N-M Chapter 596 596
Chapter 596 596
Her eyes widened at once, and tears spilled free before she could stop them—a flood of disbelief, relief, and lingering fear all at once.
Her body trembled.
She wanted to move forward, wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him, but her legs gave out beneath her, and she couldn't take a single step.
"Marco-sama..."
The moment she saw him, Juvia froze completely.
The emptiness in her eyes was swallowed whole by overwhelming emotion.
She staggered forward two steps, then dropped to her knees with a thud, covering her face with both hands as her shoulders shook violently.
All the fear, worry, and dread she had suppressed for so long now burst free as a silent torrent of joy-filled tears.
And with Juvia, torrent was no exaggeration.
In no time at all, the floor around her was soaked.
At the same moment, the skies over all of Harujion turned dark.
Thick storm clouds gathered overhead, and within moments rain came pouring down in sheets.
Juvia had been holding herself back before, but now, under the force of her emotions, she could no longer contain herself.
"Laxus!"
The moment they saw the two figures in the doorway, Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen all sprang up at the same time.
The faces of the three members of the Thunder God Tribe were filled with exhilaration and sheer relief.
Freed even forgot to maintain his usual calm composure as the three of them rushed forward all at once.
"Master!"
Lucy and Hisui burst out from the crowd and ran straight for Marco, tears streaming freely down their faces.
Right behind them came Cana, Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and Gajeel.
Marco's disciples, his comrades, his friends all crowded around him at once, shouting over one another, their faces blazing with unrestrained joy.
Before Marco and Laxus had even made it fully inside, they were completely surrounded.
The concern and happiness in everyone's faces were impossible to miss.
"You two damn brats!!!"
A roar exploded through the tavern like thunder itself, and beneath the fury there was unmistakably the sound of someone on the verge of tears.
Makarov's tiny figure burst forward with astonishing speed, instantly barreling through the crowd to reach them.
He shoved everyone else aside without ceremony, and no one in the room was foolish enough to compete with the old man for that spot.
After all, Marco and Laxus were his grandsons.
First, the old master drove a fist hard into Laxus's chest.
In truth, there was hardly any force behind it. It felt more like confirmation—a way of assuring himself that Laxus was alive and uninjured.
Then he threw his arms around pale-faced Marco and clutched him tight, his voice trembling violently.
"It's enough that you're safe... that's all that matters..."
This old guild master, who had just suffered the double blow of Tenrou Island sinking and both of his grandsons disappearing, finally let go of the strength he had been forcing himself to hold onto.
In that moment, he was no longer the stalwart master of Fairy Tail, but simply an old man overwhelmed by emotion.
The shock he had endured that day had simply been too much.
Clinging to Marco's legs, Makarov's shoulders shook without pause, as if he were crying outright, and Marco could only smile helplessly.
Erza stood a little farther back in the crowd, still wearing her armor.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, trying not to let the tears fall, but the eyes that were usually so sharp and unshakable now glistened with moisture, filled with the relief of something precious returned after nearly being lost.
She didn't rush forward.
She simply stood there and looked at Marco, as if she needed to confirm with her own eyes that he was truly standing there unharmed.
Her fists clenched, then loosened again, betraying the violent turmoil in her heart.
Then Erza turned her head and looked toward Mirajane.
Through the excited, shifting crowd, she saw Mirajane looking back at her.
Their eyes met, and in that brief exchange lay too many emotions to name—relief, fear, love long kept buried, and an indescribable sense of peace.
Neither of them stepped forward immediately.
They simply remained within reach, watching Marco as though trying to carve the sight of him into their hearts forever.
"Hahahaha! Now that's more like it!"
Gildarts's hearty laughter rang out from beside one of the tables.
He tipped back a gulp of liquor, looking at Marco and Laxus standing there safe and sound, and couldn't stop thinking the same thing over and over again.
'The next generation is terrifying.'
'Especially Marco.'
'That kid had long since surpassed me by a ridiculous margin.'
"Oi, oi, what are those faces for? You're making it look like we came back from the dead."
Laxus shifted awkwardly under everyone's gaze.
The way they were all staring at them like they had narrowly escaped death felt a little too dramatic.
And seeing their grandfather clinging to Marco with tears in his eyes made him turn his head away in embarrassment, forcing himself to speak in the same arrogant, habitual tone as always.
But in truth, Laxus understood everyone's emotional outburst perfectly.
He had faced the Black Dragon himself.
He knew better than anyone just how dire the situation had been. Without Marco, there was no way Fairy Tail could have defeated that monster.
At Marco's side, he gently patted Makarov's back, soothing the old man as he lifted his head and let his gaze sweep across the familiar faces around him—faces full of worry, excitement, tears, and relief.
He saw the complicated emotions in Mirajane's eyes.
He saw the tears Erza was fighting to hold back.
He saw Juvia crying as if her heart had completely collapsed under the strain.
He saw the relief and admiration shining in the eyes of all his friends.
A powerful warmth rose in Marco's chest, so strong it almost drove away the exhaustion in his body.
Just as he was always the one bringing sunlight, warmth, and support to everyone else, the people of Fairy Tail always gave those same things back to him in return.
That was how Fairy Tail had always been.
They held each other up.
Marco pulled his lips into a bright smile—still touched by fatigue, but warm, genuine, and radiant enough to sweep away the gloom in an instant, like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
"We're back."
His smiling voice rang through the tavern, gentle as ever, but steady and clear enough for every single person to hear.
"Sorry for making you all worry."
They were only a few simple words, but they became the key that threw open the floodgates on every emotion everyone had been holding back.
In an instant, the tavern erupted.
Cheers, sobs, laughter—every emotion crashed together into a deafening roar that nearly lifted the roof off the building.
And in the end, all of it merged into a single cry:
"Welcome back!!!"
Everyone surged forward without another thought, swarming Marco, Laxus, and even Makarov in the middle.
They hugged them, smacked them on the back, bounced around them in a chaotic cluster, and little by little the atmosphere turned from tension and grief into pure celebration.
The crisis at hand might not have been completely over yet, but at least in this moment, the family they cherished most had returned safely.
That alone was enough to soothe every fear.
After the excitement died down a little, Marco and Laxus were finally dragged over to a table in the center of the tavern, where everyone immediately began bombarding them with questions about the battle, about what had happened, and about the Black Dragon.
Only then did Laxus learn that Tenrou Island and the members of Grimoire Heart had all been trapped inside Fairy Sphere.
According to the one responsible—Master Mavis herself—it would probably take several years to undo the spell.
Even with everyone helping, it would still take at least three or four years.
"..."
Laxus shuddered.
Now he finally understood why Marco had run.
And honestly?
Running had absolutely been the right call.
If the two of them hadn't gotten off Tenrou Island as fast as they did, they probably would have been trapped inside Fairy Sphere too.
Marco hadn't been fleeing from the heavily wounded Black Dragon at all.
He had been fleeing from Master Mavis's Fairy Sphere!
Still, neither of them could really blame her for acting on her own.
Mavis had only been trying to protect them all. Even if she hadn't managed to protect Marco and Laxus specifically, she had at least saved Tenrou Island from the aftermath of the explosion.
Without Fairy Sphere shielding it, Tenrou Island would have been wiped out completely.
There probably wouldn't even have been ashes left behind.