Phantom Lord was one of the top wizard guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore. On paper, their stats were not inferior to those of Fairy Tail.
In the long-standing battle for the title of Fiore's number one wizard guild, Phantom's master Jose and Fairy Tail's Makarov had been at odds for years.
At the regular conference six years ago, Jose even directly provoked Makarov, only to be severely punished in return.
Jose's confidence naturally came from Phantom's formidable strength.
He himself, like Makarov, was one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Phantom's inner circle also included the "Element 4," four elite wizards whose strength was equivalent to S-Class Mages.
Aside from the Element 4, Phantom Lord also had one particularly famous powerhouse.
That was the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel, just like Natsu. He was the one who attacked the Fairy Tail guild.
And Gajeel was also someone Charles knew well. He also knew that this assault on Fairy Tail wasn't the end—on the contrary, it was just the beginning.
Because Makarov trusted Charles' strength, Erza hadn't joined the Galuna Island mission and had gone off on a separate task instead.
That same afternoon, Erza returned to the guild.
Natsu, Gray, and Erza all headed to Lucy's place. It was Mirajane's suggestion—something Charles had also considered.
To avoid anyone being isolated and attacked, members were encouraged to stay together as much as possible. That small gathering place happened to be Lucy's rented apartment.
Poor Lucy. Despite being the one paying rent, her home was constantly invaded by Natsu, and now it had become an unofficial Fairy Tail outpost.
And that unruly cat Happy was more destructive than a husky—hopefully Lucy had a strong enough mental fortitude to cope.
Charles didn't go with them but instead followed Levy and her two teammates.
Levy was a petite girl with blue hair, cheerful and optimistic—a rare intellectual type in the guild.
She formed the team "Shadow Gear" with her childhood friends Jet and Droy.
Within Fairy Tail, Levy was Lucy's closest female friend—likely because her magic, Solid Script, was based on written words, and she loved reading. Lucy, who dreamed of becoming a novelist, shared that passion.
The reason Charles was tagging along was simple: in the original storyline, Levy was attacked by Gajeel, which became the catalyst for Makarov to declare war on Phantom.
Charles had no intention of letting Levy and her team be strung up on a tree like in the original narrative, used as a symbol of Phantom's provocation.
As the trio walked down the street, a figure suddenly leapt from a nearby rooftop, lunging straight at them.
Though Levy's team were recognized wizards, they weren't particularly strong in combat. Caught off guard, they failed to react in time.
As the figure's arm suddenly stretched out, ready to strike Levy, Jet and Droy tried to shield her with their own bodies.
The impact never came.
Opening their eyes, the three saw Charles standing in front of them, catching the blow with a single hand.
He held Gajeel's transformed iron rod arm and turned to say, "Leave this to me. You three head back."
Levy exclaimed, "I remember now! That's Phantom's Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel! I'll go call the others for backup!"
Charles shook his head. "No need. I'm enough to handle him alone. Besides, we go way back—this is a reunion of sorts. You three just go home."
Levy had seen Charles defeat Laxus with her own eyes. Since he said it was fine, she had no doubts. After casting one last look at Gajeel, the three quickly left.
Gajeel pulled his arm back and growled at Charles, "You one of those Fairy Tail trash? Never heard of you. And I don't remember meeting you either. Trying to play the 'old friend' card so I'll let you go?"
Charles sighed. The Soul Dragon technique used by Igneel and the others, which involved merging their souls into the bodies of the Dragon Slayers they raised, had somehow messed with the memories of the five kids.
Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy remembered learning Dragon Slayer Magic and living with dragons, but had completely forgotten the time they spent with Anna learning common knowledge and growing up together.
Meanwhile, Sting and Rogue retained those memories, but their recollections of the dragons who raised them were oddly distorted.
Though the White and Shadow Dragons claimed they had tampered with the boys' memories themselves, Charles suspected the Soul Dragon technique was the real culprit.
Charles had been the big brother to all of them back then, and Gajeel had followed him around like a shadow. Now here he was, talking to him like a thug.
Charles stepped forward and looked at Gajeel. "So you really don't remember anything, huh? If the memories in your head are gone, let's see if your body remembers!"
Gajeel's pupils dilated—Charles had closed the distance in an instant and slapped his palm against Gajeel's face.
Gripping Gajeel by the head, Charles smashed him into the ground.
Gajeel's vision spun. By the time he regained clarity, Charles was already flying through the air with him in tow.
"Fighting in town makes too much noise. Let's find somewhere more open."
Gajeel, never one to be compliant, transformed his arm into an iron rod and swung at Charles.
Charles could only lament that his little brother wasn't behaving, then threw Gajeel down.
Gajeel crashed into the ground like a cannonball, creating a sizable crater.
Climbing out of the pit, Gajeel saw Charles landing in front of him. His vision blurred, and for a split second, he felt like he'd seen this scene—looking up from the ground—many times before.
Staggering to his feet, Gajeel snarled, "Who the hell are you!?"
Charles looked at Gajeel's fierce expression and replied, "Told you long ago—walking around like a street punk is just asking for a beating."
Gajeel furrowed his brows. The man in front of him felt strangely familiar. Especially that last line—he could almost remember hearing it before!
"Answer me, dammit!"
Frustrated by his fragmented memories, Gajeel lashed out, transforming his arm into an iron rod and swinging it at Charles.
Iron Dragon Slayer Magic didn't have elemental variations like Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, but its power, derived from turning the body into steel, was no less destructive.
The iron rod came crashing toward Charles like a missile, but it wasn't nearly enough to threaten him.
Tilting his head slightly, Charles dodged it. But suddenly, the rod sprouted protrusions, splitting into numerous smaller rods that tried to encase him.
Charles took two steps back, dodging the densest part of the entrapment.
Gajeel sneered, "You're not getting away!"
The iron rods extended rapidly, surrounding Charles and pinning him in place.
But Charles remained calm, even grinning. "Looks like I'll have to give you a little more 'motivation' to jog your memory."
Flames erupted from Charles' body. In Gajeel's stunned gaze, the rods that had trapped Charles turned red-hot and quickly melted into liquid iron.
The molten metal hit the ground, scorching the grass, while Charles calmly stepped forward through the slag, walking steadily toward him.
For some reason, Gajeel's heart started racing. He involuntarily took a step back.
"What the hell? Why... why am I scared?!"
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