Chapter 444: Ample Preparation
"Villains? Aren't there a bunch of people with perfectly suitable identities to play that role?" Noah said with a smile.
"You mean..." Lily looked at Noah.
Noah nodded. "Exactly, us. Don't you think we are perfectly suited for it?"
Noah smiled and pointed to himself, continuing, "Look, haven't we been fighting our way through here? A massive number of soldiers have seen us and know we are enemies of the King. Many of them also know exactly why we came here to fight them. Right now, for us to completely empty the magic of this world wouldn't seem like a strange thing to do at all.
"Furthermore, when the reversed Anima sends the magic to Earth Land, those of us who also possess magic within our bodies will be sent back to Earth Land just like the Exceeds.
"This way, we don't have to think about anyone needing to sacrifice themselves. All we have to do is put on a fight, pretend to be driven away, and simply leave this world."
"Is that so... You guys discussed this a long time ago, didn't you?" Lily asked after hearing this, finding no flaws in the logic.
"The general plan was discussed beforehand, whether it was reversing Anima or ending things with a clash between a hero and the villains. How exactly to execute it was something we discussed after Anima was used on us and we arrived in this world," Noah explained. "To better quell the chaos after the magic disappears, Mystogan has even secretly contacted some soldiers dissatisfied with the King's actions over the past few days and gained their support.
"The soldiers we defeated earlier were also gathered and transported to a specific location by me. Although they are injured, it isn't fatal. After some treatment and screening, they can resume their duties.
"Besides those soldiers, we also plan to use the power of the Fairy Tail of this world to help calm the chaos in Edolas as quickly as possible," Noah answered.
"The Fairy Tail of this world?" Lily asked, puzzled.
"That is right. Because everyone is dissatisfied with the King confiscating magic and preventing anyone outside the Royal Capital from using it, this guild has gained a lot of sympathy. As the only remaining mage guild fighting against the Kingdom, they have quite a bit of influence in places outside the capital.
"Many people support them, which is why they managed to survive under the Royal Army's pursuit for so long. If they help, the subsequent chaos can be calmed much faster. Plus, they are worthy of our trust, because we are all Fairy Tail, after all," Noah smiled.
Mystogan nodded beside him. He had already realized this when he contacted the Edolas Fairy Tail earlier. Although the members of the two Fairy Tails essentially had completely opposite personalities, the atmosphere and the spirit of the guild were exactly the same. Learning from Noah that the Edolas Fairy Tail had joined the battlefield to help made him feel even more reassured.
"In addition, we have prepared quite a few books and tools. Some of the books contain information on how to craft tools that do not require magic to function. There are also other books we selected that we deemed useful for a world without magic. The tools are machines that can operate without magic, which will help Edolas recover its production capabilities better after the magic vanishes," Noah continued.
"Most of these things were prepared by Noah. I didn't even realize there was so much to prepare until Noah brought it up," Mystogan added.
"Didn't you also investigate the residents' daily lives, the tools they use, the equipment needed for various industries, and other information yourself?" Noah looked at Mystogan.
"Without your help, even if I gathered the data, it would have been very difficult to buy enough of everything," Mystogan said earnestly.
"That was only possible thanks to the Heartfilia family's channels, allowing us to easily purchase everything." Noah shook his head and turned back to Lily. "That is roughly the extent of our preparations. Do you have any other questions?"
"I see. Since you have prepared so thoroughly, I have no objections. We will do as the Prince says." Lily was silent for a moment before speaking firmly.
"I see, that is good." Noah nodded, looked at Mystogan, and asked with a serious expression, "Let me confirm one last time. Are you absolutely certain you want to reverse Anima and send all the magic to Earth Land?"
Mystogan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes wide and looked seriously at Noah. "I am certain. Let us begin. Reverse Anima!"
"Then I will begin."
Noah turned back to the glowing sphere. Archive magic expanded beside him, and interface windows popped up one after another around him. Noah continuously typed on the floating keyboards, and magic circles unfolded around him. Massive amounts of magic power surged from his body into those magic circles.
"These screens are..." Lily looked at the interface windows appearing beside Noah, finding many of the images quite familiar.
"These are the floating islands," Mystogan explained.
"If we send all the magic of the Edolas world to Earth Land, what do you think will happen to these floating islands?" Noah asked without turning his head.
"They will... fall..." Cold sweat beaded on Lily's forehead.
"You are right. If the magic of this world disappears, these islands, which float in the sky by relying on magic, will fall. You can imagine what that scene would be like. Letting these islands freefall will only exacerbate the chaos and be extremely detrimental to the recovery of the entirety of Edolas after the magic is drained. That is another reason why I said Mystogan's previous plan was stupid. Wanting to make your world better is fine, but you always have to consider how to handle the aftermath. You cannot expect others to clean up your mess for you," Noah stated bluntly.
"Thank you, Noah," Mystogan said with utmost sincerity.
"We are comrades. If you need help, I will naturally be there." Noah smiled, his hands not stopping as he continuously typed on the keyboards, pouring an endless stream of magic into the surrounding magic circles.
At the same time, the screens displaying the floating islands lit up one by one.
