Chapter 411: Fairy Hunter Erza
"Why do you look exactly like me?!"
Edolas Lucy stared in absolute shock at the woman standing in front of her. Driven by pure instinct, she finally released her punishing chokehold on Natsu and stepped back, her eyes locked on her exact duplicate.
"Do you think she has a twin sister?"
"Yeah, maybe your parents just never told you about her?"
"Honestly... I think I like this new one better. She seems a lot sweeter than ours," an Edolas member whispered from the back.
"WHO SAID THAT?!" Edolas Lucy roared, furiously whipping her head around to glare at her guildmates.
The entire guild instantly whistled innocently, looking everywhere but at her. Unable to pinpoint the culprit, Edolas Lucy huffed and turned her attention back to Earth Land Lucy.
"For the record, I absolutely do not have a twin sister. I'm an only child," she declared firmly. "So, who the hell are you? And why do you have my face?!"
"M-Me? I'm Lucy too! But I'm from Earth Land!" Earth Land Lucy stammered, intimidated by her counterpart's aggressive delinquent energy.
"Earth Land? What the hell are you talking about? I've never heard of a place called that," Edolas Lucy frowned, crossing her arms. The rest of the Edolas guild looked equally confused.
Earth Land Lucy looked helplessly at Noah. Stepping forward, Noah drew the attention of the entire Edolas guild.
"Lisanna, I think this is your cue. You're the best person to explain this," Noah said, looking back over his shoulder.
"Lisanna?!"
The Edolas Fairy Tail members gasped in unison. That name held a massive, heartbreaking weight in their guild.
"Everyone..."
Lisanna slowly stepped out from behind the group. Her hands were clamped tightly over her mouth, and thick tears were already streaming down her face.
"Lisanna?!" Edolas Elfman stared at her, completely unable to process what he was seeing.
He violently rubbed his eyes until they were bloodshot, completely terrified that he was hallucinating. But when he opened them again, she was still there. The sister he had mourned and missed every single day for the past two years was standing right in front of him.
Tears completely blurred his vision. He wanted to reach out, but he was paralyzed by the suffocating fear that if he touched her, the dream would shatter and she would disappear again. His trembling hand froze in mid-air.
"It's me... It's really me, Elf-nii... I'm home..." Lisanna sobbed. She rushed forward, grabbing Edolas Elfman's trembling hand and pressing it tightly against her own cheek.
"Lisanna!"
A figure with flowing white hair practically tackled her. Edolas Mirajane's knees buckled the second she reached them, nearly dragging both of them to the floor. Lisanna quickly let go of Elfman's hand and threw her arms around her older sister.
Edolas Mirajane hugged her back with bone-crushing force. She pulled back just enough to cup Lisanna's face in her hands, tears freely pouring down her cheeks.
"Is it really you? Is it really my Lisanna?" Edolas Mirajane wept.
"It's me... I swear it's really me. I came back, Mira-nee," Lisanna cried, burying her face in her sister's shoulder.
"Lisanna!" Edolas Elfman finally broke, wrapping his massive arms around both of them as the three siblings collapsed into a tearful, desperate hug.
"It's actually Lisanna?!"
"She really came back!"
"But didn't Mira and Elfman say she fell from a massive height? We thought she died!"
"She must have survived the fall!"
"But where has she been all this time? Why did it take her two years to come back?"
"Maybe she was recovering from severe injuries?"
The Edolas guild members chattered excitedly among themselves, wiping tears from their own eyes as they watched the beautiful reunion.
"Lisanna... where have you been for the past two years? We all thought you were..." Edolas Mirajane finally choked out, wiping her eyes as the three siblings slowly stood up.
The rest of the guild fell silent, waiting for her answer.
Lisanna took a deep breath, composing herself. "That day... when I fell... I truly thought I was going to die. But when I finally woke up... I realized I had been transported to an entirely different world."
"A different world?" The Edolas members froze.
Edolas Mirajane immediately tightened her grip on Lisanna, her face going pale. The phrase "different world" sounded terrifyingly similar to the "afterlife."
"No, no, not like that!" Lisanna quickly clarified, realizing their misunderstanding. "I mean a literal, physical alternate dimension! A world where every single human naturally possesses their own internal magic!"
"Humans with internal magic?!" The guild gasped in shock.
"I'll explain that part later," Lisanna redirected the conversation. "When I crossed over into that alternate dimension, I materialized thousands of feet in the air. I was falling to my death... but Noah saved me."
She turned to look at Noah. Edolas Mirajane and Elfman instantly followed her gaze.
"Thank you! Thank you so much for saving our sister!" The two siblings bowed deeply toward Noah, their voices trembling with profound gratitude.
