Rise of new dark guild

Chapter Six: Threads in the Smoke

Two weeks passed in relative calm.

Victor had spent that time carefully teaching Akatsuki the basics of Earthland—its geography, currency, culture, and political tensions. Despite her natural stealth and quick reflexes, she'd needed time to acclimate to this world. Sending her out blind would've been reckless.

Now, with a silent nod between them in the early hours of a misty morning, Victor gave his order.

"Investigate who's behind the recent attacks. If the threat becomes imminent—prevent it. But if you're discovered... play the role of an assassin-class servant. Keep me informed."

Akatsuki, kneeling, bowed her head.

"Understood, Master."

She slipped into the shadows without sound, her cloak fluttering like smoke.

Victor exhaled slowly and made his way toward the Fairy Tail guildhall. A mandatory meeting had been called by Guild Master Precht. Everyone was required to attend—junior members, seasoned adventurers, even the habitual drunkards. Rumors of unrest outside Magnolia had made the rounds, and the guild's growing profile made it a tempting target.

He entered the hall with his usual quiet air. The chatter was low but tense. Something in the air felt less like community and more like anticipation.

He took his place as the meeting began.

Arguments flared quickly.

"It has to be a dark guild!" someone shouted.

"We don't even know that," countered another. "Could be mercenaries, or even council spies!"

"Three junior members were almost burned alive last week. You call that scouting?"

Victor didn't speak. He listened.

In the midst of the chaos, the three senior mages stood at odds.

Junia Larksong raised her voice first—her words laced with rhythm, like she couldn't turn off the musical cadence even in debate. "We need to show strength. A performance. If they think we're fractured, they'll strike harder. Let's send a team to patrol the perimeter nightly. Loudly."

Thorne Gavel folded his arms, unimpressed. "No. We barricade the city's magical entry points and prepare for a siege. Subtle defenses. We don't show our hand until we know who's playing."

Corvin Hale finally spoke, each word flat and emotionless. "Neither plan ensures intelligence. We need information. Send shadows into the fog, not soldiers into the street."

Victor's eyes narrowed slightly. Corvin was unknowingly echoing his own methods. Akatsuki was already in motion. Already steps ahead.

And then—Precht raised his hand.

Silence fell.

The guild master's face was unreadable. He looked over the entire room before speaking, voice calm and resolute.

"We stay sharp. No one walks alone at night. Teams of three. Watch each other. Protect the town. No grand gestures until we know who threatens us."

A few grumbled. Others nodded. But the order was final.

Victor watched him closely.

Precht had said the right things. Sensible things. But there was something just beneath the surface—tension in his shoulders, a flicker in his eyes. Not fear. Something more... conflicted.

Victor wondered.

Was the guild master hiding something?

It couldn't be his interest in dark magic. Not yet. That wouldn't bloom until at least X721. Officially, he wouldn't step down until X736. Still, the seed might already be there—buried under years of leadership, duty, and weight.

Victor filed the suspicion away. A faint thread in the back of his mind.

Elsewhere — A City Bathed in Fog

Akatsuki had never truly needed magic to be unseen.

Her steps were lighter than breath, her movements precise and flowing. On any normal day, her natural grace and training were more than enough to walk through a crowd unseen, perch above streetlamps without detection, or pass through guarded alleys.

But Blackridge was different.

As she shadowed a suspicious convoy through a series of twisting alleys, she felt something off—a faint rise in ambient heat. A shimmer in the air, like sun over stone.

That's when she saw him.

A tall man with scorched red hair tied in a rough knot. His coat was half burned along the edges, his arms sleeved in leather marked with molten patches. He leaned against a crumbling wall, a volcanic lance resting across his back like a casual accessory.

Solas the Pyrestorm.

His eyes scanned the alley briefly before narrowing. He stood upright, brows knitting.

"...Hnh. Thought I saw something."

Akatsuki froze, pressed flat against the upper beam of a crumbling warehouse. She hadn't used magic yet—not even a flicker of Shadow Step. But even her natural stealth wasn't enough to go completely unnoticed by someone like this.

Still, it was enough.

Solas stared into the alley for a long moment before shrugging.

"Paranoia. Or maybe Nereza's finally rubbing off on me."

He turned away.

Akatsuki waited until his presence disappeared entirely.

Then, and only then, did she slip into the veil of her magic. Her body melted into the dark, flowing into the shadows as if she'd never been there at all.

She landed soundlessly in the rafters of a storage hall three blocks away, finally allowing herself to breathe again.

"He's strong. Reflexes sharp, aura thick with battle instinct... But if I struck first, with no warning, I could still kill him."

She didn't say it with arrogance. Only certainty. Her magic wasn't built for brute force—it was built for silent execution. Surprise was her element.

Still, she realized that from this point forward, she would have to be more careful.

And now she knew.

The guild behind the attacks.

Obsidian Fang.

A legal guild in name only. She'd seen sigils hidden on their equipment. Heard conversations, fragmented but damning. They planned to stir public sentiment against Fairy Tail—use fear, then step in as self-proclaimed regulators. And once the city was divided, they'd strike directly at the guildhall.

She activated her relay sigil, a thin line of magic tied to Victor's system.

Akatsuki: "Target identified. Guild name: Obsidian Fang. Plan: Political destabilization followed by open assault. Awaiting orders."

And with that, she vanished once more.

The hunt had begun.

End of Chapter Six