Chapter 202: Heading to the Royal Capital
Lisanna saw Natsu and Happy looking at her with burning, desperate gazes, feeling a tumultuous mix of anticipation and fear churn within her chest.
The air in the Edolas Fairy Tail guild hall was thick with tension. The rowdy cheers of the "Dark Guild" members had died down, replaced by a curious silence as they watched the confrontation. At the same time, everyone from Fairy Tail also looked at Lisanna, especially Edo-Elfman, who was trembling behind his sister, and Edo-Mira, who watched with a gentle but guarded expression.
Natsu's eyes were glistening, pleading for her to be the person he lost two years ago. Happy's paws were clasped together, his small body shaking.
Lisanna bit her lip so hard she tasted copper. She clenched her fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms as she forced the words out.
"I... I am Lisanna from Edolas!"
Her voice trembled, but the declaration was struck with a finality that shattered the hopeful silence.
She had to do this. In her mind, the logic was cruel but necessary. Her brother and sister in Earthland—Elfman and Mirajane—had already accepted her death. They had mourned, buried a grave, and moved on, however painfully. But here? In this world? The Elfman and Mira standing behind her had lost their Lisanna too. If she left now, they would lose their sister all over again. She couldn't inflict that wound twice.
Everyone from the Edolas Fairy Tail showed relieved smiles upon hearing Lisanna's words. Edo-Elfman let out a sob of relief, and Edo-Mira placed a comforting hand on Lisanna's shoulder.
Natsu and Happy, however, looked utterly crushed. The light in Natsu's eyes died, replaced by a hollow disappointment that was painful to witness. It was as if he had seen a ghost, only for the ghost to deny ever knowing him.
"See! I told you, this is our Lisanna from Edolas, not your Lisanna from Earth Land!"
Lucy Ashley, the fierce, leather-clad version of Lucy, stepped forward with a smug, almost aggressive look, placing her hands on her hips. "Since you know the location of the Royal Capital, hurry up and leave! We don't have time to babysit tourists."
Ren, standing calmly amidst the emotional turmoil, sighed. He shook his head helplessly, his teal eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the white-haired girl.
"Is that so? What a pity," Ren said, his voice casual yet carrying a piercing weight that cut through the noise of the guild. "Since that's the case, let's go."
He turned around, his white coat fluttering, but then paused, glancing back over his shoulder as if remembering a trivial detail.
"Oh, by the way. Today seems to be Lisanna's death anniversary back in our world."
Lisanna froze. Her breath hitched in her throat.
Ren continued, his tone conversational, ignoring the glares from the Edolas guild members. "I remember it clearly. It was raining heavily. Mira and Elfman braved the storm to visit the church, just to mourn Lisanna. But unexpectedly, they were caught in the Anima—the dimensional tear created by the King of this world."
He looked directly into Lisanna's widening eyes.
"They were absorbed. Turned into raw Lacrima to fuel this world's greed."
"No..." Lisanna whispered, her face draining of all color.
"It's truly tragic," Ren went on, ruthlessly dissecting the reality she had tried to ignore. "Elfman... due to the psychological trauma of 'killing' his sister, he lost the ability to perform a Full Body Take Over. He can only transform one arm. He lives in constant guilt, a weak Mage forever shadowed by his failure."
"And Mira?" Ren's eyes were cold. "Due to the mental breakdown of losing her little sister, the 'Demon' Mirajane is dead. She can no longer use Take Over Magic at all. She retired from the front lines and is now relegated to a simple waitress in the guild's logistics. What a pity! She was once an S-Class Mage who struck fear into the hearts of millions. Now, she just smiles to hide the pain."
Every word was a dagger. Natsu and Happy looked at Ren, confused. Hadn't Elfman already overcome his trauma during the Phantom Lord arc? Hadn't Mira regained her spirit? But seeing the intense look in Ren's eyes, they stayed silent.
"Let's go," Ren commanded, taking a step toward the exit.
Natsu and Happy hesitated for a second, glancing one last time at the girl who looked exactly like their friend, before turning to follow Ren.
Behind them, Lisanna stood paralyzed. Her hands were trembling violently. She hadn't expected this. She thought her death had brought them closure, but instead... she had destroyed them? Her brother, weak and traumatized? Her strong, beautiful sister, broken and powerless?
It's all my fault...
"Lisanna... are you alright?"
Edo-Mira looked at Lisanna with deep concern, noticing the girl's unstable breathing. "Your face is pale."
Lisanna forced a smile, though it looked more like a grimace of pain. "I'm fine, Mira-nee. I just... I felt a little uncomfortable during the teleportation earlier. I'm going to rest for a bit."
