Ben feels as if his skin is torn apart, his muscles are ripped, and his bones are crushed even though none of those things happen. This is a level of pain he never felt before. Even the damage he got from Acnologia 7 years ago didn't feel this painful.
But he needs to go through this, so he holds on and forces himself to stay conscious. The black magic letters on his body are turning red slowly as they absorb the Dragons' blood. They also absorb the thick Ethernano in the isolated barrier room which makes them glow.
Then the Dragons' magic power that was stored also enters the barrier. It also gets absorbed by the magic letters. The absorption of Dragons' magic power activates Ben's Dragon Force and golden scales appear on his skin, but now they appear all over his body, making him look like a Dragonoid.
A transformation also happens inside Ben's body. Cracks start to appear on his Demon-Dragon-God Seed. All the magic power that he absorbed through the magic letters enters the seed through the cracks.
The absorption speed is just 1 MP/second, so it seems slow. However, it's actually very fast compared to Mages' natural absorption that might not even increase even a point in a day. It's fast even for Ben who can increase his MP by a few hundred of MP per day if he only relies on his natural absorption rate.
But now he absorbs 3,600 MP per hour, which means he absorbs 86,400 MP per day. His target is very high though, so it will take days to finish this procedure. But he can't leave this barrier during that process, which means he will stay here for days without eating or drinking.
He has told Mira about this, so she won't search for him unless there's something very urgent that needs his presence. She can contact Jarvis if something comes up and Jarvis will inform him about it.
Mira isn't that worried about Ben because she knows his capability. He will be able to survive without food or drink for even a month if he pushes it. His vitality is very high and the thick Ethernano will help him survive.
The problem is their kids who will keep searching for their father. Even now, they've already asked about him. It has just been a day, but they've already missed him and wanted to play with him. They behave when Mira tells them that he is working right now.
It only lasts until the 3rd day though and they start whining because he hasn't returned. Mira then turns into a demonic mother and makes the kids behave again. She knows they will whine again tomorrow, so she really hopes that Ben will return soon.
In the next few days, Mira keeps dealing with the whining kids. They finally stop whining after 10 days when Mira pretends to cry too. The kids are consoling her instead, but it also makes them get angry at their father.
Mira gets speechless at that, 'T-this is not the result that I expected. I'm sorry, Ben, but you'll have to deal with this when you return.'
The days pass peacefully after that and the kids are behaving well. They are still mad at their father though because they think he was the one who made their mother cry. Everyone in the Guild knows this because the kids keep complaining about it and it makes them feel sorry for Ben.
Although they are also wondering why Ben still hasn't returned. It's been 21 days since he left to do his seclusion, after all. He told them that he would go for a few days, but this is already more than a few days, it's been 3 weeks already.
Then suddenly, their attention shifts when Jet & Droy enter the Guild with panic expressions. They tell them that something terrible has happened in the Magic Council. The Magic Council HQ has been attacked and many members get killed.
Of course, it surprises everyone there because this is surely something worrying for Ishgar's Magic world. This is the 2nd time the Magic Council HQ gets attacked. The first time was when Jellal & Ultear attacked it while disguising as internal members.
People are still wondering about the motive behind that attack when the next day, another shocking thing happen. Laxus's team suddenly returns in bad conditions with Yajima. They are guarding Yajima when suddenly someone attacked them.
That attack has caused a lot of death among the townfolks. More than 100 people died because of the attacker's power which is known as Magic Barrier Particles. It caused magic deficiency, illness, and eventually death.
Makarov knows they can't wait anymore and decide to make a move. The enemy's targets are surely Magic Council members who have high positions. So he sends the Guild members to guard those Council members.
"Should we call Ben?" asks Mira.
"Not yet, he is doing something very important right now. So we should do what we can first before calling him," says Makarov.
"Don't you think it's urgent already now? We already have a suspicion that Tartaros is behind this. And they have the ability to destroy Magic Council HQ and hunt Council members. So won't we need all our forces, especially our strongest force? I won't say anything about my helpless dad, but we need Ben," says Cana.
Makarov thinks about it and finally says, "You're right, we can't hold back on this. At the very least, we should inform Ben to get ready first. It might be too late if we wait for too long to call him."
Mira nods when she hears that and she returns home with her kids, Asuka, Wendy, Carla, & Bella. After arriving, Mira asks Jarvis to inform Ben of everything that happened. Then she asks Wendy & the cats to take care of Ariel & Gabriel because she needs to help the others in this case.
"Ariel, Gabriel, listen to your aunties while Mama isn't here, alright? Mama will return as soon as possible after finishing this job. Asuka, you also need to behave, your father & mother have job to do too," says Mira while caressing the kids' hair.
The 3 kids nod but Asuka is calmer about this than Ariel & Gabriel who are still holding Mira's skirt. But they let go of her eventually and she returns to the Guild. This house is the safest place in the town which is very safe already with all the defense mechanisms that Ben made.
But extra protection never hurts, that's why the kids are sent here. Wendy, Bella, & Carla are tasked to take care of them. They are also in charge of contacting Ben because they can only contact him through Jarvis.
Sometime later, Makarov gives Mira a task after he obtained more information. She will work together with Erza to guard the former Magic Council Chairman, Crawford Seam. Makarov thinks that Crawford might be one of the main targets as a former Chairman, so he sends 2 S-Class Mages.
Mira & Erza go there as fast as they can and arrive not long after that. Crawford welcomes them happily because no one will refuse free protection. He even serves them tea while they keep watching their surroundings.
The 3 of them talk about the attacks on Council Members. Mira & Erza are asking about the things they've found out before. They have known that Tartaros is after 'Face', a very powerful weapon owned by Magic Council.
This weapon can nullify all Magic on the continent of Ishgar. That means all Mages will lose their ability to use Magic and only those who don't use Magic won't be affected. Tartaros is a Guild of Etherious Demons and they use Curse, so that weapon won't affect them, that's why they are after it.
However, nothing much is known about 'Face'. Crawford even says that he doesn't know where it is located or who have the keys. Mira & Erza keep trying to dig into it, but he always says he doesn't know anything.
Then sometime later, they feel many sources of ominous magic power approach them. A lot of Etherious Demons are moving to their location. Mira & Erza are getting ready to fight the demons, but suddenly they feel sleepy.
Erza falls unconscious instantly, while Mira can still hold on even though her consciousness is fading. She looks back at the hiding Crawford who seems surprised to see her still conscious. He has put drugs in their tea and he even made sure to put a much higher dose in Mira's tea, but she can still hold on, which really surprises him.
Mira glares at Crawford and says, "This won't end well for you," before she loses consciousness.
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