"I ran around a lot these past few days, placing magic circles on these floating islands. Now, I am activating them remotely by feeding them magic power. The effect is to influence their trajectory as they fall, thereby determining exactly where they land. Furthermore, I have hidden the magic circles that appear during operation so that it won't look like they are being manipulated when they fall.
"Later, when people realize the falling islands didn't cause much damage, they won't suspect Mystogan premeditated it; they will just think it was a stroke of incredible good luck. The best outcome is that everyone believes it is because of Mystogan that they have such good luck, which will be highly beneficial for his future governance." Noah explained his reasoning to Lily as he worked.
Lily nodded in strong agreement. "You have thought this through very thoroughly. This is far better than the Prince's previous plan."
"Haha..." Mystogan laughed awkwardly.
"This seems to be the island with the Lacrima, right? Are you planning to send it straight back to Earth Land when you reverse Anima, so they can return to normal?" Lily noticed the image on one of the screens. It was the island where he and Gajeel had fought, the one housing the giant Lacrima.
"Oh, right, Lily, you still don't know, do you? That Lacrima wasn't formed by the residents of Magnolia and the Fairy Tail members. It was formed purely from Noah's magic power." Mystogan realized Lily didn't know the full story and explained it to him.
"What?! A Lacrima capable of providing Edolas with years of magic was entirely provided by one person!!!" Lily's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in utter disbelief. He trusted Mystogan and didn't doubt his words, but he simply couldn't believe such a colossal amount of magic could be provided by a single individual.
"I only managed it by constantly recovering. Asking me to output that much magic all at once is impossible." Noah shook his head and continued, "That Lacrima is actually helping me provide magic now, making things a lot easier for me. After all, once Anima is reversed, the magic circles on the floating islands will also have their magic absorbed. With the Lacrima's magic supporting them, it can offset some of the absorbed magic, allowing the magic circles' effects to last until the islands land. That way, I don't have to continuously output such a massive amount of magic myself."
Lily opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Based on Noah's words, he could actually accomplish all of this even without the Lacrima; the Lacrima merely made it easier. What kind of terrifying magic reserve was this? Lily found it completely unimaginable.
"Don't be too surprised. Spend more time with Noah, and you will slowly get used to it," Mystogan patted Lily's shoulder.
"A-Alright." Lily closed his gaping mouth and nodded slightly dazedly.
"Noah is an incredibly powerful mage even in Earth Land. Don't use him as a standard for others; you can consider him an absolute exception." Mystogan explained, afraid Lily might have some misunderstandings.
"Mhm." Lily nodded, indicating he understood. He calmed down a bit, naturally realizing that there couldn't be many people this ridiculously powerful.
Seeing Noah busy operating, the two stepped aside and spoke quietly. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, and with this chance to chat, they naturally made the most of it to share their experiences and feelings. After all, they would basically never see each other again after this.
"Alright, they are all activated." After operating for a while, Noah announced as all the screens showing the floating islands fully lit up.
"I leave it to you, Noah." Hearing Noah's words, Mystogan ended his conversation with Lily and spoke to Noah seriously.
"Leave it to me." Noah replied and began operating again.
Next, the spherical object in front of them began to glow brighter and brighter. Specks of magical light began to well up from the ground around them.
Soon, these specks of magic formed into visible streams of magic power, surging continuously upwards.
"Anima has been reversed. The magic is starting to pour into Earth Land," Noah said.
"This is fine. People fight because there is magic, so I will make magic disappear completely from this world. Through the reversed Anima, this world's magic will flow into Earth Land. In Earth Land, which is abundant in magic, this magic will immediately vaporize and become part of nature. For the sake of the new world, Edolas needs to be destroyed once," Mystogan looked up at the magic constantly welling up from the ground, speaking with deep emotion.
"Although Edolas' magic would eventually disappear anyway without special circumstances, and you have merely accelerated this process to its end... magic is only one of the reasons they fight. Humans fight for far more reasons than just that. You still have a lot of things to handle in the future. You need to take good care of yourself," Noah turned to Mystogan and spoke seriously.
If Mystogan didn't change his original intentions, the path he chose to walk next would be very difficult.
"I will keep that in mind." Mystogan nodded, then smiled. "After all, I am also a member of the guild; I carry the spirit of the guild as well. You scolded me quite a few times about the plan before; I won't make the same mistake again. While cherishing my own life, I will give it my all to solve the problems that arise and make Edolas a better place!"
"Exactly, that is how it should be!" Noah said happily.
"The floating islands have started to fall," Lily noted, looking at the surrounding screens where floating islands of various sizes began to tilt and slowly drop downwards.
"Yeah. Now I need to adjust their landing spots so they fall on empty ground and don't hurt anyone." Noah continuously typed on the keyboards in front of him, his magic power steadily pouring into the magic circles beside him.
At the same time, Lily saw on the Lacrima screen that another Noah had also sprung into action.
Numerous golden magic circles appeared around the Lacrima. The entire Lacrima lit up, beginning to endlessly channel magic power into those magic circles.
"That is Noah's Thought Projection. It is a type of clone, but their minds are linked; they are controlled by the same consciousness," Mystogan explained to Lily.
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