Fairy Tail: All Magic Converges in One Body

Turning around, Hope noticed that the Warrior Ghost's eyes were fixed on Erza.

Just as Hope was wondering, the warrior ghost darted past him and, to his astonishment, the ghost bent its knees and knelt directly before Erza.

Immediately afterwards, a muffled voice came from the Warrior Ghost's mouth, and he seemed unusually agitated from his expression.

But Hope couldn't understand a word of it.

But to Erza, the ghost's words were unusually clear.

"Your Majesty, you're finally back!"

Chapter 48 The Traitors

The Warrior Ghost's kneeling not only stunned Hope, but also froze the usually calm and composed Erza.

Her arms, which had been crossed, unconsciously came down. Her usually heroic eyes widened in surprise and bewilderment. Erza even looked around subconsciously to make sure that the ghost was kneeling in the direction she was facing.

"Are you... calling me?"

Erza's tone was full of disbelief. Although she was the "Fairy Queen," it was just a title and had nothing to do with being a queen who truly held power and status.

The warrior ghost raised its head, its translucent face filled with excitement. It repeated itself, the indistinct ancient language still clear to Erza.

"There is no mistake, Your Majesty, I will never forget your beauty and radiance."

At this moment, more ghosts were attracted by the commotion and slowly gathered around.

They initially floated numbly and slowly, but when they saw the figure with long, crimson hair standing before the warrior ghost in the twilight, a change occurred.

The murmurs and hisses abruptly ceased.

Then, one, two, ten...

More and more ghosts, whether they were soldiers in armor, nobles in fine clothes, or commoners in plain clothes, knelt down in Erza's direction like a tide.

The entire street was instantly filled with a semi-transparent, faintly glowing spirit, which lay prostrate on the ground, creating a spectacular yet eerie scene.

Hope recovered from his initial shock, stroked his chin, and observed the scene with great interest. He couldn't help but remark, "Wow... Erza, judging from this, maybe you were a true queen hundreds of years ago. Have you awakened any memories of your past life or something?"

"Hope, this is not the time for jokes."

Erza frowned, glared at Hope, and then looked at the kneeling warrior ghost again. "Get up. I am not your queen. You have mistaken me for someone else."

However, the warrior ghost did not rise; instead, she lowered her head even further, her voice choked with sobs and boundless remorse, "Your Majesty... I... we deserve to die..."

As soon as the warrior ghost finished speaking, the voices of the surrounding ghosts rang out.

"Your Majesty...please forgive me..."

"Forgive us..."

"We shouldn't have betrayed you..."

"Spare us..."

"......"

The cacophony of babbling mingled into a clear, painful resonance, and this time, even Hope, who didn't understand these ghostly languages, could vaguely sense the meaning behind their words.

They are repenting.

The group collectively confessed to Erza.

Although Hope couldn't understand the specifics, seeing the bizarre scene before him, he couldn't help but suppress his joking expression. He gently touched Erza's arm and whispered:

“Something seems off. These ghosts seem to feel a strong sense of guilt towards you.”

Hearing Hope's voice, Erza snapped out of her daze. She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and then briefly translated the ghosts' words to Hope.

"You mean these ghosts betrayed their 'queen' in life, but because they were so remorseful for their betrayal, they became ghosts after death who could not find peace?"

Hope pondered. In any case, the ghosts became active as soon as Erza arrived, and she could understand their language, so there must be some connection between them.

Was Erza truly the queen of these ghosts in her past life?

Does the concept of reincarnation still exist in this world?

Erza's gaze swept over the ghosts kneeling in the street, and she asked in a deep voice, "Betrayal? What did you do to... your queen?"

The leading ghost warrior raised its head again, its illusory eyes seemingly filled with endless regret, and it spoke in a hoarse voice:

"We believed the lies of the general and ministers, thinking you had truly transformed into a dragon, so we watched helplessly as they imprisoned and tortured you..."

"Even when you were being paraded through the streets and humiliated...we..."

The warrior ghost lowered his head, no longer daring to look at Erza.

Hope and Erza's expressions darkened. Although the Warrior Ghost hadn't explained the details, they could already imagine the tragic fate of that queen from those few words.

Traitors are disliked everywhere.

Hopra pulled Elsa, gesturing for her to leave with him.

Erza, however, seemed oblivious to Hope's actions. Her fists clenched without her noticing, and she felt inexplicably sad for the queen she had never met.

Is it because we are both women?

Erza didn't know that; all she knew was that she wasn't that ancient queen, and she had no right to forgive those who hurt her on her behalf.

Looking at the countless ghosts still kneeling on the ground begging for forgiveness, Erza suddenly felt a wave of disgust. "Hope, let's go back."

Seeing Erza about to leave, the ghosts panicked, one of them screaming in terror, "Your Majesty Irene, you can't... Ah—"

Before he could finish speaking, the ghost let out a shrill scream.

The horrific screams echoed through the town, waking the local residents, who had long been harassed by ghosts, from their already shallow sleep.

