Chapter 44: Another Lottery
Makarov shook his head helplessly, his shoulders slumping. He was still fuming, but the terror was being replaced by a deep, weary pride. These brats... they had all grown up and had their own, terrifyingly reckless, ideas.
To be honest, he was scared half to death when he saw the first newspaper reports. He had almost suffered a heart attack. Although he eventually read that Ren had defeated the Magic Dragon, he was still very afraid.
Dragons were legendary creatures, the end of all things.
But he was also incredibly proud when he read the full story—how Ren had won the Swordsman Tournament and then immediately turned to protect the people of an entire city, twice. That was the spirit of Fairy Tail.
Ren and Erza, having been dismissed, scurried out of the office and practically tumbled down the stairs, landing in the now-silent main hall. Every eye in the guild was on them.
The silence was broken by a familiar, fiery shout.
"Ren! Ren!"
Natsu Dragneel immediately ran over, skidding to a halt in front of him. His eyes were wide with a desperate, fiery intensity. "You fought it, right?! You really fought a Giant Dragon! Did you ask it?! Did it mention Igneel?!"
Natsu grabbed Ren by the front of his shirt, his voice earnest. "It was 400 years old! Igneel... he's a dragon! It must have known him! Tell me!"
The guild, which had been about to erupt in questions, fell silent again, respecting the weight of Natsu's lifelong quest.
Ren looked at Natsu's desperate face and gently shook his head. "No, Natsu. It didn't. And it might not have known Igneel even if I had the chance to ask."
Ren's mind flashed with the truth he could never say. Igneel is inside your body, Natsu. He's been there this whole time, creating antibodies to stop you from becoming what that dragon was. I can't tell you that. It would be hard to explain how I know, and...
He put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "It was sealed for 400 years. When the seal broke, its mind was only on revenge against the humans who sealed it. It wasn't in a talking mood."
Natsu's face fell, his fiery hope extinguishing. "Oh... I see." He let go of Ren's shirt and slouched away, dejected.
Gray, his arms crossed, walked up next. "Ren, aren't you a bit too unlucky? You go on two S-Class Quests, and both times the quests level up into world-ending disasters."
Ren just grinned, patting the heavy box of money he had placed on a nearby table. "Unlucky? Gray-san, the reward for this 'unlucky' quest was 50 million Jewel. If that's unlucky, I'd be happy to be this unlucky every single day."
"..."
A collective groan went up from the guild.
"That... I have no comeback for that," Gray muttered. "It's too... too Versailles."
[Akarin's Note: "Versailles" is a term (originating from the manga/anime The Rose of Versailles) used in Chinese and Japanese online slang to describe a "humble-brag"—complaining about something in a way that actually just shows off one's own wealth or good fortune.]
"That's not what's important!" Elfman shouted, pushing his way forward. "Ren! What exactly is your Take Over Magic? It's not like Mira-nee's Satan Soul, or my Beast Soul! I saw you take over demon souls like my sister, but how can you also take over to become a swordsman? A real man needs to know!"
This was the question everyone really wanted to ask. All eyes in the guild focused intently on Ren. Ren's taken-over roles seemed a bit too powerful, even capable of slaying a Giant Dragon.
As for this question, Ren had already thought of the answer. This was the moment to set the official story straight.
"It's... not exactly Take Over Magic," Ren said, his voice carrying across the quiet hall. "At least, not like Elfman's or Mira-san's. My magic is unique. I call it... Heroic Spirit Summoning."
"Heroic Spirit... Summoning?" Lucy repeated, her brow furrowing. "Like... summoning spirits? Like my Celestial Spirits?"
"Sort of, but different," Ren explained, weaving his new, consistent cover story. "You might not know, but besides our world, Earth Land, there are actually many other worlds. My magic... it's a form of gacha, a lottery. It reaches into those other worlds and, if I'm lucky, 'summons' the souls of heroes who have died."
He tapped his own chest. "Once I have them, I can then use a form of Take Over to... well, to borrow their forms and their powers."
This explanation was met with stunned silence. It was complex, unheard of, and sounded incredibly powerful.
Erza was the first to connect the dots. "So, Yoriichi Tsugikuni... and Ulquiorra... the ones you took over... they were real people?"
Ren nodded, a solemn expression on his face. "They were. Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the strongest Demon Slayer swordsman in his world..."
Ren began to tell everyone Yoriichi Tsugikuni's story. As someone who had seen Yoriichi's memories, his account was far more detailed and painful than any anime could have portrayed.
He spoke of a world plagued by man-eating demons. Of Yoriichi being born with a strange mark, considered ominous from a young age, and his father wanting to kill him. Of the seven-year-old boy who never spoke, who saw the world in a "transparent" way. He told of Yoriichi's beloved mother, the only one who showed him kindness, and her death.
He then told of how Yoriichi found a new life, a wife he loved, and the child they were expecting. And how, one day, he returned home to find them both... slaughtered by a demon.
"Waaahhh!" Elfman suddenly burst into tears, his massive body shaking. "WAAAHHH! MR. YORIICHI... HE'S... HE'S A TRUE MAN! TOO PITIFUL!!!"
"Waaahhh! Yes!" Mira, who had been listening with her hands over her mouth, also started sobbing, tears streaming down her face. As someone who had lost her own sister (Lisanna), the story of his lost family hit her hard. "His life... it was truly tragic! To lose his mother, and then his wife and his child... and his own brother became a demon? It's truly too pitiful! Those evil demons are too hateful!"
