Chapter 660 - 660: World Transmutation — Purgatory

After obtaining the Philosopher's Stone from Iruzala's workshop, the group wasted no time and immediately headed back toward Gold Owl.

"Our opponents are alchemists, and ultimately we're dealing with the will of Viernes himself, so everyone needs to stay cautious," Ultear reminded them as they traveled.

"Yeah. At least we have a pretty good idea of who their main members are now."

On the way, everyone compared what they had learned about the Gold Owl members they had encountered so far.

Raizel made a point of warning the others about the Signario Sisters' ability to transmute entire "worlds."

"It's a little strange, and it feels somewhat similar to Mystogan's illusions. Don't assume what you see around you is real."

He then summed up the plan in much simpler terms.

"Anyway, we defeat Duke, use the Philosopher's Stone to force Viernes into a physical form, and then beat the hell out of him."

"That part I understand!" Natsu immediately declared. "Easy!"

When they finally reached Gold Owl's guild hall, Raizel and Natsu took one side of the entrance each and kicked the doors open together.

"HEY, DUKE!!"

"TIME TO SETTLE THIS!!"

What they found beyond the doors, however, stopped everyone in their tracks.

The interior was far too familiar.

The tables, the bar, the decorations, the entire layout—

It was Fairy Tail's own guild hall.

Not only that, but Lisanna, Elfman, Kinana, and even Macao's son Romeo were all there, filling the place with the same noisy, lively atmosphere they knew so well.

"Eh?"

"Why does it look like our guild?" Natsu and Lucy asked almost simultaneously.

"Yo, Lucy! You guys are back already?" Cana greeted her cheerfully before taking another drink.

"Weren't you supposed to be out on a job?"

"MANLY!"

Lucy's eyes widened as cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

"What in the world is going on?"

Levy looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong, Lu-chan? Why do you look so shocked?"

Raizel shook his head.

"No. This isn't Fairy Tail. We saw the building clearly from outside—it was Gold Owl. Either these people are dolls, or they're illusions."

The instant he said that, the atmosphere changed.

The eyes of the supposed Fairy Tail members turned completely black.

Their heads tilted at unnatural angles, and the way they began walking became stiff and distorted, almost like corpses shambling back to life.

Natsu cracked his knuckles and grinned.

"Who cares if they're illusions or dolls? We'll just beat all of them!"

Then he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"HEY!! GILDARTS!! LAXUS!! KURNUGI!! ERZA!! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!!"

"STOP CALLING FOR THE STRONG ONES!!!" Lucy shouted.

Ultear glanced at him. "I feel like one of those names doesn't belong in that list."

Erza awkwardly raised a hand beside them.

"I-I'm already standing right here..."

Then again, Fairy Tail members fighting each other was hardly unusual.

No one there had any reservations about attacking familiar faces once they knew those faces were fake.

Natsu kicked Troy aside, then sent Jet flying with another strike, while Erza showed absolutely no mercy against the false Max and Macao.

Elfman, Loke, Wakaba, Reedus, and the others began falling one after another as the battle rapidly turned in Fairy Tail's favor.

The problem was that the copies could use the Magic of the people they imitated.

While Natsu was happily trading blows with the fake Gajeel and Gray, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck him from the side.

"Gah?!"

Fake Laxus.

At nearly the same time, Erza, Mira, and the others were caught off guard when an imitation of Gildarts suddenly used Crash Magic against them.

None of them had expected the artificial copies to reproduce the originals' abilities so faithfully.

Then violent winds erupted throughout the guild hall.

The gale swept across the room, and by the time it faded, everyone had disappeared.

...

"Hm? Where is this?"

Erza pushed herself up from the ground and looked around.

Somehow, she had been thrown out of the guild hall and into a barren wilderness. Kagura was the only person nearby.

Although the fake Gildarts's Crash Magic had struck them moments earlier, whatever decomposition effect it had caused disappeared the instant they were transported here.

"Kagura, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"No injuries."

The two women stood and brushed the dust from their clothes before examining their surroundings.

There was little around them besides dry grass, bare earth, and scattered skulls.

An enormous bank of dark clouds covered the sky overhead.

Neither woman paid much attention to the scenery for long.

"Raizel!"

"Ultear! Mira! Lucy!"

Their voices echoed across the wasteland, but no one answered.

Erza tried activating her portable communication Lacrima, only to find that it would not function.

She frowned.

"What happened? Where did everyone go? And why were those Fairy Tail members inside Gold Owl?"

A woman's voice answered from nearby.

"Those were human transmutations created by our guild master. And this place was created through my sister Luso's World Transmutation."

The speaker was Luso Signario.

Enny stood beside her and corrected her with her usual arrogant expression.

"No."

"This is Purgatory."

Luso smiled and continued, "Once you fall into this place, it's over. You can't return to the real world until the flames of hell have burned you away completely."

The sisters had certainly been terrified after Raizel destroyed Luso's world and shattered Enny's armor with a single attack.

But after returning to Gold Owl, Duke had filled their heads with talk about how courage could only exist in the presence of fear.

His words had apparently worked.

The Signario Sisters had recovered their confidence, rebuilt their alchemical armor, and returned to the fight.

Erza and Kagura immediately settled into combat stances.

Enny lowered her head slightly, looking thoroughly uninterested.

"I don't particularly care about either of you."

Luso, by contrast, wore a playful smile.

"But since you're already here, why don't the Signario Sisters keep you company for a while?"

"It's the guild master's order," Enny added.

...

Elsewhere, Mira and Lucy found themselves facing two familiar opponents of their own.

Mira rose to her feet and immediately looked toward Lucy.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!" Lucy shook her head, then hurriedly looked around. "Where did everyone else go?"

Gennai and Kotetsu were already walking toward them.

"They probably fell into the other Purgatory worlds," Gennai said.

He struck a pose.

"As for the two of you, Gennai-san and Kotetsu will personally be your opponents."

Kotetsu's voice remained as emotionless as ever.

"Why are they both women? I have no interest in small fry."

Lucy's fist clenched.

Then clenched harder.

"What did you just say?!"

Mira, on the other hand, covered her mouth and laughed softly.

"Ara, ara. We're being underestimated again. Why is it always the people who aren't particularly strong themselves who talk the biggest?"

She turned toward Lucy with a smile.

"Come on, Lucy. Let's show them what Fairy Tail's resident writer and poster girl can do."

"Exactly!" Lucy declared. "And if I ever publish an autobiography, I'm going to make sure every last one of these annoying idiots gets a special mention!"

She had already begun imagining the book.

...

Raizel, meanwhile, found himself standing alone in the middle of a desert.

And waiting for him was the man who had once been considered Ishgar's strongest Mage—God Serena, who had somehow died after Raizel defeated him and was later reconstructed as a doll.

Raizel sighed the moment he saw him.

"Why did I get you? Was there seriously nobody else available?"

He actually raised his head toward the sky.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me? I'd like to request a different opponent!"

God Serena was completely unfazed by the insult. If anything, Raizel's reaction only made him more enthusiastic as he struck another pose.

"The others are busy intercepting your companions in the other Purgatory worlds. As for how the opponents were assigned... I don't care! GOD!"

Although being reconstructed as a doll had done absolutely nothing to cure Serena of his flamboyant personality, one thing had changed.

He now obeyed Duke's orders.

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