"AAAAAH… Keep him away from me!"
Looking at the splatter of red and white blood on the tip of Shane's shoe, Faust finally snapped back to himself and let out a warped scream.
He crawled and scrambled to Mystogan's feet, clutching desperately at his son's trouser leg.
The once-arrogant old king no longer had the slightest sense of security.
After personally witnessing the fate of that evil dragon counterpart, he finally understood with perfect clarity that in the face of absolute violence, the illusory crown on his head could not protect his life at all.
At any moment, he might end up like that wreckage, his head casually crushed beneath the other party's foot.
Shane, however, acted as though he hadn't even seen the terrified, disgraceful king. He simply turned his calm gaze toward Mystogan.
"What do you plan to do next?"
"The royal capital's high-level combat forces are basically crippled. With the Lacrima incident added on, the city will definitely fall into massive chaos."
Mystogan thought for a moment, his tone carrying a hint of consultation.
"I want to use my identity as prince to step forward and calm the people first…"
Shane waved a hand, not particularly concerned.
"The royal capital is a mess right now. And didn't this guy say earlier that there's still a group of 'Exceeds' watching from outside? I don't know what kind of race they are, but handling them will probably be troublesome."
He looked at Mystogan and said seriously,
"If you have both the ability and the resolve to take over this country, then don't worry too much about how outsiders see it."
"In a crisis, if a legitimate name the people recognize steps forward to lead them, their fear of the unknown should ease at least a little, right?"
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?! Mystogan, tell this lunatic to stay away from me!"
Faust was still tugging persistently at his son's trouser leg, making ugly, dry howls.
But the two people speaking continued to ignore him in perfect tacit understanding.
"As for the Exceeds…" Mystogan thought for a while before saying, "I know one of their warriors. He has a kind character. Since you stopped the Lacrima from melting, once I restore the sealed Exceeds afterward, there should still be room for both sides to sit down and negotiate."
"I'm not good at politics, and I don't like getting involved in it."
Shane fixed his bright gaze on Mystogan's eyes.
"I just want to know how you intend to govern this country once you officially take control."
Although, through their few encounters, he knew Mystogan had a decent character, Shane still wanted to hear a clear answer from this future king's own mouth.
After all, he didn't want the companion he had just helped to turn around and become a second Faust.
"To be honest, this is my first time doing something like this, so there's still a lot I don't understand."
Mystogan considered it seriously, then gave Shane a plain answer he hadn't expected.
"But once the situation stabilizes, the first thing I want to do is probably build roads."
"Build roads?"
"Yes. The people have been without abundant magic for far too long. Although they've gradually adapted to that scarcity, Edolas's land is like scattered chess pieces in the sky. The connection between floating islands must rely on magic as a bridge."
Mystogan sighed.
"Because magic was monopolized, they have been cut off from one another for far, far too long."
Hearing that explanation, Shane understood.
He remembered that when he first arrived in this world, he had to fly through the barren high skies for quite some time before seeing any inhabited land.
It was easy to imagine just how severely ordinary people—those who could not use magic and had no flying tools—had been divided by this broken geography.
"That's a good idea."
He nodded in approval.
Now that the evil dragon's unchecked oppression was gone, magic throughout the world would more or less slowly recover.
Using that revived magic to create bridges connecting people was indeed an excellent idea.
With memories of his previous life, Shane knew very well the value behind the phrase "if you want prosperity, build roads first." This was absolutely the first step that would benefit both country and people.
Mystogan's vision was quite long-term and practical.
"In that case…"
Shane approved of the strategy and couldn't help making a suggestion.
"Maybe you don't need to completely abolish the so-called 'magic tax' formula."
"You could simply change it into something gentler. For example, exchange supplies of equal value with each city-state to collect magic and accelerate your bridge-and-road plan."
"Mm. And as for the magic you collect…"
Shane pointed at the glowing core that had fallen from the evil dragon's body earlier.
"This thing doesn't have much practical use to me anyway, so I'll leave it with you as a large-scale infrastructure power bank. Consider it a small apology for acting on my own this time without telling you."
"This…"
Mystogan hesitated.
Shane's suggestion was undoubtedly timely help. Not only did it solve the immediate problem of storage, it also gave him direction.
But from beginning to end, Mystogan felt he hadn't helped much. On the contrary, Shane had only come here to find his companion Lisanna, yet ended up casually helping them slaughter the evil dragon that had occupied the sky.
