Eisenwald's surprise attack on the Guild Master's meeting—this terrifying incident spread throughout the entire Kingdom of Fiore overnight.
This was because it was the first time anyone had dared to launch a terrorist attack specifically targeting a Guild Master.
The name Tyrant was brought up again, and only then did everyone realize that the Tyrant, famous throughout the Ishgar continent, was actually a member of Fairy Tail, which greatly astonished many people.
This time, the Magic Council, quite uncharacteristically—no, in fact, unprecedentedly—praised Fairy Tail, and the destruction caused by Takeshi was left unresolved, with the Council bearing the losses from the battle.
To be honest, Takeshi felt a bit embarrassed. With his abilities, he could have easily boarded the train and solved the problem with basically no damages.
Then, at the next station, he could have handed over those guys from Eisenwald to the army.
However, after transforming into Toji, it was as if another personality awoke, and he became somewhat out of control. He himself couldn't predict what kind of actions he would take.
It wasn't just Toji. Transforming into other characters also, to varying degrees, influenced him with the original character's personality.
—
At this moment, Lucy was writing a letter in her bedroom, detailing all the big and small things that had happened to her in Fairy Tail.
Overall, she was very satisfied with joining Fairy Tail and had made many friends in the Guild.
Suddenly—
A small blue cat flew in through the window in a panic. "Oh no! Lucy! Natsu is almost done for!"
"What?!"
Lucy's face changed drastically when she heard Happy's words.
"What's going on?! Wasn't he fine before? He's as strong as a monster, how could he suddenly be on his last legs?!"
"It seems he got motion sickness yesterday, too many times, and now he can't recover. He's almost done for. Come with me to see him."
"Motion sickness is making him done for?!"
Lucy had never heard of someone being done for by motion sickness. Of course, when one is motion sick, they certainly look like they're on their last legs.
Yesterday, Natsu rode a train, then a four-wheeled vehicle for several wild rides, and finally a carriage. It seemed he hadn't gotten off a vehicle all day yesterday.
"Alright. Let's go quickly."
Lucy immediately followed Happy, and they soon arrived in front of a house.
"Natsu! Are you alri..."
Lucy opened the door and rushed in.
Just as she opened the door—
Bang... Bang...
Small firecrackers exploded, scattering confetti onto Lucy's face.
Lucy stared blankly. She saw many people gathered in the house, all her familiar Guild companions. What on earth was going on?
Levy smiled and said to Lucy, "Lu-chan. Welcome to Fairy Tail. This is a welcome party everyone prepared for you."
"A welcome party?" Lucy was a bit confused.
"Yes. This is a tradition of Fairy Tail. When you first came, everyone wasn't familiar with you yet. Now that we're familiar, of course, we have to prepare a welcome party for you."
Hearing this, Lucy's face showed an expression of surprise and emotion. "Everyone..."
"Hmph! What welcome party? If it were really a welcome party, why wouldn't you hold it somewhere else? I think you all just want a reasonable excuse to freeload food and drinks." Takeshi unceremoniously exposed them.
That's right, this was Takeshi's home. These guys, under the guise of holding a welcome party for Lucy, had come to his house to freeload food and drinks.
Cana, hugging a barrel of wine, said with a laugh, "Everyone's just used to coming here. Besides, there aren't any other homes like yours that are quiet, spacious, and have such a good environment."
Mirajane smiled and said, "Don't worry about those things. As long as everyone's happy, it's fine."
"Party!"
Everyone raised their hands and cheered.
Soon, everyone was bustling about. They were thick-skinned and didn't pay much attention to Takeshi's words. They knew that although Takeshi said such things, he didn't actually mind at all and often took the initiative to invite everyone to gather.
Soon, the party atmosphere grew even livelier. Those with special talents would show them off to liven up the mood, and cheers from everyone were constant.
Lucy, from childhood to adulthood, had never experienced such a joyous atmosphere. She was growing to love this Guild more and more.
Just as the atmosphere was at its most fervent—
Erza suddenly stood up.
Swish!
She pulled a longsword from her spatial storage, and gave it a flick. The sword flipped several times in the air before embedding itself in front of Takeshi.
Erza looked at Takeshi and said, "Takeshi, let's have a showdown."
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment.
Takeshi pulled out the sword in front of him. "If that's what you want, then let's go."
Takeshi didn't refuse. To be honest, he also wanted to test how his current swordsmanship compared to Erza's.
Immediately after—
"Ohhhhhh!"
"Takeshi and Erza's duel!"
"I don't know how long it's been since we last saw one."
"This is amazing."
"I'm fired up!"
Everyone shouted and cheered excitedly.
The spectacle of a duel between two S-Class Mages was evident.
"No... no way...? Those two? Are they serious?" Lucy's eyes widened.
Takeshi and Erza were the two strongest people she had met since joining Fairy Tail. If these two fought, wouldn't it be earth-shattering?
Elfman said, crossing his arms, "Of course it's for real. What kind of man would he be if he didn't go all out?"
Mirajane smiled and said, "Erza is a girl, you know."
Max commented, "A monstrous woman."
Gray said, "Speaking of monsters, Takeshi is the real monster."
He remembered that Takeshi had already displayed S-Class strength when he first joined the Guild, and later he went on a rampage, with each achievement more terrifying than the last.
Elfman said excitedly, "A battle between monsters. This is going to be incredibly exciting."
"No way. I don't want to see either of them lose."
Lucy closed her eyes and waved her hands, as if she couldn't bear to watch the two duel.
Gray quipped, "Unexpectedly pure-hearted."
However, the duel wouldn't stop because of Lucy's pure-heartedness.
Soon, everyone cleared space for the two, allowing them to fight freely.
Takeshi looked at Erza and asked, "How long has it been since our last duel?"
Erza replied, "Six months ago. I was defeated by your single move. It was a perfect sword strike, and that battle greatly benefited me."
Six months ago, shortly after Takeshi and Erza completed an S-Class Quest together, Erza challenged Takeshi and was instantly defeated by a single move from Takeshi after he transformed into Yoriichi.
The entire Guild was shocked at that time. They knew Takeshi was strong, but they never imagined he would be that strong, especially since his opponent was Erza.
Since then, Erza had been diligently practicing swordsmanship whenever she wasn't working, and her swordsmanship had now greatly improved.
"Do you have the confidence to defeat me now?"
"No, but I want to test how big the gap between us is."