Chapter XXII: Key of Hope & Super Saiyans?!
The Wrath of the Saiyans
The full, horrific reality of what they had just learned settled over the relocated guild hall like a suffocating shroud.
Their friends—their family—hadn't merely been locked in iron chains or thrown into a dark dungeon. They had been transformed into living batteries, harvested like raw material, and were currently being slowly drained of every drop of life and magic that made them who they were.
Kizuna was the first to snap.
His golden ki, usually a controlled and radiant warmth, began to surge violently. Electrical arcs crackled around his limbs as his Saiyan heritage reacted to the sheer indignity of the situation. His sharp black hair flickered, individual strands flaring into brilliant gold before settling back down, his aura pulsating in uneven, turbulent waves.
"They're... they're using them as fuel," Kizuna growled, his voice dropping into a dangerous register that made even Mirajane take a cautious step back.
"Living mages processed into direct power sources," Sala added, her own pale blue ki spiking with suppressed fury. Her analytical mind immediately began calculating the biological tax of such a process—and the result was horrifying. "The cellular degradation alone would be agonizing. They are feeling every second of the drain while remaining fully conscious."
Uruk's scholarly composure cracked next. His energy hummed with a sharp, lethal edge as his hands clenched into tight fists. "A systemic harvesting of magic-bearing organisms. It is not merely imprisonment—it is prolonged, calculated torture."
But it was Cumber whose reaction completely shattered any remaining pretense of calm.
His golden ki exploded outward with such terrifying velocity that the windows of the relocated guild hall cracked in unison. The hybrid nature of his power—a volatile fusion of Saiyan blood from Teilanne and the devastating Crash magic inherited from both her and Gildarts—created a localized energy feedback loop. The very air around him warped, shivered, and fractured like glass under extreme pressure.
"NO!" Cumber roared, his voice echoing with a raw force that shook the foundation of the building.
His black and auburn hair began to lift, defying gravity as individual strands turned a shimmering, brilliant gold. His normally calm dark eyes flickered violently, oscillating between their natural shade and a fierce, luminous teal. The ground beneath his boots began to disintegrate into microscopic dust as his Crash magic went wild, while his ki spiraled toward a threshold that threatened to tear right through the atmospheric layer of Edolas.
"They're torturing them!" Cumber cried out, his power climbing to unimaginable heights. "Lucy, Erza, Gray—all of them! Trapped in stone while those bastards feed off their suffering!"
The golden aura around him surged into a blinding pillar of heat and light. His hair was now far more gold than black, standing erect in a jagged crest, and his energy output threatened to punch a hole straight into the dimensional barrier.
"Cumber!"
Wendy's voice cut through the roaring shockwave like a silver blade.
Without a single moment of hesitation, the small Sky Dragon Slayer stepped directly into the crushing pressure of his aura. Her healing magic flared, weaving a soft, protective cushion of wind around them both to withstand the blistering heat of his ki.
"Cumber, look at me!" Wendy said firmly, reaching up despite the crackling electricity to place her hands gently on both sides of his face. "I need you to breathe. Breathe with me."
His wild, teal-tinted eyes locked onto hers, though the crimson edge of pure Saiyan fury pulled at him, begging him to surrender to the rage.
"They need us to be smart about this," Wendy continued softly, her voice steady and warm as her wind magic soothed the chaotic spikes in his spirit. "If you lose control now—if you let this power consume you before we even reach them—you might destroy the very Lacrima holding them. You won't be able to save them at all!"
"But they're in pain," Cumber choked out, his voice breaking under the weight of his helplessness. "Right now, Wendy... while we stand here talking, they're hurting."
"Then we save them," Wendy replied simply, looking right into his eyes with absolute certainty. "We save them all. But we do it together. Controlled. Ready."
The physical touch and her unwavering calm served as an immediate anchor. Slowly, the violent spikes in Cumber's ki began to smooth out. The blinding golden glare faded back to his natural dark hair, his eyes shifting back to their steady ebony. The disintegrating force of his Crash magic receded, leaving deep, smoldering gouges in the floorboards.
The fury had not disappeared, however; it had merely compressed, burning now like a white-hot furnace within his chest.
"Together," Cumber repeated, his voice quiet, steady, and laden with an absolute promise of retribution for anyone who stood in their way.
Around the room, the Edolas Fairy Tail members stared at the siblings in absolute, speechless terror. They had witnessed high-tier spatial lacrima spells and royal military weapons, but nothing in Edolas history had ever radiated raw, unbridled power like the display they had just witnessed.
"What... what kind of monsters are you?" Lucy Ashley whispered, her whip drooping slightly in her hand.
"We are Saiyans," Teilanne answered smoothly, her own crimson aura glowing with quiet intensity as her maternal instincts settled. "And you have just seen why our bloodline was once feared across entire star systems."
