A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

She continued the story: "With the participation of that group of Dragon Slayer Mages, the human side suffered some losses, and the frequency of battles with the dragons began to decrease."

"Unfortunately, this period of good fortune did not last long. In May of X792, a change shattered the battle—on that day, Acnologia reappeared in the skies above Ishgar!"

"What?! Acnologia?!" Wendy exclaimed in shock, "Wasn't it banished to Elentina by Kirasan?"

"That seems to be the case! But in reality, that guy has already returned to Ishgar at some point, he's just been hiding there."

"It's like a replay of that period four hundred years ago. After Acnologia appears, it will once again slaughter the dragons and become increasingly insane until July, when it will completely degenerate into a mindless and incomprehensible beast."

"At that time, there were more than three thousand dragons on Ishgar!"

Killing from tens of thousands down to three thousand is a feat unimaginable for anyone. Among all the people Wendy knows, even Makarov, Precht, Kira, August, and Irene couldn't have done it.

But if it's Acnologia, then it suddenly doesn't seem surprising.

As for Acnologia's complete loss of sanity, the blood of seven thousand dragons was more than enough to not only make Acnologia lose his mind, but also to create another Acnologia!

"So... how is your world? Why are you here?"

Even with the cleanup of Acnologia, there are still three thousand dragons left in World 5. That's no small number. Keep in mind that humans fought for more than half a year and only managed to eliminate less than a hundred, which is less than a fraction of the total!

Moreover, number 5 Acnologia is just insane, not dead!

It is like an invincible sword hanging over both humanity and the giant dragon's head, single-handedly dividing the world into three forces.

"My main purpose in coming here is to change history. If I can change the course of history, I might be able to erase the 'Destruction of the World by Ten Thousand Dragons'."

"Modification... could it be using a solar eclipse??"

The effects of the solar eclipse have spread throughout the guild over the past two days, so Wendy knows what it does. "But isn't it only supposed to open up parallel worlds? Changes to parallel worlds shouldn't affect the development of the original world!"

"By the way, speaking of parallel worlds... why did you say this is World 7?"

World X is a number formed based on Lucy #1's records. This is the 7th world she has experienced, so it is called 'World 7'. However, Lucy's journey is linear. Logically speaking, people from previous worlds should not be able to know what the later worlds are like!

So how did Wendy, who claims to be from World 5, determine that this is World 7?

Wendy, number 5, seemed to have known the logic all along, but still traveled through time, as if she had a plan in mind.

"First, there's the question of why I know this is World 7. It's because after Lucy #1 left you, she went to World 5 again to share information about the various worlds with us. That was in our world's year X787, which is our world's 'past'."

With confidence, she drew two parallel lines on the ground with her magic wand, writing the numbers '5' and '7' on each. She then wrote 'X768' and 'X792' at the beginning and end of each line, respectively. After 'X786' for '5', she wrote 'X787'. Finally, she drew an arrow pointing from 'X768' for '7' to 'X787' for '5'.

"After years of research, the people of World 5 have actually improved and innovated the theory and structure of solar eclipses. By using time and space magic, they have added the function of 'adjusting time nodes within a certain range' to the existing 'travel between parallel worlds,' like this..."

She drew an arrow again, this time from 'X792' of '5' to 'X768' of '7': "To you, I come from the 'future' of world number 5, not the 'present'. This journey has crossed not only space, but also time."

"Then there's the reason I'm here. According to my current intelligence, each parallel world has experienced different anomalies. World 1 is 'Nirvana,' where light and darkness are reversed; World 5, where I am, is 'Dragon,' where first ten thousand dragons invaded, and then a black dragon slayed the dragon."

"These anomalies will all lead to the collapse of a world to varying degrees!"

“Every mutation has a source, and the source of most mutations is still unknown, but we know the source of the mutation in World 5, which is in the year X786 of World 7!”