"You don't need to thank me. It was the right thing to do," Noah smiled warmly, waving them off. "Go on, Lisanna. Tell them the rest."
"After Noah saved me, he brought me to his guild. And when I got there... I met another Lisanna. I met another Mira-nee, and another Elf-nii," Lisanna explained softly.
"Another... me?" Edolas Mirajane asked, thoroughly bewildered.
"Yes. Me."
Earth Land Mirajane stepped out from behind Noah, offering a gentle, radiant smile.
The Edolas guild members collectively recoiled in shock.
"It really is another Mira?!"
"Aside from the clothes, they look exactly the same!"
"This is insane!"
The Edolas members aggressively rubbed their eyes, utterly baffled by the sight of two identical Mirajanes standing in the same room.
"Yeah. That's the Mira-nee from the other world," Lisanna nodded firmly. "That world has a Fairy Tail too. Noah, Mira-nee, and Elf-nii are all members there. Since there was already a Lisanna in their guild, they welcomed me in with open arms. I've been living with them in Earth Land for the past two years, waiting for a chance to finally come home."
"So... an alternate dimension actually exists... and it has its own version of Fairy Tail..." Edolas Lucy muttered, rubbing her temples as she desperately tried to process the massive lore drop.
"Yes," Lisanna nodded.
Since Lisanna was the one confirming it, the Edolas guild members swallowed their doubts and accepted the insane reality.
"Which means... all of you are members of the Earth Land Fairy Tail?" Edolas Lucy asked, eyeing Noah and the massive group behind him.
"Exactly," Noah smiled. He raised his right hand, proudly displaying the bright orange Fairy Tail crest stamped on the back of his hand.
"So this idiot is the Earth Land version of Natsu?" Edolas Lucy asked, pointing at Natsu.
"Yep!" Earth Land Lucy nodded vigorously.
"Natsu, light it up for them," Noah ordered casually.
"Huh?" Natsu blinked, confused for a second. "Oh! Right!"
Instantly, a massive, roaring pillar of crimson flames erupted from Natsu's entire body, engulfing him in a fiery aura.
"Whoa!"
"He's literally generating fire from his own body?!"
"Our Natsu definitely can't do anything like that!"
"Yeah, they really are completely different people..."
"No kidding. Only their faces match."
The Edolas members scrambled backward, staring at the blazing Dragon Slayer in sheer awe.
"So this is what Lisanna meant when she said the people in your world have internal magic. You don't need magical tools to cast spells; you generate the power yourselves," Edolas Lucy noted, her eyes wide with realization.
"Yes, that's exactly right," Lisanna confirmed.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why there's a literal army of you here," Edolas Lucy pointed out, crossing her arms as she looked at Noah. "If your only goal was to bring Lisanna home, you wouldn't need a massive strike team to do it. You're here for another reason, aren't you?"
"You're sharp," Noah nodded approvingly. "You're right. Escorting Lisanna was only part of the mission. We came here because we have a score to settle."
"A score to settle?" The Edolas members exchanged confused glances.
"Your kingdom launched a cross-dimensional attack against our world. They nearly wiped us off the map," Noah stated, his tone dropping into a dangerous, icy octave. "We came here for payback."
"Huh?!" The Edolas guild members froze, completely blindsided by the revelation.
"The King of Edolas used a spell called Anima to attack Earth Land!" Lisanna quickly explained. "They tried to absorb our entire city and turn everyone into magical lacrima to power this world! Noah managed to stop the spell, but now they're here to shut down the Anima project permanently!"
"Turn people into magic...?!" The Edolas members gasped in absolute horror.
"Yes," Noah nodded grimly. "Your kingdom has repeatedly fired Anima portals at Earth Land, attempting to harvest magical creatures and convert them into raw energy crystals. Because Earth Land mages possess massive internal reserves, they specifically targeted our guild."
"Repeatedly?!" someone yelled from the back. A terrifying realization suddenly swept through the room.
"Wait... then the magic we use in our tools..." an Edolas member whispered, his entire body trembling violently as he stared down at his magical weapon.
"You don't need to worry about that," Noah quickly reassured them, realizing their horrifying train of thought. "We successfully intercepted and dispersed every single Anima portal they fired. There were zero casualties. None of the magic you're using came from human lives."
A collective, massive sigh of relief washed over the Edolas guild. None of them wanted to carry the guilt of using magic fueled by human sacrifices.
"So... how exactly do you plan on stopping the Anima project?" Edolas Lucy asked, looking at Noah and the S-Class mages.
"How else?! We're gonna march right up to the bastards who attacked us and beat the crap out of them!" Natsu roared, smashing his flaming fists together.
