"My heart… it actually got—?!"
Outside, the moment Renzo's shadow clone destroyed the devil's heart, Hades felt a sharp pain in his chest. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as the backlash hit him hard.
The magic he'd been casting instantly collapsed, and the flow of magical power in his body started plummeting fast.
With his face twisted in fury, Hades shot a glare at Renzo.
Taking advantage of the fact that he still had just enough magic left to resist the pressure of Takamagahara, he vanished from the domain in a flash—completely abandoning the magical airship and fleeing in a mess.
"You little brat! This isn't over!"
Even as he escaped into the distance, his angry roar echoed behind him: "MARK MY WORDS—I'LL CRUSH YOU NEXT TIME!"
"Tch. What're you, some kinda rabid mutt? Keep barking—it won't change the outcome."
Renzo just sneered, dismissing Takamagahara and watching Hades run without bothering to chase him or block the way.
Honestly, after the devil's heart was destroyed, he could've easily killed or trapped Hades inside Takamagahara. The guy wouldn't have had a chance of getting out.
But Renzo let him go on purpose.
"Hopefully, that old bastard will be useful and gather up the original Seven Kin of Purgatory. At the very least, I want those Lost Magics: Arc of Embodiment, Great Tree Arc, Fire God Slayer Magic… if he can lead me to those, it'll be worth sparing his sorry life, hehe!"
Yep—Renzo planned to use Hades as a glorified fetch-quest NPC for rare magic. That's the only reason he didn't finish him off.
And honestly? Beating Hades this easily—even easier than Deliora—wasn't because Hades was weak.
If his heart hadn't been destroyed, the old guy would've been even stronger than Makarov, the current Fairy Tail master, by a long shot.
But hey, who told him to have such a blatant weak point? And who told him Renzo had already figured it out (watched the anime) and aimed straight for it?
This just proves one thing—covering your weaknesses is super important.
Even if you can't fix them completely, at least don't broadcast them like a neon sign. Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before someone uses it to end you.
"Huh, he really ditched his heart like it's nothing? Well, don't mind if I do then!"
Looking at the crashing magic airship, Renzo activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan again and summoned Takamagahara, swallowing the entire ship into the domain.
With a single thought, he wiped out every living soul on board and kicked their corpses out of the domain.
Then, he stored the entire airship inside the Takamagahara pocket world and shut the domain down.
As for those he wiped out? Just a bunch of nobodies. Not a single tough one in the lot.
"So either the real threats haven't joined yet… or they just weren't around. Whatever! Doesn't really matter."
Renzo shrugged and flew downward.
In just a few moments, he touched back down and spotted Ur and Ultear not far ahead, waiting.
"Renzo! Are you okay?!"
The moment Ur saw him return, she rushed over with Ultear in tow, her face full of concern.
"Relax, Master. Don't you know me by now?"
Renzo laughed confidently, patting his chest. "Hades may be strong, but he's still no match for me. I already drove him off. He won't be coming back anytime soon. Though… we should stay alert."
"That old man's fixated on Ultear's talent. I doubt he'll give up that easily."
After all, Ultear's magical potential and innate talent are nothing short of remarkable.
Especially since she managed to grasp something as crazy as Arc of Time so easily—a forbidden Lost Magic, no less.
If Renzo were in his shoes, he wouldn't want to let her go either.
Ur furrowed her brow, nodding slightly, then asked, "You said earlier that he used to be Fairy Tail's guild master, Precht? As in, the same Fairy Tail with Master Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints?"
She'd definitely heard of that guild.
Especially Makarov's name.
That guy was on a whole other level—way stronger than her.
But… why would the former guild master fall to darkness?
Renzo nodded, then crouched down and reached out to pat Ultear's head.
But the little girl clearly wasn't having it—she dodged immediately, hiding behind Ur and glaring at Renzo like he was some kind of enemy class bully.
Renzo just smiled and stood up, not minding at all.
"Yeah, that Fairy Tail. Like I said before, Precht lost his way on the path of magic. He fell into darkness."
"Of course, that's not really our problem. But Hades is a real threat."
"So, Master, how about this—why don't we head south together? We can go to the Fairy Tail guild and report this to Master Makarov."
"Plus, me, Gray, Lyon, and Ultear all need a better place to grow. Joining a guild wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Not necessarily Fairy Tail specifically, but it's definitely better than staying up north. Don't you think?"
He was saying all this now because he was worried Ur might refuse to go with them. But if she agreed, that'd be perfect—he really didn't want to part ways after living together for so many years.
"Is that so?" Ur frowned slightly, clearly thinking it over. Then she looked at Renzo. "You've been keeping a lot from me, huh? You seem to know an awful lot about Hades… and Fairy Tail."
"So, tell me—do you think Fairy Tail, or rather, Makarov, can be trusted? There won't be any hidden dangers, right?"
Couldn't blame her for being cautious.
After all, the former master of Fairy Tail had become the leader of one of the Balam Alliance's three biggest dark guilds—Grimoire Heart. It'd be weird not to be suspicious.
"I can vouch for that! …More or less."
Renzo nodded but looked a bit hesitant near the end. After all, this world was real. He couldn't exactly guarantee everything with 100% confidence, since most of what he knew came from the anime in his past life.
"You..." Ur caught the hesitation in his eyes and smiled. "Fine then. Let's go together and see for ourselves."
"You're coming with us?!" Renzo asked, eyes lighting up.
"What else?" she chuckled and ruffled his hair. "I'm not gonna let you go scouting ahead on your own. I'd be worried sick! Besides, I'm no slouch. If something really goes wrong, having one more fighter won't hurt."
"True enough," Renzo laughed and nodded.
But then he felt a certain… hostile stare.
He glanced down—and as expected—it was Ultear again.
More specifically, she was glaring at her mom's hand on top of his head.
"…This girl's got a serious jealous streak. Guess it's about time I help her sort out her issues too," he muttered to himself with a wry smile.
Then he turned to Ur. "Let's go back inside first. We can talk properly in there."
"Alright," she nodded and gently pulled Ultear along as the three of them headed back inside.
"Eh? Master! Big bro! You're back!"
"Huh? There's another girl with you? She kinda looks like Master… Who is she?"
Lyon and Gray were hanging out in the living room when they saw the trio come in. Both immediately stood up, surprise written all over their faces when they spotted Ultear.
"Yeah, everything's fine now," Ur nodded, then motioned toward the girl beside her. "This is my daughter, Ultear. I'll introduce you guys properly later. Lyon, Gray—go back to your rooms for now. I've got something to handle."
"Wait… Master's daughter? But she's—"
Lyon froze in shock and blurted out without thinking, but before he could finish, Renzo shot him a glare that shut him right up.
Then Renzo waved a hand. "Go on, back to your rooms. Otherwise, no Renzo's special training for you guys tomorrow."
"Uhh… got it! We're going!"
Lyon and Gray immediately jumped off the couch like their lives depended on it and bolted upstairs.
Yeah, that threat definitely worked.
Once the kids were gone, Renzo, Ur, and Ultear sat down on the living room couch. Ur clearly wanted to talk to her daughter, but didn't know how to start.
Meanwhile, Ultear sat there in awkward silence, heart tangled up in misunderstandings and confusion.