Although Marco also believed that King Faust deserved death, he couldn't bring himself to suggest executing the king outright, considering Mystogan's feelings and his contributions.
Of course, Marco's approach of directly controlling King Faust, forcing him to announce his abdication while tearing down all pretenses and exposing his evil deeds to the public, essentially didn't treat the king as human either.
When comparing Marco's suggestion with Laxus's demand for immediate execution, they could be described as six of one and half a dozen of the other - both equally harsh options that made Mystogan's expression turn extremely serious.
"..."
Mystogan's face was as dark as still water.
Having removed his mask, he revealed features nearly identical to Jellal's.
"I will exile him beyond the civilized world."
After some contemplation, Mystogan chose a middle path between "life imprisonment" and "death penalty" - he had conceived a solution that neither required him to order his father's execution nor left everyone unsatisfied.
"Exile... is acceptable."
Surprisingly, Laxus was the first to accept this outcome.
In Laxus's view, exiling someone like King Faust - accustomed to luxury and comfort - beyond the "civilized world" was no different from a death sentence, perhaps even more cruel.
Given King Faust's physical condition, if he could survive three days in the wilderness, Laxus would consider it a miracle.
Let him live if he could.
Marco nodded and cast his vote in favor.
This was indeed an outcome that could satisfy everyone, even King Faust himself.
Compared to lifelong imprisonment or execution, "exile" at least offered some degree of freedom.
If he could truly survive in the wild mountains, wouldn't that be better than being beheaded or suffering humiliation in prison?
"Then it's settled."
The three guild masters - Makarov, Goldmine, and Bob - all agreed, thus finalizing the decision.
Actually, these matters were technically the internal affairs of the "Edolas Kingdom" and should have been decided by Mystogan as the next king alone.
But since the "Expeditionary Force" was the main "conqueror" that had done most of the work, their opinions needed full consideration in handling these matters.
Mystogan didn't find this inappropriate.
"Good. So what's next - dealing with Edolas Kingdom affairs first, or addressing the Exceed problem?"
Marco looked around at everyone and raised a crucial question.
It wasn't time for celebration yet.
Without resolving the "Exceed" issue, Marco wouldn't feel at ease, even though his mission indicated completion.
[Mission Name: "Cross-World Expedition!"]
[Mission Details: The provocation from the Edolas world has deeply harmed Earth Land. To protect our world, our families, and friends, a great expedition across worlds has become imperative! Attack! Fight for our world]
[Mission Progress: Task One: Completely destroy the super spatial magic "Anima" (Completed) Task Two: Resolve the magic depletion problem of the Edolas world. (Incomplete) Task One Reward: Random Saint skill. Task Two Reward: God's Blood.]
[Accept mission reward?]
Staring at the mission prompt that appeared after defeating King Faust, Marco was actually quite puzzled.
He didn't understand why defeating King Faust would complete the mission.
Could it be that the Exceeds truly had nothing to do with this?
Was the Anima incident solely driven by King Faust?
This deduction completely contradicted Marco's earlier assumptions.
He had always believed the Exceeds were the masterminds behind everything—after all, they claimed to be "gods" and talked about "ruling over humans."
None of that sounded benevolent.
This was also why Marco remained fixated on resolving the Exceed issue.
Those "gods" still posed a significant hidden threat.
Since the "Expedition Force" was already here, they had to figure out what the Exceeds were up to; otherwise, Marco wouldn't feel at ease.
"Let's deal with the Exceed problem first."
On this matter, everyone in the Expedition Force was in complete agreement.
To eradicate evil thoroughly, they had no intention of letting the Exceeds off.
Laxus and the three guild masters were even more resolute in this decision than Marco, because they didn't know the Anima issue had already been resolved.
They still believed that only by dealing with the Exceeds could they prevent the Anima incident from recurring.
"We can wait for Pantherlily to return and ask him." Mystogan suggested.
He held considerable goodwill toward the Exceeds.
Pantherlily, an Exceed who had been exiled for saving him, convinced Mystogan that there were kind individuals among the Exceeds, such as Happy and Carla.
"Alright, let's wait then. First, we'll secure and pacify the royal city, and in the meantime, figure out what's going on with those Exceeds and why they've been indifferent to the affairs of the Edolas Kingdom."
Marco nodded in agreement, supporting Mystogan's idea.
They now held the initiative—it was time to see how the Exceeds would react.
If the Exceeds launched an attack themselves, that would save them the trouble of having to venture up to the floating island.
After finalizing their plans and arrangements for the next few days, the Expedition Force settled in the royal palace.
They were proactive, immediately starting to help repair the palace.
However, the battle had been intense, and the damage caused by "Dorma Anim" was extensive—it wouldn't be fixed overnight.
As for the shattered main body of "Dorma Anim," it was completely beyond repair.
The current Edolas Kingdom simply had no engineers capable of restoring "Dorma Anim."
"You don't mind if I take this, right?"
In the secret chamber beneath the palace, Marco looked at the discarded "Dorma Anim" and asked Mystogan with a smile.
"Of course not. Actually, Marco, I've been considering something, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate..."
Mystogan agreed immediately, then spoke hesitantly, as if there was something he had been uncertain about.
"What is it?" Marco asked with some confusion, but he felt it couldn't be a trivial matter.
Mystogan wasn't an indecisive person—if even he couldn't make up his mind about whether to proceed, it must be something with significant consequences.
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