Laxus, Gajeel, and Erza all nodded in silent, intimidating agreement. That was exactly the plan.
"Huh?!" The Edolas members stared at them like they were completely insane. They were planning a frontal assault on the Royal Capital?!
"Alright! Let's go find the guys who attacked us right now!" Natsu cheered, instantly spinning around and sprinting toward the guild doors.
WHAM!
Erza effortlessly clotheslined Natsu as he ran past her, violently slamming him into the floorboards. "Do not rush in blindly! We need to gather intelligence and formulate a proper strategy first!" Erza scolded him sternly.
Hearing the commotion, the Edolas members looked past Natsu and finally got a clear look at the woman who had struck him down.
"Wait... that armor..."
"That crimson hair..."
"That face... there's absolutely no mistake!"
"IT'S ERZA!"
Absolute, blinding panic instantly erupted within the Edolas Fairy Tail. Dozens of members violently scrambled backward, simultaneously drawing swords, loading magical guns, and aiming their weapons directly at Erza and the Earth Land team.
Seeing the sudden hostility, Laxus, Gajeel, Ultear, and Sorano instantly shifted into combat stances. Lethal magical auras flared around them as they prepared to counterattack.
In a fraction of a second, the guildhall descended into a terrifying, highly volatile standoff.
"Stop! Wait! They aren't enemies!" Lisanna screamed, frantically throwing herself between the two armed factions.
"Everyone, stand down. It's just a misunderstanding," Noah ordered calmly, raising a hand to signal the Earth Land team to lower their magic.
"How is that a misunderstanding?! You literally brought Erza right to our doorstep!" Edolas Lucy yelled, violently cracking a black leather whip against the floor as she glared at the crimson-haired knight.
"No, you don't understand! That isn't your Erza! That's the Erza from Earth Land!" Lisanna yelled desperately.
"From the other world?" Edolas Lucy froze, her whip dropping slightly.
Her brain finally caught up to the situation. She had just met an alternate version of herself, Natsu, and Mirajane. It made perfect, terrifying sense that there was an alternate version of Erza standing in the room as well.
"Yes! That's Earth Land Erza! She's on our side! She is absolutely not the same person as the Erza from Edolas!" Lisanna pleaded, praying they would listen before someone accidentally triggered a bloodbath.
Seeing the genuine panic in Lisanna's eyes, Edolas Lucy slowly lowered her whip. The rest of the Edolas members hesitantly lowered their weapons as well, breathing heavy sighs of relief.
"I... I apologize. We completely panicked. We thought she was the other Erza," Edolas Lucy bowed her head in apology to Noah.
"It's fine. Given that they share the exact same face, a case of mistaken identity is perfectly understandable," Noah smiled, waving it off. Seeing that the threat had passed, Laxus and the others fully relaxed their combat stances.
The suffocating tension in the room finally dissipated.
"Given how violently you all reacted just by seeing my face... I take it the Edolas version of me has done some truly terrible things to this guild?" Earth Land Erza asked, her expression hardening as she looked at Edolas Lucy.
Edolas Lucy's face darkened significantly. She fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
"To explain that, I need to explain the current state of our guild," she sighed heavily. "The magic in this world is finite. It's constantly draining away. The King of Edolas, terrified of losing his power, declared that all magic must be strictly monopolized by the Royal Crown. To enforce this, he issued a royal decree ordering the immediate disbandment of all wizard guilds."
The Earth Land team listened in grim silence.
"Naturally, no one wanted to abandon their guilds, so we fought back," Edolas Lucy continued, her voice trembling slightly. "It was a massacre. Every single person who resisted was slaughtered. Every other guild in the kingdom was utterly annihilated. Right now, Fairy Tail is the absolute last wizard guild left in existence. Under the law of the Crown... we are considered a Dark Guild."
"Fairy Tail... is a Dark Guild?" Natsu whispered, his eyes wide.
The rest of the Earth Land team stared in stunned disbelief. They had caused massive collateral damage over the years, and the Magic Council hated their guts, but they had always been a proud, legitimate Light Guild. To hear that their alternate selves were branded as a Dark Guild was a massive shock to the system.
"Because we refuse to disband, the Royal Army constantly hunts us. We've been on the run for years," Edolas Lucy explained, her voice dripping with pure hatred. "And the person specifically tasked with hunting us down and slaughtering our members... is the Captain of the Second Magic War Division. Erza Knightwalker. The Fairy Hunter."
"Erza... is hunting Fairy Tail?" Natsu gasped from the floor, completely horrified.
"In this world... I am the enemy of the guild?" Erza whispered, her eyes widening in absolute, horrifying disbelief.
~~~
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