Chapter 43

The road stretched before them, winding through the breathtaking landscapes of Edolas. Naruto and Mystogan walked at a steady pace, taking in the strange yet familiar world that lay before them. Unlike Earthland, Edolas was a place devoid of natural Ethernano, yet it had found a way to sustain itself with an alternative power source—one that had only recently changed.

As they traveled, Naruto listened intently to Mystogan's explanations, the weight of their mission pressing on his mind.

"So," Naruto began, tilting his head as he gazed at the sky, "you're saying this world used to run on Ethernano, but now it's using chakra instead?"

Mystogan nodded. "Yes, but that change only happened in recent years. When I left Edolas for Earthland, our world was already facing a decline. The magic reserves were being exhausted, and my father, King Faust, was desperate to find a solution. That's why he pursued the Anima Project—to steal magic from Earthland." His voice grew heavy with the mention of his father, but he quickly composed himself.

"However," Mystogan continued, his expression contemplative, "something changed while I was gone. The Anima Project should have only been a temporary solution, yet Edolas somehow managed to sustain itself without it. And that's when I realized—the celestial body above us… that so-called 'new moon'—it wasn't here before."

Naruto's gaze shifted to the night sky, to the luminous sphere that loomed overhead. It wasn't a normal moon. Its glow wasn't the silvery white of reflected light but an eerie, crystalline radiance that pulsed with energy.

"Crystallized chakra…" Naruto muttered, narrowing his eyes. "This moon… it's gotta be an Otsutsuki."

Mystogan exhaled sharply, the thought clearly disturbing him. "That's what I fear. If an Otsutsuki is slumbering inside, then it could mean that Edolas has unknowingly been living off of the very energy that creature has provided. My theory is that this being is allowing Edolas to flourish by feeding off its chakra, slowly enriching the world to prepare it for something much larger."

Naruto frowned, the implications settling in. "So, like growing crops, huh? Before you plant a tree, you gotta make sure the soil is fertile first…"

Mystogan nodded. "Exactly. If this theory is true, then Edolas is nothing more than a field being cultivated, and when the time is right—when our world has flourished enough—that Otsutsuki will descend and reap everything for itself."

Naruto clenched his fists. He'd fought Otsutsuki before, and they were parasites in the truest sense. They consumed entire planets, leaving nothing but husks behind. If what Mystogan was saying was correct, then Edolas was little more than cattle being fattened for slaughter.

"I don't like it," Naruto said, his voice firm. "I've seen what happens when these bastards show up. We gotta figure out what's really going on up there before it's too late."

Mystogan nodded. "That's why we have to split up. I will go to the capital and meet my father. If anyone knows the details of how Edolas has survived without Ethernano, it's him. You, on the other hand, should investigate the moon."

Naruto gave a sharp nod. "Got it. I'll get a closer look and see if I can sense anything inside. If there's really an Otsutsuki in there, I need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

The two stopped at a fork in the road, standing under the moon's glow. The paths before them led in different directions, yet both carried equal weight in importance.

"Be careful, Naruto," Mystogan warned. "If my theory is right, then the moment we start digging too deep, we might set something into motion that we're not ready for."

Naruto smirked, cracking his knuckles. "I don't care if it's fate or whatever plan these Otsutsuki got—if they're threatening people's lives, then I'm gonna stop 'em."

Mystogan allowed himself a small smile. "Then let's make sure we get our answers. I'll send you a signal if I find anything useful in the capital."

With a final nod, the two parted ways, each stepping forward toward an uncertain future. One toward the empire and its secrets, and the other toward the celestial mystery that loomed above Edolas, hiding the true nature of the fate awaiting them all.

Royal City

Mystogan walked through the bustling streets of the Royal City, his hood drawn over his face as he observed the world around him. It was just as he had expected—perhaps even more than that. The kingdom flourished, its streets brighter, its markets livelier than he remembered.

