In the end, Éclair stayed with the guild. With Lucy's introduction, her fellow guildmates accepted the cute new priestess without almost any hesitation.
"That was way easier than I expected. I thought they'd at least want a blood sample, but they didn't even ask about my background..."
Éclair sat at a table in the corner of the guild, Momon beside her. Across from them sat Erza and Happy.
"Fairy Tail doesn't care about its members' pasts. Once you join, you're family, Éclair," Erza said, her gaze gentle.
The confusion in Éclair's eyes unavoidably reminded Erza of her own situation when she had first escaped the Tower of Heaven and come to the guild. Her voice was filled with emotion and gratitude.
"Mm. Thank you, Erza," Éclair said with a small bow.
"So don't be so formal. Just treat this place like your own home." A smile rested on Erza's face.
"Aye! That's right!"
Happy raised his paw in agreement. With uncharacteristic generosity, he hopped onto the table with an attentive look and pulled out a prized fresh fish from behind his back. "Do you want some fish?"
"Th-thank you, but I just had breakfast. I'm not very hungry right now." Éclair politely waved her hand.
Having met Lucy and Chase first, she had developed a pre-existing affection for the mages of this guild. She was nothing like the cold, silent Éclair who had first arrived at Fairy Tail in the movie.
More than that, what she was really curious about was why this cat could talk like a human.
It didn't look anything like Momon, who was a doll with its own consciousness...
"Okay, then what about you, Momon? You're a bird, so you must like fish, right?"
As if he had already decided on his target, Happy immediately turned around and presented the fish to the yellow-feathered Momon.
Though he didn't show it, surrounded by humans in the guild, he had long wanted a "fellow creature" like Momon as a little sister.
Hearing this, Erza's eyes went wide with utter shock. "A bird? I thought it was something like a little yellow duck!"
"Um, actually... Momon's name means 'mouse.'"
Éclair, as Momon's creator, corrected the mistake with a completely serious face.
Momon: "..."
Is it really appropriate for you to be discussing my species classification like this?
I'm a doll! Éclair's best friend!!
"Heheh, Éclair, how old are you? Got a boyfriend?"
A lecherous middle-aged voice suddenly came from behind, starting both Éclair and Momon.
It was Wakaba, hearts practically floating from his eyes.
"Damn! That bastard got to her before I could!" Macao, not far away, gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Wakaba, don't scare the new member. And your ash is on the floor. Clean it up immediately!" Erza's gaze turned fierce.
"Y-yes ma'am!"
The oppressive presence of the true Hall Monitor washed over him. Feeling the chill, Wakaba immediately straightened up and obediently bent down to clean the ash.
Seeing this, Macao suddenly felt that being a step behind might not be such a bad thing.
The rescued Éclair blinked in amazement. What a powerful aura! Completely different from Lucy!
Wait, come to think of it... Lucy mentioned last night that Erza is the guild's strongest female mage—a terrifying monster absolutely not to be crossed?
For a moment, the new guild rookie sat up straight like a four-hundred-year-old child, her gaze toward Erza now mixed with a hint of fear.
Lucy, Chase... please come back soon... I can't handle this...
As Cana, Bisca, Max, and others came over to say hello, Éclair—unaccustomed to interacting with people—frantically called out for Lucy and Chase in her heart.
But at that moment, the two siblings were destined to have no time to come to her rescue.
Lucy, having just displayed her monstrous strength, was now being pestered by Natsu and Elfman, who kept shouting, "Fight me!" and couldn't escape.
As for Chase, he was sitting at the bar, telling Mirajane about his experiences on the SS-Class Quest.
"The Demon King and the Phoenix... I never expected that quest to involve two legendary magical creatures. And on top of that, you were attacked by the dark guild Tartaros."
Mirajane rested her cheek on one hand, softly remarking, "No wonder no one's been able to complete it for so long..."
Just from Chase's description, she could already imagine how difficult the quest must have been.
Even setting aside the Council's involvement due to the Demon King's full awakening and the interference from Tartaros, under normal circumstances, this quest might have well been upgraded again—into a Ten-Year Quest!
"It was definitely more than I bargained for. But on the flip side, I also got something unexpected out of it."
With that, Chase pulled out the card containing the Demon King's Egg and handed it to Mirajane. "Here. A souvenir for you."
"For me, having you and Lucy come back safe is already the best gift~"
That said, hearing that the card freak had actually prepared a gift for her, Mirajane was still absolutely delighted.
After nearly three years together, this was the first time she had received a present from Chase. Beaming, she snatched the card at lightspeed.
"What's this?"
A magic circle expanded, and a milky-white stone egg materialized from the golden light, coming into Mirajane's view.
"The Demon King's Egg. Strictly speaking, it's a type of demon. I thought you might be able to Take Over the power inside, so I brought it back," Chase explained.
"Oh, I see..." Mirajane's face clearly showed disappointment.
She had thought it would be some kind of accessory or trinket—the kind of souvenir a girl would appreciate.
That faint trace of disappointment was soon replaced by a serious, focused expression. From the Demon Egg, Mirajane could sense extremely violent, evil energy!
That dense demonic fluctuation was identical to that of Demon Satan and Demon God Halphas!
"I'll give it a try."
Realizing that the Demon Egg was no ordinary object, Mirajane slowly stood up. She placed both pale hands on the surface of the egg, closed her eyes, and channeled her full magic power to perform Take Over Magic.
As a dark purple magic circle expanded, the Demon Egg on the counter began to shake violently, continuously emitting black smoke.
An evil, icy presence exploded outward, instantly spreading throughout the entire guild.
Everyone in the room jumped at the sensation. They stopped their conversations, every nerve tense, and looked toward the bar with wary eyes.
"Damn you... lowly human... how dare you do this to me!!"
A grating, screeching roar came from the Demon Egg. The Demon King, in his slumbering state, sensed that his power—and even his consciousness—was being forcibly devoured. He flew into a rage.
Under his resistance, Mirajane's brow furrowed deeply. Beads of sweat continually formed on her forehead.
Though the Demon King was currently in an extremely weakened state, the essence of Take Over Magic was to seize demonic power. To avoid the kind of loss of control that Elfman had experienced when taking over the Beast King, Mirajane had to completely erase the Demon King's will and consciousness.
The difficulty and danger of this process were far greater than simply defeating the Demon King through raw power!
Chase could see how strained Mirajane was. Fingertips glowing, he threw out buff Spell Cards: Book of Secret Arts, Mage Power, Pot of Greed, and more.
"HAAAAAAAH!! "
Under the blessing of multiple buffs, Mirajane unleashed a surge of magic power stronger than she had ever shown before.
CRACKLE!
Black lightning arced through the air. A massive black-purple magic circle bloomed in the guild hall.
Gale-force winds howled, whipping the girl's wine-red dress and long white hair into a frenzy.
The Demon King roared in fury, but his voice no longer carried the arrogance and dominance it had before. Instead, there was a note of sheer terror—his consciousness was fading, bit by bit!
The stalemate between them did not last long. After a few dozen seconds, the heart-stopping commotion gradually subsided.
Natsu, Lucy, and the others looked up.
There, in front of the now-disheveled bar counter, black light swirled. Long white twin tails fluttered in the breeze, emphasizing the demonic wings and tail behind her, making them appear even more dominant and badass.
Clad in heavy black armor that somehow still retained a touch of allure, her signature Mirajane bangs framed a pretty face, half of which was covered in dark markings. Her sharp eyes were engraved with ancient runes.
Demon King Mirajane — Take Over successful!
***
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