"No, listen, your sibling bond is touching, and I’m happy for you, really. That’s your business..."

"But why do I have to be the price of your warm and fuzzy sibling affection?! Isn’t that a bit unfair to me?!"

Gajeel’s forehead was bulging with veins. He was not some gift meant to prove how close a brother and sister were! Dammit!!

"I’m a person, not some thing you can just pass back and forth between yourselves!"

"Did either of you even ask me before offering me up like a present?! Did I say yes?!"

Gajeel roared at the doting pair in front of him.

Right now, Evan stood before him, eyes full of affection as he gazed at his little sister Erza.

Erza, sweet and obedient as ever, stood cutely in front of Evan after stepping out of his embrace...

Only Gajeel was left wide-eyed, his small pupils full of confusion.

So what was the "price" for this display of sibling affection? It was him, Iron Dragon Gajeel, being handed off like a gift...

"Seriously, how does that Fairy Tail guild of yours even teach people?"

"You don’t even know how to ask others for their opinion before snatching someone up like a damn souvenir? This is literally what traffickers do, isn’t it?"

"Are you sure you’re not from some dark guild or something?"

Gajeel couldn’t help but rant. Sure, Phantom Lord wasn’t the most noble guild, but at least their dirt stayed behind closed doors. On the surface, they kept up appearances.

But what was up with this pair of Fairy Tail siblings?! Not even a sliver of regard for consent? Just swooping in and snatching people? That’s straight-up dark guild behavior...

"Huh? You mean you don’t agree?"

Evan ruffled Erza’s hair gently before releasing her. She stepped forward, all well-mannered and polite. Evan then turned to look at Gajeel and asked, smiling,

"Wait, should I have agreed to that?!"

Gajeel twitched at the corner of his eye. How could this guy ask something so absurd with such a serious face?

This was like walking down a busy street, spotting someone tall, dark, and muscular, and going, "Hey, you look like a great laborer, want to be my slave?"

Who in their right mind would ever say yes to that?!

"Of course I don’t agree! Why the hell would I?!"

As any sane person would, Gajeel flat-out rejected the idea and shouted at Evan, livid.

"Ohh, so you don’t agree?"

Evan looked genuinely surprised. He scanned Gajeel up and down like he was seeing him in a new light.

"What’s with that look?!"

"Do I look like someone who’d casually agree to become someone else’s slave?!"

Gajeel could hardly believe what he was seeing. If he weren’t so outmatched, he would’ve taken a swing by now!

"Well, first of all, weapons and slaves aren’t the same thing. A weapon is more like a comrade, right?"

"But hey, about what I said earlier, haha, I apologize! Your reaction just caught me off guard..."

"I really thought you’d already agreed to become my sister’s weapon."

Evan chuckled lightly, showing not the slightest concern for Gajeel’s rage.

"If you didn’t agree, then why’d you follow me back here?"

"You’re not planning on becoming my sister’s weapon, yet you still came along. That feels... a bit suspicious, don’t you think?"

Evan eyed Gajeel with a teasing smile, clearly catching the contradiction in Gajeel’s behavior.

"Wait... don’t tell me you forgot what just happened?"

"Did you ask me anything? Even one word?"

"Need a reminder? I was just walking down the road, minding my own business, and BAM, you popped up out of nowhere beside me."

"Before I could react or dodge, you dragged me all the way over here, stood in front of your precious sister Erza, and without my consent, declared me a gift and handed me over to her."

"Did you say even one word to me in all that?"

Gajeel’s eye twitched. He was out of words...

"See? That’s on you."

"Most people I catch scream for help. But you didn’t. So I assumed you were cool with it~"

Evan quickly spun Gajeel’s words around and threw them back at him.

"I..."

Gajeel was stunned speechless. He didn’t even know how to respond anymore.

He, Gajeel of Phantom Lord, Iron Dragon Slayer, had just been racing down the road planning to catch the next train and head back to the guild to bring reinforcements,

Then Evan just grabbed him. Not a single word was exchanged. As a Phantom Lord mage, he couldn’t act rashly, so he kept silent, trying to assess the situation... but now somehow it was all his fault?

"Anyway, Iron Dragon Gajeel, just come back to Fairy Tail with me."

Evan looked pleased at having flustered him, but then his smile faded. With a firm tone, he added,

"This isn’t up for discussion."

"Hey! I’m still a Phantom Lord mage! Do you even realize what this means?!"

