Allen's group continued walking through Magnolia while observing the preparations for the Harvest Festival.
Juvia clung to Allen's arm with sparkling eyes. "Juvia would love to walk around the festival with Allen-sama~!"
Lucy did the same, clearly annoyed. "No! None of that! I want to go with him too, right? You're coming with me, aren't you?"
Erza didn't say anything, but her piercing gaze had the same intention as the others. Allen had to "choose," which meant more than just a simple date.
>>>
Gwen – Well then, what will you do, Mr. Womanizer?
MJ – Who are you going to choose? Hehe~
Diana – Or will you tell them all three? Haha
Felicia – Are you finally going to be honest and tell them you've got a dozen women?~
Yoruichi – You're so screwed~
Rangiku – It's about time this guy got slapped a few times~
Eve – It had to happen sooner or later…
Amanda – The situation's different. I knew from the start he was in a relationship, so I never expected to be the only one. But those girls shouldn't know about that, right?
Hippolyta – That Lucy girl seems different. While the other two clearly expect to be chosen, she's got a look of anticipation, waiting for Allen's response.
Maeve – Thank the heavens I'm not the only one who noticed.
Ivy – Has the director already told her the truth?
Raven – I doubt it. If she knew, she'd either hate him or accept him—not compete like Juvia and Erza…
Rukia – Maybe he only told her part of the truth...
Rias – They're making life way too complicated, or maybe that's just me—among the demons of my world, polygamy isn't even that unusual...
Asia – Rias-san is a demon?!
Akeno – Ara, you didn't know?
Barbara – You're all getting off-topic. Let's see what the womanizer does and whether his luck finally runs out, hehe~
Unohana – It'll definitely be fun to watch~
>>>
'Hey, a little support would be nice!' thought Allen with mild frustration. None of the girls were backing him up. Instead, they all seemed to be hoping this would be the day he finally got slapped for being himself.
Allen didn't blame them. Many girls were probably unsatisfied—after all, even though he sometimes visited them using his chibi avatar, in the end, he hadn't fulfilled his duties as a Man, Lover, and "Husband."
"Allen?"
"Allen!"
"Allen-sama!~"
Also, Allen couldn't escape the gazes of the girls demanding he choose.
Saying he picked one would anger the other two. Saying he'd go with all three would make them even angrier. Saying he picked Mirajane would earn the resentment of all three. So Allen had to show off the womanizing skills he'd polished over the years. He had to prove why he had a harem and why he'd earned the nickname "The Conqueror of Heroines"
(A/N: No one had ever actually called him that, but it felt like a fitting title.)
Allen paused to think, keeping calm and never dropping his mischievous smile—a smile that made the three girls' hearts race. His clear eyes reflected all three of their faces, making them gulp, especially now that they knew his real face and the magic had less effect on them.
The girls had already shown clear interest in him—even Erza had confessed. Now it was his turn to respond. Would he run away? No. Allen wouldn't. Not after everything he'd been through.
"Oh, do you want me to choose who will be my girl in the harvest festival, Lucy?"
Lucy and Juvia stepped back.
Allen passed his gaze over the three girls and chose his first victim.
"Juvia, are you trying to monopolize me?" Allen stepped closer to Juvia and whispered, "Don't you think it'd be better if I monopolized you instead?"
"Juvia, she, I—no…" Juvia choked on her words, unable to form a sentence after being attacked out of nowhere.
Her eyes began to spin. Allen stopped just before she passed out and turned to face Erza.
"You're pretty aggressive around Lucy and Juvia, but the one who's been avoiding me... is you."
"That's not true." Erza stepped back, startled. But it was true—ever since they'd returned from the Tower of Heaven, she'd been avoiding being alone with Allen, always running off when she saw him at night or ran into him in the hallway.
Allen cornered her against a wall, drawing the attention of several bystanders—everyone knew who they were.
"Tell me, Erza. Aren't you the one who's running away?"
With Allen's face so close, Erza couldn't look him in the eye anymore. Her face was as red as it could get.
