A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Kurnuki's tone remained calm, as if he were talking about something trivial. His gaze towards the figure before him was as still as water, and coupled with his long, light golden hair inherited from the dragon before him, he possessed an elegance and arrogance befitting a European nobleman. "Also, that level of spell can't trap me at all! You know, I can also use spatial magic!"

The beautiful woman on the left lightly waved her round fan, her almond-shaped eyes subtly tinged with mockery: "So indifferent... As expected, if left unattended for too long, even a biological child won't develop much affection?"

The person on her right glanced at her slightly, his posture elegant and noble: "You don't need to use veiled insults. Saying such things to me won't sway me!"

These two stunningly beautiful women, who spoke as if they were flirting, were none other than Selene and Irene, who were originally scheduled to go to Giltina.

"Is this person... the one you said you were going to hold off the Twelve Shields? I sensed a very unusual magical power emanating from her."

Kurnuki suddenly remembered that his mother had said she was going to hold off a woman who had turned into a dragon. Could it be her?

The immense magical power right before their eyes, like towering mountains and vast oceans, was on a level unlike any other human they had ever seen. Seeing this, it was indeed enough to make Kira and his group wary!

The thought that just a few minutes ago, he was fighting to the death with another member of the Twelve Shields, and that the other person was now on the road to the underworld, while he was still standing here full of life, made him feel strange.

What's going on? They're all members of that Twelve Shields group, so why aren't they doing anything to help their colleague who's facing a life-or-death crisis?

It seems that not every human organization is as united as Fairy Tail!

Once upon a time, when Chnuki was in Giltina, he had no interest or opportunity to observe humans closely. After coming out of the mountains, he encountered Fairy Tail. Therefore, after spending some time together, he had the idea that "humans seem to be quite united, which is something dragons can't match."

But this idea began to fade after he arrived in the Western Continent, and now Eileen's indifference has directly confirmed his view: wars can happen between humans too, and they are not much more united than the dragons!

"That's right, that's right, it's Eileen!"

Kurnuki nodded to Erin in greeting, then asked, "Um... so? What are you doing here? Where are Kira and the other woman?"

Selene waved his hand dismissively: "They continue with their mission. We'll lag behind for a bit and go take care of something."

"where?"

"Northern Continent, Giltina!"

"Oh, then you guys go ahead!"

However, Selene smiled gently, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling: "You know, I haven't been in Asland before, so I'm not familiar with Giltina. That's why we need you to lead the way."

Kurnuki remained silent for a long time, this time truly speechless: "Mom, Mom, don't you want to listen to what you're saying? You want me to lead the way? Are you sure you're not joking?!"

“You know me, I’m not some dragon who loves to go out. I’ve always stayed in the mountains, and this is the first time I’ve traveled far from home in decades. I’m not familiar with the terrain of Kirtina, so how could I possibly lead the way for you?”

This statement is reasonable and well-founded, and it is convincing.

Unfortunately, he wasn't facing a human, but a dragon! Not only a dragon, but also his mother! So what Kurnuki said was basically pointless.

"It's okay, it's better than me!"

Kurnuki was also helpless, but there was nothing he could do. After all, although he didn't have much affection for his mother, he still had to listen to her. In any case, he had already taken down one of the Twelve Shields, which could be considered as fulfilling Kira's request.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

……

A small town in the Alvarez Empire.

Dark clouds gathered, covering the entire sky with a heavy, oppressive glow, casting a pall of gloom over the city and shrouding the residents in a shadow of insecurity.

Suddenly, the wind and clouds in the world changed, and at the same time as a rumbling sound rang out, a golden bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, like a divine punishment descending upon the world and piercing the heavens, landing on a high peak outside the town.

Lightning raged, and the wind howled, illuminating the sky in an instant.

Residents walking on the street or peeking out of their windows after hearing the noise all stared wide-eyed at the scene of lightning and fire falling from the sky.

After a long while, the thunder suddenly stopped.

A voice rang out from the crowd: "The weather's acting strangely today!"

Another voice chimed in, "Yeah, yeah... It seems like there's been a lot of thunder lately! Is something going to happen?"

"It's just a clap of thunder, what could possibly happen? You young people always overthink things!"

