Chapter 210: It's Already Over
Whoosh!
The air itself seemed to scream as space distorted violently.
Ren hovered in mid-air, looking down at the Royal Plaza like a god passing judgment on mortals. His white hair danced in the turbulent wind generated by his own power, his blindfold removed to reveal the Six Eyes that saw the flow of every atom in the vicinity.
He raised his hands, his fingers dancing through complex seals with practiced ease.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A sphere of absolute attraction, a darker shade of azure than the sky, materialized behind Ren's left shoulder. It hummed with a terrifying, low-frequency vibration that rattled the teeth of everyone on the ground.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
A sphere of volatile repulsion, glowing like a miniature dying star, manifested behind his right shoulder. The heat radiating from it caused the air to shimmer and warp.
"Again?!"
"D-didn't His Majesty say he couldn't use it anymore?! Why can he still use magic of that magnitude?!"
The soldiers of the Royal Army, who had been momentarily emboldened by their King's commands, now looked up in sheer, unadulterated despair. They had just witnessed this man—no, this monster—obliterate the elite Legion Corps in the sky with a single attack. The aftermath of that strike had already decimated half the plaza.
Now, those twin spheres of destruction were aimed directly at them.
The pressure was suffocating. It wasn't just fear; it was a primal biological signal screaming at them that they were standing in the path of a natural disaster.
Run? Where could they run? The blast radius of his previous attack was larger than the city block. Escape was a fantasy.
"It's over..." a soldier whispered, dropping his Magic Spear. "We're all going to die."
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. He brought his hands together to merge the techniques.
"Die."
But just as the energy began to spike, a piercing cry cut through the roar of the wind.
"Ren!! Wait a minute!!"
Ren paused, the convergence of magic halting mid-flow. He tilted his head slightly, his Six Eyes tracking a rapidly approaching signature. A large, avian creature—a Leg-Racer—was diving from the clouds, carrying a cloaked figure on its back.
The figure leaped from the mount, landing gracefully on a piece of rubble between Ren and the army.
"Mystogan!"
Ren immediately recognized the unique magical signature. The tension in his shoulders relaxed slightly, though the Blue and Red spheres remained floating ominously at his sides, ready to be unleashed at a thought.
"Ren, stop! Please!" Mystogan shouted, his voice hoarse. He reached up and pulled the mask and scarf from his face, revealing the blue hair and red tattoo that the Earth Land mages knew so well.
"I've already sent the lacrima back to Earth Land through the Anima remnants! Everyone has returned to their original state. The mission is complete. Everything is over! There's no need to continue this slaughter!"
"Prince!!"
Panther Lily, the Exceed captain who had been watching the battle, gasped, his eyes widening. "It is truly him..."
"Prince?!"
Natsu, Lucy, and Gray, who were recovering on the sidelines, stared in shock.
"That face..." Natsu pointed, his jaw dropping. "It's Jellal! Why does the Prince of Edolas look exactly like Jellal?!"
"It's his Edolas counterpart," Gray realized, wiping blood from his forehead. "Mystogan... he was the Prince of this country all along?"
The revelation sent shockwaves through the gathered Fairy Tail members. Mystogan had always been the most enigmatic figure in the guild, a man who put everyone to sleep just to hand in a quest. To think his true identity was royalty from another dimension explained his secrecy.
"Your Highness the Prince!!"
"Didn't he go missing years ago?!"
"The Prince... he returned to save us?"
The Royal Army soldiers began to lower their weapons, confusion replacing their fear. The return of the lost heir was a miracle they hadn't expected.
Mystogan ignored the whispers. He looked up at Ren, his eyes pleading.
"Ren, I know this incident is the fault of the Edolas Kingdom. I know my father has committed unforgivable sins against our guild. But this is also my homeland. These are my people." Mystogan bowed his head deeply. "Please, for the sake of the years we spent as comrades in Fairy Tail, show mercy and end this battle!"
The battlefield fell silent. The wind whistled through the ruins.
Ren looked at Mystogan. He saw the desperation in the man's posture. Ren was arrogant, yes, and he had a ruthless streak a mile wide, but he wasn't a butcher of allies. Mystogan was Fairy Tail. That meant something.
"Prince..."
The soldiers felt a glimmer of hope. If the monster listened to the Prince, maybe they would survive to see tomorrow.
"End it?! Who said it's over?!"
A manic, booming voice shattered the fragile peace.
"You messed up my kingdom, destroyed my army, and stole my magic... and you think you can just leave?!"
From the cockpit of the Dragon Knight Dorma Anim, King Faust roared. His voice was amplified by the machine, sounding metallic and unhinged.
"Your Majesty...?" The soldiers looked at their King in disbelief.
"Father..." Mystogan turned to the mechanical beast, pain etched on his face. "You don't know how powerful Ren is. What you see now... this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is just one of the forms Ren possesses. If he truly wanted to, he could have erased the Royal Capital from the map ten minutes ago."
Mystogan stepped forward, spreading his arms. "Stop this madness! We have lost!"
"Shut up! I am not your father right now! I am the King of Edolas!" Faust screamed, manipulating the controls of his mech. "Don't think I don't know, Jellal! It was you! You were the one who secretly closed the Anima portals in Earth Land all these years! You are the reason our world is starving for magic!"
The mechanical dragon stomped its foot, crushing the stone beneath it.
"If I kill you and these intruders here, no one will be left to seal the Anima! Then, I can create giant lacrima crystals again! I will harvest all the magic I want! Edolas will have an endless supply of power, and I will be its eternal God!"
"Your Majesty... that's insanity!" a soldier cried out.
