Buzz!
In an instant, centered on Jose, countless pale green, intricate threads, visible only to him and composed of pure soul power, materialized like greedy vipers, swiftly shooting towards the 'villagers' still lost in confusion!
There were no earth-shattering explosions, no gruesome scenes of flesh and blood flying.
The thought-forms struck by the threads, like soap bubbles being popped or morning frost meeting the blazing sun, began to silently and rapidly dissipate from their feet upwards, turning into tiny dust particles that resembled dandelion seeds, carrying faint glimmers of thought.
At the moment of their collapse and disappearance, their faces still held the expressions of the previous second, whether working or conversing, their bodies maintaining their original postures, and then—they completely vanished into nothingness.
One after another, in wave after wave, the speed was breathtaking!
"No—! Uncle John! Aunt Susan! What... what's happening to you? Don't go!" Wendy witnessed this terrifying, silent, large-scale 'annihilation.' Her pure sapphire eyes were instantly filled with immense horror and incomprehension, tears uncontrollably streaming down as she cried out heartbrokenly.
She instinctively tried to rush over but was firmly blocked by Carla, who had reacted, using her body and wings.
"Don't go! Wendy! Those people... those people..." Carla's voice also trembled. Her Exceed bloodline instinctively made her feel a deeper terror. "They seem... to have never been... 'people'?!"
Her eyes saw the truth—the essence of those 'villagers.'
In just a few breaths, this once warm village was already unrecognizable.
Many houses became empty, and the streets grew deserted.
The once vibrant and lively atmosphere was completely gone, leaving only cold stillness and the countless, slowly dissipating specks of thought-light dancing in the air, like a beautiful and tragic firefly funeral.
Jose withdrew his hand with satisfaction, his gaze once again fixed on the sole blue-haired girl and the strange winged white cat beneath the Moonlight Tree.
"Physical beings? A human little girl and a... rare species?" He observed Wendy with interest. Her pure life force and fragile magic appeared like exquisite playthings in his eyes. "So... the one who created and maintained such a vast group of thought-forms... is that you, old man?"
His gaze shifted to Robinl, filled with cold scrutiny and the inquisitive desire of a predator spotting its prey.
Wendy, her face covered in tears, clung to Carla, looking at her closest and most dependent grandfather with fear and bewilderment: "Grandpa... them... Uncle John and them... why did this happen? What does Carla mean by... 'not people'?!"
Robinl looked at Wendy's tear-stained, helpless little face, then at the dust-like specks of light scattered on the ground, and let out a long, heavy sigh.
That sigh contained four centuries of vicissitudes, endless love, and deep guilt.
He knew that this moment could no longer be concealed.
"Wendy... my dear child..." Robinl's voice was incredibly hoarse, filled with sorrow and tenderness. He tremblingly reached out his hand, seemingly wanting to wipe away Wendy's tears, but then stopped in mid-air. "Forgive Grandpa, all these years... I've been lying to you..."
He looked at Wendy, slowly, word by word, unraveling the beautiful lie woven just for her: "This guild, Cait Shelter, everything here, from the moment you appeared outside the valley seven years ago and I found you... has never truly existed..."
"Except for you and me... and Carla... everyone here... all the buildings... all the laughter... were all thought-forms created by Grandpa with his remaining magic... for you..."
Wendy's body trembled violently, her small face instantly drained of color, her eyes wide with disbelief: "No... Grandpa, what are you saying? Everyone clearly..."
"So you wouldn't be lonely... to give you a home where you could grow up... a place with companions and elders..." Robinl's voice was low and firm, interrupting her. "Four hundred years ago... Grandpa made a big mistake... exhausting his life's work to create a magical artifact that should not exist in this world—'Nirvana'..."
This name struck Jose's mind like a bolt of lightning!
His eyes, which had been full of mockery, suddenly narrowed, bursting with terrifying brilliance! Nirvana?!
This old man... he was the legendary creator of Nirvana?!
"...After its creation, Grandpa's life also reached its end. Before dying, intense obsession and unwillingness... allowed Grandpa's thought-form to persist..." Robinl ignored Jose's strange reaction, focusing only on Wendy, recounting this truth that spanned four centuries. "Seven years ago, when you, a lonely and helpless child, arrived here... Grandpa's last remaining magic transformed into this village, into these thought-forms... to accompany you as you grew up..."
Wendy was utterly stunned.
A massive wave of information crashed through the dam of her understanding like a tsunami.
Her grandfather, who had taken her in, wasn't a person?
Her caring neighbors and friends weren't people?
Even this home that held all her childhood memories... was fake?
Her world, at this moment, completely collapsed. She looked helplessly at Carla, realizing Carla was already in tears, holding her tightly, completely enveloping her with her wings.
"Enough! A touching deathbed confession!" Jose could no longer hold back, interrupting this saccharine display that he found utterly sickening.
