Chapter 371: Strategy Meeting
"With that, all three guilds are officially present," Jura announced once everyone had settled down.
"Let us begin by introducing ourselves, specifically focusing on the primary magic styles we employ. This will ensure smooth tactical coordination once we take the field."
As the most historically formidable Mage present and one of the two elders in the room, Jura naturally assumed the mantle of leadership. Since many of the Mages here were unfamiliar with the baseline parameters and names of their counterparts, a comprehensive orientation was paramount.
"I shall initiate the sequence. I am Jura, and I specialize in high-level Earth Magic."
"I am Yuka Suzuki. My primary capability is Wave, a unique attribute engineered to completely neutralize and insulate an opponent's magical output," the blue-haired Mage from Lamia Scale explained, bowing slightly.
"I am Sherry Blendy. I utilize Doll Attack, a specialized brand of caster magic that allows me to seize absolute control over anything that is non-human," the pink-haired woman from the same guild finalized.
Seeing Lamia Scale lay down the initial entries, the remaining factions followed suit.
Ichiya explained his Perfume Magic, which deployed distinct olfactory signatures to trigger specific chemical and magical buffs or debuffs. Hibiki introduced his Archive Magic. Eve detailed his Snow Magic, engineered to manifest dense blizzards and localized avalanches. Ren broken down his Aerial Magic, a spatial attribute capable of fracturing localized atmosphere to completely drain oxygen from a specific quadrant.
The Fairy Tail detachment systematically detailed their respective combat profiles in return.
"Archive Magic? Doesn't Noah utilize that exact same system?" Sorano noted, looking at Hibiki.
"Mmm, correct. Roughly six years ago, he and I studied the fundamental framework of Archive Magic together. Even back then, his academic processing velocity light-years eclipsed my own baseline parameters. In reality, it was entirely due to his structural guidance that I managed to map and master the magic as rapidly as I did," Hibiki nodded, a warm look of nostalgia tracing his features.
Hearing his admission, the members of Fairy Tail flashed genuine smiles, their collective attitude toward the Blue Pegasus leader softening significantly.
"The sheer variety of magical attributes present in this room is incredible," Lucy remarked, thoroughly amazed as she cataloged the complex profiles.
"Excellent. Now that the alignment parameters are finalized, I shall proceed to layout our primary strategic vector," Ichiya announced, stepping into the absolute center of the room while locking his body into another hyper-stylized pose.
"Is the theatrical posture truly non-negotiable...?" Lucy whispered, sweatdropping.
"Our objective anchors on Oración Seis. According to our latest sensory data, the cluster coordinates where their primary network has converged are..."
Ichiya abruptly froze mid-sentence. Maintaining his dramatic upper-body posture, his legs began shuffling rapidly as he glided sideways toward the corridor.
"Ah—before we map the tactical routing, I must briefly commune with the rich parfum of the restroom."
"Hey! Don't overlay your weird perfume vocabulary onto a bathroom trip!" Gray roared, his voice cracking with exasperation.
With their primary strategist temporarily out of the room, the Mages could only trade idle small talk while waiting for his return.
"Advancing directly north from this coordinates brings one to the absolute perimeter of the vast Worth Woodsea. Centuries ago, the ancient peoples established a high-level containment seal within the heart of that forest to permanently entomb a catastrophic magic construct. Its conceptual name... is Nirvana."
Having completed his restroom transit, Ichiya smoothly returned to the foyer, throwing himself right back into a dramatic pose as he resumed the briefing.
"I'm telling you, the choreography is entirely unnecessary," Gray muttered, his temple twitching.
"Nirvana?"
"An arcane designation I haven't scoured from any library."
The Fairy Tail members exchanged blank glances, none of them recognizing the terminology. To safeguard his strategic parameters, Noah had strictly withheld the structural mechanics of the artifact from the guild's general registry.
"Master Jura, has your network parsed any historical files regarding this artifact?" Sherry asked, turning to the Saint.
"No... my archives contain zero records matching that designation," Jura replied, shaking his head solemnly.
"Our baseline data simply confirms it is a cataclysmic spell engineered by ancient civilizations and classified as a supreme weapon of mass destruction," Ren noted.
