"Haha, that is actually not a bad suggestion at all. An Exceed showdown?" Raizel chuckled, giving a supportive thumbs up to the idea.
"Do not encourage them!" Wendy scolded him, puffing out her cheeks and glaring playfully at Raizel.
Gajeel, the other person involved in this challenge, was incredibly excited.
"I have been waiting for this exact moment my entire life!" he roared.
"There is really no need to wait for that..." Happy mumbled weakly, cautiously raising a small blue paw from nearby.
"Let me make one thing crystal clear right now: my Lily is literally the strongest cat in the world," Gajeel boasted.
"And mine is literally Happy, who is... well, just a cat," Natsu replied, trying to match Gajeel's energy but failing slightly.
'Your use of the word 'literally' is incredibly ambiguous...' Ultear thought to herself.
She had a million complaints about this ridiculous conversation but honestly did not even know where to start correcting them.
"Let me tell you guys right now, I think I will definitely be instantly defeated!" Happy cried out, a thick drop of cold sweat visibly beading on his furry forehead.
"You are acting so spineless. Openly surrendering before the fight even begins... are you even a man?" Carla remarked sharply from the sidelines, crossing her arms.
"Huh? Carla... wait, did you actually have high expectations for me?" Happy gasped.
For a brief second, he almost fell completely into a romantic self-delusion, acting exactly like Juvia.
"Just forget it. Do not let my tiny new appearance fool you; I was a Magic War Unit Commander over there. A pointless fight will only get you badly hurt," Lily said firmly, instantly shattering Happy's romantic fantasy into a million pieces.
"Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot about that..." Happy sighed in relief.
"It turns out you are actually quite mature," Erza commented, nodding approvingly at the small black panther.
"Shouldn't we just say that those two are way too childish? Well, let's just do our best to get along from now on, Happy, Carla," Lily offered politely.
"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered.
"Hey, wait a minute... why are Natsu and Gajeel fighting each other instead of us?" Happy pointed out in confusion.
"And now even Gray and Elfman have joined the brawl," Carla complained with a heavy sigh as she watched the guild members start throwing punches at each other.
'Strong bodies fiercely colliding with other strong bodies...' Juvia stared at the fighting men.
Her swirling thoughts were quickly filling up with highly inappropriate content that was definitely not safe for television broadcast.
"Juvia will join the fray too!" she suddenly declared, lunging forward.
"Absolutely no joining allowed!" Lucy scolded as she quickly grabbed Juvia and pulled her safely back from the chaotic brawl.
"Well, raising a massive ruckus once in a while isn't so bad," someone laughed.
"Right, right! I am joining in too!" Another few excited members rolled up their sleeves and eagerly dove headfirst into the massive fray.
"Everyone, please just calm down, okay?" Wendy pleaded politely, nervously trying her best to mediate the situation from the safe edges of the room.
"You are not going to try and stop them?" Raizel asked in surprise.
He watched closely as Erza walked completely nonchalantly right past the violent, brawling crowd and arrived peacefully at the wooden bar counter.
"They all worked incredibly hard during our time in Edolas, so I will graciously let their behavior slide just this once. Mira, please get me any cocktail," Erza requested.
She decided to order a sweet drink from Mirajane as a well-deserved reward for herself.
"By the way, please tell me, what exactly was I like over there?" Makarov asked, walking up to the group.
The guild master was also deeply curious about his alternate self.
"Didn't you guys say that the personalities over there are the exact opposite of ours? I really want to know the details."
"You were the actual King of the world over there," Raizel explained calmly. "And now that you mention it, Mystogan is technically your..."
"So I was the King! How glorious!" Makarov cheered, completely missing the rest of the sentence.
"But you were a massive, tyrannical villain, though..." Raizel added bluntly.
His next words were so shocking that they almost made poor Makarov physically fall right off his tall bar stool.
"And I was the one who personally defeated you in battle," Raizel continued.
Those words felt like another sharp, metaphorical knife stabbing right into Makarov's fragile pride.
"What about me? What kind of person was I over in that world?" Gildarts pointed a thumb at himself and asked with a wide grin.
"Well... there was actually no person named Gildarts that we saw... Maybe your counterpart was just a little frog or a fish or something," Raizel joked smoothly as he looked at the powerful mage.
"That is so harsh!" Gildarts laughed heartily.
Raizel simply shook his head. "I honestly do not know. Anyway, I did not encounter my own alternate self over there either."