This was the first time in decades that they had heard a ghost make such a piercing sound.

The sudden change made people want to find out what was going on. Some of the braver people had already gone out of their houses, but they were frightened back by the ghosts kneeling neatly on the street outside.

Only the innkeeper and visiting historians realized that these changes were related to Hope and Erza.

Hope conjured two pairs of earplugs for himself and Erza, and just as he was wondering how to stop the annoying howling, the screams suddenly stopped.

Strangely, whether it was the ghost that had just screamed or the warrior ghost that had been communicating with Erza, all the ghosts suddenly became listless and expressionless, muttering incomprehensible ramblings, before getting up and continuing to wander aimlessly around the town.

This scene was as if nothing had happened.

Erza and Hope exchanged a glance. "You felt it, didn't you? The magical fluctuations that appeared on the ghosts just now."

Hope nodded. Just now, an extremely strong magical force appeared in the ghosts' bodies, and then they became unconscious. It was obvious that someone was controlling the ghosts behind the scenes.

But thanks to that ghost's final shout.

They now at least know that the ancient queen was named Eileen. They can go back and ask historians; perhaps they can get more useful information.

Chapter 49 First Entry into the Ruins

Seeing that the ghosts had returned to their human-machine state, Hope and Erza, having lost interest in continuing, quickly returned to the inn.

When they returned to the hotel, they found Old Booker, the archaeological team leader Derek, and the hotel owner waiting anxiously at the door. Upon seeing the two return, they immediately came to greet them.

Did you cause the commotion just now?

The boss asked excitedly, after all, since the ghosts had appeared in Dusk Town for decades, they had only wandered aimlessly and had never acted in such an organized manner as tonight.

The group went to the lounge on the first floor of the hotel and drank the hot tea prepared by the owner. Hope briefly recounted what had just happened, while Erza remained silent, her fingers unconsciously stroking the rim of her teacup.

"Eileen..."

Old Booker looked up sharply when Hope mentioned the name, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Are you sure that ancient queen's name was Irene?"

Hope nodded. Although he couldn't understand the ghost's language, he trusted Erza's translation.

After receiving confirmation, Old Booker immediately got up and went back to his room. He hurriedly returned with an ancient book and excitedly told the group, "If I'm not mistaken, that Queen Irene was the ruler of the 'Holy Dragon Kingdom' Doragunov 400 years ago."

Upon hearing this, the archaeological team leader, Derek, was shocked. "Does that mean the ancient kingdom ruins in the forest are the site of the Kingdom of Doragunov?!"

Hope and the hotel owner exchanged bewildered glances, wondering if they, being uneducated, could at least speak in a way they could understand...

Erza stopped the two excited historians and asked, "Is that Doragunov Kingdom very famous?"

Old Booker shook his head. "No, this country is very small. The reason it has left its mark on history is precisely because of Queen Irene."

"You should know about the great war between humans and dragons 400 years ago, right?"

"At that time, the human side was no match for the dragons at all. It wasn't until the appearance of 'Dragon Slayer' magic that the situation was finally turned around."

Hope already knew what old Booker was going to say next: "Could the appearance of the 'Dragon Slayer' magic be related to Queen Irene?"

Old Booker clapped his hands with a smile, "That's right, it was Queen Irene who created the 'Dragon Slayer' magic, which enabled us humans to turn the tide of battle."

According to Old Booker, Irene, who created the "Dragon Slayer" magic, is also known as the "Mother of Dragon Slayer Mages." She was a powerful mage and a queen who loved her people dearly.

Strangely, after the human side won the victory, the Kingdom of Dorakunov suddenly announced a policy of isolation, prohibiting its citizens from leaving the country and forbidding outsiders from entering.

This situation did not last long; three years later, the Doragunov State was suddenly destroyed.

The Magic Council and neighboring countries wanted to investigate, only to discover that the entire ruins of the Kingdom of Dorakunov had vanished overnight.

This event caused quite a stir at the time, but it was quickly forgotten due to the wars that broke out among humans over the division of territory.

Old Booker talked on and on, but there was no further information about Eileen, who, like her country, was gradually being forgotten by the world.

Hope is now certain that Eileen was betrayed around the same time that the Kingdom of Doragunov declared its isolation.

If the ruins of the ancient kingdom in the forest are the remains of the Doragunov Kingdom, which suddenly disappeared 400 years ago, then those ghosts are most likely the citizens of Doragunov.

The queen, who loved her people dearly, was betrayed by her subordinates and the people, and it was only right that the Kingdom of Doragunov was destroyed.

How much of the ghosts' repentance is truly sincere?

Did they really become ghosts because of their guilt towards Eileen?

Thinking of the entity that secretly controls the ghosts, Hope gazed at the eerie dark red sky outside the window. Perhaps the answer to all this would be found in the Forest of Ruins.

......

......

the next day.

After having breakfast at the hotel, the group arrived at the edge of the Ruins Forest.