"That transformation..." the Edolas Wendy observed, her analytical mind struggling to grasp the readings. "It remained incomplete, yet the power scaling was exponential. Is such an energy spike standard for your species?"
"Not standard," Gildarts answered dryly, his own Crash magic humming in harmony with the residual heat in the air. "But when a Saiyan's emotions hit a critical threshold, their physiology undergoes evolutionary leaps. You don't want to see what happens when one of them actually finishes that change."
Natsu stepped into the center of the room, his fists bursting into bright, aggressive flames that swept away the lingering tension. "Look, as impressive as Cumber's shiny hair is, our friends are being converted into rocks right now. So where is this Royal City, and how fast can we smash it?"
"It isn't that simple, Natsu," Lisanna said gently, though her expression was dark with concern. "The Royal City of Syrena isn't just a fortress—it's an absolute stronghold. In the entire history of Edolas, no rebel group or Dark Guild has ever successfully breached its main gates."
"Then we'll be the first," Happy declared, puffing out his chest with grim determination.
"You don't understand!" the Edolas Natsu protested, wringing his silk-trimmed sleeves nervously. "The Royal Army doesn't just fight—they execute! Anyone captured resisting the crown is subjected to public displays in the arena. It's horrible!"
"We've faced worse than a few armored guards," Carla stated coldly.
"Have you faced an entire world's unified military force?" Lucy Ashley countered sharply, stepping forward. "The Royal City is protected by anti-magic barriers that can deflect targeted dragon strikes! They have commanders like Erza Knightwalker whose combat prowess is absolute! If you march up to those gates—"
"They have our family," Cumber interrupted. His voice wasn't raised, but the quiet, deadly certainty behind it made Lucy Ashley snap her mouth shut. "That is the only tactical metric that matters."
A heavy silence fell over the hall as the Edolas members looked back and forth between the dimensional visitors. It was obvious these strangers possessed power beyond anything Edolas had ever seen, but reckless bravery against an entire empire felt like collective suicide.
"At least give us the grid coordinates," Wendy asked softly. "Even if you can't join the fight, please... just point us in the right direction."
The request triggered a flurry of hushed, intense arguments among the local mages. Some insisted that aiding them would bring the full weight of King Faust down on their mobile guild, while others argued that staying silent was tantamount to signing the Earthland mages' death warrants.
"If we hand over the entry vectors," the Edolas Levy said finally, looking up from her spellbook, "you'll be walking straight into an automated kill-zone. The moment energy signatures as massive as yours cross the city perimeter, every defense grid will activate simultaneously."
"Then we'll move faster than their defenses," Natsu grinned, slamming his burning fists together.
"You'll be dead," Lucy Ashley said bluntly. "And your deaths won't save anyone—they'll just hand King Faust five more high-yield power sources to feed his machine."
Before the argument could stall again, the Edolas Wendy stepped forward, her calm, logical demeanor cutting through the noise.
"They're going regardless," she stated plainly, looking around at her guildmates. "Whether we assist them or refuse, they will march on the capital today. The only choice we have is whether we send them in completely blind, or give them the intelligence they need to actually survive."
Her quiet logic settled the debate instantly. The Edolas Fairy Tail might operate in the shadows to survive, but they were still Fairy Tail—they couldn't stand by and watch brave mages march to their doom without lending a hand.
Lisanna smiled softly, stepping up to a large wooden table and unrolling a thick, highly detailed parchment map of the Royal Capital.
"Alright," Lisanna said, her eyes gleaming with quiet resolve. "If you're going to break into the most heavily fortified city in Edolas... here is how we're going to do it."
The Royal City's Dark Heart
Hundreds of miles from the hidden encampment of the resistance, the Royal City of Syrena rose out of the mist like a shattered black blade thrust straight into the pale Edolas sky. Its architecture was a grotesque triumph of imperial arrogance—impossibly tall spires of obsidian stone tethered to one another by crackling conduits of stolen magic, bridges spanning void-like chasms without a single structural support, and at its center, towering above even the royal palace, hung the dark, pulsating heart of the empire.
In the highest sanctuary of the imperial spire, the air smelled faintly of ozone, scorched copper, and decaying mana.
King Faust stood before a floor-to-ceiling bay window that looked out over the glittering, artificial majesty of his domain. Yet his eyes, cold and milky with age, reflected none of the city below. They were fixed entirely on the translucent reflection of the gargantuan monolith dominating the center of the throne room behind him.
The Great Lacrima was a monument of terrifying beauty. Easily fifty yards in height, the crystalline structure throbbed with a rhythmic, sickly violet light. Sealed within its glass-like depths, suspended like prehistoric insects trapped in amber, were the frozen bodies of Earthland's Fairy Tail. Lucy, Gray, Erza, Juvia—dozens of mages held in total, artificial stasis while invisible magical filaments buried themselves into their skin, slowly siphoning off every drop of the ethernano that gave them life.
