Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

August 4, x791.

When Yoruichi arrived at the bridge connecting the Mansion on the Lake to the shore of Lake Sciliora, she could only stand there with her eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.

"What the hell?" Yoruichi asked in a dumbfounded tone.

The reason for Yoruichi's surprise was easy to see, however. Because the first thing she saw upon arrival was the sight of the entire artificial island surrounded by a dome-shaped barrier. Next was the magnificent mansion sitting on the artificial island.

"Seeing that mansion lets me know just how long it's been since the last time I was here." Yoruichi muttered to herself.

Yet, that was not the most surprising thing Yoruichi was seeing at the moment. Instead, it was the hundreds of bodies, bodies she could tell were corpses, flying through the air, in all directions, away from the barrier. And with her eyesight, strengthened by her magic power, she could see some of the faces of those corpses.

"Those are all dark wizards." Yoruichi said while mentally comparing the faces of the corpses to the bounty posters that were periodically delivered to the Mermaid Heel guild hall. "Damn... And it looks like they were all killed by Tartaros and reanimated by one of them. This is insane."

And just as Yoruichi said, all the corpses flying away from the barrier after attacking it were members of Dark Guilds under the control of Tartaros. Before this operation, Tartaros called them all to a specific location before they were killed and reanimated by Keyes, one of the Nine Demon Gates, the strongest demons in Tartaros.

The reason for all of that? Simply to wear down their true target, Elicia, who was present for both Crawford Seam's execution and Junko's downfall along with Alfonzo. Unfortunately, Tartaros had no information on the defensive measures set up around the Mansion on the Lake. Meaning, the deaths of so many dark wizards only had one result.

Despite their intentions, Tartaros was the reason for a drastic drop in the number of dark wizards and Dark Guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, making it safer for all the humans they despise so much.

*Ring!*

While continuing to watch Tartaros' attack on the mansion, Yoruichi was distracted by the sound of her lPhone ringing. Pulling it out of a small pouch attached to her waist, Yoruichi was only slightly surprised when she saw the name on the caller ID.

"Lici? I guess you felt my presence, huh?" Yoruichi said with the lPhone raised to her ear.

{"Yup!"} Elicia said energetically. {"But that's only part of the reason why I called. As you can probably see, we're under attack from Tartaros. Erza, Mira, and I are about to do something big to thin the numbers. So, it won't be safe to be standing where you are right now."}

"Then, should I head back to the guild hall?" Yoruichi asked, curious to know exactly what the three women were about to do."

{"That would work, too."} Elicia replied with a giggle. {"But I bet you'd rather be present for the surprise, right? So, how about this? We'll open a small hole in the barrier in... let's say... fifteen seconds. It will only be open for a tenth of a second. You can get through it during that window, right?"}

"Of course I can." Yoruichi said proudly. "I'm still the third fastest wizard on Ishgar... I'm still not sure how the hell you and Alfonzo got faster than me, though."

{"Lots of tough training."} Elicia replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. {"Anyway, you should just circle the barrier at high speed. Marin will be standing at the spot where the breech will appear."}

Hearing that Marin would be the one meeting her, Yoruichi subconsciously reached up and started rubbing the left side of her face, the same place where Marin hit her about six years ago.

"She's not gonna try to hit me again, is she?" Yoruichi asked.

{"She might."} Elicia replied. {"But if you wanna see what's gonna happen next, you'll just have to deal with it."}

"Fair enough." Yoruichi replied. "Well then, I'll start moving. Talk to you after your attack."}

{"See ya later~."} Elicia replied in a sing-song tone before ending the call.

With that, Yoruichi put her lPhone away before taking a deep breath. Then, when she exhaled, her orange, long-sleeved shirt exploded as her back and arms were covered with arcs of white [Lightning Magic].

"[Shunko]." Yoruichi chanted before she vanished from where she stood in a burst of speed.

"What is that?" Keyes, an Etherious with a bone white face, what appear to be empty eye sockets, and no nose wearing a checker-patterned form-fitting, high-collared robe over a white collared shirt and a black tie with a golden, ornate headpiece that covered his jawline, ears, forehead, and the top of his head and fanned out over his head like some kind of crown, asked in surprise as he saw a white streak beginning to circle the barrier that was thwarting his and the other Demon Gates' attacks.

