Chapter 141: A Midnight Attack

The next day, George woke up in his luxurious standalone villa, basking in the bright morning sunlight.

Recently, with his exceptional magic wand, George had crafted an enormous spatial equipment artifact and sold it to a magical goods store in the city, earning a hefty profit. Using the money, he purchased a grand villa in Magnolia City.

After freshening up, he used culinary magic to prepare himself breakfast. Once finished, he stepped into the expansive yard of his villa to practice magic.

His daily routine in Fairy Tail involved practicing various magic spells in the morning at his villa, heading to the guild at noon for lunch and casual conversations to gather intel, and spending the afternoon and evening studying magic in the library.

"Fiendfyre!"

Carefully, George unleashed a wisp of blue fire onto a designated area of the yard. He meticulously controlled its movement and attacks, gradually increasing its power. As the flames neared the edge of his control, he promptly extinguished them.

Fiendfyre was an immensely potent flame magic spell imbued with a powerful curse. Ordinary water could not extinguish it; it would only stop burning once all combustible material in its vicinity had been consumed.

Powerful wizards like Grindelwald were rumored to have used Fiendfyre to burn entire cities like Paris to ashes. With his exceptional wand, George could theoretically achieve a similar effect. However, unlike Grindelwald, George struggled to maintain such precise control.

At its current lower intensity, George could direct the Fiendfyre to dissipate at will. But if he unleashed its full power, he could only wait for it to burn out on its own.

George practiced until nearly noon before nonchalantly stepping out of his villa. Spreading his wings, he soared toward the guild.

As he flew past the cathedral and neared the guild by the eastern forest, he noticed Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Happy rushing toward the guild as well.

"Hey, Erza! Back from a mission?"

Since their return from the cursed island S-class mission, the group had formed a small team for missions. This time, they had been gone for over a week.

"George, did you hear? The guild was attacked!" Erza called out as she spotted George in the air.

Surprised, George frowned. "The guild was attacked? That can't be. Everything was fine when I came back last night."

With a burst of speed, George headed straight for the guild. Soon, he found the building riddled with giant iron rods and in complete disarray.

"It really was attacked. Who has the guts to do this?"

Fairy Tail was one of the kingdom's strongest wizard guilds, with Saint Wizard Makarov at the helm. This was tantamount to courting death.

George and Erza's group entered the ruined guild together. The main hall was in shambles, and the destruction extended into the basement, where they found Makarov and other guild wizards temporarily gathered near the library storage.

"George, you're finally here! We were waiting for you to repair the guild!"

Makarov greeted him with a wave, a drink in hand.

"Erza, you're back too. Once George fixes the guild, we'll move back upstairs."

"Old man, how can you be so relaxed? What happened here?" Natsu shouted, flames of anger practically bursting from his mouth.

Makarov dismissed Natsu's concerns with a wave. "Calm down. It was those guys from Phantom Lord.

"They're just bored. They only dared to do this while the guild was empty, like little children causing mischief. Ignore them."

"Phantom Lord?" George's expression shifted slightly in surprise.

He had spent enough time in this world and learned much about the kingdom's guilds and renowned wizards through conversations with his guildmates.

Phantom Lord was another wizard guild rivaling Fairy Tail in strength. The guilds had a longstanding feud rooted in their founders' disputes before the guilds were even formed.

Jose Porla, Phantom Lord's current leader and a Saint Wizard, had clashed with Makarov six years ago over who led the strongest guild. After losing that argument—and fight—Joseph had avoided meetings ever since.

Phantom Lord boasted ten times Fairy Tail's wizard count, with many branches across the kingdom. Their guild headquarters alone housed several times the number of wizards in Fairy Tail, including four S-class wizards known as the Elemental Four and a Dragon Slayer specializing in iron magic.

"I won't stand for this!" Natsu roared, smashing a nearby crate in frustration. "I'll destroy their guild to pieces!"

"Natsu, calm down." Despite her anger, Erza remained composed and held Natsu back.

"This ends here. George, please repair the guild," Makarov interjected as he hopped off the table. "I drank too much. I need to take a leak."

After Makarov left, Mirajane approached Natsu. "Don't blame the Master, Natsu. He's angrier than you are.

"But the Council strictly forbids inter-guild conflicts. Severe violations could lead to forced guild disbandment."

"It's not fair! They attacked us first!" Natsu's frustration was evident, and the other guild members shared his sentiments, their silence speaking volumes.

Without commenting further, George flew to the ground floor and cast a repair spell, restoring the guild to its former state.

George felt it was better to follow Makarov's lead. If it came to an inter-guild war, George would fight alongside Fairy Tail. It would also be a chance to test his newly acquired magic.

However, he saw no need to disrupt his regular learning schedule over such minor provocations.

Once the guild was repaired, everyone returned to the hall. After lunch, George resumed studying magic with Levy in the library. Though, it was clear Levy was distracted by her worries.

That evening, the guild dispersed, but George, Levy, and Happy lingered, engrossed in their books.

Unlike the previous night, trouble awaited them as they left the guild.

Not long after passing through South Gate Park, they were intercepted by a wizard.

"Hey, you're Fairy Tail wizards, right?"

"Yes, we are. What do you want?" Levy asked nervously, her unease evident as she faced the long-haired wizard with a menacing aura.

George narrowed his eyes. The wizard before them exuded powerful magic and unmistakable hostility.