Chapter 142: The Midnight Assault
The next morning, George woke up in his luxurious standalone villa under bright sunshine.
Thanks to the top-tier wand he had acquired, he had crafted an enormous spatial artifact some time ago and sold it to a magic shop in the city, earning a hefty sum.
With that money, he had bought a lavish villa in Magnolia.
After waking up and freshening up, he used Cooking Magic to prepare breakfast. Once he finished eating, he began practicing magic in the spacious yard of his villa.
His daily routine in Fairy Tail was as follows: practice various spells in his villa in the morning, head to the guild for lunch and chat with everyone to stay updated on news, then study magic in the library in the afternoon and evening.
"Fiendfyre!"
George carefully conjured a flicker of blue flame in an isolated area, then struggled to control its movement and attacks.
Once he felt he had a grasp on it, he gradually increased the intensity of the Fiendfyre. The moment it threatened to spiral out of control, he immediately extinguished it.
The Fiendfyre Curse was an immensely powerful fire spell. Due to its potent curse, ordinary water couldn't extinguish it—it would only die out once there was nothing left to burn.
Someone as formidable as Gellert Grindelwald could reduce all of Paris to ashes with the Fiendfyre Curse.
In truth, with his current top-tier wand, George could achieve similar destruction if he unleashed the Fiendfyre Curse without restraint.
The only area where he fell short of Grindelwald was control. While the wand amplified the curse's power, George couldn't manipulate it as effortlessly.
At its current, relatively low intensity, he could still command the Fiendfyre to vanish at will.
But if he went all out, the flames would only dissipate after burning everything in their path.
He practiced until nearly noon before leisurely stepping out of his villa and taking to the skies, flying toward the guild.
As he passed the cathedral and neared the guild by the eastern forest, he spotted Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Happy sprinting toward the guild as well.
"Hey, Erza, back from a job?"
After returning from the S-class mission on Cursed Island, these five had formed a team and taken on jobs together.
They had been away for over a week on this latest job and must have just returned.
"George, did you hear the guild was attacked?"
Erza called out as soon as she spotted George overhead.
They had just reached the city center when they overheard citizens discussing the guild's assault.
George blinked in surprise.
"The guild was attacked? No way, everything was fine when I left last night."
With that, he accelerated toward the guild. Soon, the sight of the guild—now a mess of twisted iron rods—came into view.
"It really was attacked. Who's got the guts to pull this off?"
Fairy Tail was one of the kingdom's strongest guilds, with Makarov, a Wizard Saint, at its helm. This was practically suicide.
Entering the guild with Erza and the others, he found the main hall in complete disarray.
Heading downstairs to the basement, they discovered Master Makarov and the guild's mages temporarily sheltering in the warehouse next to the library.
"George, you're finally here! We've been waiting for you to fix the guild!"
Makarov, sipping alcohol, waved when he noticed George's arrival.
"Erza, you're back too. Once George repairs the guild, we'll move back upstairs."
"Old man, how can you be so calm? What the hell happened?"
Natsu fumed, flames erupting from his nostrils.
Makarov dismissed it with a wave.
"Calm down, calm down. It was those jerks from Phantom Lord.
They're bored and only dare to cause trouble when the guild's empty. Like children throwing tantrums—no need to pay them any mind."
"Phantom… Phantom Lord?"
George's eyes widened in surprise.
Having been in this world for a while now and spending lunch breaks chatting with guild members, he had gained a decent understanding of the kingdom's guilds and notable mages.
Phantom Lord was another mage guild, one that rivaled Fairy Tail in strength.
Rumor had it that the founders of Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had clashed before establishing their respective guilds, leading to long-standing animosity between them.
The current guild master of Phantom Lord, Jose Porla, was also a Wizard Saint. However, six years ago, during a guild gathering, he had fought Makarov over which guild was the strongest. After losing, he had never attended another gathering.
Phantom Lord boasted over ten times as many mages as Fairy Tail, with their headquarters alone housing several times Fairy Tail's numbers. They also had over a dozen branches across the country.
Among them, the Element Four were all S-class mages in strength. Below them was the guild's so-called "strongest man," an Iron Dragon Slayer.
"No way! I can't accept this!"
Natsu punched a nearby crate to splinters, his fury palpable.
"I'm gonna smash their guild to pieces! I won't swallow this insult!"
"Natsu, calm down."
Though equally furious, Erza remained level-headed and restrained the impulsive Natsu.
"Alright, let's leave it at that. George, could you repair the guild?"
Makarov stood up and hopped off the table.
"Had too much to drink. Need to take a leak."
After Makarov left, Mirajane tried to console Natsu:
"Don't blame the Master, Natsu. He's angrier than you are.
But the Magic Council strictly forbids infighting between guilds. In severe cases, they might even disband a guild."
"Damn it! They attacked us first!"
Natsu seethed with frustration, while the other guild members remained silent, clearly sharing his resentment.
George didn't comment further. He simply flew upstairs and used the Repairing Charm to restore the ruined guild to its original state.
As for the situation, he figured it was best to follow the Master's lead.
If a guild war broke out, he wouldn't back down as a member of Fairy Tail. It'd be a good chance to test his newly learned spells in real combat.
If not, he'd just continue focusing on his magical studies.
Being the rational type, he saw no reason to let such trivial matters disrupt his learning routine.
Once the guild was fixed, everyone returned from the warehouse to the main hall. After lunch, George resumed studying magic in the library with Levy, though she seemed distracted and uneasy.
That evening, as the guild members dispersed, George and Levy stayed late in the library again.
But unlike the previous night, the trio—plus Happy—hadn't gone far when a mage intercepted them at South Gate Park.
"Hey, you're from Fairy Tail, right?"
"We are. What do you want?"
Levy eyed the long-haired mage warily, sensing hostility.
George's eyes narrowed. He could feel the immense magical power and undisguised malice radiating from the mage before them.
(End of Chapter)