Before his death, Zeref made one final request.
He wanted August to meet his mother at least once.
"...These people really know how to leave trouble behind."
Marco clicked his tongue.
At this point, he felt less like a Guild Master and more like someone responsible for carrying out everyone's final wishes!
He would not normally have bothered, but this involved Mavis.
When Acnologia attacked, she had stepped forward and used Fairy Sphere to protect them all.
Marco respected the First Guild Master deeply, so he was willing to handle the matter for her sake.
Buzz.
Marco vanished and appeared on the Western Continent, inside the capital of the Alvarez Empire.
Zeref truly had not cared much about the empire or its people.
Even on the verge of death, he had never mentioned what should happen to Alvarez.
Perhaps neglecting them had simply become a habit. He had always viewed the empire's people as useful pieces rather than individuals.
Here, Zeref had called himself Emperor Spriggan.
The name meant "ugly fairy," chosen as a counterpart to Mavis.
Buzz.
Marco disappeared again.
A moment later, he stood directly before August.
The old mage jerked in surprise and immediately rose to his feet.
"Who are you?!"
August watched Marco with sharp caution.
He had absolute confidence in his own strength, yet the man who had appeared without warning set every instinct in his body on edge.
Marco displayed no hostility and released no overwhelming aura, but August's intuition told him something terrifyingly clear.
This man could kill him effortlessly.
Marco studied the old mage before him.
August had long, wavy white hair and a thick white beard. He looked to be well over eighty, which made sense. He was roughly the same age as Makarov.
He wore a black cloak marked with the symbol of the Alvarez Empire over a white robe, and a staff rested in his hand.
Looking carefully, Marco could indeed see traces of Mavis in his features.
No wonder Zeref had taken notice of him immediately and chosen the name August.
"Do you people really pay that little attention to Ishgar?"
Marco smiled and removed the disguise concealing his appearance.
"Ishgar..."
August looked at him more closely.
Recognition struck a moment later.
"Marco... Marco Dreyar! Guild Master of Fairy Tail!"
His expression changed completely. He had never expected Marco to appear in front of him without warning.
"I was starting to think no one on the Western Continent had heard of me."
Marco sounded amused.
He rarely visited Alvarez, but his reputation, achievements, and even some of his published works had spread far beyond Ishgar.
"You're joking, Guild Master Marco," August replied after regaining his composure. "You are the most famous person from Ishgar in the Alvarez Empire. Many here know your name."
August's tone was calm and courteous.
He was not a reckless or hot-tempered man.
Within Alvarez, he was famous for his composure and reliability. Zeref trusted him enough to leave the empire in his hands.
Faced with Marco's unexpected arrival, August chose diplomacy.
The emperor was currently absent, and he had never ordered Alvarez to begin a war with Ishgar. August had no desire to create a conflict on his own.
"August, do you want to meet your mother?"
Marco went straight to the point.
"Wh... What?"
The question shattered August's composure.
His eyes widened, and for a moment he wondered whether he had misheard.
"I mean exactly what I said. Mavis is alive again. If you want to meet her, I can ask whether she's willing." Marco paused briefly. "Though I doubt she would refuse."
August's expression became increasingly difficult to read.
Marco considered the situation, then added one more detail.
"Your father asked me to do this before he died."
"What? Before he died? My father..."
August's thoughts nearly stopped altogether.
He stared at Marco for several long seconds before finally reacting.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
For the first time, the old mage abandoned his careful manners.
He now understood—or thought he understood—why Marco had come.
This man was here to provoke him.
August did not know how Marco had learned the truth about his birth, but claiming that Zeref was dead was impossible.
The idea that his father had cared enough to make a final request for him sounded even less believable.
That was the saddest part.
August could not even allow himself to imagine that Zeref might have cared.
For his entire life, the man had treated everyone around him with cold indifference.
There had never seemed to be any place for August in his heart.
Hostility erupted from the old mage as his tremendous magical power flooded the room.
August was one of the Spriggan 12 and the most powerful mage in the Alvarez Empire.
Known as the Magic King and the Calamity, he stood beside Irene Belserion as one of the empire's two greatest pillars.
Only a handful of people in all of Alvarez could remain standing when August released his full anger.
Marco merely rolled his eyes.
"Forget it. Talking to you is getting nowhere."
He waved one hand.
Crystal Wall closed around August before the old mage could react, trapping him inside a transparent prison.
"I removed the curses from both of them, understand? They became normal people again. Your father was sane when he made that request."
Marco spoke as though explaining something painfully obvious.
The old man had spent his entire life being hurt by a father whose mind had been destroyed by a curse.
It was hardly surprising that he could not believe Zeref had thought of him at the end.
"What kind of magic is this?!"
August trembled as he studied the prison around him.
His Instant Copy Magic could not copy Marco's technique!
That should have been impossible.
Marco had not used magic at all.
August could detect no movement of magical power from him.
Even demons using Curses still relied on an identifiable system of power. What Marco had done lay completely outside August's understanding.
For the first time in his life, the man known as the Magic King had encountered an ability he could not analyze.
August's Instant Copy Magic was unique.
His extraordinary mind allowed him to observe and immediately understand the principles behind almost any spell.
Once he copied a mage's magic, he could neutralize the original and calculate stronger variations based on the same properties.
The number and variety of spells he possessed surpassed even Zeref's, which was why he had earned the title of Magic King.
Combined with the monstrous magical reserves he had possessed since birth, August was almost unfair by the standards of ordinary mages—a fighter with both overwhelming raw power and an absurd ability.
Unfortunately, the person standing before him was Marco.
The title of Magic King meant nothing here.
August did not even possess enough strength to struggle.
The Crystal Wall surrounding him resembled a transparent coffin.
He could not move, attack, or escape with spatial magic. Marco's barrier sealed space itself and reflected every method that touched it.
This was no ordinary Crystal Wall.
It was a true crystal prison!
"Relax. I'm going to collect Irene as well, then we'll all head back together," Marco said with a smile.
"You're going to meet your mother and she's going to meet her daughter."
August's expression darkened.
Irene Belserion was the woman who shared his title as one of Alvarez's two strongest mages.
Just what did Marco think they were?
He was speaking as though he could collect the two greatest pillars of the empire and carry them away whenever he pleased.
Did this man truly have no fear of Emperor Spriggan?
Even now, August refused to believe Zeref was really dead.
Buzz.
Marco vanished.
A second later, he returned to August's residence with another prisoner.
Irene Belserion had also been sealed inside a Crystal Wall.
The mature red-haired woman looked completely bewildered.
She had not even understood what was happening before Marco captured her and brought her here.
"There's no point explaining when neither of you will believe me," Marco said. "I'll just take you there and let you see for yourselves."
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