Mystogan brought Wendy and Carla before everyone. No longer needing to hide his identity, he finally took off those strange robes and changed into a normal set of black clothes.
"Master, and everyone, I am sorry for being late."
Mystogan's voice was heavy. There was a performance by a grand circus in the neighboring town today, so he had taken Wendy and Carla there to play. He hadn't expected to sense the appearance of 'Anima' halfway through.
But the activation speed of 'Anima' this time was more than a level higher than the 'Anima' instances Mystogan had prevented in the past.
"Mystogan! Just what is going on?!"
Gildarts was still unclear about Mystogan's origins. Thinking of his daughter's safety, he asked urgently, "Where is the guild? Where has everyone gone?"
"They were swallowed by 'Anima'."
The white cat Carla explained in Mystogan's stead, "This is a Super Sub-space Magic used by the Edolas Kingdom to plunder magic power. It can suck targets into another world, which is 'Edolas'."
"Most Mages possess magic power stronger than ordinary people, so they are identified by 'Anima' as targets for plundering. Fairy Tail has many powerful Mages, so..."
"So they targeted our guild!"
Natsu clenched his fists. "The people over there are too overbearing! When I get the chance, I'm definitely going to send them flying!"
Carla looked solemn. "Let's talk about sending them flying later. 'Anima' converts the plundered magic power into magic crystals."
Wendy hugged Carla, her voice trembling slightly. "Doesn't that mean everyone from the guild will turn into magic crystals and then be used as consumables by the people of that world..."
Mystogan gently patted Wendy's small head. "The conversion effect of 'Anima' cannot work on Dragon Slayer Mages. Gajeel is also among the companions who were plundered."
Natsu slapped his palms together in realization. "Oh right, if it's Gajeel, he'll definitely cause a huge scene in Edolas."
Hope looked at Mystogan, who was examining the residual magic. Seeing his tightly furrowed brow, he couldn't help but ask, "Did you find a problem? We need to head to your world as soon as possible."
"This 'Anima' is very strange."
Mystogan's expression was grave. "Generally speaking, in order to plunder more magic power at once, the range of 'Anima' is set to be very large—for example, covering the entire Magnolia."
Hearing him say this, Hope also noticed something was wrong.
This time, 'Anima' had only locked onto Fairy Tail, and the targeting was incredibly precise. The surrounding buildings, environment, and citizens weren't affected in the slightest.
To control 'Anima' so accurately would only consume more magic power, which wasn't worth it for the magic-poor world of Edolas.
Yet, that was exactly what the other side had done.
"There's something fishy about this."
Hope looked up at Mystogan, who was also lost in thought. "You should know 'Anima' too, right? Can you teleport us over?"
Mystogan took out his magic wand. "I can only draw the Magic Circle for this spell, but the magic power required to activate it will depend on you all."
Hope nodded. The magic power to activate the spell shouldn't be a problem. Moreover, with Natsu, a Fire Dragon Slayer Mage, present, Hope could feed him magical flames so he could continuously output magic power.
With Lucy's assistance, Mystogan quickly inscribed the 'Anima' Magic Circle on the ground. Hope made some minor modifications to disable the function of this magic that turns 'magic power' into magic crystals.
The magic power needed to activate 'Anima' wasn't as much as Hope had imagined; Natsu handled it alone.
As the Magic Circle activated, dark clouds gathered in the Sky over Magnolia, and a magic vortex appeared once again, except this time it rose from the ground into the Sky.
Mystogan entered the Magic Circle to set the coordinates, but was surprised to find that he actually couldn't lock onto any specific location in the world of Edolas.
This meant he not only couldn't accurately teleport everyone to their plundered companions, but he also couldn't guarantee they would still be together after teleporting to Edolas.
Just what happened in Edolas... Regarding that nominal homeland, Mystogan actually felt a bit of worry at this moment.
Hope patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I've already placed magic markers on everyone. If we really do get separated after arriving in Edolas, I can find you all quickly."
With Hope's assurance, Mystogan finally stopped hesitating. He took out a bottle of magic medicine and distributed it to everyone. "This is the magic medicine 'X-Ball' that I asked Granny Polyushka to make. It will allow you to naturally recover magic power after using magic in Edolas."
Hope looked at the small pill distributed to his hand and couldn't help but recall the first time he met Mystogan at Polyushka's place.
It turned out he had been preparing all along.
Everyone swallowed the magic medicine without hesitation; it actually had a sweet and sour taste.
Amidst a burst of soaring light, everyone's figures vanished like a moon's reflection in water.
——
——
Hope stepped onto a strange land.
The Sky was an eerie purple, and in the distance floated islands of various sizes, each with a vastly different ecological environment.
This was the world of Edolas, a world where the land was fragmented and composed of countless Sky islands.
Hope looked around and found himself alone.
It seemed everyone had been scattered and teleported across Edolas.
He immediately sensed the magic markers he had left on several companions.
Based on the directions of the markers, Hope quickly analyzed that Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla were together, while Makarov was with Gildarts and Mystogan.
Only Lucy was like him, having separated from the main group during the teleportation.
"You really are unlucky, Lucy."
Hope couldn't help but complain.
Among this group, Natsu had 'Dragon Force' and the 'second magic source,' so protecting Wendy and the two cats wouldn't be a problem.
Not to mention Makarov's trio.
Though he hoped that drunkard uncle wouldn't get confused again and accidentally tear down someone's territory... only Lucy, that unlucky one, although she had opened her second magic source, she was a Celestial Spirit Mage, and her combat power relied on her Celestial Spirits.
Hope wasn't sure if Celestial Spirits could respond to a Celestial Spirit Mage's summon in this world.
Then he should go find Lucy first.
Just as Hope was about to move, a well-equipped army descended from the Sky in vehicles resembling airships.
Under Hope's strange gaze, the army knelt before him in unison, and an officer spoke:
"Lord Hopeless, we have finally found you!"
"The magic power plundered from Aslant earlier wasn't all converted into magic crystals. An iron-like Mage is currently causing constant destruction in the Royal Capital."
An iron-like Mage? It should be Gajeel causing trouble.
Hope looked at the officer. "What did you just call me? Hopeless?"
The officer seemed to remember something and shuddered. He immediately lowered his head in fear, trembling so much he almost crawled on the ground, his voice full of terror.
"So... Sorry!"
"This subordinate should not have called you by your name... Please forgive me!"
"Despair Emperor!"
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"