61 Cait Shelter

Early the next morning, the legal guild mage alliance arrived at Cait Shelter as requested by their guild master.

The group stood in the center of a clearing in the middle of town, facing the guild. Every member of Cait Shelter was out in front of them with their guild leader, a small, slim elderly man with a full white beard and mustache that went up the sides of his face and wore tribal attire.

"Hmm...something's off about this guy...no this entire guild…" Meliodas commented as he looked at the guild leader.

"What do you mean?" Sherry asked, confused at Meliodas's statement. "I don't see anything wrong with them."

"Well it's not that something's wrong but...I'm just getting a strange vibe from them is all. I don't think it's a big deal." Meliodas said. He shrugged it off and raised his hand out in front of him. An unopened bottle of White Wyvern Ale formed in his hand. With his thumb, he flicked off the cap before taking a drink.

"Maybe all that drinking is finally dulling your senses." Lyon responded jokingly.

The group of mages continued conversing amongst themselves for a few more moments until the guild leader cleared his throat, indicating he was going to speak. The mages immediately quieted down.

"I am Roubaul, the Guild Master of Cait Shelter. On behalf of all of the regional guilds, I thank you all for destroying Nirvana and stopping the Oracion Seis." The old man said.

"You are quite welcome, Master Roubaul!" Ichiya replied. "However, it was not us who destroyed Nirvana, but a man of heroic parfum who had to leave us far too early. And because of him, we may now bask in our victory through the bonds of friendship!" Ichiya said as he struck a pose, with Ren, Hibiki, and Eve right behind him.

"That's Mister Ichiya!" The three Blue Pegasus members said simultaneously.

"Yeah! After mission party time!" Natsu cheered.

"Aye Sir!" Happy cheered as well.

Meliodas watched as the other mages of the group began dancing and skipping around and took another sip of his ale.

"Something on your mind?" Erza asked as she approached Meliodas. "I would expect you to be offering everyone booze during this time."

"Something's off about them…" Meliodas said as he pointed towards the Cait Shelter members who were standing in front of them. Despite the joyous occasion, none of them seemed happy.

"That is strange. They don't seem happy." Erza commented.

"Well no not that. Something else…" Meliodas squinted as he looked at them.

The rest of the mages continued happily prancing around but eventually stopped as they noticed none of the Cait Shelter members had joined in their celebration. They instantly fell silent and stopped in their tracks.

"Everyone...I must apologize to you…" Roubaul said. "I have been hiding the truth from you…"

Everyone looked at each other confused as Roubaul continued.

"Four hundred years ago...when Nirvana was first built...I was the one who built it."

"What?!" Natsu's eyes widened.

"Four hundred years ago?!" Happy questioned.

"Only four hundred?" Meliodas commented with a small laugh. Jura immediately looked at Meliodas with a shocked expression on his face as he remembered when Gemini had transformed into Meliodas and mentioned his age.

'No...no...he's joking right?' Jura thought as he looked at Meliodas.

"Four hundred years ago...war was spread throughout the world. In order to stop it, I built Nirvana, in order to reverse good and evil using magic. I was hoping it would become a symbol of peace but...it ended up doing the exact opposite. Light gives birth to darkness in the way darkness will give birth to light. I failed to understand this during my time and as a result, the darkness overcame the hearts of the Nirvit people and we ended up slaughtering ourselves. I am the last survivor, and to atone for my crime, I have watched over Nirvana for the past four hundred years." Roubaul said as everyone looked at him with shock.

"This form of mine currently is only a projection, as my original body has rotted away ages ago…" Roubaul continued.

"And I'm guessing the people in your guild are also projections." Meliodas added in. Everyone else looked at Meliodas surprised but Roubaul nodded.

"That is correct. You are quite perceptive." Roubaul said as the dozens of guild members behind him began fading away.

"Wait! What's happening to everybody?!" Wendy exclaimed as she and Carla looked around panickedly.

"I'm sorry to have tricked you Wendy...but all the guild members are simply mages I projected." Roubaul said.

