The square was filled with endlessly falling confetti, and the surrounding spectators all wore beaming smiles.
"There are so many people crowded here!"
"Seriously! Natsu, why did you suddenly stop?!"
Walking right behind him, Lucy bumped hard into Natsu's back.
She rubbed her sore nose while complaining, but she soon stopped whining as a massive, blue Magic Crystal bound by numerous ropes came into view.
This Magic Crystal was easily over ten meters tall.
In front of the enormous crystal stood dozens of fully armed royal guards.
"A Magic Crystal... Could this be..." Lucy's pupils suddenly shrank in horror.
"This has to be the guild members," Raizel nodded grimly.
"And this seems to be only a part of it. There are clear cutting marks visible on the surface," Carla observed carefully.
"Huh? Not all of them are here?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
The expressions of Natsu, Kagura, Erza, and the others formed a sharp, bitter contrast with the cheering residents of the Edolas capital.
While the residents were practically buzzing with excitement, Natsu, Kagura, and Erza looked completely grave.
"It's alright. As long as their total magical power isn't exhausted, they'll be fine," Raizel said, patting their shoulders to comfort them.
"Moreover, this piece was just cut out and hasn't been used yet," Gray nodded in agreement.
...
On the newly built platform up ahead, King Faust slowly stepped forward holding a magic staff.
He raised both hands high, and the residents below cheered enthusiastically.
"Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!!!"
As Faust lowered his hands, the loud shouts below gradually quieted down.
"Citizens of Edolas! Our sacred Edolas Kingdom has already produced ten years' worth of magical power through Anima!"
"How the hell dare he claim it was 'produced' when it was clearly stolen from our world!"
Even Happy's usually good temper couldn't handle this bullshit, and he cursed under his breath.
"Calm down, tomcat," Raizel whispered.
"Let us sing together, laugh together! Share this boundless joy!"
"Wooooo!!!"
"All citizens of Edolas have the right to share this magical power! And only we, the citizens of Edolas, are the sacred people who can continue into the future! No one can take magical power from our country!"
"Wooooo!!!"
"What an arrogant prick..." Raizel muttered quietly, though fortunately, his voice was drowned out by the crowd's deafening cheers.
"And I promise right here and now that we will obtain even more magical power!" Faust yelled.
"Edolas! Edolas!" the crowd chanted back.
"Hold back for now. Let's find a place to stay first," Raizel said, firmly pressing down on Natsu's shoulder.
Since not all the guild members were here, doing something rash would totally screw up their plans.
Natsu trembled all over, vibrating with extreme anger.
Erza wasn't doing much better, honestly, but fortunately, Kagura was holding her hand tight to keep her grounded.
"I have some ideas. Let's discuss them after we find a safe place," Carla chimed in.
After arriving at a local inn, Carla kept busy writing and drawing out a map.
Everyone sat around quietly, waiting for her explanation.
"Screw this, I'm going to find a way to infiltrate the castle!" Natsu yelled, completely out of patience.
"Please be patient and wait just a little longer," Carla scolded, looking up from her drawing.
"Why the hell do we have to wait?"
"Because without a proper battle plan, we won't be able to restore everyone back to normal."
Natsu grumbled, having no retort for that logic.
"Everyone's been turned into a giant Magic Crystal! Shouldn't we hurry up and change them back?!"
Raizel raised a finger. "First, when Mystogan reverses Anima, all the magical power will return to normal, leave Edolas, and go right back to our world. Secondly, just like Mystogan said, Dragon Slayer Magic can restore our members."
"But is his method actually reliable? Just using Dragon Slayer Magic to strike the crystals?" Lucy asked.
"And we don't even know where he went! What about the rest of the Magic Crystals?"
Raizel shook his head. "I don't know all the details, but he's definitely somewhere in this royal capital too."
Erza followed up immediately, "Even so, we can't just sit around here waiting like idiots. We have to at least try something."
"We'll just have to ask the king directly," Carla said, her pen never stopping its strokes.
"He wouldn't just tell us, would he?" Lucy asked.
"Then let's just beat it out of the bastard!" Natsu growled.
"Are you even sure the king knows how to restore everyone?" Lucy asked suddenly, nervously running her hands through her hair.
"Wait, Gemini! If we can just get close to the king, we can have Gemini copy him and read his thoughts!"
"The real problem is figuring out how to get close to him."
"Could we teleport in?" Erza asked, looking directly at Raizel.
Flying in was obviously out of the question—it was way too conspicuous.
"Teleportation could work, but we absolutely can't guarantee the patrolling guards won't detect us," Raizel explained.
Teleportation produces flashes of light and magical power fluctuations, which are especially obvious when more people are involved.
"There actually is a way to get close to the king." Carla held up her completed drawing for everyone to see.
"This used to be a secret escape route from the castle. It connects from the tunnels outside the city all the way to directly beneath the castle," Carla explained, pointing at two specific locations on her map.
"That's amazing! How did you even know about that?" Wendy looked at Carla in complete surprise.
"Information, of course! It sometimes comes to me in fragmented visions," Carla said, tapping her head.
"Ever since we arrived in Edolas, geographic information seems to have been gradually feeding into my mind."
"I don't feel anything at all..." Happy said dejectedly, sadly hanging his head.
"Anyway, if we can infiltrate the castle through those tunnels, we should be able to manage something," Lucy said, standing up with renewed resolve.
"Hell yeah! Let's hurry up and restore everyone back to normal!" Natsu jumped up excitedly.
"Yeah!" Wendy cheered.
"Aye sir!" Happy responded enthusiastically.
"Wait a moment," Carla interrupted from her spot on the table.
"What is it this time?!!" Natsu whined.
"We'll depart after nightfall. For now, we need to rest," Carla instructed. "Especially you, Raizel. Using Teleportation Magic must have burned through a lot of your magical power."
"I'm actually totally fine, don't worry about me," Raizel brushed it off.
Truthfully, the ethernano in the air here were incredibly scarce and fragmented... meaning Raizel couldn't just absorb them to recover his magical power.
He still had some magical herbs stashed in his backpack.
Though they tasted like absolute garbage, they were usually effective.
However, it seemed their potency was greatly reduced in this world.
Even though Raizel had stored them safely in an icebox, the magical herbs had already started to wilt.
...
Outskirts—
Carla carefully studied the map while running
"The entrance to the tunnel should be just up ahead."
Soon, the group arrived at a dark passage entrance.
"Is this it?" Wendy asked Carla, nervously looking down into the gloom.
"No mistake about it."
"Then let's go!"
"Natsu and I will lead the way up front. The rest of you follow close behind."
Raizel took out two torches and had Natsu light them up.
"I can just use my own flames for light," Natsu argued.
"You'd better save your magical flames for the fight," Raizel warned.
"Oh. Right." Natsu wisely chose to listen to Raizel.