Chapter 121: Edolas!

"That's right." Mystogan nodded. At this point, there was no need to conceal his identity any longer.

"What's going on?" At that moment, Gajeel stood up from the ground.

"Gajeel-san!" Wendy called out. After facing such a disaster, every familiar face brought some comfort. Even Gajeel, who didn't talk much with her normally, made Wendy feel a bit excited just by showing up.

"Natsu, stop moving!" Lucy shouted nervously.

"But it's too cramped in here," Natsu replied.

"Agh! You touched me again! I told you not to move!" Lucy yelled, both flustered and angry.

"It's safe now, Lucy-sama."

At that moment, the smoke cleared.

Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were squeezed inside the body of Horologium, the clock spirit.

Horologium opened up and released the two humans and one cat.

"What's going on?!" Natsu and Lucy exclaimed as they stared at the desolate scene before them.

'Gurgle'

Suddenly, a giant frog emerged from the ground—it was Lamy.

She spat out Laxus and Emily.

Laxus frowned; the slime coating him made him uncomfortable. But when he saw the barren landscape around him, even his stoic demeanor faltered for a moment.

"What happened? Why is everything like this?" Emily asked in shock.

Everyone needed answers.

"There's still one more person coming. Let's wait," Mystogan said. Anyone could have been taken away, but he believed that particular someone wouldn't be.

"Who else?" As everyone wondered, Jehfrit and Ikuto approached.

The instant Jehfrit sensed something was off, he had Miko spread her large wings to cover both himself and Ikuto.

Walking up to the group, seeing Laxus and Emily covered in slime, Jehfrit gave a slight nod. It seemed Lamy had done her job well.

"Master, what's going on? Where did everyone go? The guild… even the town is gone!" Emily, being the youngest, was utterly bewildered by the sight. She ran over crying as soon as she saw Jehfrit appear.

"Don't worry." Jehfrit patted Emily's head and reassured her, "This isn't beyond fixing."

Everyone looked at him expectantly, but Jehfrit shook his head. "I know some things, but not all the details. Let Mystogan explain."

"Mystogan," everyone turned their attention towards him.

"*Sigh*," Mystogan exhaled deeply before beginning his explanation.

He was Jellal from another world—a place called Edolas.

Unlike Earth-land, which was abundant in magic, Edolas was suffering from a dwindling supply of magical energy.

To obtain Earth-land's magic, Edolas' king created an ultra-subspace magic called "Anima," designed to extract magical energy from Earth-land and transfer it to Edolas.

For years, Mystogan had been trying to suppress Anima, but now he could no longer contain its power, leading to today's events.

"So, the people of Magnolia Town were transported to Edolas through Anima," Lucy concluded.

'Slam!' Natsu punched his fist into his palm. "Then let's go to Edolas and bring them back!"

"It's impossible," Carla interjected, raining on their enthusiasm.

"Carla?" Wendy looked at her, confused about why she sounded so defeatist.

"In that world, they won't give up that magic easily. We're destined to fail!" Carla declared.

"What are you talking about, Carla? We haven't even fought yet! And we've got strong allies like Laxus, Mystogan, and Jehfrit. How can you say we'll lose before we even try?!" Wendy retorted angrily.

Wendy rarely argued with Carla because of her gentle personality, but this situation was different. She was standing her ground.

She couldn't understand why Carla would say something so discouraging. Didn't Carla care deeply about Fairy Tail, even if she wasn't good at expressing it?

"I saw it…" Carla's voice trembled. "We're all going to die—a monstrous creature, huge and terrifying, will kill us all!"

"Mystogan, Natsu, Lucy, Laxus, Happy…"

"Wendy," tears welled up in Carla's eyes, "I don't want anything bad to happen to you!"

Everyone froze. Carla's words didn't sound like lies, but what did she mean by "saw"?

"What about me?" Jehfrit asked with a grin.

"You were killed too," Carla replied, meeting his gaze. "Torn apart."

"My master isn't going to die!" Emily shouted.

"Emily, you—" Carla couldn't finish her sentence.