"Must be another defensive measure." Seilah, a female Etherious with the appearance of a beautiful woman with pale skin, large breasts, long purple hair and eyes, and a pair of golden horns protruding from the sides of her head and pointing upwards wearing a short, revealing, blue leopard-print kimono with a white strap tied around her neck, and black stockings with white lace, replied casually. "Just more futile resistance."

"I'll just go destroy it." Torafuzar, a massive Etherious with an exaggerated muscular physique, the face of a shark and the body of a lizardman with pink skin, fins on his arms, legs, and head, dark pink skin, and red helmet-like scales on his head, said in an aggressive tone. "NO matter what it is, I'll cut through it."

"Go if you want." Seilah said uncaringly.

With that, Torafuzar rushed towards the streak of white light circling the barrier, stopping directly in its path. He then raised his arms, ready to destroy whatever the streak was and bring despair to those inside the barrier.

Torafuzar, with the streak of white light, Yoruichi, barreling towards him, surged his demonic power. However, just before he could invoke his Curse, [Tenchi Kaimei], which would flood the area with a large amount of black water, a small, human-sized hole opened in the barrier nearby. When it did, Keyes, Seilah, and Torafuzar could see a woman with long blonde-hair with pink tips standing on the other side with her right hand cocked back like she was ready to throw a punch.

At the same time, the white streak, instead of continuing towards Torafuzar, made a sharp turn and entered the barrier before it snapped shut behind her only a tenth of a second after it opened.

However, the last thing they saw before the barrier was restored to its complete opaque state, the woman, Marin, threw a punch at the streak of white light, which bent around her before contact.

"So, it wasn't a defensive measure." Seilah said calmly.

"That's how it looks." Keyes replied just as calmly. "It seems it was just another human."

"Damn you!" Torafuzar shouted. "Even if you saved one puny human, will you be able to save all the worthless humans in that town? Let's see how you react when the entire area is flooded with the Black Water of the Underworld, [Tenchi Kaimei]."

A moment after his outburst, Torafuzar began spewing out a large amount of water that was quickly inundating the area. However, before too much of the area could be swallowed by the dark, murky water...

*Bang!* *Bang!*

... both Keyes' and Torafuzar's heads exploded. Shortly after that, the sound of two, high-caliber gunshots echoed around the area. As a result, all of the moving corpses under Keyes' control stopped moving before they disintegrated into dust, leaving Seilah as the only one standing outside of the barrier.

Surprised by how quickly two of her comrades were taken out, Seilah looked in the direction where the two gunshots came from. In that direction, the only thing she could see was the tower that she and the other Demon Gates identified as the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Directing some of her demonic power into her eyes, Seilah was able to see that there were two figures atop the tower. The first was a red-haired woman sitting on the edge with a glass of wine in hand. That woman, Irene, even waved at her after noticing her gaze. The second figure was that of a tan-skinned woman with purple hair tied into a ponytail, Rika, packing up a long-barreled sniper rifle while chatting with the first woman.

Meanwhile, up on the roof of the Fairy Tail guild hall, Irene and Rika were chatting casually.

"Damn... I took a quest with Alzack and Kohta to eliminate Crawling Chaos." Rika said as she stretched after putting away her rifle. "But when we got to the quest location, it was like everyone up and left. And because we were unable to find them, we came back... Completely unpaid. But as soon as I get back, you call me up here and what do I see? Corpses of all the members of Crawling Chaos attacking my house. Even worse, they're being led by three members of Tartaros. And I'm guessing Tartaros were the ones who wiped them out before we got there."

"More than likely." Irene replied before taking another sip from her wine glass.

"Damn it." Rika hissed in annoyance. "Why couldn't they wait for like five--- No, three days. We would have been able to get paid for the job and they still would have had their undead army."

Irene chuckled in response.

"Do you really think those demons care if you got paid for your effort or not?" Irene asked in a tone filled with mirth.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Rika replied as she turned around and stepped onto the edge of the building while pulling out a small pistol-shaped item from one of the holsters on her hips. "Still, the extra money would have been nice. Especially for Alzack, Bisca's baby is due in a couple of months. And they'll need all sorts of stuff to take care of it."

