Fairy Tail: Starting with Marrying the Dragon Queen Irene

"Stop this at once!"

Crawford shouted, but his feet seemed to be rooted in place, as if he had no intention of actually intervening. Realizing that his words had no effect, that Ian was completely ignoring him, Crawford looked towards Hyberion, Wolfheim, and the others with a pleading gaze.

"Sigh…"

Unfortunately, Hyberion and Wolfheim appeared to ignore Crawford's plea entirely, still sitting steadily, lost in their own thoughts.

In his mind, Hyberion sighed, "Sorry, Crawford! It's not that I don't want to step in, but if I get involved now, clashing with these hotheaded members of Fairy Tail, it won't just be me who suffers. A battle between mages at the level of 'Heavenly Kings' would be a massive blow to the entire Magic Council! The only solution now is to let Ian calm down, and then we can resolve this peacefully."

As the most refined and law-abiding among the Ten Wizard Saints, Hyberion would never do something that knowingly broke the rules. If he acted now, it would violate the council's decree forbidding Wizard Saints from private confrontations—something he was unwilling to risk, especially considering his ambitions to eventually become Chairman of the Magic Council.

If Hyberion ever attained that role, his authority would be far greater, and dealing with situations like this would be much simpler. But now, he had to think of his future and refrain from action.

Wolfheim, on the other hand, didn't think as deeply as Hyberion. He simply disliked Jose Porla and didn't see the need to step in, especially since Hyberion hadn't made a move either.

"Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Thus, with the tacit approval of Hyberion and Wolfheim, Ian continued pummeling Jose Porla, leaving his face covered in bruises, his teeth knocked out, and his entire body bloody. Given Ian's power, this was a one-sided beatdown—Jose couldn't even muster the strength to fight back.

"You all…"

Crawford, helpless, turned his pleading gaze towards Warrod, Ur, and Makarov. Regrettably, they made even less effort than Hyberion and the others to disguise their indifference. They blatantly ignored Crawford.

Of course, Warrod, Ur, and Makarov were all members of the Fairy Tail guild. Naturally, they were on Ian's side. Why would they care about Crawford, a chairman who was good only for indulgence, who knew a bit of ancient language but had no other useful skills?

"That's enough, Ian! Stop!"

Finally, when Jose looked as though he couldn't take it anymore, Makarov worried that Ian might actually kill him. To avoid further complications, Makarov flashed to Ian's side and stopped the enraged mage.

"Makarov…"

Lying on the ground, blood trickling from his mouth, Jose Porla's eyes grew moist. He hadn't expected that, at the very end, the one to save him would be his arch-rival and longtime adversary—Makarov, the old man he'd always seen as his enemy.

"I'll remember this."

With those words, Jose lost consciousness.

"Ian, how could you attack Jose on your own?"

"Thankfully, you didn't go too far. Let's leave it at that..."

Makarov began scolding Ian. But despite how it sounded, anyone listening could tell that Makarov wasn't really reprimanding Ian. He was merely trying to cover for him, lightly setting down the issue after raising it.

"Master…"

"This guy Jose attacked Magnolia town while we were away, hiring members from the Dark Guild."

Ian looked at Makarov, revealing Jose's deeds.

"What?!"

"So that's the kind of person you are..."

Originally calm, Makarov's expression instantly shifted to fury. He could tolerate many things, but he would never allow anyone to harm his family, to harm Fairy Tail…

 He stormed over to Jose's unconscious form, spat on him, then, still fuming, delivered a couple of swift kicks before finally calming down.

"Ian…"

"Who were the Dark Guild members that attacked Fairy Tail?!"

"Did anyone in the guild or the town get hurt?"

"Whoever dares harm our comrades and family in Fairy Tail will face our retribution! We'll make them pay…"

Makarov's face twisted in anger, veins bulging across his forehead and neck. His terrifying magic power burst forth uncontrollably, flooding the room like a tidal wave and causing the entire "Ten Wizard Saints" conference room, along with the Magic Council, to tremble.

"Makarov!!"

"Don't forget your status!"

Crawford, feeling the trembling earth beneath him, was both alarmed and infuriated. He glared at Makarov, reminding him of his duties as one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

"I am fully aware of my identity..."

"I am a father to my children, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail."

Makarov's tone was resolute—he considered himself the head of the Fairy Tail family first, and only after that one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

"You…"

Crawford's expression twisted as dark emotions grew in his heart… At that moment, he even considered removing Makarov from the ranks of the Ten Wizard Saints entirely.

"Boom!!"

Before Crawford could dwell on that thought…

More terrifying magic erupted within the "Ten Wizard Saints" conference room!

Warrod, Ur, and Gildarts all wore grim expressions.

