Hyberion, who had spent several days unconscious after Serena's surprise attack, was still wrapped in bandages.
The moment he heard Michello name the weapon, veins bulged across his forehead.
"How does Tartaros know about that weapon?!"
"What exactly is Face?" Makarov asked through the Communication Lacrima.
Hyberion's expression darkened. Warrod sighed before answering in a deeply troubled voice.
"Face is a strategic weapon powerful enough to destroy the entire magical civilization of Ishgar."
"Destroy Ishgar's magical civilization? What does that mean?"
The voice from the Lacrima changed again.
This time, it was Ankh.
After treating Crime Sorcière, he had hurried to the nearest city suffering from the demon uprising—which happened to be the same city where Natsu and the others were.
Wolfheim answered gravely, "Face is one of the White Inheritances left behind by ancient civilization. It is an enormous pulse bomb designed to destroy Magic Power with Magic Power."
"Once activated, Face will erase every trace of magic across the entire continent!"
"Erase all magic?!"
Every guild master and Council member listening fell into stunned silence.
Then the entire discussion exploded.
"Why was something that dangerous allowed to remain in this world?!"
"If all Magic Power disappears, won't every mage on the continent suffer from Magic Deficiency Disease?"
"That isn't even the worst of it! Ishgar would lose magic, but the demons would still possess Curses!"
"And only Ishgar would be crippled! The northern and western continents are already watching us like hungry wolves!"
The leaders connected through the Lacrima began shouting over one another.
Hyberion had expected exactly this reaction. He covered his aching forehead with one hand.
He had once proposed destroying the weapon completely, but humanity would always pursue more powerful technology.
Even if Face were destroyed, no one could erase the greed that had created it in the first place.
"Everyone, calm down," Ankh said, his voice as composed as ever. "Chairman Hyberion, is there a way to stop it?"
Hyberion released a long breath before explaining.
"The Magic Pulse Bomb is sealed through Organic Link Magic connected to three former Council members. As long as those three people remain alive, Face cannot be unsealed or fall into enemy hands."
Natsu raised an eyebrow and grinned.
"Then this is easy. We just protect those three councilors, and it won't matter what Tartaros tries."
Ur shook her head with a sigh.
"The people connected to the seal are changed every ten years. Whenever that happens, only the chairman serving at the time is told their identities."
Ankh immediately understood.
"So the only person who knows who the three linked councilors are is Crawford, the chairman from ten years ago."
Hyberion pressed a hand against his forehead.
"Yes. The chairmanship has changed too many times over the past decade. Control over several restricted weapons and the details of their seals were never properly transferred as far as Serena."
"And now Serena has betrayed us, so I…"
He did not need to finish.
Everyone understood.
Tartaros had chosen the perfect moment.
It had isolated the current Magic Council, depriving it of both manpower and access to its own weapons, then begun murdering retired councilors at random in the hope of breaking Face's seals.
Which meant they probably also knew where Face itself was hidden.
"Tell me where Crawford retired. I'll go find him."
Ankh looked toward the Communication Lacrima and immediately demanded the address.
Natsu firmly declared that he was coming too.
Once they received Crawford's current location, Ankh took to the air with Happy carrying Natsu beside him.
Just as the councilors had said, if they could force Crawford to reveal the three people tied to the Organic Link seal, they could protect them directly and bring the crisis to a safe end.
But…
As Ankh flew high above the ground, his eyes narrowed.
The more he thought about it, the less any of this made sense.
"Why do the demons know where the retired councilors live?" he asked Natsu.
Natsu blinked.
Despite his usual appearance, his mind worked remarkably quickly when something truly mattered.
"You think Tartaros planted a spy inside the Magic Council?"
Ankh nodded.
"Even the current councilors have to search through restricted records to locate the retirees. So how did the demons manage to attack every city where one of them lives?"
Natsu thought for a moment, then frowned.
"Crawford?"
"That's what I'm thinking too."
Happy struggled to carry Natsu as he stared at them in disbelief.
"But he was the chairman! Why would he cooperate with demons? If Ishgar loses all its magic, Crawford doesn't gain anything either!"
"The old Council was full of men willing to dance with wolves for a handful of coins," Ankh replied, his suspicions only deepening. "I wouldn't put it past them."
"Either way, stay alert when we meet Crawford. If necessary, we knock him unconscious and carry him away."
"You got it!"
...
While Ankh and Natsu rapidly approached, Crawford's home was remarkably peaceful.
It was nothing like the blood-soaked battlefields surrounding the residences of the other retired councilors.
Crawford also lived in a luxurious mansion entirely unlike their modest retirement homes. Every part of the enormous building practically screamed wealth.
Inside, Crawford sat on an extravagantly decorated sofa, sweating heavily as he used his magic—
Super Archive.
Like a living supercomputer capable of searching through vast stores of information, Crawford had several floating screens open before him, each displaying the condition and location of different former councilors.
"Are you still not finished?"
A slender female demon approached from behind him. She wore armor and a mask, with long green hair flowing down her back.
"Kyoka, transferring an Organic Link takes time," Crawford said.
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of golden teeth that looked completely at odds with his harmless, round face.
"Don't worry. I'll have everything completed within half a day."
"Too slow."
Kyoka spoke coldly, her eyes shifting toward the three identities displayed on the screen.
Tartaros had indeed bribed Crawford and learned who was linked to Face's seal.
So why had they chosen to murder retired councilors indiscriminately instead of targeting the three directly?
One only needed to look at the identities on the screen.
The first was a former Wizard Saint—Jellal Fernandes.
The second was Anselion, a man whose true identity had remained a mystery until Crawford's Super Archive confirmed that he and Ankh, Fairy Tail's God of Death, were the same person.
When Kyoka learned that those two were part of Face's Organic Link, the demon nearly blacked out on the spot.
Tartaros had chosen to activate Face precisely because the legal guilds had become too powerful for them to defeat directly.
Yet activating Face required them to confront those very same monsters first.
What kind of cursed joke was this?!
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