"Hey, kid."
A loud knock echoed on the table in front of Caesar. He looked up—and saw the arrogant face of Laxus staring down at him.
"You've been acting real cocky lately. Feel like fighting someone? Why not try fighting me?"Laxus's eyes burned with aggressive intent, practically crackling with tension. Caesar knew exactly what this was about.
"Not interested."Caesar declined without hesitation.
"That's not your call!"Laxus sneered, electricity flashing in his hands as he attacked without warning.
"LAXUS!"
A roar thundered across the hall. Makarov stepped in before Caesar could move, shielding him with his giant magical palm. The lightning slammed into Makarov's hand—but it didn't faze the old man in the slightest.
Laxus scowled. "Old man, what do you think you're doing?"
"What am I doing?" Makarov's voice boomed with fury. "You're trying to attack your fellow guild members—have you completely lost your mind?!"
He couldn't understand how the once well-behaved grandson he raised had become so rebellious.
"I want to be the next Guild Master of Fairy Tail!" Laxus snapped. "Old man, it's time you stepped down!"
"No one can stop me."
Just as Makarov was about to speak, Caesar slowly stood up and looked Laxus dead in the eye.
"I wasn't planning to be guild master... but I am interested in the title of Fourth Master. So no, I'm not leaving that title to anyone else."
"So you want to be my enemy?"Veins bulged on Laxus's forehead, a murderous glint in his eyes.
"You can try."Caesar didn't even blink. Their eyes clashed like blades, electricity crackling in the air between them.
"You two—just shut it!"Makarov grabbed them both by the head with one hand each and forced them to the floor. A new recruit had just joined the guild—what kind of impression would this make?
Besides, he wasn't dead yet!
Caesar and Laxus glared at each other but kept silent. The animosity between them, however, was now fully ignited.
"This brat needs a serious lesson..." Caesar thought. He knew full well how dangerous Laxus was. And if the future Fairy Tail civil war was to be prevented, this conflict needed to be handled now—at the source.
As Caesar stewed on the issue, Makarov turned to Natsu, who stood nearby looking stunned.
"Scared, kid? You okay?" the old master asked gently.
"Are you kidding?! That was AWESOME!" Natsu's eyes were blazing with excitement. "I didn't know the guild had so many crazy strong people—I'm so pumped right now!!"
Makarov had clearly overestimated Natsu's sensitivity. A hot-blooded kid like him? A fight was just fuel for the fire.
"President, is he the newcomer?"Cana looked over at Natsu curiously.
"Yep," Makarov confirmed. "His name is Natsu Dragneel. He uses lost ancient magic."
"Oh? Lost magic? That's pretty rare..."Everyone nearby turned their heads in interest.
"Of course!" Natsu puffed up with pride. "My Dragon Slayer magic was taught to me by my dad—Igneel!"
"Igneel? Who's that? Never heard of him.""Probably some old weirdo..." someone muttered.
"Igneel's not a weirdo!" Natsu shouted. "He's a dragon! A fire dragon!"
The guild hall fell silent. A dragon?
That was a name straight out of legends. Everyone wanted to scoff, but seeing Natsu's genuine disappointment, they held back.
"Tch. Dragons haven't existed in hundreds of years. There's no way any are still around," Laxus said with a smirk, unconvinced.
"There are dragons in this world."
Caesar's sudden statement startled everyone.
"What, you've seen one?"Laxus raised an eyebrow.
"As a matter of fact... yes," Caesar replied calmly. "It was a black dragon. I only saw it flying in the distance—but even from far away, I could feel the pressure. That thing was terrifying."
"Black dragon...?"The room buzzed with confusion. Caesar sounded so sure of himself. Could he be telling the truth?
"You saw a dragon?!" Natsu exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "Can you take me to it? Maybe he's seen Igneel!"
Caesar's expression darkened slightly.
Take you to see Acnologia? That would be suicide. One wrong move and Natsu would be dragon food.
"Sorry," Caesar replied. "I was far away and I don't know where it went."
Natsu looked visibly disappointed.
On the other hand, Laxus was now seething—his credibility undercut once again by Caesar. Lightning flickered more intensely around him.
"You..."
Caesar eyed him warily. "You really want to fight me that badly?"
"Absolutely."Laxus clenched his fist, lightning arcing from his fingers. "But if I win, you have to stand in front of the guild and shout 'I am a weakling!' a hundred times!"
"Fine."Caesar narrowed his eyes. "But if you lose—you kneel down and apologize to the Guild Master."
The air went still. Then—
"You bastard..."Laxus's electricity exploded into the air around him.
"If you're scared, then just get lost. Who even wants to fight you?" Caesar smirked, baiting him.
Laxus snapped. He charged forward, fists crackling with power.
"Caesar… Laxus… sigh..."Makarov rubbed his temples. He could feel the headache coming. But he didn't stop them. Not yet.
The rest of the guild perked up. Two of the strongest young mages in Fairy Tail, going head-to-head?
This was going to be good.
Caesar and Laxus walked out of the guild and into the open courtyard.
Naturally, the rest of the guild followed close behind. They weren't going to miss this fight.
Would the two of them actually stop before it got out of hand?
Nobody seemed too worried. After all, Makarov wasn't called one of the Ten Wizard Saints for nothing.
What could two wild kids possibly do under his watch?