Page 104

Jade: "I was the one who started it..."

Okay, the jadeite came later.

And so it is.

Time flies.

A month later.

It was late July of X783.

After more than a month, Machima finally arrived at the western continent of Arakidasia by ship.

"Is this 'Arakidasia'?"

Machima stood on the shore, gazing into the distance.

Her pair of clear golden eyes were incredibly deep, like an endless abyss, so deep that just one glance would send one into a corridor of desire.

"Kind sir, may I ask how to get to the capital of the 'Alvares' Empire?"

After deciding on her direction, Machima did not act rashly on her own. Instead, she approached a caravan that was about to set off and smiled slightly at the caravan leader.

"Uh."

“Well…we happen to be heading to the capital of the ‘Alvares’ Empire as well. If you don’t mind, please come with us.”

The moment the caravan leader made eye contact with Machima, his brain exploded with a 'bang,' as if he had lost his consciousness.

"Hehe, that would be perfect."

Machima smiled slightly and nodded gently.

And so it is.

Another half month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The year is now mid-August of X783.

The capital of the 'Alvarez' Empire.

"Your Excellency Machima, this is the capital city."

Before the gates of the imperial capital, a caravan of several hundred people knelt in unison before Machima, offering their guillotine as a sign of loyalty.

The truth is, Machima never used her 'domination' magic, yet these people wholeheartedly pledged their loyalty to her.

"Then let the game begin."

With her hands behind her back, Machima stared at the magnificent capital of the Albares Empire with her orange-yellow eyes and a faint smile on her lips.

For Machima, it's all just a game.

Similarly, the very next second after Machima stood in front of the city gates of the capital of the 'Alvarez' Empire.

On the continent of Ishgar, which faces the Albarez Empire across the sea.

The Dark Mage Guild, known as the most mysterious in the entire continent, is located in Tartarus, the "Gateway to the Underworld," which houses the bookshelf of the "Dark Mage" Jeff.

Samuel, who had stuffed himself into the 'Core of Hell', slowly opened his eyes.

"Boom!!"

The moment Samuel opened his eyes, the entire 'Gate of the Underworld' roared, and the sleeping Netherworld Beasts were awakened by the immense power within Samuel.

"Congratulations, Lord 'Destroyer King', on completing your final evolution. You are now undoubtedly the strongest demon below Lord 'Flame Demon'."

As soon as Rami saw Samuel awaken, she immediately knelt down on one knee in front of him and said respectfully.

"Ah."

Samuel simply nodded calmly. Feeling the surging power within him, he smiled slightly and said softly, "Finally, I've entered this realm."

"Boom!!"

At the same time, Igor, located in Fairy Tail, Magnolia City, Kingdom of Fiore, suddenly paused, as a large amount of information traveled thousands of miles in an instant and entered his mind.

"I see, I understand now."

After receiving the message completely, Igor nodded slightly, his aura and power rising steadily, from 'weak shield' to 'normal shield' level.

“Igor…”

Mirajane, who had been sitting beside Igor, completely monopolizing him with her purpose of exploring 'spells', was the first to sense the change in Igor. She noticed the constantly increasing aura within Igor's body, was taken aback at first, and then excitedly said, "Igor, you've broken through again?"

"Ah."

Igor smiled and said calmly, "Sometimes life is just that wonderful. While we were chatting, inspiration came to me, and then I had an epiphany and broke through."

"Uh."

Mirajane was speechless. If it were the ascetics on the continent of Ishgar, they would probably have committed suicide out of anger after hearing what Ig had just said!

However, Mirajane suddenly smiled after a moment's thought. She glanced at Emerald, who was standing in the corner of the guild, with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

Ultimately, given Igor's terrifying cultivation speed, the weak don't even have the right to stand beside him.

No matter how unwilling a jadeite may be, if it cannot enter the 'non-human realm,' it will still return to dust after a hundred years. This is an immutable rule in this world.

"Cultivation, cultivation."

After Mirajane figured this out, she regained her former confidence.

What she needs to do now is not to surround herself with Igor and compete with those 'seductive sluts' who are attracted by Igor's charm, but to calm herself down, enter the 'non-human realm' as soon as possible, and evolve to catch up with Igor's pace.

"Oh?"

"It seems Mirajane has come to her senses."

Igor looked at Mirajane, who was gradually becoming more confident, and smiled slightly, nodding his head.

At the same time.

Tens of thousands of meters above the 'Ishgar' continent.

Inside a warship bearing the insignia 'Devil's Heart'.

"Boom!!"

A surge of violent magic power was released from Rese's body, and she was upgraded from 'weak shield' to 'normal shield' level.

"Congratulations to the Vice President for taking another step closer to the abyss of demonic cultivation."

After Leise emerged from seclusion, a fragment of the 'Demon Heart' was revealed, along with the rest of the body.

"Ah."

Leisei nodded calmly and walked towards Prehito, who was sitting on the throne. She said softly, "Thank you for your guidance, Master Prehito. My understanding of the magic path has become more profound."

"Ah."

“You are now the person on the continent of Ishgar who is closest to the abyss of demonic cultivation, besides me.”