Standing in a semi-circle around the base of the crystal matrix were five figures, representing the undisputed apex of Edolas's military authority.
Captain Hughes stood at rigid attention, her shadow-absorbing armor casting an eerie, lightless distortion around her boots. Her face remained concealed behind her polished visor, utterly devoid of emotion.
Beside her, Erza Knightwalker—the feared Spear of the Royal Guard—had resting her arm on the pommel of her multi-form lance, Silfarion. Her crimson hair tumbled over her shoulders in a cascade identical to her Earthland counterpart's, but her eyes lacked even a speck of warmth; they were flat, analytical, and devoid of pity.
Sugarboy twirled a strand of his long, icy-blue hair around one finger, his unnaturally sweet, fixed smile never once slipping as he watched the trapped mages pulse with rhythmic luminescence. Across from him, Byro Cracy, the miniature commander of the Intelligence Division, adjusted his immaculate purple coat, his sharp eyes scanning a floating parchment of complex magical equations.
And standing silently behind them all was Panther Lily. At nearly seven feet tall, the black-furred Exceed commander towered over the humans, his broad shoulder plates gleaming under the violet light. His paw rested heavily on the hilt of his massive Buster M7 sword, his expression impassive, though a deep, troubled shadow flickered in his dark eyes every time the crystal throbbed.
"Report," King Faust commanded. He did not turn around. His voice was like grinding stones.
Knightwalker stepped forward, her armored greaves clicking loudly against the polished marble floor. "The Lacrima conversion phase was completed without incident, Your Majesty. All identified Earthland magic-bearers have been successfully bound to the central grid matrix. Energy extraction is proceeding at nominal capacity."
"Quantify 'nominal'," Faust growled softly.
Byro tapped his parchment with a manicured claw. "Based on the biological mass and magic density of the subjects, our current extraction rate will maintain the kingdom's baseline power infrastructure for approximately nine to ten full operational years. We could potentially stretch that to eleven if we throttled residential supply during off-peak hours."
The reflection of the old king's face twisted into an ugly, furious sneer. He turned slowly, his heavy silk robes dragging along the stone.
"Ten years," Faust repeated, his voice dropping into a deadly, rasping register. "Ten years... and then what? We return to the slow, miserable death of energy starvation? We watch our airships rot on their docks and our cities plunge into darkness once more?"
Hughes bowed her head slightly. "Your Majesty, ten years is an unprecedented grace period. It provides our research division ample time to develop artificial mana synthesizers or locate alternative dimensional rifts—"
"I did not spill blood and tear open the heavens to buy a mere reprieve!" Faust roared, slamming his heavy staff against the floor. The impact echoed through the cavernous hall like a thunderclap. "I want permanence! I want Edolas to stand eternal, untethered from the whims of finite resources!"
His burning gaze slid away from his captains and locked onto a small, trembling figure lingering near the shadows of the machinery.
"Coco!"
The young girl flinched, almost dropping the brass clipboard clutched against her chest. She stepped out into the light, her chestnut hair disheveled and her small hands shaking as she bowed low. "Y-Yes, Your Majesty?"
"What occurs if we triple the current siphon frequency?" Faust demanded, marching toward the base of the crystal. "What if we drain them at maximum yield right now?"
Coco's face drained of all color. "M-Maximum yield? Your Majesty, the current threshold was designed to keep the subjects alive during extraction! If we triple the intake rate, the cellular shock will cause immediate biological degradation. Their internal magic channels will rupture! They... they will die within forty-eight hours!"
"And the immediate energy output?" Faust pressed, his eyes wide with a terrifying, feverish intensity.
"It... it would generate a massive surge of pure mana in the short term," Coco whispered, her voice trembling. "Enough to fuel the dragon-cannon instantly, but... but the source would be permanently destroyed. The Lacrima would shatter once they die!"
"Then prepare the over-drain protocols," Faust ordered coldly. "We begin the acceleration immediately."
A heavy silence descended upon the chamber. Even the ruthless Knightwalker glanced toward Byro, though neither spoke out.
It was Panther Lily who finally broke the silence. He took a single heavy step forward, his immense weight causing the floorboards to groan beneath him.
"Your Majesty," Lily said, his deep baritone echoing with quiet authority. "Exhausting this supply in two days leaves Edolas completely defenseless once that energy is spent. Furthermore, the dimensional tear created by the last Anima activation has not yet stabilized. Forcing another immediate draw could destabilize the spatial web around the capital."
Faust turned his piercing glare toward the giant Exceed. "Then we will stabilize it by force, Commander. And once this batch is spent, we will simply reach into Earthland again—this time, taking entire cities instead of scattered guilds."
The sheer scale of the atrocity Faust was describing—the systematic harvest of hundreds of thousands of lives—hung in the air like a poisonous fog.
