Watching Lucy and Happy chase each other off into the distance, Mirajane finally couldn't hold it in. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, and let out a string of bright, ringing laughs.
"Haha—those two together? Never gets old. They're hilarious!"
"You're terrible," Erza said with a helpless shake of her head, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her—she was smiling at the lively chaos.
She glanced sideways at Mirajane. "You knew Lucy was coming, didn't you? That's why you steered Happy into saying that."
"Nope~" Mirajane blinked her big blue eyes, all wide-eyed innocence.
She clasped her hands behind her back, skipped forward a few light steps, then spun around to walk backward, facing the other two. She tilted her head cutely.
"I was just speaking from the heart. Who knew Happy would take the bait like that~?"
Roger and Erza exchanged a look—both saw the same amused glint in each other's eyes.
The three shared a quiet laugh and kept walking toward the guild.
Halfway there, Erza suddenly stopped and looked up.
The sky had been clear just moments ago, but now a massive bank of dark clouds rolled in like a giant gray curtain, swallowing the heavens.
The world dimmed instantly. Heavy, low-hanging clouds pressed down, giving the suffocating sense that the sky might collapse at any second.
At the center of the storm, a tiny vortex began to form—and spin.
Erza's brows knitted tight. Her crimson hair fluttered in the sudden gust.
"Something feels… off. But I can't place it."
Mirajane closed her eyes, focusing for a few seconds.
When she opened them, the usual warmth was gone—replaced by gravity. She turned to Roger.
"The magic in the air… it's being siphoned away, bit by bit, up into the sky."
"Roger, does this feel like… two years ago? That super-subspace magic that drained magic power?"
"Exactly," Roger said, tilting his head back to lock onto the growing vortex.
He raised his right hand. A golden spark gathered at his fingertip, then shot upward like an arrow loosed from a bow, slicing through the gloom straight into the heart of the swirl.
The moment they touched, the vortex froze—as if someone hit pause.
But then…
It didn't dissipate.
Instead, it surged. Like it had been fed. The spin accelerated, greedily devouring the golden light.
And as it absorbed the energy, the vortex grew—visibly swelling in size.
"Cancellation magic… got eaten?" Roger raised an eyebrow, surprise flickering in his eyes—quickly replaced by intrigued fascination. A white flash crossed his pupils.
In his special vision, the vortex wasn't just chaotic energy anymore.
It was code.
Countless lines of magical text, arranged in an intricate, arcane pattern.
"The spell itself has been rewritten. A massive upgrade and reinforcement of the original 'Anima'—and it perfectly patches the old flaw of being easily disrupted or canceled."
"Interesting…" Roger smiled faintly, a note of admiration in his voice.
"To pull off an overhaul this extreme in just two years—and in Edolas, where magic resources are scarce?"
"They must've poured blood, sweat, and tears into this."
(In the original story, even with Mystogan constantly sealing portals, the King of Edolas never fundamentally upgraded Anima.)
(This time… is it because I forcibly drained Edolas's magic before? Did that scare them into action?)
He stared at the vortex, now growing by the minute.
"Magic drain rate is at least ten times the old version."
"At this pace, it'll soon cover all of Magnolia—and swallow it whole."
"Looks like His Majesty wants a permanent solution: turn Fairy Tail into magic fuel, once and for all."
He chuckled. "Two years ago? I might've struggled to crack this before it caused real damage."
"But now…"
A translucent oval magic screen unfolded in front of him.
His hands became a blur—two phantom typists—rapidly inputting the parsed magical text and structure from the vortex into the Ancient Codex interface.
"After personally remodeling 'Mage Spirit Power' and 'Nirvana'—both super-spec magic—I've gained a deeper grasp of energy essence and large-scale spell architecture."
"Add in all the lost magic tomes I've studied lately, plus the Codex's insane processing power—"
"Cracking this upgraded Anima in record time? Piece of cake."
