Since the Celestial Spirit King told everyone that the Celestial Spirit World was currently restoring itself, causing its time and space to briefly align with the outside world, returning now would not cause any time-related problems.
So, out of concern for their companions outside, everyone decided to leave the Celestial Spirit World for now and return to the guild.
They did not get to hold a victory banquet, but after seeing that the Celestial Spirit World and the Spirits were safe, Lucy and the others could finally go back with peace of mind.
On the way from the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary back to the guild, Ankh also explained Ophiuchus's situation to Lucy and the others.
The Ophiuchus Celestial Spirit key had already been returned to Ophiuchus herself and had fused with her.
From now on, she would be able to travel freely between the two worlds.
Ankh and Ophiuchus had also formed a new type of void contract created by the Celestial Spirit King. It no longer required a key.
As long as Ankh called her name, Ophiuchus could appear before him.
But for now… Ophiuchus did not seem to have any intention of going back.
She followed behind Ankh, curiously looking at everything around her.
The magic of this world felt incredibly fresh and unfamiliar to her.
In a way, Ophiuchus's current state was the exact freedom the Eclipse Spirits had been pursuing.
The only difference was that Ophiuchus did not have the twelve-day lifespan limit.
Now, with the sacrifice of the Ophiuchus Celestial Spirit key, along with Ankh's divine power of life and the Celestial Spirit King's divine power of the stars as support, her physique had become the same as that of an Earth Land mage.
Ophiuchus now had her own internal magic source, just like Loke and the others.
The difference was that her magic source was not only suited for survival in the Celestial Spirit World, but could also adapt to the environment of the human world.
She could strengthen herself by absorbing natural Magic Power, completely independent of any mage.
In the short term, this could be considered a weakening of her strength.
After all, Ophiuchus's abilities had previously relied on the enormous Magic Power inside Ankh.
Her own Magic Power could not compare to Loke, Aquarius, or even Taurus.
But in the long term, Ophiuchus could now train and grow stronger on her own.
Her future potential was no less than any S-Class mage candidate in the guild.
What surprised Ankh even more was that a trace of the power of the future God of Plague and Disease still seemed to remain inside Ophiuchus.
In other words, the current Ophiuchus had truly become half a god successor.
After the Celestial Spirit King, she was the second Celestial Spirit god successor.
...
On the way back, there was no shortage of noise and chaos.
Once Natsu recovered his energy, he excitedly went off to spar with Ophiuchus.
The result was unexpected.
Natsu burned himself with his own flames, jumped around screaming, and collapsed again…
Although everyone knew Natsu had not been serious, they were still impressed by Ophiuchus's abilities all over again.
A life-form capable of surviving and adapting to both the Celestial Spirit World and the human world had just been born.
Lucy was very envious of this and even discussed with Ankh whether the same thing might be possible for other Celestial Spirits. Unfortunately, it was not.
Lucy was not Ankh, the other Celestial Spirits were not Ophiuchus, and the Celestial Spirit King was not Lucy's godson…
By the time they returned to the guild in a noisy crowd, their companions who had no idea what had happened were left amazed and envious after listening to Natsu's heavily exaggerated version of the journey.
But…
They cared even more about something else.
"Wow~ So Natsu and Lucy's daughter is this cute!"
Laki—the cute purple-haired girl suspected of being Flare's girlfriend—was snuggling close to Naciel with great excitement.
Naciel clearly knew this auntie's preferences, so she nervously straightened up and stood at attention.
Macao said with deep jealousy, "How the hell does a brat like Natsu get such a cute daughter…"
"Wahahaha! Be jealous all you want!"
Natsu stood arrogantly on top of a table, lifted Naciel high in the air, and proudly showed her off to everyone around him, making Naciel incredibly embarrassed.
In the end, Natsu fell to Lucy's fist, delivered by a Lucy who was just as embarrassed.
Jet and Droy bit their handkerchiefs and hid in the corner, drawing circles on the ground as they wept.
"Levy has children now… and they're Gajeel's… and there are two of them…"
Seeing the younger versions of his familiar uncles and aunties, Garell's old habit of showing off came back again.
He stood there smugly, nose practically tilted up to the sky.
Galena was much calmer by comparison, but then she suddenly felt someone tugging at the corner of her clothes.
She looked down and saw a cute little girl—Asuka, the daughter of Alzack and Bisca.
"Asuka-oneechan."
Galena happily picked Asuka up and started playing with her.
Alzack wiped his tears with great emotion while Bisca comforted him at the side, all because Ankh's son had just told them what Asuka would become in the future!
She would learn Guns Magic and Requip Magic, becoming a female gun mage who could act as a one-woman arsenal with overwhelming firepower.
As for Anmi, who had been spreading gossip everywhere, he had now been suppressed by Cana, Wakaba, and the other drunkards.
Cana boldly threw an arm around the nervous Anmi and spoke in a teasing tone, "Handsome little guy, hurry up and tell big sis how many romantic prospects I have in the future. Save me the trouble of looking for them myself!"
Anmi fiddled with his fingers and stammered, unable to get a word out.
Wakaba and the other old foxes grinned wickedly and teased him, "With Cana drunk two and a half days out of every three, she's probably gonna be a huge headache for someone in the future."
"Shut up!"
Inside the guild, the drunken brawl phase had already begun.
Only Ankh's table remained as steady as a mountain.
Mirajane and Erza sat beside Ankh.
Elysia was currently tugging at Makarov's beard, but since the old man was getting on in years, he just laughed happily and did not get angry at all.
Laxus was also sitting nearby, drinking as he said meaningfully, "You're finished."
The old man was busy playing with Elysia, and Erza was the slow type, but Mirajane was not that easy to fool…
Mirajane was staring at Ankh with burning eyes, her gaze constantly drifting toward Elysia, silently hinting at something.
They had been on a battlefield earlier, so she had not been able to ask directly.
But now…
Ankh's eyes drifted around, and he hurriedly said to Erza beside him, "Uh… Erza, why don't you take Elysia somewhere and have a private chat? Don't let her keep bothering the Master."
Makarov did not mind at all and only laughed cheerfully.
Watching Erza lead Elysia away, he could not help sighing.
"Ah, all of you will have children in the future. How wonderful."
Now that Makarov was older, he loved playing with the new generation most of all.
And now, just like that, he had seen a whole bunch of children at once.
Ankh's face was being roasted red by Mirajane's intense stare, so he quickly said, "Anmi and Elysia said that once the moonlight falls, they'll probably return to the future."
"Huh? That soon?" Makarov sounded reluctant.
"They're children from the future to begin with. Meeting them is only a matter of time," Laxus said calmly, taking a sip of his drink.
After all, it was not like he had met his son.
...
The sun was about to set.
Erza, looking puzzled, was pulled by Elysia to the highest rooftop of the guild building.
"What did you bring me here for?" Erza asked.
Elysia looked at her own palm, which was gradually turning into glowing particles and becoming transparent.
Then she smiled and pointed toward the setting sun at the edge of the town.
"This is my favorite place to watch the sunset."
"From here, you can see all of Magnolia, and the sun feels close enough to freely embrace."
Elysia turned back to look at the thoughtful Erza and smiled brightly.
"You were the one who told me about this place."