The Eclipse Gate 2

Layla's pupils contracted sharply at those words, and her expression shifted again and again.

The first half of the mysterious stranger's statement came straight from the notes passed down through generations of the Heartfilia Family.

No one else in the world should have known that information. Even the Royal Family of Fiore knew only that they had been ordered to guard that ancient gate.

The second half resolved a mystery that had troubled Layla for years: why their ancestor had passed this heavy mission down from generation to generation.

By now, Layla largely believed him, but the stakes were too high for her to put her trust in a stranger without reservations.

Seeing this, Blanc ended the telepathic conversation and addressed everyone again.

"Lady Layla, is that information enough to prove my identity?"

He glanced at the others, who remained on their guard, and decided to apply a little more pressure.

"Besides, without my help, if you try to force the Eclipse Gate open while missing one of the Zodiac Keys-"

Blanc deliberately paused, then stressed his words as he looked straight at Layla. "You'll die!"

At this point, the Heartfilia entourage did not know that forcing the gate open would cost a life. Even Layla herself might only have prepared for severe injuries or magical exhaustion, without realizing that death was inevitable.

He revealed it publicly to make his help indispensable. Only then could he seize the initiative.

Compared with sacrificing Layla, what did it matter to them that he was a suspicious masked stranger of unknown origins?

Sure enough, the instant he finished speaking, the entire street fell deathly silent.

"...What did you say?" Jude was the first to react, his voice hoarse.

Blanc did not answer. He simply folded his arms and watched Layla quietly, waiting for the revelation to sink in.

"Layla, is he telling the truth?!" Jude's expression changed drastically. He seized his wife's shoulders and demanded an answer.

"You've got to be kidding!"

A gloomy-looking servant with an afro suddenly rushed out from the rear of the procession.

"How could Lady Layla possibly die here?! You coward who won't even show your face, there's a limit to the nonsense you can spout-"

"Zoldeo, don't be rude!"

Layla stopped him softly. Her tone was hardly stern, yet the servant named Zoldeo halted at once, forcibly swallowing the rest of his words.

His chest heaved violently, and his bloodshot eyes fixed on Blanc like a venomous snake ready to strike.

Then he turned toward his mistress, his voice twisted and sinister.

"...Lady Layla, he's lying, isn't he? Let me drive this liar away!"

But Layla merely lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze. She said nothing.

In the middle of the procession, an elderly maid who had been quietly guarding the chest swayed, then hurried forward.

"Lady Layla."

Tears welled in Granny Spette's reddened eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Are you saying he's telling the truth?!"

"Spette, calm down." The old butler tried to steady her, murmuring words of comfort.

But the elderly maid ignored him. She simply stared at the child she had watched grow up, her eyes filled with despair.

Following her lead, several younger maids at the back finally lost their composure, covering their mouths as they began to sob softly.

Blanc watched it all, the corners of his mouth relaxing slightly beneath his mask.

...That should do it. Everyone's on my side now. He quietly sighed with relief, while also feeling a flicker of amazement at Layla's standing in her household.

Was Layla really this charismatic? She was practically a succubus. Even Blanc felt a little envious.

"Let me do it!"

Zoldeo suddenly stepped forward, pulled a golden key from inside his clothes, and held it before him with both hands.

"You taught me Celestial Spirit Magic and bestowed Capricorn's key upon me. That kindness is worth more than my life! If someone must be sacrificed to force the gate open, I'm willing to pay the price in your place!"

He stared fixedly at Layla. An almost pathological, deeply unsettling fervor flickered wildly in his gloomy eyes. "My life has always-"

"Zoldeo!" Layla frowned.

"Always belonged to Lady Layla!" This time, he did not stop at her call. Instead, he screamed the words hysterically.

Layla sighed softly, walked over, and gently pushed the golden key back against his chest.

"It won't work, Zoldeo."

Her voice was calm, but tinged with helplessness.

"Making up for a missing key requires an enormous amount of magic power. I don't mean to belittle you, but none of you have enough except me. Trying to take my place would not open the Eclipse Gate. It would only cost you your lives for nothing."

The fervor in Zoldeo's eyes froze, then turned into boundless venom. He clenched his teeth.

"It's all because of that woman...!"

"...If that woman hadn't gone so far away." He lowered his head, forcing a low, hoarse voice through his teeth.

"If that woman hadn't taken the key to the Western Continent without permission..."