"The country is peaceful now, with the Imperial Army here, and we haven't seen thieves or bandits for a long time! Even if there is a natural disaster that only happens once every hundred years, with the 'Twelve Shields' here, everyone doesn't need to panic!"

"Well... what the old man said makes sense..."

Passersby chatted and laughed, then dispersed, and the street returned to its original order.

Meanwhile, on the peak where the golden lightning had struck, a battle ended as the thunder ceased.

On the ground, a man dressed in a very feminine manner trembled, his voice filled with disbelief, "How...is this possible?! My magic didn't work?!"

"Tch! You know you're summoning dead men who fought against me, can't you guess how they died? How stupid!!"

At this moment, Laxus's clothes were tattered, he looked tired, and his breathing was rapid, as if he had just been through a big battle. Fortunately, his condition was not too bad.

The person lying at Laxus's feet had long, messy, blue-purple hair, and his green armor was covered in charred black marks from lightning. On his arrogant face was a bright red fist mark.

If you had to describe him in one word, it would be "disheveled".

He is Neinhart, one of the Twelve Shields who uses the magic "History of Corpses".

The history of the corpses allows one to glimpse the mind of the opponent, manifesting powerful enemies the opponent once fought. The manifested individuals possess all the original's memories and abilities, and their memories can also be connected to each other.

However, this magic has many limitations: it can only materialize the dead; the materialized people cannot surpass the caster, and they will disappear once they feel fear; the caster will also disappear if defeated...

This magic looks powerful, but in reality, it can only be used to defeat weaker opponents. It has no effect on people with strong will and great strength.

Moreover, Fairy Tail is a world where the version updates very quickly. The living are improving every moment, while the dead always maintain their original strength. So if the person being manifested was originally defeated by the enemy, then no matter how many times he is resurrected, it is basically a pipe dream to defeat the opponent.

Neinhart was defeated by Laxus, and was completely powerless to fight back.

None of the objects he conjured with magic could harm Laxus. Because in this world, there are very few people who could psychologically invisibility in Laxus and who are already dead.

Without the advantage of remembering corpses, Neinhart's melee abilities might not even be as good as Elfman's.

Not far from here, the Thunder Gods, who had just defeated the 'Four-Striped Knights' under Neinhart, were standing in a row watching Laxus's magnificent figure in battle, their three pairs of eyes filled with fascination and admiration.

"Truly worthy of being called Laxus!!"

Feeling the pain coursing through his body and the numbing sensation from the lightning, Neinhart looked at Laxus and the Thunder Clan members not far away with a sense of utter despair, his mind filled with doubt: "How can this guy be so strong?! Where did they come from?? I don't remember offending anyone recently!!"

They inexplicably showed up at my door, started a challenge without asking, and then beat me up without any mercy. It's just too much!

In all his years of life, Neinhart had never seen anyone as arrogant as the man before him!

Slapping me is slapping the Empire's face! You lawless bunch, prepare to be wanted by the Empire and relentlessly pursued by the Twelve Shields!!

His bloated face was filled with grievance.

Chapter 561 Serena's Fate Line Changed

"Do you know that your name sounds a lot like someone I know... no, it should be a dragon!"

In a small town, in a lavishly decorated and expensive restaurant, on the second floor, by the window, two men are sitting facing each other chatting at a small square table for four.

In front of them, the table was a mess of cups and plates, with more than a dozen bowls and plates piled up into two small mountains, but two waiters were still pushing food carts and bringing food over.

This is a high-end restaurant with branches throughout the Alvarez Empire. The quality of the waiters... ah, I mean their service attitude is exceptionally high; they always have a smile on their face.

Even if the two men sitting here eat like starving ghosts, and aren't wearing any high-end designer clothes, they won't even frown. They'll simply place the plates in front of them with standard, elegant movements, and then say in a clear and gentle voice, "Please enjoy your meal."

Sitting in the seats were a handsome young man and an eccentric middle-aged man.

The boy had short, choppy red hair, an extraordinary appearance, and a free and unrestrained temperament. His sky-blue eyes were gentle as water, and his gaze was as clear and clean as the sweet spring water from the Tianshan Mountains. His skin was even whiter than the fair-skinned and beautiful waitresses in the store, and he had the potential to be a gigolo.