Once, the economy of Edolas had been driven by Ethernano. Its energy fueled everything from transportation to household appliances, and its scarcity had nearly brought the kingdom to its knees. But now, everything had changed.

Mystogan's sharp eyes caught sight of various goods being sold—items that once required magic now functioned using something the people simply referred to as "energy." But he knew better. This wasn't just any power source. This was chakra.

"How the hell did they manage this?" he muttered under his breath.

He continued moving, weaving through the crowd, listening to passing conversations, picking up details that painted an unexpected picture. The empire's enforcers—once feared for their iron-fisted rule—had grown noticeably lenient. The once-powerful policing force that maintained order was no longer the kingdom's strongest force.

Instead, the true threats being hunted down weren't rebels or criminals. No—whispers in the streets spoke of abominations. Monstrous creatures, born of unknown origins, appearing all across Edolas. These beasts were being exterminated by the empire's strongest warriors.

Two names stood above all others.

Panther Lily.

And Erza Nightwalker.

Mystogan's steps slowed as he absorbed this information. Erza Nightwalker—Edolas' deadliest enforcer—was still as active as ever. And Lily, once a prisoner-turned-rebel, had somehow become one of the empire's most prominent warriors.

"What the hell is going on here?" he murmured.

But none of that compared to the true mystery he had come to uncover—his father, King Faust.

As Mystogan asked around, he learned that his father had become increasingly reclusive over the past year. The once-obsessive monarch, who had once sought to drain magic from Earthland, had abruptly ceased his ambitious projects.

The most concerning detail was what he learned about the new moon.

Faust had been obsessed with it—pouring resources into siphoning its energy, ensuring that the kingdom continued to prosper. But then, all of a sudden, he stopped. The process wasn't halted entirely, but the large-scale extraction had been reduced to a moderate pace. No one knew why. The king had rarely left his chambers since then.

And the only people who claimed to know more? The ones lurking in the darker corners of the city.

It was in a narrow, dimly lit alleyway where Mystogan received his most valuable information—passed to him in hushed whispers from a wary information broker. He thanked the man and stepped out of the alley, only to sense something.

A presence.

Someone had been tailing him ever since he started asking about Faust. Rather than confronting the stalker immediately, Mystogan decided to play along. He continued walking, navigating the winding streets until he reached a quieter part of the city. Then, he stopped.

"I know you're there." His voice was calm, unwavering.

A moment of silence. Then, footsteps. Slow, deliberate.

Mystogan turned, his sharp gaze locking onto the man emerging from the shadows.

The stalker was a journalist—one who had been watching him since the marketplace. But what caught Mystogan off guard was the man's face.

The wild black hair. The sharp, almost metallic gleam in his eyes. The rough but confident smirk.

He looked exactly like Gajeel Redfox.

Mystogan's mind raced. If Erza had a counterpart in Edolas, then so did Gajeel. But what was his counterpart doing as a journalist?

The man leaned against a nearby post, arms crossed. "Took you long enough to notice me."

Mystogan didn't react, his expression unreadable.

"I've been watching you, stranger. You've been asking a lot of interesting questions about the king. Questions that most people don't dare to ask." The journalist tilted his head. "So, what exactly are you looking for?"

Mystogan remained silent, gauging him carefully.

The journalist smirked. "Relax, I ain't with the empire. If anything, I'm the kind of guy they hate." He extended a hand. "Name's Gajeel, reporter for the Edolas Truth . And you? What should I call you?"

Mystogan exhaled, deciding to test the waters. "Mystogan."

There was a brief flicker of something in Gajeel's eyes—recognition, amusement—but it disappeared just as quickly as it came. "Mystogan, huh?" He chuckled, playing along. "Heh. Sounds like a name that belongs to someone important."

Mystogan gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "Just a traveler."

Gajeel scoffed. "Sure. And I'm the King of Edolas."

Mystogan ignored the remark. "Why are you following me?"

