After the blinding radiance subsided, Laxus stared at Goku across the plaza, his entire body frozen in shock. His lips trembled as he muttered incoherently:
"Impossible... this can't be happening. Why? Why didn't Fairy Law work?"
"Did you attack just now?" Goku asked, scratching his head with a look of pure confusion. "I didn't feel anything at all."
Earlier, Goku hadn't been injured because he was using his powerful Ki to defend against Laxus's physical and elemental strikes. But when that massive Magic Seal appeared, the sheer scale of the energy made Goku brace himself, expecting a devastating blow.
Instead, there was zero impact. He felt nothing.
"Laxus... Fairy Law only works against those whom the caster truly perceives as an enemy in their heart."
Makarov walked slowly toward Laxus, his expression a complex mix of lingering anger and quiet relief. He was furious that Laxus had dared to use a legendary Super Magic against a guildmate, but he was relieved to find that, beneath the arrogant facade, Laxus still cared for everyone in the guild.
Even for Goku—a newcomer he had barely met—Laxus's heart refused to register him as a true foe. Otherwise, the Law would have reduced the boy to ash.
"Come with me," Makarov said softly.
"You've always wanted to know why I was so adamant about expelling your father from the guild. Perhaps now, it is time I told you the truth."
Years ago, Laxus's father, Ivan Dreyar, had been exiled for conspiring with Dark Guilds to steal the guild's greatest secret, Lumen Histoire.
At the time, Laxus was only a child. Makarov had feared that knowing his father was a traitor would shatter the boy's young heart, so he kept the truth hidden.
That silence had bred a decade of misunderstanding and resentment, leading to the confrontation today.
To keep Laxus from straying further into darkness, Makarov finally decided to lay everything bare.
Laxus's body stiffened for a moment. Then, wordlessly, he stood up and followed Makarov back toward the guild hall.
"That was insane! I can't believe even Laxus lost."
"And the crazy part? Goku didn't even use his Giant Magic."
"I guess the title of 'Strongest in the Guild' officially belongs to Goku now."
The spectacular battle had left the mages and the townsfolk in a state of high-octane excitement. Even though the duel was over, the crowd swarmed Goku, peppering him with questions.
Uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight, Goku seized a brief opening and used Apparition to vanish, reappearing in the East Forest where he usually trained.
He much preferred the quiet of the woods to the chaos of a cheering crowd. Besides, the battle had given him several new insights into his own power that he wanted to meditate on.
However, shortly after he arrived, a figure materialized before him.
"Goku, you've grown stronger once again."
"Grandpa Dumbledore!" Goku's face lit up with genuine joy.
It was indeed Albus Dumbledore, who had just finished a whirlwind tour of the continent. He had been among the spectators in the plaza, quietly observing the entire process of Goku suppressing Laxus.
"The first stage of the Animagus ritual is complete," Dumbledore said with a gentle smile.
"Next, we must return to Hogwarts."
"Great! Let me go tell Grandpa Makarov first," Goku nodded. With the decisive battle against Grimoire Heart looming, he couldn't just disappear for a few days without informing the Master.
"I'll go with you. I've quite been looking forward to meeting this Mr. Makarov myself," Dumbledore chuckled, and the two began walking back toward the guild.
During this past month of traveling across the land of Ishgar, Dumbledore had essentially mastered the common language and script of this world. He had also gained a preliminary understanding of its history, culture, and magic.
To be honest, he felt there was much the Wizarding World could learn from this dimension.
He was particularly struck by the harmonious coexistence between mages and "ordinary" people.
In this world, mages made up roughly 20% to 30% of the population. In a fishing port like Hargeon, it might be 10%, but in a commercial hub like Magnolia, it was over 30%.
Dumbledore reflected on the scale of those numbers. If applied to his own world of five billion people, that would mean over a billion wizards. In reality, the global wizarding population barely reached 300,000.
Despite such a high concentration of magic users, the people of this world lived in relative peace with mages.
In his world, a tiny fraction of wizards lived in constant friction and secrecy from Muggles.
The greatest takeaway from this trip, Dumbledore realized, wasn't a powerful new spell. It was observing how mages integrated into society.
Perhaps wizards shouldn't be so isolationist; perhaps they should actively engage with the non-magical government.
In this world, the Magic Council regulated the guilds, and the guilds helped ordinary people by completing "Requests" in exchange for rewards.
This allowed the kingdom to prosper peacefully.
If the Ministry of Magic cooperated with the Muggle government—if wizards integrated into society to solve crimes or handle disasters as a specialized department—it wasn't impossible to imagine a better future.
Muggle technology provided a standard of living far beyond wizarding society, while magic could solve problems technology couldn't touch. Mutual cooperation was the key to progress and ending centuries of animosity.
Thinking about it, Dumbledore felt a surge of youthful vigor return to his weary bones. Perhaps I can hold on a bit longer, he thought. Maybe I'll delay my retirement by a few more years.
"It's Mr. Dumbledore! Welcome to the guild!"
When Goku led Dumbledore into the hall, Gray, Lucy, and Natsu immediately rushed over to greet him. Gray, Lyon, and Ur were particularly vocal in their gratitude once again. The other members, knowing Dumbledore was Goku's teacher, treated the elderly wizard with the utmost respect.
"Let's not rush," Dumbledore said softly, gently stopping Goku as he started toward the stairs to find Makarov. "Mr. Makarov likely has some unfinished business to attend to. We should wait a moment."
With his vast life experience, Dumbledore had seen the rift between the grandfather and grandson at the plaza. He knew they needed this time for a heart-to-heart talk and that it would be improper to interrupt.
Sure enough, two hours later, Laxus descended from the second floor.
The Laxus who emerged was different.
Gone was the habitual arrogance and the look of disdain for his peers. His eyes were red, and there were faint traces of tears on his cheeks.
As he walked past Goku, he stopped for a split second and whispered a sincere "Thank you."
Goku then led Dumbledore up the stairs and knocked on the door of the Master's office.