"The Black Wizard Zeref..."
Surprised by the answer, the Celestial Spirit King stroked his massive mustache.
As an existence that had lived for a very long time, he had naturally heard of the infamous Black Wizard Zeref.
He also knew about the deadly Curse of Ankhseram—the God of Life and Death—that Zeref bore.
What surprised him was how calmly Raizel spoke of the dark mage.
However, Zeref wasn't much of a problem for the King, nor was he afraid of him.
Matters of the human world were beyond his control, but here in the Celestial Spirit World, the King was invincible.
"We actually had a pretty good chat. I even discussed ways to get stronger with him," Raizel said casually.
Another unexpected answer.
The corner of the Celestial Spirit King's mouth twitched, he hadn't expected Raizel to be so fearless!
Noticing the change in the King's expression, Raizel explained, "He's sealed himself away. His mind is generally clear right now, and he's been actively avoiding humans. The range of his Death Predation wave isn't too large, so I could evade it."
"I see." The Celestial Spirit King nodded in understanding, stroking his mustache.
"Speaking of which, I'd like to ask your advice, Celestial Spirit King."
"Speak freely, old friend."
"You've lived for countless years, do you know of any magical powers with special, unique properties?" Saying the King had more experience than Raizel was the understatement of the century.
He had to know ancient information that wasn't even accessible through Archive Magic.
"This... allow this old man to think." The Celestial Spirit King closed his eyes, continuously stroking his facial hair in deep thought. "Ah, there are a few, I believe. But it's been so long, I don't know if they still exist in your world. However, one is far away, yet right before your eyes."
The Celestial Spirit King raised a giant finger, grinning widely.
"Celestial Spirit power?" Raizel quickly caught on.
The Celestial Spirit King nodded with a this-student-is-worth-teaching expression. "Correct. Celestial Spirit power is a type of magical power with highly special properties."
Raizel followed up immediately. "Is there a difference between the Celestial Spirit power of the Zodiacs, Ophiuchus, and you your Majesty?"
"Only a difference in quality and quantity, no fundamental distinction," the King shook his head. "If you need Celestial Spirit power, young friend, you can seek out Leo. He knows a way."
"Never mind, it's not urgent." Raizel glanced at Loke, who was happily clinking glasses and drinking with Natsu and Gray, and decided to wait.
He could just find Lucy after returning to the human world and ask her to summon Loke then.
Across the hall, the Celestial Spirits and the guild members were chatting happily.
Aquarius was persistently asking Juvia all sorts of private questions, perhaps because both had blue hair and were associated with water magic.
"Got a man already?" Aquarius sat on the table, teasing Juvia.
"N-No, I..." Mentioning boyfriends made Juvia's cheeks flush bright red.
She wrung her hands, feeling flustered, and bent over to hide her face.
She very much wanted to say yes, but Gray-sama still hadn't acknowledged her feelings yet!
"If you keep acting so timid, be careful you don't end up single forever like Lucy," Aquarius smirked, spreading her hands.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Lucy yelled from another table, her back turned. "I can hear you, you know!"
Elsewhere, Juvia and Ultear were immersed in an ocean of knowledge.
Levy looked up excitedly at the towering bookshelves filled with titles she had never seen before.
"Amazing! These are all books I've never read!"
"The Celestial Spirit World has travelogues too?" Ultear spotted a book that caught her interest.
"Of course. If you like them, I can take it upon myself to give you one as a gift." An old man with a head shaped like a cross spoke—he was also Lucy's Celestial Spirit, Crux of the Southern Cross.
"Really? Is that okay?!" Levy's eyes instantly lit up, sparkling with excitement.
But when she turned to look, Crux was already fast asleep, a massive snot bubble inflating and deflating from his nose.
"He fell asleep..."
"Don't worry, he's just deep in thought," Lucy sighed.
She was long accustomed to this, by now, she could even tell when old man Crux was magically searching databases and when he was actually just napping.
Lucy's Nikora, Plue, wobbled over toward Happy and Carla.
"Plue!" Happy greeted him warmly.
"I always forget he's actually one of the Celestial Spirits too," Carla remarked.
Plue was so inconspicuous, usually appearing cuddled in Lucy's arms as a pet.
Behind Plue followed a massive legion of other Nikora spirits—countless in number, each with different colors, expressions, and demeanors.
Their common traits were their similar heights, their constant trembling, their round heads, and the golden pointed horns on their noses.
Happy and Carla were soon surrounded by the Nikora legion and hoisted up into the air by the cheering little spirits.
Kagura picked up a pink Nikora and stroked its fur, enjoying its softness so much that she even set down Archenemy on the ground to grab another one.
'Petting two at once...' the joy Kagura felt was beyond imagination!
The Nikora she held in her lap didn't resist being petted.
As she stroked it, Kagura began wondering if she could buy a silver key to have a Nikora of her own.
But then she wondered if her cat would fight with the little dog star.
Weren't cats and dogs supposed to be at odds? Yet Oyen got along quite well with Cana's little white dog, Snowy.
Her thoughts drifted further and further away into fluffy daydreams.
Everyone, full and satisfied, was exploring the realm—except for one person, who was still eating and drinking voraciously.
"Delicious! Delicious!" Natsu took a bite here, a sip there, and swallowed another mouthful elsewhere, making sure to sample everything equally like a starving ghost reincarnated.
"What is this thing?" Natsu asked curiously after devouring a piece of steak and a mouthful of noodles in one go.
"It's crab seafood pasta with stardust cream and shrimp, ebi," Cancer answered.
"And what you just ate was a lamb chop drizzled with mint lamb sauce," Aries added gently.
"GOMEN NASAI!!!" Natsu propped his face in his hands, looking horrified.
"No, no, we eat it too," Aries tilted her head, one hand on her cheek, waving dismissively.
"NANI?!" Natsu's worldview was on the verge of shattering.
Ignoring Aries's apologetic expression and the snip-snapping sound of Cancer's scissors, Natsu's thoughts wandered into dark territory.
'Crabs eating crabs... sheep eating sheep... cows eating cows... Loke eating Li—' He didn't dare think further, shaking his head frantically to clear the disturbing cannibalistic images.
"This is truly incredible here," Gray remarked while playing with a few Canis Minor spirits.
"I'm actually visiting the Celestial Spirit World for the first time myself. So this is what it looks like... Wait, which one of these is my Plue anyway...?" Lucy watched with sweat beading on her forehead as more and more white Nikora spirits climbed up her arm.
So many little trembling spirits trying to scramble up her shoulders... Plue, plue, they all look exactly the same!