"Really, I didn't expect Tenrou Island to be this incredibly big."
Deep in the island's jungle, Jellal was silently searching for the sacred ground where Zeref was said to be slumbering, strictly following Precht's prior instructions.
"Speaking of which, would Zeref really be sleeping in a place like this?" Jellal kept muttering to himself, pushing past thick vines.
"He was indeed here, but that is in the past now."
"Who's there?!" Jellal turn around, magical energy flaring around his hands.
However, his defensive stance immediately relaxed when he saw it was Raizel.
Raizel slowly emerged from the dark woods behind him, looking perfectly calm.
Raizel had just gone to find Happy and Mira, instructing them through telepathy to secretly board the Grimoire Heart airship and destroy its mechanical devil's core while Makarov and Laxus distracted Hades.
Setting up that tactical infiltration took some time, which was why he had only just found Jellal now.
"What did you mean by that? Was Zeref really here?" Jellal asked, puzzled by Raizel's casual words.
"Of course. Zeref stayed here for a while, but he actually left about an hour ago, I'd say? I was the one who told him to leave," Raizel replied, giving a rough estimate of the timeline as he spoke.
"You woke him?! Or did he wake up on his own?!" Jellal's pupils contracted sharply in sheer shock.
Raizel sighed and shook his head helplessly. "That is exactly why I always say misinformation is harmful... Zeref was never actually asleep, Jellal. He has been wide awake this entire time. But the part about the seal is technically correct—he sealed himself."
"Then why is Master Hades so convinced that Zeref is in a deep slumber?" Jellal asked, his brow furrowing.
"I don't know that. Perhaps only Hades himself knows the answer to his own delusions."
"And why did you say he sealed himself?" Jellal pressed.
"That question is directly related to the gods," Raizel explained softly. "Essentially, if he didn't seal his own thoughts and magic, he would bring absolute, uncontrollable calamity to the world. If a war were to be aggressively forced upon him by Grimoire Heart, it would cause him to break his own mental seal, and that... would be incredibly tragic for everyone."
Raizel crossed his arms. "Precht was entirely wrong from the very beginning. Zeref doesn't wish to accomplish anything grand in this era, nor does he desire any conflict or anyone's death. If you must say he has a single wish... it would simply be for death and release."
This statement was entirely true for now.
If Zeref truly wanted to forcefully wage war, the Alvarez Empire could have long since crossed the ocean and crushed Ishgar with overwhelming military and magical force.
His top generals—August, Irene, and Larcade—were completely overpowered, god-like entities compared to the current state of Ishgar's defenses.
Even God Serena, the strongest mage in Ishgar, wasn't even in his complete form yet.
Even at his absolute peak, Serena might at best be able to challenge Larcade, roughly placing him in the top five of the Spriggan 12, but there would still be a massive qualitative gap compared to the top two monsters of Alvarez.
"I can't persuade him to stop," Jellal sighed, feeling quite helpless. "To Grimoire Heart, and especially for the Seven Kin, Hades is essentially a god."
Jellal regarded Precht as his dark teacher, but he certainly didn't follow all of Precht's twisted arrangements blindly.
He had his own free thoughts and morals, unlike the other Kin, who were practically Precht's brainwashed puppets.
"It's fine. When the time comes, just take Meredy and leave this island," Raizel advised. "I haven't fully decided what to do about Precht yet."
As for the rest of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, Raizel had absolutely no intention of letting them go.
They were a violent Dark Guild, and their historical actions and methods could be described as utterly wicked without exaggeration.
If Azuma hadn't pushed himself to the brink of death, Raizel might have considered sparing him as a worthy warrior.
But now it was far too late—the man had already turned into a permanent rooted tree on Tenrou Island, entirely beyond saving.
"Zeref has already left. Regardless of who actually wins this war between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart, Precht won't be able to meet Zeref today," Raizel stated.
"Moreover, I genuinely believe it wouldn't be a good thing if Precht did meet Zeref right now. Perhaps his dark confidence would completely shatter..."
"What do you mean by that?" Jellal asked, immediately catching the heavy implication in Raizel's words.
"Precht is one of the original founders of Fairy Tail, you know that, right?"
Jellal nodded. "I know a little bit about that history."
"Then do you know who exactly taught the four founders their magic?" Raizel asked, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Could it be...?" Jellal gasped, clever enough to guess correctly.
Raizel snapped his fingers. "Bingo! Their foundational magic was taught to them directly by Zeref. Even the so-called 'Lost Magic' that Precht so proudly possesses largely came directly from Zeref's teachings, though Zeref never revealed his true identity to them at the time."
Zeref himself was a literal, living encyclopedia of ancient Lost Magic.
Moreover, due to the Curse of Ankhseram rendering him immortal, the deadly physical side effects of using Lost Magic never manifested in him because the divine curse's priority far outweighed any other magical recoil.
So theoretically, Zeref knew countless devastating forms of Lost Magic.
Combined with his vast, endless reserves of magical power, he could unleash apocalyptic skills recklessly without any regard for physical consequences.
At his full power, Zeref could theoretically only be stopped by the Fire Dragon King Igneel in his prime, or the Black Dragon Acnologia.
Of course, he was currently self-sealed, so the amount of magic he was willing to use was heavily limited.
If he weren't sealed, the radius of his Death Predation waves would be immense—far, far beyond the small, localized scope seen in the clearing earlier.
"So... all these years, Master Hades has completely been wasting his efforts?" Jellal realized, stunned by the irony.
"Exactly. Not only has he completely failed to find Zeref, but even if he did, it would be utterly useless. The so-called 'Ultimate Magic World' he preaches about does not align with Zeref's actual vision or nature at all."
Raizel looked at Jellal seriously. "After this battle concludes, take Meredy and leave Grimoire Heart behind. Do whatever you want with your life—you are fully capable of protecting yourself now."
Raizel could easily tell that Jellal's magic strength and mental clarity had improved significantly since the Nirvana incident.
"I need to think about it," Jellal murmured.
He could certainly leave the dark guild, but a twisted sense of loyalty made him feel it would be unfair to simply abandon Master Hades without trying to stop him.
"Fine. Right now, I need to go clear the decoy magic power Zeref left behind in the dirt. That signature is probably your exact target too, so let's walk there together. You can think it over on the way," Raizel offered, pointing toward the northern sector of the island.