Laxus who has very sharp ears is the one who heard it first. He stops while they move sneakily, taking Mystogan's and Edolas Alex's attention.
"Why are you stopping?" Mystogan asks curiously because Laxus is frowning very deeply while looking at the big lacrima crystal in the plaza.
"I think I hear something coming from that crystal."
Edolas Alex and Mystogan then look at the big crystal, but they can't hear anything. They can only hear the King's irritating speech in front of the lacrima crystal that's as big as a house. He talks as if he's a hero that's about to save the world even if it means taking people's lives.
Laxus feels irritated hearing the people's cheers even though he knows that the citizens don't know what their King does to get such a gigantic lacrima crystal. The citizens cheer happily at the thought of having a lot of magic power, until they suddenly hear a loud sinister laugh.
"Fufufufu! HAHAHAHA!"
The laugh is so loud that it drowns the loud cheering sound from the citizens. Everyone immediately turns silent and looks at where the sound is coming from, which is none other than the big lacrima crystal in front of them.
Suddenly, a silhouette appears inside the big lacrima crystal. Then the big blue lacrima crystal suddenly turns dark red like blood. The blood red lacrima then turns into something that looks like blood red fog which then gets absorbed to the center.
When the red fog clears up, a humanoid orange fox with 9 tails and red eyes appears with a big sinister grin on its face. Then it laughs sinisterly again while looking up, opening its wide mouth that's filled with sharp fangs.
"HAHAHAHA! I'M BACK! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN SEAL THIS GREAT DEMON FOX WITH SUCH SOMETHING WEAK LIKE THAT?"
The 9-Tailed humanoid fox then looks around while grinning, making everyone who looks at him shiver in fear, including the King and his Army Commanders.
But they still move to protect the King even though they feel quite scared by the being that suddenly appears from the crystal because it looks scary and they never thought that something that has been crystalized by the Anima can free itself like this.
"Hoh? Are you people the ones who tried to seal me by turning my magic power into a crystal? Heh, not bad. You even managed to turn a whole city full of people into a crystal too. HAHAHA! You are even more sinister than a demon like me. I don't know why you turn a whole city into a crystal, but that surely is something unthinkable, even for me. Killing a whole city where hundreds of thousands of people live at once is a feat only Demon Kings and Demon Gods can do. I never thought that Humans would be capable of that, HAHAHA!"
The 9-tailed humanoid fox's words make the citizens look at each other confusedly because they don't understand what it means. The Army Commanders can't let it keep talking though or the people will be suspicious.
So Edolas Erza attacks it with her spear, but the fox dodges it easily. It swipes its sharp claws at Edolas Erza, but she also dodges it by jumping back. The fox looks at its sharp claws and shakes its hand as if it's uncomfortable.
"Hmm, this place is really uncomfortable. The magic power here is so low. Seems like I need to get used to this first before I can do anything. Humans, count your time. While I am impressed by what you could do to me, it doesn't mean I like being treated like that. I am someone who holds a grudge and will always pay it back multiple folds. Just wait for a while. After I get used to this annoyingly low concentration of magic power, I'll come back to destroy this city. Hmm, taking over this weak world doesn't seem like a bad idea either."
The fox grins before its whole body glows golden bright. The light blinds everyone and then the light suddenly disappears along with the fox. Everyone looks around before running away in fear because they can't find it.
Even the King, the Commanders, and the Knights quickly return to the castle and close all of its gates. They quickly evacuate the King into the Throne Room. The Commanders and the other important people also gather there.
They immediately talk about the "Demon Fox". About how it could free itself after being crystalized, and whether it can really destroy this whole Capital City. Its sudden appearance really disturbs their long-prepared great plan.
"That was Alex, wasn't it?" Mystogan asks while his group walks through a hidden passage in the castle.
"Yeah, unless someone else can transform into that creature." Laxus answers while grinning widely.
"Oh, so my Earthland self can transform into that kind of creature, huh? But I should say, as expected of me. He can free himself alone even after being crystalized and even use his magic already." Edolas Alex seems very proud of himself and his Earthland self.
"So what should we do now?" Laxus ignores Edolas Alex and asks Mystogan.
"We will keep proceeding with our plan. I made the plan with Alex, so he knows what to do. My guess is he left to find out what we are doing now before deciding on his action." Mystogan explains while still walking.
"Hmm, I don't know much about my Earthland self, but you said that he predicted quite a lot about what would happen here, right? Then, if I'm being him, I would go to the crystalized Magnolia first because it's the easiest to find. It's also to check if the crystalized Magnolia is in a good condition. If he really goes there, then he'll meet Natsu and co, so he'll understand what we are doing now."
Edolas Alex doesn't know anything about Earthland Alex and they never met. But he is correct about what Earthland Alex will do now. Earthland Alex really searches for the crystalized Magnolia and quickly goes there by flying in the humanoid Chomei form after finding it.
The main reason Earthland Alex goes there is to make sure that the crystalized Magnolia is fine. Things have changed, so he can't always be sure that everything will go according to the series. The King might do something different that can destroy some parts of the crystal, which can kill people.
That's why he is very glad when he sees the trio Dragon Slayers there because it means the crystalized Magnolia is safe. Also, by seeing them there, Alex knows that the plan he made with Mystogan is already ongoing.
But when he arrives there, Natsu is gathering magic power in his mouth. Gajeel and Wendy seem to try holding him back. Then Natsu takes a deep breath with some fire seen around his mouth.
"What are you trying to do?" Alex grabs Natsu's head from behind and squeezes it. He absorbs Natsu's magic power with the grab, canceling Natsu's spell with it.
"A-ALEX!?" Gajeel is surprised to see Alex there.
"H-huh? Which Alex?" Natsu asks while shivering because he can't see Alex. But he has a strong feeling that it's their Alex, that's why he shivers in fear because Alex will surely punish him for what he's about to do.
"It's Earthland Alex-san." Wendy immediately knows that it's Earthland Alex because he comes in the humanoid Chomei form, something that only he can do.
"Just now, what are you trying to do, Natsu? I believe you're told to just guard the crystal without doing anything to it, right?" Alex is squeezing Natsu's head a little stronger because Natsu tries to run away.
"W-well, I just thought that it's better to get everyone's help." Natsu says it timidly.
"I see, I see. Getting everyone's help is good, but before that, I think you need my help to clean your ears and brain. Or maybe you can free everyone and bring Erza here to help me clean your ears and brain. Ah, maybe Master and even Mira can join in too. You sure remember how scary Mira can be when she snaps, right?"
Natsu shivers when he remembers the old Mira. She has become much calmer now, but she returns to her old self every time she snaps.
"Where's Mystogan?" Alex asks Gajeel while still holding the shivering Natsu.
"He should be sneaking into the castle now to find the Anima with Laxus and your Edolas self." Gajeel doesn't explain too much because Mystogan has told them that Alex knows about Edolas already, so he knows that there are other versions of themselves.
"Oh? So the Edolas me is an ally, huh? That's good. Alright then, Natsu, if you really want to get into an action that bad, then I'll give it to you. Why don't we go to help them so they can sneak in much easier?"
Alex grins while the 3 Dragon Slayers tilt their heads confusedly because they don't know what he wants to do. He just says that it will be fun for them, so they don't need to worry.
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Ch. 169. New S-Classes
(+ An AI generated picture of not-so Chomei humanoid form design)