nashuaworldcup Chapter 499 The Banquet
Chapter 499 The Banquet
Chapter 499 The Banquet
Chess, holding Aska high with an excited and joyful expression, began to wander around the banquet hall.
Perhaps because the host of the banquet, King Thomas of Ifiore, had not yet appeared, the mages from different guilds gathered in small groups, drinking and chatting, amidst the soothing and elegant music, creating a very relaxed atmosphere.
Because of the special relationship between Leila and Heartfilia, Princess Emerald took the initiative to talk to the two Lucys.
At this moment, the two Lucys, who had also changed into gorgeous dresses, whispered to each other, muttering to Chase's back, seemingly complaining about something.
Their flawless faces, adorned with light makeup, clashed sharply with their furtive expressions, making them appear incredibly shady.
One person is already the undisputed strongest tsukkomi mage in Fairy Tail, and when the two of them get together, their conversation is so intense that even Princess Emerald doesn't notice them approaching.
"Miss Lucy, what are you saying?" Emerald asked with a smile.
The two Lucys were startled, thinking that the dead card player had heard the news and sneaked over silently. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw who it was.
"Huh? Ah ha, no, nothing—" Lucy chuckled awkwardly and scratched her head.
For the sake of his own life, he would never tell the centipede Chess how many little Chess he would have in the future, not even if the other party was a princess!
"Princess Emerald looks so beautiful today!" Future Lucy's eyes lit up, and she praised her without reservation.
Although that was indeed the thought at first glance, the attempt to change the subject still felt too abrupt.
However, Emerald didn't seem to care much. Instead, she carefully examined the two Lucys and then sincerely said, "You two are the same."
She perfectly inherited Teacher Leila's beauty and temperament.
Considering it was inappropriate for the occasion, she didn't say the last sentence.
After the Eclipse Gate incident, the stubborn and headstrong princess of the kingdom seems to have matured quite a bit.
"I saw your battle at the Dragon King Festival. I never imagined that Celestial Spirit Mages actually possessed the power to fight dragons."
Recalling Lucy's battle with Kirkonis, Emerald couldn't help but show admiration. "If it were me, I'd probably be so scared I wouldn't even be able to hold the keys properly."
This is the truth.
Even with a shared screen, one could feel the oppressive aura emanating from that giant emerald shadow. As a fellow Celestial Spirit Mage, she admitted that she lacked Lucy's courage.
"Haha, that's not true at all. It's all thanks to Chesgo's amplification magic!" Lucy said, feigning modesty.
That being said, her upright posture revealed the blonde girl's pride and smugness: Hmph, I'm now a "master" who has fought dragons!
In contrast, Lucy's future expression seemed somewhat awkward: compared to her counterpart from another world, Wadashi was indeed far too weak—
"Once I get back to Magnolia, I'm going to train like crazy. I need to master the Celestial Armor completely and try to get into S-rank this year!" she secretly decided.
Influenced by herself, the usually laid-back Salty Fish suddenly became full of fighting spirit when it came to becoming stronger.
The infatuated woman next door was equally full of fighting spirit.
"After last night's battle, Juvia has ushered in a new era!" Juvia announced loudly.
"That's right! Now it's the more advanced 2.0 version!" Juvia chimed in from the future.
The next second, the two simultaneously spread their arms wide, eyes sparkling with hearts, and locked onto their target, unleashing a lightning-fast tiger pounce: "Gray-sama~ I love you~~"
"The new version is even more perverted and disgusting!!" X2
The two Grays, who were rarely dressed, reacted instinctively, dodging to the side with even faster movements.
thump.
The two Juvias missed their target and fell flat on their faces.
"Just give up already, you bastard! I've evolved to 2.0 now, and I'll refuse on the spot if I don't like it!" Future Gray shouted.
Gray glanced at himself, whose attitude was so resolute.
Due to Chase's appearance, under the subtle influence of the butterfly effect, he inexplicably chose to remain silent.
Thinking about it carefully, this guy doesn't seem so annoying after all.
"Ahhh! Whether it's Lord Gray making things difficult for Juvia or Lord Gray with his aloof expression, he's so handsome~"
Seeing Juvia get up and try to pounce on him again, Gray got goosebumps all over his body. He did the same thing as Future Gray, pressing down on that infatuated face.
