Chapter 619 - 619: Fighting in Swapped Bodies

"Erza? What are you looking at?"

Back at Fairy Tail, the guild members were busy packing their belongings and preparing to depart for the battlefield against the Alvarez Empire.

Lucy noticed Erza sitting on a bench, studying a thick stack of papers with unusual concentration, and wandered over curiously.

"The plans for our new house," Erza replied without looking up.

"A new house? You've already got blueprints?"

Lucy leaned closer.

The moment she saw the architectural drawings spread across Erza's lap, she sucked in a sharp breath.

"That's enormous! You're building a whole mansion?!"

As a genuine heiress who had grown up in one of Fiore's wealthiest households, Lucy could immediately appreciate the scale of the proposed estate.

The overall grounds were comparable to her family's old property, but the residential buildings themselves were even larger.

Carla, who was helping Erza revise the interior designs, explained casually, "It's Ankh's new house. He specifically hired Ishgar's most famous architect and one of its best construction teams."

Wendy sat nearby wearing a pair of Wind-Reading Glasses. She smiled as she added, "Ankh-san said there are more and more people living with him, so his current home isn't really suitable anymore."

Ankh's existing estate had been purchased with the money he earned from commissions shortly after beginning his career as a mage.

Although it was technically a manor, it was one of the smaller properties in that category.

Still, under normal circumstances, there shouldn't have been any shortage of living space.

Lucy felt the corner of her mouth twitch.

Then she thought about Ankh's personality.

Who knew how many new residents might end up joining that household in the future?

Besides, Ankh apparently intended to install a teleportation array linking his new home to the country he had purchased in Ishgar. The estate would also need space for various magical experiments and research facilities.

And then there were the personal requirements of its increasingly numerous residents…

"Erza…"

Lucy pointed toward a particular section of the blueprints.

"Why is your entire bedroom filled with armor?"

She stared at the storage arrangements in disbelief.

"Can't you keep that stuff in a warehouse?"

Erza scratched her head.

"The warehouse is full."

Lucy fell silent.

Wendy gave an awkward little laugh and hurriedly tried to help.

"It's alright! Levy-san is helping reorganize the extra underground storage rooms. There should be plenty of space once she's finished."

She turned toward the nearby worktable.

"Isn't that right, Levy-sa—"

Her voice abruptly changed pitch.

"LEVY-SIR?!"

The last word came out as a terrified squeak.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Levy, who had been working quietly nearby, raised her head in confusion.

She casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking completely unaware that anything was strange.

Lucy nearly fell backward.

Then she pointed at her in horror.

"GAJEEL?! WEREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE RUINS?!"

"Gajeel?"

Levy froze for a second.

Then her expression brightened, and she eagerly turned around.

"Where?!"

But there was nobody behind her.

When she looked back, all she found were her friends staring at her with identical expressions of terror.

Erza was visibly shaken.

Then guilt washed across her face.

"Levy…"

She clenched her fists.

"Have you been working so hard to help me that you've actually turned into Gajeel?!"

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR AIRHEADED THEORIES!"

Lucy barely managed to restrain herself from launching into a longer tirade.

Instead, she grabbed a mirror and placed it directly in front of Levy.

A second later, a terrified scream echoed throughout the entire guild hall.

...

Meanwhile, the other victim of the body swap was having a considerably worse time.

Gajeel was currently trapped in Levy's petite body, desperately scrambling away from Sai's relentless chain attacks.

"Damn it!"

He tried to accelerate, only to feel his limbs respond with what seemed to him like the strength of overcooked noodles.

For someone accustomed to the extraordinary physical power of an Iron Dragon Slayer, the difference was almost unbearable.

He gritted his teeth.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Or at least, that was what he intended.

What came out was a rather delicate shout in Levy's voice, accompanied by a few miserable droplets of saliva.

Gajeel froze.

"...Huh?"

Sai burst into hysterical laughter.

"Hahahaha! How does it feel being a woman?!"

Still laughing, he swung his arm.

His Destruction Chain shot forward at tremendous speed, forcing Gajeel to abandon his bewilderment and scramble away with both hands protecting his head.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Juvia immediately intervened.

