At the same time, the "hands" on the surface began to crumble.
"The hands are breaking apart!"
"Natsu and the others must have succeeded!" Happy cried excitedly from where he had remained aboveground.
"Did you feel that? A huge source of Magic Power just vanished!"
"Yes! It did!"
Tears filled Faris's eyes, and her voice caught in her throat.
"They... really did it."
The High White Priestess wept openly as she marveled,
"They destroyed Alta Face, a creature even our ancestors could only seal away... and they're all still so young."
She allowed herself only a brief moment of emotion before quickly coming back to her senses and directing everyone.
"No, this is not the time for that! We must stabilize the Magic Power of this world. Now that Alta Face is gone, we can perform the Whiteout ritual!"
Under the High White Priestess's command, the Mages of Whiteout Village sat around the ritual circle.
"Everyone, begin your prayers. Focus your minds! With the power of Whiteout, we shall restore balance to this world!"
"With the power of Whiteout, we shall restore balance to this world!"
A pillar of white light rose from Whiteout Village's ritual grounds and pierced the sky. The power of Whiteout then spread outward in every direction.
The residents of Elentear pointed toward the light.
"That's the power of the priestesses from Whiteout Village!"
"We're saved!"
On that day, Elentear's Magic Power swelled to unprecedented levels, but in the end, it gradually returned to normal and stabilized.
Since Raizel, Irene, and the others had destroyed Alta Face, Elentear would never again have to suffer from the troublesome problem of excess Magic Power.
That also meant the priestesses of Whiteout Village were finally free.
Even so, their Whiteout power was still needed for a while to help stabilize and harmonize the world's Magic Power, so the people of Whiteout Village would remain busy for some time.
The hands erupting from beneath the ground had also damaged farms, buildings, and other areas, all of which would need to be rebuilt.
Still, the outcome was a good one. At least the disaster of the hands would never happen again.
Raizel told the people of Whiteout Village that Selene had helped destroy Alta Face as well.
Selene later appeared in the village and apologized.
With Faris explaining what had happened, and out of gratitude toward Raizel, Natsu, and the others who had fought to save them, the villagers eventually forgave her.
Ordinarily, Selene would never have apologized in the first place. Perhaps this was another change brought about by Raizel, Irene, and all the books she had read.
After all, she had already apologized once for the prank she played on Irene.
Once she had broken that barrier, doing it again was apparently easier.
Besides, even if the villagers refused to forgive her, there was not much they could have done.
Selene's strength was far beyond anything they could hope to challenge. She had helped resolve the crisis with Alta Face, willingly apologized, and no longer had any plans for Elentear.
That was already as much closure as they could reasonably ask for.
Naturally, Black Moon Mountain still counted as Selene's territory. She planned to return occasionally to admire the moon.
"We should head back soon."
Elentear was not particularly different from what Raizel had imagined.
Its technology even seemed slightly behind Earth Land's, so Earth Land was still more entertaining.
Only someone like Selene, who loved the fact that Elentear always had a full moon and found its moonlight beautiful, would want to spend much time here.
Before everyone entered the spatial passage, Faris bowed deeply.
"Thank you, everyone!"
Natsu flashed a wide grin and waved it off.
"You don't have to thank us. You're a member of our guild."
Tears filled Faris's eyes as she answered loudly,
"Yes!"
The Fairy Tail emblem was still stamped on the back of her right hand.
Like Mystogan in Edolas, even if it became difficult for her to see the others again, she was still a member of Fairy Tail.
Of course, meeting again was not actually that difficult.
Raizel could travel to Edolas too.
Once everything settled down, he could visit Mystogan anytime.
He had also left coordinates in Elentear, and Selene could bring everyone back whenever she wanted.
Black Moon Mountain was still her territory, after all.
...
When they returned to Ermina, Mercphobia and Karameel had already explained the situation to the residents.
The people still worshiped the Water Dragon God as their guardian deity. In fact, they were relieved that he had regained his power.
They had witnessed everything Mercphobia had done for them.
They were not ignorant fools. He had only transformed them into fish because there had been no other way for them to survive the flooding.
Mercphobia invited Raizel's group and the residents to a banquet at the temple.
During the feast, he suddenly said with a sigh,
"Even so, I still do not know whether it is right for me to possess this power."
Mercphobia's strength had now been fully restored. He was once again the mighty Water Dragon God revered by everyone around him.
If his heart ever changed...
Karameel, seated beside him, immediately scolded him.
"I'm right here, Lord Water Dragon! You're not allowed to think like that!"
Mercphobia laughed softly at her words.
Raizel shook his head.
"Don't look at it that way. Having power means you can protect Ermina more effectively, and perhaps even protect all of Guiltina. Think about it. If another shipwreck survivor like Karameel appeared at sea, and you had no Magic or strength left, wouldn't you feel helpless because you couldn't save them?"
As for whether Mercphobia might suddenly lose his mind and try to destroy the world, at the very least, he showed no sign of wanting that now.
Raizel could not kill him merely because he possessed enough power to destroy the world.
That would be no different from grabbing some random man off the street and castrating him simply because he possessed the equipment to commit a crime.
Mercphobia had killed humans in the past, but that had happened during the war between dragons and humanity.
In an era where refusing to kill meant being killed yourself, there was little point judging the matter by the standards of the present.
Karameel and Ermina's residents could all testify that the Mercphobia of today did not hate humans.
If anything, he had grown close to them.
Mercphobia scratched his hair and laughed brightly before nodding with a serious expression.
"Thank you. I understand."
At the very least, he needed this strength to protect Ermina and rescue those who met with disaster at sea.
More than that, he trusted himself.
He had long since grown tired of fighting and only wanted to spend the rest of his life in peace. He trusted Karameel, and he trusted Raizel and the others too.
After all, sitting across from and beside Raizel were Selene and Irene—the Moon Dragon God who stood alongside him among the Five Dragon Gods, and Irene Belserion, the mother of Dragon Slayer Mages.
Even if Mercphobia ever lost control, those three would be able to stop him.
In the middle of eating, Happy suddenly raised a paw.
"I have a question. What happens to the 100 Years Quest?"
That was an excellent question.
Raizel did not have an answer yet.
So far, they had met only two Dragon Gods: Mercphobia and Selene.
Both could be considered their friends.
Sealing either of them was out of the question.
Mercphobia looked at Raizel and made a solemn promise.
"I don't know the exact terms of the 100 Years Quest Elefseria gave you, but I have no desire to renew my conflict with him. If possible, I would ask you to pass along a message for me. I am willing to apologize to him in person, including for any relatives or friends of his whom I may have killed in the past."
Irene elegantly took a sip of wine before setting down her glass.
"That is a good suggestion. Selene should come as well and the three of you can finally speak openly and settle everything."