“Kirlia~”
The jungle, originally green with hints of yellow, suddenly turned into a blue ocean.
As the blue light from Kirlia burst forth.
The dozen or so monkeys in sight eerily floated into the air, then their bodies flipped around and slammed hard onto the ground.
Boom!
With such force that small craters were smashed directly into the ground.
Their heads certainly couldn’t take it and exploded; for the few with harder heads, their cervical vertebrae snapped instantly from the pressure.
They were definitely as dead as could be.
It was just that these monkeys, whether accustomed to being arrogant or naturally wild and stubborn…
…instead of being intimidated by the tragic deaths of their companions, their ferocity was stirred up one by one.
In an instant.
Gravel and fruit pits filled the sky, raining down like hail.
Facing such a scene, Edward, in his first battle, remained quite calm.
“Kirlia, Reflect.”
“Kirlia~”
The effect of Reflect is to halve the opponent’s physical attacks for five turns.
It had to be said, as expected of a Psychic-type move, it was very unscientific.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Like heavy rain pelting a window.
Hiding behind a wall composed of translucent pink rhombohedral crystals, Edward and Kirlia stood firm.
Although on the surface it looked like all the projectiles were being bounced away…
…in reality, Edward could still feel a slight, strange sensation, similar to mosquitoes landing on his body.
This wasn’t Protect, after all.
Of course, if it were Protect, it would be difficult for Kirlia to look after Edward as well.
“Kirlia, give it back to them.”
“Kirlia!”
Swish!
Confusion was activated again, this time targeting the pile of debris that had fallen in front of them.
Floating, spinning, Lock-On.
Finally, they shot out violently!
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
The kinetic energy generated by Confusion was far greater than that of a mere throw.
…
Swish, swish, swish!
Two monkeys, sturdier than their peers, were spinning at high speeds in mid-air.
Under Kirlia’s control via Confusion, they were being used directly as weapons.
Sometimes they were nunchucks, sometimes a meteor hammer.
Whenever they broke, she would just find new materials on the spot.
It was incredibly brutal.
Of course.
Edward was definitely not someone who hogged all the glory.
After learning about Elfman’s magic…
He naturally assumed that the reason Elfman took this mission was to obtain the bodies of these animals to enrich his “Take Over library.”
Just like how, as a Trainer…
It was common sense to use different Pokémon for different terrains and opponents.
Edward believed that Take Over worked on a similar principle.
So, while Kirlia was mowing through them like vegetables, Edward had her intentionally let a few monkeys through to Elfman.
To his astonishment, Edward saw…
Those monkeys, using either sharp claws or sharp stones, beat Elfman so badly that he could only crouch on the ground with his head in his hands, curling up to Protect his vitals.
He was actually struggling!
No, he was actually completely powerless to resist!
Edward:?
What exactly are you here for?
You’re not here just to leech off me, are you?!
Elfman’s series of unexpected actions left Edward quite speechless.
Unable to watch any longer and unwilling to waste more time, he gave a direct order.
“Kirlia, Magical Leaf!”
“Kirlia!”
With an ethereal long cry, the blue light on Kirlia flared up.
A whirlwind formed at its feet and spread out in all directions.
Soon, the trees in sight were shaking violently under the force of the wind.
Countless leaves fell.
At the same time, the existing fallen leaves were swept into the air.
They quickly formed a verdant storm.
Squeak, squeak!
Squeak, squeak!
At this moment.
The monkeys finally realized things were going south, huddling together in groups of three or five and letting out irritable shrieks.
However, it was completely useless.
The leaves, sharp as knives, swept through like a nimble giant python.
Wherever they passed, clouds of blood mist exploded, lingering for a long time.
…
Whoosh~ Shoo~
The wind stopped, and the leaves fell.
Heaven and earth fell into a dead silence.
Edward turned his head, but he didn’t see a look of shock mixed with admiration from Elfman.
He doesn’t even know how to shout “666”…
He looked at Elfman, who was hugging his knees, his body trembling slightly.
His head was full of question marks.
Was he scared to tears?
He looked at Kirlia.
The latter tilted its cute little head and spread its hands.
Indicating that it didn’t understand either.
It couldn’t read minds.
“Um… are you okay?”
