Chapter 57: FTRJ: Chapter 57

“One more thing. Although you can be released now, the Council will likely not interfere during your fight.

Knowing those old geezers, they’ll probably wait to see who wins before taking sides. And I can’t help you too obviously.”

Finn’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. “Ah, that’s perfect!”

Inside the Fairy Tail guild.

“I’m so furious! I never thought we’d retreat.”

“It’s so frustrating! We didn’t even get revenge for the guild and Levy. Damn it!” Someone angrily pounded on the table.

Listening to the commotion, Lucy, who had been rescued, sat quietly on a barrel, her head bowed low.

“Their headquarters is here. If we use long-range magic from the opposite mountain…” Macao studied the map, pondering tactics.

Gray noticed Lucy’s dejection and asked, “Lucy, don’t worry. It’s just a defeat; it doesn’t define Fairy Tail.”

Lucy remained silent for a moment before speaking. “It’s not worry, it’s…I’m just so sorry.”

Everyone was taken aback by her statement.

“Lucy, what are you apologizing for?” Natsu asked, confused.

Tears welled up in Lucy’s eyes. She whispered, “Actually, this whole thing is my fault.”

“Huh?” The guild members exchanged bewildered glances.

“My full name is Lucy Heartfilia. Phantom Lord’s Master told me when I was captured. They received a request from my father, Jude Heartfilia.”

“To bring me back. That’s what started this war,” Lucy confessed, breaking down.

The guild members were all stunned. “The incredibly wealthy Heartfilia family?” Mirajane said after a moment’s thought.

Lucy silently nodded.

After a long pause, Erza spoke. “That’s incredible. But Lucy, don’t blame yourself. Even without this, our relationship with Phantom Lord would have eventually led to this.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t blame yourself,” the others offered comfort.

Lucy covered her face, repeatedly saying sorry.

Elfman, arms crossed, said, “Don’t say that. Rich girls are easily controlled, but it’s a real man who protects a lady.” He flexed his muscles.

Happy looked at Lucy. “But I was shocked, Lucy. Why hide your identity?”

Lucy wiped her tears. “I didn’t mean to hide it. I ran away from home, so I didn’t want to mention it. I’ve been gone a year, but he didn’t care.”

“Now he suddenly wants me back. He did all this to get me back. It’s so awful!” Lucy suddenly shouted, releasing pent-up emotions.

“But to be fair, it’s all my fault for running away. I never imagined my selfishness would cause so much trouble for everyone in the guild.”

“I’m so sorry…” Lucy whispered.

“If I go back, things should be resolved,” Lucy said, her spirits low.

“Is that really true?” Erza walked over to Lucy. “To us, you’re not some rich girl.”

“Yeah, laughing, arguing, adventuring in this dirty bar—that’s the Lucy we know,” Natsu grinned.

“You said you wanted to stay here. Why go back to a place you don’t like?”

“You’re Fairy Tail’s Lucy. This is your home,” Erza said gently, stroking the blonde girl’s hair.

Lucy looked up at Erza, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Gray scratched the back of his head, saying helplessly, “Don’t cry. That’s not like you.”

Loki watched Lucy cry, silent.

Cana placed a tarot card on the table, already cluttered with many cards. She stared at the central card, deep in thought.

After a long moment, she threw all the cards onto the floor in frustration. “No, I can’t get a reading on Mystogan’s location.”

“Really? That’s a shame,” Mirajane said, turning to Cana.

“If they’re targeting Lucy, they’ll definitely come again, but we’re so short-handed now,” Cana said, grabbing a beer and taking a large gulp.

Mirajane turned to look at the several magic crystals in front of her, but none of them were currently lit up.

“The Master is seriously injured, Finn is still imprisoned by the Council, and Mystogan and Laxus are both missing,” Mirajane said, her heart filled with despair.

Bang! Mirajane smashed a non-responsive magic crystal. “If that’s the case, I’ll fight next time too.”

“Mira…wait, what are you saying?” Cana looked at Mirajane in concern.

Mirajane said loudly, “Even though I’m here, Lucy was still captured.” Tears streamed down her face as she deeply resented her own helplessness.

“No, you’re in no condition to fight, even if you are a former S-class mage,” Cana said, trying to restrain Mirajane.

Just then, not far from Magnolia, a streak of flame blazed past, leaving burning trails in its wake. A small lizard, looking around on the roadside, was incinerated before it even understood what was happening.

This was Finn, legally released from the Magic Council. Over the years, Finn had never given up on his martial arts training. With his current physical capabilities, if he ran at full speed, he could even surpass the speed of ordinary vehicles.