"I'm sorry…" Erza murmured, lowering her head. Allen gently lifted her chin, brushing her hair aside to reveal her other eye—no longer a prosthetic, but a real eye Allen had restored. She no longer had to carry the memory of her past.
"My feelings should be obvious by now. And I know my personality is a real pain… I'm sorry."
Hearing Allen apologize made Erza's heart almost leap out of her chest. Allen chuckled and stepped back. Erza slid to the floor, covering her face.
"…!"
Allen turned to Lucy, who flinched in surprise, but he didn't let her escape. He stepped closer. Lucy was embarrassed but also looked determined. Once they were face to face, Allen's smile faded. His serious gaze and sincere eyes met hers.
"Lucy, more than anyone, you should know…" Allen gently touched Lucy's cheek, and she placed her hand over his.
"Before demanding an answer to your feelings, you have to make a choice… You already know that."
Lucy smiled bitterly. "You're a cruel guy…"
"I won't apologize. I don't regret getting involved with you—or any of you. You can hate me, resent me, but my feelings won't change." Allen leaned in and kissed her. "The final decision is yours, but I want you to know I'm not going to let you go so easily, no matter what you decide."
Lucy looked away, but Allen didn't let her. He leaned in to kiss her again. She tried to resist but soon melted and answered greedily.
The townspeople and his viewers were stunned. Even now, they had underestimated Allen. Not only had he gotten out of trouble, he'd taken down Juvia, Erza, and Lucy—in under a minute.
He's a monster!
The worst thing that could've happened to this world—and its girls—was Allen regaining his confidence!
Boom!
"Hm?" Allen let go of Lucy, who fell to her knees in defeat.
"Mm~"
As if the heavens themselves wanted to mess with him, fireworks boomed above, interrupting the moment. Or at least, it seemed that way. It was just one firework… but it formed a word in the sky.
"Lucy, Erza, Juvia, I'm sorry..."
Knowing Levy was in danger, Allen didn't hesitate. Using expert-level flight magic, he took off, reaching supersonic speeds.
.....
One second later...
He landed heavily, kicking up dust and wind. His glowing eyes immediately searched for Levy. She wasn't weak—she was skilled enough not to need help unless she was in real danger.
"Allen, here!"
Levy saw Allen arrive and felt relieved. Without caring about the stares, she ran up and hugged him.
"Levy…"
"Levy-chan…"
Jet and Droy watched, devastated, falling to their knees. Sadly for them, some things just aren't meant to be.
Allen was caught off guard—he hadn't expected her to hug him. Though they got along well, their relationship wasn't as close as with the other girls. But of course, Allen didn't push her away—why would he complain about being loved by a cute girl?
"I'm glad you're so happy to see me… but you don't need to use an SOS signal if you just want to see me," Allen teased, hugging her back to see her reaction.
Hearing his words and feeling his arms around her, Levy realized what she was doing and quickly let go, trying to step back—but she couldn't. Flustered, she turned red and, not knowing what else to do, buried her face in Allen's chest.
"So, what happened?" Allen asked, scanning the park and spotting signs of a battle.
Levy trembled as she remembered the situation. Still embarrassed, she pointed toward Jet and Droy—behind them, Gajeel lay on the ground, covered in burns.
"…!" Allen let go of Levy and walked over to Gajeel to check him. Without hesitation, he pulled out a healing potion and used magic to guide the liquid into Gajeel's mouth.
"I need to fix his bones…"
"Huh? Isn't the potion enough?" Droy asked.
Allen shook his head. "The current healing potion isn't omnipotent. It can heal wounds, regenerate tissue, and restore vitality—but it has limits. One of them is bones…"
"Ugh!"
"Nocessio Negare…" Allen recited, causing Gajeel's expression of pain to relax.
"Noce... what?"
"It's a spell that inhibits all sensation of pain in the human body… but rather than being medical, I designed it more as an emergency spell for combat…"
"That's incredible!" exclaimed Jet. "Teach me how to use it so I don't have to worry about taking a hit or two!"