Sugarboy chuckled softly, breaking the tension with his uncanny, melodic voice. "How wonderfully ambitious, Your Majesty. Though, if I may... we might have a minor impediment to consider before we begin global harvesting. Intelligence reports from the southern border suggest we have... uninvited guests."
Faust's eyebrows twitched. "Guests?"
Knightwalker nodded crisply. "Scout units in the mountain pass lost contact three hours ago. Before their comms went dark, they reported a small group of Earthland mages operating in the sector. Among them are individuals matching the profiles of Natsu Dragneel, Wendy Marvell... and several unidentified high-energy anomalies."
"Survivors of the Anima," Faust mused, a slow, sinister smile creeping across his withered lips. "How remarkably persistent. And how utterly foolish."
He turned back to the Great Lacrima, staring up at the shadowed silhouettes trapped within the glowing crystal.
"They think they can save their kin," Faust murmured, his voice laced with venomous amusement. "They will move heaven and earth to reach this room. It is the tragic weakness of their pathetic concept of 'comradeship'."
"Shall I mobilize the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions to intercept them at the perimeter, Sire?" Knightwalker asked, her hand tightening around her lance.
"No," Faust said flatly. "Let them pass."
Hughes blinked under her visor. "Your Majesty?"
"Draw them in," Faust commanded, his eyes gleaming with dark triumph. "Allow them to bypass the outer defenses. Let them believe their desperate little infiltration is succeeding. Lead them straight into the Royal Arena at the heart of the city."
He swept his arm outward, gesturing to the sprawling capital below.
"We shall announce a special exhibition for the citizens of Edolas—a public demonstration of the Royal Military's supreme power. When these arrogant Earthland flies enter our spider's web, we will crush them on stage before the entire kingdom. We will drain their magic live in front of our people, and add their crystalline remains to this very pillar!"
"A splendid spectacle," Sugarboy purred, bowing low. "The populace will adore it."
"Begin the preparations," Faust barked. "Knightwalker, deploy the Imperial Guards to the arena perimeter. Hughes, ready the anti-magic nullification fields. Byro, construct the siphon array beneath the arena floor."
"By your command, Your Majesty," the captains chorused, bowing before turning to execute their orders.
As the officers dispersed, Panther Lily remained standing at the base of the Great Lacrima. His broad face was unreadable, but his golden eyes remained locked on the crystal's core.
Deep within the luminous violet depths, obscured by layers of compressed magical energy, the form of Erza Scarlet hung suspended in absolute silence. Her eyes were closed, her face pale and still as marble.
Yet, for a fraction of a second—so brief it might have been an illusion caused by the flickering light—a faint, microscopic tremor passed through her fingers. A single spark of bright, scarlet magic flared deep within her chest, burning stubbornly against the crushing weight of the imperial spell.
Panther Lily's ear twitched. He narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the frozen warrior.
The crystal matrix was designed to extinguish consciousness entirely. It was biologically impossible to resist it.
And yet...
Lily slowly brought his hand to the hilt of his sword, his jaw tightening as he looked up toward the darkened sky outside.
They are coming, he thought silently. And Edolas will burn before this day is done.
The Journey to Destiny
Back in the forest, the rescued party was making final preparations for their assault on the Royal City. The Edolas Fairy Tail had provided them with maps, intelligence about guard rotations, and warnings about the various magical defenses they would face.
The briefing inside the subterranean guild hall was crisp and methodical. Edolas Levy smoothed out parchment maps across the wooden table, pointing out guard posts, detection grids, and patrol intervals.
"The capital's outer perimeter is laced with wide-area sensory Lacrima," Lucy Ashley warned, leaning against her heavy leather whip. "Any unmasked Earthland magic signature will light up the defense towers like a signal fire from miles out."
"Then we just have to move faster than their alarms can ring," Earthland Natsu replied, adjusting the strap of his pack.
"The inner gates rotate watch units every fifteen minutes," Edolas Levy added, her pen tracing the aqueduct channels. "And the royal palace itself is encased in anti-magic forcefields that repel both physical impacts and spellcraft."
"We'll find a way through," Wendy said softly, her small hands clenching into fists. "We have to."
When the rescue party gathered near the forest exit, the Edolas mages stood waiting to see them off. Despite their earlier warnings about the suicidal nature of the plan, the cold distance in their eyes had thawed completely.
"If anyone has a chance of breaking into that fortress," Lisanna whispered, offering a gentle smile, "it's mages who carry that kind of warmth."
"Just... don't go getting slaughtered out there," Lucy Ashley grunted, turning her face away to hide a flicker of genuine worry. "It'd ruin my mood."
The Journey to Destiny
The trek toward the Royal City brought the group face-to-face with the surreal majesty of Edolas. Massively oversized landmasses floated effortlessly across the pale sky, anchored only by glowing streams of water that flowed upward against gravity. Crystalline trees glittered with internal luminescence, and translucent creatures glided through the air like deep-sea fish swimming in a sky of light.
