"Old man, what's wrong with you? I haven't even made my move, and you're already down for the count?"
Erza, watching Kira gloat, twitched her eyebrow and asked, "Can you tell what happened?"
Kira not-so-gently nudged Jose's body over with his foot, inspecting for wounds. "Jose got taken out by a slash, and the same guy who wrecked Phantom Lord's castle did this. Probably a seriously skilled swordsman. Know anyone like that?"
"No, I don't recall anyone with sword skills like that!" Erza replied.
"Me neither. Looks like something unexpected happened… but the guild should be fine."
Is there someone in Fairy Tail with swordsmanship this good? Kira had no clue. Those powerful, flashy sword techniques reminded him of something he'd only seen in the world of One Piece.
Kira scanned the surroundings, noticing traces of his Amaterasu Defense Array having been activated. Lingering in the air were hints of Jose's death magic and the faint magical residue of others.
"Looks like everyone got in on the action…"
While the two of them were analyzing the scene, Natsu and the others had already rushed into the guild to check things out. From the moment the first person stepped inside, the guild erupted with shouts of "Huh?" "No way!" and "Seriously?!"
"What's with these guys? What are they yelling about?"
"Sounds like nothing major happened. If someone was missing, they'd be freaking out way more by now."
Erza turned toward the guild. "Let's go. I'm worried about the others."
"Yeah," Kira said, tossing Jose's body to the ground and following her toward the guild's entrance, eyeing the battered tavern along the way.
Looks like Master's talk about rebuilding the guild can finally get moving…
Thud! Kira bumped into Erza's solid armor.
"Hey, what's the hold-up? Why'd you stop?"
Erza's eyes were fixed on the inside of the guild, wide with shock. Kira followed her gaze and saw, in the middle of the crowded tavern, a man who looked exactly like him, chowing down on food prepared by the guild's chef.
Who's this guy, handsome enough to rival me? My long-lost, different-mother twin brother?
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Kira spotted Mystogan sitting in a corner, wrapped up tightly as if trying not to be noticed. What's he still doing here? Doesn't he always go off on his own?
After three seconds of thought, it hit him. This guy who looks just like me… could he be the Edolas version of me?
Ever since Kira realized he was in the Fairy Tail world, he'd been curious about what "the other me" might be like. Now, here he was.
He'd considered all sorts of possibilities: maybe the other Kira was a transmigrator too, or just an ordinary guy who never joined Fairy Tail, or maybe he didn't even exist…
He'd even wondered if the Edolas Kira might show up here, but Mystogan hadn't given him any clues, and over the years, he seemed no different from the original story. So Kira had ruled out the idea of "another Kira" showing up.
But now, the proof was right in front of him.
Kira noticed the dual swords on the guy's hip. With his "Fairy Tail's greatest blacksmith" eye, he could tell they were top-notch blades. Combine that with the evidence outside, and it didn't take a genius to piece it together.
Jose was cut down by him. The castle was sliced apart by him. The guild was probably saved by him too.
Though he hadn't seen this guy's full strength, Kira already felt a spark of rivalry.
Swordsmanship, huh? Wonder how it stacks up against magic?
As if sensing his thoughts, the other Kira stopped eating and looked over.
Same hair, same eyes, same face, similar clothes, similar vibe, and roughly equal strength.
"Yo, Kira, you finally showed up!" Dispel grinned, waving. "I'm your long-lost, different-mother—"
"You're from Edolas, right?" Kira cut him off, casually sitting across from him.
"Oh, you already know? Bummer! I was gonna say I'm your twin big brother!"
Kira frowned. Even if we were twins, I'd be the older one!
This guy was rude. Typical Edolas—completely opposite personality. Nothing like him!
"I'm Kira Hopewright, Fairy Tail's wizard!"
Dispel wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sick of hearing that one. Man, you're famous! Everywhere I go, people mistake me for you!"
"Really? Well, sorry about that," Kira said. "But you can't blame 'em. Meeting a celebrity like me, it's only natural they'd want an autograph—hold up! You haven't been using my face to do anything shady, have you?"
His gut told him this guy wasn't exactly upright.
"I'm a perfectly respectable guy! It's you Aslandt folks who are the weird ones," Dispel huffed, clearly annoyed that Kira read him so easily. "Especially those flirty, cute girls with zero swordsmanship talent, always begging to 'spar' with me all night. Like, where do they get the confidence?"
Okay, seems harmless enough.
"You took down Jose. On behalf of Fairy Tail, I owe you one."
As the two of them chatted like old friends, the rest of the guild couldn't hold back their curiosity.
"Hold up!!!"
"Stop right there!!"
"Can someone explain what's going on?"
"You're meeting for the first time, so why are you acting like buddies who've known each other forever?!"
"Seeing someone who looks exactly like you should not get this kind of reaction!"
Natsu even leaned in close, sniffing. "They smell almost the same…"
Dispel rolled his eyes. "What are you, a dog?"
After the commotion died down, Kira calmed the crowd and gave a quick rundown on parallel worlds. "The world we're in is called Aslandt. But beyond it, there are all sorts of other worlds."
"The one most people know about is the Celestial Spirit World, where the Celestial Spirits live."
Lucy gasped. "The Celestial Spirits? That counts as another world?"
Kira nodded at her. "Yup! The Celestial Spirit World is separate from Aslandt. That's why, even if you're in another world, you can still summon them!"
"Because each world exists in a different time and space, it's usually hard to travel between them. Aslandt and the Celestial Spirit World are more closely connected, and we use Celestial Keys to open the gate between them."
"Oh… oh…" The guild members nodded, half-understanding.
"Kira, you know so much! I'm a Celestial Wizard, and even I didn't know all that…" Lucy said.
"Back to the point. Near Aslandt is a world that's almost like a mirror image of ours, called Edolas."
"Pretty much every living being in Aslandt has a counterpart in Edolas who looks identical. This guy here," Kira gestured to Dispel, "is the Edolas version of me."
"What?! So there's another me in Edolas too?" Natsu asked.
"Yup!" Kira confirmed.
"Whoa, I wonder what the other me is like!"
"Well… like I said, the two worlds are like mirrors, so people often have opposite traits. For example, Gray's known for stripping all the time, so the Edolas Gray probably loves keeping his clothes on…"
Gray, overhearing Kira' jab, snapped, "Hold on! You're always obsessed with money, so does that mean Edolas Kira hates it?"
Kira shot back, "Get it straight—I just love making money!"
Dispel chimed in, "Perfect! We're totally different. I just love spending it!"
Everyone: "…"
Is that even a big difference? Man, both Kira are so annoying!
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