yourself a thousand and one questions, know that you will never be able to achieve your goals."

"Huh?" the boy wondered.

"Even without knowing you, I know very well that you want revenge on someone! Being stubborn in tracking them down can be a quality! However, being too stubborn quickly turns into a fault."

"What do you mean?"

"That if someone has fun from time to time, it doesn't hurt." Leone assured him, holding out her bottle. "Forget your worries for a while and you'll see that tomorrow you'll be able to move forward again."

Listening to him, Run couldn't help but sigh. However, eventually closing his book, he left his place, before advancing towards Leone. However, he completely surprised the young woman by grabbing her bottle before bringing it to his mouth. Immediately, Leone and the two other girls could see him drink the entire bottle in large gulps. Then, once he had emptied it, he ended up clicking his tongue, while affirming.

"I'm not going to get drunk on this kid's drink! Don't you have anything else?"

"My bottle!" Leone said sadly, picking up her empty bottle. "It was my favorite drink."

"Amatrice!" Run said, preparing to leave.

However, placing her hand on his shoulder, Leone affirmed.

"I won't let you go like that ! I'm giving you a drinking challenge."

"Huh? If it amuses you! I have time to kill."

Listening to him, Wendy finally noticed.

"I think we're going to discover a personality of Run that no one has seen yet."

Remaining silent, Seryu couldn't help but look at her companion before doing the same with the other members of her former team. For her, it was certain that the former member of the Jaegers who had to prove herself at all costs was none other than herself. She had to earn the trust of the others, no matter how.

Sitting on the branch of a tree, Chelsea remained skeptical of the new members of the group. For her, it was impossible to trust these people.

"They're way too naive." She remarked, watching her friends party with their former enemies.

"You know, maybe that's not a bad thing for us."

Chelsea jumped and nearly fell off her branch. Still keeping her balance, she turned to see Najenda on the branch above her.

" Boss ? "

"Our last fight against Esdeath showed us that we are still far from having a chance of achieving our goal! No matter how we look at it, we need allies."

"Yeah, but I still think hiring those guys is a bad idea." Chelsea insisted. "Those guys were Esdeath's underlings! Do you really think they'll let us fight her when the time comes?"

"We'll see about that when that day comes." Najenda assured her. "First, let's try to fight the enemy we have in common, that is to say Wild Hunt! After that, we'll see if the connections between us will be favorable to continue this collaboration! In the meantime, I beg you and Mine not to do anything that could trigger discord."

"Tsss!" Chelsea said simply, standing up. "Like I'm the kind of girl who's stupid enough to start a fight and risk dying."

Then dropping from her branch, she landed on her feet, adding.

"Nevertheless, I'm not stupid enough to befriend them as if the past had no importance! Seryu and Kurome are the most dangerous, so I will personally watch over their actions! Here is my conclusion of the facts."

Sighing for her part, Najenda couldn't hide a certain form of understanding. Sitting on her own branch, she took out a cigarette before starting to light it. Then, lowering her gaze, she could see the new group that the two old teams had been able to form.

There was now a fight… a drinking contest… Bols joined the others with ready-made food… alcohol flowing freely… and currently, there were three times as many members as when Night Raid was originally created. Experienced fighters… teigus… and even mages. It was because of one of them that the situation was like this, right now.

"I've always been mad at Natsu." Najenda remarked. "Still, I can't help but wonder what our group would be like right now if he and the other two hadn't joined us! Would we at least still be alive? In any case, I doubt we could have accommodated so many members."

Suddenly, hearing a strange noise, she looked up to see a huge silhouette flying over them. It belonged to a gigantic yellow bird similar to a raptor, which began to circle all around their camp. At first intrigued, Najenda ended up widening her eyes, while crying out.

"I forgot about them! They were coming today."

"Hey, what's this?" Gajeel wanted to know, dropping Lubbock at his feet.

"I've never seen this monster before." Mine said, preparing her teigu.

Immediately, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, Run placed his bottle on the ground, before letting his wings spread.

"Should I do a reconnaissance fly?"

"I can take it down, if you want." Seryu offered, with Koro on her shoulder.

"Absolutely not!" Najenda retorted, rushing towards them. "They're with us! They're reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?" Tatsumi repeated.

Suddenly sniffing the air, Natsu and Gajeel eventually had smiles appear on their faces as they stated.

"This guy is back! Real training will resume."

" What? "

At that moment, a humanoid figure jumped out of the raptor's back, which immediately left. Dropping without hesitation, the figure traveled several hundred meters before letting its feet crash down brutally against the ground, raising a large cloud of dust.

Immediately, everyone could hear a voice start shouting.

"You fool! Do you want us dead?"

"Relax, little guy." A second voice advised. "It was all perfectly calculated! And you should know that from now on, you will constantly put your life on the line! That's what being part of Night Raid is all about."

Hearing that voice lit up the faces of all the former Night Raid members, while a silhouette, in front of them could be recognized by all.

Finally, brushing the dust away with a wave of his arm, one of the two newcomers smiled at his former companions, while flexing his muscles.