Watching his hands move so fast they were nearly invisible, Erza leaned toward Mirajane and whispered, "That super-subspace magic you mentioned… it's the one from two years ago, right? The one that nearly killed Lisanna when you brought her back?"
"Yeah," Mirajane nodded, staring up at the vortex now large enough to blanket half a town. Her brows were locked tight.
"I can feel the magic draining, but that's it. Nothing else."
She paused, voice tinged with helplessness. "If I wasn't focusing, I wouldn't even notice. Regular people? They'd be drained dry without a clue."
A flash of memory—Lisanna on the brink of death—sent a wave of dread through her.
She instinctively brought her thumb to her lips, nibbling the edge of her nail, mind racing for solutions.
But moments later, her shoulders slumped.
"Nothing. Not a single idea."
"If I were alone right now… I'd have to watch it swallow the guild—Lisanna, Elfman, everyone."
She clenched her fists, voice low and bitter. "Even at 'Nation-Breaker' level, I'm still powerless against unknown super-magic like this…"
Just as the anxiety threatened to spiral, Erza's cool, steady voice cut through.
"At least this time, you saw it."
The words yanked Mirajane out of the emotional whirlpool.
She blinked, turning to Erza.
Erza stood tall, arms crossed, and spoke calmly:
"Every magic, no matter how advanced, follows rules and patterns."
"Instead of spiraling over what you can't do, focus on what you can."
She nodded toward Roger's busy back. "When this is over, ask him to transmit the full breakdown of this spell via the Codex."
"Study it. Next time something like this happens, you'll handle it with ease."
Mirajane's racing heart slowed.
She took a deep breath—like exhaling all the fear—then slapped both cheeks hard, the sharp sound echoing.
"You're right, Erza! Panicking here changes nothing."
"Better to get stronger—strong enough for anything!"
Her bright smile returned.
"Thanks, Erza."
"No problem," Erza said, left hand on hip, flashing a bold grin.
"Because if my rival starts moping over something like this and gets weaker? Then who's gonna give me a real fight?"
"Bold words!" Mirajane fired back, eyes blazing with competitive fire.
"Come to think of it… we haven't gone all out in ages."
"After this? Guild woods. Full-on brawl."
"You're on."
They locked eyes and grinned—sparks practically crackling in the air.
Then both turned to Roger, still deep in focus.
With a final flourish, he dismissed the magic screen.
He looked up, locked onto the vortex, and began writing golden magical runes in midair with his right index finger.
As the last symbol fell into place, the floating characters exploded with blinding light!
They surged inward, merging, condensing—until they formed a tiny, nail-sized yellow orb pulsing with terrifying power.
Like a comet streaking through the night, it blasted toward the vortex's core!
Sensing danger, the vortex halted its expansion. Golden lightning erupted around it, weaving into a crackling net to intercept the incoming light.
Roger's eyes sharpened. Magic surged from his body—he pushed.
The yellow orb accelerated, becoming a golden streak too fast to track. Zip! It punched through the lightning net and buried itself in the core.
Instantly, the raging lightning froze.
Then—a teeth-grinding ZZZT-ZZZT screeched from within, like machinery tearing itself apart.
The massive vortex began spinning backward—rapidly shrinking, collapsing!
In just a few breaths, the sky-spanning terror dwindled to the size of a person.
"Done," Roger said, clapping his hands lightly.
"Easier than etching runes on a Wizard Saint."
"As expected of you," a tired but amused male voice called from behind.
The trio turned.
Roger raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise on his face. "Long time no see, Mystogan."
"Been two years since we last teamed up, right?"
Mystogan was still shrouded in mystery—robes, mask, only his eyes visible.
He gave a weary smile. "I've been busy keeping Anima sealed and grinding commissions to afford magic crystals. No time for hellos."
He glanced at the tiny remaining vortex, tone turning serious.
"Lately, Edolas's king fully upgraded Anima. Suppressing it got way harder."