During a brief rest stop in a dense crystal glade, Natsu suddenly halted, pointing toward a low branch. "What's that thing supposed to be?"
Perched on the branch was a small, colorful amphibian roughly the size of a house cat. It had wide, glassy eyes and iridescent skin that shifted hues with every breath.
"Oh, it's cute," Wendy murmured, taking a slow step forward. "Here, little guy—"
The creature's throat inflated with a deafening, bass-heavy rumble.
In a terrifying blur of flesh and bone, its tiny frame expanded exponentially—swelling to the size of a wagon, then a house, then a towering titan capable of swallowing dragons whole. It unhinged a cavernous maw, dripping with acidic saliva.
"RUN!" Happy shrieked, diving behind Natsu's head.
The behemoth lunged forward, its massive, spiked tongue shooting out like a battering ram toward Natsu. Before it could make contact, a crackling leather whip slashed through the air, wrapping tightly around the tongue and yanking it off-course with violent precision.
"Pathetic," Lucy Ashley's voice rang out from the high canopy. "Panicking over a standard Transformation Beast?"
With fluid, artistic grace, Lucy Ashley snapped her whip in a rhythmic flurry, striking pressure points along the monster's hide. Within seconds, the creature deflated with a high-pitched squeak, shrinking back to its original size before hopping away into the crystal brush.
"How did you—" Cumber began, blinking in surprise.
"I trailed your energy," Lucy Ashley replied coolly, coiling her whip. "Did you really believe we'd let a bunch of clueless dimension-hoppers wander blindly into a military warzone?"
From the surrounding shadows, the rest of the Edolas Fairy Tail emerged. Edolas Natsu, Lisanna, Levy, and several others stepped out, armed and ready.
"We still think marching on the palace is absolute madness," Edolas Natsu admitted, nervously adjusting his high collar. "But we can at least escort you to the capital perimeter alive."
"Besides," Lisanna added warmly, "someone needs to make sure the native fauna doesn't eat you before you even reach the front gates."
With their guides leading the way, the party reached the outskirts of the Royal City by dusk. Nestled beneath the rocky ridges of the outer slums lay a hidden fissure in the earth, leading down into a bustling, subterranean black market.
"If you're fighting royal troops, standard gear won't cut it," Lucy Ashley explained, navigating the crowded underground alleyways. "You need weapons running on localized Lacrima cores."
She led them into a dimly lit shop stacked high with illegal military hardware. The vendor, a shady man covered in mechanical gear, brightened immediately upon seeing her. "Lucy Ashley! What brings the guild's fiercest enforcer to my shop?"
"Combat gear for my associates," she said, gesturing to Natsu and Wendy. "High-grade output."
The vendor inspected Natsu's fiery presence and pulled a sleek, golden sheath from beneath the counter. "The Sealed Flame Blade. It draws directly from the wielder's internal heat, amplifying fire magic while slicing straight through standard defensive barriers."
Natsu drew the blade, his eyes lighting up as a torrent of localized, white-hot fire coated the steel. "Now this is awesome!"
For Wendy, the merchant presented a compact, brass-ringed gauntlet fitted with wind-channeling nozzles. "The Air Shatter Cannon. It compresses surrounding atmospheric pressure into concentrated sonic blasts or localized tornados."
"It feels so light..." Wendy breathed, slipping the gauntlet over her hand as breeze magic hummed around the barrel.
"Consider it on the house," the vendor smiled. "Lucy Ashley cleared out a Royal Army shakedown crew from my street last month. I pay my debts."
Rescue in the Chaos
Before they could exit the subterranean vault, a series of muffled explosions detonated from the street level above. The heavy iron doors shuddered as screaming crowds scattered through the market corridors.
"Royal Army raiding squad!" a runner shouted, ducking into the shop. "They've locked down the entire sector!"
Emerging into the central plaza, the group found the district encircled by heavy armored infantry. At the center of the conflict, swirled in a roaring vortex of sand, was a familiar blonde figure wielding a golden key.
"Scorpio! Keep them back!" Earthland Lucy Heartfilia shouted, her clothes torn and covered in dust, her magical energy visibly flickering from sheer exhaustion.
"She's been running combat engagements for hours," Carla noted instantly. "Her reserves are almost completely dry."
A Royal Guard captain slipped behind Lucy through the swirling sand, raising a heavy spear for a fatal strike.
"LUCY!" Natsu roared, igniting his new flame blade and bursting through the frontline like a meteor.
Before the captain's spear could descend, Cumber materialized between them in a flash of movement so fast it produced a sonic pop. His bare hand caught the captain's armored wrist, crushing the steel gauntlet with a sickening crunch. His dark eyes remained dead calm as he casually tossed the officer through three stone storefronts.
