Now that Natsu had joined the guild, Levy, Mira, and the others would soon arrive too. The guild would become the band of destruction fanatics Blanc remembered. It looked like his peaceful days were numbered.
Since the guild master had returned, Blanc approached him to ask for help overseeing his attempt to take over Mahoraga.
"Master, thanks for making the long trip!"
The guild master had only just sat down at the counter and was drinking a glass of liquor.
"Oh, Blanc. You pretty much always want something when you come to me. Out with it. What is it this time?"
"Hehe, you know me so well."
"Do you remember that interesting creature I mentioned wanting to take over? I'm planning to give it a try, so I came to ask you to be my safety net."
Guild Master Makarov's temples throbbed. A look of bewildered disbelief crossed his face as he asked:
"What? Blanc, have you forgotten what you promised me? You still want to try taking over a dangerous creature, and you're telling me so openly? Are you trying to provoke me?"
Blanc smiled awkwardly and ducked his head, hurriedly explaining:
"Of course not, Master. You've misunderstood."
"This creature is different from ordinary creatures. There's almost no chance of a struggle for control. I'm very confident, which is why I want to try taking it over."
"And precisely because I remembered your warning, I came to ask you to back me up even though I'm confident! Heaven and earth can bear witness to my honesty!"
Guild Master Makarov eyed him dubiously, suspicion still lingering in his gaze.
"You clearly aren't going to give up. How about this? Take me to see the creature you want to take over. I'll decide after I've seen it."
"Sure. I was going to have you look at it first anyway. Let's head to the forest outside town. Once the Take Over is complete, I might need you to help me run some tests too."
"You even brought that creature outside town? And you want me to help you test it? Are you trying to work these old bones to death?"
"Hehe, the more capable you are, the more work you get!"
Makarov gave Blanc a helpless look. No, this won't do. I need someone to do the heavy lifting.
"Laxus! Come here."
Hearing him, Laxus walked over with his hands in his pockets.
"What is it, Grandpa?"
"Blanc here wants to test his magic. Come along with us. You can take him on when the time comes."
"Oh? So we finally get to have a match, Blanc!"
"Uh, we're really just testing some new magic. Nothing serious, nothing serious!"
Fighting Laxus now probably wouldn't be a big deal. At this point, Laxus just liked acting cool; his rebellious phase hadn't started yet. He would probably know when to pull his punches... probably.
In the forest outside Magnolia, Blanc explained the situation to Laxus along the way to bring him up to speed.
After hearing him out, Laxus couldn't help looking puzzled.
"Taking over a powerful creature always comes with enormous risks. You say this creature is strong, but there's no risk. Does a creature like that really exist?"
Blanc surveyed their surroundings. They stood in an open stretch of grass, with trees encircling it a little farther out to form a small clearing. Deciding this spot would do, he stopped and gave a brief reply.
"It isn't really a living creature. You'll understand once you see it."
"Let's do it here. There's plenty of space."
"I don't see any creature. Blanc, where is this creature you mentioned?" After stopping, Guild Master Makarov looked around curiously, eager to see what the creature Blanc had been so fixated on looked like.
"Let me summon him." Blanc began reciting the summoning chant. "Furube, yurayura, Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga!"
A white monster with two pairs of winglike compound eyes emerged from Blanc's shadow, radiating an oppressive presence the instant he appeared.
Standing a short distance away, Makarov and Laxus were both briefly taken aback. They hadn't expected Blanc to know a summoning spell they had never seen before.
The guild master studied Mahoraga thoughtfully.
"A demon? No, that's not right. There's a resemblance, but he isn't one."
"Blanc, what is this creature?" After a moment's thought, Laxus confirmed that he had never seen anything like him and asked Blanc directly.
"This is a creature from another world that I summoned by chance. His name is Mahoraga. I've already subdued him, and he obeys me completely."
Blanc offered the excuse he had prepared beforehand, fabricating a little of Mahoraga's background to make his appearance seem more plausible.
"His intelligence is very low, or practically nonexistent, you could say. Now that he's completely under my control, he won't have any will to resist. That's why I said taking him over shouldn't be much of a problem, even though I haven't mastered Take Over Magic yet."
Laxus carefully sensed the aura Mahoraga gave off and felt a trace of pressure from him.
"With that oppressive presence, he's definitely a powerful creature. He really is a good choice for rounding out your close-combat abilities."
Makarov considered it. He didn't know much about creatures from other worlds either, but based on the principles of Take Over Magic, a creature with no will to resist wouldn't pose much risk. With him present, a little risk was still acceptable.
"A creature from another world? That's outside my knowledge too. Hmm... if you're confident, give it a try. If something does go wrong, the two of us can knock you back to your senses."
"Oh, Master, Laxus. It's unlikely, but if something does go wrong, you have to knock me unconscious with one powerful attack."
"Why?" Laxus was the first to ask.
"It's Mahoraga's special ability. If you can't defeat him outright with a powerful attack, he'll start adapting to any magic he comes into contact with until he's immune to it, or even finds a way to counter it. Once he's adapted to one type of magic, your only option is to try attacking with a different type."
The guild master couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.
"Whew, what a troublesome ability. This creature really is incredible. Wouldn't he be invincible if he just kept building up resistances?"
Blanc couldn't help feeling that he and the guild master were of one mind. He had thought the same thing when he first saw Mahoraga's ability. But after looking into it carefully, he had learned that Mahoraga still had plenty of limitations. He couldn't pull himself up by his own bootstraps forever; it was simply a pretty good ability.
"No. His resistances reset every time he's summoned again, so he has to adapt all over again. It's not that overpowered."
"That's still very impressive."
Laxus, meanwhile, looked eager.
"Oh! Then it looks like we're in for an exciting fight once you've taken him over."
With all the explanations out of the way, Blanc reached out to touch Mahoraga and activated his magic. "Take Over!"
Nothing unexpected happened during the process. The Take Over succeeded smoothly.
Blanc's appearance didn't change much. His hair merely grew longer and turned white, sticking straight out behind his head in a hairstyle that would have needed a huge amount of styling gel to hold in place, much like Nurarihyon's.
The whites of his eyes, however, turned black, and a wheel resembling a golden angel's halo appeared above his head.
Blanc clenched his fists, feeling the explosive increase in strength coursing through his body.
"It worked!"
Laxus, standing nearby, was just as excited. Seeing that Blanc's Take Over had succeeded, he stripped off his jacket and tossed it aside, leaving him in a yellow short-sleeved shirt. A flicker of lightning danced over his body, and his face was full of eagerness.
"Then let's get ready to start our fight."
Before you continue