"Alright, stop dithering."
Shane didn't have time to get sentimental with him and turned away directly.
"In any case, let's go to the plaza first and restore that Lacrima to its original state."
With that, he led the two sisters beside him straight outside.
Mystogan had no choice but to grab the frightened old king and quickly follow.
And Knightwalker, who should originally have been Shane's enemy, stared at his black-haired back. After hesitating for a moment, she somehow followed at the very end of the group as though compelled.
The group soon crossed the damaged palace walls and arrived at the underground plaza piled high with Lacrima.
Looking once again at the huge mountain of crystals before him—
especially after noticing that the outermost layer had already melted completely away—
Shane's previously relaxed expression gradually turned extraordinarily indifferent.
"This portion of people… can't be saved anymore."
That abrupt statement sounded terrifying to Faust, who was being held captive.
From the hall to the plaza, the man before him had never mentioned how he intended to deal with him.
The feeling of a guillotine hanging over his head but refusing to fall was more torturous than being killed outright.
Whether he hid his head or stuck it out, either way the blade would fall.
At this point, he almost wished Shane would simply crush him as decisively as he had crushed that head, just to end this endless anxiety.
Mystogan ignored his father's fear.
He walked up to the crystal, raised his staff, and focused completely on reversing the magic.
As a complex magic circle lit with blue light, the enormous Lacrima, huge as a mountain, began to hum softly.
Then the surface of the crystal peeled away like falling starlight, turning into countless glittering points that slowly dissolved into the air.
The bodies imprisoned inside also followed the reversed spatial traces, turning into beams of light and shooting into the sky.
"They have safely returned to the state they were in when Anima drew them up."
Looking at the plaza gradually becoming empty, Mystogan turned to Shane and said,
"If you want to return to Earth Land, you can follow this magical residue upstream. Though… I actually hoped you could stay and let us properly celebrate for you."
"No. This trip has already taken long enough. The flowers in my yard are still waiting for me to go back and care for them."
Shane shook his head and decisively refused.
He was still thinking about the reward after the Book of Heroic Spirits' Trial of Innocence was completed. Who had time to eat a celebration feast here?
As he spoke, light surged around his body, and he once again transformed into that elegant and oppressive Albion.
Lowering his head, he gently hooked one dragon claw and steadily scooped the Strauss sisters onto his broad back.
Just then, Knightwalker, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly stepped forward.
She raised her head, crimson hair dancing in the wind, and fixed her burning gaze on Mira atop the dragon's back.
"Hey. That 'me' from Earth Land… compared to you, who is stronger?"
Hearing that question, Shane, in dragon form, secretly held back a laugh, very much looking forward to how this prideful girl would answer.
"Hmph."
Mira lifted her chin slightly, crossed her arms, and deliberately put on the lonely arrogance of a master.
"Defeated opponent, what meaning is there in asking such things?"
However, Lisanna beside her mercilessly exposed her on the spot.
"In our world, Erza-nee has always been stronger! Mira-nee has fought her for years and has never won even once!"
"Lisanna, shut up! That's not true!"
Mira's act shattered instantly, and she angrily tried to cover her sister's mouth.
"Is that so?"
Knightwalker froze.
This She-Devil before her, someone even the Ten Commandments Spear couldn't injure, someone who had easily crushed her into the ground, still couldn't defeat another version of herself?
And then there was this monster before her, powerful enough to tear apart the evil dragon with ease, so strong it was suffocating.
Earth Land… just how many strong people were hidden there?
An uncontrollable surge of emotion rippled through the hunter lady's sharp eyes.
"If you're curious, you can come visit someday."
The deep dragon voice echoed through the plaza.
Shane didn't have much ill will toward this red-haired hunter who purely pursued strong opponents.
Of course, this had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she looked the same as Erza. It was because she hadn't persecuted Fairy Tail's members for being implicated by the evil dragon.
Before leaving, the huge dragon head glanced one last time at the old king hiding behind Mystogan.
"Mystogan, as for the future of this country, I believe in you."
Shane's words carried a trace of meaning only the two of them could understand.
"How to handle the rest is all up to you."
"Don't worry…"
Mystogan hesitated briefly, then nodded solemnly.
"May your journey be smooth."
