Fairy Tail: Strongest Creature

Chapter 147: Gildarts

A few days passed.

Su Yan came into the guild early one morning and spotted Wendy reading a book. He asked with a gentle smile, "Wendy, how are you settling in? Getting used to this guild?"

Although Su Yan was always at Fairy Tail, he rarely stayed inside for long. When he wasn't fishing with Happy, he might be out shopping or eating with Mirajane, or hanging around with friends for a card game or a soak at the bathhouse—anything but formal jobs.

Wendy closed her book, looking up brightly. "Yes! Everyone in the guild has been very kind."

Carla, ever the tsundere, added, "The women's dorm here is acceptable, at least."

From a nearby table, Lucy overheard and called out, "Su Yan, do you… ever take any jobs at all?"

"Work? Why?" he answered plainly.

Lucy blinked, remembering that Su Yan never seemed short on money. She sighed. "Right… I suppose you really don't need to."

Just then, a guildmate burst into the hall, shouting, "Bad news—!!" Immediately, the guild bells rang.

"What?!"

"That bell…?!"

"No way!!"

"That's right—!"

All at once, Fairy Tail erupted with excitement. Su Yan and the others smiled, seeming to know exactly what the clamor meant.

"It's Gildarts—he's back!!" someone yelled.

"Finally!!!"

Wendy, who had only recently joined, looked puzzled. "Gildarts?"

Lucy leaned over and whispered, "I haven't met him either. People say he's the strongest mage in Fairy Tail."

Wendy blinked. "The strongest? But I thought Big Brother Su Yan was the strongest wizard here?"

Lucy shrugged. "Su Yan loves playing low-key, apparently. If it weren't for that time he got angry and, well… turned into a dragon, folks might never have known. But Gildarts was renowned as Fairy Tail's top mage long before that."

"I am human!" Su Yan corrected firmly, referencing Lucy's remark about him being a dragon.

"Whatever you say." Lucy half-laughed, still amazed by it all.

Just outside, the entire town was adjusting to "Gildarts Mode." Streets shifted, walkways peeled aside to make a safe path for Gildarts—so that his destructive Crash Magic wouldn't demolish any buildings by accident.

Mira explained to a confused Wendy: "You see, Gildarts' magic shatters anything he touches. If he bumbled through Magnolia normally, houses might get destroyed. So the city gets remodeled for him every time he comes back."

"Wow… That's incredible," Carla remarked, stunned by the lengths the city took for one person.

Moments later, a figure emerged at Fairy Tail's door: A tall man with rumpled ginger hair, short beard, and a worn black cloak—Gildarts himself, back from his hundred-year mission.

Without warning, Natsu launched toward him: "Gildarts! Fight me now!!"

Elfman groaned. "Challenging him straight away…?"

"Huh?" Gildarts blinked, focusing on Natsu's face. "Is that you, Natsu? Been a while."

"I said, have a showdown with me!!" Natsu roared, throwing a punch. Gildarts calmly sidestepped and then, with one gentle push of his palm, slammed Natsu into the ceiling.

"Gah—!" Natsu exclaimed, embedded in the wood overhead. A moment later, he peeled off and landed with a grin. "Haha! Still super strong, just like always! Awesome!"

Gray and Elfman shared a look of admiration. "Gildarts… A true man's man!"

Others crowded forward, welcoming Gildarts home after three whole years. He scratched his head, glancing around at the remodeled guild building and the newer faces like Lucy, Wendy, and Carla. The returning hero had no idea how Fairy Tail had changed in his absence, but everyone was excited to fill him in on all that had happened since he left—and to hear the story of the fearsome hundred-year job that had kept him away so long.