Allen shook his head as his expression grew serious while looking at Gajeel. "No. Pain is a survival mechanism for the human body. I only designed it for life-or-death situations. Even then, it's not something I plan to use in battle—because it lets you fight while ignoring your actual condition… and that's very dangerous."
Levy, Jet, and Droy swallowed hard. Using that spell meant you could fight until death without even realizing it.
Allen didn't worry about the trio's reactions and stayed focused. He adjusted Gajeel's dislocated shoulder, aligned the broken bone in his arm, and set the fractured ribs so the healing potion could properly fuse the bones. Another weakness of the potion was that damaged tissue wouldn't just disappear on its own.
Allen pulled a scalpel from his inventory and began cutting away the burnt flesh. Levy turned her gaze away, Jet turned pale, and Droy ran off to throw up. Allen ignored it all and continued, his expression calm and serious.
"These kinds of burns… are from electricity," Allen muttered.
Artoria – Laxus…
Wednesday – The golden grandson finally crossed the line.
Makima – Oh, I'm surprised he didn't kill him.
Rebecca – Haha, I knew it!
"So it was Laxus' doing…"
At Allen's words, the mood grew heavy. Droy and Jet exchanged looks, and Levy looked worried.
Gajeel had once been an enemy—but was also recruited by Allen. Laxus had crossed a line. He attacked a fellow member and left him severely wounded… but he was also Makarov's grandson.
After removing and cleaning the wounds, the potion took effect and regenerated the muscle tissue and skin.
"What are you going to do?" Levy asked, placing a hand on Allen's shoulder.
Allen had previously shown he wasn't lenient with enemies. He had confronted Makarov, openly refusing to adopt a passive attitude after Phantom Lord's attack. He had even fought Laxus more than once, though he never went further—out of respect for Makarov.
But would it be the same this time?
What would happen if Allen did go after Laxus? Would Makarov stay silent? Would Allen end up fighting Makarov in the worst possible outcome?
Just the thought of that made Levy want to cry. Allen's expression didn't change, his gaze calm—but he stood up without answering.
"Hey…"
Gajeel reached out and grabbed Allen's leg, slowly opening his eyes and locking onto him.
"I'm fine…"
Levy, Droy, and Jet gasped. Of all people, Gajeel was the one to speak up—possibly preventing a tragedy.
"Gajeel… don't lie. You should know your own body. Those wounds were worse than anything I ever did to you…"
"I'm fine…"
"Only because I got here in time…"
"That's right. I owe you one—but I'm fine," Gajeel insisted stubbornly.
"…" Allen stayed silent for a moment, then sighed. "You're stubborn and don't listen to reason. Are all Dragon Slayers like this?"
Levy finally let out the breath she'd been holding, as did the other two.
"Hey, what's with those looks?" Allen chuckled. "Did you really think I was going to go kill Laxus?"
Everyone stayed silent…
"No, I was just going to teach him a lesson and bring him to Makarov," Allen smiled. It wasn't that he forgave Laxus. It wasn't that he didn't care what he had done. But it wasn't his place to decide what should be done—it was Makarov's. After all, Makarov was the Guild Master. Besides, Allen wanted to avoid bloodshed if possible.
"I just hope Laxus doesn't push things any further," Allen said, dropping his smile. "Or I will be forced to…"
His expression indicated that he did not want to do so, but if necessary he would kill Laxus.
Allen reported what happened to Makarov, who did not take the news well and summoned Laxus with such rage that he nearly destroyed the ceiling. After that, Allen stopped worrying about the matter and went on with his day.
---
The next day, the situation with Laxus was unresolved—he never showed up to face Makarov, leaving the master in a foul mood. Still, the Harvest Festival was underway and couldn't be delayed any longer. But tension hung in the air.
Especially between Makarov and Allen, whose interactions had drastically decreased. Erza noticed it. So did Mirajane, Macao, Natsu, Gray, and Cana—they all realized it.
Allen had changed. He wasn't the same Allen who almost charged into battle alone against Phantom Lord, sending chills down everyone's spine. The Allen who showed up when Natsu pushed him too far and scared everyone into silence. That Allen was gone leaving a more approachable, even friendly guy. But still, one thing was clear. Even if no one said it out loud, everyone was aware of it:
Allen Walker had killed a lot of people.
