A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Chapter 696 Lucy in Black

At midnight, Kira left the tavern.

As a mage leading a new era, being active at night is a crucial skill, because no one knows when a crisis will strike. Therefore, one must maintain the best possible mental and physical condition when others are least vigilant and least defensive.

This is definitely not because he neglected his health when he was young, or because he developed bad habits from staying up late to make magical props or write novels.

On the street, Kira's steps were somewhat unsteady due to drinking.

"Kurokas's nightlife is quite vibrant! The food, drinks, entertainment, and entertainment—it truly lives up to its reputation as the capital. Every time I come here, there's something new to offer..."

Kira doesn't drink much, nor does he particularly like it. In the guild, he mostly drinks juice or similar beverages. He only drinks a little with his friends or by himself when he's in a good mood or when the atmosphere is right.

When Kira is in a bad mood, he prefers to drink tea because he feels that tea can calm him down at such times, while drinking alcohol only makes him more depressed. However, in this world, tea is much more expensive than alcohol.

He drank alcohol today because the guild atmosphere was right, and he was in a good mood.

The atmosphere was right because the guild had been ranked first for three consecutive days, something Makarov definitely wanted to celebrate with everyone; he was in a good mood because he had single-handedly defeated seven opponents in today's hunting competition, instantly killing them and showing off his skills, making him the most popular figure in this Grand Magic Games.

In today's post-match "popularity vote", the combined votes of Jura in second place, Laxus in third place, and Erza in fourth place were only about 70% of the votes he received. With such data, how could he resist having a few more drinks?

However, as Kira walked, he suddenly saw Lucy walking towards him.

Huh? Lucy? Didn't she leave with Natsu a while ago?

Kira was puzzled, but when he saw Lucy's black cloak, he immediately realized something was wrong.

"That's my invisibility cloak?!"

The Cloak of Concealment, one of Kira's magical gadgets, possesses powerful functions such as concealing the user's shape, scent, body temperature, and magical power. It is an essential tool for operations such as tracking dating couples, following desired individuals, ambushing criminals, and infiltrating women's bathhouses.

But since I made that invisibility cloak, I've only used it a few times for certain nefarious purposes. The rest of the time, it's stayed safely in my storage space and hasn't been leaked. Lucy couldn't possibly have gotten it...

As he was pondering, Lucy approached him, finally stopping three meters in front of Kira: "Kira, there's something I need to tell you!"

Lucy lifted her cloak of concealment, revealing a look of exhaustion and tension.

Despite the concealment cloak, Kira could still notice in the darkness that her skin lacked its usual rosy, soft, and delicate appearance, instead appearing rough, dull, and bluish-gray.

"Something you absolutely must tell me??"

Kira tilted his head, pointed to the newspaper in the other person's hand, and said, "If you're talking about 'I'm currently the most popular person in the country,' I already know that! After all, I'm the guild's intelligence officer, so reading the newspaper every day is pretty normal, isn't it?"

"But you know me, those empty titles are just fleeting clouds to me, hehehe..."

Lucy remained awkwardly silent for a long while, until Kira finished laughing, before saying worriedly, "That's not what I wanted to talk about! It's..."

"Not this one? So you're finally getting married to Natsu? Congratulations... By the way, how are you planning to choose the time and place? Don't worry, the gift is already prepared..."

"It's not this one either!!!"

Although she was very curious about what the 'gift' Kira was talking about was, Lucy knew that now was not the time to talk about it, so she interrupted Kira.

"What I'm about to say is about the future of this world!!"

Half an hour later, inside a 24-hour restaurant.

Lucy, who claims she's there to tell Kira about the future of the world, is eating a meal worth a month's rent without any regard for her image, while explaining to Kira why she's there.

Kira sat opposite her, quietly flipping through the notebook she had given him, which contained all the information she had said she needed to know, while listening to her additions.

"The story begins in June of X784, shortly after I joined Fairy Tail. Our guild, together with Boa Hancock, Blue Pegasus, and Bakeneko, formed a guild alliance to launch an attack on Oración Seis."

"Wait a minute!! Are we going to move the timeline back this far??"