"Rooaaar—"
Shane let out a clear, long cry and followed the Anima trace that led straight into the sky, beating his wings and rising.
A wild wind rose from the ground, and after piercing through the clouds, the view opened wide.
Sharp-eyed Shane noticed a black dot racing across the earth near the distant horizon.
"That emblem is… Fairy Tail?"
"Let me see!"
Mira stood on the dragon's back, putting a hand over her eyes as she looked into the wind.
"Ah! It's everyone from Edolas! And this world's me too. They actually drove all the way here!"
"Wait, why is Natsu driving that magic four-wheeler?" The girl looked stunned. "Isn't that guy terrible with vehicles? Doesn't he get knocked out with motion sickness the moment he gets on one?"
Hearing that, Lisanna immediately burst out laughing and excitedly hopped on the dragon's back.
"It's the difference between counterparts, silly sister! This world's Natsu is a super speed demon!"
Lisanna laughed again and bounced excitedly on the dragon's back.
"Everyone—we're over here!"
"We're going home!"
"Thank you so much for taking care of me this past year! Everyone, please take care of yourselves!"
They were separated by a great distance, so naturally the people below couldn't hear what Lisanna was shouting.
But strangely—
when they raised their heads and watched that elegant dragon-beast flying comfortably through the sky, gradually moving farther and farther away, none of them felt any fear or dread in their hearts.
In a daze, through the gaps in the clouds, they seemed to truly see that lively white-haired girl standing on the dragon's back, waving farewell to them.
"Looks like there was no need for us to rescue them."
Beside the magic car, Edolas Mira gazed gently at the sky and wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.
After spending every day with that other lively, adorable Lisanna for a whole year, now that she was leaving and they would probably never meet again, it would be a lie to say she didn't feel reluctant and sad.
"Sister! Why are you crying?"
The proper Lisanna beside her had already gone red-eyed too, but she deliberately put her hands on her hips and complained loudly.
And the burly Elfman, caught between his two sisters, scratched his head helplessly. In the end, he could only smile honestly and wave hard toward the sky.
On the other side—
as the huge dragon silhouette in the sky completely vanished into the end of the magical trace—
the atmosphere in the royal plaza also grew cold and quiet.
Mystogan waved a hand and had Knightwalker, whose expression was complicated, leave first to gather the remaining troops.
In the vast plaza, only father and son remained.
"Hahahaha… that damned monster finally left!"
Once Faust confirmed that Shane had truly gone, the old king, who had been as lowly as mud a moment ago, instantly changed his expression.
He dusted off his robe, joy after surviving disaster flashing across his face.
"To think… to think he dared treat a great king with such arrogance!"
Faust gnashed his teeth in a curse, then turned around and, for once, patted his son on the shoulder.
"Mystogan, you did very well this time! Thanks to you standing in front, that lunatic didn't drag me into this!"
The desire for power reignited in his eyes.
"Although the Lacrima are gone and the evil dragon is dead, as long as I remain, royal authority will not collapse!"
"As for the reconstruction of the royal capital… you need not trouble yourself. Leave it all to me."
"With that remaining magic core, once I make the right arrangements, I will soon restore the royal capital to its original prosperity!"
"…"
Mystogan did not answer.
He quietly stood there, watching the old man before him speak with shining eyes, as always drunk on a dream of power.
He understood better than anyone in this world that his father was beyond saving.
Faust's eyes had long been blinded by greed, anger, and delusion. He had become the greatest, most incurable tumor parasitizing the land of Edolas.
Remembering Shane's meaningful words before leaving, Mystogan slowly closed his eyes.
His hands, hidden inside his sleeves, clenched little by little.
"Yes… you were right. As the next king, there are some poisonous sores I must personally cut away."
When he opened his eyes again, the last trace of hesitation in his pupils had been completely replaced by iron-cold solemnity.
At that moment, he made his decision.
"You bastard! What is that expression?"
Faust, who had been speaking grandly, accidentally met his son's utterly cold gaze, and his heart lurched.
Instinctive fear made him subconsciously retreat half a step, and he shouted harshly to hide his weakness.
Mystogan ignored the bluster.
He simply drew out his staff with remarkably steady movements and, for the final time, spoke that form of address.
"Father."
The young king's voice was as still as dead water, without the slightest ripple.
"For the sake of this broken kingdom, please… take your own life here."