Although they still did not understand the situation, Erza, as Lucy's companion, could still empathize with her pain.
She pulled Future Lucy into her arms and softly spoke, "It's all right now, Lucy."
The sobbing Lucy collapsed into Erza's embrace.
Without armor, Erza's chest was especially warm, and Future Lucy's uneasy heart gradually began to calm.
The others quietly watched without saying a word.
Everyone could see that the Future Lucy before them was like a frightened little animal who had spent every day in terror.
She was fragile to the extreme.
"Lu… Lucy…"
Beside Future Lucy, the sharp-eyed Lisanna noticed something was wrong.
Her voice trembled as she asked, "Where's your right hand?"
The moment those words left her mouth, everyone's gaze shifted to Future Lucy's body, which was hidden beneath the loose black robe.
Lucy reached out with trembling hands and lifted the robe.
What it revealed was empty space.
"How could this…"
Looking at "herself," who could not stop crying, Future Lucy also had tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.
She used her left hand to gently stroke the pink guild mark on the back of Lucy's hand, still smiling as she comforted her.
"It's strange seeing myself like this. It's okay. It doesn't hurt anymore. It's just… a little hard to let go."
It was not only her arm she was reluctant to part with.
It was also that mark.
That was the guild symbol Lucy had always been proudest of, and it had been the last source of strength that kept her alive.
Erza's fists clenched until they creaked.
Her eyes burned with fury as she growled, "Who did this?"
"Bastard!"
Natsu trembled with rage, his face frighteningly dark
Every member of the guild fell into dead silence.
Each of them seemed like explosives on the verge of being lit, their anger and hatred completely unconcealed.
"Today is the evening of the third day of the Grand Magic Games, right…"
Lucy was silent for a long while. Fear of the future flickered in her eyes as she slowly spoke.
"In the early hours of the seventh day of the Grand Magic Games, the royal capital…"
"Will be overrun by ten thousand dragons."
Hearing Lucy's words, everyone collectively sucked in a sharp breath.
Dragons?
Ten thousand of them?!
The Tenrou group, who had once faced the Black Dragon Acnologia directly, undoubtedly understood better than anyone how terrifying dragons were.
Even if not every dragon could be as powerful as Acnologia, ten thousand of them…
A force like that would be enough to sweep across the entire continent, wouldn't it?
Where had they come from?
Yet those unbelievable words had come from Lucy's mouth, and everyone present believed them almost instantly.
"So the enemy is dragons…" Natsu's eyes were still fixed on Lucy's missing right arm.
His fists clenched tightly.
Ankh and Makarov sat on either side of Future Lucy.
Ankh asked in a gentle tone, "Then… do you remember where the dragons came from?"
Lucy would never lie, but such a massive number of dragons should no longer exist.
Ankh had already heard that fact from Igneel himself.
Hearing Ankh's question, Lucy could not help lowering her head.
She tightly gripped the black robe and said in shame, "I'm sorry. I don't know… At the time, Natsu and I had already been captured."
"Captured?" Ankh immediately asked, "By who? The kingdom?"
Lucy hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Tomorrow, I lose during the competitive event of the Grand Magic Games. While I'm receiving treatment in the infirmary, the royal army secretly captures me."
"After that, Ankh, Mira, Wendy, and Natsu sneak into the palace to rescue me, but they get captured too. We don't escape until the dragons destroy the palace…"
Listening to Lucy describe the future, Natsu's face turned black with rage.
He roared and spat fire. "So the kingdom is behind this. I'm going to take them down!"
"Wait!"
Gajeel grabbed Natsu, who was about to rush outside, and shouted, "We still haven't figured everything out!"
"Isn't it already obvious? Our enemy is the kingdom!"
Natsu glared at him fiercely.
The two dragon brats looked like they were about to lock horns again, only for Laxus to push them both aside with his hands and say in a deep voice.
"One thing we haven't figured out is why Ankh would fall into a trap."
Ankh also looked at Lucy in confusion.
The royal capital was full of small fry.
As far as he knew, there should not be anyone strong enough to do that.
Lucy looked toward Natsu, who had been roughly tied up by everyone after his earlier rampage.
Her eyes were full of sorrow as she said, "It was a masked person who called himself a god… He could make people lose their reason. Natsu lost control because of that ability, and he was forced to swallow Ankh's death aura."
"After that… I lost consciousness. But even after the dragons descended, I never saw Ankh again, so I'm not sure what happened…"
Ankh could not help sighing inwardly.
'So it really is divine power.'
If that masked person was a successor of a god, then he could indeed stop Ankh.
But at most, he should only be able to delay him for a while.
Ankh believed he should still have been able to rescue them.
So what exactly had happened after Lucy and the others lost consciousness?
Who was the masked person?
Why did the kingdom kidnap Lucy?
And where had those absurd ten thousand dragons come from?
Were the dragons' appearance and the kingdom's strange actions connected?
A whole string of questions appeared in Ankh's mind. Right now, he deeply regretted not finishing the original plot before. But soon, he remembered something important.
"Right, Lucy. How did you travel back to the present?"
…
"Your Highness, Fairy Tail has already returned to the tavern. I reprimanded them a few times, so they should not cause any more trouble."
Inside Mercurius, the royal palace of the capital, Arcadios, who had met Ankh and the others on the street, knelt on one knee. His head was lowered respectfully as he reported.
"Good…"
Princess Hisui's expression was somewhat heavy.
Her voice was hoarse as she asked, "How are the preparations for the Eclipse Gate?"
"As you instructed, everything has been prepared."
Arcadios kept his head lowered and continued, "Also, in order to prevent the Celestial Spirit Mage from interfering, we are prepared to act tomorrow."
"…I understand. You may leave."
Princess Hisui waved her hand.
Arcadios immediately stood up and silently walked out of the hall.
Only after his footsteps faded did a figure slowly emerge from the shadows within the great hall.
It was an ominous young man with scars on his face, black-and-white hair, and a high ponytail.
He looked at Princess Hisui, who seemed somewhat lost, and laughed softly.
"Does Your Highness still not believe that I came from the future?"
Princess Hisui said silently, "Once I see the Grand Magic Games results you spoke of, I will naturally believe you."
The sinister young man's eyes flicked almost imperceptibly toward Princess Hisui's desk, then he smiled easily.
"Very well. Please do as you wish."
After the eerie young man disappeared back into the shadows, Princess Hisui finally relaxed her tense body and let out a long breath.
"If we do not open the Eclipse Gate and release its Magic Power to kill the dragons, Lord Ankh will die in battle alongside Fairy Tail, and the entire continent will be plunged into devastation."
"If that truly is the future, then I absolutely… absolutely cannot allow it to happen!"
Princess Hisui felt an enormous pressure bearing down on her whole body.
A person from the future had suddenly appeared and told her that the world's survival or destruction depended entirely on one decision from her.
Anyone would be crushed beneath that kind of mental pressure.
Afterward, Hisui was about to deal with the official work that had piled up, but she suddenly noticed a sinister demon mask sitting at the corner of her desk.
"When did this appear… Could it have been Father? Honestly, he must have taken something strange from the treasury to play with again."
Hisui picked up the demon mask and sighed helplessly.
…
Perhaps it was only her imagination.
But Hisui somehow felt that the terrifying demon face on the mask had smiled.
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