"Stubborn old fool," Ren sighed, the sound amplified by his magic so everyone could hear. He looked down at Mystogan. "Mystogan, you heard him. It's not that I don't want to stop. It's that he has a death wish."
Ren's fingers twitched, the Red sphere pulsating dangerously. "He attacked my guild. He turned my friends into decorations. I don't let people like that walk away."
"Ren, please!" Mystogan stepped between Ren and the King. "There have already been enormous sacrifices. Look at this city! Look at the fear!"
He gestured to the trembling soldiers. "If they surrender... if they no longer participate in the battle, can you please spare them? Just them. Leave the King to me."
Ren stared at Mystogan for a long moment. The Blue and Red spheres spun slower.
"Fine," Ren said coolly. "If they drop their weapons and leave, I won't waste my energy on ants. I'll give them that much face, solely because you asked."
Mystogan's heart leaped with relief. He immediately turned to the troops, his voice projecting with royal authority.
"Everyone! I, Jellal, Prince of Edolas, command you! Lay down your weapons! The battle is over! Ren has agreed to a ceasefire if you stand down!"
Clatter! Clang!
It started with one, then a dozen, then hundreds. Soldiers dropped their spears and swords, falling to their knees or backing away. They had no desire to fight a god.
"You traitors! Cowards!" Faust shrieked from inside the Dorma Anim. "I, as the King of Edolas, command you to pick up your weapons and fight! Die for your King! Die for magic!"
Faust saw his army crumbling, his authority evaporating. It humiliated him. He didn't care if they died; he needed meat shields to distract Ren.
"This..."
Some soldiers hesitated. The King's command was absolute law in Edolas.
"Don't listen to him!" Mystogan shouted, cutting through their hesitation. "Continuing to fight means death! Meaningless death! Life only happens once! Cherish it!"
The soldiers wavered, caught between duty and survival.
Ren clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You're too soft, Mystogan. That's not how you clear a room."
Ren stepped forward in the air, lowering his elevation until he was hovering just above the soldiers' heads. He didn't shout. He didn't scream. He simply let his murderous intent—the aura of a predator at the top of the food chain—wash over them.
"Hey."
Ren's voice was cold, devoid of any warmth.
"If you don't want to die right now... get lost."
It wasn't a suggestion. It was a statement of fact. Stay, and you become dust.
That broke them.
"Run! Run for your lives!!"
"He's going to kill us all!"
The hesitation vanished. The Royal Army broke rank completely, turning and fleeing in a chaotic stampede. They dropped their weapons, their helmets, their dignity—anything to run faster away from the white-haired demon.
Within seconds, the plaza was empty of troops.
Faust watched the rout, his face twisting into a mask of pure rage inside the cockpit.
"You useless lot!! How dare you?! I am the King! I am the law!"
He slammed his fist onto the console. "Fine! It doesn't matter! It's all the same with or without you useless trash! I have the ultimate weapon! I will eliminate all of you myself!"
Faust keyed a sequence into the control board. The Dorma Anim groaned, its mechanical plates shifting and interlocking.
"Code: Kuroten! Activate!"
"Black Sky Mode: Engage."
The silver armor of the Dragon Knight instantly darkened, turning a pitch black that seemed to swallow the light around it. The air grew heavy as the machine began to actively suck in the ambient Ethernano of the atmosphere.
"Kid!" Faust laughed maniacally. "The Dorma Anim Black Sky is a special anti-magic armor! It increases the opponent's magic consumption by tenfold while continuously absorbing the world's magic power to repair itself! No matter how much magic you have, you will run dry before you scratch this paint!"
The mechanical dragon opened its maw. A terrifying amount of purple energy gathered in its throat.
"Die!!!"
BOOM!
A massive beam of concentrated magic energy erupted from the mouth of the Dorma Anim. It was a blast capable of vaporizing a mountain.
Ren didn't dodge. He stood his ground, raising his left hand.
"Feed," Ren whispered.
He pushed the Blue Sphere forward. The singularity of attraction met the energy beam head-on.
Zwoom!
Instead of an explosion, there was a warping sound. The massive energy beam twisted, spiraling like water down a drain, and was sucked entirely into the infinite void of the Blue Sphere. In an instant, the attack vanished without a trace.
"What?!"
Faust's eyes bulged. "It... it swallowed the breath attack?!"
"Here, have something back," Ren said casually.
He pointed a finger at the cockpit. The Crimson Sphere—the technique of repulsion—shot forward like a bullet.
"Dragon Rider: Diffusion Cannon!!"
Faust reacted on instinct, firing a barrage of hundreds of anti-magic missiles from the dragon's shoulders.
Boom boom boom boom boom!!
Explosions flowered in the air, creating a wall of fire and shrapnel.
But it was useless.
WHOOSH!
The Crimson Sphere tore through the explosions, scattering the missiles like leaves in a hurricane. It was an unstoppable force.
BOOM—!!!
The sphere struck the ground where the Dorma Anim had been standing a fraction of a second prior, blasting a crater so deep it exposed the bedrock of the floating island.
Faust had engaged the thrusters at the last second, leaping high into the air to avoid direct impact. The shockwave still rattled the mech, warning lights flashing.
"Wahahahahaha!! Missed! You missed!" Faust cackled, sweat pouring down his face. "You can't hit me! In the sky, the Dragon Knight is king!"
Suddenly!
A shadow fell over the cockpit.
Ren's voice rang out, not from below, but from directly above Faust's head. He had teleported instantly.
"Idiot. It's already over."
Ren looked down at the mechanical dragon with eyes that held no pity. He raised his right hand. He crossed his middle finger over his index finger—a gesture of absolute dominion.
The air froze. Color seemed to drain from the world.
"Domain Expansion!"
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