"Okay, take your time."
After speaking, Lisanna turned and practically ran to the back kitchen. She slammed the door shut, slid down against the wood until she hit the floor, and buried her face in her hands.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
She covered her mouth to stifle the sobs, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, soaking her apron. The guilt of abandoning her real family was eating her alive.
Outside in the hall, the Edolas Fairy Tail Guild fell silent; no one spoke, the heavy atmosphere lingering long after the Earthlanders had left.
Outside, the landscape of Edolas was vast and alien. Strange, floating islands drifted in the sky, connected by cascading rivers that defied gravity. The vegetation was odd, with trees that spiraled and pulsed with faint luminescence.
Ren and the others, having left the underground guild, were walking along a dirt path that cut through a dense forest, heading towards the Royal Capital.
"Ren, didn't Elfman already use full Take Over Magic? Why did you say he couldn't?"
Happy flew beside Ren, his tail twitching in confusion. "And Mira has been fighting too! During the Battle of Fairy Tail, she was super scary!"
Natsu nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Why did you lie to her?"
"You little idiot," Ren glanced at the blue cat, his expression calm. "Do you really think she's 'Lisanna from Edolas'?"
"Isn't she?!" Natsu asked, blinking. "She said she was!"
The few of them were all puzzled. The other party had explicitly denied being their Lisanna. In their simple minds, if she said she wasn't, she wasn't.
"What I said just now wasn't nonsense," Ren explained, tapping his temple. "It was a test, and she failed it. Her reaction gave everything away. Furthermore, Lisanna's body indeed contains Magic Power, and like us, she possesses a magic source container within her body."
"A magic source?" Wendy tilted her head.
"Yes. People of Edolas do not have magic containers inside them; they rely on magical items," Ren elaborated. "But that girl... inside her body, the magical pathways are fully formed."
Ren, now cultivating the Breath of the Sun, had greatly developed his physical potential. As his Magic Power increased and he continuously cultivated his techniques, he had unlocked the "Transparent World" (See-Through World).
It was a state of heightened perception that allowed him to see the bodies of living creatures as if they were transparent. He could see the contraction of muscles, the flow of blood, and most importantly, the circulation of Magic Power.
When he looked at Lisanna, he saw the dormant, internal magic of an Earthland Mage, completely distinct from the item-reliant energy signatures of the Edolas guild members.
"So, just now, besides knowing the plot, I also made my judgment based on cold, hard facts," Ren concluded.
"Then why doesn't she admit it?!"
Natsu stopped walking, his eyes going wide with realization and hurt. "If she's really our Lisanna... why?"
"I don't know that specific reason," Ren lied smoothly. He knew exactly why, but Natsu needed to figure things out on his own.
"I'll go find her!!"
Natsu immediately spun around, fire—or the attempt of it—burning in his eyes. He wanted to run back, kick down the door, and demand answers.
Ren reached out and grabbed Natsu's scarf, halting him in his tracks. "Stop. Since she doesn't admit it, she must have her reasons. We don't need to force her."
"But she's Lisanna!" Natsu shouted, struggling against Ren's grip. "She's our family! We thought she was dead! How can I just walk away?"
Lisanna was Natsu's childhood friend. They had built a straw hut together, hatched Happy's egg together. The wound of her death had never truly healed. Seeing her alive, breathing, and refusing to come home... it was maddening.
"Don't worry," Ren said, his voice steadying Natsu. "I've already marked that guild."
"Marked?"
"My Magic Power burst earlier wasn't just for show. I left a Flying Thunder God formula marker in the Fairy Tail Guild hall. No matter where they teleport to, no matter where they hide, I can find them in an instant."
Ren pointed down the road. "Right now, our priority is the Royal Capital. Gray, Erza, and the others are trapped in a giant Lacrima. We save them first. Then, we come back for Lisanna. Understand?"
Natsu gritted his teeth, looking back one last time, then nodded. "Fine. We save everyone first."
The group continued their trek.
"It's a five-day journey from here to the Royal Capital. Are we just going to walk there?"
Wendy asked with some concern, looking at her small feet. Five days of walking through unknown territory sounded exhausting. "I wish we had a vehicle."
"Hmm... I don't know what's wrong, but my wings seem to be in poor condition," Carla muttered, straining her back. "I can't summon them."
"Me too," Happy said, trying to fly but only managing a pitiful hop. "I'm out of Aera... I feel so heavy."
"It's not just your wings," Ren said, observing the environment. "Do you guys feel it? The emptiness."
