Elsewhere, in an open, overgrown ruin on Tenrou Island—
Evergreen and Elfman had just encountered an extremely narcissistic man.
"What exactly is this creature...?" Elfman muttered, utterly dumbfounded.
This was the first time in his life he had ever seen such a vain, bizarre man.
The stranger had suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside the two of them.
However, instead of immediately attacking, he was just standing there, dramatically admiring his own magnificent beauty in a hand mirror.
If he were actually handsome, it might be somewhat acceptable, but Elfman felt... he really wasn't handsome at all.
"It is obvious he is an enemy. Judging by his arrogant appearance and strange magic, he should be one of the Seven Kin," Evergreen noted, comparing him to the telepathic intelligence she had obtained from Raizel earlier.
"Ah! In this desolate, tragic forest, a hulking beast and a delicate fairy have actually met," Rustyrose sighed dramatically.
He covered half of his face with his hand and began to theatrical perform for his captive audience.
"Is he casting a spell...?" Elfman and Evergreen both had massive sweatdrops sliding down their foreheads.
"Correct! This is the sacred ground for our beautiful battle!" With that, Rustyrose struck yet another elegant, flamboyant pose.
"What is wrong with this guy?" Elfman grunted.
"It is obvious he is completely out of his mind," Evergreen sighed, snapping her fan open.
...
Back at the rocky coastline, the ultimate battle of the Guild Masters waged on.
"Your little Fairy Tail brats stand absolutely no chance against the Seven Kin of Purgatory! They are incredibly powerful mages I have spent years meticulously cultivating!" Precht boasted.
"All of them can use magic that draws closest to the very root of magic itself—they are elite users of Lost Magic. Faced with these ancient, forbidden arts, those little brats of yours are utterly helpless."
Precht, currently fighting two powerhouse opponents—Makarov and Laxus—showed no signs of panic.
He even had the leisure time to play arrogant mind games.
"There is a very good reason Lost Magic is called 'Lost' Magic, Precht! There is no such thing as an absolutely invincible magic!" Makarov roared, completely disagreeing with his former master's statement.
"What is truly important in learning magic is a strong, unyielding heart!"
Furthermore, Makarov knew that many factors influenced a battle, and raw magical power was the most direct manifestation.
If pure magical power overwhelmed the opponent, no ancient trick could change the outcome.
"Is this the 'invincible' Lost Magic you were just talking about?" a calm voice suddenly interrupted.
Raizel, having used Take Over to become the silver-armored Royal Knight Dynasmon, smoothly descended from the sky.
He landed right in the middle of the heated battlefield, effortlessly carrying a half-dead Azuma in one hand.
Out of respect for a genuinely strong opponent, Raizel didn't casually toss the dark mage to the ground.
Instead, he used his magic power to gently place Azuma's battered body to the side.
Raizel hadn't intended to nearly kill him, but Azuma had simply been far too stubborn.
He had insisted on going all out, burning every last drop of his magical power to clash with Raizel's ultimate forms, and now there was no turning back for him.
His entire body had begun to take root, thick wooden branches violently sprouting from his skin due to the terminal side effects of overusing the Great Tree Arc.
"How is this possible?!"
For the very first time, a flash of genuine panic appeared on Precht's calm face.
Azuma had become one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory after surviving countless, bloody battles.
Most importantly, the terrifying fact that Azuma had started permanently turning into a tree meant he had already given it his absolute all.
Yet, Raizel, standing on the opposing side, showed absolutely no signs of fatigue or injury.
"I forgot to tell you, Precht," Makarov smirked, a deep sense of pride swelling in his chest. "I haven't been the strongest mage in the guild for a very long time."
"Gildarts... Raizel... Ur... and even my grandson, Laxus... they all surpass me now. I have grown old, Precht. And so have you."
Though there hadn't been any formal duels to strictly rank them, Makarov knew very well that he had been on a steady physical decline.
His current fifth seat among the Ten Wizard Saints was purely due to his vast seniority and political standing.
Beyond possibly having a slight advantage in total magical power reserves, his physical strength and endurance had long since deteriorated—especially since his Giant Magic relied so heavily on prime physical conditioning.
"In that case, I will just eliminate all of you at once!" Precht's lone eye turned fiercely murderous.
He would never allow anyone to disrupt his grand, century-long plan to awaken Zeref.