Number 5 Wendy briefly explained her logic to Wendy. In short, something happened in World 7 in 786 that caused the dragon mutation in World 5 in 791. So if this event is changed, the mutation in World 5 may be eliminated.

Wendy grew increasingly confused: "The source of the anomaly...is in our world now?"

The thought that someone or something in her world might cause another world to be destroyed by a dragon, resulting in the deaths of countless people, immediately made the kind and innocent Wendy restless.

Finally, there's the question of 'whether it can succeed!'

"Indeed, as you said, under normal circumstances, using 'eclipse' to change the past will not affect the original world. Because the two are parallel worlds and have no direct connection, changing the past of another world will naturally not affect the present of this world."

"But the situation in World 5 is different!"

"The source of the anomaly in World 5 is World 7, and the two are directly related! Therefore, this change is effective!"

What Wendy #5 didn't say was that this was only logically consistent and couldn't guarantee against other unexpected events. For example, her actions here might lead to the emergence of new world branches in the future, while the anomalies in World #5 would remain unchanged.

She herself was actually taking a gamble!

Wendy didn't think too much about it; she just felt that what the other person said made a lot of sense.

So... why bring me here alone? Could the source of this anomaly be related to me?

Chapter 717 Look at you all, you've all corrupted Wendy!

Midnight, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

The dew was heavy atop the peak, and the icy wind blew against Wendy's thinly dressed body, making the girl shiver involuntarily.

Wendy looked at her grown-up self beside her, her gaze unconsciously falling on her revealing outfit. After staring for a while, her little face gradually turned red.

Such a bold outfit was something that an ordinary, naive, and petite girl like her could never pull off. She never imagined that one day she would wear clothes with such a strong Western Continent style.

"You seem quite different from me..."

"Of course, there's a seven-year age gap between us. Isn't it normal for our personalities to change?"

Number 5 Wendy gently patted Wendy's head like a caring older sister, "But then again, it's actually only been about a year."

"If it weren't for that strange event, I'd probably be about the same age as you now."

Wendy suddenly felt that her palm was very warm and her gaze was very gentle, just like when Mira and Erza usually touched her head.

In a daze, she saw the figures of the guild members in the other person's movements.

Wendy didn't ask about the situation in World 5, because from their previous conversation, she could sense that the other person was deliberately avoiding the topic, especially when she mentioned 'Fairy Tail', she saw a heartbreaking sadness flash in the other person's eyes.

In that instant, Wendy understood that Fairy Tail in World 5, even if it hadn't suffered heavy losses, must have suffered quite a few casualties.

It's likely that not only the other party, but also their companions in that world are struggling to recover from the grief caused by these casualties. With that in mind, Wendy decided that she shouldn't bring up those things.

"I should probably head back!"

"Everyone must be so worried about you after you've been missing for so long!!"

After enjoying a short period of head pats, Wendy finally remembered that everyone in the guild was still waiting for her. Just as she had guessed, the Fairy Tail members were currently searching for her all over the city.

Furthermore, since Wendy (number 5) had taken her away using a magic similar to teleportation, even someone with Natsu's keen sense of smell couldn't track her down by scent.

"I still need to come up with a suitable excuse to deal with everyone!"

……

When Wendy was brought back to the streets of Crocus, it was past midnight.

On her way back to the inn, she was quickly found by her guildmates who had been searching for her. Surrounded by a group of older brothers, sisters, and uncles, she was taken back to the tavern. After Makarov confirmed that the girl was not injured, everyone was relieved and had Warren use telepathy to withdraw his men. The noisy commotion lasted for nearly an hour.

"She actually tried to brush us off with something like 'we ran into an acquaintance, so we found a place to chat for a bit.' I don't know what she was thinking. Did she think we were all idiots like Nazhabi?"

Yes, Wendy used this bizarre excuse to answer the guild members' questions.

It's ridiculous, but nobody's questioning it.

After she bid farewell to everyone and returned to her room, Kira finally uttered this long-held complaint to Makarov and Erza and the others beside her.