Natsu frowned, looking at his hands. "Now that you mention it... I feel kinda... empty. Like I'm hungry, but not in my stomach."
Just then, the ground trembled.
Boom! Boom!
A shadow fell over them. From the dense thicket of weird, spiraling trees, a gigantic monster leaped out. It looked like a frog, but it was the size of a house, with slimy green skin and massive, muscular legs.
"Ribbit-ROAR!"
"So big!!" Wendy shrieked.
The giant frog monster's eyes locked onto them as a potential snack. It raised a massive webbed hand and swatted at the group, the force of the swing creating a gust of wind.
"It's attacking us!"
"Alright! I'll handle this!" Natsu stepped forward, instinctively falling into his combat stance. He took a deep breath, preparing to roar.
"Fire Dragon's..."
He punched forward, expecting a torrent of flames to erupt.
Nothing happened.
Not a spark. Not a wisp of smoke. Just a normal punch hitting the air.
"Eh?" Natsu stared at his fist. "I can't use magic!!"
"What?!" Wendy panicked. She threw her hands out. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"
Only a gentle breeze blew from her mouth.
"Me too!! I can't use magic either!"
"Ren, help!"
"Brother Ren!"
Panic set in instantly. Without magic, they were just children and cats facing a behemoth. They immediately scrambled behind Ren, their instinct telling them he was the only safety left.
"Of course you can't," Ren said calmly, not even shifting his stance as the giant frog's hand descended. "Edolas has no atmospheric Ethernano. Your bodies can't replenish magic, and the magic inside you is currently suppressed by the world's laws."
Ren looked up at the descending claw. He didn't chant. He didn't adopt a stance. He simply raised his right hand, his fingers straightened like a knife.
He swung his hand.
Whoosh----!
It wasn't a spell. It was raw physical displacement of air, enhanced by the internal energy of his Reiryoku (Spiritual Pressure).
A visible, crescent-shaped slash of condensed air pressure erupted from Ren's palm. It tore through the space with a high-pitched shriek.
Pfft----!
The sound of flesh parting was wet and immediate.
The giant frog froze mid-air. A thin red line appeared down its center. Slowly, the two halves of the massive beast slid apart, crashing to the ground with a wet thud. Blue blood pooled onto the alien soil.
"Wow! So cool!!" Natsu's eyes sparkled, his fear forgotten.
"Ren, didn't you use Take Over Magic? And why can you use magic in this world?!" Happy asked, flying—no, jumping—around Ren's legs.
"This isn't magic in the traditional sense," Ren explained, wiping imaginary dust from his sleeve. "This is a basic application of internal energy and physical force. As for why I can use it... my power doesn't rely on the atmospheric Ethernano of Earthland."
Ren knew that this was due to the System's special properties. His abilities—the Shinigami powers, the Haki, the Breathing Techniques—were self-contained. He was a reactor of infinite energy, unaffected by the world's magical drought.
However, this incident also made Ren feel a flicker of lingering fear.
If it weren't for the System... he thought, looking at his hand. I might have ended up like everyone else in the Fairy Tail Guild—turned into a giant Lacrima crystal.
The Anima was terrifying. It was a magic that bypassed conventional defenses, targeting the very essence of magic itself. Even Gildarts Clive and Makarov Dreyar fell victim to it instantly.
"What do we do now? How can we save everyone if we can't use magic?" Natsu asked, his face falling as the reality of their situation set in. He clenched his powerless fists. "I'm useless like this!"
Wendy looked equally despondent. "I can't heal... I can't buff... I'm just a burden."
Without magic, a Mage was nothing more than a civilian in a world of monsters.
Ren looked at their dejected faces and patted Natsu and Wendy on the head.
"Don't worry," Ren said with a confident smirk. "You can leave the task of rescuing everyone to me. I have enough power for all of us."
"But the enemy has an army! I heard the Royal Army has 100,000 soldiers!" Wendy said, her voice trembling. "It's too much for just Brother Ren!"
"It's fine," Ren shrugged, continuing to walk towards the capital. "Numbers are irrelevant to me. 100,000 people? They are just ants."
He narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing through them.
"If necessary, I'll just give them a Thunder Lance (Lanza del Relámpago), and the Edolas Royal Capital will completely disappear from the map."
"Eeeeh----!!"
Everyone was startled by Ren's casual threat of mass destruction. They all remembered the Thunder Lance; it was the apocalyptic move Ren had used to vaporize the ancient super-weapon Nirvana.
If that move landed on the Edolas Royal Capital...
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