After forcibly summoning Exodia by burning his life force, Chase's consciousness had fallen into silence.
He didn't know what had happened afterwards. He didn't know if his comrades had made it back safely. He didn't even know if he was dead or alive.
Had he miraculously survived?
Vaguely, Chase sensed the flow of cool, gentle air around him.
That wind was warm and full of life. Like dry earth receiving rain, his consciousness began to awaken. His senses grew clearer.
Even his battered body, drained of magic power, was rapidly recovering. The tearing pain that had wracked his body vanished without a trace.
Chase moved his head. He felt like he was resting on something warm, not particularly soft, but quite comfortable.
No. Wait. What had happened to his comrades after that?!
Chase suddenly snapped awake. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a massive shadow covering more than half of the bright, clear sky.
Even after all that, they still couldn't do anything about those damn gods?!
Almost instinctively, every muscle in Chase's body tensed, ready for battle. He sat up abruptly from the comfortable thing he'd been lying on.
Then, with a crisp THUD, the sound of a hard head hitting something solid echoed through the dense vegetation.
"Ow, ow, ow." Chase clutched his head, wincing. Then he paused. "Wait... why does this familiar collision feel so familiar?"
"Chase, you're awake?" A voice, barely containing its joy, reached his ears.
Looking up, Erza was sitting under a tree in her standard armor, in a kneeling posture. Her fair, flawless thighs, beneath her light blue short skirt, glowed in the sunlight filtering through the trees.
On her well-toned skin, a clear pillow mark was visible.
So the comfortable thing he'd been lying on was Erza's lap pillow?
And that massive shadow covering half the sky... was Erza's—
Seeing Chase staring at her, Erza's face turned bright red. She frantically waved her hands in explanation. "I-I-I-I didn't mean to monopolize Chase! I-I-I just thought this might help you wake up faster! Wendy said your condition was good!"
"Yes, that's right! Th-th-that's all it was!!"
Seeing her flustered, embarrassed state, Chase's tense nerves completely relaxed.
Without overly heavy expressions or reactions, it meant the others were probably fine.
After confirming this, he began to survey his surroundings.
A primeval forest of lush green, a babbling brook, magical beasts lurking in the depths, waiting to strike...
Everything was very familiar!
Chase frowned slightly, looking at Erza for confirmation.
"Ah~ The sky is so blue, the wind is so cool~ Chase, have you eaten dinner yet?"
Erza was apparently overheating. She had begun to ramble incoherently.
Hey, hey. It was just a lap pillow. Was it really that big of a deal?
What happened to your Fairy Queen composure?
Chase couldn't help but launch an inner Lucy-style rant.
But then again, Erza did seem to be like this around people she liked. And that person was him.
So, it was fine.
Actually, even if Erza had gone into a "non-communicative" frozen state, he could probably figure out where they were.
The Fairy Tail emblem on his right arm was glowing faintly. An endless stream of magic power was converging from all directions, nourishing his body, which should have been riddled with holes.
The only place with this kind of wonderful effect was Tenrou Island.
Or, more precisely, Tenrou Island before the Tenrou Tree had fallen!
And this was probably the fundamental reason he had survived after burning his life force. He hadn't used Monster Reborn.
The situation had been far too urgent. Just summoning Exodia had taken everything he had. There was no strength left to activate that card.
Even if he had, it probably wouldn't have been very effective against Ankhseram. In fact, it might have had the opposite effect.
Being targeted by that thing was bad news, though it seemed he had already caught its attention.
But compared to Exodia, "toying with life" would obviously be a much greater temptation for Ankhseram!
So, how had the Tenrou Tree, which had completely collapsed after exhausting its energy, inexplicably returned to normal?
Just as Chase was trying to make sense of the situation, the nearby bushes suddenly rustled. A figure burst out.
Chase instinctively slid a card between his fingers. After recognizing the person, he quickly put it away.
THUD.
The figure crashed heavily into his arms. White hair swayed gently in the breeze, bringing a faint, pleasant scent.
The girl didn't speak. She just buried her face deep in Chase's chest, her hands gripping the fabric at his waist tightly.
"Mira, you're safe too. Thank goodness," Chase said softly.
The words seemed to touch a fragile nerve in Mira. The usually calm girl suddenly became emotional. She raised her little fists and frantically pounded on Chase's chest.
"You idiot!!"
"Chase is the impulsive one! Chase is the one who throws his life away! I'm the one who should be worried and concerned!!"
"Chase... please... don't do something so stupid ever again..."
Her pounding grew slower. Her tearful voice grew weaker.
In the end, Mira was sobbing uncontrollably.
Under those circumstances, it was the only way to repel Ankhseram and protect everyone.
Chase wanted to explain that, but feeling the girl's body trembling with fear in his arms, the words wouldn't come out.
He held Mira tighter, comforting her.
"That Chase was very cool... but I also... hated it very much."
Erza had somehow recovered. She leaned weakly against the tree trunk, her eyes downcast, her right hand gripping her left arm tightly.
She remembered waking up and seeing Chase lying beside her, covered in blood.
The pain and despair from that visual impact had been even stronger than Acnologia's roar and the descent of the five gods. It was as if the entire world had collapsed!
Like Mira, she absolutely never wanted to experience that again. Never!
"Sorry. I made you worry."
Chase couldn't think of better words than an apology.
"Definitely having a leg—oh, no, definitely having two legs~ (with a rolled tongue)!"
Happy's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the somewhat heavy atmosphere.
Then, familiar, gossip-hungry faces popped out of the bushes one after another. The old man Makarov, at the lead, even had melon seed crumbs at the corner of his mouth.
They had come back with Mira and had tacitly hidden themselves.
"Hugging Mira-nee but not Erza... that's just terrible, Chase-nii~" Lucy said with a mischievous grin.
She had thought she'd take this chance to tease Chase, as a little payback for not valuing his own life.
But the card nerd didn't play by the rules. He reached out his free arm and pulled the stunned Erza into his embrace.
"What about now?" Chase, holding two of Fairy Tail's most beautiful S-Class women, smiled back.
"Hey, Chase! What are you doing?! L-let me go right now!" Erza turned into a steamer again.
"Oh my. If Erza doesn't want to, I won't hold back~" Mira, having regained her mischievous nature, held Chase even tighter.
"Y-y-you! Damn it! I won't lose!"
Erza threw caution to the wind. She leaned forward and headbutted Chase in the chest.
The heavy impact nearly made the newly healed Chase spit out blood.
Having been force-fed dog food, the corner of Lucy's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
She had miscalculated. She'd forgotten this adopted brother had skin thicker than anyone!
"S-so bold, Chase-nii..." Wendy watched, blushing.
"Gray-sama! Juvia wants a love hug too~"
"Stay away from me, you idiot!"
"Hey, hey, Carla! I want one too!"
"What do you want, you damn tomcat?! Go find Lily if you're in heat!"
Lily: "???"
***
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