ALL NOVEL Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Rising Force
Not long after Mira joined the manor, Elfman came on his own initiative, hoping Aegon would accept him.
Although Elfman's combat ability was average, his honesty and full loyalty were reason enough for Aegon to take him in.
For comparison, the loyalty of the Water God Dragon was still only at 85, but that was enough for Aegon.
Currently, Aegon's subordinates, aside from Juliet and the others, consisted only of the Water God Dragon and Elfman.
First, it wasn't easy to recruit subordinates, and second, Aegon had his own standards—he'd rather have fewer than compromise on quality.
If Elfman weren't Mira's brother, Aegon wouldn't have paid him much attention.
Of course, there might be a chance in the future to help Elfman improve; after all, both Elfman and Lisanna were important to Mira.
Aegon had his eye on three valuable "tools": Natsu, Laxus, and Gildarts.
However, each of them was more rebellious than the last. Even if you threatened their lives, they wouldn't submit. Furthermore, with Erza's connection to them, Aegon couldn't make a move lightly. If he acted recklessly against them, the goodwill he had accumulated with Erza would plummet—if not immediately wiped out, it would at least take a serious hit. After all, Erza placed great value on friendship and family.
Aegon and Irene had a shared goal, and losing these three precious tools could be an acceptable price to achieve it...
Aegon often comforted himself this way.
But things weren't progressing that quickly with Erza. It was obvious she hadn't yet appeared on Aegon's "partners" list. The lowest threshold for appearing on that list was a relationship level of 70.
Aegon's list of partners had grown, and besides Jenny, one individual had surprisingly risen up.
- Irene [Intimacy: 100/100]
- Selene [Intimacy: 100/100]
- Katherine [Intimacy: 100/100]
- Mira [Intimacy: 95/100]
- Jenny [Intimacy: 82/100]
- Misaki [Intimacy: 76/100]
- And… Kagura [Intimacy: 72/100]
Kagura's intimacy had skyrocketed after Aegon helped her put on a necklace a few days ago. Even though Aegon hadn't done much with her since—given that Kagura spent her days training—it seemed that she had "self-strategized" during her training, pushing herself onto Aegon's partner list.
The last four on the list had yet to be "claimed," and Mira's intimacy had been stuck at 95 for a long time without moving. It seemed like those last five points would require breaking through a significant barrier.
"Wait a minute… Seems like the saying is true after all…"
"Why do you always say such strange things at moments like this?"
"Don't worry about it. You can continue."
Aegon gently stroked their hair with both hands.
Selene and Irene knelt on the carpet.
…
A massive purple ship, its underside marked by four dark purple magic circles, flew through the high skies over Ishgar. On both sides of the ship were the insignias of a guild. These insignias belonged to one of the Baram Alliance's dark guilds—Grimoire Heart.
A figure with long black hair and straight bangs, dressed in a white top and a yellow belt around her waist, appeared abruptly on the ship.
She bowed slightly toward the shadowy throne on the ship: "Master Hades, Jellal has left the Tower of Heaven. He has changed his name to Siegrain and successfully enrolled in the Council's magic school. Not only that, but he's entered the Council as the top student. As long as he achieves a few more accomplishments, I believe he'll soon become a member of the Magic Council."
A tall figure wearing a horned helmet nodded slowly: "Very good, Ultear. Stay by his side. You know what to do, don't you?"
"Of course, Master Hades."
The woman, called Ultear, chuckled softly. "He still thinks I'm a messenger of Zeref…"
After finishing her sentence, a magic crystal ball next to Ultear shimmered, and her figure slowly faded away...
Previously, Ultear had been sent by Hades to the Tower of Heaven, where she began brainwashing Jellal, convincing him to rebuild the tower with the goal of resurrecting the dark mage Zeref. At the moment, Jellal believed this without question.
"Why hasn't Georg Reizen contacted me recently?"
Hades drummed his fingers on the armrest, his thick brows furrowing.
Running a large dark guild like Grimoire Heart required a lot of resources, and he also had to support the Seven Kin of Purgatory, each of whom was incredibly costly to maintain.
The Seven Kin of Purgatory, in particular, were a serious financial burden.
He couldn't rely entirely on looting. While Grimoire Heart was a dark guild, even dark guilds had rules, and the other guilds wouldn't stand by and let them do whatever they wanted.
That's why his partnership with Georg Reizen, involving the sale of high-priced Dragon Slayer Lacrima, had been a lucrative source of income. But in the past two years, he hadn't been able to contact Georg Reizen at all.
He couldn't afford to personally go to Guiltina to investigate, as his priority was in Ishgar—to find the key that could unlock Zeref, awaken him, and realize the dream of creating a world of great magic. In comparison, this was far more important.
Hades murmured softly, "Wait for me…"
His grip on the throne tightened.
…
In the year X778, Laxus Dreyar became an S-Class mage in the Fairy Tail guild at the age of 17, breaking the record for the youngest S-Class mage in both Fairy Tail and the kingdom of Fiore. It should have been something to celebrate.
But what really bothered Laxus was that in the year since he became an S-Class mage, no matter what difficult tasks he completed or how many great feats he accomplished, everyone—everyone around him—credited his success to his grandfather, Makarov, one of Ishgar's Ten Wizard Saints.
There was always a voice telling him that he was strong because he was Makarov's grandson, that he was born with powerful bloodline abilities, which deeply irritated Laxus.
Lately, the relationship between Laxus and Makarov had been extremely strained.
Makarov, however, chalked it up to Laxus going through a rebellious phase. After all, kids go through such phases.
Laxus clenched his fists, muttering to himself, "I… I will definitely become the strongest. Stronger than the old man."
"You definitely will! If anyone can do it, Laxus, it's you!" Standing beside Laxus was Freed, who had green hair with two lightning-shaped bangs on either side. His eyes were filled with admiration for Laxus.
If Freed had a loyalty meter, it would surely be at 100.
"It won't be that easy…" Laxus slowly shook his head, turning to look toward the eastern forest.
He knew that a being far stronger than Makarov or Gildarts lived there.
Both Makarov and Gildarts had confirmed it, and Laxus could sense it from the changes in Erza.
Ever since Irene had appeared, Erza's power had skyrocketed. Now, Laxus, who was four years older than Erza, couldn't even say for sure that he could defeat her easily.
Moreover, the armor and swords Erza used unsettled Laxus. He had a strange feeling that those armors were particularly effective against him.
He made a decision...