The metallic hum of the Edolas Fairy Tail guild hall was a constant, low-frequency vibration that rattled the teeth. It wasn't the warm, rowdy atmosphere of home; it was the tense, efficient buzz of a military bunker.
Blake Corvus stood in the center of the workshop floor, his eyes scanning the intricate machinery surrounding him. He had expected a ragtag resistance. What he saw was an armory.
"So," Blake said, turning to a mechanic who was wiping grease from a massive, rune-etched wrench. "You said my counterpart is a driver. But this... this isn't just a garage. Who built all this?"
The mechanic, a burly version of Jet called 'Jetstream', puffed out his chest. "Driver? He's the best wheelman in Edolas, sure. But that's just his hobby. Our Guild Master, Blake... he's the smartest man on the continent. He designed the crawler. He designed the engines. He designed everything."
"Master?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "So I'm the boss here. Interesting."
"Come look at this!" Edolas Wakaba waved them over to a weapon rack.
"Standard issue for our assault teams," Wakaba explained proudly, lifting a sleek, silver rifle. "Compressed Magic-Particle Rifle. It uses dust lacrima cartridges. It can punch through Royal Guard armor at five hundred yards. And this," he patted a bulky, shoulder-mounted device, "is a Capture Cannon. Fires electrified mono-filament nets. Takes down enemies without killing them."
Blake ran his hand over the cold steel of the rifle. It was impressive. It was the kind of tech that could level the playing field in a world without atmospheric magic.
"And check out the rides!" Edolas Macao shouted from the vehicle bay.
There was a row of heavily modified vehicles. They weren't sleek and luxurious like Blake's Urus; they were beasts of war. Armored plating, spiked tires, and roof-mounted turrets.
"This one has a Refraction Shield generator," Macao said, slapping the hood of a massive, six-wheeled jeep. "And twin mana-lasers on the roll bar. We can run a blockade and blow up the gate at the same time."
Blake looked at the arsenal. He looked at the vehicles. He looked at the grim determination on the faces of the Edolas guild members.
A frown creased his forehead.
"If you have all these weapons, why are you running away from the Royal Army? You can fight them with these advanced weapons, right?"
It didn't make sense. With this level of firepower, they shouldn't be hiding in the desert. They should be besieging the capital. They had the means to start a war.
The pride on the guild members' faces faltered. They looked at each other, then at Lucy Ashley.
Lucy Ashley sighed, holstering her wrench. She walked over to Blake, her expression complicated.
"We want to fight," she admitted, her voice low. "Every day, we want to turn these guns on the Hunter and the King. But we don't."
"Why?" Natsu asked, testing the weight of a grenade launcher he probably shouldn't have been holding. "Scared?"
"Strategic," Lucy Ashley corrected sharply. "Guild Master Blake told us that the time was not right yet. He says that raw power isn't enough to change the world. If we attack now, we're just terrorists. We'd be fighting the Army, but the people would still support the King because he promises them eternal magic."
She looked at a map of Edolas on the wall. "And he is waiting for the right time to throw the King from his throne. He has a plan. A specific moment where the King will be vulnerable, not just physically, but politically."
Blake's eyes narrowed. His mind, sharpened by years of tactical leadership in Earthland, began to assemble the puzzle pieces.
A political vulnerability. A specific moment. A King desperate for magic.
And then he thought of Mystogan. The Prince, who was closing portals. The Prince, who was currently in Earthland, was likely trying to save this world in his own way.
Of course.
Hearing that, Blake concludes his counterpart may be waiting for Edolas Jellal to return to Edolas so that he can replace Jellal with the current king.
If the King fell without a successor, chaos would reign. But if the beloved Prince returned... if the Resistance paved the way for the rightful, benevolent heir... then the revolution would stick.
"He's smart," Blake murmured, a newfound respect for his alternate self growing. "He's playing the long game."
"We trust him," Lucy Ashley said firmly. "So we run. We hide. We survive. Until he gives the signal."
The logic was sound, but it presented a massive problem for the Earthland team.
"That's great for you guys," Natsu said, putting the grenade launcher down. "But our friends are trapped somewhere in the royal capital. We can't wait for politics."
"We need to get to the Royal Capital," Blake stated.
"We need speed," Blake said. "Lend us a car. Or better yet, drive us. We can breach the gates."
The room went silent. The mechanics shuffled their feet.
"To the Capital?" Edolas Wakaba asked nervously. "That's... that's the heart of the enemy territory."
"We can't authorize a mission like that," Edolas Macao said, shaking his head. "The Master is out on a recon run. His orders are strict: preserve the guild's assets. Risking a war rig on a suicide mission for strangers... even if you are us... we can't do it."
Blake looked at their faces. It wasn't malice; it was discipline.
"Fine," Blake said. He didn't argue. He understood chains of command. "We'll go ourselves."
"Walk?" Wendy squeaked. "It's so far..."
"We don't have a choice," Cana said, "Let's go."
---
The transition from the cool, air-conditioned crawler to the Edolas wasteland was a physical blow. The heat was oppressive, radiating off the purple-hued rocks and dry, cracked earth. The sky was a bruised purple, heavy and suffocating.
They walked for hours. Without magic, Natsu and Wendy were tiring quickly.
Blake and Cana led the way, their physical stamina holding up better than the mages who relied on Ethernano to fuel their bodies.
"This sucks," Natsu groaned, kicking a pebble. "I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. And I can't even fly."
