Bad News

Meanwhile, on the distant Western Continent, in the Alvarez Empire.

Sensing that the connection with his clone had been severed, Blanc rubbed his temples in speechlessness.

That Anima was truly a relentless killer; even with the plot changed, it could still precisely target and hit a single person.

This was troublesome now. The clone had been sent to Edolas and could not be retrieved, causing his output to drop by half again in an instant.

Still, it was fine. With Infinite Magic, the drop in actual strength was not all that significant. He would deal with it after going to Edolas in the future.

Only, would Mira think he was truly dead after seeing that? Though a person turning into golden light and vanishing did not look like being beaten to death by a fist no matter how one looked at it.

Yet the thought that in the original work she had also watched Lisanna transform into golden light and vanish without a single doubt, firmly believing that Lisanna had passed away...

I still need to hurry back and explain things. I mustn't give Mira any psychological trauma.

Though he thought of returning as quickly as possible, he had to resolve the matter here first. Otherwise, he might not get another opportunity like this next time.

Blanc did not understand the situation on the Western Continent very well, but because the Spriggan 12 had been very popular in his past life, he could often brush past their information and thus knew a bit about them.

This time, he had still used Layla's connection to pull some strings through Grammi.

Before him was a wide and solemn corridor inside the royal palace. A soldier wearing heavy armor was leading Blanc forward the entire way, until they stopped in front of the door of a magnificent grand hall.

Pushing open the heavy doors, Blanc stepped inside.

An elderly man with white hair, wearing wide grand robes and radiating majesty from his entire body, was quietly seated on the throne at the far end of the hall.

He simply sat there, holding a slender staff in one hand while casually propping up his face with the other.

That aged face was carved with the traces of time, and a wisp of silver-white beard hung before his chest.

He did not deliberately release any magic, but that posture of overlooking everything alone brought a heavy pressure like Mount Tai crushing down from above.

Seeing Blanc enter, he did not stand up, remaining firmly seated on that ornate throne. That gaze filled with scrutiny swept slowly over, profound and sharp.

"A mage of Fairy Tail! You used Brandish's mother by all possible means to want to meet with me. Now, you have your wish."

"Speak! Your purpose in coming!"

Blanc looked at the powerful mage before him who could be said to stand at the peak of the continent, without feeling excessive tension inside.

Without the slightest fear, he met the old man's eyes directly, wearing a smile as he calmly spoke:

"I came here for only one thing. Do you want to truly embrace your mother once?"

Boom!

The pupils of the old man on the throne suddenly shrank sharply, and a heavy magic pressure instantly filled the entire grand hall.

"The Magic King - August!"

Edolas, wild valley

Lisanna was awakened by a wisp of warm breath.

She dazedly opened her eyes and instinctively wanted to sit up, but the moment she moved she gasped in pain.

She belatedly remembered that she seemed to have fallen off a cliff.

"Be a bit more careful with your movements. I went to all this trouble to save you. Don't let your injuries worsen by thrashing about."

A concerned voice came over. Lisanna was startled and looked toward the source of the sound.

Only then did she discover the leaping campfire beside her, as well as the youth who was looking at her from by the fire while still grilling meat in his hands.

"...Who are you?" She looked at the stranger before her in confusion, paused for a moment, and then thought of what he had said just now: "Did you save me?"

She immediately forced a weak smile. "Thank you. If not for you, I probably would have perished at the bottom of that cliff."

The youth opposite her, however, wore a thoughtful look. "You don't know me?"

Lisanna was slightly stunned. "Do we know each other?"

The youth paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly. "No, it's just that you look very similar to someone I know. I mistook you for them."

Lisanna dawned on the realization, then slightly lowered her head with some hesitation:

"My name is Lisanna. Although it's very embarrassing, could I trouble you to send me to Fairy Tail? My family must be very worried about me right now."

"I will definitely properly repay your life-saving grace."

Hearing this request, the youth thought about it slightly, and before long he seemingly casually agreed.

"Alright, since I saved you I might as well see it through to the end. My name is Blanc. Please treat me well from now on."

Magnolia, inside the Fairy Tail guild, fell into an unprecedented, dead silence at this moment. A repressive atmosphere weighed heavily upon every single member.

Macao, who usually loved to stir up trouble the most, wore a world-weary expression at this moment, tightly gripping his wine glass with a face full of heaviness.

Wakaba had an unlit cigar clamped in his mouth, leaning desolately against the edge of the table the entire way.

Levy could not help leaning into a companion's embrace and weeping. Jet, Max, and the others all wore expressions of inability to accept and dare not imagine.

Cana was frozen in place, her commonly used Tarot Cards scattered all over the ground, yet she had not the slightest mind to bother with them.

Guild Master Makarov did not say much, but his short figure sitting hunched over the counter appeared exceptionally lonely and sorrowful.

"Impossible! How could Blanc die so easily? I refuse to believe it!" Natsu leaped up in anger, slamming both fists heavily onto the table in front of him, and with a crisp snap, the table instantly fractured.

The knuckles on Natsu's clenched fists turned slightly pale from excessive force, his eyes bloodshot as he angrily questioned Mira.

"Did you see it with your own eyes? Did you see him die with your own eyes?!"

Mira said nothing. She opened her mouth, but could not force out a single sound.

"...I saw it with my own eyes." After a long while, she finally recovered her voice, which was so soft it was nearly inaudible,

"To protect me, he pulled me out of the Beast King's attack range, and then under the Beast King's attack, he just scattered into golden light, and then... there was nothing left."

Her fingers trembled unceasingly, her entire person as though her soul had been sucked away, merely staring fixedly at the floor as she replayed that moment over and over in her mind, her eyes devoid of a shred of luster.

"Natsu, enough." Gray uncharacteristically did not bicker with him, speaking only in a deep voice carrying a hoarseness even he had not noticed,

"Look at Mira right now; would she joke about something like this?"

Natsu looked at Mira's unprecedentedly devastated state, the words he wanted to say completely choking in his throat as his fists slowly relaxed-

That Mira, usually proud, confident, and afraid of nothing in heaven or earth, was filled with tears at this moment, nearly unable even to stand steady.

"...It can't be." Natsu's voice dropped completely, carrying a trace of trembling he hadn't even realized.

In the end he said nothing more, merely smashing a heavy fist once again into the neighboring table as wood splinters flew in all directions.

"Natsu~" Happy's tears flowed without stopping. Watching Natsu's pain, he had no idea what to do.

Nearby, Elfman knelt on the ground, his fists striking the earth heavily.

"It's all my fault!" His face was full of grief as tears gushed madly, "I killed Blanc!"

He repeated words of self-blame over and over, his voice shaking beyond recognition.

"It's not your fault, big brother Elfman." Lisanna crouched beside him, tightly hugging his trembling shoulders while her tears fell unstoppably,

"Brother Blanc only died to protect us..."

This sentence failed to comfort anyone, instead causing Elfman's shoulders to tremble even more violently.