— — — — — —
"No, we're not together at all. And how would I know whether Mira likes me or not? She's never said anything like that. We do get along pretty well, though," Kazuma said casually.
"Mira-nee… brother-in-law?!"
Lisanna stared at Kazuma, the thought popping into her head out of nowhere. Her eyes went wide in shock.
Wait. When you really think about it, he's strong, a guild master, young, kind of handsome, and he takes good care of Mira-nee. He even crossed into another unknown world just to find me, her sister.
This guy actually seems pretty great!
After that, Lisanna asked him all sorts of questions, and Kazuma answered them one by one. The atmosphere between them gradually relaxed and grew more natural.
"So… are we leaving right now?" Lisanna asked.
She wanted to properly say goodbye to everyone, preferably one by one, before going.
"Originally, I planned to leave immediately," Kazuma replied. "But now we'll have to stay a few more days. I think this place is pretty nice."
He looked out the window at the world beyond. In his original world, magic was overwhelmingly strong. Launching a battle there right away would cause far too much damage.
But here, magic was weak. People relied mostly on magic tools, which drastically lowered the threat level.
"My Crossover Fairy Tail Guild needs a base of operations," Kazuma said with a smile. "And this world works just fine."
"The girls from Black Bullet will love it here. And I can even teach Beel how to conquer a world, so he can do it for me in his own."
"Hahaha. Let this world be the first step toward Fairy Tail's domination."
In his own mind, it was a perfectly happy smile.
To Mira and Lisanna, though, it looked like the smile of a demon king.
Even his laugh in their ears was a 'kekeke', a textbook villain's cackle.
Ahhh. Scary.
For a split second, they almost imagined black mist rising behind him. And some ominous background music starting to play.
"You… you're not planning to fight the kingdom and rule this world, are you?" Lisanna asked cautiously.
"Fight it? No, how can I do that?" Kazuma said calmly.
The girls finally exhaled, relief washing over them.
"Heh... I'm going to destroy the kingdom. It won't take long before every city here is flying my flag. "
"This isn't a fight. It's a war. A war where the winner takes all."
"And that winner, me, will be the one who brings this world light and a future worth believing in. I am Kazuma, master of Fairy Tail, and I will take this cold world into my hands and give it warmth."
He said it matter-of-factly. Even added background music for the vibe.
"..."
"Lisanna… th-this kind of villain speech is popular where you're from?!" Mira immediately tensed up. "Th-that's not something dangerous to say, right?"
Just moments ago, she'd thought Kazuma was a scary-looking but fundamentally good person.
Now she felt like she might have been very wrong.
"No, no, no! Mira-nee, where we're from, this counts as extremely dangerous dialogue!" Lisanna panicked. "Is Fairy Tail over there really okay with someone like that as guild master?!"
She suddenly became worried about the Fairy Tail in her own world.
With someone this dangerous as guild master, was it really going to be fine?
While Kazuma was talking with the girls here, the members outside noticed something approaching in the distance.
"That's a lot of dust over there. Something's coming, isn't it?"
"Give me the binoculars."
Lucy took a look, and her face changed instantly. "It's… it's Erza the Fairy Hunter!"
"Run! Levy, activate the teleportation system!"
"Oh. Okay! No, wait! We already activated it once earlier. It got interrupted halfway, and now we don't have enough magic!"
"I can't cast it again!"
Levy panicked. The teleportation spell had already been used once, but Kazuma had interrupted it mid-cast.
"There's no choice. We have to run on foot!"
Lucy looked back at their guild building. There was no other option. They had to abandon it.
Better to lose the building than lose everyone.
"This..."
"We're really leaving the guild behind? Leaving our home?"
Everyone hesitated, hearts heavy.
"There's no other way," Lucy stated. "But it's okay. Buildings can be rebuilt. As long as we're alive, the guild still exists!"
The group prepared to flee, planning to rush inside and grab Mira and Lisanna.
"Running? No need," Kazuma said lightly. "I'll handle it. Since it's Erza, let's meet her."
With that, he walked straight out.
Ignoring everyone trying to stop him, he headed directly toward Erza and the kingdom's forces charging in his direction.
"Wait! In this world, you can't—"
Lisanna rushed after him, trying to warn him that magic couldn't be used in this world.
But the moment she stepped outside, she froze in disbelief.
...
On the other side, Erza of this world.
"Based on earlier observations, the meteor fell here," Erza said seriously. "This is the base of that dark guild, Fairy Tail."
"We have to investigate. Whatever this is, it could threaten the entire kingdom."
Fear and unease churned in her chest as she led her troops toward Fairy Tail's location.
Then, on the road ahead, they saw a single man walking toward them.
"Run him down. Kill him," Erza said coldly.
She frowned and ordered her mounted troops forward.
Anyone lingering near Fairy Tail had to be a member of that guild.
.
.
.