"Because you're the first person in a long time to go around digging up dirt on the king," Gajeel replied. "I've got a feeling you're not just some lost traveler. And let's just say… I've got my own reasons for wanting to know why Faust suddenly locked himself away."

Mystogan studied him carefully. If this Gajeel was anything like the one from Earthland, then he wasn't the type to play games.

"…What do you know?" Mystogan finally asked.

Gajeel's smirk widened. "Plenty."

He turned, motioning for Mystogan to follow.

"Come with me, Mystogan . I think we've got a lot to talk about."

The two made their way to a secluded rooftop of an abandoned building—one of the many forgotten structures left behind as Edolas evolved. From their vantage point, they could see the castle in all its renewed splendor, its once-worn façade now glowing with prosperity. The city below bustled with life, a stark contrast to the fragile kingdom it had been before.

Mystogan took in the sight, his gaze eventually drifting upwards. That was when he noticed it—a strange construct perched atop the castle, resembling a satellite dish but pulsing faintly with an eerie, unnatural glow.

Gajeel, following his line of sight, clicked his tongue. "That's one of 'em siphoners," he muttered. "The big one's the heart of it all—draws in energy from that so-called new moon." He leaned against the railing, gesturing outward. "We call it God Rock . And those?" He pointed to similar towers scattered across the distant horizon. "There's plenty more across Edolas. Towers designed to feed energy to our cities, our machines, everything."

Mystogan narrowed his eyes. Energy harvested from the sky itself… He had been away from Edolas for a long time, but this was something entirely beyond his expectations.

"And the king?" Mystogan asked, his voice measured. "What has he to do with all this?"

Gajeel hesitated for a moment before answering, lowering his voice. "Faust thought God Rock was just some celestial object brimming with foreign energy—an unlimited supply of power for Edolas to use. But then…" He exhaled. "He realized something else."

Mystogan's fingers twitched. "Go on."

"The rock ain't just a rock," Gajeel said, his smirk fading. "Something—or someone —is inside it." His expression darkened. "The old man called it a 'slumbering god.'"

Mystogan's heart pounded in his chest. His mind flashed back to what he had learned from Naruto about ancient celestial beings that traveled across dimensions, consuming worlds for their own survival.

"…An Ōtsutsuki ," Mystogan murmured, his tone grave.

Gajeel turned to him sharply. "A what?"

Mystogan clenched his jaw. He debated whether or not to reveal what he knew, but time was of the essence. He began explaining everything he had learned—the existence of the Ōtsutsuki, their parasitic nature, their habit of planting celestial bodies to drain worlds of their life force. He told Gajeel of their god-like abilities, their insatiable hunger for power, and how entire civilizations had been wiped out because of them.

As Mystogan spoke, Gajeel's face steadily paled. "You're tellin' me," he said slowly, "that we've been milking the energy outta something that could wake up and wipe us all out?"

Mystogan nodded grimly.

"…Shit." Gajeel ran a hand through his hair, visibly unsettled. "That explains it."

Mystogan narrowed his eyes. "Explains what?"

Gajeel exhaled. "When the king found out, he immediately ordered a halt to the full-scale siphoning." He folded his arms, looking off into the distance. "But then… something happened. Right after he called for it to slow down, things started showin' up."

Mystogan's expression hardened. "Abominations."

Gajeel nodded. "Yeah. Monstrous creatures—things that ain't supposed to exist. There were rumors that some idiots in the empire tried injecting people with that foreign energy, seein' if they could harness it." His voice grew bitter. "And what'd they get for their trouble? Nightmares with claws."

Mystogan felt a sinking dread in his stomach.

"The king shut that project down quick," Gajeel continued. "But word got out—word that the energy could be transferred to a living being. And you know how it goes. Once that kinda thing leaks, you can't put it back in the bottle."

