Chapter 117

"The proposal regarding the Magic Knight Tournament shall be postponed for now."

At this moment, Princess Jade's emotions were also unsettled.

Seeing her ministers staring at her with confused expressions, Princess Jade hastily ended the meeting and swiftly chased after the direction in which King Fiore, her father, had departed.

"Your Highness."

"What has happened?"

Outside the meeting hall, a burly middle-aged man clad in knight's armor hurried forward to meet Princess Jade as she emerged in haste, his face etched with concern.

Just now, King Fiore wore that same expression; now Princess Jade wears it too.

This burly middle-aged knight was the captain of the Sakura Knights, Arcadius, who normally guarded Princess Jade's side.

He was also one of the implementers of the Eclipse Plan in the original text.

"The Bai Hu squad cannot be reached."

"If nothing unexpected occurred, something major must have happened."

Upon hearing Arcadius's inquiry, Princess Jade did not hesitate but spoke with grave worry: "The Dragon's Lament Scepter, stationed in Jibei for surveillance, may have been lost."

As the future heir to the Fiore Kingdom, Princess Jade was aware of certain classified matters concerning Fiore, and the captain of the Sakura Knights had long been generations of loyal service to the royal family of the Fiore Kingdom.

Thus, Princess Jade had no reason to conceal this from Arcadius.

"The Bai Hu squad cannot be reached?!"

"The Bai Hu squad is our Fiore Kingdom's elite..."

Arcadius's pupils contracted slightly.

As one of the highest-ranking military figures in the Fiore Kingdom, Arcadius knew full well just how luxurious the Bai Hu squad's composition was.

The captain of the Bai Hu squad was an S-rank Magic Knight, one of the most seasoned, nearing the level of the Top Ten Magic Knights.

All ten members were elite among elites, all A-rank Magic Knights; even if a Top Ten Magic Knight personally intervened, it would be nearly impossible for the Bai Hu squad to send not a single message.

Unless it was... the Top Four of the Top Ten Magic Knights.

Wait.

"Yes, it must be the Top Four of the Top Ten Magic Knights."

"You've surely seen today's latest intelligence, Arcadius."

Looking at the Sakura Knights captain whose expression shifted uneasily, Princess Jade's face darkened as she whispered softly: "The pride of the Magic Knight Council, its youngest councilor, Ninth of the Top Ten Magic Knights, Zikrein, is a thought-form."

"His true body is Jellal, the madman preparing to use System R to resurrect the First Dark Magic Knight, Zeref."

"A thought-form already possesses power on the level of a Top Ten Magic Knight—do you understand what that means?"

"Once he returns to his true body and restores Jellal's power to its peak, even if he doesn't reach the strength of the Top Four, he will be very close."

News that the Magic Knight Council had been thrown into chaos by councilor Zikrein had spread across the entire world.

As an organization with the status of a global police force, the Magic Knight Council's massive blunder naturally delighted all nations on the continent, who relished its humiliation.

Moreover, because the Magic Knight Council had been manipulated by a scheming councilor using Magic Spirit Power, every faction was eager to kick it while it was down—this generation's Council President and councilors had long been deeply resented.

The Fiore Kingdom was among the many nations taking advantage of the situation.

Yet what Princess Jade had not anticipated was that Jellal, instead of vanishing quietly, dared to stir up trouble again—and targeted the Fiore Kingdom itself.

What troubled Princess Jade most was that Jellal's target was disturbingly precise.

He had directly uncovered Fiore's secret and traveled to Jibei to seek the Dragon's Lament, which Fiore guarded with extreme secrecy.

Know that Fiore not only placed the guard post in the remote, uninhabited Jibei, but also concealed the location with an ultra-large-scale concealment spell.

Normally, even if one passed directly over it, one could not possibly detect the Gao Ta where the Dragon's Lament Scepter was stored.

"So he possesses power approaching that of the Top Four of the Top Ten Magic Knights?"

"No wonder the Bai Hu squad couldn't even send a single message."

Arcadius, captain of the Sakura Knights, fell silent.

In terms of strength, Arcadius himself possessed S-rank Magic Knight power; yet precisely because he possessed such strength, he understood the terrifying gap between himself and a Top Ten Magic Knight.

He also understood just how terrifying the power of the Top Four of the Top Ten Magic Knights truly was.

"We can no longer rely on the Magic Knight Council."

"This time, the current Council President and all councilors may be forced to step down."

Princess Jade's expression gradually grew calm.

As the future heir to the Fiore Kingdom, Princess Jade's mental fortitude was quite strong.

Looking at Arcadius, she said firmly: "Arcadius, lead the Sakura Knights immediately to Jibei to confirm the situation there."

"Go swiftly and return swiftly."

Having spoken, Princess Jade ignored Arcadius and swiftly walked toward her chambers.

Because this morning's meeting concerned the Magic Knight Tournament, Princess Jade had merely glanced at the intelligence before attending the meeting.

This time, Princess Jade intended to carefully examine the intelligence reports sent by the Fiore Kingdom's Intelligence Department.

If she remembered correctly, the reports contained information regarding Jellal.

In short, under Lin Cheng's planning, the entire Fiore Kingdom was secretly mobilizing to locate Jellal and recover the stolen Dragon's Lament Scepter.

Of course, knowing that Jellal possessed terrifying power comparable to the Top Four of the Top Ten Magic Knights, while the Fiore Kingdom fully mobilized to track Jellal's whereabouts, it also reached out to various external forces.

Among them, Fairy Tail, as Fiore Kingdom's strongest Magic Knight guild, was naturally contacted.