Chapter 241
Marshall guided the enormous "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" down into the royal palace, where it opened its jaws and spat out more than a thousand Exceeds in one enormous heap.
Once every cat had been released, the gigantic dragon began shrinking rapidly until it became nothing more than a palm-sized toy resting innocently in Marshall’s hand.
That was the truth behind the terrifying dragon.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon wasn’t some powerful summoned creature at all.
It was simply a toy Marshall had made a few days earlier and enlarged through Form Magic.
Despite its intimidating appearance, it was mostly for show and possessed very little actual combat power.
And that was precisely why Marshall had become convinced Carla possessed some form of prophecy.
He had seen this exact Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the visions inside Carla’s memories.
The toy had only been completed a few days ago and Marshall hadn’t shown it to anyone, yet somehow it had appeared in a "dream" Carla experienced years earlier.
If that wasn’t evidence that Carla could see the future, Marshall couldn’t imagine what else it could be.
Several Fairy Tail members soon hurried over, only to stop dead when they found the palace floor covered from one side to the other in cats.
Fortunately, Marshall had already driven the royal soldiers out of the palace.
If they had seen the once-exalted Exceeds piled together like piglets waiting to be sold at market, their faith might have shattered on the spot.
Natsu came charging in almost immediately.
"Marshall! What was that dragon just now?! I saw a dragon! A real dragon!"
Without even looking at him, Marshall tossed the little toy in his direction.
"You want it? You can have it."
"???"
Natsu caught the palm-sized dragon and stared at it in complete disbelief while Marshall ignored him and began searching through the sea of Exceeds.
After a little while, he found the white cat with the finest-looking fur.
"You. Come out."
Marshall pointed at her.
"You’re the queen of these cats, right?"
"D-Don’t you dare harm Her Majesty!"
Nichiya tried to rush forward and protect her, but the queen immediately stopped him.
"I am Shagotte, Queen of the Exceeds."
She stepped forward with as much dignity as she could maintain under the circumstances.
"Greetings, powerful Mage of Earth Land."
Marshall called Ruby, Happy, and Carla over, then pointed toward Carla.
"I heard you people were the ones who sent these three little cats to stay beside us Dragon Slayers. Is that true?"
The surrounding Exceeds immediately looked uncomfortable.
After a moment, Shagotte slowly shook her head.
"...No."
Carla’s fur puffed up at once.
"You’re lying! Your people said something completely different yesterday!"
"No, that isn’t—"
Shagotte suddenly became flustered in front of Carla, looking nothing like the composed queen she had been a moment earlier.
Having learned a lesson from everything that happened with Cana and Gildarts, Marshall decided that sometimes being direct was simply better.
"Carla, she isn’t lying."
Carla turned toward him.
Marshall pointed at Shagotte.
"She’s your mother."
"HUH?!"
𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Carla froze.
She slowly looked toward Shagotte, who had gone equally stiff and seemed completely unsure what to do.
In that instant, Carla knew Marshall was telling the truth.
"W-What is going on?!"
"Allow me to explain..."
Nichiya, the Exceed who looked uncannily like Ichiya, stepped forward and began telling everyone the truth.
The Exceeds of Edolas had never actually been powerful.
Long ago, they had been oppressed by humans just like any other weak race.
However, every so often, an Exceed would be born with the mysterious ability to see the future, including visions of human deaths.
By using that mysterious power to create an aura of divine authority, the Exceeds gradually inspired fear and reverence among humans until they eventually achieved the extraordinary position they held today.
Several years earlier, however, Queen Shagotte had witnessed a terrifying future in which their floating island was destroyed.
The vision frightened the Exceeds enough that they began preparing for the possibility of their race being wiped out.
To preserve their future, they used Anima to send more than a hundred Exceed eggs into Earth Land.
Nichiya looked toward Happy, Carla, and Ruby.
"You three... were among the children sent away at that time."
"We never gave any of those children a mission."