As soon as Lucy spoke, Kira couldn't sit still any longer. I thought you were going to talk about what happened in the future. Why are you talking about defeating the 'Oración Seis'?

From the moment Kira saw this Lucy, he knew she wasn't the Lucy from the future where dragons had destroyed the world, because her right hand was still there, and she didn't seem desperate, only slightly tired.

Moreover, she was wearing a concealment cloak she had made herself. This treasured item was not something she could lend out casually; perhaps she had other plans for coming here.

Therefore, Kira believed from beginning to end that the Lucy in front of him was Lucy who traveled to the present future using the Eclipse technique, at the behest of his future self, because something happened in the future.

But now it seems that's not the case; the situation is much more complicated than I thought!

Could she be Lucy from a parallel universe?

"Yes, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush!"

Lucy, dressed in black, downed the expensive pastry in one gulp and said, "I came to this world through a parallel world portal via a solar eclipse. I'm Lucy from another world! You should understand now, right?"

As expected...

Kira was a little disappointed to hear that the other person was not the future Lucy, but he was still quite curious about the so-called parallel world, after all, he had already met another android of himself.

That said, Edolas is actually a parallel world, right? After all, there are certain 'differences' between parallel worlds, and the 'difference' between Edolas and Aslant is the existence of magic.

So essentially, the Lucy in front of us is the same kind of person as Mystogan, Dispel, and Perusica.

But that tone of voice... it really is my style! Now I'm even more certain that Lucy's presence here is related to 'me'!

"Okay, Lucy from a parallel universe, why did you come to our world?"

"Let me explain the whole story from beginning to end, and you'll understand."

Kira chuckled inwardly, then gestured for him to begin: "Begin your speech!"

Lucy in black nodded, collected her thoughts, and continued her story: "Natsu, Happy, Erza, Gray, and I, following the guild master's instructions, went to the villa of the guild master 'Blue Pegasus'. After meeting up with the Allied Forces, we clashed with the 'Oración Seis' in the White Forest."

"Although there were some difficult battles during that time, we still managed to defeat them. Afterwards, based on intelligence, we dispatched six people to destroy the power source of 'Nirvana'."

"However, just as we were about to destroy 'Nirvana,' an unexpected event occurred!"

Upon hearing this, Kira quickly reached out: "Wait! Excuse me! Weren't Laxus, Ultear, and I present at that time?"

Lucy in black shook her head, saying with regret, "No! As far as I know, you and Laxus went on a mission. As for Ultear, I don't know where she was at that time."

Was I not involved in this expedition? It seems that there are indeed some differences between that world and that time...

Kira remembered that he, Laxus, and Ultear appeared one after another, and then the activation of 'Nirvana' caused internal conflicts within the 'Oracryptos', which he then wiped out.

"You continue."

“Okay… According to Hibiki from ‘Blue Pegasus,’ ‘Nirvana’s’ weakness lies at the base of its six tentacles. It can be destroyed by breaking the crystals placed there simultaneously. However, after we destroyed those six crystals, ‘Nirvana’ was not only not destroyed, but it became even stronger and more uncontrollable, which has had a huge impact on us!!”

Upon hearing this, Kira's expression turned astonished, and he blinked in confusion: "What did you say?! 'Nirvana' has been enhanced?!"

"Yes!"

Lucy in black looked grave. "Based on our subsequent investigation, it's highly likely that it was tampered with by unidentified individuals at some unknown time, leading to this outcome!"

"In short, in that instant, the uncontrollable and far more effective 'Nirvana' took effect. Everyone in the Allied Forces, including Erza, Natsu, Gray, and even Jurasan and Ichiyasan, fell into darkness without exception. In contrast, the Oración Seis all became good people!"

"Only I am left, because Hololochm escaped unscathed!"

Chapter 697 A World Where Good and Evil Are Reversed

"You're saying... the Allied Forces have become villains and bad guys, while the 'Six Demon Generals' have become good guys?!"

Kira was completely stunned by Lucy's words.

At this moment, all he wants to say is, 'Clockwork is the best!'

This development... is completely unexpected!

It was quite interesting, though.

“Yes!” Lucy in black pinched her brow, her face filled with helplessness and a sense of unbearable regret.