However, judging from the two ornate yet sharp swords beside him, this young man is definitely not some gigolo who needs to be kept by a rich woman, but rather a mage, ranger, or swordsman.

Compared to the young man, the middle-aged man opposite him was far less attractive, and his demeanor was also far inferior.

He was clearly a grown man, not young at all, yet he wore two high ponytails. If it weren't for the scar on his nose that added to his masculine charm, he might have been mistaken for a pervert or a lunatic by passersby.

However, although he is spared the labels of "pervert" or "crazy," he still can't escape being called a "chuunibyou" (a person with delusions of grandeur).

From the moment he entered the restaurant, this middle-aged man acted like a teenage boy in the throes of puberty, speaking and acting in all sorts of strange and nonsensical ways. He would occasionally utter peculiar verbal tics like "god~" or make gestures like "hey-ho-ho," showing more energy than teenagers of that age.

When the boy in front of him brought up a topic about his name, the middle-aged man finally stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and then said, "God~ It seems that dragon has good taste!"

This middle-aged man is none other than Serena, the former "First of the Ten" of Ishgar and now one of the "Twelve Shields of the Holy Light" of the Alvarez Empire!

This young swordsman is Kira's Edolas counterpart, Dispel.

Dispel looked curiously into Serena's eyes and continued, "Your names are so similar, am I saying you two really not related? Like, did she give you your name, or did your parents receive help from her or something..."

"No, no..."

Serena habitually performed a few large, aerobic-like movements while responding to Dispel's question: "It can only be said that God—it's fate!"

Unlike the others, it took Dispel half a month to find this guy who was wandering around somewhere after they parted ways.

According to Kira, this man, supposedly favored by the Dragon God, dedicated his life to becoming stronger and defeating Acnologia. It was precisely to become stronger that he left Ishgar and joined the Alvarez Empire. In this respect, Serena can truly be considered an ambitious and idealistic middle-aged man.

Of course, considering that he may have been very young when he set this goal, it wouldn't be wrong to call him an ambitious young man.

But after observing for a while, Dispel discovered that Serena, this oddball, was neither warlike nor cruel, nor particularly loyal to Jelf. On the contrary, his personality seemed somewhat depressed, like a decadent old man worn down by life, or a fat otaku who had lost his purpose in life, which greatly surprised him.

What Dispel didn't know was that the Serena in front of him was no longer the same Serena.

The original Serena could easily defeat the Elite Four, who were ranked below him, by himself. He was undoubtedly a strongman and even ranked among the top six in the Twelve Shields. Although he may have encountered Acnologia a few years later and was killed by it with a single move, this does not affect his strength.

But now, his fate has taken a turn!

Although he also came to the Western Continent to become stronger, the rumors that Acnologia had been defeated by Fairy Tail had already reached his ears that year.

Serena didn't believe the rumor at first.

Who is Acnologia? The Dragon of the Apocalypse! His power is terrifying!

There should only be one person in the entire Asland who can defeat it, and there must be only one person—that is myself, who is blessed by the Dragon God!

It is the enemy I am destined to defeat, and I am the end of its four-hundred-year legend!

The boy, blessed by the Dragon God, defeated the evil dragon that attempted to destroy the world. What a beautiful and romantic legend!

Such a legend should be passed down for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, and may even be adapted into plays, novels, musical compositions, or paintings by countless art masters, becoming a legend known to everyone in Aslant!

But all of this was ruined by Fairy Tail! Ruined by that brat named Kira Hopelight!!

Serena would absolutely never accept something like this!!!

But after that, news kept coming from Ishgar: the Council and the Kingdom of Fiore made a big fuss about it, spreading the news and making Fairy Tail famous. It even reached the Alvarez Empire, finally forcing Serena to accept the situation.

That day, the tears that flowed down Serena's face as he stood on the rooftop with a newspaper in his hand were a reminder of his irretrievable youth.

Having implanted eight Dragon Slayer Crystals and learned eight Dragon Slayer Magics, he turned around and discovered that there were no dragons in the world he could fight. How could the word "sorrow" possibly describe such regret and loss?!