"That's true." Irene replied with a nod. "But you don't need to worry about that. Alzack is an S-Class wizard. He'll be fine. Plus..."

Reaching that point, Irene looked up and made eye contact with Rika with a smile on her face.

"... his best friend is the richest man in Ishgar." Irene continued. "Do you really think Alfonzo will let him go through anything he can't handle."

"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Rika replied as she held the pistol-shaped item up to the sky. "Still, I doubt Alzack's pride will like that."

With that said, Rika stepped off the edge of the building, free-falling towards the ground in front of the guild's front doors.

*Whizz!*

*Clink!*

However, just as she was about halfway down the building, Rika pulled the trigger on the item, firing a grappling line towards the edge of the roof. And when the grappling hook caught the edge, her falling speed slowed dramatically, eventually letting her land gently before she released the mechanism holding the hook in place and reeled in the line.

After that, Rika waved to Irene before walking into the guild hall to find Shizuka and tell her about her trip and play with Calvin, who was in the infirmary with his mother.

Meanwhile, as Rika spoke with Irene, Yoruichi had just dodged out of the way of Marin's punch.

"Wasn't one enough?" Yoruichi asked as she cancelled [Shunko]. "I mean, you got me real good back at the Mermaid Heel HQ."

"Yeah, I know." Marin replied casually. "But after seeing the replay of when Cana hit you during the GMG, my hands got itchy."

Yoruichi could only roll her eyes at that.

"But seriously, I didn't think you would come here any time soon." Marin said with a grin. "Even if Cana did let things go."

"Honestly, neither did I." Yoruichi replied while shrugging her shoulders. "I intended to wait until after the new year. But Master Unohana said that she was taking a trip to see Alfonzo. So, I just decided to tag along. The real issue was making Sui-Feng stay."

"Yeah, how did you manage that, anyway?" Marin asked, full of curiosity.

"Well, after the Grand Magic Games ended, Master Unohana started training Sui-Feng..." Yoruichi said, shuddering slightly at the memory. "And let's just say, I wouldn't wish that kind of training on even my worst enemy. Honestly, I'm not even sure how many times Sui-Feng died during her training. And it hasn't even been a whole month yet."

Hearing that, Marin widened her eyes in shock. But when she remembered that Retsu was one of the best healers on the continent, she could somewhat imagine what Sui-Feng went through. And when she did, like Yoruichi, she began to shudder, as well.

"Anyway, when I said I was going with Master Unohana to visit Fairy Tail, Sui-Feng naturally invited herself, as well." Yoruichi continued. "And I naturally told her no. But she refused to let me come alone. So, to make her give up, I just said I'd have training sessions with Master Unohana turned into a weekly thing. And that was enough to make her shut up about it."

"You're ruthless." Marin muttered while looking at Yoruichi with awe.

"But effective." Yoruichi replied with another shrug. "Anyway, what kind of big move are Lici, Erza, and Mirajane gonna do to take out all those zombies? I can't really see anything on the outside from in here."

"Actually, that's not really necessary anymore." Erza, making her way out from the mansion, said calmly. "Rika just took down the one controlling all the corpses. And with his downfall, all the corpses fell, as well."

"I see." Yoruichi replied with a nod of understanding. "That makes sense. Kinda disappointing, though. I wanted to see the three of you in action again."

"There's no need to be too disappointed." Erza said as she arrived within arm's reach of Yoruichi. "Mira intends to face the remaining demon. She wants to add it to her arsenal of [Take Over: Satan Souls]."

"Oh, that might be fun to watch." Yoruichi said, her interest clear for everyone to see.

"By the way, it's nice to see you again, Yoruichi." Erza, the only one who did not hold a grudge over the incident between Alfonzo, Elicia, and Yoruichi for too long, said as she extended her hand towards Yoruichi.

"You, too, Erza." Yoruichi replied as she accepted Erza's handshake. A moment later, the barrier surrounding the mansion fell. Then, Yoruichi turned her head when a flaming figure shot out from the mansion towards Seilah. "Oh, it looks like she's about to get started."