That day, the town of Magnolia was as peaceful and quiet as ever...
Outside the town, a group of Phantom Lord mages had already gathered.
This group of mages had disguised themselves as a tour group. Now, they gazed ahead with unease. They had come to Magnolia for one purpose only, to kidnap Evan's mother and younger sister, and use them to force Evan Belserion to quit Fairy Tail and join Phantom Lord!
"Everyone! Just ahead is Magnolia Town. According to the information I paid a hefty price for, Evan's mother lives in a magic item shop called The Scarlet Maiden."
"Our mission is to enter the store, capture Evan's eighty-year-old mother, and use her to threaten Evan..."
The leading Phantom mage was a sleazy-looking man with short green hair. Though not particularly strong, he wasn't weak either, by Evan's system standards, he would be ranked around Level 4 or 5.
That kind of strength meant little within Fairy Tail, where S-Class mages would consider him small fry, but that was only because Fairy Tail had grown absurdly powerful, far surpassing other guilds.
In truth, with his strength, this sleazy man would be considered a solid core member in other respectable light guilds within Fiore. In small, lesser-known guilds, he might even be called an ace.
"Ohhh!!"
As the sleazy man's voice fell, all of the Phantom Lord mages let out a thunderous roar.
Currently, their guild's status within Fiore was hanging by a thread! To maintain their place, they had to act!
This mission was a desperate gamble, the entire Phantom Lord guild staking its future in a do-or-die operation!
Although the risks were sky-high, if things went wrong, the guild might be disbanded entirely. Worse, if the incident escalated, some of them might be imprisoned in BLACKVOX, sharing a cell with their guild master, Jose Porla...
But if they succeeded, they might just secure decades of continued existence. And if they could bring in a second Wizard Saint, they truly believed they would have the strength to compete with Fairy Tail, the current number one guild in all of Fiore.
Just imagining the rewards fired them up.
Inhale~ Exhale!
With their courage gathered, the group of Phantom Lord mages finally stepped into Magnolia Town.
This operation had assembled about fifty mages. They were determined to win.
However, as soon as they entered Magnolia, something felt… off.
The town bustled with activity, full of people and traffic, but oddly, everyone was packed into the narrow side paths. The spacious main avenue was practically empty. This strange layout made the Phantom mages feel uneasy...
"Something's wrong! This whole town feels suspicious!"
The sleazy mage leader squinted at the scene before him, gently stroking the whiskers under his nose. His beady eyes darted around, observing the people nearby. He didn't move forward recklessly.
"Boss Sol, what are you waiting for? Let's go! The guys are getting impatient!"
The mages behind him shouted anxiously. Clearly, they were itching to kidnap Evan's mother and sister to threaten him.
"Idiots! Didn't you notice?!"
"Why are so many people here, yet they're all crowding the side streets? Don't you find that strange?!"
"I think this is Evan, Fairy Tail, setting up a trap against us Phantom Lord mages!"
Sol shook his head. His years of experience told him something was definitely wrong here.
"A trap? What kind of trap? I don't see the problem. Maybe it's just a local custom to crowd the alleys!"
"And Fairy Tail needing dirty tricks to deal with us? Boss Sol, don't flatter us too much."
"Evan is a Wizard Saint, just like our master Jose Porla was!"
"With our guild master imprisoned and no one left who can stand against him, does someone like Evan really need to scheme against small fries like us?"
"If Evan found out we were trying to use such disgraceful means to take him down, he'd probably drop a meteor on us and end it right there! Would he really let us run wild in his town?"
For once, Sol's subordinate spoke with unusual clarity, analyzing the power gap between them.
If Evan weren't so overwhelmingly powerful, Phantom Lord, despite being a "respectable guild", would never stoop to kidnapping his elderly mother.
The only reason they had to resort to such despicable tactics was because they stood no chance in a direct fight, not even their entire guild combined could handle Evan alone.
So in this subordinate's eyes, only Phantom Lord would use schemes. Evan? He wouldn't bother.
If Evan wanted to fight them, he'd simply slap them all down openly.
"Uh…"
Sol froze, momentarily convinced by his own underling.
His subordinate's argument was so logical, he couldn't even think of a rebuttal.
"Boss Sol, don't waste time! Even if we're in disguise, staying here at the town entrance will draw attention!"
"If that demon Evan, or any other Fairy Tail mage notices us, we'll never get a chance to act! All our effort will be wasted…"
Just as Sol was hesitating, another subordinate chimed in.
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Boss, let's move already…"
Hearing this, and with multiple voices agreeing, Sol finally nodded.
"Fine, let's go!"
"But, we split into two teams!"
"Half of you will go through the side streets, blend in with the crowd, and slowly make your way to The Scarlet Maiden shop."
"The rest of you will take the main road with me! I want to see for myself just who this empty avenue was cleared for!"
Having made up his mind, Sol gave the command.
Just as his subordinates said, they had to act fast, if they were discovered, everything would fall apart.
Still wary of a potential trap, Sol arranged a two-pronged approach, one group probing the main road, the other infiltrating through the crowds.
Even if one group failed, the other could still succeed.
After all, their target was just an eighty-year-old woman. Even if she was the mother of a Wizard Saint, how strong could she possibly be?
She was surely no match for their elite team of mages, at least, that's what Sol and the rest believed.
"Alright..."
With that, the 50+ Phantom mages split into two groups. Half disguised themselves as tourists and slipped into the side streets. The other half walked the empty main road.
As the team leader, Sol chose the main road, it looked like the fastest way to reach The Scarlet Maiden.
And so, filled with unease, Sol stepped onto Magnolia's main avenue...
