Chapter 402: Gildarts Returns!
Upon returning to the guild, Noah immediately made his way to the bar counter.
"Something up?" Laxus asked bluntly, noting the serious expression on Noah's face. The two were incredibly familiar with one another; Laxus could tell at a glance when Noah had business to discuss.
"Yeah. Something's up," Noah nodded. He glanced around the bustling guildhall to ensure no one else was within earshot, save for Master Makarov.
Leaning in, he quietly relayed everything Mystogan had told him about the escalating Anima situation.
"I see. How do you plan to handle this?" Makarov asked, looking between Noah and Laxus.
"I'm going to reinforce Magnolia's Anima detection arrays and finalize our preparations. Then, we wait for Mystogan's signal. The moment Anima manifests, we are going to hijack the dimensional portal it creates, cross over into their world, and cut this problem off at the root. The portals they're opening now should finally be stable enough for us to pass through safely," Noah explained.
Ever since he first learned about Anima from Mystogan, Noah had secretly installed advanced detection arrays all over the guildhall. It was a necessary precaution against the day Anima might suddenly materialize over Magnolia and attempt to swallow them whole.
Anima was specifically designed to target areas with massive concentrations of magic power. Naturally, Fairy Tail—a guild overflowing with exceptional wizards—was a prime target. The mere presence of absolute monsters like Noah and Gildarts only magnified that gravitational pull.
It wasn't that Noah had never considered diving into an Anima portal to invade Edolas before. The issue was that, initially, he hadn't fully grasped the spatial physics behind the magic. Without understanding the mechanics, he couldn't guarantee a safe dimensional transit.
In a desperate situation to save kidnapped comrades, diving in blindly might be necessary. But since he had the luxury of time and foresight, charging into an unstable spatial rift would have been incredibly irresponsible.
So, Noah had dedicated an extensive amount of time to studying Anima's dimensional frequency, eventually unraveling its core mechanics. While he couldn't forcefully open a portal to Edolas on his own just yet, he could easily stabilize an existing one to ensure safe passage.
During his experiments, Noah had discovered a critical flaw in the enemy's portal design. The magic was engineered to convert biological targets into pure Lacrima before transporting them. If a target passed through in Lacrima form, their magical capacity didn't matter. But if a wizard tried to cross through without being crystallized, their internal magical power would violently clash with the portal's threshold.
If the magic inside the traveler exceeded the portal's structural limit, the dimensional tunnel would instantaneously collapse, shredding whoever was inside with chaotic spatial turbulence. Noah had proven this theory by throwing a box containing a massive amount of highly condensed magic into an active Anima portal. The rift had violently shattered, violently spewing razor-sharp spatial fragments everywhere. Had Noah not reacted with lightning speed to shield himself, he would have been severely injured.
Ever since that terrifying discovery, Noah had sworn he wouldn't step foot inside Anima until the pathway was absolutely secure. Given his own monstrous magical reserves, forcing his way into a weak portal would essentially act as a spatial bomb.
Fortunately, Edolas had grown desperate, steadily increasing the size and stability of their portals. Knowing that Mystogan was now struggling to suppress the rifts meant the current Anima portals were massive. With a few of Noah's stabilization arrays applied on the fly, it would be strong enough to handle his magical signature.
"In that case, I'll go make my own preparations. When the time comes, we cross over and end this together," Laxus stated firmly. This was a continental threat; he was more than willing to lend his overwhelming strength to the cause. He was confident enough in his lightning magic to know he wouldn't be a burden.
"If you two handle it that way, I see no glaring issues," Makarov agreed after a moment of careful thought. With the situation still developing, they had no way to forcefully breach the alternate dimension anyway. Their only option was to wait for the enemy to open the door, then kick it down.
"I'll inform Ultear and the rest of our team so they can gear up. We're keeping this strictly to a small, elite strike force. Taking too many people into an unknown, magic-deprived world is a tactical liability," Noah added.
"Agreed. You go tell them," Makarov nodded. Launching a counter-invasion against an entire alternate kingdom definitely required a highly mobile, devastatingly powerful elite squad.
Noah left the bar and gathered Ultear, Sorano, Erza, Mirajane, and the others, quietly briefing them on the upcoming mission.
"Another world, huh? I wonder what it's like!" Sorano smiled, her eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.
"Do you think they have entirely new, undiscovered varieties of strawberry cake?!" Erza gasped, completely missing the gravity of the situation.
"I mean... it's a parallel dimension, so probably?" Ultear reasoned, tapping her chin.