"Makarov, I truly admire how you have supported the guild, maintaining it for forty-eight long years. Unfortunately, everything ends today. You, and your precious Fairy Tail, will draw the final, tragic note of history this very day!"
Using his intimate, historical experience with Fairy Heart, Precht had engineered the dark airship's power source, the Grimoire Heart, based on his own literal heart.
As long as the mechanical devil's heart hidden aboard the ship remained fully intact, his magical power would be completely limitless.
But this was only theoretical—if he used apocalyptic spells continuously without rest, his mortal body might not withstand the strain.
His inherent, human magical power simply couldn't compare to Mavis's infinite magic, making his Grimoire Heart a flawed, weakened version of Fairy Heart.
"Let us handle this fossil, Raizel! You go stop the rest of them from awakening Zeref!" Laxus suddenly yelled, acting incredibly dramatic as if he were making an extremely difficult, heroic decision.
'Hey, hey, you're overacting way too much...' Raizel sweatdropped, immediately seeing through Laxus's act.
"Alright! Hold him off!" Raizel played along, not hesitating for a second as his Dynasmon wings flared, launching him straight into the sky.
Raizel could tell Laxus genuinely wanted to fight Precht seriously alongside his grandfather.
Since that was the case, Raizel didn't plan to spoil the mood.
[His infinite magic relies entirely on the mechanical devil's heart hidden deep aboard that airship. Be careful, I will send someone to destroy it quickly,] Raizel warned Laxus through telepathy as he flew off.
"Dark Chains!" Precht roared, raising his hand and sending four massive, spiked dark chains shooting into the sky to capture Raizel.
"Lightning Dragon's Sky Halberd!" Laxus roared.
Simultaneously, Makarov joined two fingers together, rapidly tracing a holy light sword in the air.
The grandfather and grandson duo struck with perfect synchronization, violently severing all four dark chains from either side before they could even reach Raizel.
...
Meanwhile, in a scorching clearing of the forest—
"Hahaha! Come at me! Let me properly devour your dragon fire!" Zancrow laughed maniacally, black flames erupting around him.
"Bastard! That's exactly what I wanted! I'm burning up!" Natsu roared, lunging forward with crimson fire blazing from his fists.
...
In another sector of the ancient ruins—
"Let this king play with you all!" Zubal sneered, leaping down from a high stone pillar and landing gracefully before the Fairy Tail group.
"King?" Gray and Loke both asked, highly puzzled by the dark mage's arrogant, self-proclaimed title.
"Look at the crown on his head," Kagura noted coldly, pointing the sharp tip of Archenemy directly at Zubal's headpiece.
"Wait, the intricate symbol on that crown... I think I have actually seen it somewhere before..." Lucy frowned deeply, her mind racing as she tried to recall which historical text she had seen it in.
"There is no need to guess, little girl. This king hails from the great Stateumor Kingdom. I was originally named Zubal Stateumor, and I am one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory," Zubal declared proudly.
"That's right!" Zubal's confident reminder finally jogged Lucy's memory.
She had seen this exact royal symbol in a historical novel and had read extensively about the tragic fate of this kingdom.
"But... I remember exactly what the history books said about your kingdom..." Lucy rubbed her chin, deeply confused.
"It was completely destroyed."
"Correct. The glorious Stateumor Kingdom no longer exists. As for the novel you read, it was highly likely written by a biased novelist from the Praculean Kingdom," Zubal corrected, brushing some dust off his immaculate clothes.
Zubal mentioned his kingdom's total destruction with remarkable, chilling calmness, as if it weren't his own beloved homeland that had burned.
But that wasn't entirely true.
Deep down, he simply knew that with his current level of strength, he couldn't possibly achieve his revenge or miraculously restore his fallen kingdom.
That was exactly why he had joined Grimoire Heart and obsessively studied Lost Magic—all to prepare for the glorious day he could finally reclaim his lost throne.
As for why he remained so unnervingly calm in the face of the enemy, firstly, it was due to his strict, royal upbringing.
And secondly, because Fairy Tail was, at most, a minor stumbling block in his grand design—he simply couldn't be bothered to get angry at such commoners.
However, given the overwhelming, continent-spanning influence of the Magic Council and the legitimate Guilds at present, he firmly believed the apocalyptic power of the Black Wizard Zeref was absolutely necessary to rewrite the world order.
Thus, he had resolutely chosen to follow Precht into the abyss.