Declaration of War
While the group and the cat were still whispering to each other, the first wave of soldiers rushed in.
Jiang Bai didn't even change his posture; he simply raised his right hand casually and flicked his index finger lightly.
A barely perceptible black dot of light condensed at his fingertips.
It is the technique reversal - He.
The captain of the soldiers who was charging at the forefront instantly felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
Those tiny black specks of light seemed to contain a terrifying power capable of devouring everything.
"Quick! Set up your shields!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, desperately holding the huge shield in front of him.
The soldiers behind them reacted immediately, and a dozen shields instantly formed a seemingly indestructible shield wall.
"Did you think that would work?"
Jiang Bai's voice was very soft, as if he were simply stating a fact.
The next second, He fired.
"Boom--!"
An invisible yet incomparably powerful repulsive force erupted instantly.
That shield wall, composed of a dozen elite soldiers, looked like a crumpled piece of paper being squeezed by an invisible giant hand.
The shield twisted and deformed, and the soldiers behind it were violently thrown away by the powerful repulsive force.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
More than a dozen figures, like kites with broken strings, streaked through the air in disarray before crashing heavily to the ground more than ten meters away, making a series of muffled thuds.
The entire street fell into a deathly silence in an instant.
The remaining soldiers froze on the spot, their eyes wide with disbelief as they stared at their comrades writhing and groaning on the ground, then at the man who hadn't moved an inch from beginning to end.
Their minds were completely blank.
Jiang Bai certainly wouldn't actually kill them.
After all, this is Mystogan, the hometown of Jellal from another world.
For the sake of his future "brother-in-law," and considering he will inherit the kingdom eventually, it would be better to leave him some troops.
"Brother Jiang Bai," Wendy, looking at the soldiers groaning in pain on the ground, and tugged at Jiang Bai's sleeve with a pang of pity.
Are you going to wipe them all out?
"How could that be?" Jiang Bai smiled and ruffled her hair.
"I'm just teaching them a lesson, and incidentally... declaring formal war on this kingdom."
"Most importantly," he added,
"The more conspicuous we are, the easier it will be for Mystogan and Gajeel to find us."
As Jiang Bai spoke, he beckoned to the group of soldiers who were already terrified.
At a distance of more than ten meters, the soldier who was closest to him was uncontrollably pulled by an invisible force and flew directly in front of Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
"I ask, you answer."
"Yes, yes!" The soldier trembled with fear and could barely speak.
"Where are those Magic Crystals extracted from Earth-land now?"
"Those... those Magic Crystals... they're all... all in the capital!" The soldier dared not conceal anything, spilling the beans as he spoke.
"His Majesty the King plans to hold a magic extraction ceremony in five days to release all the magic power within the Magic Crystal!"
Five days later?
"Damn it!" Natsu slammed his fist against the wall, his face contorted with rage.
"They actually dared to turn our guild and the entire town into Magic Crystals!"
"Let's find Mr. Jellal and the others as soon as possible," Wendy said anxiously.
"Fortunately, we still have a five-day buffer period," Carla analyzed calmly.
Jiang Bai got the information he wanted and casually threw the soldier to the ground.
He looked at the group of soldiers who had completely lost their will to fight, and in a voice that was not loud but loud enough for everyone to hear, he issued his final ultimatum.
"Go back and tell your king, and your general named Jiang Bai Warren."
"I, Jiang Bai, declare war on your entire kingdom, starting today!"
After saying that, he ignored the stunned soldiers, turned around, and led Natsu and the others deeper into the city.
All that remained was a scene of devastation and a group of the Royal Army whose morale had been utterly shattered.
Until Jiang Bai and his group completely disappeared at the end of the street.
The soldier who had been captured and interrogated by Jiang Bai seemed to wake up from a nightmare, scrambling to his feet.
"Quickly! Go back and inform the general!"
His voice was filled with the fear of surviving a catastrophe and hysterical madness.
"Monster! That guy is a monster!"
Edolas, the royal capital.
The entire city is built beneath a massive floating island, surrounded by several smaller floating islands, like stars surrounding the moon.
Above the capital city, a colossal Magic Crystal, radiating a ghostly blue light, floated silently. It was the entire Magnolia town that had been forcibly extracted from Earth-land.
On the highest observation deck of the royal palace, several figures were gazing at the enormous Magic Crystal.
"Jiang Bai, with these Magic Crystals, our country's magic power can be sustained for a long time."
The one speaking was Erza Knightwalker, captain of the Second Magic Combat Unit of the Kingdom of Edolas.
She wore a scarlet, form-fitting suit of armor, had a voluptuous figure, and long, equally scarlet hair that flew wildly in the wind, a satisfied smile on her face.
However, the man standing next to her was not so happy.
The man had neat black hair and a handsome face, but his expression was as cold as an iceberg that never melts.
He was Jiang Bai Warren, the supreme commander of the army of the Kingdom of Edolas, known as the "Ever-Victorious General".
Jiang Bai Warren stared at the enormous Magic Crystal, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
"Are we really doing the right thing?"
His voice was low and deep, carrying a hint of confusion that he himself was unaware of.
"What's wrong with that?" Erza Knightwalker said dismissively.
"It's just drawing some excess magic from another world; it won't cause any real harm to that world."
Clearly, she, like Jiang Bai Warren, was kept in the dark about King Faust's lies.
They were unaware that the beautiful Magic Crystal was formed from countless living beings.
"General, don't you think... these crystals are beautiful? Like jewels in the night sky!"
A slightly frivolous voice rang out, and Hughes, the commander of the Royal Army's Third Magic Combat Unit, walked over with a slightly intoxicated expression on his face.
"This is the largest Magic Crystal ever obtained in the history of our kingdom!"
The Fourth Magic Combat Unit Commander Sugarboy, echoed this sentiment, his tone filled with excitement.
Erza Knightwalker didn't bother with these two sycophants.
Her gaze never left Jiang Bai Warren.
She casually tossed her long red hair and asked, seemingly without thinking, "Jiang Bai, did you... go to see those Fairy Tail guys again?"
Upon hearing the words "Fairy Tail," a slight ripple finally appeared on Jiang Bai Warren's icy face.
He remembered the white-haired girl who always gave him a gentle smile.
However, he quickly suppressed his emotions.
Jiang Bai Warren remained expressionless and spoke concisely.
"No."
His answer was simple and direct, devoid of any emotion, but Erza Knightwalker still managed to glean a trace of warmth unique to her from those two words.
She was about to say something more when a sinister voice suddenly rang out behind them without warning.
"Erza, haven't you caught those rats from the Fairy Tail yet?"
Except for Jiang Bai Warren, who remained unfazed, Knightwalker and the other captains were all startled and turned around abruptly.
A short, elderly man with a mustache and a shrewd, calculating look was slowly walking over, leaning on a jewel-encrusted cane.
"Byro?" Hughes and Sugarboy immediately bowed respectfully.
The visitor was none other than Byro, King Faust's confidant and chief of staff of the Kingdom of Edolas.
Byro ignored the two captains, his small eyes flashing with a sinister light, and walked straight up to Erza Knightwalker.
He circled Knightwalker once, then said in a sarcastic tone, "Although I know General Jiang Bai has a lover in that guild..."
He deliberately emphasized the word "lover" and glanced meaningfully at Jiang Bai Warren, who remained silent beside him.
"... But you can't let this tarnish your title of 'Fairy Hunter,' Captain Knightwalker."