Sure enough, Juvia isn't incapable of anything; it's definitely just a pointless illusion!
On the other side, Erza, who was hastily fleeing with Eclair, encountered the Mermaid Heel Mage led by Mirai Kagura.
"Erza, full of energy~!" Future Miliana spoke first, smiling happily, looking like she was in a good mood.
"Miliana, Kagura, and everyone at Mermaid Heel."
Erza coughed twice, the blush on her cheeks fading away in an instant, and she greeted the person opposite her with a serious expression.
"You shouldn't have any hidden injuries from the battle in the Grand Magic Games finals, right?" she asked, looking at Mirai Kagura in her formal attire.
The final demon fire cannon that decided the outcome was incredibly powerful, and she was also worried about Kagura's health, especially since she was immediately followed by a conflict with the dragons.
"No problem, compared to this—"
Mirai Kagura glanced sideways at Mirai Erza, who was happily eating strawberry cake not far away, and said in a deep voice, "Your brother over there, Simon, is he—really still alive?"
"Simon? Brother?" Erza frowned slightly, momentarily confused.
Before Chase initiated the "Dragon King Festival," she refrained from telling Miriam from the future world that "Simon" was still alive because she couldn't reveal the existence of Fairy Tail from another world.
The plot development on the last day of the Grand Magic Games deviated from the original work, leading her to have no idea that the Kagura in front of her was Simon's younger sister, and also the little girl from the same village that she had saved when she was a child during the invasion of the Black Magic Cult.
Clearly, all the intelligence that couldn't be revealed to the other party in time was filled in by Erza from the future, who arrived at the venue first.
"I see. No wonder I felt a strange sense of familiarity during the fight. I never imagined you were Simon's sister!"
After the explanation, Erza fully understood what had happened and excitedly grasped Mirai Kagura's hand, "It's so wonderful to see you become so strong!"
"Compared to you, I'm still far behind—" Mirai Kagura turned her head to the side shyly.
After being enlightened by Erza in the future, she has come to terms with things to some extent. Although it will take time before she can completely let go, she has not continued to be trapped in the vortex of revenge.
—It's enough to know that my brother Simon is still alive and well in another world!
"Don't belittle yourself. Since she's Simon's sister, she's my sister too."
Erza spoke gently, but her actions were swift and decisive. She raised her right arm and pulled Mirai Kagura into a tight embrace.
She could see the incredibly complex emotions beneath Mirai Kagura's forced composure. Neither comfort nor encouragement could compare to the sincerity of a simple hug.
Being hugged like this, as if she were a little girl, would have caused Kagura Mirai to struggle violently half an hour ago, because she has always been seen as a strong and reliable older sister figure at Mermaid Heel.
As for now—
She obediently rested her head against the soft hemisphere, quietly enjoying this second time from her "older sister".
The warmth.
Why the second time?
Because just now, Erza from the future did the exact same thing as Erza.
"As expected of Erza~" Future Milliana winked playfully.
Recalling Erza's actions just now, she leaned forward expectantly and asked, "Is she going to pull a cat plushie out of her chest next?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
Erza was stunned by this "god-like" prediction. As she released Mirai Kagura, she reached into her collar and pulled out a fluffy yellow plush toy. "Although it's not Happy or Charlene—"
"As expected!"
In the future, Miriamia was instantly drawn to it, grabbing the yellow plush toy and exclaiming, "Kitty~ So cute!"
Mengmeng (angry face): "I'm not a cat!!"
It's unclear how it, which should have been chasing after Eclair, managed to crawl into Erza's pectoral muscles.
"How could that be? That furry feeling is definitely real!"
Hearing its "explanation," Miriamia became even more excited and rubbed her cheek against Mengmeng.
Mengmeng: "————" Can I just kick this person away?!
He looked at Eclair with a questioning gaze, but unfortunately, Eclair was powerless to help at this moment.
"I noticed her a while ago, a beautiful girl I've always been with in the Fairy Tail faction but never actually seen before~"
"Since no counterparts have appeared, this elegant lady must be a member of the Fairy Tail guild over there, right?"
