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On the Mage train heading to the Principality of Veronica.
Perhaps because her memories had finally returned, Éclair was no longer the expressionless girl she had been before. She watched Lucy and Gray fuss over a half-dead Natsu with a faint smile on her lips.
From riding a carriage out of Boundary Forest back to the city, to boarding the Mage train, it was safe to say Natsu had spent the entire day in transit, suffering every second of it.
Seeing Natsu looking like he was on his last breath, Erza couldn't bear it anymore and decided to put him out of his misery. Two resounding thuds later, Natsu crumpled into his seat and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
No matter how many times Noah witnessed it, he was always quietly amazed by Erza's "healing" method. Somehow, knocking someone unconscious actually worked.
Gray and Lucy hauled Natsu over to an empty row and laid him down. He had been making their lives miserable the entire journey, so at last, they had some peace.
Lucy settled into the seat beside Éclair and absentmindedly stroked Momon, though her words were directed at Noah. "Noah, something's wrong with my Celestial Spirit Magic. The Gate has turned completely black and won't open, and none of my Celestial Spirits are responding."
Noah already knew. The Shadow Eater soldiers stationed in the dark had witnessed the whole thing the night before. Even so, this wasn't a problem he could simply fix.
"Generally speaking, Celestial Spirit Magic fails for one of two reasons," he said. "The first is a problem on the mage's end: insufficient Magic Power, or failing to meet the conditions for a particular summon."
Mira glanced at Lucy. She looked perfectly fine, bright-eyed and energetic, with deep familiarity with every Celestial Spirit she held a contract with. Whatever was happening had nothing to do with Lucy herself.
Noah agreed. "I think the cause is the second reason. Something is wrong on the Celestial Spirits' side. It's similar to what happened with Loke when he stayed in the human world against the rules. While he remained here, his previous contractor Karen couldn't close the Gate at all."
Lucy's expression darkened with worry, because her situation was far worse than Karen's had been. Every single one of her Celestial Spirit keys was locked out.
"That leads me to believe there's a serious problem inside the Celestial Spirit World, serious enough that the Celestial Spirits can't respond to their contractors at all."
Noah stated his conclusion plainly, though he kept a grimmer possibility to himself: that whatever was happening in the Celestial Spirit World had already gone beyond the Celestial Spirit King's power to contain. Two days had passed without Lucy making any contact whatsoever. If the Celestial Spirit King could have resolved it, he would have done so long ago.
Noah's thoughts drifted briefly to Anna. She had planned to accompany Éclair to Boundary Forest, but Zeref had called her away at the last moment. Had they too noticed something was wrong?
Creeaaak! Screech!
A sharp, wrenching sound tore through the air and the carriage lurched violently. The sudden braking snapped Noah out of his thoughts.
Once the train steadied, Erza stepped out to speak to the conductor. When she returned, her expression was grim.
"The conductor says the Principality of Veronica has suddenly imposed a full national lockdown. No one from outside can enter, and the train will be turning back the way it came." She paused. "We're already close, maybe half an hour on foot. Do we press on, or pull back and reassess?"
The news was unexpected. The Principality of Veronica was days away from its anniversary celebration, and by long custom, they threw their gates open wide to welcome visitors from across the continent. A total lockdown was the complete opposite of everything they'd ever done.
Something was very wrong.
Noah didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached a hand out the window and let the wind carry outward toward Veronica, but the moment it crossed into the Principality's territory, it was snuffed out by a familiar power. The contact lasted only an instant, but it was enough. Through that brief thread of wind, Noah glimpsed the state of the country within.
What he saw was not a country. It was a scene of devastation.
"Quite the grand gesture," Noah murmured.
His voice was low, but both Mira and Erza caught the edge of anger beneath it. Before either of them could ask, he spoke again.
"Éclair, give me your half of the Phoenix Stone." He held out his hand. "After that, you and everyone else take the train back to the guild and wait for good news."
Éclair hesitated. But she saw the cold set of Noah's expression and the fury he wasn't bothering to hide, and she placed the Phoenix Stone into his palm without another word.
"I'll destroy the Phoenix," Noah said quietly. "You have my word."
He turned to Erza and Mira. "When you get back, have the Master contact the Magic Council. Tell them the Principality of Veronica is finished."
Erza and Mira went still. What exactly had Noah seen through that wind? Was he planning to level the entire Principality himself? Small as it was, Veronica was still a sovereign nation.
"Alright. I'm going."
Without another word of explanation, Noah said his goodbyes to his bewildered companions and dissolved into the wind beyond the train window.
Gray stared hard at Erza. "What do we do?"
With Noah gone, Erza was the one making decisions. She pressed her lips together and steadied herself. "We do what he said. We go back to the guild."
"But..."
"No. If Noah didn't want us with him, it means the enemies inside Veronica are powerful, powerful enough that he isn't confident he could protect us and fight at the same time."
Gray fell silent. There was nothing to argue with. If their strength had been sufficient, Noah wouldn't be walking into the unknown alone.
The Mage train's whistle blew, and the carriages began rolling back the way they had come.
By then, Noah had already arrived outside the walls of the Principality of Veronica.
Veronica was not a large country. The title "Principality" said as much; its total area was perhaps three or four times the size of Magnolia. Thick walls encircled it entirely, and as Noah approached the main gate, it swung open on its own, slow and deliberate, as if welcoming him inside.
Noah walked in without hesitation, fully aware it was a trap.
The city beyond the gates was silent and still. Crowds of people lined the streets, standing motionless, staring at nothing. Their bodies were gaunt, their faces drained of all color. From the crown of each person's head ran a thread, thinner than a strand of hair and barely visible, rising straight up into the sky, like strings attached to marionettes that had been bled dry.
Even braced for the worst, Noah's anger ignited the moment he saw it.
"We killed an entire country to draw you here, refined every last one of them into puppets." The voice that drifted down from the direction of Veronica Palace was warped and shrill, twisted beyond anything natural. "I knew you'd come the moment you laid eyes on this. Noah, how do you like our welcoming gift? Hee-hahahahaha!"
It was Soul Scale, one of the Eighteen Demon War Gods, the same one who had once possessed Zero and been blown to pieces by Noah's own hand.
Six enormous demon projections rose from the palace and spread across the sky above the city.
Noah looked up at them. And then, contrary to his usual composure, a slow, cold smile crossed his face.
"Soul Scale." His voice was quiet. "This time, you and your brothers had better make it worth my while."
"Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to take this all the way up to Black Abyss."