Shagotte looked guiltily toward Carla.
"What our people told you yesterday wasn’t true. I allowed them to say those things because of my own selfishness."
Her voice softened.
"I simply wanted the chance to see you again..."
She then glanced toward Marshall, who was already looking so bored that he had started examining his fingernails.
"But the terrible future I foresaw has already happened. The island was destroyed, just as I saw... yet all of us are still alive."
Shagotte looked confused.
"The outcome is completely different from what I imagined."
Marshall yawned.
"I’m not interested in massacring a bunch of cats."
He waved dismissively.
"For now, just stay here peacefully. Exceeds possess Magic Power inside their bodies too, so once Reverse Anima activates, you’ll probably be pulled into Earth Land along with us."
"There’s no point worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet."
Marshall honestly didn’t care very much where the Exceeds eventually decided to live.
If anything, he disliked the way they had built a social position far beyond their actual strength by deceiving humans into believing they were divine beings.
But they were ultimately just a society of cats, so he couldn’t be bothered holding a serious grudge over it.
The only reason he had "shot them out of the sky" in the first place was to crush the morale of the people in the capital.
If Marshall was supposed to be playing the villain, then he intended to play the role properly.
With the Exceed situation resolved, there was only one thing left to wait for.
Once Edolas Fairy Tail arrived in the royal capital... the final grand performance could begin.
...
After returning to the royal capital with Marshall, Edolas Lucy had quietly separated from the group.
She had known Marshall for more than two years and trusted him to a certain extent, but that didn’t mean she was willing to believe every word he said without checking for herself.
This entire "rebellion" involved her guildmates, after all.
Before dragging everyone into what could easily be considered treason, she wanted to confirm that the plan was genuine.
Not that Fairy Tail’s members were particularly far removed from being rebels already.
Still, Lucy decided she should meet this supposed prince and verify Marshall’s story personally.
As she walked through the streets of the royal capital, she quickly noticed that almost everyone was discussing the same subject.
"That damned king! He just had to keep pushing that idiotic plan, and now look what happened! He dragged enemies this powerful straight into our country!"
"It’s all that bastard’s fault. I opposed Anima from the beginning! The moment those people dumped all that filth on us, the king should’ve understood it was a warning. But no, he just had to keep provoking them!"
"What’s the point complaining now? The capital has already been occupied. Those new laws are supposed to take effect in a few days."
One man sighed bitterly.
"Those taxes alone will kill us. How are ordinary people supposed to survive?"
"What else can we do? Those invaders can use Magic without Magic Items. We can’t beat them in a fight."
"Maybe we can flee the country before things get worse."
"Otherwise... we might as well wait to die."
"..."
Lucy remained silent as she passed through the crowd.
Following the address Marshall had given her, she eventually reached the prince’s hidden base.
The moment she entered, however, she was surprised to discover that several members of her own guild had already arrived.
"Levy?"
Lucy stared.
"You guys got here this fast?"
"Well, of course."
A familiar voice answered from nearby.
"With my teleportation array, that should hardly be surprising."
Mystogan appeared without his usual mask and smiled politely.
"Hello, Miss Lucy."
Lucy stared at him for a moment.
"Ohhh. So you’re the prince everyone’s talking about?"
"Yes."
Mystogan’s expression became serious.
"For the future of this world, I need everyone’s help."
...
By the following day, mysterious leaflets had begun circulating throughout the royal capital.
Their title was deliberately dramatic:
[Die Under the Rule of Demons—or Fight for the Future and Live? Tell Me Your Choice!]
The leaflets were supposedly being distributed "in secret," yet somehow spread across the entire capital with remarkable speed.
Not long afterward, another rumor began circulating among the population.
The prince who had disappeared from the kingdom many years ago had finally returned.
And now... he was preparing to lead a rebellion against the demons who had seized the capital.
For the second time in only a few days, hope began to rise among the terrified citizens.
One question spread from person to person.
Could their prince...actually win?
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