"Hahaha," Jehfrit laughed aloud. "Carla, can you tell the difference between my Deception Magic and reality?"

"No," Carla shook her head.

"Then how can you believe what you saw is real?" Jehfrit asked. "You have some sort of precognitive ability, right? Can you foresee everything from start to finish?"

"No," Carla stammered, feeling lost.

"Well then," Jehfrit waved his hand.

'Pop!'

Suddenly, a monster appeared and tore him apart.

Then, the illusion shattered, revealing Jehfrit standing there unharmed.

"Your prediction has already come true. Now put aside those gloomy thoughts," Jehfrit dismissed Carla's prophecy outright.

Others dying might fool people.

Him dying?

What a joke!

"But—" Carla tried to argue further.

"Carla!" Wendy interrupted sharply. "I'm not some savior, but I can't abandon my friends either!"

Carla froze.

"Prophecies don't matter!" Natsu chimed in.

"The idea of Jehfrit dying must be fake—it's probably just his Deception Magic tricking you," Lucy added.

"Stop wasting time," Laxus grunted.

"Wait," Carla spoke again. "I understand everyone's feelings now, but there's something else I need to tell you."

"Carla?"

"Happy and I—we're from Edolas."

"That's impossible! Carla, you hatched from an egg!" Wendy protested.

"Happy did too!" Natsu joined in.

"Let me make one thing clear—I've never been to Edolas," Carla clarified. "We were born in this world, but our mission comes from Edolas. It's deeply ingrained in our memories."

"What mission? Why don't I remember anything?" Happy's expression turned troubled.

He always knew he was special and had occasionally wondered about his origins—why he, a cat, was born from an egg and where his parents were. Thankfully, having Natsu around kept loneliness at bay, so these thoughts quickly faded away.

But now, with Carla seemingly knowing the truth, it stirred his curiosity.

"You idiot, acting clueless all the time, laughing and eating fish without a care in the world while I carry this burden alone!" Carla snapped, her face contorted with pain.

Silence fell over the group.

No wonder Carla had always distanced herself from Happy.

Personality differences played a part, but beyond that, while Carla constantly thought about their shared mission, Happy acted oblivious. Naturally, she felt anger, doubt—and perhaps even envy.

"So, what exactly is your mission?" Lucy asked.

"I can't say," Carla glanced at Wendy. "All I can say is that Happy and I will follow you to Edolas to fight for everyone's return, effectively abandoning our mission."

"But," Carla continued sternly, "if Happy or I ever betray you, don't hesitate to kill us!"

The group was stunned. They hadn't expected Carla to say something like that.

"Are you done?" Jehfrit asked.

"Yes," Carla nodded.

"Three points," Jehfrit began. "First, Edolas is an unfamiliar world. Mystogan, your knowledge of that world may not be comprehensive, let alone Carla and Happy since neither has been there."

Mystogan nodded—he'd come to Earth-land as a child.

"I don't know anything about Edolas either; I can't act as a guide," Carla admitted.

"Therefore, we shouldn't barge in recklessly. We need to disguise ourselves, gather intelligence first. Remember, we're dealing with an entire nation, and our numbers are too small. So proceed cautiously. None of you should be arrogant enough to think we can take on a whole country."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Second, our primary goal is to rescue the people of Magnolia. Even if opportunities arise, remain cautious. Don't rule out traps or significant dangers. To put it bluntly, follow my instructions and don't act impulsively based on emotions."

Again, everyone nodded. Jehfrit's leadership skills were widely respected, even by Laxus, who merely remained silent instead of objecting.

"Third, sign these contracts." Jehfrit tossed out a set of cards, handing one to each person.

"What are these?" Everyone held their cards, puzzled.

"They're demons from the same batch as Lamy. Though flawed, basic survival capabilities are guaranteed—they won't fail you." Originally, Jehfrit intended to assign each person a demon at least as capable as Lamy, but given the suddenness of the situation, he settled for some relatively decent rejects.

"Cool!" Lucy beamed. She'd previously envied Emily, but now she had her own demon!

