After staring silently at Zeref for several seconds, Irene finally noticed something was wrong.
This person's magic...
It's so peculiar, so dark, and more massive than most people!
He is definitely not a simple character!
Wait!
A guild master meeting a person this "dark" in secret in the middle of the night?
Had she accidentally stumbled upon some incredible secret?
"Master, is our Fairy Tail finally going to transition into a dark guild?"
"..."
Looking at the teasing gaze Irene threw his way, Weston glared back crossly.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"Our Fairy Tail was a light guild before, is a light guild now, and will remain a light guild for at least the next hundred years!"
"Transitioning, dark guilds—they don't exist!"
Irene was startled by his words.
Why emphasize a hundred years?
Could it be that this guy actually intends to turn it into a dark guild in a hundred years?
Then again, in a hundred years, he'd probably be long gone, wouldn't he?
If Weston knew what Irene was thinking, he would probably say: "That's not necessarily true!"
Generally speaking, the higher a person's magical power, the longer their lifespan.
Weston is not yet 30. As long as he takes good care of his health in the future, living another hundred years is barely within reach.
"Who is this person?"
Irene turned her gaze back to Zeref, her eyes carrying a hint of scrutiny.
Out of a woman's intuition, she believed that the relationship between Weston and this "youth" was definitely not simple.
Maybe she should find a time to tell Mavis and Zera about her discovery tonight!
"Just an ordinary business partner."
"I've asked him to help deal with the recently rampant 'Black Magic Cult'."
Weston casually glossed over Zeref's identity, then turned the tables, pointing at Irene's disheveled appearance: "And you, why are you appearing here at this hour looking like this? Did you encounter a strong enemy?"
Aside from their first meeting, this was the first time in many years Weston had seen Irene in such a state.
A look of survivor's luck appeared on Irene's face: "Yeah. I was just helping Erza with a novice mission, but I ran into an unexpected enemy on the way back. I almost couldn't escape."
How many people in the world could make Irene suffer a setback?
Weston grew tense upon hearing this: "Who did you run into?"
"I can't be one hundred percent certain, but... judging by that form and terrifying strength, it was likely him."
Irene's lips parted slightly as she spoke a name that shocked both men present: "The legendary Wings of Despair, the King of Dragons, Acnologia!!!"
Weston: "!!"
Zeref: "!!"
Their expressions were identical—eyes wide, taking in sharp breaths.
"You encountered Acnologia?!"
"You even fought?"
"And you're still alive?!"
Acnologia's strength could be called the ceiling of the entire Fairy Tail series.
Experts like Gildarts and 'God' Serena couldn't withstand a single casual blow from him;
Powerful beings like Zeref didn't dare to face him head-on;
The Fire Dragon King Igneel exhausted his life just to bite off one of his arms;
Even in the final battle, it took separating his soul and body via a space-time rift, using a massive amount of magic to cast Fairy Sphere to seal the physical body, and condensing the magic of seven Dragon Slayers to strike the soul to finally destroy him.
Weston considered himself a rare genius, but he knew that even if he trained for another twenty years, in a one-on-one situation, he would absolutely be no match for Acnologia!
Irene actually managed to escape from him?
How was that possible??
"Acnologia is indeed powerful. Of course I can't win in a head-on fight, but I can run!"
"I used Enchantment Magic to enchant the space I was in, achieving long-distance spatial transfer. No matter how strong Acnologia is, he couldn't catch up to me."
So that was it!
That made sense!
Weston had a sudden realization.
Acnologia's strength lay in combat power.
His attacks could break through any defense a wizard set up, and his physical body could resist magical attacks;
He could absorb magic from the atmosphere or from spells—much like Natsu eats fire or Wendy eats air—to recover his status;
But the utility magic he knew was definitely not as extensive as Irene's!
Magic like spatial transfer, as long as it wasn't acting directly on his body, was something Acnologia couldn't stop. He could only watch Irene disappear.
"Then you should be congratulated on keeping your life!"
"Yeah."
"Is Erza okay?"
"She's fine. She fell asleep from exhaustion after the work was finished and knows nothing of what happened afterward."
That was good!
Not letting her see the horror of the Black Dragon with her own eyes was perhaps a good thing.
At the very least, it wouldn't leave a childhood shadow.
"I'm tired. I'm taking Erza back now."
With that, Irene waved her magic staff, and a spatial teleportation magic circle appeared beneath her feet.
In the next moment, she and the Erza in her arms vanished.
Seeing this, Weston and Zeref didn't linger. After a few brief instructions regarding the "dealing with Black Magic fanatics," they each departed.
In the days that followed, Magnolia remained peaceful.
However, the Weston household was very lively.
Since the matter of the "Black Magic Cultists" was being handled by Zeref for the time being, Weston was able to free up his hands to spend time with his family.
To celebrate their two children becoming wizards and completing their first jobs, the three parents—Weston, Mavis, and Zera—prepared gifts for them.
Mavis gave toys and clothes, while Zera gave phones and dolls.
Weston's gifts were more unconventional—two robotic cats, one blue and one yellow, named "Doraemon" and "Dorami."
This gift was something he had prepared a long time ago.
He had specifically commissioned the Magic Science Research Institute to use special metals as raw materials to craft two robotic cats in the shape of Exceeds. He then used Super Archive to personally program the core chips, giving them many functions such as dialogue, games, and combat, to serve as playmates, nannies, and guardians for the siblings.
Having received their gifts, the siblings immediately brought them to the guild to show everyone, making their two friends Makarov and Erza incredibly envious. They both dragged their parents along, clamoring that they wanted one too.
The next day.
Erza also had two cute cat companions by her side—Elsa and Anna.
However, they weren't robotic cats, but the product of Irene applying "Personality Enchantment" magic to two stuffed dolls!