Against the shimmering backdrop, the three handsome men of the blue Pegasus set their sights on, cough cough, on Eclair, unleashing their masculine charm.
Akelia was quite helpless and gave the simplest response—only at this moment did she miss the old her when she could directly show her displeasure.
"Hey you lot, daring to harass our guild's Phoenix Witch, even if you're from a brother guild, I won't let you off easily!"
Kana, reeking of alcohol, came over to defuse the situation.
"How can it be considered harassment? This is just a friendly exchange," Saint Night Ivan argued.
"Wait, the Phoenix Priestess?"
Hibiki Retis rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought. "I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before—"
"Do you know the Phoenix Priestess?!" The usually indifferent Eclair suddenly became excited.
Arriving in the future world, seeing that her guildmates all have their own counterparts, she naturally can't help but care about herself in this world.
Has your memory fully returned? Are you still wandering around, shrouded in a haze? And—
Have you found the phoenix stone that represents the priestess's destiny?
Although her time with Fairy Tail was joyful, she never forgot her mission.
"Wait a moment, let me check."
Seeing the other party's intense emotions, Hibiki Retis immediately abandoned his frivolous attitude and waved his hand to create a magic circle of ancient texts in front of him.
As his fingers tapped rapidly, the golden symbols leaped and rearranged, quickly revealing information related to the Phoenix Witch.
"It's a rumor circulating in the Principality of Northern Lonica in eastern Fiore. It's said that this country, which has only been established for a little over four hundred years, was originally an ancient tribal village—"
This is what makes the Magic Ancient Scripture so extraordinary: despite its lackluster performance in combat, its intelligence-gathering ability is terrifying, capable of retrieving any desired knowledge from its knowledge base.
"Duke Krim of the Principality of North Lonica—"
Eclair memorized the information provided by the other party.
Chase, who happened to be passing by, witnessed this scene but did not join their conversation.
In terms of familiarity with Eclair, this transmigrator naturally knew far more information than the scattered fragments in the ancient documents.
Previously, there was no extra time or energy, and rashly targeting a duke of a principality with legitimate status would cause Fairy Tail a lot of trouble. But now it's different—his fists can convince many people of the truth!
Once we return to our original world, perhaps we can consider eliminating the "Phoenix" as a potential threat.
This legendary monster, which once caused immense disaster to the entire world, would make a decent gift: its soul captured and given to Mira, while its body used to forge armor for Erza.
Meanwhile, other areas of the banquet were also bustling with activity:
Gajeel wanted to take advantage of the atmosphere to go on stage and play a song, but was stopped by the two Levy's.
Wendy and Sherlia, the two pairs of sky sisters, kept tasting the desserts and happily exchanging their flavors, while the two Maviss followed behind them with longing eyes, drool dripping from their mouths;
The Thors on both sides were frantically pulling at the food recommended by Future Laxus, almost as if they wanted to split Future Laxus in two and divide it up.
Future Macao and Future Wakaba, along with their gang of lecherous old men, stared at all the beautiful women in the room, occasionally letting out lewd chuckles.
The relatively harmonious atmosphere did not last long. With the appearance of a girl with short white hair, the scene immediately became restless, and even somewhat tense.
It was Yukino Mirai in a light blue dress.
Due to her defeat in the Grand Magic Games, she was stripped of her crest and expelled from the guild. After the Dragon King Festival incident, she voluntarily resigned from her position as a sergeant, so she is now a free agent.
In order to win over this "fragrant" item, and even more so to give Yukino a sense of belonging, whom they believed would bring them misfortune, the mages of several guilds argued fiercely, each wanting to recruit her into their own guild.
The most emotional of them all was naturally Future Stinger, the current president of Sabertooth, who seemed ready to fight for his wife, cough cough, and his comrades.
The future Minerva, having returned to her true self, is ruthless and taciturn, immediately activating spatial magic and standing behind the future Yukino!
The scene, completely opposite to when she was expelled from the guild, instantly shattered Yukino's fragile psychological defenses.
The girl covered her mouth tightly, her eyes brimming with glistening tears.
Boom!!
The roar of the explosion eventually echoed through the banquet hall.
However, its source was not the opposing group, but rather—
Natsu and Future Natsu, who have completely disappeared!