Chapter 78: No Fucking Way

As the deafening roar echoed through the corridor, Future Lucy’s breath hitched. Her knees buckled and she hit the cold stone, her body trembling violently. The color drained from her face, her dilated eyes wide with paralyzing terror.

"It’s over..." she whispered, her voice cracking with despair. "They’re here... the dragons are here..."

She clutched her hair with trembling hands as tears spilled over her cheeks, the suffocating weight of failure crushing her chest. I failed. I came all this way, and I couldn’t save anyone. Everyone is going to die again.

A hand suddenly settled on her head.

The steady pressure broke her spiral. Future Lucy blinked through her blurred vision, looking up to find Rudra staring down at her with a calm, unbothered expression.

"Why are you crying, girl?" he asked softly.

She touched her wet cheek, her shoulders shaking. "Because... because nothing changed. No matter what I do, the nightmare just follows..."

Rudra let out a quiet sigh. His thumb brushed a tear from her cheek before he stepped back. "Drop the despair. As long as I’m standing here, whatever hell happened in your timeline isn’t touching this one."

Future Lucy gave a dull, empty nod, staring at the floor. The words were comforting, but her heart was too numb with trauma to truly believe them.

Turning his gaze away, Rudra looked toward Natsu and Wendy, who both stood frozen, staring blankly toward the source of the roar.

"What are you two waiting for?" Rudra asked, raising an eyebrow.

Natsu blinked, snapping out of his daze. "Huh?"

"The dragons are here," Rudra said flatly, gesturing with his thumb toward the crumbling exit. "Aren’t you two Dragon Slayers? Go do your job."

Natsu’s eyes widened as a spark ran through him. A wild grin split his face, and he slammed his flaming fists together. "He’s right! I’m fired up now!"

"Right!" Wendy cheered, her timidness vanishing as she fell into step behind him. Within seconds, the two Dragon Slayers and the Exceeds bolted down the hallway toward the courtyard, ready for war.

Present Lucy watched them go before turning to Rudra, her hand resting nervously on her Celestial Keys. "What about me? What should I do?"

Rudra glanced at her, his eyes softening just a fraction. "Keep yourself and your future self safe. Leave the rest to us."

Before she could respond, space distorted around him, and Rudra vanished into thin air, leaving both Lucys alone in the echoing, dust-filled hallway.

Present Lucy stood still for a moment, letting out a long breath, then crouched down and wrapped an arm around her future self’s trembling shoulders.

"Come on," Present Lucy said softly, her eyes blazing with quiet determination. "Let’s go watch them win."

Future Lucy didn’t answer. She simply wiped the tears from her pale cheeks, forced herself up from the cold floor, and silently followed her past self down the corridor.

Further down the subterranean passages leading to the courtyard, Rudra walked at a leisurely pace toward the massive Eclipse Gate.

Before he could take another step, a blur of purple and black energy tore through the ceiling. A demonic figure crashed directly into the hallway, blocking his path. Spiky blue flames crackled around her body, and long, jagged wings flexed behind her back.

It was Mirajane—fully clad in her Sitri form. But as she looked up, her usual gentle eyes were gone, replaced by a ruthless, demonic glare. Sitri had taken total control.

Rudra stopped, blinking in confusion as he looked at her transformation. "Mira? What are you—"

Before he could finish, Sitri lunged forward, grabbed him firmly by his jacket collar, and violently shook him back and forth.

"Didn’t I specifically tell you NOT to open the gate?!" Sitri roared, her dual-layered demonic voice echoing off the stone walls. "Why is it open?!"

"How the hell should I know?!" Rudra yelled back, trying to pry her clawed fingers off his clothes. "The only person who can even open the damn thing was literally locked in a cell with me ten minutes ago!"

Sitri bared her fangs, tugging his collar even tighter. "It doesn’t matter who opened it! Go close it right now before HE gets through!"

"Who is ’he’?!"

"Mundus!" Sitri barked, giving his collar another vicious jerk. "I told you he was trying to use the Eclipse Gate to pull his past self into the present!"

Rudra stared at her, deadpan. "Hey. Hold on a second. This is literally the first time you’re telling me this."

Sitri froze mid-shake, blinking her sharp eyes. "It is?"

"Yes! You never said a word about this!"

"Well, now you know!" she snapped, tossing her hands up in frustration before grabbing him right back by the leather. "So move your ass and do something before he gets through and everyone dies!"

"Okay, okay! I’m going! Just let go of the jacket!" Rudra grumbled, swatting her clawed hands away. Space distorted around him, and he vanished on the spot.

