The Demon King's presence stirred the black mist, drawing it all into Mirajane's body, making her jet-black eyes appear even deeper.
"How does it feel?" Chase asked with a smile.
"It's a bit different from my previous Take Overs... this power..." Mirajane looked down at her clenched demonic fist.
Compared to her usual gentle, kind demeanor, her voice had become much lower in her Demon King form, carrying an invisible oppressive force.
Feeling the endless surge of demonic power, Demon King Mirajane had a sudden impulse. She raised her finger and pointed it at Happy, who was standing on a table across the room.
Words alone would struggle to convey her current state. So she wanted to demonstrate her newly acquired ability to Chase and her guildmates through action.
At the same time, this also served as a simple test and familiarization.
Whoosh!
A dark purple magic circle inscribed with ancient runes bloomed. Dark rings formed at the tip of Demon King Mirajane's finger, spreading outward in all directions, distorting space, and ultimately landing on the adorably dumbfounded Happy.
After a brief calm, Happy began to change. The blue fur on his body rapidly darkened to black. Sharp black armored barbs grew from the tip of his long cat tail.
His unique Exceed wings spread uncontrollably—but their form was no longer the pure white of angelic wings. Instead, they were jet black like those of a night bat, ringed with bony spikes!
Happy was shocked as he noticed the changes in his body.
Seeing that all his guildmates were staring in awe, he quickly flapped his demonic wings and flew to a window in the guild hall. Using the glass's reflection, he got a clear look at his new appearance.
Sleek black armor, sharp claws, eyes glowing red...
A perfect image of a hellish emissary!
"So cool! Is that me? Is that really me?!"
Happy became instantly excited. He flew straight over to Natsu and Lucy, constantly flashing his demonic wings and tail as he showed off. "Natsu! Lucy! Look, look! I've got a badass aesthetic now!!"
Demonization didn't just change a creature's appearance; it also slightly enhanced their physical strength. This was evident from the magical beasts in Bondari Forest.
So now, Happy was looking quite confident.
"Ooooh! That's really cool!" Natsu's eyes sparkled with gold, his voice full of envy.
"Demonization? Mirajane, who took over the Demon King, can actually do something like this?!" Lucy exclaimed.
Even though she had witnessed the Demon King using this ability with her own eyes, seeing Happy transform so effortlessly still made her face fill with disbelief.
Other guildmates similarly gathered around, their eyes full of curiosity as they examined Demon Happy.
Thanks to Big Mouth Lucy, they more or less knew what had happened at the Demon Village. Combined with the scene of Mirajane taking over the Demon Egg just now, it was easy to piece together what was happening.
"That's right, Lucy. I can turn any living creature within my overwriting presence into a demon."
Demon King Mirajane answered Lucy's exclamation. Her beautiful eyes narrowed as she raised both arms high. "The test worked, so let's have everyone experience it~"
With that, an even denser wave of pitch-black rings swept across the entire hall.
Happy: Wait... so I was just a test subject?!
Since this was Mirajane's power, and they were quite interested in their own demonic appearances, none of the guildmates resisted. They stood quietly in place, letting the black light wash over them.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Dark purple magic circles bloomed one after another. With each appearance, another guildmate transformed into a dark demon.
Soon, the guild hall was packed with a dense crowd of "demons," their vicious, brutal presences washing over everyone.
Fairy Tail had quite literally turned into a Tartaros branch!
"Now that's manly! I can finally Take Over demonic power too!" Demon Elfman shouted excitedly.
"Incredible. I can clearly feel my power increasing..." Gray, covered in dark markings, clenched his fist.
"Matching outfits! Matching outfits with Gray-sama!" Demon Juvia approached him with a lovestruck look.
"Even so, Mira, this outfit is way too revealing!" Demon Levy hugged herself shyly.
Jet and Droy, also turned into demons, didn't miss this perfect opportunity. They kept mumbling about how cute Levy was.
Of course, some were less enthusiastic.
For example, Cana—still drinking as usual; Gajeel—crouched in a corner gnawing on iron; Nab—loitering in front of the request board...
As for Éclair and Momon—they remained unchanged. Whether this was due to the Phoenix's power or because Mirajane had given special treatment to the newcomers was unclear.
The latter seemed more likely, since this was an ability belonging to Mirajane now that she had completed the Take Over.
In any case, thanks to Mirajane's antics, the already noisy guild atmosphere became even more heated. Everyone kept chattering, and some of the more hot-tempered members immediately started brawling in their demon forms.
Normally, Natsu would have been at the center of such a commotion. But at that moment, he had no interest in participating. Fuming, he ran up to Mirajane.
"Hey! Mira! What's the big idea?! Why didn't you turn me into a super cool demon?!" Natsu demanded.
Hearing his shout, Lucy—who had been immersed in her own demonization—also took notice. "That's right. Why is Natsu still the same?"
"Aye~ Natsu probably didn't take a bath yesterday!" Demon Happy seized the opportunity to expose Natsu.
At this, the guildmates burst into laughter, mercilessly making fun of him.
"How strange. I definitely cast the spell on Natsu. And the magic feedback suggests the demonization should have been successful..."
Demon King Mirajane rested her chin on one hand, her brows tightly furrowed in genuine confusion.
She certainly wouldn't single Natsu out just because he hadn't bathed—nor did she even know about that.
"I don't care! Turn me into one! Turn me into one right now!!"
Natsu's short temper immediately flared. He grabbed Mirajane's collar and shook it wildly.
"You're being a bit too loud, Natsu." Mirajane's lips curled into a gentle smile.
Only when a chill flowed through his entire body and childhood memories surged into his mind did Natsu snap back to reality. He remembered that the woman before him was Demon Mirajane—someone just as terrifying as Erza!
His noisy shouting stopped abruptly. His hand no longer shook Mirajane's collar. Natsu became instantly well-behaved, his eyes clear and innocent.
"Aye~!" Happy Version 2.0 made a limited comeback.
"It's probably because she just completed the Take Over and the ability isn't stable yet." Chase walked over slowly, offering his assessment.
The real reason, of course, was that Natsu was originally a demon from the Book of Zeref. There was no such thing as "demonization" for him.
But that truth was far too unbelievable. At this stage, it clearly wasn't appropriate to reveal Natsu's identity. So he could only offer a barely passable explanation to gloss things over.
"Indeed. If you channel your magic power like this, it unravels." Erza nodded in agreement.
She let out a soft shout, and the demonic features on her body quickly receded. She had returned to her original human form.
"Oh, so that's how it works. Then I—huh?!"
Lucy took a deep breath, mimicked Erza, and confidently channeled her magic power.
But the result was far from satisfactory. She turned red in the face from the effort and could barely eliminate the demonization on her arms.
She wasn't alone. The other guildmates who tried also encountered more or less resistance. None of them found it as easy as Erza had described.
It was clear that only mages of equal or higher caliber could completely resist Demon King Mirajane's ability!
In the end, it took Mirajane actively to lift the spell she had cast on everyone for the guild's art style to return to normal.
***
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