"Hello, friends! The magnificent Bulat is back and I am stronger than before."

"BULAT!" his friends rejoiced, seeing him in good shape.

He was like before. Same musculature... same strange haircut... same uniform... except for the leg that Gajeel had cut off. In place of the limb, the man now had what looked like a wooden leg, made of an alloy that looked very much like gold.

"Aniki!" Tatsumi, Natsu, and Happy shouted. "Are you back?"

"Of course." The guy assured him, pounding his fists. "I hope the capital is ready! Because here I am again, and I promise that criminals will fear me again."

However, he lost his smile somewhat, seeing the former members of the Jaegers. Among them, he recognized a girl who looked exactly like Akame's sister, whom the young woman had shown him in a drawing.

Then, finally, having heard the latest news since his departure, he ended up understanding who these people were.

"Can someone tell me what the Jaegers are doing here? Did you make a deal with Esdeath?"

"A lot has happened since you were gone," Najenda assured him, walking toward him. "But don't worry, you two will be up to date on everything that's happened recently."

"Both?" Lubbock wondered.

Then, it was at this moment that a silhouette, hidden behind Bulat, presented itself to the group. And among them, Tatsumi was the most surprised in recognizing this person who was none other than the latest recruit of Night Raid.

" You ? "

"You're not the only one who deserves to be in the spotlight, Tatsumi." The boy across from him assured him, while displaying a mean smile.

Then coming to attention, he cried out.

"New recruit reporting! Let me introduce myself! My name is Ieyatsu! I'm delighted to have managed to get myself recruited among the members of Night Raid."

Grimacing in pain, Syura eventually threw a medic aside, while the man had tried to change the bandage he had on his nose.

"Incapable!" Roared the minister's son, as he left the palace infirmary.

The man was furious. During the day today, he had lost everything. He had lost his teigu... he had lost his fights... Enshin was dead, despite the fact that it was the least of his worries... Cosmina, after an analysis was still alive, however, even Dorothea could not assure him that she could heal her completely... In short, Syura had been humiliated by both the Jaegers, Night Raid and Budo.

"Damn it!" he roared, grabbing a vase and throwing it with all his might against a window, which shattered into pieces. "Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMMMNNNN IIIITTTT!"

"Glad to see you understand how disappointed you must be with your performance today." A voice said.

Freezing, Syura turned around to see his father standing right behind him with a piece of meat in his mouth.

" Father ? "

"Esdeath returned a few hours ago! She learned of her subordinates' departure and know that she was rather unhappy about it! However, during his report, Budo affirmed the fact that the Jaegers had, for some time, established contact with Night Raid, in order to decide to ambush you, today! For the emperor, you are in no way at fault for today's battle."

Continuing to snicker, he finally added.

"What a joke! So if I have to guess for myself, you stupidly provoked some Jaegers... the others came running... Night Raid took advantage of the situation to ally with them and together, they completely humiliated you! Am I wrong?

Faced with his question, Syura could only lower his head in shame.

"How disappointing of you, Syura! And Budo? How did you manage to make him give you credibility?"

"He committed treason, father." Syura said, hoping more than anything to make his father forget his failure. "He let Night Raid escape instead of helping us kill them! That's why he lied on our behalf."

"Oh?" Honest wondered. "Very surprising of him! Nevertheless, there was a chance that it would happen! I must say that he is starting to hate you more than Night Raid."

"Father… I… I am aware of my failure! However, I implore you! Give me a second chance! I swear to you to get rid of Night Raid."

Staring at him without showing any emotion in his gaze, Honest finally let out a wide, cruel smile as he stated.

"It is not my habit to give a second chance to those who have greatly disappointed me."

Swallowing, Syura expected the worst. However, eventually digging through his pockets, Honest eventually pulled out a pretzel that he bit into while declaring.

"However, despite your failure, something positive has come out of this affair! Now that he knows that Wendy betrayed the empire to join forces with Night Raid, the emperor is very unhappy with himself! He is angry that he listened to the advice of this impertinent little girl and has now given me complete freedom in my actions in order to get my hands on Night Raid! I don't even need to hide my own crimes anymore."

Finishing his pretzel, he licked his fingers as he declared.

"Which means that no one will be able to stop me from brainwashing that stupid brat! Good job, son! However, I sincerely hope that your next mission ends with less collateral damage on our end."

"Yes, father! It's obvious that I'm going to slaughter them without any problem."

"Whatever," his father said. "He'll be here soon anyway."

Widening his eyes, Syura suddenly couldn't help but swallow, as he asked.

"So the legend was true? He... he's alive?"

"Yes, my dear son." His father assured him, looking up at the sky through the broken window. "The creator will be here soon! And as soon as he sets foot on the soil of the Empire, I can assure you..."

Completely shattering the rest of the glass with a punch, he took pleasure in letting a trickle of blood flow from his hand before licking it clean.

"May Night Raid, Esdeath, and Budo be a distant memory! They'll all be killed."