"Zoldeo!" For the first time, Layla's voice deepened, carrying the absolute authority of the head of the family.

"Grammi did not leave without permission. If you must resent someone, be angry with me. It was my mistake not to properly account for the distance and her return date. Do not bring this up again."

Standing a short distance away, Blanc's eyelid twitched.

That afro, along with Capricorn's key... wasn't this one of his future colleagues?

The disgusting fellow who betrayed Lucy's family, merged with a Celestial Spirit, and eventually joined Grimoire Heart.

He seemed utterly devoted now, but with such an extreme, almost pathological personality, it was no wonder he would eventually go astray.

I'll make a mental note for now. The fellow was fanatically loyal at the moment. If Blanc stepped forward and said he would betray them in the future, he would only bring trouble upon himself.

"Things haven't reached the worst-case scenario yet. There are still a few days until July 7. Grammi may make it back in time."

Layla finally turned toward her husband, her voice even gentler than before, with a soothing note.

"And what if she doesn't?" Jude pressed closer, his voice urgent.

Layla raised her eyes to his. Those beautiful eyes brimmed with tenderness, but held not the slightest trace of hesitation or surrender.

"Jude, this destiny has been passed down through our family for four hundred years."

"Ever since our ancestor Anna entrusted it to us, it has weighed like a great stone on the shoulders of every generation of Heartfilias."

"Now that burden has fallen to me, so... it must end with my generation."

She turned to look toward the distant Heartfilia Mansion, maternal resolve shining in her eyes.

"We absolutely cannot let this heavy destiny continue to weigh on Lucy's shoulders!"

Jude opened his mouth, only to find that he had nothing to say.

This man who commanded the business world stood in the cold night wind, rendered speechless by his wife's words.

Then he abruptly turned and strode up to Blanc, like a gambler who had lost all his chips and was desperate to stake everything on one final bet.

"You." Jude stared hard at him. "You said you could help us."

"I can." Blanc nodded calmly.

"What's the price?" Jude's voice carried a merchant's caution and suspicion.

"As I said, I'm also a member of the 'hidden alliance' responsible for opening the gate. This is my mission as well. I don't need you to pay any additional price."

Blanc muttered inwardly, Consider it an advance payment for the work your daughter Lucy will do at Fairy Tail in the future.

After all, once that girl joined the guild, she never missed a single major battle. She was practically a model worker.

Jude stared into those utterly unruffled eyes.

As a merchant accustomed to exchanging benefits, he had scrutinized and second-guessed this mysterious stranger of unknown origins a hundred times over.

Reason told him he must never trust an offer too good to be true, but... what if?

He had no way out anymore. He could not stand by and watch his wife go to her death.

"...All right."

Jude forced the words through his teeth. Then his rigid body suddenly bent forward, and he bowed deeply to Blanc.

"If what you say is true... then I, Jude Heartfilia, and my entire family will owe you our lives. I'm sorry for the trouble, but we're leaving everything in your hands!"

With that, he abruptly turned back and called firmly to his wife.

"Layla, take him inside!"

"Jude-" Layla still hesitated.

"I don't care who he is, or whether he has some other agenda!" Jude roughly cut off his wife's objections, his eyes red.

"As long as he can keep you alive, that's enough!"

To him, his wife's safety mattered a hundred times more than this inexplicable ancestral destiny.

"Think of Lucy, Layla!"

Layla closed her eyes. Thinking of the daughter waiting for her at home, she felt warmth well up within her. I hope this isn't the wrong decision.

Layla took a deep breath, then looked solemnly at Blanc.

"We can take you inside, but we know nothing about you. So I hope you'll agree to a condition, to put everyone at ease."

"Please, go ahead."

"Until this is over, please remain within our sight and behave yourself."

"As you said, opening the Eclipse Gate is a matter of grave importance. If you show any intention of using it for sinister purposes, or of harming anyone present, I will stop you even at the cost of my life!"

"No problem." Blanc shrugged. Acting under a hidden identity really was a little troublesome. "I'm only here to fulfill my duty. Nothing else matters to me. Once this is over, we'll have nothing more to do with each other."

Layla studied him for a moment, then finally gave a slight nod and stepped aside to clear a path. "Then please walk alongside our entourage. I'll take you into the Royal Palace with us."

Blanc took the opportunity to join the procession.

This time, no one around him spoke up to stop him.

Perhaps they still harbored doubts and remained wary, but with Layla's safety at stake, they could overlook those concerns.