"You alright?" Cumber asked over his shoulder.
Lucy stared at him, tears welling up in her dust-caked eyes. "Cumber? Natsu?! But... the Anima took the whole guild—"
"We're here for everyone," Wendy declared, stepping up beside them and firing a localized pressure blast from her new cannon, blowing away a dozen advancing shield-bearers.
Reinforcements flooded the plaza—elite units bearing shimmering silver nets. "Deploy the anti-magic suppression webs! Drain them!"
Sala stepped forward, her pale blue Ki flaring into a sharp, translucent shroud. "Their equipment neutralizes Ethernano... how fortunate for us that our strength isn't magical."
The Saiyan family moved as a devastating unit. Uruk deflected energy blasts with precise palm strikes, while Kizuna blurred through the enemy ranks, his golden Ki creating shockwaves that shattered heavy armor without touching flesh.
Teilanne walked forward with absolute calm. When a squad of soldiers threw three anti-magic nets directly over her, her crimson aura flared outward in a single, explosive pulse, disintegrating the reinforced metal mesh into harmless ash before it could touch her shoulders.
"Your technology is fascinating," Teilanne remarked mildly to the frozen soldiers. "Unfortunately, it was designed for a completely different universe."
Within minutes, the remnant guard units broke formation and retreated into the upper streets. "Fall back! Report to Commander Knightwalker! The dimensional anomalies have entered the sector!"
As the dust settled, Lucy collapsed against a crate, catching her breath while Natsu helped her up. "I was away on a solo job when the sky opened up," she explained, her voice cracking with emotion. "When I got back... Magnolia was just gone. I found a way into Edolas using a leftover portal, but everyone... Gray, Erza, Gramps... they've turned the whole guild into a giant Lacrima crystal!"
"We know," Natsu said, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword. "And we're going straight into the palace to get them back."
Lucy Ashley stepped out from the alleyway, looking over the shattered plaza. "They let you wander this far on purpose, you know. They knew you'd come for her."
"It's an obvious trap," Earthland Lucy agreed grimly.
"Let it be a trap," Cumber said, his aura settling into a dark, white-hot hum. "They think they're luring prey into a cage... but they have no idea what they've invited inside."
The Palace Gates
The first light of dawn broke over the Royal City, casting a cold, pearlescent glow across a sprawling metropolis built on impossible geography. Towering spires of polished crystal reached into the sky like jagged fingers, but every eye in the rescue team was drawn to the glowing core at the city's heart: a massive, pulsating Lacrima crystal holding the trapped mages of Fairy Tail.
"I can feel them," Wendy whispered, her Sky Dragon Slayer senses humming with painful clarity. "Their magic signatures are in there, but... they're getting weaker."
"The extraction process is accelerating," Carla warned, her tail twitching nervously. "We don't have much time."
Surrounding the metropolis lay layer upon layer of glowing defensive grids—wide-area sensory barriers designed to instantly incinerate or suppress unauthorized spellcraft. But as the group approached the shimmering perimeter, Kizuna simply stepped forward and walked straight through the barrier field as if it were soft air. His radiant golden Ki didn't register on Ethernano frequencies at all.
Inside the city walls, the streets dynamically shifted and reconfigured, twisting into a spatial labyrinth designed to disorient intruders. "Spatial manipulation," Uruk observed, his sharp eyes mapping the shifting stone. "The entire layout is moving."
"Then we don't bother navigating," Cumber said calmly. Flaring his hybrid aura, he fused his Saiyan Ki with the reality-warping principles of Crash Magic, tearing open localized spatial pathways directly through the air. Walking through these translucent dimensional tears, the team bypassed the maze entirely, stepping out directly onto the grand marble cobblestones of the palace courtyard.
Waiting for them at the center of the courtyard was Erza Knightwalker, her formidable spear gleaming in the morning sun alongside the smirking commander, Sugarboy, and a battalion of elite royal infantry.
"Crimes against the kingdom of Edolas," Knightwalker declared, her tone sharp as steel. "You are under arrest."
"Let our friends go, and we walk away peacefully," Natsu challenged, his flame blade roaring to life.
Sugarboy's melodic laugh echoed across the plaza. "Oh, dear travelers, your friends are the new power grid of our empire. Removing them would shatter our civilization."
"Then learn to live in the dark," Teilanne replied mildly, her crimson aura flaring outward.
When Knightwalker lunged forward with blinding speed, her spear thrusting toward Cumber's chest, Cumber simply vanished. Blending Saiyan speed with spatial displacement, he materialized instantly behind her, placing a single heavy hand onto her shoulder guard. The steel cracked like dry leaves under his light grip.
"Captain," Cumber murmured coolly, "your weapons cannot pierce us. You should adjust your expectations."
