Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Gaal: Clothes Dissolver! I Did It!
There was chaos within the Magic Council.
This sudden alarm was something that hadn't happened in many years. No one knew what had been going on these past few months.
The last time, at the Rock Mountain Range, there was a commotion similar to a small-scale Etherion blast that startled everyone. And now, what's happening?
The council members quickly rushed to the monitoring room.
On the holographic projection, the location of the outbreak was already marked, and a Mage was reporting: "Based on the location of the Magic Power outbreak. It's been identified as the forest of Norwich City; however, this magic explosion isn't as massive as the last one. The energy in the core area is only slightly over twelve million."
Compared to the previous 550 million magic power outbreak, twelve million seemed negligible. But there weren't many smiles in the council chambers.
Perspective matters. Twelve million might not compare to last time, but it's still beyond what a Mage could produce.
So...
Is it some kind of magical weapon this time?
No one could be sure.
Crawford Seam, the chairman, spoke: "Contact the nearest Magic Council branch and have them send people immediately."
The Magic Council began its operations.
In just a few days, an investigation report had arrived, and Chairman Crawford Seam, along with the six other council members currently present, gathered for a meeting.
Crawford Seam had several reports in front of him. He distributed them with a touch of Magic Power and spoke with a headache: "Take a look."
The members began to read. Org, the second seat, frowned: "Grimoire Heart again?"
Crawford Seam replied: "That's right. Based on the traces at the scene, it's the magic of Azuma, a member of the Seven Kin of Purgatory from Grimoire Heart. The magic power was drained from the area, including the underground area around Norwich City, for miles. That seems to be the source of the blast's magic power."
Yajima, Makarov's old friend and a councilor, spoke solemnly: "There were also fragments of space-related magic circles at the scene. Grimoire Heart was likely hunting someone. Without a doubt.... It must have been Gaal."
Councilor Org added: "A real troublemaker..."
But no one could truly blame him.
The fact that Grimoire Heart would orchestrate something like this to hunt members of the Light Guild already crossed the line.
Whether Gaal could escape or not, this behavior was unacceptable. If left unchecked, how could the light guild's Mages feel at ease?
Crawford Seam said: "Several Mages and Guilds have already started protesting. Grimoire Heart really went too far this time."
Councilor Org remarked: "But troops have already been deployed. The pursuit over this period has wiped out quite a few subordinate guilds of Grimoire Heart. The remainder have gone into hiding; any further action won't yield much."
Crawford Seam thought for a moment and said: "We have to keep deploying troops; we can't ignore this. Let's do it this way.... Previously, we were hunting the subordinate guilds of Grimoire Heart. Let's target a few Oración Seis labs and the lurking Demons of Tartaros now."
Seeing this, the other councilors nodded before inevitably feeling more headaches.
One councilor said: "This can't go on indefinitely. The war between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart has been dragging on for several months. If this happens a few more times, we can't always clean up their mess. The main concern is hindering the peaceful development of the Magical World."
Except for Yajima, the other councilors nodded in agreement.
Crawford Seam pondered: "We need to get through this incident first. Then, I'll get in touch with Makarov. Ever since the war began, the Magical World's development has never been stable. Indeed, it's time for a talk."
With the chairman's statement, no one objected. They all nodded.
Minority obeys majority.
Yajima had no choice but to notify Makarov later.
---
Meanwhile, on a certain valley in the southeastern part of the Ishgar Continent.
At a scenic lakeside.
Gaal was seated on a lakeside bench made of magic with a stone table full of bottles, jars, and materials before him. Several Pokemon were unleashed, playing by the lake.
Gaal held a purple mist in his hand, a portion of Curse Particles he had acquired days ago.
These particles could kill Demons, a true treasure.
Over the past few days, Gaal had almost grasped the principles of these Curse Particles.
These particles were harmless to anything without Magic Power. But this was the Magical World.
A trace of Magic Power existed in the air creatures breathe, the food they consume, and once Curse Particles infiltrated, they would wreak havoc inside, bringing swift death.
Or destroy various Magic Items.
Indeed, this thing was a bane to Magical Materials.
Even the hardest magic armor would be destroyed from within by Curse Particles unless isolated.
Gaal's experiments focused on breaking down Magic Items.
As the Arc of Embodiment's magic circle operated beneath the Curse Particles, the materials on the table gradually merged.
Based on Gaal's concept, those bottles and jars were complete products, though their effects were somewhat different or significantly different from expectations.
Despite this, Gaal had plenty of materials, allowing constant experimentation.
As the sun slowly set, the Pokemon near the lake had gathered various fruits and lively fish for Gaal's dinner.
Finally, the table was almost full, and Gaal successfully blended the right materials.
He now held a bottle of translucent liquid in his hand.
The Arc of Embodiment's feedback confirmed its expected effect: destroying all magical products without harming flesh.
Gaal waved his hand, and the bodies of Kyoka and Seilah materialized.
Although the souls of these two Demons had escaped, their bodies remained. And according to Gaal's inspection, these bodies were used for quite some time.
It's as if Gaal picked up two high-level avatars, ready for use once equipped with souls.
With the Demons' bodies before him, Gaal took the potion and fitted a spray nozzle, directing it at the shoulder of Kyoka's Demon form.
Kyoka may have had human traits in her appearance, but her armored body, along with the sharp claws and feet, were wholly Demon-like.
As the potion with Curse Particles sprayed, the armor on Kyoka's shoulder emitted snapping sounds from within.
Gaal crouched and watched silently.
A moment later.
Crack!
Kyoka's shoulder armor suddenly broke apart, falling to the ground, revealing the pale shoulder beneath.
Gaal picked up a piece of the broken armor and gently crushed it.
Armor capable of withstanding swords and axes, not even leaving marks from magical attacks, crumbled like a cookie.
It turned into white powdery residue that fell to the ground.
Gaal stroked his chin: "A bit slow, isn't it?"
Nearly four minutes to fully dismantle the internal structure of Demon armor.
If people knew, they would likely yell at Gaal.
This groundbreaking item only taking four minutes to work, he should count himself lucky.
But, alas, no one knew.
Gaal turned to Seilah's body.
Honestly, Seilah's body was quite appealing, aside from the eye in the forehead and the twin horns atop the head. The rest of her body had a human appearance.
The horns almost reminded him of Albedo from that old skeleton's stories.
A pure succubus... although revised by the skeleton's alterations.
Yet, appreciation wasn't hindered.
Seilah's body, with slightly elongated legs, nearly matched Albedo's. Someday, these two Demon bodies might benefit from a makeover.
Lifting the spray, Gaal gently moved it to Seilah's feet.
With the translucent mist spraying forth, the shoes on Seilah's feet rapidly dissolved, visible to the naked eye. The left shoe vanished entirely, revealing the white foot beneath.
Gaal nodded with satisfaction, a smirk forming: "That's the proper speed."
Gaal flipped his right hand, producing a long sword, and applied the potion along its blade.
Then, Gaal swung the sword casually.
A whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, stirring up winds that swept ahead. As Gaal sheathed his blade, he declared softly: "Embarrassed! I seek your garments removed!"
If there were a horde of Mages facing this.
Swept by these potion-laden winds, the scene would be something to behold.
Tsk...
Female Mages might want to avoid dueling with him in the future!