“At first I didn’t notice this, and even Grandpa Hololochim didn’t sense anything unusual. It was only because he sensed an unusual power acting on me in the Protoss Realm that he suddenly came out to save me.”

"This shift from good to evil didn't happen overnight. After breaking the six crystals at the root of 'Nirvana,' we bound the defeated members of 'Oración Seis' together as planned, preparing to send them to the Council of Magistrates later."

"Because it was already very late, we decided to rest temporarily at the nearest guild, 'Hua Mao Zhi Su'."

Kira interrupted Lucy again, asking, "Aren't the council members here? They should be there!"

Lucy shook her head and said, "I didn't see it at the time, but I found out later that the council members were also affected by 'Nirvana,' and even the subordinate guilds of 'Oracle Seis.' Everyone was thrown into chaos."

“During our rest at ‘Cat’s Abode’, we learned the truth about ‘Nirvana’ from the guild leader Robin Lu. However, he seemed unaware that ‘Nirvana’ had been tampered with. At the time, all of us thought that ‘Nirvana’ had been completely destroyed and that the old man’s mental form had completely dissipated.”

According to Lucy, up to this point, everything had been the same as the original story, the only difference being that they didn't know that 'Nirvana' was amplified rather than destroyed, and that the affected council didn't come.

“That night, Natsu and Gray were arguing and fighting, but since they often do this, I didn’t pay much attention; Wendy’s mood was also off, but I thought she was just upset because she couldn’t accept the truth right away, so I didn’t pay much attention either…”

"When I woke up the next day, I found that everyone's words and actions were different from before!"

At this point, Lucy in black suddenly changed her expression, becoming extremely frightened. Her hand on the table tightened involuntarily and began to tremble slightly, as if she had seen something terrifying.

After a moment's hesitation, she slowly began to speak: "Brutality, ferocity, malice, lust, greed, avarice, laziness... all traits associated with 'darkness' can be seen in the members of the Allied Forces. They began to discuss how to enslave the captured 'Oracle's' men and how much money they could make by selling them."

Wait...did something ominous just sneak in?

“Even the gentlest Wendy was punching and kicking the Oración Seis members, and even whipping and abusing them in a way that was completely out of character. It was only then that I realized something was seriously wrong.”

Holy crap! Really?!

Brutal and ruthless?! Wendy abuses the 'Oraclemon'?!

Kira's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he listened, and he felt he was missing some sunflower seeds.

"So I secretly approached the Oración Seis and learned that their hearts had changed. I also learned from their leader, Brian, that Nirvana had been tampered with."

"When I discovered all this, I was completely at a loss. The situation left me no choice but to believe it, because the situation of others falling into darkness was getting worse and worse!"

"As the only normal person, I certainly can't sit idly by and watch Natsu and the others' situation continue to deteriorate, but I can't think of a good solution for the time being, so I can only try to see if I can persuade them to wake up."

"But this action was seen as a betrayal by the Allied forces, and they imprisoned me with the men of the Oración Seis."

At this point, Lucy in black's face fell, and Kira...

His expression was excited, his eyes shining, and his mouth wide open in a wide grin; he could hardly contain his emotions: "That was...that was amazing!! And then what??"

Lucy in black rolled her eyes speechlessly, took a big gulp of juice, and after catching her breath, slowly began to tell the rest of the story.

"Afterwards, because the Demon-Sealing Stone wasn't used when they were tied up, the Oración Seis, oh right, and Gerald, took advantage of the Allied Forces getting into an argument and ran away without looking back, taking me with them and hiding in a base nearby."

"Because they had become good people, they didn't treat me badly during that time; on the contrary, they treated me to good food and drink..."

Kira sensed that Lucy in black seemed a little smug.

“Brian, as the president, deeply regrets activating ‘Nirvana,’ but he doesn’t know why this happened after ‘Nirvana’ was destroyed. The effects and functions of ‘Nirvana’ are also completely inconsistent with the information he has gathered!”

"Everything changed beyond his expectations, and the situation unfolded beyond everyone's imagination. Brian could only try his best to use his ancient magical books to find a way to lift the 'Nirvana' curse, but to no avail."