Lucy and Levy were crying, too. Even some of the tougher members of the guild felt their noses sting. They hadn't expected that there was such a cruel world out there, one where evil demons ate people.
The mood in the guild was somber. It was Gray who finally broke the silence.
"What about the other one? The... the pale guy with the wings and the black Cero?"
Someone asked curiously. They hadn't seen Yoriichi Tsugikuni, but Ren had demonstrated Ulquiorra's power in the Guild hall during his fight with Natsu.
"Ulquiorra..." Ren said, his expression complex. "His story is relatively simpler, but in a way, much sadder. He lived in a place called Hueco Mundo, a world of eternal night, populated only by sand and monsters. These Hollows... they should also be considered a type of evil spirit."
"Evil spirits?!" Natsu said, perking up. "Like... ghosts?"
"Like cannibalistic ghosts," Ren clarified. "In Hueco Mundo, Hollows devour each other to increase their strength. Ulquiorra was born different from his tribe—they were all black, he was born white. He was ostracized, an outcast from birth."
[Akarin's Note: Hueco Mundo (Spanish for "Hollow World") is the dimension in Bleach where Hollows reside. Hollows are spirits of the dead who "hollowed out" their own hearts and now devour other souls. A Vasto Lorde is the final, most powerful evolution of a Hollow, and an Arrancar is a Hollow who has broken their mask to gain Shinigami-like powers.]
Ren briefly introduced Ulquiorra's life. "He was alone. He just... walked. He grew step by step into a Vasto Lorde-level Great Hollow through his own strength, even completing his Arrancar transformation on his own... all before he met a man named Aizen."
"He only followed Aizen," Ren concluded, "to try and understand the meaning of his own existence. He was born with nothing... no friends, no family, no desires. He didn't even understand what a 'heart' was. He was the personification of 'Nihilism'—the belief in nothing."
Ren's introduction of Ulquiorra was simple, but everyone was attracted by the strange, lonely worldview. It was so different from their own, a guild built on bonds, friendship, and heart.
"That's... awful," Lucy whispered. "To not even know what a heart is?"
"He sounds like he just needed a friend!" Natsu declared, looking fired up again. "If I met him, I'd beat him up and then be his friend!"
The guild members all began to ask about the Swordsman Tournament, the Beast Tide, and more details about the Giant Dragon. Ren also briefly explained them, satisfying everyone's curiosity.
Finally, as it was getting late, the sun began to set over Magnolia. The guild members, their curiosity sated and their hearts heavy with the stories of heroes from other worlds, gradually dispersed.
After the Fairy Tail Guild closed in the evening, Ren, Mira, and Elfman went home together. On one hand, it was because it was on the way to Fairy Hills, and on the other hand, it was because Ren wanted to receive the Goddess's blessing.
A short while later, Ren arrived at the entrance to his own small home, just down the street from Fairy Hills where Mira and Elfman lived.
"Well, this is me," Ren said, stopping at his door. "Mira-san, Elfman, see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Ren! A real man needs his rest!" Elfman waved, continuing on.
Mira, however, paused. "See you, Ren. And... thank you, for sharing those stories. It... it gives us a lot to think about."
"Of course," Ren said. He then took a breath and, before she could leave, said, "Oh, Mira-san? Before you go... can you... can you do 'that' again?"
"'That'?" Mira paused slightly, tilting her head in confusion. Then, her face flushed as she quickly realized what Ren was referring to.
"Ren, why do you always ask me to do that?" Mira asked curiously, a small, teasing smile on her face. "You know it's just words, right?"
"Oh, that!" Ren said, his expression becoming completely serious. "It's like I said, my magic is 'Heroic Spirit Summoning.' It's a gacha. Because I want to summon heroic spirits from other worlds, the probability of summoning powerful heroic spirits is very, very low. It's almost all luck."
He looked her straight in the eyes. "So, I need to get the Goddess's blessing to increase the probability."
"I see!" Mira said, her face flushing an even deeper crimson. "But... but Ren, I'm not a goddess! I can't... I can't really increase your luck at all."
"No!" Ren said, his voice firm and his gaze direct. "In my eyes, you are a true goddess!"
He looked directly at Mira, his expression completely sincere. "The first two times I did my summons, I asked for your blessing. I got two ten-pulls. And I got two golden legends—Yoriichi and Ulquiorra. You are the only goddess I believe in."
Mira was a bit embarrassed, completely flustered by Ren's direct words and his sincere, unwavering gaze. She took a step back, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Alright... alright!" she said, her voice a little shaky. She then closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened them, giving him a smile so bright and pure it seemed to purify Ren's very soul.
"Ren... I wish you good luck today, too! May your summons be as strong as your heart!"
A notification pinged silently in Ren's mind.
[Ding! Obtained the Goddess's Blessing! Luck +100!]
"YES!" Ren clenched his fist, a huge grin on his face. With the Goddess's blessing, he was sure to get a golden legend tonight!
Mira was a bit shy from her own bold declaration. "Ren, we're... we're leaving now! See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow, Mira-san! And thank you!"
Ren stood at the door and waved. After they left, he turned and went back into his own home, locking the door behind him.
He hadn't expected almost half a month to have passed since he left. It really was most comfortable at home.
Ren took a nice, long, hot bath, greatly relieving the lingering fatigue from his journey and his three-day knockout.
After everything was done, Ren, now in comfortable sleepwear, sat on his bed and opened the system interface.
Twenty chances. Two ten-pulls. Blessed by the Goddess herself.
"Let's begin!"
[Akarin Note:
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