He had confirmed Robinl's identity!
The thought-form of Nirvana's creator!
This was an unexpected windfall for the Ten Demon Generals, who were about to fully control Nirvana!
If they could obtain core control information or residual imprints of 'Nirvana' from this old man's thought-form... their plan would be greatly enhanced!
As for that little girl and that little beast, they were merely annoying dust!
"Old man, your secret still has value! But..." Jose grinned menacingly, suddenly raising his right hand, pointing it at Wendy and Robinl. A swirling mass of energy, as black as ink and emitting a terrifying suction force, condensed in his palm.
"Soul Annihilation Burst!"
He wanted to devour Robinl's thought-form core and extract the information!
As for the little girl, he'd just erase her in passing!
The black energy ball, like a man-eating black hole, roared towards them with suffocating dead silence!
"Wendy—!!" Robinl's eyes erupted with an unprecedented, resolute light, burning the last trace of his life's essence!
He fiercely pushed Wendy and Carla behind him!
"Cat Mage's... Protection!!!"
Robinl used the last of his power as a top Mage (though only a thought-form)!
Not an attack, but a defense!
A pure and sacred emerald light barrier, thousands of times larger than before, containing all the thoughts and reluctance accumulated over his four hundred years, instantly erupted around him!
This was not his magic!
He had already exhausted it!
This was the most fundamental trace of 'power' deep within his soul, preserved solely to protect Wendy!
It was the core of his thought-form's existence!
Boom—!!!
The pitch-black energy ball violently struck the emerald light barrier, emitting a deafening roar!
Destructive death magic frantically tore at the pure light barrier. The barrier trembled violently, and Robinl's body swayed intensely under the impact, becoming even more transparent, as if he would completely dissipate in the next second!
"Grandpa!!!" Wendy cried out heartbrokenly.
"Go... go quickly!!" Robinl's voice became ethereal amidst the massive energy clash. He took one last deep look at Wendy, his wise and ancient eyes filled with love, pride, and an unshakeable sadness and encouragement. He used his last strength to roar:
"Child... you must live... strongly!"
"With Carla... together... be well..."
"Promise Grandpa... to remember to eat well... and sleep on time..."
"Grow up... happily... and make true friends..."
"Don't be afraid... you are much stronger... than you imagine..."
There were no earth-shattering instructions, only extremely trivial admonitions, yet they were a thousand times heavier than any grand pronouncement!
Buzz—!!!
Under Jose's violent attack, the emerald light barrier finally buckled, completely shattering into countless emerald light specks that danced in the air, like a grand and mournful rain of blessings!
And at the moment the light barrier shattered, a teleportation magic, constructed from Robinl's burning essence of existence, had already completed!
A pillar of emerald-green light, extremely gentle yet containing vast magic power, suddenly enveloped Wendy and Carla, who were protected at the center of the broken light barrier!
"Spatial... Transfer!!"
Jose raged: "Trying to run?!"
His other hand once again condensed even more terrifying dark magic, but—it was too late!
Within the light pillar, in Wendy's tear-blurred final vision, she saw her Grandpa Robinl, illuminated by the myriad emerald light rain, a satisfied and peaceful smile on his face, looking at her with infinite affection, his lips moving silently, seemingly saying "Goodbye" or perhaps "I love you."
Then, his already transparent and fragile body, like the most exquisite glazed glass, silently shattered completely under the lingering aftermath of Jose's magic, transforming into light specks even purer and brighter than all the thought-form villagers, completely merging into the night sky of this valley he had protected for seven years, never to be seen again... "No—Grandpa—!!!" Wendy's heartbroken cries were completely drowned out by the roar of the teleportation light pillar.
The emerald-green light pillar shot into the sky, piercing through the barrier of space with astonishing speed that even Jose couldn't stop, carrying a weeping girl and a sorrowful Exceed kitten, disappearing into the vast night.
The protective magic Robinl had burned everything to cast before completely dissipating was not merely a teleportation.
He was a Grand Mage who had created legendary magic like Nirvana, possessing a profound understanding of good and evil forces.
Robinl used his four centuries of life experience to communicate with the purest pulse of 'goodwill' and 'bonds' between heaven and earth.
In his perception, in that distant southeastern direction, in a place called "Fairy Tail," existed the most fervent, most concentrated, and purest light of goodwill in this era, on this continent!
Like the warmest lighthouse in the dark night!
That was the last, safest haven he could find for Wendy!
"Goodbye... my child..." This was his soul's final whisper.
The valley was utterly silent.
Only Jose Porla's furious magical pressure, like a storm, swept through the empty and silent remnants of Cait Shelter.
He clenched his fists, his face ashen.
"Fairy... Tail!!!"
The residual fluctuations of that teleportation power, like a marker, clearly pointed him in the direction!
The targets, after all, had converged!
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