Combined with the flame propulsion technique he’d developed, mimicking a past life’s technology, Finn’s energy consumption was reduced, and his speed was further enhanced.

Suddenly, Finn sensed something and stopped, pulling out a pure black small box from behind him. This was a special communication device, extremely rare due to material limitations, but unlike ordinary magic crystals, it couldn’t project images.

This was from Mystogan, but even he didn’t have many of them, so only Finn, Laxus, and Mystogan possessed one within the entire Fairy Tail guild.

This device could only be used for simple voice communication, but it was immune to various forms of interference.

With a swipe of his finger, a somewhat arrogant male voice came from the device. “Finn, I heard you got locked up? Hahaha, you’re such a loser! You’re still in there, huh?”

Finn shook his head helplessly. “Laxus, when did you start caring about my whereabouts?”

“Do I need a reason? It’s easy to find out. I’m asking if you’re out,” Laxus retorted, pursing his lips.

“Thanks to you, I just got out,” Finn replied. He could keenly sense that Laxus on the other end seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he said, “I tell you what, you bunch of idiots, because of those trash, you ended up like this. You’re a disgrace.”

…

Finn narrowed his eyes. “I see. So you suddenly started caring about my whereabouts because you were worried that if I was still locked up, no one would be able to save Fairy Tail, right? And Mystogan must have told you about this.”

“Mystogan paying attention to my whereabouts makes sense.”

“Haha, are you kidding? Would I worry? That’s hilarious! I’m just here to see your pathetic state,” Laxus said, cutting off the communication.

Finn let out a long sigh of relief, then shouted, “Raijin-shū!!”

“Laxus.” Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow quickly appeared behind Laxus.

Laxus’s coat billowed in the wind, but his expression was ferocious. “Find all Phantom Lord branches. I’m going to turn those bastards into ashes!!” As he spoke, the sky was filled with thunder and lightning.

It was as if the sky itself was mirroring the fury of the man who commanded lightning below.

…

“Rumble rumble—” Suddenly, the guild began to tremble.

“What’s going on?” The guild members looked around at the falling rubble, puzzled.

“It’s outside!” Alzack ran in, gritting his teeth.

On the sea, a giant fortress towed the Phantom Lord guild, several times larger than Fairy Tail’s guild. The fortress had six enormous mechanical legs and was slowly moving across the ocean’s surface.

This was Phantom Lord’s six-legged mobile guild.

“What in the world is that thing?”

“This is so creepy, the whole guild is moving.”

“Unbelievable, they’re actually attacking like this…”

The Fairy Tail members were utterly shocked by the enormous behemoth on the sea.

“Magic Beam Cannon—Jupiter, prepare.” Jose’s voice echoed from the Phantom Lord guild. After undergoing a series of mechanical transformations, a massive cannon barrel extended from the sea-based guild, aimed directly at Fairy Tail.

At the tip of the cannon barrel, terrifying magical energy was accumulating.

“Destroy it.” With Jose’s order, Jupiter’s energy reached its peak.

Erza, without a moment to spare, turned and shouted, “Everyone, hit the ground!”

Then, she charged towards Jupiter.

“Erza, what are you doing?!” Mirajane shouted.

Erza didn’t respond as she ran. Her body glowed, and in the next instant, armor—a fusion of silver and dark blue—appeared on her body, with two separate Adamantine plates on each arm.

“I won’t let you destroy the guild!!” Erza stood alone against the enormous Magic Beam Cannon. Against such a colossal weapon, Erza’s figure seemed incredibly small, yet she remained steadfast, her resolute tone like a solemn oath.

“That’s Adamantine Armor.”

“Does she intend to block it with her body? Even with armor possessing incredibly high defense, it’s impossible!”

“Stop it, Erza, you’ll die!!”

But Erza only roared back, “Get down!!”

“Erza!!” Natsu desperately tried to stop her, but Gray held him back firmly.

“Natsu, we can only trust Erza now,” Gray said, though extremely reluctant.

Jupiter’s dark beam shot out. Erza gritted her teeth, combining the Adamantine plates on her arms into a massive shield. With a surge of her magic power, a colossal defensive magic circle, capable of enveloping the entire Fairy Tail guild, appeared in front of Erza.

Boom————

Jupiter’s beam slammed into the magic circle, creating a deafening roar that forced everyone to cover their ears.

Erza’s body began to recoil uncontrollably, her previously unyielding stance leaving deep gouges in the ground as she retreated.

Crack—crack— The sound of cracks forming in her shield echoed.

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