“Wendy must have her reasons for hiding it. Since she assured us she was fine and we just confirmed she wasn’t injured, I think we should respect her privacy.”

At this moment, Erza seemed to have taken on Mira's script, perfectly embodying the image of a kind and understanding older sister.

"I think you're all corrupting her!"

Kira took a sip of his iced milk late at night, then changed the subject, pointing at Natsu and the others: "Back when she first came to the guild, she was so innocent and cute, as pure as a blank sheet of paper! Look at her now, tattoos, lying, fighting, staying out all night... If she continues like this, she'll turn into a delinquent!"

"The atmosphere in our guild... really needs to change!"

"President! When are you going to step down and hand over the reins to someone more capable?"

The word '贤' here specifically refers to 'a wise man,' which is his nickname.

His nagging manner is just like that of a middle-aged man seeing his teenage daughter showing signs of rebellion. Even real middle-aged men like Macao, who have children, and elderly men like Makarov are ashamed of themselves.

Everyone rolled their eyes at Kira.

This guy... he's clearly the biggest troublemaker in the guild, yet he's barking like a madman again?! If we weren't outmatched, who among us would let him act so arrogantly?

However, there was indeed one person present who, even if he couldn't defeat him, was qualified to stand up, and that was Makarov.

Makarov put down his glass, glanced at Kira who was pretending to be drunk while drinking milk, and snorted heavily, fueled by the alcohol, "You brat, what's wrong with the guild's emblem?!"

I still remember when Kira first joined Fairy Tail, he was very resistant to the idea of ​​having to have the guild crest engraved on his body, and it took him more than a month to calm down.

"No...no..." Kira said awkwardly, giving a surrender gesture.

The chairman himself had joined the conversation, so how could I dare to continue joking? If the old man didn't make it back in one breath, or if his blood pressure spiked in the middle of the night, I would be in deep trouble.

However, Kira underestimated Makarov's persistence in this regard.

"What mage doesn't fight?"

"Isn't lying normal? Who hasn't lied before?"

"Not coming home all night? It's not even 2 a.m. yet! When I was that age, I used to play outside until dawn every day! Besides, Wendy's all grown up now..."

Makarov perfectly demonstrated to Kira what it means to 'say one thing and get four replies,' until his tongue was practically tied in knots. Clearly, Makarov was also quite drunk tonight.

However, Kira could tell that his displeasure wasn't due to Wendy's sudden disappearance and the guild's helplessness, but rather because he was worried about his rebellious son and the potential crisis facing the Dark Guild in the future.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh softly: "Old people tend to overthink things..."

……

The fifth day of the Grand Magic Games featured an 11 vs. 11 showdown, and the announcement yesterday of free admission for three consecutive days resulted in a significantly larger audience than in previous days.

Early in the morning, people began arriving at the venue to watch the game in an endless stream. By nine o'clock, the venue was packed with people and filled with deafening cheers.

"There are so many people..."

"Just how many people failed to get tickets a few days ago?!"

The audience who had been watching the games for the past few days were shocked by the spectacular scene inside the venue, because the number of people in just one day was more than the total number of people in the previous four days combined!

Today, the venue was packed with over 5 spectators, leaving barely enough room to walk. Just getting in was a huge struggle for everyone. By the time they finally arrived at Fairy Tail's designated area, they were already drenched in sweat and looking disheveled, with less than 10 minutes left before the match was scheduled to begin.

However, this only applies to people like Makarov; it doesn't apply to Kira and others who are about to compete.

The two teams competing today, totaling 22 mages, have a dedicated entrance and exit passage that leads directly to the waiting area prepared for the participants at the venue.

"Could it be that all of Crocus's people came here to watch the game? Don't these people have jobs?"

Even if there are only half outsiders, there are still about 25,000 local residents in the venue. Keep in mind that this is the capital of the Kingdom of Fiore. Wouldn't such a large number cause Crocus to be paralyzed?

It seems that the living conditions of the residents in the capital are much better than I thought!