"Are you telling me Fairy Tail’s about to declare war on Phantom Lord?!"

Cold sweat trickled down Gajeel’s forehead. He could feel that Evan wasn’t bluffing, this guy really intended to take him back.

If Gajeel, a member of Phantom Lord, got forcibly taken to Fairy Tail, there was no turning back. It would absolutely lead to open war between the two guilds.

But the truth was, Gajeel had no idea what Phantom Lord was really planning with this operation targeting Erza.

In fact, Gajeel was an outcast within Phantom Lord. No one told him anything...

He had assumed that Fairy Tail’s Erza had used her guild’s backing to attack them first during a mission, and Phantom Lord was simply seeking revenge.

Even so, he’d refused to join the others. He’d wanted to face Erza alone and prove himself.

Earlier, he had only decided to head back for help because Erza had single-handedly wiped out all the other Phantom Lord mages. He wanted to report the situation... but somehow it had spiraled into all of this.

"Wow... So you do understand that attacking members of another guild means declaring war?"

Evan suddenly chuckled, amused by Gajeel’s statement.

"Huh?"

Gajeel blinked in confusion, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Fairy Tail’s war with Phantom Lord already began the moment Phantom Lord decided to target my mother and sister."

As Evan said those words, a terrifying aura of magic erupted from him, making the air heavy and oppressive.

"What?!"

Gajeel froze. He hadn’t known that Phantom Lord was planning to go after Evan’s mother and sister, that revelation stunned him.

"Unstoppable... This guy is a monster..."

"Damn it, what the hell was the guild thinking? They actually tried to mess with someone like this?! Do they have a death wish?!"

Before Gajeel could think further, Evan’s overwhelming magic pressure hit him like a tidal wave, leaving him pale with fear.

Honestly, Gajeel had never felt power like this before. Not even Phantom Lord’s former Guild Master Jose Porla came close.

Evan’s magic was so vast, it was suffocating, like they didn’t even exist on the same plane...

"I lost fair and square. You captured me, fine. But if this turns into a war between our guilds... it’s not going to end well..."

Gajeel broke into a cold sweat. He had never cared much for Phantom Lord’s internal affairs. The only reason he joined the mission to confront Erza was to compare their strengths.

He had only wanted to see if, with his own strength, he could defeat an S-Class Mage from Fairy Tail.

And then... he was utterly crushed by Erza.

In truth, even now Gajeel hadn’t realized the full gravity of the situation. At the time, it never even crossed his mind that attacking Erza could spark a war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail.

After all, challenging stronger mages was fairly common in the magical world. But now, after seeing Evan in person, hearing his words, and feeling the overwhelming magic surging from his body, Gajeel finally understood just how terrifying and catastrophic the consequences of Phantom Lord’s actions might be.

"Oh, so you think it’s just natural to be captured when you’re weaker~?"

Evan narrowed his eyes at Gajeel’s words.

"Looks like you really do have potential as a weapon~"

With that, Evan gave Gajeel a rather high compliment, though it had nothing to do with Gajeel’s character.

"Uh..."

Gajeel was at a loss. So in the end, his only "talent" was being a good weapon?

"As for the war between Phantom Lord and our Fairy Tail guild, you don’t need to worry about it."

"The war is already over. Just a moment ago, I destroyed every Phantom Lord guild within Fiore, headquarters and all branch guilds included."

Evan’s tone was warm and friendly as he looked at Gajeel. But the words he spoke sent chills down Gajeel’s spine.

"You’re saying... you destroyed all of Phantom Lord’s guilds in Fiore?!"

Gajeel’s pupils trembled. He thought he had misheard.

"That’s right."

"So just come along quietly as a weapon and return to Fairy Tail with me~"

Evan smiled gently as he placed a heavy, firm hand on Gajeel’s shoulder and gave it a pat.

"Gulp..."

Gajeel stared at that hand on his shoulder and swallowed hard.

Even though Evan was smiling as he spoke, to Gajeel, it sounded like a whisper directly in his ear,

"Kid, if you don’t agree to come back as a weapon, I’ll cripple you right here and now."

"I-I’ll go, okay?!"

Gajeel’s eye twitched. He gave a small nod. It was clear he had no room to refuse.

"Great! I’m so glad you agreed~"

Evan withdrew his hand, looking pleased, and turned to Erza.

"Erza, he’s agreed to be your weapon~"

"As expected of Big Brother Evan!"