"No way!" Natsu exclaimed.

"That must take an extraordinary amount of magical power…" Jura commented.

"Seven years ago...a young man with blue hair came to me, holding your unconscious body in his arms. He had such a determined face that I couldn't turn him down. He dropped you off here and left. I was originally here by myself but...I ended up putting up that charade…" Roubaul continued.

'Mystogan…' Meliodas thought as he glanced over at Wendy. 'So it really was him that met Wendy then.'

"You made a whole guild just for Wendy?!" Sherry questioned.

"N-no...I don't want to hear this!" Wendy cried as she covered her ears. "They can't vanish!"

"You have no need for false friends anymore Wendy. Your real friends...are standing there with you." Roubaul gave Wendy a warm smile as he pointed to the mages standing behind Wendy.

"Goodbye everyone. Thank you for lifting this burden off of me and please...watch over Wendy and Carla."

---

Somewhere far away, Doryu sat on his throne. He opened his eyes, revealing his piercing red irises as he looked down at another figure that was kneeling in front of him.

"Lord Doryu, we obtained the second orb. We are preparing to send the army to the third village to complete the charging of the third orb." Aifread said.

"Good. What about the council? Have they traced anything yet." Doryu asked.

The kneeling figure hesitated for a few moments before answering.

"Yes sir, although we tried to be as discreet as possible, there were still tracks left behind. Especially due to the defeat of Ogre. The council has placed some focus on our activities now that they're running properly again."

Doryu glared down at the kneeling man in front of him and lifted his hand. The kneeling man looked up at Doryu and began to tremble in fear, only to stop and sigh in relief as he saw Doryu begin stroking his goatee.

"How long before we complete the third orb." Doryu asked.

"At least a week minimum sir. I believe that we should pull back for a few days to allow the council to set their target elsewhere."

"Has there been any movement on the Dark Guilds?"

"We have little information on Tartaros. They have made no movements in the last few years. "

"The guild of demons…." Doryu mused as he stopped stroking his goatee. "What about the others?"

"Grimoire Heart has also stayed behind the scenes. However, we believe that they may have been related to the recent attack on the council which is what caused their temporary disbandment in the first place." Aifread answered.

"I suppose we should thank them." Doryu grinned. "They gave us the opportunity to secure the orb without much interference."

"Lastly, Oracion Seis has made their move towards securing Nirvana, but were stopped by an organized group of legal guilds."

"So even Zero lost to those filthy legal guilds? I expected more from him. He was certainly a fool, but there are very few that can match his power. Personally, I preferred his Brain personality. But no matter." Doryu commented. "Which legal guilds?"

"I believe it was Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Cait Shelter." Aifread replied.

"Fairy Tail? Then I suppose Meliodas was involved was he?" Doryu asked. Aifread didn't say another word but nodded. There was a brief silence in the room before Aifread continued talking.

"Lord Doryu...I fear that young mage may become a threat to you in the future. At your request I will-"

"SILENCE!" Doryu yelled angrily, releasing his malevolent magic. The walls around them began to shake as a foul miasma filled the room.. Aifread looked down at the ground, unable to contain his fear as he began shaking.

"I am Doryu! I will not be bested by some child who wields darkness! Do NOT underestimate me again!" Doryu shouted, his dark aura spreading across the room.

"Yes my lord…" Aifread said quietly. Another moment passed and Doryu began to calm down, with the miasmic magic around the room slowly dissipating.

"We will wait for the next orb. Call in Franken Billy. Tell him to start moving towards the third orb. I will personally get the fourth orb." Doryu ordered. "Even If the council gains knowledge of our objective, we will have already finished the fourth orb."

"Yes my lord!"

Aifread got up and left the room leaving Doryu by himself. Doryu lifted his right arm up and a black coffin emerged from the ground in front of him, cloaked in darkness. The coffin was completely black, except for the four indentations in the front, two of which were filled with purple orbs.

"Soon, I will have awakened you."