"But as for its precise functional mechanics or activation vectors, our intelligence remains completely blank," Eve added.
"A mass destruction spell, huh?" Natsu muttered, his eyes narrowing.
"I have an exceptionally catastrophic premonition about this," Lucy whimpered, her anxiety spiking.
"Oración Seis has converged their primary forces within the tree line for one singular purpose: to locate and break the seal binding Nirvana," Hibiki explained. "To neutralize this existential threat, we must systematically execute a total suppression sweep against their roster!"
With that final declaration, Ichiya and the Blue Pegasus Tri-Men threw themselves into a perfectly synchronized, highly dramatic collective pose.
"And there's the group choreography..." Lucy sighed, her face filling with absolute helplessness.
"I officially lack the mental stamina required to critique them further," Gray added in an identical tone.
"Our unified Coalition Force fields a headcount of thirteen combat assets against their five. However, you must absolutely bar arrogance from compromising your guard; those five individuals possess a level of destructive capacity that completely defies conventional parameters," Hibiki instructed.
Snapping his fingers sharply, a glowing holographic keyboard and a massive interface materialized in the air beside him. His fingers blurred across the glowing keys for a brief moment before five distinct screens, each housing a captured silhouette, projected into the center of the foyer.
"These are the absolute latest visual profiles our intelligence proxies managed to capture across the dark sectors."
The exact millisecond the holographic profiles stabilized in the air, Noah smoothly reached out, pressing a firm palm onto Ur's shoulder beneath their cloaking field.
Right on cue, a violent, biting wave of absolute frost began bleeding out from Ur's physical form. However, before the chilling magical pressure could expand into the room, Noah deployed an intricate, glowing geometric array right over her shoulder, compressing the sub-zero energy tightly around her anatomy.
The containment matrix completely insulated her spiking magical fluctuations, ensuring Jura and the rest of the Mages remained entirely oblivious to their presence.
"Haaa... whew..."
Ur drew several ragged, deep breaths, utilizing her immense mental discipline to systematically force the raging torrent of hatred back into the core of her chest. Slowly, the ambient frost dissolved back into her body, and her magic channels stabilized.
"It's fine. My focus is fully restored, you can terminate the containment spell." Ur whispered to Noah, though her eyes remained locked onto one specific screen with a bone-deep, burning ferocity. "To think your calculations were entirely flawless, Noah... the bastard really is anchoring the center of that guild."
Ensuring her breathing remained perfectly steady, Noah nodded calmly, lifting his palm. The glowing array lingered over her shoulder for a fraction of a second before dissolving into fine light particles.
"Outside of Brain, my personal archives already contain complete combat sheets for the remaining four. Given his sudden drive to locate and claim Nirvana, his network was forced to mobilize aggressively, which compromised his stealth parameters and allowed the Council's tracking arrays to secure a clean visual," Noah murmured, analyzing the projection of Brain.
Because the other four members frequently executed structural purges across the dark sectors, parsing their visual profiles had been a simple task for Noah's network years ago. Only Brain, operating as the supreme director, had maintained an absolute, ironclad secrecy around his personal coordinates. Lacking a verified visual profile until now, Noah hadn't been able to mathematically confirm if the current iteration of the guild housed the exact man they were hunting.
"Since we have verified his location within this exact sector, we ensure his absolute structural termination today. He does not clear this field alive," Ur noted, her tone dropping into an ice-cold cadence. She had scoured the continent for decades to track this rogue asset; now that the target was pinned within her reaching distance, letting him slip away was out of the question.
"Mmm. His containment parameters are sealed. He's not escaping," Noah agreed. He hadn't invested months of strategic baiting to let the mastermind slip through his net.
While Ur's sudden emotional spike had been cleanly suppressed by Noah's intervention, the situation across the room unfolded entirely differently.
The absolute instant the holographic images materialized, Ultear verified her target. A blinding, consuming rage instantly scorched her mind. Flooded by her sheer fury, her magical channels misfired, and a massive wave of raw power involuntarily erupted from her body.
CRACK!
