What was Jose's greatest trump card that gave him the audacity to attack Fairy Tail?
It wasn't his own strength; he had dueled Makarov before and was no match for him.
Nor was it his subordinates, the Element 4 and the Iron Dragon Slayer Mage.
Because the Fairy Tail Guild had quite a few S-Class Mages as well; in an all-out war, he might not necessarily win.
His true trump card was the magic war fortress beneath his feet, which he had spent decades of funding to build.
This was something those paupers at the Fairy Tail Guild could never hope to save enough money to build in their entire lives.
This magic war fortress could transform into a Magic Giant, possessing terrifying defensive power and long-range attack capabilities.
As long as it was equipped with four S-Class Mages—Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth—to serve as the Magic Giant's core.
It could collect magic power and infinitely fire the immensely powerful Magic Cannon.
The power of the Magic Cannon was such that even the Ten Wizard Saints couldn't take many hits.
It could even release the forbidden magic, Abyss Break, whose power could instantly level Magnolia Town and the entire Fairy Tail Guild.
So, since he couldn't capture Lucy Heartfilia as planned, he would use the magic war fortress to wage a direct war against the Fairy Tail Guild.
The massive magic war fortress rose from the ground, extending giant mechanical legs. Like an eight-legged spider, it rapidly advanced toward Magnolia Town.
Soon, the fortress picked up Thor and Juvia, who had escaped from Magnolia Town.
Meanwhile, Jose himself used Teleportation Magic to return to Oak Town and retrieve the heavily injured Aria and Gajeel.
The magic war fortress required four S-Class Mages as its core, but primarily to guide and control the massive magic crystals to gather magic power.
They didn't actually need to engage in combat; as long as they weren't dead, it wouldn't be much of a problem.
So, after some simple treatment, Aria could barely continue to serve as the core for the Wind Element.
As for Gajeel, Dragon Slayer Mages were notoriously tough, their bodies possessing a portion of a dragon's defensive and regenerative abilities.
Combined with Gajeel being the Iron Dragon Slayer Mage, he was even more outstanding in this regard.
After being rescued, he ate nearly a hundred pounds of high-quality steel, and his injuries immediately improved significantly.
At the same time, Goku returned to the guild building with the Fairy Tail members who had returned in triumph.
Phantom Lord's headquarters had been directly blown apart by them, and all the Mages inside had been beaten down.
So, they had completely settled the score.
Everyone was in high spirits, drinking and boasting in the first-floor hall, comparing how many Phantom Lord Mages they had just taken down.
However, in the meeting room on the second floor, the atmosphere was not nearly as relaxed.
"Something's not right. Why would Jose flee without a fight? And why did they send two Element 4 members to attack Lucy?"
Inside the magic crystal, Makarov's face was full of doubt.
After receiving Mirajane's notification, he immediately abandoned his nearly successful search for Warrod and rushed toward Oak Town as fast as possible.
But when he reached the nearest town and was about to buy a train ticket, he received a message from Mirajane saying that the matter was already over.
He only breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that Goku and the others had shown restraint, only destroying the Phantom Lord headquarters without killing anyone or destroying the entire town.
But soon, he realized something was wrong.
If the two Element 4 members hadn't sneaked into Magnolia Town to ambush Lucy, the situation might have made sense.
The absence of three Element 4 members from the Phantom Lord building could have been because they were out on missions.
Most of their own guild's S-Class Mages were also out on missions most of the time.
As for Guild Master Jose, he might have been busy with something else, so he only left a Thought Projection at the headquarters.
In that case, the attack on their guild might have been the individual action of a certain Phantom Lord Mage, unknown to the others.
But now it was clearly not the case.
If Lucy hadn't been responsible for taking care of Levy and the other two at the hospital, where Ur and Lyon also happened to be.
Then Lucy would have surely been captured by the two Element 4 members.
Since being unsealed, although Ur had received treatment from Dumbledore, she was still quite weak.
So she was recuperating in the town hospital, while Lyon was there taking care of her.
When Phantom Lord's Water Element Juvia and Earth Element Thor attacked Lucy, it was those two who stepped in and drove them away.
Lyon already had strength close to an average guild's S-Class Mage, and though Ur hadn't fully recovered, her Wizard Saint-level strength was no joke.
"I might know what's going on."
At that moment, Lucy raised her hand, her face full of guilt.
Everyone immediately focused their gaze on Lucy; in fact, they already knew it must be related to her.
But if Lucy didn't want to talk, they wouldn't force her.
Every Mage who joins the guild might have their own hidden secrets.
The guild respects everyone's privacy; as long as they are unwilling to speak, no one will pry.
"My full name is Lucy Heartfilia, and my father is Jude Heartfilia, the founder of the Heartfilia Conglomerate."
"What? The Heartfilia Conglomerate!"
Hearing Lucy's answer, everyone except Goku, who was from another world, widened their eyes.
The Heartfilia Conglomerate is the largest and wealthiest conglomerate in the kingdom; everyone in the kingdom knows of it.
They didn't expect that Lucy was actually the Young Miss of this conglomerate.
But she doesn't look like one at all.
Lucy has a great personality; although she likes to make snarky remarks like Happy sometimes, she never puts on any airs of a Young Miss.
She's usually quite poor and only solved her rent problem after making a big profit by betting on Goku.
She isn't pretentious when doing missions; she's brave, kind, and can handle hardships.
So even though she hasn't been in the guild for long, everyone likes her very much.
"My father wanted to collaborate with the Railway Conglomerate and arranged a marriage for me. I didn't want to, so I ran away from home."
"I don't want to be some Young Miss locked in a room every day."
"My dream is to become a Mage; I love the life of a Mage now."
At this point, Lucy's eyes turned red: "I'm just so sorry. I didn't expect that because of me, the guild would be attacked and Levy and the others would get hurt."
"Phantom Lord wants to capture me; it must be because my father posted a high-priced mission with them to bring me back."
Levy is one of her best friends in the guild, often discussing the content of the novels Lucy writes.
But because of her, Levy was severely injured.
The guild even went to war with Phantom Lord because of her.
Although they won for now, it has brought great trouble to the guild.
"What are you saying, Lucy?"
Natsu stood up and threw an arm around Lucy's neck.
"I don't know any Lucy from the Heartfilia Conglomerate; I only know Lucy the excellent Celestial Spirit Mage."
"Anyone who dares to touch my comrade, I'll burn them to a crisp!"
"Aye! Burn them to a crisp!"
Happy shouted in agreement.