"Full-Body Take Over!"
Ignoring the grievous injury to his right arm, Elfman tightly wrapped both arms around the Beast King's neck.
He forcibly initiated Beast Soul: Take Over while the monster was still conscious.
...
Ferrous Village.
The villagers of Ferrous were evacuating in an orderly manner.
Lisanna, who was assisting with the evacuation, suddenly froze as a bad premonition washing over her.
'It's okay. Mira-nee is so strong, and Elf-nii has gotten stronger too. Nothing bad will happen.'
"Everyone, please follow the villagers ahead to the Council's emergency shelter!" Lisanna called out.
After confirming that most of the villagers had been evacuated, she turned her gaze toward the direction where Mirajane and Elfman were fighting.
...
At the same time—
Mirajane was sitting on the ground, clutching her injured left arm. She watched with deep concern as Elfman thrashed and convulsed on the ground.
"Elfman!"
After forcibly attempting to Take Over the Beast King, the consciousnesses of the monster and Elfman were locked in a fierce struggle for dominance within his mind.
"Mira-nee!"
Lisanna, who had Taken Over a bird form, spotted Mirajane on the ground from the air and quickly landed beside her.
"Mira-nee, I've notified all the villagers to evacuate. What happened? How did you get so badly injured? Where is Elf-nii?"
Lisanna quickly released her Take Over and helped Mirajane up. Her face was full of worry and anxiety as she scanned the area for their brother.
"I underestimated the monster and was injured by the Beast King. Elfman forcibly used Take Over on the Beast King to protect me."
"ROAR—"
Elfman stopped thrashing.
He slowly stood up and turned to face Mirajane and Lisanna.
"This is bad... Lisanna, get away!" Mirajane stared at Elfman, sensing something wrong with his aura.
She knew Elfman too well; those eyes definitely didn't belong to him!
She surmised that the Beast King's Magical Power and will were stronger than Elfman's.
The Beast King was consuming Elfman, who had lost his reason!
Mirajane attempted a forced Full-Body Take Over herself but failed due to her exhaustion.
If they didn't do something about Elfman soon, he would be completely consumed by the Beast King.
The beast let out another furious roar and began slowly advancing toward the sisters.
"Lisanna, don't get close! Elfman has lost his mind right now; it's dangerous!" Mirajane's expression twisted in horror as she saw Lisanna taking step after step toward the rampaging beast.
"Elf-nii, it's me, Lisanna. Have you forgotten me and Mira-nee?"
Lisanna seemed to ignore Mirajane's warning. She placed her hands behind her back and looked at the beast with a gentle, smiling expression.
A flicker of confusion passed through the Beast King's eyes.
A trace of Elfman's consciousness stirred at the sound of Lisanna's voice. But the Beast King shook its head violently, its eyes turning crimson red once more.
It let out a tremendous roar, clenched its massive fist, and prepared to strike.
"Elf-niiiii, I know you could never forget me and Mira-nee. Remember! Come on, let's go home together!" A soft, warm smile played on Lisanna's lips as she spread her arms open, looking at the creature that was once her brother.
Lisanna firmly believed that Elfman would remember.
She would absolutely never give up on him!
"LISANNA, RUN!!!"
The Beast King's consciousness completely took over, its fist hurtling toward the defenseless girl.
"LISANNA!" Mirajane's pupils froze in horror, unable to imagine what would happen if Lisanna took this blow.
Just as the punch was about to strike Lisanna—
BOOM!
A frigid energy blast from afar slammed into the Beast King's chest, sending it flying backward before it could land the hit.
It was Raizel.
He hadn't held back with this strike—after all, he'd just observed the Beast King's impressive physical resilience.
Mirajane weakly turned her head toward the source of the blast, spotting Raizel and Kagura positioned on the high ground above.
"Lisanna, Mira, come with us first." Ultear and Erza swiftly reached the two sisters and escorted them away from the immediate danger.
As for Raizel, standing atop the cliff, he pensively lifted his gaze to the sky.
Dark clouds swirled like black vortices over the Ferrous Mountains, and beyond them, an intense energy fluctuation pulsed.
Raizel certainly remembered this Beast King mission.
In the original timeline, Mirajane had carelessly lost to the Beast King, and Lisanna, while trying to reach Elfman, was struck away before being transported to the world of Edolas by the super-dimensional Spatial Magic—Anima.
Raizel and Ultear's group had actually been trailing Mirajane's trio since their departure.
Earlier, Erza had been eager to intervene, but Raizel had consistently stopped her.
It wasn't that Raizel wanted to see Mirajane get hurt—he had already activated his Take Over: Omegamon, charging an energy blast ready to strike the moment Mirajane was in critical danger.
Raizel had wanted to test Elfman's willpower.
Unfortunately, the current Elfman still fell short.
There were two possibilities: first, Raizel's previous modification plan was completely ineffective; or second, the Beast King was simply too overpowered for Elfman's current state.
Raizel leaned toward the second explanation.
The Beast King was no weakling, as even Mirajane at full power couldn't defeat it, and it clearly possessed high intelligence.
"Everyone, gather near Elfman!" Raizel shouted to them.
Erza's group quickly complied.
Elfman was currently frozen on the ground, the Beast King's body nearly spent and struggling uselessly, so there was no immediate threat from him.
RUMBLE...
A thunderclap suddenly echoed across the sky as terrifying Magic Power continuously gathered overhead.
"The sky... why is it so strange?" Ultear stared bewildered at the sky, sensing the vortex's Magical Power growing increasingly stronger.
Prompted by Ultear, Erza and Mirajane also looked up, only then realizing it should be daytime—so why was it so dark?
Raizel's earlier blast had sent Elfman flying to the opposite side of the valley.
This Anima's range wasn't large, primarily targeting the area near Ferrous Village.
Mirajane's group was currently far enough from Anima's effective range to avoid being pulled in.
Then, a large magic circle suddenly appeared in the sky, enveloping a small portion of the Ferrous Mountains, including the village!
The super-dimensional Spatial Magic from Edolas—Anima—was activated!
In an instant, the nearby Ferrous Village and part of the mountain transformed into streams of light.
They were converted into Lacrima by the Anima and sucked into the vortex, entering the parallel world of Edolas.
This was the first time Raizel had witnessed Anima being activated firsthand—a village and part of a mountain disappearing right before his eyes!