It didn't take long before Evergreen was taken down as well. This time, Erza and Gray joined forces to defeat her within seconds. From what I could see, Elfman had battled her beforehand, weakening her enough for Erza and Gray to finish the job quickly.
Had Elfman not done that, Evergreen would have wasted even more of their time, and the chances of Freed joining her would have been much higher which subsequently will lead to wasting of more time. Good to know Elfman had been training with the breathing techniques I gave him. He was getting stronger than before.
Though, the problem of his uncontrollable Beast Form still remains. Since I saved Mira from Phantom Lord this time, Elfman hasn't been able to move past his trauma. He still can't use more than his arm in his Beast transformations.
I should do something about that later.
For now, everyone had escaped out of their petrified state and was staring at the sky, where dozens of Lacrima were orbiting Magnolia. Each one of them were circular yellow with Lighting sparkling inside. And around each Lacrima, there was a circular metal structure making it look extremely dangerous.
"How the hell are we supposed to deal with that?" Levy asked as Bisca readied her gun to shoot it down. All of them were able to recognise the thunder dragon palace. It is a kind of satellite which will allow Laxus to shoot lighting that has been stored inside it to the places below. And seeing the size and the energy emitted by each of the Lacrima, Laxus must have spend a lot of time creating it and adding energy to it as well.
"I wouldn't recommend that," I stopped her by raising the gun.
"Why?" Bisca frowned.
"Because Laxus planned this for a long time, and if I know him, he wouldn't have left such an obvious weakness in his plan. The moment you shoot it, either the entire system will activate and destroy the city, or something even worse will happen. So, I suggest you think carefully before doing anything."
The others began discussing possible solutions while Levy started writing scripts to analyze the full function of the Thunder Palace.
That was when Mira approached me.
"Karna, can you give me a rune like the one you gave Erza?" she asked.
I wasn't surprised—I had been expecting this.
"After all this time, you want to face your problems now?" I asked with a small smile.
Mira blushed slightly in embarrassment but then declared her intentions.
"Elfman's been working hard despite everything he's been through. As his big sister, I should be showing him the way forward, not holding him back," she said with conviction.
For a moment, I could see the old Mira in her eyes. My smile widened.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out two runes, tossing them to her. She caught them effortlessly.
"Here. One of them will help you avoid the traps, and the other will guide you to Freed," I said.
Mira nodded and left to find Freed—to break free from the trauma that had held her back for so long. Unlike in canon, where Juvia's injuries had spurred her into action, this time she was going of her own will. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.
The reason the girls weren't joining the boys in clearing the traps was the risk involved. Master decided it was safer to keep them out of it. Even with the rune stones protecting them, a simple accident—like dropping one—would mean getting caught in a challenge. That could be traumatic.
I had only given rune stones to Erza and Mira because they already had the power to break through the glyphs by force. With the rune stone, they could bypass the traps without wasting time. That way, they could go straight to taking down the enemy.
As long as Mira defeated Freed, I'd be able to destroy the glyphs covering the town. Even though I had taken over the entire system of glyphs, they were still connected to Freed. Only by taking him down would the glyphs lose their power and be destroyed.
Plus, because I had hijacked the system, the Thunder Legion was no longer able to communicate with each other. Freed, already prone to erratic decisions since the start of this plan, would be even more unstable. The smart move would've been to destroy the glyphs the moment I took control. But knowing him, he'd probably hesitate, thinking that without the glyphs, Laxus would have a harder time draining the guild's stamina with the various challenges.
By keeping the glyphs intact, he had sealed his own fate.
"I got it!" Levy exclaimed, finishing her scan of the Lacrima's runes.
"The Lacrima have an enchantment that makes sure whoever destroys them takes the full force of their energy," she explained.
The group let out a sigh of relief, realizing Bisca had almost taken herself out with that shot.
Everything was unfolding exactly as it did in canon, which should've been reassuring. But instead, it made me uneasy.
It felt like the calm before the storm.
Back when I received the Drakon War quest as a child, the system had warned me of multiple wars in the future—battles I needed to be ready for.
And if my instincts were right, another one was fast approaching.
But first, let's check the achievement reward.
[Achievement – You Did Eren But Cringe]
Reward – Soul Lamp: A lamp that emits an inexhaustible light, visible only to the one holding it.
"…Shit."
I muttered a curse.
When I got the Drakon War quest, the system gave me talismans that were crucial in completing it and ensuring Cana and I made it back alive.
If I had to guess, the Soul Lamp would be just as important for what was coming next.
It looked like I'd be walking into the darkness soon.
And worse, I'd need to make sure that whatever lurked in that darkness couldn't see me.
A shiver ran down my spine.
What kind of danger did the system think I needed to hide from?
A/N- hope you like it and every 100 powerstone gets extra chapter of Jason