Silence returned to the quiet corridor.

Sitri’s dark consciousness abruptly retreated back into the depths of the Take Over magic, relinquishing control. The intense demonic aura surrounding Mirajane flickered and dissolved, reverting her back to her usual white-haired, soft-spoken self.

Mirajane blinked, brushing dust off her skirt as she looked around the empty, ruined hallway in complete bewilderment.

"...Wait," she whispered, tilting her head. "What am I doing here? Wasn’t I just helping Erza fight a dragon...?"

She raised a hand to her chin, a tiny crease forming between her brows as she tried to piece together the lost minutes. The subterranean passage was completely silent now, save for the distant, muffled rumbles echoing from the courtyard above. A faint smell of sulfur and ozone hung heavy in the air—the lingering signature of Sitri’s spiky blue flames.

Mirajane’s eyes widened slightly as the realization hit.

Did Sitri take over again?

She let out a soft, embarrassed sigh, resting a hand against her cheek. "Oh dear... I really hope I didn’t cause too much trouble for anyone."

____

Meanwhile, absolute ruin reigned over the central plaza of the Grand Palace.

The massive Eclipse Gate stood wide open, its dark archway pulsing with malevolent magic. Giant, monstrous silhouettes surged through the blinding light, unleashing chaos upon the world.

Princess Hisui collapsed to her knees, her royal robes torn and stained with soot. She clutched her head, her breath coming in panicked, desperate hitches.

"I... I opened it..." Hisui sobbed, her voice breaking. "I trusted him... I thought I was saving the kingdom..."

Deafening screams echoed through the night as towering dragons swarmed the courtyard, crushing stone pillars and scattering the royal army. Weapons shattered uselessly against their ancient hides; soldiers burned to ash in seconds.

"What have I done...?" Hisui whimpered, tears spilling down her pale face. "I doomed everyone..."

A massive shadow fell over her.

The temperature plunged as a colossal dragon towered above her, crimson flames flickering in its throat. It stared down at the helpless princess, its jaws opening wide.

Hisui squeezed her eyes shut, curling into a ball. I’m sorry... everyone...

SCHWING!

A flash of blinding silver light severed the sky.

"Looks like I came right on time."

The deafening roar cut short. A heavy, sickening thud echoed across the plaza as the dragon’s massive head slammed onto the stone floor directly in front of Hisui, its body collapsing lifeless behind it.

Hisui gasped, her eyes snapping open.

Standing atop the severed head was Rudra. Yamato clicked smoothly back into its scabbard with a sharp, metallic snap. He casually tossed his hands into his pockets, looking down at her through the clearing smoke.

Hisui stared, her chest heaving as tears streamed down her face. "Rudra...!"

He offered a faint smirk. "Sit tight, Princess."

Turning toward the colossal Eclipse Gate, Rudra drew Yamato. In a fraction of a millisecond, space folded around him and he vanished, reappearing directly in front of the ancient structure. He swung the blade down in a lethal, dimensional arc meant to cleave the portal into atomized ribbons.

CLANG!

An explosive shockwave detonated across the courtyard. Instead of slicing stone, Yamato slammed into an absolute force that deflected the strike with earth-shattering power. The violent feedback blasted Rudra backward. He flipped cleanly mid-air, his boots skidding hard across the ruined tiles until he came to a stop in front of Hisui.

Rudra narrowed his eyes, wiping a stray drop of blood from his cheek.

The moment his gaze locked onto the shadow stepping through the portal, every hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"...No fucking way," he murmured.

Inside his mind, the System chimed in, its usual dry snark replaced by pure resignation.

[Well. GG, Host. It was nice meeting you.]

Emerging from the Eclipse Gate was not Mundus.

Stepping through the dark rift was a towering, chitinous nightmare clad in organic plate armor that radiated suffocating pressure. Two massive, segmented wings flared behind him like obsidian blades, casting a shadow over the entire plaza. Four slit-like eyes burned with cold authority from a demonic visor, framed by a long, silver mane. Resting casually in his hand was a skull-adorned broadsword that warped the ambient magic of Earth-land simply by existing.

"The Legendary Dark Knight. Sparda."

Sparda’s four eyes swept over the ruined plaza — the fallen dragon, the trembling princess, the blade in Rudra’s hand — before settling, finally, on Yamato.

"That sword," he said quietly. "Where did you get it."

It wasn’t a question.

Rudra didn’t answer. He just tightened his grip on the hilt, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, felt something close to fear.