Fairy Tail: The Dark Swordsman

62 - Meaning of Strength

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...

[X784, Fairy Tail, Four days later]

— Freed Justine —

"This place is a mess." Evergreen's voice had a tinge of worry as she crossed her arms, looking down at Magnolia from their elevated vantage point.

The three of them stood atop a steep hill near the outskirts of the town, where they had a clear view of the city and the aftermath of the battle.

From this high up, Freed could see the scorched battlefield around Lake Sciliora, especially the long deep trench that Dannis had cut in his attempt to destroy the Jupiter Cannon. The lake itself looked murkier than usual, still bearing whatever traces of magic that contaminated the water.

"Well, it was a battle between two guilds of the more powerful guilds in Fiore. This amount of destruction was expected." Bickslow commented. His Seith orbs hovered around him, repeating the last words of his every sentence. "At least they're already rebuilding."

Freed remained silent, his gaze fixed on the Fairy Tail guild hall in the distance. The repairs were well underway, with guild members working tirelessly to reconstruct what had been damaged. Despite the recency of the attack, Magnolia itself was still bustling with life.

'Indeed.' Freed mused. 'Though rebuilding isn't quite the right word.'.

If anything, it looked more like a renovation. From what he had read, their guild building didn't really suffer many damages.

The foundation of the old guild hall remained, but everything else was being redone from the ground up. The Master, in his enlarged Titan form, was lifting massive wooden beams into place, while Erza took it upon herself to direct everything. She even had the whole ensemble, with a foreman's clothes and even the yellow hard hat.

He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

They had been away for months, helping chase Laxus' goals, and in that time, the guild had gone through battles, hardships, and changes—ones they hadn't been there to witness or support.

'We've been so focused on following Laxus-sama that we missed everything happening at home,' Freed thought. The guild had suffered without them, and that realization sat uncomfortably in his chest.

Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts aside.

'No. I made a promise to Dannis-sama. My duty is to Laxus-sama. That hasn't changed.'

"Come on," he said at last, turning to the others. "I heard Dannis-sama is with Porlyusica."

Evergreen clicked her tongue but followed without complaint, while Bickslow gave an exaggerated sigh, throwing his arms behind his head as they made their way toward the Western Woods.

...

The three of them travelled to the small hut that was hidden within the Western Woods, a forest that bordered Magnolia.

It was a peaceful place. There was the occasional monster that liked to nest in these parts, but they were exceedingly rare. The Western Woods was a place that many Fairy Tail members use as a training ground and the Master had set up periodic schedules to clear it of any powerful monsters.

It was an easy way to get combat experience for the lower ranked mages since the monsters here are low ranking themselves. Porlyusica herself based herself here due to its distance from the larger civilization as well as the peaceful quiet that's here most days.