Inside the royal palace, a little girl wearing a hat ran into the hall.
She was Coco, the assistant to the Kingdom Army's Chief of Staff, Byro.
She finally came to a stop, saluted, and said.
"Your Majesty! The plan is proceeding exactly as scheduled. In four days, we will be able to extract magical power from that enormous Magic Crystal! We've finally succeeded!"
"It's not enough..." an elderly voice came from the throne.
"What?" Coco tilted her head, looking puzzled. "Your Majesty, what did you just say?"
"I said that alone is not enough."
"With all due respect, Your Majesty! That Magic Crystal contains the magical power of an entire city from Earth Land! It's enough to supply all the magical power our country needs for the next ten years!"
"We are the great Kingdom of Edolas. How can we allow magical power to be limited?"
"Oh?" Coco, who had been excitedly running around the hall just moments before, stopped completely upon hearing this.
Faust, the King of Edolas, slowly rose from his throne and raised his hands high.
"Give me... give me more magic power! What I seek is... eternity! Magical power that will never run dry!"
...
In the Desert.
"Alternate world version of me, are you really sure about this?" Edolas 'Lucy' asked the Earth Land person who looked exactly like her.
"Of course, we could never abandon our comrades," Earth Land Lucy gave a confident thumbs up.
"If you plan to fight the Kingdom Army, we won't be participating. The royal capital is in that direction."
Standing in front of the Guild entrance, Edolas Lucy pointed toward the royal capital.
"If you walk to the royal capital, it'll take about five days at the fastest."
"There's a city ahead called Louen City. If you need supplies along the way, you can stock up there. Continue east to Sycca City, cross a mountain, and keep going east to reach the royal capital."
"That's quite a long journey," Raizel said while looking closely at the map.
"Alright, we'll be taking our leave then." Raizel directly took the lead and started walking, with the other members quickly following behind him.
...
"Why don't we just teleport there?" Natsu asked boredly.
"Wait a moment, aren't you going to come out?" Raizel, Erza, and Kagura had noticed someone following them from the very beginning.
"So you noticed after all." Edolas Lucy wasn't embarrassed and simply walked out from her hiding spot.
"I just wanted to guide you to the royal capital..." Even Edolas Lucy blushed slightly while telling this lie.
"Don't worry. As you can see, all of us can use magic. And I promise you that by the time we leave, you won't have to hide anymore. Look forward to your new life."
"What exactly are you planning to do? You're up against an entire kingdom," Edolas Lucy couldn't help but ask.
"If you want, I can take you along to see for yourself."
"It would take five or six days just to walk there! Plus having to hide all the time - I'm not doing it!"
"Who said it would take five or six days? We'll get there quickly."
"How is that possible! Even flying wouldn't be that fast!" Edolas Lucy still didn't believe it at all.
"What if we use teleportation?"
"Teleportation... teleportation???" Edolas Lucy's voice shot up an octave in pure shock.
"Of course, I know Teleportation Magic."
"The magical power required for teleportation is immense..." Edolas Lucy still stubbornly insisted.
"Why not come with us and see for yourself? Protecting one person like you is well within our capabilities."
Only this alternate Edolas Lucy had an awakened consciousness of the rebellion here.
Taking her to witness major events would help her mobilize the local guild members later.
"Fine! I'll go! I want to see this for myself!" This 'Lucy' was clearly not one to admit defeat easily.
"Then come over here." 'Lucy' chose to stand beside Natsu, flanking him on one side while Earth Land Lucy stood on the other.
"Stand steady," Raizel reminded 'Lucy', while the others were already accustomed to this process.
A white magic circle glowed brightly beneath the members.
Amidst a dazzling flash of light, 'Lucy' instinctively covered her eyes.
Slowly opening her eyes, 'Lucy' couldn't believe what she saw.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again.
"It's really... the royal capital... such tremendous magic power..."
At that moment, Edolas Lucy suddenly began to trust this group.
The group had arrived at a mountain near the royal capital.
Raizel had chosen this location specifically because it was uninhabited, preventing their sudden appearance from drawing any unwanted attention.
"So this is the royal capital! It's huge!" Wendy marveled at the dense clusters of buildings below and the towering structure at the center.
"Excellent!" Natsu stepped forward to the cliff edge, clenching his fists.
"Is the Magic Crystal containing everyone somewhere here?" Lucy also gazed at the royal capital as she spoke.
"Most likely. Let's go!" Erza was already growing impatient.
"Wait a moment. We should disguise ourselves first, especially Happy and Carla. As Exceeds, they stand out too much." Raizel quickly stopped Erza.
"Actually, you need to hide too. Since your Edolas counterpart is supposedly the combat squad captain, many people will probably recognize you."
"Wear this, and remember to speak less later." Raizel handed Erza a hooded cloak.
"Understood." Erza nodded and dutifully put it on.
"Alright, let's move out!"
...
Edolas Royal Capital
Throughout the capital's streets and alleys, merchants and residents chatted and laughed while children played, indistinguishable from any Earth Land city.
"What kind of scene is this?"
"This is really surprising. Wasn't this supposed to be some kind of dictatorship?" Wendy expressed her astonishment.
"I thought this would be a lifeless city." Lucy nodded in agreement.
"And we got into the city so easily." Natsu wandered casually with his hands crossed behind his head.
"Right, they didn't even check Erza..." Raizel was also surprised by how lax the kingdom's guards were, letting even the hooded Erza through so easily.
"Doesn't this feel like an amusement park to you?"
"Perhaps all the stolen magical power is concentrated in this city. To win public support, they deliberately built it into this entertainment capital."
Natsu had somehow acquired a small wooden cart from some child...
"What a selfish king..."
"Hey! Look over there! So many people gathered!" Wendy, walking at the back, noticed a crowd forming a semicircle.
"Could there be some kind of parade or event?"
"Let's go, we'll find out once we get there."
As Raizel was speaking, Natsu and Happy had already run over...
"Aye sir!"
"Honestly... he runs off the moment you take your eyes off him..." Kagura couldn't help but facepalm.
"You two idiots! We're not here for sightseeing!" Carla shouted angrily.
"Never mind, we were planning to go check it out anyway." Raizel shook his head helplessly.
Natsu quickly squeezed close to the crowd, continuously jumping up trying to see.
"What is everyone looking at???"
---------
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