Mystogan's hands clenched into fists. "Underground groups…"

"Yeah," Gajeel confirmed. "Dark guilds, rogue scientists, power-hungry freaks—each of 'em tryin' their hand at it. And every damn time, it ended the same way. More abominations. More failures." His jaw tightened. "Some of 'em got real good at hidin' their work. Others? They don't care who sees. And now?" He let out a dry chuckle. "Now, the empire's got its hands full tryin' to clean up the mess."

Mystogan processed the information, his mind already racing through possible outcomes. This wasn't just about energy anymore—this was about containing something that could escalate into an apocalyptic disaster.

"Recently," Gajeel added, "the empire had no choice but to call in a group of mercs. Hired 'em to bolster the ranks, help take down the worst of the abominations."

Mystogan raised a brow. "Mercenaries?"

Gajeel smirked. "Yeah. A group called Fairy Tail ."

Mystogan's eyes widened slightly. "Fairy Tail?"

"Ain't the same as the one you know," Gajeel said. "This Fairy Tail was once affiliated with the dark guilds. Cutthroats, rebels, the kind of people the empire would've hunted down in the past." He gave Mystogan a pointed look. "But now? It's an alliance . The empire didn't assimilate 'em—they're just workin' together 'cause stoppin' the abominations comes first."

Mystogan absorbed the revelation. If Fairy Tail had aligned with the empire, then the situation was even worse than he thought.

"And that's not all," Gajeel continued. His tone dropped to something almost conspiratorial. "The empire's workin' on somethin' else—a failsafe."

Mystogan turned to him fully. "A failsafe?"

Gajeel nodded. "They're buildin' somethin' big. A machine—somethin' powerful enough to deal with the worst-case scenario." His eyes darkened. "A contingency plan… for if that god wakes up."

Silence stretched between them. The weight of it all pressed down on Mystogan like a lead weight.

"…And how close are they to finishing it?" Mystogan asked.

Gajeel shrugged. "Dunno. But if they're goin' through this much trouble, then I'd bet it's 'cause they think we're runnin' outta time."

Mystogan inhaled slowly, his mind working at a furious pace. He had come to Edolas seeking answers, but what he found was something far worse—a crisis that could destroy not just this world, but potentially others as well.

And at the heart of it all, slumbering within God Rock , was an Ōtsutsuki.

God Rock

Activating his Aokugan , Naruto felt a familiar sensation—an overwhelming yet controlled surge of power coursing through him like an endless current. The sheer force of it was invisible, yet it radiated outward, forming a subtle but impenetrable aura around his body. With no more restrictions, no more limits, he could now access abilities that once required Kurama's partnership.

The weight of space meant nothing to him. He took flight, soaring upward at breathtaking speed, his aura effortlessly shielding him from the crushing vacuum beyond the atmosphere. Stars stretched across the blackened void like distant embers, but Naruto paid them no mind—his focus was on his destination.

The new moon .

As he approached, its details came into view—an eerie twin to the original moon, yet unmistakably different. At first glance, it appeared identical, but a deeper look revealed the truth. Its surface pulsed faintly, brimming with a potent, almost overwhelming chakra signature. Unlike an ordinary celestial body, this moon was alive in a way Naruto had never seen before.

And it wasn't just a floating mass of energy. If that were the case, it would have been nothing more than an enormous lacrima cluster, a chakra-rich satellite with immense potential. But this… this was something else.

A thick, jagged crust of meteorites encased the moon's true form, acting as a protective shell over its lacrima core. It was as if something—or someone—had deliberately wrapped it in a cosmic armor, keeping its energy hidden beneath layers of space debris.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his Aokugan flaring as he traced the flow of power. The moon wasn't generating its energy on its own. It was drawing it from somewhere.

His gaze followed the invisible stream of chakra—and there it was. The sun.

The realization struck him instantly. This moon was behaving just like a sage—absorbing external energy to sustain itself. Only instead of drawing from nature like Senjutsu, it was siphoning power from the sun itself.

