The northern frontier stretched like a fractured scar across Fiore, its plains carved by winds that hissed with unnatural force. As the morning advanced, clouds churned overhead in spirals that did not obey weather patterns—each rotation too deliberate, each lightning strike too rhythmically patterned. Mirajane and Juvia moved through the trembling landscape with urgent momentum, their footsteps crunching over frost-touched grass that had no business being there in late summer.
Mirajane walked at the advance, her combat form simmering beneath her serene smile. She carried herself with poised confidence, but even she felt the stinging bite of the air—mana static so dense it pricked like needles across her skin.
Juvia followed close, hands clasped nervously against her chest.
"Mirajane… this storm, Juvia has never felt something so unnatural. The mana is… angry."
Mirajane nodded once.
"It's sentient. Or close to it."
A low rumble rolled across the plains, but this was not thunder—it was a pulse. A heartbeat radiating through the sky.
System Notice:
Ambient Mana Distortion Detected.
Threat Level: Category A, escalating toward Category S.
Juvia swallowed, her eyes flickering as she remembered Thomas leaving with Lucy and Erza.
"Without Thomas… our resonance feels incomplete."
Mirajane gave her a knowing look, soft yet strong.
"That's why we have to stabilize ourselves. If he's fighting something worse in the east, we cannot afford to be weak here."
She placed a hand on Juvia's shoulder, squeezing gently.
Harem Resonance Stabilization +8
Emotional Bond Reinforced
Juvia breathed out, calmer, ready.
Ahead, the sky cracked open—literally. A fissure of light tore through the clouds, spilling down a column of spiraling mana that scorched the ground with each rotation.
Mirajane narrowed her eyes.
"The report mentioned destroyed settlements. This… is beyond what I imagined."
The two approached cautiously, boots sinking into soil turned to ash. Houses lay collapsed in splintered heaps. Entire areas were flattened as though a giant hand had swept them aside.
Juvia's voice trembled.
"No survivors?"
Mirajane closed her eyes briefly, sensing through the ambient flow.
"No. Whatever caused this didn't just destroy… It extracted."
"Extracted what?"
"Mana. Life force. Completely drained."
Suddenly—
A spike of lightning tore down in front of them, exploding the earth in a violent blast.
Juvia screamed as she jumped back.
"Mirajane!"
The storm above convulsed, twisting itself into a shape—an eye of swirling blue mana staring directly at them.
Mirajane gritted her teeth.
"It knows we're here."
The ground shook.
Figures began rising from the scorched terrain—humanoid outlines, flickering with unstable electricity, their bodies cracking with luminous veins of storm-light.
Juvia froze in horror.
"Storm constructs… dozens of them."
Mirajane stepped forward, her aura flaring as she shifted into Satan Soul: Halphas Mode, black wings unfurling with a roar of power.
"Then let's clear a path."
The constructs charged.
Mirajane launched first, her body a streak of blackened light as she pummeled the first construct with a downward strike that shattered its torso in a burst of crackling shards. A second construct swiped at her from the side, but she twisted midair, slamming a demonic kick that obliterated its head.
Juvia's body dissolved into water, sliding past bolts of lightning with fluid grace.
"Water Nebula!"
A spiraling vortex of water erupted around her, pulling three constructs inside before compressing with crushing force.
But the constructs reformed—pulling new electricity from the storm itself.
Mirajane snarled.
"They regenerate like Thomas's black-flame creatures. Someone is controlling this storm."
Juvia looked upward, her expression tightening.
"It isn't natural… It's being fed. Like the storm is alive."
Lightning rained down again—this time sharper, targeted.
Mirajane grabbed Juvia and rolled aside right as a bolt carved a crater where they had stood.
System Warning:
Mana Entity Emerging.
Designation: Stormheart Wraith.
Threat Level: S-
A shape descended from the swirling clouds—tall, elongated, composed entirely of storm energy. Its face was a mask of lightning, without features except two hollow arcs resembling eyes.
