After the commotion died down, with Gajeel and the others heading out for work, the guild hall became unusually quiet.
At the bar counter.
Chase munched on a hot chicken leg, glanced back at Natsu sulking in a corner, and asked Mirajane, "The Demon King's power... it's not just demonization, is it?"
Aside from demonization, the Demon King also possessed another key ability: Absorption.
"Mm. I can also absorb biological energy and convert it into magic power. I tested it on everyone earlier—the effect was quite impressive."
Mirajane paused her work of wiping the counter with a cloth. Recalling the endless stream of magic power that had surged through her in Demon King mode, she smiled and said, "Thank you, Chase. For me right now, this is an absolutely wonderful gift."
After this period of recovery and adjustment—having been closed away for two and a half years—her magic power had been restored to its peak. But the training time she had lost couldn't be made up for. As a result, each time she used Take Over of a demon soul, the duration was quite limited.
Especially with high-burst forms like Demon Satan and Demon God Halphas—their magic power consumption was extremely rapid. Basically, after a few blasts, she was forced to relieve the form.
But in Demon King mode, both the ability to demonize nearby creatures to attack enemies and the more direct absorption nicely make up for this flaw.
From this perspective, the Demon King Take Over—whose destructive power wasn't particularly huge—was more of a support type. It granted her the ability to fight continuously!
Even though she was quite competitive now and no longer as competitive as before, Mirajane felt genuinely happy at the thought that she could use this power to better protect the guild and her comrades.
More importantly, this was a gift from Chase!
"We're close enough that you don't have to be so formal."
Chase took the handkerchief Mirajane casually handed him, wiped his mouth, and suddenly shifted topics with enthusiasm. "Mira, once you've fully mastered the Demon King form, have a good, all-out fight with me!"
With his cheat-like abilities, he was growing stronger far faster than ordinary people. The gap between him and Mirajane would only keep widening.
If he didn't seize this perfect opportunity—now that Mirajane had gained sustained combat capability—the chances of getting new cards from her in the future would be negligible.
"No problem. But don't blame me if you end up getting beaten so badly you have to pick your teeth off the floor~" Mirajane agreed quite readily.
Like Erza and the others, she naturally knew that his magic, Duelist Soul, required continuous growth through battle.
"Heh heh, don't worry. I definitely won't hold back!" Chase clenched his fist, full of confidence.
"Uh..." Mirajane's eye twitched.
Was this crazy card guy seriously planning to go all out?
Having witnessed Chase's battles against Jellal and Laxus with her own eyes, she truly believed he had already surpassed her—surpassed Erza. He might have even reached the level of a monster like Gildarts.
Even with her Demon King Take Over, there was no way she would win!
Watching Chase's bright smile, Mirajane suddenly regretted agreeing so quickly. She really was going to get pummeled!
This was a bit too impulsive...
"Mirajane, since you can demonize other people, can you turn demons affected by the Demon King's power back into humans?"
Lucy suddenly appeared, interjecting the conversation and breaking the slightly awkward silence.
She had come up with the question while chatting with Éclair. She wanted to ask on behalf of the Demon Village villagers.
According to the old village chief, they planned to move out of Bondari Forest—which was infested with fierce beasts—and find a remote, safe area to continue living, just like the demons on Galuna Island.
If there was a chance to turn back into humans, they would have far more options for places to settle. And they wouldn't have to worry about running into a "Demon Hunter" like Silver.
"Sorry, Lucy. Though I might be able to do that, I can't make the effect permanent."
Knowing what Lucy had in mind, Mirajane let out a soft sigh.
In her Take Over form, she did have the ability to reverse a demon's demonization. But fundamentally, she wasn't a true demon like those from the demon plane. Doing so would require her to continuously maintain magical output.
Obviously, that wasn't very realistic.
"I see..." Lucy looked disappointed. She turned back to Éclair and Momon with an apologetic look.
"The old village chief and the others have already decided to live their own way. You don't need to worry about them so much. Here—" Chase pulled a card containing a large number of coins from his pocket. "I was in a bit of a hurry yesterday. Forgot to give you this."
"After accounting for the property damage to the village, the actual reward from this quest came to 12 million Jewels. Like we agreed, half each. Lucy, you get 6 million."
"Ho-how much? S-six million?!" The apology on Lucy's face instantly vanished, replaced by sparkling gold coin symbols deep in her wide eyes.
With so much going on, she had actually forgotten about the extremely important matter of the quest reward!
Trembling, she took the card. Seeing the small mountain of coins displayed on its surface, the poor, broke Lucy was so excited she could barely speak. Her smile was so wide it was crooked.
Six million! That's six million!
Converted to rent, that was enough for her to rent her place for seven whole years!
The Heartfilia heiress had truly gone poor crazy—the first thing she thought of upon getting money was rent...
"Happy, come quick! Lucy's become rich!" Natsu smelled the opportunity and came running over.
"Aye~ Lucy! I want fish! Lots and lots of fish! And only the heads—throw the rest away!" Happy stared at the card in Lucy's hand, drooling.
"Don't even think about it! I earned this myself!" Lucy quickly clutched the card to her chest, looking at Natsu and Happy with intense caution and suspicion.
"Scrooge. You've been in the guild this long and you've never treated us to anything good."
"Forget it, Natsu. Lucy's rich now. It's only natural she looks down on us."
Natsu and Happy acted in concert, starting to stir pressure on Lucy.
"Haven't you two freeloaded at my place enough already?!" Lucy instantly switched into rage mode, her teeth gritted.
But seeing the pitiful looks on Natsu and Happy's faces, her heart softened.
And this time, she had gone on a quest without the strongest team, going with Chase instead.
At that thought, the kind-hearted Lucy sighed and held her forehead. She decided to properly compensate the two of them. "Fine! But only today! Eat whatever you want in the guild—I'm paying!"
"Really? I knew it—Lucy, you're the best!!"
Having succeeded in playing the sympathy card, Natsu and Happy immediately perked up. They eagerly scampered off to Mirajane to order the premium Flame Set and limited-edition ocean fish.
Just as Lucy thought she had finally gotten rid of those two, little did she know that their conversation had already been overheard by their thoroughly interested guildmates.
"Well then, I won't hold back either. Hey Mirajane, I'll take the most expensive red wine you've got."
"Um, Lucy, if it's alright, I'd like to have the deluxe strawberry cake."
Gray and Erza—also members of the strongest team—were the first to arrive. Next came Levy, Cana, and others. Even Loke had hurried back from the Celestial Spirit World to take advantage of the offer.
In no time, the bar counter was packed with people crazily placing orders.
"Wh-what?! Wait, I—"
Lucy panicked. Just as she tried to explain, she was physically pushed out of the way by her guildmates. She found herself crouched in an unnoticed corner, silently weeping.
"MY WALLET!!!"
***
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