And yet… something else was strange.

Naruto focused, tracking the energy's flow further. He noticed that while the moon gathered immense amounts of solar chakra, only a fraction of it was actually being transferred to Edolas. The energy trickled away slowly, cautiously, as if someone had intentionally ensured that it wouldn't disturb the balance.

Naruto's eyes gleamed with understanding. The king isn't a fool. Whoever was in charge of Edolas had realized the danger of this power source and had chosen to extract its energy at a minimal pace—walking a fine line, careful not to awaken whatever lay within.

Naruto let out a breath. It was a wise decision. If the king had been reckless, if they had tried to extract too much power too quickly… the consequences could have been catastrophic.

Curiosity gnawed at him. He needed to know more.

At high speed, he darted across the moon's surface, leaving streaks of golden energy in his wake. Craters, jagged mountains of meteorite, and deep ravines passed in a blur as he searched for the heart of this celestial enigma.

And then—he found it.

A massive crater, larger than any he had seen so far, stretched before him like a wound on the moon's surface. The depth of it was immeasurable, and at its very center, an unfathomable energy pulsed like a heartbeat.

Naruto sharpened his senses, pushing his chakra outward, delving deep. His Aokugan cut through the layers of stone, lacrima, and chakra until he reached the very core.

And there it is, buried deep within the moon, was something— someone .

A presence.

A slumbering Ōtsutsuki .

Naruto's blood ran cold.

Even in deep hibernation, the being's presence was overwhelming—like staring into the abyss and realizing it was staring back. His instincts screamed at him, every nerve in his body igniting with a primal warning.

Then—

The Ōtsutsuki's eyes opened .

Naruto didn't wait to see what happened next.

Pure, unfiltered fear—something he hadn't felt in a long, long time—seized his body. His instincts took over before his mind could even process the threat. In the next instant, he bolted.

With a burst of unimaginable speed, he shot away from the moon, tearing through the vacuum of space like a comet, heading straight back to Edolas. He didn't stop. He didn't look back.

He didn't even know if the Ōtsutsuki had actually awakened.

But one thing was certain.

Their assumptions were right—an Otsutsuki was inside that moon. And it had seen him.

And that alone was enough to send chills down his spine.

Naruto came crashing down onto the floating lands of Edolas, his body skidding to a halt as dust and debris billowed around him. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, his mind still reeling from what he had just witnessed.

But he had no time to process it.

Shouts echoed around him. The clashing of metal against steel-flesh, the sound of people struggling against something unnatural. His Aokugan flared once more, his eyes locking onto the chaos unfolding before him.

A group of people wielding Edolas' unique machinations fought against bizarre creatures—hulking, tailless lizards with grotesque, twisted forms. Their movements were erratic, their presence unnatural.

And then, Naruto saw it.

Chakra.

The creatures had chakra. But it wasn't like the refined, regulated energy he was used to. It was jagged, uncontrolled—chaotic. His stomach twisted as the realization set in.

These weren't just creatures.

They were once people.

His body moved on instinct. In a flash, he was in between the fighters and the monsters. One by one, he struck the tailless lizards, his palms making contact with precision. With each blow, he disrupted their chakra flow, knocking them out cold rather than killing them.

The battlefield went still for a moment.

A sharp voice broke the silence.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" one of them shouted, stepping back in disbelief.

Naruto ignored them, his eyes locked onto the creatures he had just subdued. His hands clenched into fists, the eerie sight sending a chill down his spine.

Then, another voice called out—familiar, yet foreign.

"Who the hell are you?"

Naruto turned around sharply, his heart stopping for just a second.

A blonde woman stood before him, her expression one of suspicion and wariness.

Lucy.

But not the Lucy he knew.

His gaze darted around, his mind racing. The warriors surrounding him—their faces—they were identical to his former guildmates in Fairy Tail.

Naruto's breath hitched.

"What the hell is going on?"

Chapter End