Elysia narrowed her eyes slightly, then suddenly exerted force through her arm and knocked Erza away.
She calmed the restless divine power inside her body and stared at the confident Erza across from her with an unreadable look.
Elysia was extremely confident in her talent. In fact, she could even be called proud.
Among Fairy Tail's new generation, aside from her foolish little brother and Galena, almost no one could last ten moves against her.
But when it came to her parents' generation, everything was reversed…
Even after inheriting the power of the God of Combat and Technique, Elysia had never been able to last ten moves against her mother.
And that was in close combat, the field she was most confident in!
The same was true for the other uncles and aunties.
As long as they were not deliberately playing around with her, every one of them was confident they could knock her down within a few exchanges.
As for her father, there was even less to say.
When Elysia was little, she had once gathered her courage and challenged Ankh to a no-rules match.
The ending was happy for everyone.
Elysia slept very peacefully, and her dad was only a step away from kneeling on the ground and begging her not to die…
That was why, from then on, she understood something: inheriting a god's power did not mean becoming invincible in that field—her old man was the exception.
The identity of a god successor only meant possessing the world's highest talent and aptitude in that domain.
The final result still depended on one's own effort.
Just like now.
Elysia had believed that defeating her mother when she was young would be no problem, yet her own divine power was showing signs of rebellion.
When gods chose their successors, some preferred to cultivate many candidates, while others preferred to select only the person most suited to their divine power.
Atush was the latter.
Back then, he had taken interest in Elysia because she had inherited her parents' terrifying talent.
Only a few days after she was born, her little fists were already swinging with remarkable force, revealing a unique gift for combat.
But now, while Elysia was fighting Erza, Atush seemed to view Erza's aptitude more favorably.
Fortunately, Atush's inheritance still had some integrity.
Elysia only felt a considerable amount of divine power flowing toward her mother, while the inheritance itself did not waver.
Erza looked at the demon blade in her hand, a little surprised.
Just now, it had felt as though enlightenment had been poured into her mind. Her movements in battle had suddenly become even smoother and more natural.
What a miraculous power.
Erza swung the demon blade lightly and could not help smiling. "Sorry. This power of yours is pretty good."
Elysia sighed, put away the blade in her hand, then raised both hands and gave up with complete honesty.
"I surrender, I surrender."
"Hm?"
Erza froze.
Elysia hooked the bag containing the Celestial Globe off the ground with her foot and tossed it toward her, then explained, "I'm from the future. I'm Ankh's eldest daughter. You can confirm it with Galena and the others."
Hearing that, Erza's eyes widened, and her mind failed to react for a moment.
Then she opened the bag. Seeing that the Celestial Globe really was inside, she asked in confusion.
"Then why did you avoid us?"
Elysia spread her hands. "Because this is my mission. According to the records, the sacred land of the Celestial Spirits is the crossing point between the Celestial Spirit World and the human world. The Celestial Globe is not only the item needed to perform the ritual, but also the key tool to open a rift into the Celestial Spirit World."
In truth, after Elysia recognized Erza's group, she had known that the guild had probably sent Galena and the others to support her for this mission.
As for why she had run away with the Celestial Globe, it was purely because she wanted to lure Erza over and play a little.
Erza frowned and thought for a moment. "In that case… we still have to bring the Celestial Globe to the sacred land of the Celestial Spirits. But those corrupted Celestial Spirits…"
Elysia shrugged, then cheerfully hooked an arm around Erza's shoulder.
"It's fine. Worst case, we deal with the Celestial Spirits first, then go to the Celestial Spirit World."
"That does seem to be the only way…"
Erza nodded.
Then she turned to look at Elysia's increasingly familiar pretty face, along with that brilliantly eye-catching scarlet hair, and in the end, she still could not hold back another question.
"Your mother is…"
"Mirajane!"
Elysia lied without changing her expression, even blinking her big innocent eyes twice.
"But your hair…"
Erza grew anxious and pointed at Elysia's hair, which was exactly the same red as her own.
Elysia tossed her long hair and continued lying with perfect confidence.
"I told you, I dyed it! Auntie Erza's hair is really pretty, after all."
"Oh. I see…"
Seeing Erza look like a wronged little puppy with drooping ears, Elysia could not help turning her head away and covering her mouth to snicker.
"Erza! And… little Erza?"
At that moment, Natsu and Gajeel finally caught up.
From a distance, the two of them looked at Erza and Elysia as if they were a pair of red-haired sisters.
Elysia openly gave them a sailor-style salute and greeted them.
"Yo! Uncle Natsu, Iron Uncle!"
"Uncle?"
Gajeel's face darkened at the way she addressed him.
He turned to Erza and asked, "Ankh's daughter?"
Erza nodded.
Natsu thoughtfully looked Elysia up and down before saying, "So she's Ankh and Erza's daughter?"
"Nope. My mama is Mirajane," Elysia said with her hands on her hips, continuing to lie confidently.
However, both Natsu and Gajeel looked completely unconvinced.
It was one thing to fool Erza, but don't treat our brains like decorations!
…
While the mischievous daughter on this side was teasing her innocent mother, Lucy and Levy were having a miserable time on the other side…
"Hand over the Celestial Globe!"
The corrupted Pisces was a mother-and-son Celestial Spirit pair.
At this moment, a shark treating the earth like an ocean was charging toward them with an ugly-looking kappa youth riding on its back.
"We already said we haven't found it!"
Lucy and Levy screamed as they dodged Pisces's attacks, fleeing in panic.
Without her keys, Lucy had been reduced to a total weakling in combat.
The elemental attacks such as flames that Levy summoned through her word magic were all eaten by the shark, Keyes, leaving the two of them with almost no ability to fight back.
Fortunately, there were still several extremely filial children here.
"Get away from her!"
Kappa Pisces was standing on the shark's back when a loud roar suddenly erupted from the side, followed by scorching heat.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
A fist exactly like Natsu's, though slightly weaker in heat and force, came smashing over. Kappa Pisces quickly lowered his head, and Naciel's flaming fist grazed past his scalp.
Both of them then fell to the ground.
Lucy cheered with perfect timing. "Good job, Naciel!"
The scene was extremely familiar, almost exactly the same as when Lucy used to cheer Natsu on…
"You damn little girl!"
Seeing that her precious son had nearly had his face burned, the shark Keyes immediately flew into a rage and lunged toward Naciel, opening her bloody mouth to bite her.
But she crashed headfirst into an invisible barrier.
Garell stood in front of Naciel with his hands in his pockets, looking arrogant.
Dark-purple letters floated at his fingertips as he said, "If you want to save your son, try getting past me first."
"You damn brat!"