Even after Alex destroys everything in that labyrinth, the Kingdom is still worried that it's not truly over yet. They are worried that monsters will still come out of the destroyed labyrinth. After all, this has happened for decades, so they can't just believe that it's already over.
The Kingdom waits for the time when the next monster wave should happen to confirm that it's truly over. It should happen 3 days after Alex destroys the labyrinth, and of course, no monster shows up at all that day.
Even after they wait for 3 more days, there's still no sign of monsters coming out of the destroyed labyrinth. The Kingdom is finally sure that the problem that has been sticking up their asses for decades has finally been solved.
Alex offers to close the massive hole with soil using Shukaku's magic, but the Kingdom refuses. The King wants to keep it like that for a few years as a reminder of that dangerous labyrinth and those deadly monsters.
It's such a great national problem that the King holds a great banquet after they confirm that the labyrinth has been destroyed. This has been a great problem since even before he was born and still a problem even after he became a King, after all.
His father, the previous King couldn't solve this problem during his whole reign as a King. So he is very happy that this problem was finally solved during his era. He is so happy that he gives Alex a noble title and a small mansion in the Capital as bonuses.
It's just an honorary title though because Alex doesn't want to be tied to a Nation. He is happier with the small mansion than the title too. After all, it's very expensive even though it's small for a mansion but big for a house.
He can't stay there though, so he rents it through a property agency that the Kingdom recommends. This way, he can get money even without doing anything. Then when he retires in the future, he won't need to worry about not having a house.
Anyway, it takes a while for Alex to return to Magnolia even after finishing his job. It's been around 2 months since he left Magnolia. This is the longest he has gone for a job because he usually finishes his jobs in just a few days.
Alex rides on Meteor's back on his way back to Magnolia. The little bear cub he found years ago has grown into a really big bear. Meteor is big enough for Alex to lay on his back and as a kind of magical beast, Meteor is much stronger than normal bears because his body is enhanced by magic power.
Even with heavy luggage and Alex on his back, Meteor can run and walk for hours. Of course, Alex won't make him run all the time and they will take proper rest every now and then. But when needed, Meteor can run very fast for a long time.
Other bears of the same species with Meteor might not be as strong as him. His great power comes from all the training Alex gave him. Even though he is a bear, he is also Alex's partner and Alex wants him to be strong, so he trains Meteor.
Meteor is smart, so he can understand Alex's instructions. Well, Meteor's training is more simple than Mages. He just needs to train his physique, increasing his magic power, and also his battle skills.
No need to train spells because the only magic his bear species can use is body strengthening. It's basic and simple, but it's also the best magic for beasts that mainly use their bodies to fight and hunt.
Because of all the training he does, Meteor is now as strong as rather strong Mages. He can't be categorized as an S-Class beast yet, but he surely can be a serious threat for Mages. After all, Meteor is strong and doesn't just fight using instincts like wild beasts.
Well, there's also a problem though. Meteor's appetite is very big, mainly because of his size. That appetite was also a reason why Alex taught him to fight and hunt. It was so Meteor can hunt his own food even though then Alex will process the prey for him.
Even so, Meteor's main job is to carry luggage and sometimes Alex also rides him. He only fights once in a while when their opponents are not too strong so Meteor can get fighting experience.
There aren't many chances for Meteor to fight because Alex's jobs are difficult, so their opponents are powerful. It's also the case now on their way back home. Although their job is already over, they still need to face some people who annoyingly get in their way.
"I don't know how you guys find my location, but I know that you don't come here just for a chat. So what do you want? Make it quick and I won't be pissed."
Alex is looking at the 6 people that suddenly surround them while they rest. He knows these people well, they are the 6 strongest people from Phantom Lord. Guild Master Jose, Gajeel, Aria, Juvia, Sol, and Totomaru.
This is not the first time Alex meets some of them. He has met them many times because he often accompanied Makarov in the Guild Masters annual meeting. Also, Jose has tried to recruit him to Phantom Lord many times since he became an S-Class.
