Inside the Mercurius Palace.
After listening to Ishu’s explanation, everyone present was stunned.
Noel clenched his fists, his expression grim as he said, "You mean... the Demon God’s Soul is going to attack this country? That means... Lia will be coming too, won’t she?"
Happy clutched his head with both paws, exclaiming, "This is really bad!"
"Just one Demon God’s Soul is already troublesome enough, and now there’s also an army of thousands of demons created by Zeref?" Mira furrowed her brows, murmuring to herself.
"The Demon God’s Soul... So that guy will show up too?" Natsu slightly raised an eyebrow, and an image of that monster-like figure with white hair surfaced in his mind.
He clenched his teeth. "That white-haired guy... This time, I’m definitely going to defeat him."
"This is turning into a huge mess..."
"In any case, we can’t just sit around and wait. We need to start preparing for battle!"
Natsu muttered, grabbing a random spear and suit of armor from who knows where, ready to rush out—only for Noel to grab him by the arm.
"Calm down, Natsu," Noel said helplessly.
Meanwhile, Carla fell into silence, recalling the vision she had seen not long ago.
(This explains part of it—the collapsing castle... and Noel with his broken wings. But even so, there are still things I can’t connect—the radiant path leading to the sky, the world of light and darkness... and Noel, softly chanting something. But why? In that situation, why is Noel chanting?)
"I originally planned to arrive earlier, but... I accidentally exposed my whereabouts midway and ended up being hunted by the Demon God’s Soul. It took me a lot of time to shake them off, and I only managed to reach here on July 4th. Cough, cough..."
Halfway through his sentence, Ishu suddenly covered his mouth and began coughing violently, dark red blood seeping through his fingers.
"Ishu, what’s wrong?!"
"You’re coughing up blood! Are you okay?!"
"Wendy! Hurry up and heal him!"
Seeing Ishu in such a state, everyone immediately panicked.
But just as Wendy was about to step forward to heal him, Ishu raised his hand, signaling her to stop.
"No need." Ishu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said softly, "This isn’t something that Sky Dragon Slayer Magic can heal."
After speaking, Ishu lifted his cloak, revealing his abdomen.
Everyone could clearly see that his skin had turned almost entirely black, with dense dark magic gathering around his stomach, corroding his wound into a gruesome sight—just looking at it was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.
"What is this?!"
"This is the wound I sustained while being hunted by the Second Throne, Tsukiyo. Wendy, you know about this, right? Right now, just suppressing the erosion of the dark magic is already taking all my strength." Ishu forced a bitter smile and glanced at Noel, who was about to help with light magic, before adding, "Besides, even if I could be healed, I wouldn’t allow it right now. If Tsukiyo’s dark magic is expelled, she will immediately sense my location. Until the Day of Fate arrives, I will not accept any treatment."
.................
On a mountain peak not far from Fiore.
"Not necessarily true?"
"Are you saying that man named Ishu might be lying?"
Ultear and Meredy looked at Jellal in confusion, but Jellal had no time to explain his thoughts to them.
Instead, he kept analyzing all the information he had gathered over this period.
"The Demon God’s Soul, Zeref’s army of demons, ’Eclipse,’ magic power... There are some contradictions between these things," Jellal muttered gravely to himself.
"Is that man named Ishu lying? Or... has he already been controlled by the Demon God’s Soul?"
.................
Crocus Street.
Gajeel looked at Rogue with an irritated expression, his voice low and restrained.
"Say that again, you bastard. Who isn’t strong enough?"
Kneeling on the ground, Rogue panted heavily, not even lifting his head.
"I think I’m finally starting to understand... why you joined Fairy Tail."
"What are you trying to say?"
"No wonder you don’t remember... Back then, I was just a bald little brat—an ordinary kid who admired your guild, Phantom Lord," Rogue said, his gaze fixed on the ground, his tone filled with nostalgia.
"I hoped that when I grew up, I could join Phantom Lord. But... it was defeated in the war against Fairy Tail and disbanded. Not only that, but you even joined that damned Fairy Tail. I couldn’t believe it. Of all places, you chose to join the guild that destroyed Phantom Lord... But... there must have been a reason. There must be a reason why you went to Fairy Tail."
Gajeel remained silent, staring at Rogue without saying a word.
"I finally understand now..." Rogue’s lips curled into a faint smile as he spoke softly.
"Comrades... right? Saber Tooth never had that concept. We were the guild master’s army, and orders had to be obeyed absolutely. Victory was everything. What is a guild? What are comrades? Why have I been fighting all this time? Now I finally understand why you all are so strong. We can’t win against you."
"Stand up."
Gajeel, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
Rogue looked up in confusion, staring at Gajeel’s stern face.
"You don’t understand a damn thing," Gajeel said coldly.
Then, with a smirk, he added, "That little frog over there—isn’t it your comrade?"
"Frog?" Rogue muttered in confusion.
Then, as he glanced at Frosch standing nearby, realization dawned on him.
He immediately stood up and vehemently protested, "Frosch is a cat!"
"Technically speaking, an Exceed, right?"
"Yeah, Frosch is my comrade," Rogue sighed slightly.
"I can’t compare to you after all."
(Rogue!)
At that moment, a phantom-like voice suddenly echoed in Rogue’s ears, making him freeze.
He jerked his head around in shock.
(Look ahead! The enemy is still standing right in front of you!)
The voice rang out again. Rogue frantically glanced around, his expression unsettled.
"Where are you?!"
"Huh? What’s wrong with you?" Gajeel asked, frowning at Rogue’s strange behavior.
(Rogue, kill Gajeel. That is your destiny!)
"Where are you?! Where?!"
(You idiot, I am your shadow. I am lending you my power—kill Gajeel.)
Rogue turned his head and looked down at his shadow cast upon the ground.
That eerie shadow seemed to curl into a cold, sinister smile, sending a chilling sensation down his spine.
--------------
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