"Wait... that's the world Edolas Lisanna, Happy, and Carla are originally from. Doesn't that mean... we're going to have to say goodbye to her?" Mirajane realized, her cheerful demeanor instantly crashing into profound sadness.
Hearing Mirajane's words, reality came crashing down on the rest of the group.
Edolas Lisanna wasn't originally from Earth Land; she had accidentally crossed over two years ago. Unlike Happy and Carla, who had hatched and been raised in Earth Land, Edolas Lisanna had spent her entire life in the alternate dimension. Despite spending two wonderful years with Fairy Tail, Edolas was her true home. Returning was inevitable.
Even though they all knew this day would eventually come, confronting the reality of her departure left Mirajane heartbroken. Noah and the others felt a deep pang of sorrow as well. Over the past two years, they had grown incredibly fond of the sweet, understanding girl who looked identical to their own Lisanna.
"Based on the dimensional patterns, we still have a little time before the next massive Anima forms. Let's throw a grand farewell banquet for her. We'll send her off with a smile," Noah proposed gently.
"Yes. That's a wonderful idea. We need to plan something truly special," Mirajane agreed, forcing herself to perk up for the sake of her alternate-dimension sister.
"We'll help you with everything," Ultear promised, placing a comforting hand on Mirajane's shoulder.
"Leave the heavy lifting to us!" Sorano declared confidently, thumping her chest.
With the decision made, the girls immediately sprang into action.
First, Mirajane sat down with Earth Land Lisanna, Elfman, and Edolas Lisanna to explain the impending Anima portal.
Upon realizing she was finally going home, Edolas Lisanna was flooded with a complicated mix of overwhelming joy and bitter reluctance. She had loved her time in Earth Land. Having alternate versions of her brother and sister dote on her, having an Earth Land twin to share secrets with, experiencing an endless variety of wild magic, and seeing breathtaking landscapes—it had been a dream.
But Edolas was her real world, and she knew she had to go back to her real family.
Accepting her fate, she began packing her belongings. She carefully sorted through the massive album of photographs she had taken over the past two years, determined to show her Edolas guildmates the wonders of Earth Land.
Noah specifically warned her against taking any Lacrima-powered or magic-reliant items back with her. Edolas's magical particles were rapidly depleting—a reality Noah couldn't change. Any magical tools would become useless paperweights in the near future, so she needed to focus entirely on mechanical, non-magical items. Since Mystogan was planning to execute a massive, permanent solution this time, Noah knew magic in Edolas was on its last legs.
Understanding the logic, Edolas Lisanna swapped out all her magic-based souvenirs for practical alternatives. She even returned several highly potent magical defense items to Mirajane—gifts the barmaid had explicitly bought to keep her safe once she learned the truth about Edolas. Mirajane was initially confused by the return, but after Noah quickly explained the mana-depletion issue, she helped Edolas Lisanna liquidate her magical gear into more useful, practical supplies.
Once everything was perfectly organized, Mirajane stored the luggage inside her Spatial Storage to safely transport it during the upcoming mission.
Meanwhile, Earth Land Lisanna and Elfman teamed up with Ultear's group to secretly organize the ultimate farewell party.
It was during this frantic preparation phase that Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Levy, and the rest of the guild finally learned the truth: the second Lisanna was actually from a parallel universe.
Naturally, they were completely mind-blown. They completely surrounded Edolas Lisanna, staring at her in intense curiosity, bombarding her with endless questions about her world until Mirajane violently shooed them away.
Surprisingly, no one was upset about being kept in the dark. They universally understood that being an anomaly from another dimension made her a prime target for dark guilds or magical researchers, so hiding her identity had been the safest play. It made sense to only reveal it now that she was leaving.
Though deeply saddened by her impending departure, the guild channeled their grief into raw motivation, dedicating several days to ensuring the farewell banquet would be a legendary, unforgettable send-off.
A few days later, the guildhall was a flurry of chaotic activity. Members were hanging streamers, setting up lights, and carrying massive tables to prepare for the feast.
Because Natsu and Gray had inevitably brawled the day before and completely destroyed half the decorations, they were currently under the terrifying, microscopic supervision of Erza and Ultear. Other notorious troublemakers were similarly being policed by their saner guildmates to prevent a repeat disaster.
"This is completely unfair! Popsicle started it yesterday, so I just fought back! It's totally his fault!" Natsu complained loudly while hanging a banner.