Laxus glanced at Lamy, then at the slime covering himself, shaking his head. "I don't need one."

"You brat!" Jehfrit leapt forward, grabbing Laxus by the head and shoving the contract in his face. "Sign it! You're reckless, harder to manage than Natsu. This time, we're opposing an entire nation!"

"Tch," Laxus reluctantly picked up the pen and signed the contract.

A large frog jumped out of the card, swallowed the contract, pointed to its mouth, and waved dismissively—it couldn't speak.

Looking at the frog, which resembled Lamy closely, the group realized: clearly, these were indeed defective products.

Jehfrit handed out contracts, ensuring everyone signed. Then he said, "Figure out your demons' defects and abilities later. Anima's closing, so let's move."

"By the way, Emily, you're staying behind." Jehfrit looked at Emily.

"No way!" Emily protested. "I want to help too!"

"Fine," Jehfrit reconsidered. He remembered there was also a Fairy Tail guild in that world. Depending on the circumstances, leaving Emily there might actually be safer than keeping her in this empty place.

"Magic doesn't work in Edolas, so everyone take this potion first!" Mystogan pulled out a bottle and handed it to Jehfrit, trusting him to distribute it.

Everyone took a pill.

"Ready?" Jehfrit asked.

"Been ready for ages!" Natsu rolled up his sleeves.

Jehfrit raised his hand and fired a barrier around each person.

"Here we go!" Jehfrit announced.

"Miko."

"Oooh—hey!"

Miko crouched slightly, then flapped her massive wings with tremendous force!

'Boom!'

A powerful gust of wind launched everyone high into the sky, heading straight toward Anima.

"JEHFRIIIIT!!!"

Suddenly, a furious roar echoed from below.

"What's that?" Jehfrit heard the shout and turned back to see a demon flying toward them.

Who was that?

They were about to pass through Anima, and Jehfrit didn't want to get entangled with this demon. He fired a shot immediately.

But the demon shrugged off the bullet and charged forward, throwing a punch!

"Not good!" Mystogan sensed the spatial vibrations and grew alarmed.

However, when the group tried to intervene, they found themselves trapped within the barriers.

As the demon closed in, Jehfrit activated his magic, depriving it of all five senses.

"ROAR!!!"

Surprisingly, the demon let out a deafening roar that shook the entire Anima spell!

Just as the group crossed over, the space vibrated violently, pulling everyone inside with terrifying suction from all directions.

...

Jehfrit looked at the cityscape before him. "So, we've been separated."

"Yes," Miko confirmed.

"Who was that guy, anyway? Completely random."

"A demon."

"Do we have any enemies among demons?"

"... 

"Oh!" Jehfrit suddenly recalled something. "Could that guy be Ansaba?!"

"Maybe. Recently, the only ones we've pissed off are them," Miko nodded.

"Did he cross over too?" Jehfrit mused, a sly smile appearing on his face. "This is getting interesting."

"What are you thinking, Jehfrit?" Miko asked.

Jehfrit shook his head. "Nothing important, just a little idea. No need to dwell on it for now."

"I hope Emily and Ikuto are together," Jehfrit said.

"Lamy will take care of her," Miko assured him.

"Right," Jehfrit nodded.

"Let's head to the nearest town."

'Gulp'

A large frog opened its mouth and spat out two people.

"Emily, are you okay?" Lucy asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Emily shook her head, looking around sadly. "We got separated from Master and the others."

"It's alright, I'll protect you," Lucy encouraged her.

"I'll work hard not to hold you back, Lucy-nee!" Emily declared confidently, raising a small fist.

In the perilous floating island...

"Ahh—!"

A white-haired girl ran frantically, screaming.

"What rotten luck! I just wanted to pick some mushrooms, and now I'm being chased by this giant thing!"

Behind her, a massive and hideous fish-like monster flailed its fins, crashing through the forest at incredible speed.

"Damn, dead end!"

Facing a cliff, the girl's expression changed.

Just then, a bolt of golden lightning struck down, instantly roasting the monstrous fish to a crisp!