Nothing happened.
"Huh?!"
Sol had expected some kind of trap to spring, but nothing happened. Seeing himself completely unharmed, he quickly realized he had been overthinking it. This wide avenue, though clearly cleared for someone, showed no signs of being rigged.
"Everyone, advance quickly with me!"
Sol, reassured, shouted to the Phantom Lord mages behind him.
"Yeah!!"
The mages roared in unison, their morale surging.
Ding~dong~ Ding~dong~
Just then, a series of bells rang out across Magnolia. Rhythmic and resonant, the sound echoed through the town, audible to every single resident.
"What is that…"
The Phantom mages, still marching down the avenue, paused in confusion.
BOOM!
A sudden rumble erupted from beneath their feet.
"What's going on?!"
Sol's expression shifted to alarm. But before he could react, the side streets and the houses lining the roads suddenly began to move, reshaping themselves into towering walls.
The wide avenue where Sol and over twenty Phantom mages stood was now completely sealed off, isolated from the rest of the town.
"What… is this?"
"Could this really be… a trap?!"
Sol's face paled as he realized something was very wrong.
"Hey! Boss Sol, look over there! That guy, he's…"
One of his subordinates pointed ahead, voice trembling in fear.
"Huh?!"
Sol followed his gaze. From the far end of the street, a middle-aged man with short, fiery-orange slicked-back hair, wearing a long coat, was walking slowly toward them.
"No mistake... That's a mage from Fairy Tail. With that hair and coat… I think I know who he is…"
"B-Boss Sol, could that guy be… that total scumbag of a man? The one known for being trash in every way except power, and also known as the strongest mage in the West, Gildarts?!"
The subordinate was trembling all over as he stared at the man. Clearly, Gildarts was a notorious figure in Fiore.
"What?! Fairy Tail actually sent Gildarts to deal with us?!"
"So we've already been discovered?"
"Everyone! For the sake of our guild's pride, fight with everything you have!"
Sol's pupils trembled as he looked at Gildarts. He clenched his fists and made his decision, shouting to rally his comrades.
But even he couldn't have imagined the truth, the reason no one walked on the main street wasn't due to a trap. The townspeople had predicted that today was the day Gildarts, having spent all his money, would go out on a mission.
The town was simply in "Gildarts Departure Mode." This system, specially developed by the mayor, transformed the town's layout to protect it from Gildarts' collateral damage.
In fact, when Gildarts returned from missions, Magnolia even activated "Gildarts Welcome Mode", allowing him a direct path from the town gate to the Fairy Tail guild hall.
"Yeah!!"
Unfortunately, the Phantom Lord mages knew none of this.
As Sol gave the command, the Phantom mages' eyes gleamed fiercely. For the sake of restoring their guild's honor, even if their opponent was the strongest in the West, they were ready to gamble everything!
Magic circles lit up one after another.
In the next instant, all of them charged straight at Gildarts.
"Hmmm… What should I eat for dinner tonight?"
Gildarts, looking grumpy simply because he couldn't decide on dinner, saw a group of mages rushing toward him. He raised a hand without thinking.
"Who are you guys? I don't want to fight. Just get lost, okay?"
But as soon as he spoke, his palm lit up with bright white magic energy,
BOOM!!
"AAAAAAHHH!"
A thunderous explosion echoed as screams pierced the air. The Phantom Lord mages were blasted into the sky like rag dolls.
"Geez, old man! You say you don't want to fight, but you sure hit hard!"
The only one who didn't charge forward, Sol, was now staring at Gildarts with eyes full of terror.
He knew, deep down, that this man was on a completely different level.
"Over twenty mages… wiped out in an instant!"
"Run! I've gotta run!"
"Fairy Tail mages are all monsters!"
Having tricked his whole team into coming here, Sol used Earth Magic to dive underground and vanish without a trace.
"Huh? I activated my magic instinctively… Oh well, they'll live."
Gildarts frowned at the mages he had blown into the sky, then shrugged and kept walking toward the edge of town.
After all, Gildarts was a scumbag, he never cared about others. Especially those who tried to mess with him. Letting them live was mercy enough.
BOOM!!
Once Gildarts left, the town let out another rumble and returned to its original state.
"Townfolk! That bastard Gildarts is gone!"
"YEAHHH!!"
A wave of cheering spread throughout Magnolia. Everyone in town knew just how much of a menace Gildarts was.
Behind the Fairy Tail guild's rear mountain,
"Thank goodness I ran fast…"
Sol had tunneled for nearly an hour, fleeing in the exact opposite direction from Gildarts. He finally emerged from the ground near the guild's back mountain, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, eyes full of lingering fear.
"You're one of Phantom Lord's mages, aren't you?"
A teasing voice rang in Sol's ears.
"Huh?"
Sol froze. He turned around, only to find himself trembling.
Behind him, sitting casually on a stone pillar, was a brown-red-haired boy with a mischievous smile and teasing eyes.
Gulp… Sol swallowed nervously. His voice trembled as he spoke the boy's name,
"You're… Evan… Evan Belserion?!"
Sol's whole body shook. Sweat poured down his face. He couldn't believe his luck, or misfortune.
Having just entered Magnolia, he had already run into the strongest in the West, Gildarts, and their mission target, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Evan Belserion.
"So, mage from Phantom Lord…"
"Why don't you tell me, what exactly did you come here to do in our Magnolia Town?"
The boy, Evan, smiled faintly, but his cold eyes pierced through Sol as he spoke.
In truth, the moment the Phantom Lord mages had entered Magnolia, Evan had sensed them with his Observation Haki...