"Natsu? Natsu! Where are you?"
"It's... so scary..."
"Cana, don't let go of my hand!"
"Big sister, Lisanna, don't be afraid! I, I'll protect you!"
In the pitch-black darkness, no one could see anything, yet they all guessed what was about to happen next.
Despair, deep to the bone, engulfed them like surging waves. They could only instinctively call out each other's names, clinging tightly to each other's trembling bodies.
BOOM!
Just as the giant hand of death was about to fall, a dark golden light suddenly bloomed like the sun, dispelling the surrounding darkness and illuminating faces filled with terror.
"Chase, your magic power..." Mira froze, staring blankly at the figure walking toward firmly the abyss of darkness.
Erza noticed the five cards clenched in Chase's hand. She instantly realized what was happening and screamed in horror. "Wait, Chase! Didn't you say you couldn't summon it right now?!"
"If there's a will, nothing is impossible."
As he stepped forward, Chase's body began to show signs of collapse. Vast amounts of magic power spurted from his torn, bleeding flesh.
"You fool! What are you doing?! Stop right now!!" Makarov's eyes went wide. He angrily shouted.
He could see at a glance that Chase, already at his limit, was burning his own life!
Chase didn't respond. He stopped walking and closed his eyes, trying to maintain a clear consciousness to control the increasingly violent life force magic power within him.
From the conversation between Ankhseram and the other gods, he had gleaned two crucial pieces of information.
First, due to the constraints of the rules, their true bodies couldn't leave the God Realm to descend to Earthland. They were mere projections.
Second, the space here had reached its limit. Even they didn't dare to casually strike at each other.
Based on these two points, a way to break the deadlock emerged. Launch an attack of an equivalent level to forcibly shatter the delicate balance between them!
Chase didn't know what would happen next. But this was the only hope of repelling the five gods and protecting all his comrades.
As long as there was hope, he would hold onto it tightly!
Thinking this, Chase opened his eyes. Extremely bright dark golden light replaced his clear pupils.
"Like I said, old man. I absolutely will bring everyone safely back to the guild."
"Don't, Chase!!"
Amidst Mira and Erza's heart-wrenching cries, Chase raised his trembling arm, clutching the five cards, and traced a streak of light through the air.
"Unseal the Five Sacred Bodies bound in the stone tablets. Grant me the power to protect!"
"SUMMON: EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE!!!"
HUM, HUM, HUM, HUM, HUM.
The five cards flew to five points on Tenrou Island, transforming into five red magical arrays engraved with sealing runes.
Within the arrays, five ancient stone tablets appeared simultaneously. They were the Left Arm of the Forbidden One, the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, the Left Leg of the Forbidden One, the Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and Exodia the Forbidden One!
The tablets connected to each other, forming a gigantic five-star pattern across Tenrou Island.
A blood-red pillar of light tore a hole through the boundless darkness, reaching Ankhseram's sky-covering hand of death.
Deep within the pillar of light, amidst the crisp sound of chains shattering inch by inch, a massive, dark golden figure slowly appeared, radiating an ancient and mysterious, heavy aura!
"What is this?!" The five gods were all stunned. For the first time, their calm, arrogant emotions showed obvious fluctuations.
"Not a god, yet it makes me feel a long-unfelt tremor? Wonderful... WONDERFUL!!"
Ankhseram was even more excited. He exploded even stronger divine power at any cost, reinforcing his pitch-black giant hand, then slammed it down!
At the same time, the endless inferno accumulated in Exodia's palm had also reached its saturated critical point.
"Demon God Flame Cannon!!"
A pillar of energy, dozens of meters in diameter, shot skyward. Though it bore the name "Demon God," its light was concentrated with hope and radiance.
Wherever the pillar passed, the darkness melted and retreated like snow meeting boiling oil!
BOOM!!!
The two forces collided midair. Time seemed to freeze for an instant. Then, a shockwave, visible to the naked eye, erupted from the point of impact, sweeping across the entire sky!
The pitch-black giant hand began to crack. Dazzling white light gushed from the fissures, rapidly spreading like wounds opening on a dark body.
Ankhseram, now interested, wanted to increase his power. But as Chase had expected, the already shattered space couldn't withstand this level of collision.
CRACK, CRACK.
Like frozen lightning, dense spatial fractures and time gaps spread from the point of impact in all directions.
From a distance, the scene was even more terrifying than the apocalypse!
The demon god's light ultimately pierced through Ankhseram's projection, and the other four gods were also annihilated along with it.
"Heh. I see. So this world has produced something this interesting..."
"You will come to the God Realm, won't you? Until then, I'll be waiting with anticipation—"
"What a shame I can't descend again for a while. Remember to come find me the moment you arrive in the God Realm. I am Aither, the God of Sky!"
At the moment of their disappearance, whether directed at Exodia, the absent Slifer, or Chase, the five gods left behind excited telepathic messages.
It seemed they were truly just that lonely.
As the five gods faded, the time gaps and spatial fractures finally reached their limit. They intertwined, collided, and then exploded with a thunderous roar.
The resulting effect was a burst of white light, similar to but far more powerful than the Anima phenomenon, engulfing the shattered sky in extreme blankness, drowning out all sound!
Unknown time later.
The sound of waves returned. Moonlight scattered across the sea, creating a shimmering radiance.
A cold wind blew over the now-ruined Tenrou Island, bringing with it a deathly silence.
The island was empty.
The next day.
Lahar and Mest truthfully reported everything that had happened on Tenrou Island to the Magic Council. Ultear immediately relayed the news to Fairy Tail.
Upon hearing the news, Macao and the others were extremely anxious. With the help of the Heartfilia Konzern, Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, and other allies, they conducted a three-day, three-night search and investigation of Tenrou Island and its surrounding areas. But they found nothing.
Not only were there no surviving members, but there wasn't even a single body they had dreaded finding!
Grief and despair hung over the usually lively guild like a lingering dark cloud.
Macao and Wakaba stopped their usual banter. They would sit silently at the bar for an entire day. Jet and Droy spent their days crying over photos of Levy.
Nab, who usually agonized over which request to take, tried to numb himself with relentless work. Reedus silently painted pictures of the past.
Bisca and Alzack locked themselves in their rooms. Laki wiped the already spotless counter over and over again.
Until one day, an unexpected clap of thunder echoed across all of Magnolia.
***
->Support me with power stone
->for 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!