Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 333: One Man Makes an Army

Rhodes used Re-equip magic spell to pull Mira's luggage from storage, sorting through it until he found two suitable outfits. From a smaller, more private pouch, he even retrieved an outfit Mira had previously forbidden him from touching.

Lucy's clothes were taken straight from her own closet, just as she instructed.

Since he couldn't walk into the bathroom himself, Rhodes relied on Warm to deliver the clothing. Sometimes, Warm really was more useful than a person.

A short while later, the two girls emerged from the bathroom with towels wrapped around their hair, looking refreshed.

Mira gave Rhodes a nudge when she caught him staring at her. "Your turn. The bath water's still warm. Lucy used it first, but you can go next."

"That was your bath water too!" Lucy shouted, flustered.

Rhodes grinned. "Then I won't be polite."

"Be polite! And it's already been drained!"

Mira covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Clearly, she was having fun teasing Lucy, even at her own expense.

Rhodes showered quickly and returned to find Lucy finishing up drying her hair, now helping Mira with hers.

Though Mira had taken over his usual task, Rhodes didn't mind. Lucy seemed troubled, and her expression confirmed it.

"Honestly, I don't think he cares about me at all. Otherwise, why would it take him over a year to check in on me?"

Lucy sat with Mira, her voice quiet and bitter. She explained how she had left home a year ago, and only now had her father shown interest in bringing her back. Ever since her mother's death, the bond between her and Jude had grown colder.

Jude Heartfilia had been emotionally distant, burying himself in business. Lucy had hoped it was just grief masking his care—but as the years passed, that hope began to fade.

"It's been seven years since my mother died. I was ten back then. I got through it, and I decided I'd live strong and do my best. But he... he never even looked at me. How could a father ignore his daughter for so long?"

She clenched her clothes tightly, her voice raw with emotion.

"And now he sends Phantom Lord after me like I'm a runaway asset. It's cruel. I can't forgive him for this."

"If things are as you say," Rhodes said gently, "there's got to be a reason he's trying to bring you back now. Either he's seriously ill... or he's trying to marry you off."

"How could any parent not love their child?" Mira said softly. "Even someone like Macao still deeply cares about Romeo."

"Once all this is over," she continued, "you should try talking to him again. Maybe he still sees you as a little girl, but you're not. You're a wizard of Fairy Tail now. You're strong and independent."

It was a subtle jab at Macao's parenting, but it rang true.

"Yeah!" Lucy nodded firmly. "I'll make it right. I'll apologize to everyone in the guild later. But for now... I want to help."

The unpleasant topic came to an end for the time being. Lucy gently stroked Mira's long, snowy-white hair, freshly blown dry, a touch of envy in her eyes. "Miss Mira, your hair is so soft and beautiful."

Mira smiled. "And yours is lovely too. Golden hair like yours is rare and radiant."

Lucy touched her locks with a small smile. "It's the same color as my mom's. I've always had Cancer to help me take care of it."

They began exchanging little secrets about caring for their hair and skin, just quiet, girlish talk. The tension from earlier gradually dissolved into warmth.

Mira tied up her bangs once again and stretched with a graceful yawn. "Alright! Shower's done, fatigue cleared. Time to move out."

Fatigue didn't vanish that easily, of course. But lingering around would only make them worry more about their friends. So the three of them, Rhodes, Mira, and Lucy, dragged along the unconscious Juvia and badly injured Sol.

Rhodes figured that if any of their own guildmates had been taken captive, they could use these two for a trade. It was a slim hope, but a hope nonetheless.

Even with Wendy's help, Juvia and Sol wouldn't be in fighting shape anytime soon.

The two crabs carried the group of five swiftly toward the town.

...

Neither Rhodes nor Mira could have predicted just how badly things had gone back at the front.

Fairy Tail had suffered a crushing blow.

And it all started with the fall of their Guild Master.

"Quick! Fall back to the guild!"

Makarov's collapse struck a devastating blow to morale. The guild, once holding its own and even pressing forward, began to falter. Wounds piled up. The tide of battle turned.

Gajeel and the mage who had ambushed Makarov watched hungrily from the sidelines. The remaining Element 4 and Phantom Lord's master, Jose Porla, hadn't even stepped onto the field yet.

If the fighting continued, things could spiral beyond repair.

Erza, acting in Makarov's stead, gave the only order that made sense: "Retreat!"

Phantom Lord's forces, both elite and foot soldiers from branches, pursued them without mercy.

The mages of Fairy Tail were forced to abandon the town.

At the rear of the retreating group, Cana threw trap cards one after another, slowing the enemy's advance.

Natsu, Gray, and Loke held the backline, unleashing magic to fend off or delay their pursuers whenever they could.

Alzack and Bisca turned back from time to time, returning fire with their rifles.

Elfman, the largest among them, ran at the front with the injured Master Makarov in his arms. Erza guarded him from behind, preventing any further harm from reaching their unconscious guild master.

Other members in the center of the group carried those more seriously wounded.

"Don't even think about running away, Fairy Tail!"

"Stop, you cowards!"

"Where's your S-Class now? Hiding?"

"I heard there's some kind of strategist with you, must be too clever to show up!"

Despite the insults and their rising fury, not a single member turned back. Everyone understood: this was a tactical retreat, to regroup and strike back harder.

Even hot-headed fighters like Natsu and Gray followed Erza's command without question, knowing it was for the sake of the guild.

Dozens of Fairy Tail wizards retreated, while nearly two hundred Phantom Lord members gave chase. But the longer they ran, the more the pursuers' formation began to thin due to the interference of Fairy Tail's magic traps and counter-attacks.

The taunts never stopped, but the wounded guild members gritted their teeth and pushed on.

At the front of the group, Elfman suddenly slowed his pace.

"Elf—?" Erza began, but then she saw them, two crabs racing toward them.

Her breath caught. The weight on her shoulders felt a little lighter. For the first time since the retreat began, she allowed her face to soften, tears nearly slipping from the corner of her eye.

Only she knew how close she had been to breaking.

"It's them!" Elfman shouted, voice rising with disbelief and hope. "Sis! Rhodes!"

The others heard and saw the incoming figures, Rhodes and Mira on the back of summoned crabs, with Lucy behind them, and expressions of exhaustion cracked into smiles of joy.

Reinforcements. Hope.

Rhodes, Mira, and Lucy stared in disbelief.

They... retreated?

The sound of Phantom Lord's cruel laughter and jeering echoed faintly across the battlefield. That alone ignited something inside them.

Why?

Why were two hundred enemies chasing only a few dozen of our people?

Numbers?

"Summon: Blue Sentinel, Brambleback, Gromp, Raptors, Murk Wolf, Krug, Voidgrubs!"

More than thirty summons surged forward, wild beasts conjured from magic and forged from will, descending upon the Phantom Lord ranks like a living tide.

Three Voidgrubs lingered behind, hatching waves of purple Voidmites that crawled around the Fairy Tail formation to ambush Phantom Lord from the sides.

Lucy stood frozen in awe. This was magic on a scale she had never imagined.

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Rhodes looked ahead, at his wounded comrades, at the tattered remains of their pride, at Master Makarov unconscious in Elfman's arms.

His chest rose and fell, his fingers clenched tightly around the pendant at his neck.

"Summon—"

"No!" Mira grabbed his hand.

She knew exactly what he meant to do.

If he summoned the dragon now without rest, without preparation, it would break him.

Rhodes met her gaze. Her worry, her strength, her warmth.

He gritted his teeth and lowered his arm.

"Then... Rift Herald!"

...

Bonus Chapter