Simultaneously, Sugarboy attempted to turn Sala's incoming strike into harmless liquid. But Sala's analytical mind had already solved his spellcraft. "You don't manipulate physical molecules," Sala noted with cold precision as her blue Ki formed geometric binding rings around him. "You manipulate the magical field representing them. Against pure Ki, your magic doesn't exist."
With a swift pulse of energy, Sugarboy was sent crashing unconscious into the marble steps.
Before the remaining guards could charge, the colossal palace doors swung open. Panther Lily emerged in full command armor, his towering frame casting a long shadow.
"Stand down," Lily ordered the guards, his dark eyes locking onto Happy and Carla with deep conflict. "They are Exceed... but not of this world."
"We're here from Earthland to save our family!" Happy shouted proudly.
Lily stood silent for a long moment, the weight of his oath warring against his conscience. "I remember what our kingdom was before we relied on stolen magic," he confessed quietly, tearing the royal insignia from his chest and letting it shatter on the stone. "The Lacrima vault is on the throne room level, eastern wing. But if the extraction isn't undone properly, the feedback will destroy them all."
"Then guide us," Uruk said. "We'll handle the rest."
The Celestial Spirit Disruption
As the rescue team pressed deeper into the grand stone corridors under Panther Lily's guidance, Earthland Lucy suddenly stumbled to a halt, pressing a trembling hand against her chest.
"Something's wrong," she murmured, her golden keys rattling softly against her hip. "My connection to the Spirit World... it feels distorted, like trying to pick up a radio frequency through heavy static."
Concentrating, she drew the ornate key of the Lion. "Let me check... Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
The celestial magic circle flared beneath her feet, but its light flickered irregularly before violently shifting color. Instead of the stylish, orange-haired combat leader of the Zodiac, a maid-outfitted figure materialized with her head tilted in polite confusion.
"Princess?" Virgo bowed smoothly. "This is quite unusual. I was not the spirit you requested."
"Virgo?!" Lucy gaped in bewilderment. "I called for Leo! Why are you—"
"Edolas's ambient magical matrix operates on an entirely different dimensional frequency," Panther Lily explained grimly as they kept moving. "Celestial contracts rely on stable Earthland Ethernano. Here, your spirits are responding to the call, but the dimensional interference scrambles which contract opens."
"If you expect offensive firepower and summon a defensive spirit instead, that creates severe tactical vulnerabilities," Uruk analyzed calmly.
"We adapt," Natsu declared with a fierce grin, his flame sword casting long shadows against the polished marble. "Lucy's awesome no matter who shows up. Right?"
Lucy smiled back, reassured, before turning to Virgo. "Can you sense the others from here?"
"There are great disturbances across the spiritual plane, Princess," Virgo replied, her expression turning somber. "Trapped voices crying out from behind crystalline walls... the mages in the Lacrima are still trying to summon aid."
Spatial Distortions & Unpredictable Allies
As they approached the upper royal sanctum, the very corridors began to stretch and fold. Walls shifted like liquid mercury, and the gap between team members walking side-by-side expanded into vast distances in an instant.
"High-tier spatial defense grid," Sala noted, her blue eyes scanning the warping geometry. "It's trying to isolate us into separate kill-boxes."
Teilanne stepped forward. With an effortless breath, her crimson Ki exploded outward into a shimmering, high-density domain anchor. The reality-warping walls groaned under the sheer weight of her presence, stabilizing the corridor and preventing the team from being fractured.
Standing before the massive reinforced doors of the throne room, Lucy attempted one more summoning. "Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
The golden portal burst open, but instead of a horse-suited archer, a gigantic, cow-patterned spirit materialized, wildly swinging his heavy broadaxes.
"MOOO! Lucy!" Taurus bellowed with roaring enthusiasm. "Where are we?! The air here feels strange, but my body is ready for battle!"
"Taurus?!" Lucy blinked, looking between her Archer key and the giant bull. "I called Sagittarius... but you know what? It doesn't matter. We need your raw power to shatter these doors and save our family!"
"Anything for you, Lucy!" Taurus roared, bracing his colossal axes.
The Emerald Fury
Yet, despite Taurus's enthusiasm, it was the gentle, scholarly young Saiyan who ultimately broke the barrier.
Kizuna had spent the entire infiltration suppressing his emotions—channeling his anxiety into tactical focus. But standing directly outside the vault where Mirajane was being steadily drained of her life force, his composure completely fractured.
"Mirajane..." Kizuna growled quietly. The air around him began to tremble, carrying a terrifying harmonic resonance. "They have Mirajane."
His golden aura violently flared, but instead of its usual warm brilliance, a dark, primal emerald green began to bleed into the light. Lightning crackled across his frame in wild, jagged arcs.