"Fufufu, it's been a while, Alex-san. You are so cold as usual. But you see, I don't want to take a no this time. Either you join Phantom Lord now, or everyone will hear that you die in an accident." Jose smiles sinisterly while holding his hat.
"How scary. It must be a very deadly accident for an S-Class Mage who has just cleared a 10 Years Quest to get killed in it. Well, I just hope that the news won't turn into a Guild Master getting killed in an accident, so his Guild is disbanded." Alex grins as he transforms his right arm into Isobu's arm.
Then he opens a dimension portal beneath Meteor. Isobu actually has a Space-Time ability where he can open portals to another dimension. But Alex can't use it for too long because it consumes too much magic power, so he only uses it to hide for a while.
He rarely uses it for himself and mostly uses it to hide Meteor when he needs to fight powerful opponents like these because it will be too dangerous for Meteor to stay near Alex when he fights.
Anyway, Alex has been wondering what to do with Phantom Lord for a while now. He wants to recruit Gajeel and Juvia because they are also important characters. But he wasn't sure if Phantom Lord will attack Fairy Tail because he has changed many things.
In the story, Phantom Lord will use Jude's request for them to take Lucy from Fairy Tail as an excuse to attack Fairy Tail. Both Guilds have been at each other's throats for decades, but they lack reason to truly fight each other, so Phantom Lord sees Jude's request as a great opportunity.
If they succeed, they would destroy their nemesis while also receiving great financial support from the Heartfilia family. But now, Jude won't issue such a request because he has a good relationship with his daughter and Lucy also joins Fairy Tail with her parents' approval.
So Alex had a headache when thinking of how to recruit Gajeel and Juvia. He doesn't really care about destroying Phantom Lord and just wants to recruit those 2. But it seems Jose's ambition to destroy Fairy Tail is just too strong.
Jose has been trying to recruit Alex so many times. It's because Alex has made many remarkable achievements like clearing many S and SS-Class jobs. Now he even cleared a 10 Years Quest job.
Alex is 2nd rank in Fairy Tail when it comes to job achievements. Only Gildarts has more achievement than him and he has left the others in the dust. Laxus has tried to chase him, but Alex still manages to do more.
His great achievements raised Fairy Tail's fame even higher and it really annoyed Phantom Lord. Furthermore, Alex is different from the other Fairy Tail Mages. He almost never caused troubles in his jobs, so his reputation is great and it helps keep Fairy Tail's name great in people's eyes.
But that's also the reason why he becomes an eyesore in Jose's eyes. If Alex keeps doing greatly, then Fairy Tail will leave Phantom Lord in the dust even though they are still quite equal now. That's why Jose tried to recruit Alex because if Alex joins them, then it will be Phantom Lord that receives great benefits.
Actually, Phantom Lord doesn't just try to lure Alex into their Guild. They also try to recruit the other S-Classes, even Laxus because if they succeed, they can strengthen their Guild while weakening Fairy Tail. But they are more proactive at recruiting Alex because Jose thinks that Alex is the only one who can surpass Gildarts.
Too bad that Alex doesn't have any interest in joining Phantom Lord. He joined Fairy Tail to get involved in this world's main events, after all. Something that he won't get if he joins any other Guilds, so there's no way he'll join Phantom Lord.
"My answer is still the same. I won't join, so fuck off, Jose." Alex doesn't want to take anymore bullshits, so he'll end this farce here.
"Then I guess I won't let you return. I can't let Fairy Tail stand higher than us by having a bright star like you. How unfortunate. You can become a brighter star with us, but you choose to be a falling star that only shines for a while before disappearing."
Jose and the Phantom Lord S-Class squad are prepared to fight Alex. This is very different from how it goes in the series, but Alex doesn't have any problem with it. It looks like it will be very exciting, after all.
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Ch. 153. Alex vs Acnologia