"Speaking of which, there are actually many people who aren't in that version of 'Fairy Tail' over there," Ultear said softly while thoughtfully tapping her fingers against the wooden bar counter.
She had already learned from Kagura's stories that in Edolas's Fairy Tail, there were no such individuals as Kagura, herself, or Ur.
But she truly hadn't expected someone as prominent as Raizel to be completely absent too.
Raizel himself fully intended to just let things take their natural course—if his counterpart appeared, he appeared; if not, then so be it.
He certainly didn't plan to waste time going out of his way to look for himself.
Moreover, since none of the members of the Edolas Fairy Tail had ever even seen a Raizel, it simply meant that the Raizel over there was either entirely unknown to them or might have already passed away.
Raizel didn't mind this fact at all.
Although the people from both sides of the portal looked very similar, they definitely weren't exactly the same person.
At most, they might share some minor similarities in their core personalities, much like the two Erzas from both sides.
Raizel only cared to focus his attention on this Earthland Fairy Tail.
Besides, now that Mystogan had officially become their king, he would highly likely give some well-deserved preferential treatment to that alternate Fairy Tail, so Raizel really didn't need to worry about their future anymore.
"However, it is really such a terrible pity that Mystogan permanently left Fairy Tail..." Makarov sighed, speaking with a heavy hint of sadness in his aged voice.
Although Mystogan had always seemed quite quiet and unsociable to the others, he reliably always stepped in whenever his powerful help was truly needed.
And ever since learning the secret that he had been actively sealing the dangerous Anima portals in various places all this time, Makarov had felt even deeper sympathy for the boy's heavy burdens.
When Mystogan had first arrived at the guild years ago, he was just a young, lost child, yet he had been forced to appear so incredibly mature.
"It seems we can only pray from afar that he works hard as the ruler of Edolas," the guild master finished.
Gildarts was momentarily stunned by the sentimental mood before he smiled softly and said.
"Do not worry so much about him, Master. He grew up in this very guild, after all. With the stubborn spirit he learned here, he will definitely be completely fine."
Ur, who was standing quietly nearby, smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, and he made so many careful preparations for this exact outcome. He is absolutely sure to live well and lead them properly."
However, Ur's gentle tone suddenly shifted, carrying a slight touch of wistful regret.
"But it is still a real pity that we couldn't keep any physical photos of him from his early childhood days."
Right before this massive operation had begun, Ur had finally found a rare opportunity, and, after getting Mystogan's awkward consent, she had managed to take a nice group photo of him standing with the other guild members.
But since he had so rarely participated in any social activities during his childhood, absolutely no photos from that early time period remained in the guild's albums.
Thinking deeply about it, Ur still felt a bit regretful that they didn't have more memories captured.
"Although the final outcome leaves us with some small regrets, the entire process was nearly perfect. Mystogan did have a fairly good safe childhood growing up in our guild, right?" As Raizel spoke these comforting words, he gently raised a glass to toast Ur.
Although Mystogan almost never participated in the loud year-end events, he could always clearly feel the genuine kindness radiating from Ur, Makarov, and the other rowdy members.
It was exactly because of this deep familial love that he had so resolutely defied his own father, betrayed the King of Edolas, and firmly worked to seal the Anima portals in various places to protect Earthland.
"A toast to you, Mystogan. May your new life over there get better and better every single day," Raizel said warmly, raising his glass high into the air toward the sky.
"Yeah, very well said. Wait for me, wait for me!" Gildarts quickly poured himself another strong drink and enthusiastically raised his own glass right along with Raizel.
Watching Raizel and Gildarts honor their departed friend, Makarov finally smiled with a deep sense of peace and relief.
Suddenly, Makarov seemed to recall something else important.
"Gildarts, you will be staying in the city for a while this time, right?"
Gildarts scratched his stubbled chin, pondering for a moment before answering.
"Hmm... I am honestly not too sure about that either."
"Well, I have something very important to discuss with you in private. It is specifically about what you mentioned to me before you left," Makarov stated quietly.
"What is it? You are being so unusually serious," Gildarts noted, his playful demeanor shifting.
"It is actually nothing too dangerously urgent, but it is about Natsu..." Makarov hinted.
"Oh, right. I remember now." Gildarts nodded in slow understanding, a serious glint appearing in his eye.
"What is it? Are you guys actually keeping major secrets from me now?" Raizel blinked in pure confusion.
When exactly did those two secretly discuss this?
"It is nothing major for you to worry about. Just drink your tea," Makarov waved his hand impatiently, humorously indicating that 'children' shouldn't pry into complicated adult matters.