One minute ago...
Watching Hoteye and Jellal get "auto-balanced" to the Light Side by Nirvana, Kira fell into deep thought.
"Weird. Two guys on their team flipped to Good, but nobody on the Light Guild side has turned Evil? Does Nirvana not work on a one-to-one exchange ratio? Was my theory about the 'Law of Moral Conservation' wrong?"
Oh god...
Wait. If no one else is going to turn dark, then I have to do it myself!
My magical theory is absolute! It cannot be wrong! It will not be wrong!
The world requires balance between Light and Darkness. In the grand calculus of the magic world, me 'falling to the Dark Side' is infinitely more valuable than staying in the Light! For science!
"Hey, Kira? What's your take on Ultear and Jellal? Kira... uh?"
Jura was the first to notice something was off. His face went pale as he shouted a warning: "Everyone, watch out! Get away from Kira, now!!"
The Alliance Mages: "?!!"
Jura's shout snapped everyone to attention. They turned to look at Kira and were horrified to see him radiating a thick, suffocating aura of darkness. It was obvious—he had been completely corrupted by Nirvana. Faces turned ashen, and a stream of curses bubbled up in their throats.
"Not good!"
"You gotta be kidding me!"
"We're screwed!"
"When did that happen?!"
"This is gonna be a problem!"
"What the hell is that idiot thinking?!"
On the other side, the remnants of the Oración Seis looked at each other, baffled by this twist. Cobra stood up, looking at Kira with delight. "Did Nirvana actually claim him? Hah! So much for the legendary 'Sage'..."
Suddenly, Cobra's enhanced hearing picked up something. His pupils constricted to slits. He didn't finish his sentence—he just turned and bolted.
But... it was too late.
BOOM!!!
Under the shocked gazes of everyone present, a terrifying amount of magic power detonated from Kira. Faint, incomprehensible arcane syllables whispered in the air as the space around him twisted and warped, screeching under the pressure.
Visually, the magic was pitch black and solid. It wasn't just smoke; it was like molten lead wrapped in silk—heavy, dense, and suffocating. You could see it, you could almost touch it, but you couldn't stop it. All you could do was watch it roll toward you.
Just one look told them the particle physics of this magic was off the charts. The density was insane—far surpassing Fairy Tail's Fairy Law or even Kira's own Fairy Judgment. It felt less like a spell and more like a localized weapon of mass destruction, rivaling the Etherion cannon itself.
And the nature of it... it was cold. Not the physical cold of sub-zero temperatures, nor the psychological chill of despair. It was the bone-deep, paralyzing cold of pure, unadulterated malice.
Kira was cocooned in the center of it, looking like a Raid Boss that had just crawled out of the deepest pit of the Abyss. He radiated endless resentment, as if screaming his dissatisfaction to every living thing in the world.
The sheer volume of mana was catastrophic. It erupted like a volcano, surged like a tsunami, and roared like a typhoon. The chaotic energy spiraled out from him, turning into a violent gale that ripped up hundred-year-old trees like they were weeds.
The ground beneath Kira's feet was gouged out several meters deep. Debris was sucked into the vortex, ground into dust instantly, and turned into microscopic sand-blades that slashed three-inch grooves into the earth and trees.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
"Kira! Snap out of it!!"
"What is up with this mana?! Was he always this overpowered?!"
Faced with this dense, crushing pressure, most of the mages couldn't even put up a shield—they could barely keep standing.
Thump... Whack... Crash... Bam...
Even the heavy hitters—Jura, Erza, Laxus—couldn't fully withstand the shockwave.
Everyone was blown away, flying dozens of meters through the air, snapping multiple trees with their bodies like ragdolls before finally crashing into the dirt.
After a long moment, the wind died down. The mages, covered in dirt and bruises, groaned in pain. Staring at the wreckage around them, the first coherent thought crossing their minds was: Thank god for these trees. Reforestation really is the MVP of disaster prevention.
"Huff... puff..."
In the forest, Laxus wiped cold sweat from his forehead, breathing heavily as he stared at Kira in the distance.
His coat was gone—blown away to god knows where. If he hadn't reacted instantly and turned his body into lightning, he would have looked just as pathetic as the others.
Erza stood up. Thanks to the adamantite armor Kira had forged for her, she wasn't badly hurt, though she'd twisted her back hitting a tree. But to Erza, that was barely a scratch. "Asking Kira to make this armor was the best decision I ever made."
Compared to those two, the others were in rough shape. Some were buried in dirt, some pinned under logs, and others were piled on top of each other in a comical heap.
"Is that really Kira?!"
"I guess he's never taken a fight seriously before..."
"To cause this much destruction just by releasing his mana..."
"Is everyone okay?"
Fortunately, Jura had thrown up a shield for the group at the last second. Everyone was scraped, bruised, bleeding, and aching, but no one had died.
"Oww..."
Lucy clutched her thigh. She had twisted her ankle in the blast and scraped her back raw. As she sat there rubbing the sore spot, a small, trembling figure walked over.
It was Wendy.
The young girl shakily extended her hands, casting healing magic on Lucy. "Don't worry! I'll fix you up!"
Feeling the pain fade, Lucy smiled. "Thank you so much!"
Carla stood next to Wendy. "Wendy, worry about yourself first!"
Carla had been shielded in Wendy's arms, so she was fine. But she knew that even though Jura blocked the worst of it, Wendy had taken some hits. She was suppressing her own pain to heal others.
Wendy just smiled. "It's okay, Carla! I can't fight... this is the only thing I can do for everyone."
Her pitiful yet brave appearance—forcing a smile while healing her allies—tugged at everyone's heartstrings. Even Laxus looked over with a softened expression.
Seeing this, Natsu couldn't hold back. "Dammit! That bastard Kira... I'm gonna make him pay!!"
"But doesn't this seem weird?"
Gray spoke up, rubbing his bruised arm and frowning. "Why did Kira suddenly go dark? What triggered it?"
Hibiki activated his Archive Magic, a holographic keyboard appearing in the air. He typed rapidly with his good hand. "I... I can't say for sure."
"The line between Light and Darkness is blurry. Sadness, rage, guilt, despair, greed, loneliness... any of these can count as 'negative emotions' to fuel the darkness."
"And Nirvana doesn't just lock onto a sudden emotional outburst. If you have deep-seated darkness or even a flicker of goodness, it can flip you. Look at the Oración Seis guy, or Jellal. They got flipped because they still had a shred of light in their hearts."
Hearing Jellal's name, those who knew his history glanced at Erza. She remained stone-faced, acting as if Jellal's moral alignment was none of her business.
Of everyone present, Erza knew Kira best. She helped Lucy up and said, "Knowing Kira... he isn't the type to be swayed by standard angst like hate or sadness. And judging by how he acted earlier, he clearly understood Nirvana's mechanics. There's no way he went in without a counter-strategy."
Laxus scoffed from the side. "It just means that deep down, the guy was never a 'good person' to begin with."
Lyon glanced at Jura, then asked, "What do we do now, Jura-san? If Kira is an enemy..."
Before he could finish, the crackle of electricity cut through the air.
"Leave Kira to me."
Laxus stepped to the front of the group, golden lightning sparking violently around him. He wore a cocky grin.
"He and I still have a score to settle."