Chapter 420: The King of Edolas
"It's so amazing. To think that Miss Erza is actually our comrade in Earth Land. It's truly unbelievable," Natsu (Edolas) marveled, clearly still reeling from the revelation.
Erza, however, remained silent upon hearing his words.
Although she understood logically that the Fairy Hunter's actions were not her own, she still felt a profound sense of sadness. The idea of being rejected and feared by Fairy Tail members—even counterparts from another world—was something she had never even considered, let alone experienced.
"There, there. Don't overthink it. It's not your fault," Mirajane walked over and gently comforted Erza, sensing her distress.
Erza nodded. She knew it wasn't her fault, but her heart still ached.
"I can't believe so much has happened. It's incredible," Natsu (Edolas) said after hearing the full story of their journey and intentions.
"It truly is miraculous. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't have believed it," Lucy (Edolas) agreed wholeheartedly.
"Alright, since the Natsu of this world is here too, I'll send both of you back together," Noah announced to the two Edolas members.
"Huh? You're going back too? But didn't you just say..." Natsu (Edolas) asked, confused.
"I'm sending you two back. I'll be returning here immediately after to finish what we started," Noah clarified, realizing Natsu's (Edolas) misunderstanding. "And no, I'm not driving you back. I'm going to teleport you."
"Like the guild's teleportation? Can you really do that? Our guild is incredibly far from here," Natsu (Edolas) asked, astounded.
"Of course I can. Enough talk, let's get you two home," Noah waved dismissively.
"But my car..." Natsu (Edolas) hesitated, looking at his beloved vehicle with deep concern.
"I'm teleporting the car with you, obviously. I'm not going to leave your ride stranded here," Noah said.
"That's wonderful!" Natsu (Edolas) let out a massive sigh of relief, his tense posture completely relaxing as he looked at his prized four-wheeler with a look of pure joy.
Noah instructed Natsu (Edolas) and Lucy (Edolas) to stand close to the Magic Four-Wheeler. "Ready? We're heading out."
"See you guys later!" Earth Land Lucy waved at them, and Laxus and the others offered encouraging smiles.
Lucy (Edolas) and Natsu (Edolas) nodded deeply in return. Noah raised his right hand, and in a flash, the three of them, along with the vehicle, vanished from the cliffside.
As the teleportation commenced, Lucy (Edolas) instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the incredibly familiar front doors of her guild stood directly before her.
She pushed the doors open, and the comforting cacophony of her guildmates' chatter washed over her.
"Hey! Lucy's back!"
"Natsu's back too!"
"Wait, isn't that Noah from Earth Land? Why is he back?"
The guild members immediately began murmuring amongst themselves upon seeing the trio.
The moment they arrived, Natsu (Edolas) bolted to his beloved car, meticulously inspecting every inch of it. Only after confirming there wasn't a single scratch did he finally relax.
He then turned to Noah, his eyes wide with awe. "We actually teleported directly from the Royal City! Mr. Noah, you're incredible!"
"What?! You came straight back from the Royal City?!"
The Edolas members gasped in shock. Lucy (Edolas) nodded, confirming Natsu's (Edolas) claim.
"Alright, since I've delivered you safely, I'll be taking my leave," Noah told them.
"U-Um... Mr. Noah..." Natsu (Edolas) hesitated, stammering slightly.
"What is it?" Noah turned back.
Natsu (Edolas) struggled with his words for a moment before finally asking, "Are you guys really... going to fight the Kingdom?"
"Well, they threw the first punch. If we hadn't been prepared, we would have been turned into Lacrima and drained of our magic power. This is a blood feud; we can't just walk away from it. Furthermore, if they don't stop their operations, even if we spare them this time, they'll just target us again eventually. We can't spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. It's better to just end this here and now, once and for all," Noah explained seriously.
"But... facing the Royal Army... it's impossible to win..." Natsu's (Edolas) voice grew quieter, but Noah heard him perfectly.
Noah flashed a brilliant, unwavering smile at Natsu (Edolas) and the rest of the Edolas guild. His voice rang out with absolute certainty.
"No! We will absolutely win!"