The question was—would he kill Laxus if he crossed the line? Would he fight Makarov if the old man defended his grandson? Beyond that, who would they support? On one side was the master Makarov, on the other the young man who had literally saved their lives. Nobody wants to choose!
As everyone pondered that, Allen was simply laughing as Lucy held back Juvia, who was trying to hug him from behind.
"Let go! Don't you remember our deal?!" Juvia complained.
"You pervert, do you think I haven't noticed you're not wearing a bra?" Lucy growled in a low voice as she held her tighter. Juvia blushed, but still fought for her freedom.
Allen wondered why Juvia didn't just turn into water to escape—but didn't say it out loud.
Just then, Levy approached and knelt beside him.
"Allen! Can you teach me your magic eyes?!" the girl asked, her eyes sparkling.
Levy often spent her free time reading books, especially when not out on Requests. Partly because she loved knowledge, and partly because it was genuinely useful for her magic, and in difficult situations. For her, among all the magic of Allen, those eyes that give her information from everywhere, even from her enemies, are a treasure.
"It's called Auris Arcanum, and we've talked about this already…" Allen gave her a conflicted look.
"Pleeease~!"
Levy put her hands together and gave him the saddest, most pitiful expression she could manage, hoping to melt his heart.
Allen sighed. "Levy, I already told you—you'll fry your brain…"
Levy puffed her cheek. "Only if I'm careless, right?"
Just like Natsu always begged him to fight, Levy had been asking ever since the day Allen explained Auris Arcanum to her. It's not that Allen didn't want to teach her—he trusted her not to share it with anyone, and more importantly, not to misuse it. The problem… was the side effects.
During his time in the Harry Potter world, Allen spent years under scrutiny. As a result, he limited himself to only using magic. But as part of that adjustment, he missed certain abilities—techniques essential to his fighting style and instincts.
What he missed the most wasn't infinity, ki, chi, or even superpowers—it was his eyes, the ones he'd acquired alongside the Infinite: the Rokugan—"Six Eyes." After years of research, trial and error, Allen had managed to replicate something similar. It was a primitive version, but it allowed him to detect vast amounts of information from his surroundings, to see the remnants of magic, to perceive what others could not.
He didn't stop there. After multiple upgrades, the Auris Arcanum was born.
It was such a good imitation that it even replicated the major side effect of the original Six Eyes—massive sensory overload on the user's brain. It wasn't just a matter of being careful—Allen himself had nearly fried his own brain three times while mastering it.
Seeing Levy's determination, Allen could only regret ever mentioning the spell to her. Of course, he had no idea it would become her latest obsession. Lucy and Juvia were about to stop her, but Allen stood up—and suddenly the atmosphere changed. The warm spring sun seemed to vanish, replaced by the crushing pressure of a black hole.
"Very well, Levy McGarden. I will show you what the world looks like through the eyes of magic…"
Levy gulped as a drop of sweat ran down her cheek. Maybe… she had been a bit too hasty…
---
(Days later)
The world doesn't stop—and inevitably, the Harvest Festival began.
However, there were unexpected guests, because that day, Laxus entered Magnolia with three companions:
A brown-haired woman with glasses—beautiful, but with an arrogant, unlikeable gaze.
A calm and handsome green-haired man, whose serene, almost disdainful attitude defined him.
And finally, a guy who kept his face covered and had a crazed look in his eyes while sticking out his tongue.
"Come on, Raijinshuu! It's time to take my throne and crush anyone who stands in my way! If a few flies die in the process, so be it!" shouted Laxus, as his aura began to rise slowly—darkening the sky over Magnolia with thunder and lightning.
It wasn't that he was stupid. It wasn't that he underestimated Allen… BUT
It was that Laxus believed—with full confidence—that his current strength would let him defeat Allen… and anyone else.
"I am the strongest!"
===
A/N: Power corrupts, Laxus was already dangerous being the way he was, and if he had even more power? 👀
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