"Kizuna, calm down," Wendy urged gently, taking a worried step back from the intense heat radiant from his body. "We need to stay composed—"
"THEY TRAPPED HER!" Kizuna screamed, his voice carrying multi-dimensional echoes that shattered every glass fixture down the hallway. His hair snapped upward, flushing with vibrant emerald energy as his muscle mass expanded. "They're sapping her soul to light their city! They're hurting her!"
Gildarts stepped forward to grab his shoulder. "Son, listen to me—"
Cumber moved to intervene as well, but Teilanne held up a hand, stopping them both. Her dark eyes remained fixed on her eldest son with deep understanding.
"Let him unleash it," Teilanne instructed quietly. "Kizuna has spent his whole life trying to be tactical, calm, and restrained. But when your loved ones are being tortured... raw, overwhelming wrath is the only proper response."
With a guttural roar of pure Ikari transformation, Kizuna's emerald Ki erupted into a pillar of apocalyptic force. The massive, enchanted double doors of the throne room were instantly vaporized into fine dust, along with the spatial defense matrix maintaining the floor.
Cracking the marble floorboards beneath his feet, the green-haired Saiyan stepped through the smoke and into the royal chamber, his emerald eyes blazing with divine retribution.
"I'm going to make sure your entire kingdom remembers what happens when you touch Fairy Tail!"
The Throne Room Revelation
Beyond the pulverized doors, the throne room opened into a vast, crystalline amphitheater. Intricate magical conduits lined the walls like glowing blue veins, humming with stolen power. But towering at the chamber's center was the true horror: a colossal, multifaceted Lacrima crystal housing dozens of suspended figures.
"Magnolia..." Wendy gasped, her Sky Dragon Slayer senses instantly locking onto the familiar magical signatures. "They... they took the whole town."
Within the glowing crystal, figures floated in suspended stasis, their life force slowly bleeding out into the palace grid. Near the center, a woman with long, sweeping white hair hovered motionless.
"MIRAJANE!" Kizuna's roar tore through the hall, his emerald aura expanding with a concussive shockwave that shattered the surrounding marble pillars.
"Welcome, dimensional travelers," a cold, regal voice resonated from behind the crystal core.
King Faust stepped forward, wearing heavy ceremonial robes that absorbed the surrounding ambient mana. In his grip was an elaborate royal staff crowned with a jagged Lacrima core.
"I must thank you for your incredible convenience," Faust said with a slick, scheming smirk. "Gathering your impressive power signatures into one central location saves my extraction teams immense effort."
Faust struck the base of his staff against the stone. A fragment of the Lacrima split off, dissolving instantly into pure Ethernano that surged through the ceiling conduits.
"Ten years of continuous magical power," Faust boasted. "That is what your precious guildmates provide to Edolas. But you..." He eyed the Saiyan bloodlines with greedy interest. "You will fuel us for generations."
"Let them go," Natsu growled, his flame blade roaring to life. "NOW!"
Faust chuckled softly, gesturing toward the surrounding shadows. Elite royal guardians emerged from the dark, weapons drawn. "You are vastly outnumbered and entirely at my mercy."
"You think this keeps us at your mercy?" Kizuna's voice reverberated with primal, multi-harmonic rage.
In a fraction of a millisecond, Kizuna vanished. Before Faust's eyes could even track the movement, the green-haired Saiyan appeared directly in front of him, his hand clamped tightly around the royal staff. The enchanted metal cracked like dry glass under his grip.
"This ends right here," Kizuna growled.
"STOP!" Panther Lily shouted from the entryway. "If you shatter that staff or damage the extraction matrix incorrectly, the energy feedback will instantly vaporize everyone trapped inside the crystal!"
Kizuna froze. His emerald Ki flared violently, but his crushing grip held still, paralyzed by the risk to Mirajane.
Faust adjusted his posture, stepping back as Kizuna slowly lowered his hand. "Ah, Captain Lily. Disappointing to see you side with foreign invaders."
"I side with conscience," Lily replied sternly, his hand on his sword hilt. "Something you sacrificed long ago."
"The extraction frequency is spiking!" Carla called out, her eyes fixed on the pulsing crystal. "They aren't just harvesting energy anymore—they're draining them to empty!"
"The Grand Magic Games begin tomorrow," Faust explained, smoothing his robes. "I intend to offer my subjects a spectacle beyond imagination. Your friends' final drops of life force will fuel a celebration our empire will never forget."
"You monster..." Wendy whispered, tears of anger welling in her eyes as Sky Dragon magic swirled violently around her arms. "How can you treat people's lives like fuel?!"
"Monster? I am a visionary!" Faust proclaimed, his eyes gleaming with mad obsession. "I have conquered magical scarcity! History will remember me as the king who saved Edolas!"
"History will remember you as a butcher," Taurus bellowed, spinning his heavy broadaxes with furious momentum. "And we're going to make sure your reign ends today!"
To be continued ...
Next Time:Chapter 23: Extalia, A Chilling Warning, & The Wrath of Saiyans