Erza grinned and pumped her tiny fists. She knew that if she left things to Evan, everything would be taken care of perfectly.

"Now then, as for all this trash you just cleaned up, let’s clear it all out!"

"After all, we’re a guild of righteous mages from Fairy Tail. We should protect nature and the environment. Otherwise, Master Warrod might start crying~"

Evan looked around at the heap of Phantom Lord mages Erza had flattened using Gajeel as a flying sword. In Evan’s eyes, they were nothing more than trash.

With that, Evan snapped his fingers lightly.

Snap

Accompanied by a soft sound, beams of white light surrounded the Phantom Lord mages. The next second, they all vanished from the scene.

They had been sent straight to BLACKVOX, the mage prison, to keep their dear guild master Jose Porla company.

However, in Gajeel’s eyes, this scene looked... very different.

"What... what just happened?! Did he kill all of them?!"

"How brutal! There’s not even a trace left behind, he wiped them out completely! That was so clean and precise... this definitely wasn’t his first time doing something like this..."

Gajeel stared at the empty space where the mages had just been, eyes wide with horror.

He had seen it with his own eyes, Evan had killed them all, his fellow Phantom Lord mages. And not just that, but so mercilessly that not a single trace was left behind. It was terrifyingly professional.

If this were any other legal guild, Gajeel would never have believed they’d do such a thing, slaughtering another legal guild’s members like that.

But Evan was different.

In Gajeel’s eyes, Evan wasn’t just dangerous, he wasn’t even human.

It was terrifying how effortlessly Evan could commit such atrocities. For someone like Evan, this kind of thing was probably nothing out of the ordinary...

That realization left Gajeel deeply shaken, too frightened now to resist in any way.

And so, unintentionally, Evan had completely subdued Gajeel.

"Haha, and now the road’s all clean again~"

Evan smiled brightly at Erza, pleased with the tidy aftermath.

"As expected of Big Brother Evan!"

Erza gave him a big thumbs-up, her eyes full of admiration.

In truth, no matter what Evan did, Erza would always look at him that way. In her eyes, everything Evan did was right.

But to Gajeel... this was something else entirely.

"Her brother just killed dozens of people, and the sister is still smiling like nothing happened? What kind of twisted siblings are these?!"

Gajeel shuddered. Even with his proud and aggressive nature, this scene completely stunned him.

"Something’s not right. These two give me a very bad feeling..."

"They’re not normal at all..."

Sweat beaded on Gajeel’s forehead. He had so much he wanted to say, but he dared not speak a word. He was terrified that saying the wrong thing might cost him even the "privilege" of being a weapon.

And if that happened... knowing these two monsters, they might just kill him without a second thought.

Buzz

Just then, a flash of light appeared, and a tall, voluptuous, elegant woman with beautiful crimson hair, identical to Erza’s, and breathtaking looks stepped forward in a magical robe, standing before Evan and Erza.

"Mom~!"

Erza beamed the moment she saw the woman and called out sweetly.

"Irene, you’re here?"

Evan also looked surprised for a moment, then smiled.

"Evan, Erza, so you’re both here too~"

Yes, the newcomer was none other than Irene, who now smiled as she greeted her two children.

"Looks like you were attacked too~"

She sensed the lingering magical energy in the air and immediately pieced things together.

"Wait... Mom, you were attacked too?!"

Erza’s face darkened with a frown, her eyes glinting with anger.

She didn’t really care much when people targeted her.

But no one was allowed to lay a hand on her mother, Irene.

"Don’t worry, Erza~"

"The ones who attacked me have already been dealt with~"

Irene smiled, lifting a hand to gently squeeze Erza’s small, smooth cheeks as she spoke soothingly.

"Phew... good..."

Erza let out a soft breath of relief. She didn’t resist as her face was lovingly pinched, only relaxing further once she knew the attackers had been taken care of.

"Uhh..."

Meanwhile, Gajeel was trembling after hearing their conversation.

Because Irene hadn’t even bothered to suppress her magical aura, Gajeel could clearly feel it. This woman, who looked like a perfect mold of Erza, radiated a terrifying magic power beyond comprehension.

There was no doubt in Gajeel’s mind now, this was Evan and Erza’s mother.

But what shocked him most... was when she casually said that she had already "taken care of" the ones who attacked her.

That meant... like Evan, she killed them all too?!

What kind of demonic family is this?!

Gajeel could only smile bitterly to himself,

"Why the hell did we ever think it was a good idea to mess with this family?!"