"What?! You're blaming me, Ash-Brain?! It was obviously your fault!" Gray roared from across the room, dropping the chairs he was carrying.
"Shut up, Stripper! You threw the first punch yesterday! You wanna go right now?!" Natsu bellowed, tossing his banner aside and squaring up.
"Bring it on, lizard breath! I'm not scared of you!" Gray charged forward, ready to throw hands.
BAM! BAM!
Before the two idiots could even clash, Erza and Ultear instantaneously materialized beside them and delivered two devastating, synchronized downward punches.
The sheer kinetic force drove Natsu and Gray head-first entirely through the solid wooden floorboards, burying them up to their shoulders in the foundation.
"You two absolutely never learn! You destroyed the hall yesterday, and you're already trying to do it again?!" Erza cracked her knuckles, glaring down at Natsu's twitching legs with terrifying murderous intent.
"It seems we didn't beat the lesson into your thick skulls hard enough," Ultear hissed, her eyes glowing dangerously as she stared at the half-buried Ice wizard.
Watching the two S-Class demonesses flex their aura, the rest of the guild instantly froze, too terrified to even breathe loudly. The wizards who had participated in yesterday's brawl immediately shrank into the background, desperately trying to erase their own presence so they wouldn't be next.
"We have a massive emergency!"
Suddenly, a guild member kicked the front doors open, screaming at the top of his lungs.
At that exact moment, the deafening toll of the Magnolia cathedral bell echoed throughout the city.
CLANG—! CLANG—! CLANG—!
Hearing the frantic wizard and the heavy, rhythmic toll of the bell, every single veteran member of Fairy Tail instantly stopped what they were doing. The chaotic guildhall plunged into absolute, pin-drop silence as everyone tilted their heads, carefully analyzing the specific rhythm of the ringing.
The newer recruits who had joined within the last three years looked around in complete bewilderment, but seeing the terrifyingly serious expressions on the veterans' faces, they wisely kept their mouths shut. The heavy ringing of the bell was the only sound echoing through the hall.
POP!
Natsu violently yanked his head out of the splintered floorboards, a massive, uncontainable grin stretching across his face.
"This bell rhythm... it has to be..." Natsu trembled with excitement.
"Aye!" Happy cheered, vibrating in the air.
"Oh man! Oh man, oh man!" Elfman gasped, his eyes going wide.
POP!
Gray yanked his own head free, entirely forgetting about his impending execution as a wildly excited smile mirrored Natsu's. "Could it actually be?!"
"Juvia doesn't understand..." Juvia murmured, looking at Gray's ecstatic expression in utter confusion.
"Gildarts is back!" Natsu roared at the top of his lungs.
"AYE!" Happy screamed in pure joy.
"Gildarts?" Lucy blinked, turning to the older girls. "I remember reading about him. He's an S-Class mage, right? People say he's the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail."
"Yeah, Gildarts is an absolute monster. He and Noah are undeniably the two strongest mages in the entire guild," Sorano confirmed, nodding seriously.
"But... why is everyone acting like it's a massive festival?" Lucy asked, looking around the guildhall. The veterans were practically weeping with joy, while the newer members just looked incredibly confused.
"I can't blame everyone for acting like this," Sorano chuckled softly.
Lucy tilted her head, silently prompting her to explain.
"He hasn't been back in three whole years," Sorano revealed.
"Three years?!" Lucy gasped in shock. "What on earth has he been doing for three years?!"
As far as Lucy understood the wizarding world, even high-end jobs usually only took a few days or a couple of weeks at most. Being gone for three consecutive years without returning home was completely unheard of.
"Working, obviously. Above your standard requests are the highly dangerous S-Class jobs. Above those are the SS-Class jobs. And above those are the legendary Ten-Year Quests—jobs so insanely difficult that no one has been able to complete them in an entire decade," Sorano explained patiently.
She paused for dramatic effect, locking eyes with the celestial wizard. "Gildarts is currently attempting a level even higher than that. He's on a One-Hundred-Year Quest!"
Lucy's pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates, completely paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of Sorano's words.
Outside the guildhall doors, the frantic, overlapping screams of Magnolia's citizens began bleeding into the room.
"It's Gildarts!"
"Gildarts has returned!"
Suddenly, the city-wide magical broadcast system crackled to life, projecting a booming voice across the entirety of Magnolia.
"ATTENTION! The City of Magnolia will now shift into the Gildarts Configuration! I repeat, shifting to Gildarts Mode! All citizens, please proceed to your designated safe positions immediately! I repeat..."
~~~
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