"Erza! What did you say?!"
In the magnificent and elegantly decorated main hall of the Edolas royal palace—a place that should have been the brightest spot in the kingdom—the atmosphere was currently extremely gloomy.
Erza knelt on one knee, bowing her head as she said solemnly.
"Anima did not transform the mages of Earthland into Magic Crystals. It only transferred the mages from that specific guild, not the entire city."
"Moreover, those mages are extremely powerful. Our reconnaissance unit was nearly wiped out, and Lily was captured by them."
In front of where Erza knelt, a flight of steps led up to a golden throne.
A tall, skinny old man with white hair, a pale beard, and wrinkled skin sat there.
This old man was Faust, the supreme ruler of the kingdom in the world of Edolas.
Faust slammed his staff heavily against the floor.
His raspy voice was filled with anger as he shouted, "Byro!"
A short old man standing nearby quickly stepped forward.
His eyes were dark, and his bald head had two tufts of hair that looked like horns. He leaned on his magic staff as he stood before the king.
"Your Majesty, I personally monitored Anima. There were absolutely no issues during the activation of the transfer. It must... be due to reasons on Earthland's side."
A fierce light gleamed in Faust's murky old eyes.
He tightened his grip on his staff and rasped in a low voice, "They should have obediently turned into Magic Power instead of causing me trouble."
After a moment of thought, Byro, the Chief of Staff of the Edolas Kingdom Army, turned to Erza and asked, "Erza, if we provide you with extra soldiers, are you confident you can eliminate those mages from Earthland?"
Erza raised her head and said coldly, "Among those mages, there are at least three exceptionally strong one. To capture them, all of us unit captains must act together."
"To deal with mere members of one guild, must the entire kingdom exert its full strength?!"
Upon hearing this, Faust's aged and furious roar echoed throughout the grand hall.
The hall fell into dead silence, but Erza kept her head raised, her cold and determined eyes unwavering.
Faust panted heavily.
After a long silence, he calmed down and finally gave Erza his orders.
"Lily's First Magic War Unit is now under your command. The Third and Fourth Units will also assist you. Byro, mobilize the logistics unit to support Erza."
"Remember this—spare no cost. Not a single one of them must escape. You must capture every one of those mages and bring them back to me!!"
Erza and Byro bowed in acknowledgment at the same time.
Just as they were about to leave, Faust suddenly called out abruptly, "Erza!"
Erza halted her steps.
Faust's expression shifted darkly, but he still spoke. "Go and consult the Goddess. If possible, ask for her help."
Erza was taken aback but immediately nodded in agreement.
After the two left, Faust sat alone in the palace.
Suddenly, he exploded in anger, throwing his staff to the ground and frantically venting his inner fears. He roared:
"The Goddess! The mages of Earthland! And those foolish cats! Why does everyone live better than I do?!"
"I am the king! I am the one in this world most worthy of controlling Magic Power!!"
After this private outburst, Faust finally stopped.
He collapsed exhausted beneath the throne, his old eyes staring blankly out the window.
Outside the window, high in the sky above the Edolas capital, floated an island suspended in the air.
That was the dwelling place of the Goddess, the home of the Exceed—the beings who were revered and feared by the people of Edolas.
They appeared as cats, born with natural Magic Power.
Yet, their physical strength was so pitifully weak that they were like fish on a chopping block—as if they were created just to be a magical treasure chest for humans to exploit.
However, they happened to have a queen who was treated like a god.
She was supposedly capable of killing any human with just her words.
But... the act had gone too far.
Faust's face darkened, his lips slowly twisting into a ferocious grin.
'What nonsense about being able to kill humans with a single sentence... I have been fooled this whole time.'
'Over the years, the fact that she expelled Lily and constantly put up with my deliberate insults has proven that the queen is a fraud!'
'Just wait... it is time for you to pay for your arrogance all these years.'
In the gloomy palace, a piercing cold wind swept through the halls, carrying a shrill sound like the mocking laughter of demons lurking in the shadows...
...
Meanwhile, the floating island carrying the guild had been painstakingly transformed by Freed into the form of a "Wandering Fairy."
The island was slowly drifting toward another location.
Freed had cast a transparent Magic over the entire piece of land to make sure they moved silently and unseen.
"Truly worthy of being the guild's infrastructure expert."
Ankh gazed out the window at the rapidly passing scenery and could not help but sigh in admiration.
Every member of the guild was talented, which was why Ankh always felt so reassured having his guild companions around.
No matter how strong you are, there will always be things you are not good at.
Even if you were a god, there would still be laws beyond your control.
But with a group of people by your side, it is different...
Laxus patted Freed's shoulder approvingly and praised him.
"As expected of you, Freed. Your application of the Magic Formula is likely unmatched by anyone in all of Fiore."
Freed, who was pale-faced and looked as if he had overworked himself, perked up at the compliment and blushed sheepishly.
"Not at all... the Council's Magic Formulas are actually quite impressive."
"Them? Pfft, they just rely on numbers to get by."
Ankh changed his tone to insult the Council.
Then, he turned to look at Lily, who was tightly tied up with thick steel bars.
Gajeel crouched nearby, watching Lily expectantly.
Ankh stepped forward, channeling milky-white Life Divine Power from his palm into Lily's chest.
After a moment, Lily felt a warm current flow through his body, a comforting warmth spreading through his limbs. He could not help but open his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a very fierce, yet purposely gentle, tough face.
Lily shuddered in fright and immediately tried to push the person away, but suddenly realized he could not move his hands.
"Give up, Lily. These are shackles I made for you—guaranteed unbreakable." Gajeel let out a strange laugh.
Lily struggled to break free, but the restraints were like iron clamps, completely immovable.
Ankh pushed Gajeel, who had been intimidating Lily, aside.
He pulled up a chair to sit in front of the cat and smiled.
"Captain Lily, would you care to share some information about your kingdom with us?"
Lily snorted coldly, about to reply with wishful thinking.
But when he lifted his head and looked at Ankh, his eyes suddenly grew dazed, and he could not help but utter.
"God...?"
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