Jellal had already left before the Council's army arrived, as it was not suitable for him to appear before them at this time, given his fugitive status.
"Could you give me a moment, please?"
Raizel stepped forward and spoke to Lahar, the captain of the Council's custody unit.
"Of course, go ahead." Lahar nodded respectfully.
He raised his hand, and the army retreated ten steps, with him following suit to give them privacy.
Raizel patted Richard, who was covering his face and crying with relief and spoke gently.
"After we return, I will try to contact Wally and have him visit you."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Richard sobbed.
"As for your crimes, if there is any way to make amends, try to do so. It might help reduce your sentence."
"I will also try to speak in Richard's defense," Jura added from the side, placing a hand on Richard's shoulder.
"No, it's enough... just knowing Wally is safe is enough."
Richard had earned so much money solely to find his brother.
Now that he knew his brother was safe, that was all that mattered to him.
He was ready to face his punishment.
"Could I ask you for a favor?"
Cobra seized the opportunity to tentatively ask from the other side, where he was being restrained by magic cuffs.
"I'd like to ask you to take care of her."
With a complicated expression, Cobra gently stroked Cubellios's head.
The giant violet snake hissed softly, nudging his cheek.
He knew that once he was imprisoned, it would be a long time before he could see her again, and he was deeply worried about her survival without him.
"Sure! Leave it to me!" Natsu agreed without hesitation, grinning.
Natsu could sense the bond between Cobra and Cubellios—it was the same as his relationship with Happy, or Wendy's with Carla.
They were like friends and family, not just master and pet.
Nearby, Sorano, who had already been arrested, seemed tempted to speak up, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
She bit her lip and looked away.
[Your sister Yukino is still alive, but I haven't found her yet. Once I do, I'll have her visit you.]
Raizel's telepathic voice reached Sorano's ears clearly.
Sorano's eyes widened.
She looked at Raizel with shock and then gratitude.
She had never mentioned her sister's name to anyone, so if Raizel knew it, it must be true. There was no reason for him to lie to her.
Although the Oración Seis would undoubtedly be placed under strict surveillance after their capture, Raizel was confident he could arrange for them to be visited eventually.
The Oración Seis were all taken away in the Magic Prison Carriage, and Brain's frozen body was also secured and brought back.
"It was a pleasure working with you, Raizel-san. Now that the matter is resolved, I should return to my Guild."
Jura watched the carriage carrying Richard disappear into the distance before turning to Raizel.
"Likewise. If you ever come to Magnolia, I'll treat you to a meal."
"Hahaha, you're also welcome to visit Lamia Scale anytime."
Raizel extended his hand first, and Jura shook it firmly.
On Erza's side, she received a rather peculiar farewell from Ichiya.
"My honey... your Parfum was exquisite..." Ichiya leaned in with sparkling eyes.
In the end, Erza couldn't hold back and kicked Ichiya flying into the sky.
The remaining three members of Blue Pegasus hurriedly bid farewell and chased after their flying master.
"We'll find him! Goodbye!"
Erza now wished she could erase that memory from her mind. She shuddered.
Raizel was immensely grateful that Jura had distracted him earlier; otherwise, he feared he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight imagining Ichiya's antics.
"Shall we find a place to rest now and leave tomorrow?"
After Jura had left, Ultear stepped forward to ask for Raizel's opinion.
"Alright, but before that, there's a place I'd like to visit. It's not far from here."
Nirvana had been moving toward the ruins of the Nirvit clan earlier.
It wasn't under Brain's control—rather, it was Nirvana's autonomous program trying to return home.
To save time, Raizel gathered the group and directly teleported everyone to the location.
In the original timeline, Robaul would have used his illusion magic to create a guild exclusively for one person—"Cait Shelter."
But here, the village stood empty and silent.
"Huh? It's so desolate?" Lucy stared at the few dilapidated thatched huts.
Everyone had been curious about the place Raizel mentioned, but they never expected it to be so barren—just a cluster of abandoned huts, with one even having a large hole in its roof.
That hole was famously made by Carla's egg when she fell from Extalia years ago.
Creak—
The large wooden door of the central hut slowly opened, accompanied by the sound of wood scraping, likely due to its age.
"Eh??? Someone's here???"
Lucy immediately hid behind Erza.
Don't ask why—it just felt safer.
"Raizel, it's been a long time."
An elderly man, Robaul, leaning on a cane with over a dozen red feathers adorning the back of his head, emerged from behind the door.
He looked transparent, like a ghost.
"Mr. Robaul, it's been a while. I've fulfilled our promise—Nirvana has been completely destroyed."
When Raizel came to find Carla 7 years ago, he had met Robaul and learned the detailed history of Nirvana, promising to destroy it one day.
'A promise? Nirvana?' The Fairy Tail members were filled with confusion.
"Thank you all for defeating the Oración Seis and successfully destroying Nirvana. Thank you."
Robaul placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly to the group.
"Who is this? Why is he thanking us?"
"What's going on?"
The members began whispering among themselves.
"I am of the Nirvit tribe. Four hundred years ago, I was the one who created Nirvana."
"Nani?" Gray thought he must have misheard him.
"400 years ago?"
Natsu was speechless, his jaw dropping in astonishment.
"400 years ago, to stop the war spreading across the world, I created a magic that could swap Good and Evil—Nirvana. Later, Nirvana became a symbol of peace for our nation and defined an era."
"However, behind such immense power inevitably lies an equal force of backlash. For every amount of Darkness converted into Light, Nirvana retained an equivalent amount of Darkness to maintain balance, because human nature cannot be endlessly transformed into light."
"Where there is Darkness, Light will inevitably emerge; where there is Light, Darkness will also arise."
"All that accumulated Darkness was eventually transferred onto the Nirvit clan itself. People began killing each other in a frenzy of madness, until only I remained."
"You've lived for 400 years???" Natsu finally processed the information.
"No, that's not entirely accurate anymore. My physical body perished long ago. I exist now in a form similar to a Thought Projection—a spirit bound to this place by regret."
'Like the First Master, Mavis?' Ultear quickly made the connection in her mind.
"To atone for this sin and await someone who could replace this powerless spirit and completely destroy Nirvana, I have guarded it for four hundred years."
"My mission is finally complete now, and I can leave in peace."
Robaul smiled gently as his form began to fade into particles of light.
...
Meanwhile, high in the sky on the Grimoire Heart airship.
Jellal had just returned and was kneeling before the master.
"Master Hades, Oración Seis has failed. They were defeated by the Allied Forces, and Nirvana was destroyed as well."
"The legal guilds are quite capable, but our true objective is..." Hades sat on his throne, his single eye gleaming in the darkness.
"Indeed, whether Nirvana exists or not holds no significance to us. It was merely a distraction."
"The keys to the abyss are turning."
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