The Edolas members stared at Noah's confident smile, completely dumbstruck. They remained silent for a long time, trying to process his unshakeable conviction.
"I'll be going now." Noah waved goodbye and teleported away, returning to Ultear and the group waiting on the cliff.
"You're back. What's our next move?" Laxus asked the moment Noah reappeared.
"Let's see..." Golden magic circles flared to life in front of Noah's eyes as he surveyed the Royal City below. After a moment, he said, "I'll cast an illusion over us, and we'll just walk right in."
"Isn't that a bit too casual? Won't we be discovered? This is the Royal City, after all," Carla asked, sounding a bit anxious.
"I've scanned the area. Most of the Royal City has surprisingly lax security measures. The only significant defenses are concentrated around that central tower. As long as we don't recklessly waltz into the tower, no one will notice us. Besides, my illusion magic isn't something that can be easily seen through," Noah explained with a confident smile.
"If that's the case, let's just walk in," Laxus agreed.
No one else objected, fully trusting Noah's judgment.
Noah applied the illusion magic, ensuring that anyone who saw them would subconsciously ignore their presence and immediately forget their faces.
With the preparations complete, the group descended the cliff and made their way into the Royal City.
Upon entering, they were immediately struck by how incredibly lively and prosperous the city was.
Colorful, floating magical text signs adorned the streets. Various magic-powered machines operated seamlessly everywhere. The citizens walking the streets wore bright smiles, their cheerful laughter filling the air. They even saw children riding floating, magic-powered wooden horses, giggling and playing merrily along the sidewalks.
"What is all this..." Sorano murmured, taking in the bustling, joyous atmosphere.
"It's so unexpected... We were told this was a totalitarian regime..." Wendy said, bewildered.
"I thought it would be a much more desolate, oppressive city," Meredy added.
"And we walked in so easily," Carla observed. She had expected strict checkpoints and interrogations based on Noah's assessment of 'lax security,' but they had literally just strolled through the front gates without a single guard batting an eye.
"It's completely different from the other cities we passed through. It looks like an amusement park," Cana remarked, watching the festive scenes around them.
"They're using magic power incredibly lavishly. The other cities didn't have anything close to this," Gray noted, shaking his head as he observed the numerous magic-powered devices.
"The King likely concentrated all the magic power stolen from other nations and guilds here in the capital. Building this 'entertainment city' is a blatant tactic to secure the loyalty and support of the citizens," Earth Land Lucy deduced, having read quite a bit about the Kingdom's politics during their journey.
"What a reckless and tyrannical King!" Ultear spat in disgust.
"If he wasn't reckless and tyrannical, he wouldn't have attacked us in the first place," Laxus said flatly. Everyone nodded in grim agreement.
"It looks really crowded over there," Yukino pointed toward a massive gathering of people further down the main thoroughfare.
"Could it be a parade or something?" Sorano guessed.
"Let's go check it out!"
"Aye!" Natsu yelled excitedly, immediately dashing toward the crowd with Happy flying right behind him.
"Hey, don't run off on your own!" Gray chased after them.
Seeing the three bolt, the rest of the group naturally followed.
Approaching the densely packed crowd, Noah discreetly cast a subtle suggestion spell. The people in front of them unconsciously parted, creating a clear path for the group to walk through, closing back up behind them without anyone realizing they had moved.
"Whoa! This magic is awesome!" Natsu cheered, trying to surge ahead.
"Don't rush. Let's stick together," Noah grabbed him, and the group moved forward as a single unit, following the flow of the parting crowd.
After rounding a corner, they emerged into a large, open plaza. The area was cordoned off by heavily armed Royal Guards, keeping the massive crowd at bay.
In the center of the clearing stood a gargantuan Lacrima crystal. In front of the crystal sat an ornate, gilded throne. Occupying the throne was an elderly man with stark white hair and a matching beard.
"A Lacrima..."
"Is that the magic power absorbed by Anima turned into a crystal?"
"It's massive!"
The group murmured in astonishment.
Ultear examined the crystal closely. "No, this is only a fragment. You can clearly see the cut marks on the top."
