Fairy Tail: My Magic is a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck — Chapter 25

Chapter 25: A World Ruled by God

[Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress]: Four-star monster card. A winged dragon defending a mountain fortress, specializing in high-speed aerial dive attacks to tear enemies apart.

It wasn’t a powerhouse by any stretch. Back in the early days of Duel Monsters, it had even earned the unfortunate nickname of ‘Cannon Fodder Dragon.’ Still, Chase was perfectly satisfied pocketing it. Expanding his deck meant a direct boost to his Magic Power.

Chase pulled his focus back from the depths of his consciousness. He gave the Celtic Guardian a brief hand signal to keep a strict eye on Cluny, then turned and scooped up the sleeveless cloak he had tossed aside earlier.

Curse of Dragon, having hovered dutifully overhead the entire time, descended with a heavy beat of its skeletal wings. It caught Chase by the shoulders, lifting him smoothly into the air and carrying him back toward the battered merchant vessel.

The moment his boots hit the wooden deck, Ina, her two guildmates, and Lambert’s surviving crew swarmed him. Excitement radiated from the sailors’ soot-stained faces. They showered him with praise, bowing and thanking him profusely for pulling them from the jaws of death.

“Hold on, everyone, don’t say that,” Chase replied, flashing a warm, modest smile. “Successfully repelling those pirates was thanks to the collective efforts of everyone on this ship.”

“Not at all! It was entirely you, Mr. Chase! We just ran around going through the motions,” Ina said, her two companions nodding vigorously beside her. They rubbed the backs of their necks, sheepish, having hastily tacked on a respectful title for the S-Class Mage.

Lambert and his crew exchanged bewildered glances, pointing at themselves. Wait, we actually helped?

“Didn’t you guys put out the fires?” Chase’s expression turned solemn. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to fight completely without restraint.”

His gentle, humble demeanor struck Ina right in the chest. A wave of intense shame washed over her. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Chase. I actually suspected you were holding back on purpose earlier. I was completely out of line!”

“So,” Chase continued smoothly, turning to the three Mages from Black Teal Foot, “you guys are going to help pitch in for the property damage, right? You can’t honestly expect me to foot the bill for this entire ship by myself.”

Ina froze. Her grateful smile cracked.

Damn it! Give me back my admiration! Give it back right now!

In a single sentence, the majestic, handsome, utterly flawless image of the S-Class Mage she had just built up in her head shattered into a million pieces.

Just as Ina’s jaw opened to unleash a furious complaint, the playful ease vanished from Chase’s face. His features hardened into something sharp and commanding.

“I still have important matters to deal with,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You three stay on the ship. Protect the crew, secure the perimeter, and wait quietly for the Maritime Guard to arrive.”

Seeing the absolute authority in his eyes, Ina and her guildmates swallowed their retorts. They snapped to attention, standing ramrod straight.

“Yes, Senior!” they chorused.

The sheer, overwhelming power he had displayed in the battle had thoroughly conquered whatever pride they had left.

Chase gave a curt nod. He turned away, preparing to haul Cluny back to Aslopa City for a face-to-face chat with Marshall. Just as he reached the edge of the deck, he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. His dark eyes locked onto the three young Mages.

“Is… is there something else, Mr. Chase?” Bucolayven asked, his voice wavering.

“To be honest…” Chase offered a faint, teasing smirk. “I still prefer the unruly way you guys acted when we first met.”

Before Ina could even process the jab, Chase leapt off the railing, riding Curse of Dragon back toward the smoldering wreckage of the pirate galleon.

He landed on the ruined deck and delivered a sharp kick to Cluny’s ribs. “Hey. If you’re not dead, make a sound.”

Cluny kept his eyes squeezed shut. Knowing the Fairy Tail Mage wouldn’t kill him outright, the pirate captain played dead, adopting the stubborn resilience of a cornered rat.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Chase mused aloud, pacing a slow circle around the downed man, “that spatial magic you used earlier… that’s an ancient Lost Magic. The Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic, right?”

Cluny’s eyes snapped open. He stared at Chase, genuine shock bleeding through his bruised face. “You actually recognize it?!”

“I’ve never heard of the Guild Master of Deep Marsh Abyss knowing something like that,” Chase continued casually, watching the pirate’s micro-expressions. “Did you get it from Marshall?”

