Anima

The rain is still falling.

Outside the guild gate, Jiang Bai held an umbrella for Mirajane, rainwater sliding down the edge of the umbrella and splashing ripples on the ground.

Elfman followed behind the two like a dutiful bodyguard.

Watching the three figures disappear into the distance, Gray, sitting at the bar, frowned and muttered to himself.

"Is it that time of year again?"

"What?"

Lucy happened to be passing by with a cup of hot Coco and asked curiously.

Levy sighed and explained softly, "It's Lisanna's death anniversary."

"Lisanna?" Lucy's face was full of confusion.

"Mirajane and Elfman's sister," another guild member chimed in.

"He passed away in an accident two years ago. Every year around this time, Sister Mira and the others go to church."

"So that's how it is..." Lucy's mood also became somewhat heavy.

Not far away, Natsu, who had just been arm wrestling with someone, also stopped.

He remembered what Jiang Bai had told him just a few days ago.

Lisanna did not die.

I'll be back in two days.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Natsu swallowed them back.

No, I have to hold back.

Jiang Bai said that they should wait until they brought the person back before making any further plans, so as not to let everyone get excited for nothing.

The rain in Magnolia shows no signs of stopping.

Under the eaves of a house in the alley, Wendy finally found Charlotte Carla from the rain alone.

"Carla, I've finally found you!"

Wendy jogged over, her hair and shoulders soaked by the rain.

When Carla saw her like this, her brows immediately furrowed.

"Wendy! Why didn't you bring an umbrella? You'll catch a cold!"

Wendy smiled nonchalantly and hugged Carla tightly.

"It's okay, I have Carla by my side."

"Ugh~ Really, you're saying things like that again." Carla's cheeks flushed slightly as she turned her head to the side.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

What was originally just a sky covered with dark clouds suddenly turned into a huge and eerie vortex.

The vortex spun slowly, emitting an ominous purple light.

A figure appeared before the two without warning; it was Mystogan, who was completely shrouded in a cloak, but he did not cover his face.

He finally couldn't resist and appeared in front of Wendy.

"Wendy, get out of here right now!" His voice was urgent and hoarse.

"You are... Jellal!" Wendy exclaimed in surprise when she saw the tattoo on his face.

"Jellal?" Carla tilted her head; Wendy had mentioned this name to her before.

Mystogan swayed, seemingly having reached his limit.

"I'm sorry, because of some things, I haven't been able to visit you all these years. But now is not the time to say these things. You need to leave here immediately, the farther the better!"

"Why?"

"Because Jiang Bai and I are going to do something dangerous," Mystogan said with a hint of determination.

At least I hope you're safe.

"What about the rest of the guild?" Wendy pressed.

"Don't worry, with Jiang Bai around, they won't encounter any accidents."

Upon hearing this, Wendy didn't feel relieved at all; instead, she straightened her back and her eyes became incredibly determined.

"No! I'm a member of Fairy Tail too! I believe in Brother Jiang Bai, but I want to face this together with everyone!"

After Wendy finished speaking, she didn't bother arguing with him anymore and turned to run towards the guild.

"You..."

Mystogan wanted to say something more, but the exhaustion from days of travel and the depletion of his magic power left him unable to hold on any longer. His body went limp, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

The church bells echoed through the rain.

Jiang Bai, Mirajane, and Elfman were walking on the stone path leading to the church.

Suddenly, Jiang Bai stopped and looked up at the sky.

That enormous purple vortex, like the eye of a demon, was looking down upon the entire Magnolia.

"Anima, it's finally started?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mirajane and Elfman's bodies began to emit specks of light uncontrollably.

Next up was Jiang Bai himself.

Their bodies were gradually becoming transparent, turning into countless particles of light, drawn by an invisible force towards the vortex in the sky.

"This is..." Elfman stared at his disappearing hand, his face filled with shock and confusion.

A thought flashed through Jiang Bai's mind in an instant.

I see.

It is a magic that forcibly absorbs magic-specific attacks.

Regardless of friend or foe, anyone containing magic power will be indiscriminately transformed into magic crystals and then absorbed into another world.

No wonder that in the original story, even a powerful figure like Gildarts was powerless to resist.

With a thought, Jiang Bai instantly enveloped himself, Mirajane, Elfman with powerful Psychokinesis, attempting to isolate the transformation using pure mental energy.

However, the dissipation of the light did not stop.

Anima, after all, Super Sub Space Magic capable of traversing world barriers and absorbing the magic of another world; simple isolation is completely useless.

However, it was in this brief moment of experimentation that Jiang Bai found a solution.

The core of this magic is to forcibly draw out the magic power within the mage's body, causing it to go berserk, and then "pull" it out of the body.

Therefore, resisting is also very simple.

That is, having the ultimate, microscopic level of control over one's own magic.

Not allowing even the slightest fluctuation of magic, making it as obedient as the most compliant soldiers, absolutely following orders.

This kind of thing is a pipe dream for 99.9% of the mages in this world.

But for Jiang Bai, having hands is enough.

Actually, there's an even simpler method: simply use your own space against space to crush the Anima.

However, by doing so, my initial goal of finding the location of Edolas would be thwarted before it even began.

"Mira," he turned his head, looking at Mirajane beside him who was also glowing, a gentle smile on his face.

"Why don't you get some sleep first?"

"Lisanna will be back when I wake up."

Mirajane nodded gently, seemingly without the slightest doubt in Jiang Bai's words. A serene smile graced her face as her body transformed into specks of light and vanished into the rain.

"Wait a minute! Brother-in-law! What? Lisanna's back? How come I didn't know anything about this?!"

Elfman's body followed closely behind, disappearing completely with a head full of question marks.

"Oh no! Everyone! The sky..."

Wendy flung open the guild door, about to issue a warning.

The next second, she and Carla witnessed the most unbelievable scene of their lives.

Before their eyes, the entire Fairy Tail guild began to Disassembly inch by inch, turning into countless specks of light, like fallen leaves swept by a tornado, surging towards the giant vortex in the sky.

"What... what is this...?"

Wendy's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints due to extreme fear.

In the rain, only Jiang Bai remained.

He simply closed his eyes, then opened them again.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The points of light that were frantically escaping from his body seemed to have been paused, freezing instantly.

Then, as if they had found their way home, they rushed back into Jiang Bai's body.

Anima's terrifying suction, powerful enough to devour an entire town, could no longer draw even a trace of magic from him.