"I think what we need to consider right now isn't whether Fairy Tail is being obedient or showing respect to any of you," Gildarts interjected, his voice as powerful as an ancient bell ringing in everyone's ears. "Rather, we should be asking if anyone in Fairy Tail has been hurt."

"Everyone here knows perfectly well that the only people aware of Fairy Tail's absence are gathered in this small meeting room…"

"The moment we left, those fools attacked our guild. This doesn't seem coincidental—even if you claim it is, it's far too convenient."

"Ian says this was Jose Porla's doing, but was he really acting alone?!"

"Or is there something deeper at play—something targeted specifically at us Fairy Tail members?"

"As far as I'm concerned, everyone here is highly suspect."

"So, what exactly are you implying, Fairy Tail?" Crawford, feeling cornered, snapped at Gildarts.

"My meaning is simple…"

"If no one in our guild is hurt today, we'll let this matter drop as a favor to all of you."

"But if anyone is injured because of this…"

"Then I see no reason for us to keep discussing anything here!"

Gildarts slammed his palm onto the table in front of him, causing a loud 'thud' as he used his ultimate destructive magic—"Crush".

"Boom!"

In an instant, the table disintegrated into dust under Gildarts' overwhelming magical power.

"Using advanced super magic as basic spells?!"

"Isn't this guy a bit too much?"

This scene caught Hyberion and Wolfheim's attention, and they glanced over, clearly shocked by Gildarts' absurd strength.

Aside from Gildarts, they'd never seen anyone treat super magic as their basic magic—those spells were supposed to be hidden as trump cards, not treated casually!

Using it as a basic magic—was he just flaunting his endless supply of magical power?!

To this, Gildarts explained, "Everyone, I sincerely apologize! My magical power is at a level where it's virtually impossible to exhaust it, so I chose 'Crush' as my basic magic."

Comparing oneself to others really can be a maddening experience.

"Everyone, I have no desire to come to blows," Gildarts continued, clearly ready for a fight.

"Uh…"

The room fell silent. Crawford, Hyberion, and Wolfheim—the Chairman and the top two seats of the Wizard Saints—were all dumbfounded by Fairy Tail's unyielding, even obstinate stance.

"Ian, is everything okay at the guild?!" Makarov asked Ian.

"Of course," Ian replied, smiling. "After all, my wife Irene is still there, protecting our home."

In fact, Fairy Tail's strongest member hadn't even bothered to attend this so-called "Ten Wizard Saints" gathering—she had stayed back in Magnolia to guard the guild.

With Irene's power, unless the "Black Dragon King" Acnologia showed up, no one else could cause any trouble in Magnolia.

"Oh, right, Irene is still in the town," Makarov sighed in relief. Truth be told, he had almost forgotten about Irene.

With her there, rather than worrying about the Dark Guild members attacking Fairy Tail… it would be better to worry that Irene might get carried away and blow Magnolia—maybe even the entire Kingdom of Fiore—into the sky!

"By the way, what do you think those brats at the guild are doing right now?" Makarov asked Ian.

"Of course they're going on the offensive!" Ian replied firmly.

"We're doomed," Makarov muttered, rolling his eyes.

Fairy Tail's full-scale offensive—translated, it meant that Fiore's top demolition squad was in action, ready to dismantle anything in their path.

"My money! My precious money!!" Makarov wailed, lifting his head to the sky.

"Uh…"

Crawford and the others watched as Makarov, who had been so fierce and unyielding moments ago, now knelt on the ground, eyes vacant and tears streaming down his face. They were at a loss for words.

Did Makarov really have some kind of mental illness?!

Come to think of it, was it really worth dealing with Fairy Tail—a guild full of people who seemed completely unhinged?! Perhaps it would be best to just let them be.

Meanwhile, back in Magnolia.

"Damn it! These Dark Guild mages must be crazy!"

"How could they provoke those maniacs from Fairy Tail?!"

"Run! Hide! Fairy Tail's mages are about to come out and tear everything apart again…"

Indeed, the citizens of Magnolia town weren't running away because they feared the Dark Guild members. No, they were running because these fools had provoked Fairy Tail—and they knew full well what happened when the monsters of Fairy Tail were unleashed.

"Hahaha…"

"Look at this! We've scared them silly before we even entered the town!"

"Our reputation is truly terrifying!"

Outside the town, Dark Guild mages were gathering, waiting for their vanguard to give the signal before charging into Fairy Tail and wiping them out.

"Boom!!"

As they waited, a rumble echoed across Magnolia. The town mayor, eager to minimize any damage, activated "Gildarts Mode," transforming the town.

"What is this?!"

As soon as the transformation to Gildarts Mode was complete, a straight path leading directly to Fairy Tail appeared before the dark guild mages. Before they could act, they suddenly saw countless Fairy Tail mages rushing out of the guild, charging toward them with fierce momentum.