From the brief clash, it was glaringly obvious that Cluny was a novice. He lacked the proficiency to draw out the Lost Magic’s true destructive potential—he wasn’t even close to Minerva’s level of effortless mastery.

At the mention of the name Marshall, Cluny’s pupils contracted violently. He masked it a second later, forcing a sneer. “I don’t know any Marshall. And even if I did, I have nothing to say to you.”

“Didn’t expect you to admit it anyway.” Chase shrugged, entirely unbothered. “The answer will reveal itself soon enough.”

All he needed to confirm was whether Marshall was the true practitioner of the Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic. Cluny’s visceral flinch had already given him the answer.

It was a very useful piece of information.

Realizing he had just exposed his own secret, Cluny abandoned the tough-guy act. A sinister, fanatical smile twisted his bloody lips.

“That adult’s origin… is far beyond anything your pathetic mind can comprehend. You will die a terrible death…” The pirate began to wheeze, a wet, rattling laugh escaping his throat. “Heh… heh heh… you can’t stop it. You can’t stop it…”

“The old order will surely collapse! A brand new era of Mages…” Cluny’s eyes rolled back slightly, blazing with dark fervor. “A world ruled by god… will finally arrive!”

A world ruled by god?

Chase frowned, looking down at the devoutly raving pirate. The pieces began clicking together in his mind.

The absurdly high commission fee. The massive string of missing Mages. A Dark Guild that had supposedly been suppressed years ago. The sudden, inexplicable appearance of the Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic…

Connecting the dots of this S-Class request, the distinct stench of a massive conspiracy drifted into the air.

Interesting. I didn’t expect to stumble into something this deep just by grabbing a random S-Class job for fun.

Chase was growing genuinely curious about what this Marshall character was actually plotting. But curiosity didn’t pay the bills. First things first: secure the hard-earned cash. That was the core objective of the request, after all.

Without another word, Chase drove his elbow down, knocking Cluny out cold. He procured a thick length of hemp rope from the debris, bound the pirate securely, and strung him up from Curse of Dragon’s massive skeletal claws.

Under the awestruck, envious gazes of Ina, Lambert, and the merchant crew, the skeletal dragon launched into the sky, blurring into an afterimage as it vanished over the horizon.

Aslopa City. The Abandoned Lighthouse.

BANG.

Chase kicked the heavily rusted iron door off its hinges. It slammed into the stone wall with a deafening screech.

“Request complete. Let’s settle the bill, Mr. Marshall.”

Marshall sat frozen on a wooden stool. He stared at Cluny, who had just been unceremoniously dumped onto the floorboards like a dead dog. The client’s pupils trembled. A flash of deep, unadulterated shock crossed his face—he clearly hadn’t expected Chase to actually return alive, let alone with a captive.

The gloomy, calculating shadow vanished from Marshall’s expression in a fraction of a second. He shot up from his stool, feigning overwhelming relief as he hurried toward the Mage.

“Mr. Chase! You… you really did it? Oh, thank goodness, this is wonderful!”

Marshall looked down at Cluny’s unconscious form. His thin frame began to shake. Hot tears spilled from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks in a flawless display of grief. “Finally… finally…”

“This scoundrel! This pirate who has done all sorts of wicked things… he has finally fallen into my hands!!”

Chase watched the tearful performance, clicking his tongue in silent amusement. No wonder the guy could front such a massive commission fee. With acting chops like that, how could he not be filthy rich?

After milking the dramatic weeping for all it was worth, Marshall wiped his eyes and looked up, scanning the empty space behind the S-Class Mage.

“Excuse me, but… where are the other pirates?” he asked, his voice trembling just the right amount.

“Sorry. They’re all dead,” Chase replied flatly. “Only the captain survived.”

Chase narrowed his eyes, locking a wary, piercing gaze onto the man. “He’s the culprit who murdered your wife and children, Mr. Marshall. You aren’t thinking of defaulting on my payment, are you?”

“No, no! You’ve misunderstood entirely!”

Hearing that there were zero other survivors, a subtle, subconscious sigh of relief escaped Marshall’s lips. “Good riddance! Those damned monsters deserved to die!”

Marshall forced another grateful smile. “Mr. Chase, thank you so much for your help. I am truly fortunate that you didn’t meet the same tragic end as the other Mages.”

Chase didn’t have the patience to listen to the man babble any longer. He simply held out an open palm.

“If you have no further objections, hurry up and pay. I’m a very busy man.”