"Wait? This isn't even the whole thing?!" Earth Land Lucy gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
"Just how much magic power did you pump into that thing?! Did you really have to go that far?!" Sorano grabbed Noah by the shoulders and shook him vigorously.
"I simply transferred the combined magical capacity of every single person in Magnolia—excluding myself—plus a tiny bit of extra magic power for good measure. I was actually slightly fatigued after doing that. I had to rest for a bit to recover," Noah replied casually.
"Huh?! Do you even hear yourself?! Is that something a human can do?! Tell the truth! Are you even human?!" Sorano shook him even harder.
"Of course I'm human! You can't just doubt my species!" Noah didn't resist, swaying back and forth like a ragdoll under Sorano's shaking.
"Alright, that's enough messing around. That old man is likely the King. Let's hear what he has to say," Mirajane intervened, gently pulling Sorano away.
Snapping out of their shock at Noah's absurd magical reserves, everyone turned their attention back to the throne in front of the giant Lacrima.
The elderly man stood up from his throne and raised his arms high, addressing the surrounding crowd.
"LONG LIVE HIS MAJESTY!" The moment the King raised his arms, the crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Wave after wave of ecstatic roars washed over the plaza.
The King slowly lowered his arms, and the cheers gradually subsided into a respectful silence.
"Citizens of Edolas! Our sacred Kingdom of Edolas has generated ten years' worth of magic power through Anima!" the King proclaimed, his voice magically amplified to reach every ear in the plaza.
"What do you mean 'generated'?! You stole it from our world!" Happy hissed angrily.
"How shameless," Cana muttered in disgust.
"Sing! Laugh! Let us share in this glorious joy together!" the King shouted.
"OOOOOOHHHH!!!" The crowd erupted once again, the cheers even louder and more frenzied than before.
Hearing the King's words, the Earth Land Fairy Tail members couldn't help but frown deeply.
"The citizens of Edolas have the absolute right to share in this magic power! Furthermore, only the people of Edolas are the eternal, sacred race! No one shall ever steal magic power from our nation! I promise you all, we will obtain even more magic power in the future! When that day comes, you will look upon this current magic as nothing more than trash!"
The King's fervor reached a crescendo. He swung his scepter, striking the massive Lacrima crystal beside him. The impact caused a web of cracks to form, and several small shards of crystal chipped off.
"EDOLAS! EDOLAS! EDOLAS!" The crowd, whipped into an absolute frenzy by the King's speech, chanted the kingdom's name, their voices merging into a thunderous roar. The entire plaza was engulfed in an atmosphere of fanatical zeal.
"That absolute bastard!!!" Natsu roared, his face contorted in fury. He was about to charge forward, but Noah clamped a hand down on his shoulder, holding him firmly in place.
The rest of the group seethed with equal anger. The King was framing blatant, cross-dimensional theft as 'production.' And if they hadn't been prepared, they would be the ones trapped inside that crystal, being treated like disposable batteries by this tyrant. The lingering fear of what could have happened mixed with their current rage, making it incredibly difficult to control their emotions.
"Don't do anything rash! If we start a fight here, countless innocent bystanders will get caught in the crossfire. These ignorant civilians aren't our targets. We need to confront the perpetrators directly. We strike at their stronghold and take them down there. That's the only way to prevent this from ever happening again," Noah cautioned them firmly.
"Phew... Noah's right. We aren't like them. We don't target innocent people," Laxus exhaled a long breath, forcefully suppressing his raging emotions. "While they aren't entirely innocent for cheering this on, they aren't the ones pulling the strings. We must stick to our principles. We can't let their actions force us to break our own rules."
Hearing Noah and Laxus's reasoning, everyone took deep breaths, forcing their burning anger down.
The King's booming laughter and the crowd's fanatical chanting grated on their ears like nails on a chalkboard. They cast one final, chilling glare at the King and the Royal Palace before turning and leaving the plaza together.
They knew if they stayed any longer, they wouldn't be able to hold back.
Having lost all interest in touring the Royal City, they found a hotel under the cover of Noah's illusion magic and rented a large suite.
Once safely inside, they gathered together, the time for sightseeing officially over. It was time to plan their assault.
~~~
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