The Wraith spoke in a voice like fractured thunder.
"Anomalous resonance detected… You are connected to the anomaly in the east."
Mirajane stepped forward, wings crackling.
"We're Fairy Tail. Who are you?"
The Wraith tilted its head.
"I am a harbinger. A fragment of the Tempest Sovereign. And your anomaly—Thomas—is of interest to my master."
Juvia felt her blood run cold.
"They know Thomas… They're coordinated."
The Wraith pointed a finger.
"You will be harvested for data."
Lightning erupted from the sky, forming a cage around them.
Mirajane roared, demonic power surging.
"No one touches my guild!"
She launched at the Wraith, but it moved with impossible speed, appearing above her and smashing her into the ground with a bolt that struck like a hammer.
Juvia's eyes widened.
"Mirajane!"
The Wraith turned to Juvia calmly.
"Your emotional resonance is volatile. Easily manipulated."
It snapped its fingers.
A bolt of lightning speared downward—right toward her heart.
Juvia screamed—
but Mirajane intercepted, taking the blast full-force. Her body jerked violently, smoke curling from her skin as she collapsed to one knee.
"Juvia… don't break. Thomas needs you stable."
Harem Integrity Spike +14
Resonance Overdrive (unstable)
Juvia's tears evaporated as steam against the charged air. Her eyes sharpened.
"Juvia… will not fail Thomas. Juvia will not fail you."
She stood, water spiraling around her feet.
"Water Unbound Mode!"
The ground flooded—the entire battlefield turning into a shifting, churning ocean under her command. The storm constructs sputtered as their forms short-circuited.
Juvia spun, launching a tidal wave upward.
But the Wraith cut through it effortlessly, reforming behind her.
A hand made of lightning wrapped around her throat.
"Analyzing your limits."
Juvia struggled, electricity burning her skin.
"Let… go."
Mirajane rose despite the burns tearing across her arms.
"That's enough!"
She transformed again—Satan Soul: Sitri Mode, faster, sharper.
She streaked through the air, smashing into the Wraith with a demon-charged strike that tore half its torso apart. Lightning exploded outward as it reconstituted itself midair.
"You are impressive for organic matter. But you cannot kill a storm."
Mirajane wiped blood from her lip.
"Then we'll tear apart the sky if we must."
The Wraith raised its hands.
The storm roared, growing into a colossal vortex ready to swallow the entire region.
System Alert:
Catastrophic Storm Formation Detected.
Projected Casualties: Total.
Action Required: Immediate Disruption.
Mirajane and Juvia exchanged one final glance.
Juvia whispered:
"For Thomas."
Mirajane whispered:
"For Fairy Tail."
They charged together.
Juvia molded the battlefield water into a massive spear, launching it with explosive force.
Mirajane dove behind it, demonic aura covering her fist.
The Wraith extended its arms, preparing to disperse the attack—
—but Juvia shifted the water mid-flight, splitting it into dozens of tendrils that wrapped around the Wraith's limbs, forcing it still for one second.
One second was enough.
Mirajane struck with a blow that shook the plains, demonic force ripping the Wraith's core apart.
Lightning exploded outward.
The storm convulsed… ruptured… and collapsed with a deafening roar.
The sky cleared instantly.
Mirajane fell to one knee, chest heaving.
Juvia collapsed beside her, trembling.
But they were alive.
"We did it…" Juvia whispered.
Mirajane nodded, though her eyes narrowed with concern.
"Not fully. That thing was just a fragment. Someone powerful is orchestrating these anomalies… and they're connected to the black-flame faction."
Juvia hugged herself tightly.
"Thomas is in danger."
Mirajane's gaze hardened.
"Then we need to return. Immediately."
Both women stood, battered but resolute.
Because the storm had not been an attack.
It had been a test.
Just like Thomas's encounter with Serapha.
And the true enemy was finally moving all their pieces.