— — — — — —
The Celestial Spirit King closed his eyes, as if searching for something. After a long while, he opened them again.
"Found it. But, my friend… that place belongs to another world."
"I know," Kazuma replied calmly. "That's exactly the world I'm going to."
"With my vast magic power as the anchor, and the bond between you and me as the link, you can open a gate, right?"
"I know you can do it. There are countless parallel worlds, but there's only one Celestial Spirit World. Wherever the stars shine is within your sight."
"As long as a place has a starry sky, you can come and go freely. So do me a favor, my friend."
Kazuma spoke with an easy smile. In the boundless universe, even he couldn't just tear open space and arrive wherever he wanted without an anchor. Without something to lock onto, he would inevitably lose his way in the endless maze of parallel universes.
Only by relying on another method to fix an anchor point could he ensure he wouldn't be swallowed by that infinite void.
"Sigh… I really shouldn't be doing something like this. It'll affect the operation of the world," the Star Spirit King said with a helpless laugh. "But since you've already called me 'friend,' what else can I say?"
"By the terms of our contract, may the divine protection of the stars watch over you! Let the light of the stars illuminate your path!"
The Star Spirit King laughed boldly and raised the longsword in his hand. The very next second, the stars in the sky began to converge, gathering into streams of starlight.
The starlight spread across the sky, forming a radiant road that stretched all the way to the end of the firmament, leading straight into another world.
"Mystogan, I'll be back soon," Kazuma said without turning his head. "Tell the old man and the first guild master that while I'm gone, they'll have to help take care of the guild's affairs."
Before Mystogan could even respond, Kazuma stepped forward onto the road of stars and strode toward the other world.
"Th-this… what on earth is happening?!"
Mystogan stared at Kazuma, wrapped in the embrace of countless stars, walking step by step toward another world. Then he looked at the towering Celestial Spirit King behind him.
His usual calm vanished, replaced by pure shock and confusion.
The scene before him was far beyond anything he had imagined. Could a human really reach this level? This wasn't strength anymore. It was monstrous.
---
On the continent of Edolas
"What is that?!"
The Exceed, the cat-like beings revered as divine rulers of the humans, guiding them according to the will of their queen. Right now, those who lived on the floating sky islands, all noticed the anomaly in the starry sky at the same time.
They didn't know what was happening, but they could all see it clearly: a river of stars stretching across the sky, and on that river, someone was walking.
"Q-Queen, I… I think I saw someone walking on the sky... star river? Am I seeing things?!"
"No, no, I saw it too! There really is someone walking toward us!"
"This… this is something terrifying. This is…"
Carla's mother, Shagotte, the queen of the Exceed, felt scenes flash through her mind.
Her power of precognition had activated, but all she could see were screams, chaos, and endless darkness.
"A Demon!"
The figure she saw in her vision was twisted and grotesque, its face impossible to make out. Shagotte cried out in horror, "It's a calamity that will destroy this world!"
At that very moment, Kazuma, walking along the star river, suddenly felt someone watching him. His mood soured instantly.
"What are you staring at? Get lost."
Natural energy surged over his body as he released both his Observation Haki and his Conqueror's Haki at the same time.
In an instant, Shagotte's vision of the future shattered. The image of Kazuma she saw was that of a hideous Demon King, and the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki planted a deep seed of fear in her heart.
---
Down in the nations on the surface.
"Th-this is a god!"
Civilians and soldiers alike stared at Kazuma descending across the starry river in the sky. The same word rose in all their minds.
"God? No, impossible! We've never heard of such a god in this world. This can't be real!"
Erza Knightwalker stared at the indistinct figure above. Without realizing it, she was already being affected by the Conqueror's Haki Kazuma was releasing.
The fear she carried about this world's dwindling magic was violently stirred by that unique pressure. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, repeating "impossible" over and over, as if trying to deny the dread growing in her heart.
---
Meanwhile, in Fairy Tail of this world, Juvia and Wendy were nowhere to be seen yet, but nearly everyone else was present, aside from Makarov and a few others.
"Hey, is there something in the sky? Did the sky collapse?!"
"Don't talk nonsense. That's clearly a star river, and someone's walking on it. It's not the sky falling."
"Yeah, I'm still a virgin, so stop jinxing me like I'm about to die today."
"Uhh! Bro, me too... No wait! Someone walking on a star river? What the fuck?"
"Oi, oi, oi! What's the big deal about—wait, what did you just say? Someone is walking on a star river?!"
"Who is that guy? How did he do it?!"
One by one, the members of Fairy Tail raised their heads, staring at the sky in curiosity, all wondering who that person could be.
---
Edolas
"Huh?" Lisanna looked up. In just an instant, she felt her gaze being noticed.
"That person… did he just turn his head this way?"
At first she wasn't sure, but the next second she knew it was real.
Somewhere deep down, Lisanna felt that the person in the sky was looking right at them.
And then the stars shifted. The star river changed direction, descending straight toward them.
.
.
.