Before this, Gray had also thought that Ultear was connected to Oración Seis, but the facts proved otherwise.
Ultear wasn't among the Oración Seis—they weren't part of the same organization.
"That's right. That Ultear is Ur's daughter. The reason she was separated from Ur in the first place was because of the man right in front of us—Brain. He first deceived Ur, then deceived Ultear as well, creating a deep misunderstanding between mother and daughter and turning Ultear into what she is now."
Marco didn't hesitate.
He directly told Gray the truth about Ur and Ultear.
After all, Ur was practically Gray's second mother—he had every right to know what had happened to her.
"So that's how it was..."
After hearing Marco's explanation, Gray was completely stunned.
When he looked at Brain again, there was hatred in his eyes now.
He wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot.
This bastard had done something so unforgivable to Ur!
Thinking back to the way Ur had looked when she once spoke about Ultear to him and Lyon, Gray felt his anger boiling over.
All of this tragedy had started because of Brain.
"Ultear..."
After that burst of rage, Gray let out a long sigh.
There was no point dwelling on it now. The damage had already been done.
Ultear had already become an evil mage of Grimoire Heart, and who knew how many sins she had committed by now.
Even if Gray himself were the one passing judgment, he couldn't say Ultear was innocent.
If Jellal had been mentally manipulated, then Ultear had done all of this simply because of a misunderstanding—because she had misunderstood her mother and ended up walking down this path.
Compared to that, Jellal was actually more worthy of sympathy.
The sins on Ultear's hands were much harder to wash away.
"At the very least... she has to know the truth. And she has to be stopped before she keeps doing evil."
Gray clenched his fists.
That was the conclusion he came to.
Forgive Ultear? That wasn't something Gray could do.
He had no right to forgive her on anyone else's behalf. But for Ur's sake, he had to stop Ultear from continuing down the wrong path.
And no matter what, he had to make sure she learned the truth.
"Don't worry. She won't get away."
Marco patted Gray on the shoulder, calming him down a little.
He didn't even need to think about it—sooner or later, they were definitely going to clash with Grimoire Heart.
There was no way those people would stay quiet forever, and as long as they stirred up trouble, Fairy Tail wouldn't stand by and watch.
Before long, the allied forces began their return march.
Of course, they weren't disbanding just yet, because there were still many dark guild strongholds left to destroy.
The matter wasn't fully over.
For everyone involved, this was the moment to divide the spoils.
After all, those dark guild hideouts surely contained quite a bit of wealth, and whichever guild helped clear them out naturally had the right to keep everything they found.
It was another source of income.
The Magic Council had already paid a hefty reward, but nobody minded earning a little extra.
As for handing over all confiscated supplies? That was wishful thinking.
The Magic Council didn't have that kind of authority, nor did they put on those airs.
They didn't even bring it up.
Naturally, Fairy Tail didn't miss out on this final stage either.
Even if the guild was now big enough that it didn't care much about a few extra coins, there was no reason to give up profit that should rightfully be theirs.
Besides, it was also a good chance to give the guild's wizards more field experience.
Of course, Marco himself had no intention of taking part in something like that. He had more important things to do.
Marco, together with Mirajane, Erza, and elite mages from the other guilds, escorted the prisoners back to the Magic Council's Fiore headquarters, where they would stand trial.
Their final place of confinement would also be the prison at the Fiore branch headquarters.
This time, they would not be transported back to the Magic Council's main headquarters.
After what had happened last time with Jellal's prison break, the Magic Council really wasn't in a position to argue.
They could only agree.
After all, these prisoners had been captured through the efforts of Fiore's mage guilds, so the Council had to respect their wishes.
The fact that Marco hadn't simply taken them all back to Magnolia already counted as giving the Council face.
If he really wanted to be rude about it, he wouldn't have let the Magic Council take custody of the prisoners at all.
Naturally, Jellal was also transferred to the prison at the Fiore branch headquarters.
The former member of the Ten Wizard Saints had performed well enough during this incident to satisfy most people.
Jellal hadn't helped evil continue. Instead, he had obediently surrendered, and had even tried to persuade Oración Seis to stop resisting.
That performance earned him quite a few points, which was why he wasn't retried or given extra punishment.
That was already no small mercy.
The Magic Council still hated him bitterly for everything he had done before.
The fact that he wasn't given a harsher sentence after being broken out of prison really was only because he had behaved well this time.
"The final trial will be held after all those dark guilds have been completely wiped out. When the time comes, we'll send word to everyone."
Before leaving, Lahar made that solemn promise to the assembled crowd.
This time, Fiore's wizards had contributed enormously, so the final trial naturally couldn't simply ignore them.
Every mage guild that had taken part in the battle would be allowed to send representatives to attend the trial.
The Magic Council was making its attitude very clear now.
Since Fiore's mage guilds had given them face, they weren't about to be ungrateful. Instead, they chose to return the favor.
"That's the right way to build a lasting relationship."
Marco nodded, very satisfied with Lahar's attitude.
At last, the Magic Council had put someone competent out front.
In truth, as the governing body of the magical world, the Magic Council didn't necessarily need to possess unmatched strength of its own.
Strong administrative ability—and the ability to maintain good relations with all sides—could work just as well.
Like now: as long as they could get powerful mages and guilds to answer the call and willingly lend a hand, the result was the same.
After all, people still recognized the Magic Council's name. It had stood for so many years that replacing it was never going to be something accomplished overnight.
As long as the Magic Council knew how to act with a little sense, and kept good relations with top-tier mages and guilds, its situation would never become too bad.
Because no matter how powerful a mage guild might be, none of them had the time or energy to manage all the disputes across the entire continent of Ishgar.
For everyone involved, the existence of the Magic Council still brought far more benefit than harm.
Since Marco himself was satisfied, the other mage guilds naturally had no objections either.
Everyone collected their rewards and happily returned to their own guilds.
"We should head back too."
Marco summoned the Crow Flyer, then called for Mirajane and Erza.
He was eager to get home as quickly as possible— after all, he still had a mission reward waiting to be claimed.