"Save your breath, Natsu," Carla chided, though she was panting too, riding in Wendy's backpack.
They entered a narrow canyon, seeking shade. The shadows were long and deep.
"Hold up," Blake said, stopping abruptly. His Observation Haki pinged. "Something big."
CROOOOAAAK.
The sound vibrated in their chests.
From behind a massive boulder, a shadow detached itself. It was green. It was slimy. And it was the size of a two-story house.
Where they bump into a giant frog.
It was a monster of the wastelands, its skin covered in warts the size of dinner plates, its tongue lolling out, dripping acidic saliva. It looked at the group of humans and saw a buffet.
"Lunch!" Natsu yelled, his battle instincts overriding his common sense. "I'm gonna cook you and eat you!"
Natsu, forgetting that he can't use magic, charged forward. He leaped into the air, cocking his fist back.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
He punched the frog squarely in the nose.
Thwap.
There was no fire. There was no explosion. There was just the sound of meat hitting wet rubber.
"Ow," Natsu whispered.
The frog blinked. It looked cross-eyed at the little pink human hanging off its nose.
Then, it flicked its head.
WHAM.
And gets smacked to a boulder nearby.
Natsu flew through the air like a ragdoll, crashing into the canyon wall and sliding down face-first.
"Natsu!" Wendy screamed.
"I forgot..." Natsu groaned into the dirt. "No magic... equals... just a punch."
The frog croaked again, turning its attention to Wendy and Carla. It crouched, legs tensing for a leap.
"It's going to jump!" Cana shouted, reaching for a card that wouldn't work. "Blake!"
Blake didn't move. He didn't draw his sword. He simply took off his sunglasses and looked the beast in the eye.
Then Blake looks at frog and releases a bit of conquerors haki.
He didn't need to knock it out. He just needed to assert dominance. A wave of red-black pressure, invisible to the others but terrifyingly real to the animal, washed over the canyon.
Sit. The command was silent, but absolute.
The giant frog froze mid-spring. Its pupils dilated. It began to tremble. The predatory instinct was instantly overwritten by the prey instinct.
The massive amphibian whimpered, backed away slowly, and then turned and hopped away as fast as its giant legs could carry it, terrified of the man in the black coat.
"Show off," Cana grinned, helping Natsu up.
"My head..." Natsu rubbed a fresh bump. "I hate this world."
---
They continued walking, the mood slightly dampened by Natsu's defeat by a frog. The sun beat down. The capital felt a million miles away.
Then, a sound cut through the wind.
VROOOOOM.
It was the roar of an engine. A high-performance, magic-combustion engine.
"Vehicle approaching!" Blake warned, turning around. "Six o'clock!"
A cloud of dust appeared on the horizon, moving fast. It grew larger, resolving into a shape. It was a jeep. But not just any jeep.
It was the massive, six-wheeled, armored beast Macao had shown them earlier. The Refraction Shield generator hummed on the hood, and the mana-lasers gleamed in the sun.
It drifted around the corner, gravel spraying, and skidded to a halt right next to them.
The driver's door kicked open.
Lucy Ashley stepped out. She adjusted her goggles, looking at the ragged group of Earthlanders.
"You guys walk slow," she commented dryly. "I thought you'd be further by now."
"Lucy!" Wendy cried. "You came!"
"Yeah, well," Lucy Ashley shrugged, leaning against the massive tire. "I couldn't let you idiots die of heatstroke. Or get eaten by a frog. I saw the tracks back there."
She jerked a thumb toward the back seats. "It's a three-day drive through the desert. You'll never make it on foot. Get in before I change my mind."
"YES!" Natsu cheered, diving into the back seat. "A ride! Wait... will I get sick?"
"It's smoother than a carriage," Lucy Ashley promised. "My suspension is custom."
The engine roared as Lucy Ashley gunned it, the massive vehicle tearing off across the wasteland.
As they settled in, Wendy leaned forward from the back seat. She looked worried.
"Um... Lucy-san?"
"Yeah, kid?"
Then Wendy asks, "'Wouldn't the Guild Master be angry with you for helping us?'"
She remembered how strict the rules seemed. Unauthorized use of guild assets. Risking the vehicle. Going to the Capital. It sounded like treason against the guild.
"They said... without his permission..." Wendy trailed off.
Lucy waves her hand, dismissing the concern with a casual flick. A small smile played on her lips.
"Master Blake? Please. He puts up a tough front. He has to. He's leading a resistance against a tyrant King."
She shifted gears, the jeep accelerating up a dune.
"He just says that for our safety. He doesn't want us throwing our lives away for nothing. But he's not a dictator. He trusts us to make judgment calls."
She glanced at Blake Corvus in the passenger seat.
"And if it is for a good reason, he will let it slide. Saving your friends? Saving an entire town of people trapped? That's a good reason. He'd probably have done it himself if he wasn't... occupied."
Blake nodded, looking out the window at the passing alien landscape. "He sounds like a good leader."
"The best," Lucy Ashley confirmed. "He's the only reason Fairy Tail still exists."
Then they all ride towards the Royal Capital.
The jeep tore through the desert, a silver bullet aiming for the heart of the enemy. The sun began to set, casting long purple shadows across the sand. Ahead of them lay the Royal City, the Dragon Knights, and the crystallized souls of their family. But now, they had wheels, they had a guide, and they had a plan.
The rescue mission was officially back on track.