"Chase, you bastard! Didn't you say you were out of magical power?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock, suppressed by the light swords.
"And that's why you're still too young, Natsu." Chase smiled calmly, swirling his teacup.
"Chase, scratching your coffee table—that was all Natsu's idea! If you're settling scores, go after him! I'm innocent!" Happy's face showed terror as he unhesitatingly sold Natsu out.
"You bastard Happy! Are we bros or not?!" Natsu roared angrily.
"Don't worry—neither of you is getting away."
Chase grinned maliciously as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Dark Magician Girl, approaching the two step by step.
Natsu and Happy were thoroughly frightened by this aura. Unable to move, they urgently looked at Lucy, their clear eyes filled with hope.
Lucy, save me (us)!
"Ah ha, hahaha—I'll be going now, Mr. Chase!"
With that, Lucy bolted, not even looking back.
"Hey Lucy! Don't abandon us!"
"We're Fairy Tail mages!!"
Watching Chase slowly raise his fist, the size of a sandbag, Natsu and Happy completely fell into despair, shaking their heads wildly as they struggled.
As Lucy crossed the stone bridge over the river, leaving Chase's place, two loud BOOMS sounded overhead.
Two brilliant meteors streaked across the night sky, disappearing into the horizon with a "ding."
Faintly, she could hear Natsu's unwilling roar:
"Damn you, Chase—I'll be back!"
"Aye!"
"Natsu and Happy really do have such a good relationship with Mr. Chase~"
Lucy smiled softly and murmuredly, then quickened her pace.
She wanted to hurry back and add new tags to the Chase character in her novel:
"Chuunibyo" and "Super Pervert"!
Meanwhile, having successfully dealt with Natsu and Happy, Chase leaned back on the sofa and looked up.
Through the one-shaped hole in his ceiling, he could see the vast night sky dotted with stars.
"Bad move. I subconsciously thought this was the guild." Chase sighed, quite distressed.
In the guild, no matter how much chaos he caused, it was fine—Chairman Makarov's pension covered it.
But at home, it was different—he'd have to pay for repairs out of his own pocket.
"Haven't seen them in over a year—Natsu and Happy are still so cute. And they've gotten quite a bit stronger, too."
Dark Magician Girl, boarding in the cards, wasn't worried at all. She'd had a satisfying beatdown, and even her anger from being one-shotted by the Flame God Dragon Ignia had considerably diminished.
From Chase, she knew that tyrannical fire dragon shared the same father as Natsu—brothers in name.
"That may be, but there's still quite a gap from the level I was expecting." Chase shook his head.
After a full day of contact, he'd roughly figured out Natsu's current strength, and that of most guild members.
Fighting enemies was battle; fighting among themselves was also battle. Duelist Soul's card-drop mechanism had no restrictions in this regard—it only related to the battle's intensity.
Back when he first joined Fairy Tail, Chase had plucked off guild members left and right, accumulating his starting cards.
Back then, he'd been beaten black and blue by monsters like Erza and Laxus, but over time, he'd gradually grown to stand alongside them at S-Class.
And that was one reason he'd chosen to leave on a Ten-Year Quest a year ago.
He'd pretty much harvested all the cabbage in the guild!
"It's because Master's been getting stronger too fast!"
Dark Magician Girl's expression was firm, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly as her big eyes stared intently at Chase.
Traveling through Guiltina, she knew exactly how many battles Chase had fought to reach his current strength.
"Not me—us." Chase seriously corrected her.
He reached out and touched his heavy deck. A light screen flickered before his eyes, floating the card monsters silently watching him.
"Hehe, that's true~"
Dark Magician Girl was anything but modest. She patted her chest and openly acknowledged it.
...
The next morning, brilliant gentle sunshine bathed the earth, dispelling the night.
The townsfolk began their new day's work, bustling and bustling can be seen everywhere along with the streets.
Chase had a rare sleep comfortably. After contacting construction workers to repair his house, he headed out, walking along the river toward the guild.
"You bastard Chase! Why are you back?! If you've got nothing to do, get out and do some requests!"
"I'm begging you—go buy a seaside villa and live there! Otherwise, my life accident insurance, which I stopped for a year, is going to have to be renewed!"
"Don't come so close! My house was just renovated not long ago!"
...
Seeing Chase, neighbors on all sides cursed him, their faces full of panic as they urged him to leave quickly.
They were terrified that if they turned around, their cozy little homes would collapse in some inexplicable explosion.
One could imagine just how reckless Chase had been before, leaving such an indelible shadow on them.
To claim the title of "Number One Destroyer" in a guild of demolition experts like Fairy Tail—the credibility was undeniable!
"Haha, how touching! I didn't expect everyone to still be as enthusiastic as before, even after over a year!"
Chase heartlessly w
aved at the surrounding residents, laughing as he greeted them.
Neighbors, adults and children alike, all shouted in unison: "enthusiastic my ***ing ***!"
"Feel free to drop by anytime! I'll probably be in town for a while this time." Chase automatically immunized the keywords.
SLAM SLAM SLAM!
One sentence sent the neighbors slamming their doors shut. The more cautious ones even barred their windows.
"Ah, everyone's really quite nice—just too shy, unfortunately."
Chase smiled and shook his head, ignoring them further.
Amid the "enthusiastic" greetings of residents along the way, he arrived at the Fairy Tail guild.
Though it was still early morning, quite a few figures were already inside the guild.
Some were hugging wine jugs, drunk and passed out on tables. Others wandered back and forth in front of the request board. Still others had their arms around girls, in flirting mode...
In short—chaotic. Very Fairy Tail atmosphere.
"Chase? Didn't expect you in so early."
A gentle, sweet voice came. Looking over, he saw Mirajane in a black evening gown walking toward him from the counter, her steps slightly hurried.
"Yo, morning, Mira." Chase greeted.
"Good morning." Mirajane nodded in response, then her brow furrowed slightly, an eager expression on her flawless white face—as if something important was happening.
"Chase, if you've got nothing to do, don't stay in the guild right now."
"What's going on?" Chase asked surprised.
"The chairman... looks like he wants to kill you..."
"CHASE!!"
Before Mirajane finished speaking, a furious roar accompanied a four- to five-meter tall dark monster that suddenly dropped down from the second floor.
BOOM!
The monster landed, its immense impact shaking the entire guild, instantly kicking up dust.
Cana, drunk, woke up. Nab, wandering by the request board, stopped. Loki, lying in some girl's arms, also looked up.
The stirred dust quickly cleared, revealing Makarov's giant form.
"Chase! Anything you want to explain about destroying half a town in the Orgasso Kingdom on Guiltina?!"
Makarov fumed angrily, slapping the stack of documents in his hand onto the ground.
He'd thought all he'd have to handle was apologizing for the failed Ten-Year Quest.
He never imagined Chase would drop something this huge on him!
The guy only got back yesterday afternoon, and by this morning, the complaint letters and reports had already arrived!!