Water surged around Gajeel's small body, protecting him from the incoming chains.

At the same time, Juvia brought both arms down in a rapid series of slashing movements, the water surrounding them forming deadly blades.

Sai sneered.

"Two women? What are you going to—"

His spiked chains pierced straight through Juvia's body.

But before he could even finish celebrating, her water blades swept across him.

"AAAH!"

Several bloody wounds opened across Sai's torso.

The impact sent him tumbling across the floor like a discarded rag doll.

Meanwhile, the holes left by his chains in Juvia's body simply filled with flowing water, restoring her form almost instantly.

Sai staggered upright.

His eyes widened.

"That's some incredibly advanced Water Magic!"

He stared at her, genuinely astonished.

"A woman can be that strong?!"

Sai apparently possessed certain deeply ingrained prejudices.

Juvia gave him an indignant look.

"Hmph! There are plenty of powerful female mages in this world!"

"Doesn't your own guild have any?"

Sai blinked.

Then realization dawned.

He struck one fist against his opposite palm.

"Oh, right! Like the Signario Sisters!"

His expression became more serious.

"Looks like I underestimated you."

Sai carefully examined the two figures standing before him, one tall and one short, as he began reconsidering his strategy.

The tiny one who had been transformed into a girl was no longer much of a threat.

The important opponent was this water woman.

Then an idea struck him.

A vicious grin spread across his face.

"For someone like you, using Love Bond might actually summon an even stronger mage…"

He lowered his voice.

"So I'll have to try something else."

Gajeel immediately recognized what was happening.

"Juvia! Watch out!"

He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away.

"Don't let him hit you with that weird stuff! His abilities are completely messed up!"

Despite her earlier enthusiasm for the possibility of swapping bodies with Gray, Juvia wasn't foolish enough to stand still and let an enemy attack her.

She immediately retreated.

Unfortunately, alchemy didn't operate quite like conventional magic.

Sai didn't need to gather a large amount of Magic Power or spend several seconds preparing a spell.

A faint but extremely complicated energy structure formed around him.

Then it spread outward.

Juvia felt something envelop her body.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She immediately retreated several more meters before hurriedly checking herself for injuries.

Nothing seemed to hurt.

But when she lowered her head and looked at her body—

her entire world seemed to collapse.

...

Back at Fairy Tail, everyone had gathered around Levy, who was now inhabiting Gajeel's body.

The strange transformation had become the guild's latest mystery.

Natsu curiously reached out and knocked on Levy's iron-studded head.

"Whoa! It really is exactly the same!"

He tapped it again.

"Even the hardness!"

"Stop messing around!"

Lucy glared at him.

"Levy-chan is already worried sick!"

Levy sat there with a miserable expression.

But she wasn't particularly worried about what had happened to herself.

Her greatest concern was Gajeel.

If their bodies had suddenly been exchanged, what was happening to him at the ruins?

Had he been attacked?

Was he injured?

And how was he supposed to fight while trapped in her body?

Selene, who had temporarily taken on the role of diagnosing the guild's latest bizarre magical ailment, finished examining Levy and gave her conclusion.

"Alchemy."

Everyone turned toward her.

"An alchemist has apparently exchanged the locations of your minds and bodies."

Levy frowned.

"Can you undo it?"

Selene shook her head, carefully avoiding the deeply unsettling sight of a large, intimidating man with Gajeel's delinquent face behaving like a worried young woman.

"The effect should wear off when its duration expires. Defeating the alchemist responsible would also work."

Gray nodded thoughtfully.

"That doesn't sound too bad, then."

He folded his arms.

"Ankh and Laxus should both be somewhere near Gajeel, so—"

He stopped.

"...Huh?!"

Everyone jumped at his sudden exclamation.

Natsu turned toward him irritably.

"What now?!"

Gray didn't answer.

His eyes had gone wide.

He slowly raised one hand and pointed.

The others followed his finger.

Their gazes settled on Natsu.

Or rather…

on the girl standing beside Natsu.

Lucy.

Except the person standing there now had Juvia's appearance.

To be precise—

it was Lucy, trapped inside Juvia's body.