"Not long ago, five mini-Animas activated before I could stop them. I couldn't erase them in time."
He sighed, raised his staff toward the leftover swirl.
"Leave the rest to me. At this size, I'll wipe it out fast."
Roger shook his head. "I left it on purpose."
"On purpose?" Mystogan whipped around, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You didn't… run out of juice and have to leave it, right?"
"Of course not," Roger shrugged.
"Erasing it completely would've been easy."
"But this thing keeps popping up like a bad rash. What if I'm not around next time? The others would be in danger."
His gaze sharpened on the tiny vortex.
"I'm going to Edolas myself. End this at the source."
"Also… it's time Lisanna went home."
"Easy, he says…" Mystogan gave a wry, masked chuckle—half exasperation, half awe.
"I always knew you were strong, but I still underestimated you."
"Parsing and halting a large-scale Anima in minutes—and precisely leaving a fragment?"
"You're absurdly overpowered."
"The folks in Edolas are gonna freak when they see you."
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small glass vial filled with red pills that looked suspiciously like Liuwei Dihuang Wan.
"In Edolas, mages from this world can't use magic."
"These pills I developed let you temporarily regain your powers there."
Roger took the vial, gave it a curious shake, and watched the pellets roll.
"How do these work? What's the principle?"
The question clearly threw Mystogan—he hadn't expected a deep dive.
He paused, gathering his thoughts, then spoke slowly:
"From my research, mages here cast spells by resonating their internal magic with ambient atmospheric magic in the environment."
"Dependency varies by person and spell, but it's essential."
"In Edolas, humans can't generate magic internally—and the ambient magic is too weak or incompatible to resonate."
"So even with huge reserves, you can't access Edolas's atmospheric magic. No resonance, no spells."
"These pills contain a compound that temporarily alters your physiology, letting you sync with Edolas's ambient magic—absorb it, channel it, cast."
"Genius!" Roger clapped Mystogan's shoulder hard, grinning.
"You cracked cross-world magic theory solo? How'd you even think of the breakthrough?"
The blunt praise made the lone-wolf Mystogan scratch the back of his head awkwardly.
"Accidental spark while studying this world's magic items."
"I needed cash for research and crystals, so I took high-paying jobs."
"Between that and upgrading my own magic tools, I observed how mages here manipulate ambient magic."
"Most of you don't even notice—you're passively pulling in natural magic all the time."
"Once I realized that, I rebuilt my tools around it—and accidentally invented these pills."
"Also thanks to the Master for finding me magic-sensing glasses. Without those, the research would've died in the crib."
Mystogan looked back up, urgency creeping into his voice.
"Anima's still open, but the king will get suspicious if it doesn't pull in strong magic soon."
"If he shuts it down manually, you lose your portal."
"Move fast. I'll wrap things up here and follow through another route. I'll meet you in Edolas."
"Got it. We're off," Roger nodded. No more delays.
The three headed straight for the guild hall—and Lisanna, who was helping at the request desk.
Roger didn't waste words:
"Lisanna, drop what you're doing. Pack light. You're going home to Edolas—now."
"Wha—?" The quill nearly slipped from her hand.
But then it hit her. Her face exploded with joy and disbelief.
"Really?! Now?! I can go?!"
"Yup~" Mirajane confirmed with a warm smile, then added:
"But I bet you wanna say goodbye to everyone first, right?"
"So make it quick~"
"Mm!" Lisanna nodded hard, cheeks flushed with excitement. She gave a sheepish grin.
"Mira-nee knows me too well! I'll tell Kana and the others—be right back!"
She hurriedly passed off her work and dashed off.
Barely a few minutes later, she returned—trailing a huge crowd of guildmates, all wide-eyed and practically vibrating with "Take us too!" energy.
Lisanna scratched her cheek, looking apologetic yet hopeful.
"Um… Roger-nii, after I told everyone… they all wanna see the other world…"
"Can we… bring them?"