Centering directly on her boots, the solid floorboards of the foyer were instantaneously flash-frozen into a thick sheet of solid ice.
Fortunately, the Mages present were all elite combat assets. Sensing the sudden drop in temperature, they dynamically leaped backward, cleanly evading the expanding radius of her localized frost.
"What is this?!"
"An anomalous signature?!"
"What triggered her backlash?"
The room instantly shifted into high alert. The members of the foreign guilds instinctively dropped into defensive combat stances, their eyes locking onto Ultear.
"My deepest apologies, everyone. One of the figures on that display represents a blood-deep enemy from her childhood. The sudden visual temporarily compromised her emotional control," Sorano announced to the room.
Stepping up smoothly to Ultear's side, she wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders, pouring steadying energy into her form to anchor her mind. While Sorano harbored her own deep-seated hatred toward Brain, her personal trauma was significantly less volatile than Ultear's, allowing her to maintain perfect cognitive control over her parameters.
"Whew... haaa..."
Anchored by Sorano's presence, Ultear executed several deep breathing cycles, systematically forcing her turbulent magic back into a calm state.
"Please accept my sincere apologies. My lack of emotional discipline has compromised the decorum of this assembly," Ultear stated, bowing slightly to the room.
"Think nothing of it," Jura replied, waving his hand gently. The rest of the Mages relaxed their postures as well, smoothly standing down from their combat stances. Seeing a comrade face a verified nemesis, a temporary lapse in emotional control was entirely within logical parameters.
Once the safety metrics stabilized, Hibiki stepped back up to his interface, resuming the diagnostic briefing.
"The Mage wielding specialized venom-type Poison Dragon Slayer attributes—Cobra."
"A thoroughly repulsive countenance, that slanted-eyed creep," Natsu noted bluntly, crossing his arms.
"Your own visual profile isn't exactly a masterpiece of refinement, flame-brain," Gray instantly retorted.
"Moving to the next asset. Judging by his recorded operational data, his primary spellcraft is anchored heavily on velocity-type spatial manipulation—Racer," Hibiki explained.
"Regardless of his magical attributes, that face is intensely annoying to look at," Gray muttered, scowling at the projection.
"An asset who commands enough raw, tier-breaking capacity to single-handedly vaporize an entire military detachment, provided the financial compensation meets his ceiling. Master of the Earth Wave attribute—Hoteye."
"Operating exclusively for monetary gain?" Sherry huffed.
"Profoundly degenerate," Jura noted, his heavy brow furrowing in deep disapproval.
"Our intelligence proxies recovered exceptionally sparse data regarding this specific combatant, but underworld rumors designate him by the alias... Midnight," Hibiki continued, sliding the next profile into view.
"Midnight? A highly enigmatic designation," Erza murmured, having stepped up to Ultear's other side to offer silent support.
"And anchoring the absolute command node of their network—Brain. His files are the most tightly encrypted in our archives; the Council only managed to secure his alphanumeric data and visual profile within the last forty-eight hours," Hibiki finalized, pointing toward the central screen.
"That scoundrel is the former director of the Magic Development Bureau," Ultear spat, her voice laced with venom.
"Ah... that completely clarifies the structural lack of documentation," Hibiki murmured, his eyes widening in instant realization.
The Magic Development Bureau operated directly beneath the jurisdiction of the supreme Magic Council. If the facility had experienced a severe internal catastrophe or moral compromise, the Council would have deployed absolute information-lock protocols to systematically expunge all related records from public databases. It made perfect sense why his Archive Magic had failed to scour a single lead regarding the man's history. Combined with the incredibly tight timeframe since he received the visual file, running a deep diagnostic had been impossible.
"Every single individual on this display commands enough raw destructive capacity to systematically collapse an entire standard guild single-handedly," Hibiki addressed the room, his tone turning intensely serious. "To secure victory, we must ruthlessly exploit our numerical advantage. Furthermore, if their command node is indeed a former Bureau Director, we must elevate our caution parameters to the absolute maximum. The man likely commands an archive of ancient, lost, or experimental spellcraft that we have never encountered. Maintain your absolute vigilance."
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