After Prechter finished speaking, he looked into the distance with a deep gaze and murmured to himself, "Makarov, the day of our decisive battle is one step closer."

Finally, there was Machima, standing in front of the gates of the 'Alvarez' Empire, whose strength had also taken a step forward.

Chapter 167 Machima's Infiltration Diary of the 'Alvarez' Empire! (Part 1)

"I actually broke through?"

Machima raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in her charming orange-yellow eyes. She laughed and said, "Wow, this kind of situation where only one clone needs to break through, and all clones and the main body can benefit from it, is really cheating! But what can we do when we essentially share the same 'soul'?"

"Anyway, let's finish the infiltration mission first~"

As Machima pondered this, he mingled with the caravan and entered the city, heading towards the royal palace of the 'Alvares' Empire.

"Halt!"

When Machima stood in front of the gates of the Alvarez Empire's palace, the guards responsible for protecting the palace immediately stopped him.

The lead guard strode up to Machima and asked coldly, "Who are you? Do you know what the crime of trespassing on the royal palace is?"

"Wow, that's amazing!"

With her hands behind her back, Machima looked the captain of the guard up and down with her captivating eyes, then shook her head and said, "Truly worthy of the 'Alvares' Empire, even an ordinary captain of the guard possesses strength comparable to the 'Ten Wizard Saints'."

Yes, this Imperial Guard Captain, who had never appeared in Ig's memory, actually had a magic power of over three thousand points. If he were on the continent of Ishgar, he would be famous in his own right, but in the Albares Empire, he could only be responsible for guarding the gate.

As for the ordinary guards who are clad in armor, wielding spears and swords, and stationed outside the castle, they also possess a combat strength of over a thousand points.

If they were on the continent of Ishgar, these seemingly ordinary guards would be qualified to serve as S-class mages in various mage guilds.

Speaking of which, if Makima remembers correctly, every member of the 'Shield of the Holy Trinity' in the Empire has one or two deputies. Among them, Neinhart, a special member of the Shield of the Holy Trinity, has four deputies. And all of these deputies have combat power comparable to the 'Ten Wizards'.

In other words, the magic power of these 'Twelve Shields' lieutenants alone is over three thousand points.

"hehe."

Thinking of this, Machima smiled helplessly.

If you only look at the data on paper, their continent of Ishgar has absolutely no chance of winning against the Empire of Albares.

After all, if we disregard the two monsters, 'Magic King' August and 'Scarlet Despair' Irene, and only look at the paper data between 'Aragidasia' and 'Ishgard', 'Ishgard' is utterly defeated.

On the continent of Ishgar, there are approximately five hundred magic guilds in total, including both the Light and Dark factions.

On the continent of 'Araquidasia', there are a total of 730 guilds, including the Light and Dark Magician Guilds.

These guilds of both light and darkness have been completely unified by the 'Alvarez' Empire, and they are all subject to military management and practice the magic of 'Dark Mage' Jelf.

In other words, the number of strong individuals in the 'Alvares' Empire is at least 150% of that on the 'Ishgar' continent, and these individuals will become even stronger after receiving military training.

"I want to see Lord Augus, the 'Magic King'."

Thinking of this, Machima sighed helplessly, looked at the captain of the guard in front of her, and told him the truth.

"Hahaha."

After Machima revealed her purpose, the people guarding the castle burst into laughter. They pointed at the unremarkable Machima and said coldly, "You think you can see Lord 'Magic King' August?"

"Hmm~"

"It's all thanks to me~"

Machima smiled, her gaze fixed on the captain of the guard in front of her, and she tilted her head slightly.

"Uh."

As for the armored captain, the moment his eyes met Machima's orange-yellow eyes, he felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and his consciousness instantly vanished into nothingness.

By the time he realized what was happening, he had already been pulled into a pitch-black space.

"Where is this?"

The captain of the guard unconsciously tightened his grip on his weapon, his expression tense.

"Swear allegiance to me!"

Before he could think any further, orange-yellow lights suddenly lit up the pitch-black space he was in!

No, those were not lights, but pairs of eyes radiating an orange-yellow light, and pairs of bright red lips.

Those lips, which filled the space like blooming flowers, suddenly parted, revealing neatly arranged teeth like seashells. They coldly addressed the captain of the guard, whose sanity was plummeting, saying, "Accept my dominion!"

"Yes, my beautiful and great lady."

When the captain of the guard regained consciousness, he still knelt on one knee before Machima, offering her the guillotine.

"What's going on?"

The soldiers who had been mocking Machima for overestimating herself suddenly shuddered when they saw their captain kneeling before her. One of them asked, "Captain Tomson, who is this... I mean, this distinguished lady?"

"You don't need to know the lady's identity. All you need to know is that she is a big shot that neither you nor I can afford to offend."

Captain Tomson rose from the ground, glanced coldly at the oblivious guards, then bowed deeply to Machima and gestured for her to proceed.

"hehe."

Machima chuckled lightly, not even glancing at the guards, and entered the palace under the leadership of the guard captain, Tom.

"Are we in grave danger?"

The remaining guards trembled as they watched Machima and Captain Tomson walk away.

"What do you think? Our lives are over."