Elfman had left a good impression on Edward.
He was quiet, humble, polite, innocent, and kind.
So, he treated him like an ordinary child.
Edward always believed that an adult’s generosity and tolerance should be reserved for children like this, not for spoiled brats.
It was like the saying: “If you repay injury with kindness, with what will you repay kindness?”
If everyone were treated the same, wouldn’t it be too unfair to the well-behaved children?
Edward stepped forward, looked at Elfman’s battle-damaged little suit, thought for a moment, and reached out to smooth his messy white short hair.
“Kirlia~”
Kirlia followed suit and patted Elfman’s shoulder to offer comfort.
“S-sorry, I’m always so useless.”
“Well… can you tell me why?”
After releasing Onix, Edward sat down beside Elfman.
“Sorry to trouble you, Onix.”
“Roar~”
The number of monkeys was quite large.
Edward didn’t know if leaving them like this would cause a plague.
He did it just in case, and for Onix, it was no trouble at all.
Seeing Onix start working.
Edward then looked at Elfman, who had stopped sobbing.
“My sister…”
At this moment, the vulnerable Elfman needed to talk, so without much resistance, he told Edward a long story.
Edward had also been careless; he hadn’t expected the reason to go back so far.
…and maybe some tea and snacks.
Under Elfman’s unadorned but heartfelt narration…
The Strauss siblings’ painful past experiences sketched vivid pictures in Edward’s mind.
Carrying a “Curse” to Protect the villagers, only to be driven out of their home by those same ungrateful people.
Wandering and drifting everywhere, being looked down upon at every turn.
Even after finding a place of refuge—Fairy Tail—his sister, due to her past experiences, worried about burdening them again and almost left her siblings.
Fortunately, everything was getting better.
The Master was a learned man; he not only broke the sister’s “Curse” but turned it into a miracle.
Everyone in the guild was a good person, and there were many friends of the same age.
They wanted to stay here.
So they needed to master magic.
But what magic should they learn?
Just as the sister put her siblings’ happiness first, the siblings felt the same way.
During the time when their sister was treated as an outcast, although they were by her side, they couldn’t truly feel what she felt.
Now that they knew it was a form of magic…
the brother and sister hit it off and decided to learn the exact same kind.
But unexpectedly…
…his talent was surprisingly poor, and he was of no use during missions.
The sister alone was enough for combat, while Lisanna showed quite a talent for various support roles.
In contrast, he…
was just coasting along.
If he weren’t teaming up with family, he would definitely be disliked.
Like Qiao…
Edward was a good person, but how many times could he tolerate him?
What about others?
Gentleness meant sensitivity, and sensitivity made it easy to overthink.
Elfman couldn’t help but feel a sense of inferiority.
And since Mirajane and Lisanna didn’t bring him along this time…
…it caused his wild thoughts to reach a height that almost made him break down.
That was why he looked for a mission like this and teamed up with someone he didn’t know well.
“I know where my problem lies!”
Elfman painfully grabbed the hair on his temples.
Edward had also guessed most of it; he was just a Trainer disguised as a Mage.
But in just these two days, he had heard the Master say more than once—”Magic is the power of the heart.”
Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Edward had already made a judgment.
Elfman and Lisanna both loved animals very much.
But the latter, on Earth, would at most volunteer at a stray animal shelter in her spare time.
The former would definitely be a member of an Animal Protection Association, and an extreme one at that.
It wasn’t that Elfman couldn’t beat those wild monkeys.
He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t perform Full-Body Take Over.
He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
So the reason he wanted to do this kind of mission…
…was in the hope that, without his sister’s protection, he could feel pressure or even malice from Edward’s side, thereby forcing himself to harden his heart.
But he failed.
Because Edward was kind.
And because Elfman knew…
…that even if he took action this time, it wouldn’t change anything.
A person can deceive anyone, but they can never deceive themselves.
Edward didn’t know how Elfman overcame this in the original story.
But it certainly had to do with his subsequent drastic change in personality.
But as for what specifically happened, Edward had truly forgotten.
It was just that as a member of Fairy Tail, he didn’t have any highlight moments even under that overpowered BGM.
Perhaps it had everything to do with his fundamental hatred of his own magic.