Chapter 266
Marshall was almost at a loss for words after listening to Laxus.
He had been expecting some grand revelation, but this was it?
"Why? The guild has a better reputation now, better benefits, higher income, and longer vacations, and somehow you’re unhappy about that?"
"...I never said those things were bad."
"?"
Laxus’s expression hardened.
"Haven’t you noticed? More and more ordinary people are doing everything they can to worm their way into our guild. And I mean ordinary people, Marshall. Not Mages!"
His voice rose with frustration.
"We’re a Mage Guild! We’re not supposed to be a magic-item manufacturer, a clothing company, or a terminal retailer. That’s merchants’ work! You’ve turned the guild into something that looks more like a business full of people chasing profit. Fairy Tail isn’t pure anymore!"
Marshall blinked.
"Okay, but all of that is handled by separate departments. The actual guild is still a Mage Guild, isn’t it?"
"Hmph! There are people who can’t even use Magic walking around outside calling themselves members of Fairy Tail now. I’ve never even met some of them, yet they’re out there bragging about being part of the guild!"
Laxus jabbed a finger toward him.
"Some are even using Fairy Tail’s name to benefit themselves personally. If we don’t stop this now, I don’t even want to imagine what the guild will become in the future!"
Once Laxus got started, he unloaded every problem he had noticed.
In short, everyone might have been poor in the old days, but they had at least been happily poor.
Now that Fairy Tail had money, every ugly problem that came with money had followed right behind it.
People had paid under the table for jobs.
Some secretly sold internal guild information.
Others used their status as Fairy Tail interns to impress women and scam their way into dates.
Marshall had no idea where Laxus had managed to dig up so much garbage.
To Laxus, Fairy Tail had been distorted by the enormous amount of money and influence surrounding it.
The guild was no longer as simple or lovable as it had once been, and he wanted to bring it back—to return to the familiar Fairy Tail of the past.
By the time he finished, Marshall was nearly falling asleep.
"Laxus..."
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Marshall rubbed one ear.
"You’re not willing to give up the guild’s benefits either, are you? And without money, where do you think those benefits come from? If Fairy Tail goes back to the way it used to be, all that income disappears too."
"Then let it disappear! We’re Mages. We can earn money with our own abilities!"
Marshall sighed. "If you think the guild has problems now, then work on fixing those problems. Trying to turn everything back into what it used to be is just overcorrecting."
A golden staff appeared from his ear in a flash of light.
Marshall spun it once through his fingers.
"Anyway, we’ve been talking forever. The audience is probably getting impatient. Let’s finish this fight first, then we can argue about how the guild should change afterward."
Laxus tore off his coat and threw it aside.
Lightning immediately crackled over his body.
"Hmph. Fine by me."
Marshall grinned.
"You’re lightning. I’m light. So which one of us is faster?"
"There’s only one way to find out."
The next instant, two streaks of "light" appeared on the arena.
Marshall’s staff slammed into Laxus’s fist, golden radiance and lightning exploding outward from the impact point.
The entire stage became a storm of flashing brilliance as the two figures separated, collided again, vanished, then crashed together somewhere else.
Again.
And again.
Before long, the spectators could no longer see either fighter at all.
All they saw was light.
Eventually even the individual flashes from their collisions became impossible to distinguish, because the entire arena had grown so bright that it was almost painful to look at.
The only signs that a battle was still happening were the defensive barrier constantly trembling around the stage, fresh craters appearing across the reinforced floor, and the muffled thunder and impact sounds that still carried faintly through the arena’s soundproofing.
The audience stared in disbelief.
"S-So fast! Is this what Fairy Tail’s top S-Class Mages are capable of? I can’t see anything!"
"Are these two actually human? Laxus is one thing—he’s already in his twenties. But isn’t Marshall nine years younger than him? How can someone that young already be this strong?"
"Who was calling Marshall’s match yesterday fixed? Come out here! With strength like this, why the hell would he need to fake anything?!"
The crowd buzzed excitedly.
At the judges’ table, Erza was watching Marshall’s golden streak move across the arena with a distant look in her eyes.
"Erza?"
No response.
"Erza?"
"Hm?" She finally looked over. "What is it, Master?"
Makarov had called her several times before getting her attention.
He cleared his throat.
"You experienced Marshall’s Domain yesterday, didn’t you? Do you think Laxus can deal with it?"
Erza considered the question seriously.
"Probably... not."
Makarov’s expression changed.
"I couldn’t think of any way to counter that spell. If Laxus is actually caught inside it, then he’ll probably have no choice but to wait for Marshall to do whatever he wants."
Makarov sucked in a breath.
"It’s that dangerous?"
"Yes. For people like us who don’t place much emphasis on magical theory, escaping Marshall’s Domain would be extremely difficult. Once you’re caught, you’re basically helpless."
"Seriously...?"
Makarov didn’t ask how the spell worked.
He generally avoided prying into other people’s Magic, since that was a personal matter.
But Erza’s judgment was usually reliable.
Which meant that if Laxus got caught by the Domain, he lost.
Makarov turned his gaze toward the lightning streak representing his grandson.
Laxus had probably realized the same thing.
That was why he kept attacking at maximum speed, refusing to give Marshall enough time to deploy the spell.
Truthfully, Makarov didn’t favor Laxus in this matchup either.
His grandson had excellent talent, but compared with some of the monsters who had joined Fairy Tail in later years, Laxus wasn’t truly at the very top.
And compared with Marshall?
There was simply no comparison.
When Laxus had been Marshall’s age, he hadn’t even entered his rebellious phase yet.
Makarov hesitated before asking another question.
"Then... does Marshall’s Domain actually hurt people?"
He was still worried about his grandson.
His relationship with Laxus had only recently begun improving, and the last thing he wanted was for Marshall to beat him so badly that he shut himself away afterward.
Erza answered calmly.
"That depends entirely on Marshall."
Makarov frowned.
"If he wants it to do little damage, it does little damage. If he wants it to do a great deal... then it can."
That was an extraordinarily high evaluation.
...
Marshall himself was having a much easier time than the audience imagined.
His Light Magic was faster than Laxus’s Lightning Magic.
Even after pushing his speed to its absolute limit, Laxus still couldn’t shake him.
From the outside, the two appeared evenly matched.
In reality, Laxus was already going all out, while Marshall still had room to spare.
And Laxus noticed it.
His speed had always been one of the abilities he took the greatest pride in.
Yet now, even that wasn’t enough to gain an advantage.
At this rate... he was going to lose.
Laxus clenched his teeth and suddenly disengaged, retreating a considerable distance to make absolutely certain he wouldn’t be caught inside Marshall’s white Domain sphere.
"Marshall, I’ll admit you’re strong."
Lightning gathered around him.
"But you might not be able to stop this next move. If you surrender now, you’ll save both of us some trouble."
Marshall rested the golden staff across one shoulder.
"Use whatever you’ve got. Otherwise, you might not get another chance."
"Hmph."
Laxus rose into the air.
"Then let me show you the true power of Fairy Tail!"
Magic Power surged around him as he raised his arms.
"Fairy..."
The entire arena seemed to hold its breath.
"LAW!!!"