The soldiers roughly locked Wendy and Natsu in a prison cell. Leading them was a young man with hair half black and half white, and eyebrows shaped like arrows. Despite his youth, his identity was far from simple. He was Hughes, one of the captains of the Royal Army.
Facing Natsu and Wendy, who were trapped in the prison cell and at their mercy, he nonchalantly revealed their purpose: to seize the power of the Dragon Slayer Mage. Their companions, Happy and Carla, were bearers of the power to surpass the Dragon Slayer Mage, a member of the race referred to as Exceed, known as the "Gods."
While those words were spoken, Calvin, who had been concealed all along, heard them. Standing beside Erza, his face remained calm, but his inner turmoil was quite the opposite. He struggled with the decision of whether to rescue the two of them now, as they were likely facing danger. However, the opportunity to uncover the kingdom's motives behind obtaining magical power was a rare and hard-earned chance.
Just as he was struggling, the crowd suddenly parted a path for a certain person to make way. Calvin looked and saw a fellow who looked like him walking over with a smile.
The person had the same face as Calvin, wearing a red and white cape. They had a fierce and majestic wolf-shaped shoulder guard on their shoulder and wore a pair of fingerless gloves. The gloves were dazzling, covered with inscriptions of unreadable runes, and embedded with two shiny and captivating Lacrima on the back of the hand, emitting a faint but dangerous aura.
This person was Edolas' strongest battle force, Calvin.
Strangely, when Erza saw the person who came, she hurriedly turned her face away. Her expression was very disdainful, completely ignoring the 'Calvin' who was the center of attention. This made Calvin, who was next to her, not know whether to laugh or cry.
'Calvin' noticed Erza's reaction and flashed a bitter smile. Then he saw another version of himself standing next to Erza, and their eyes met. Edolas' Calvin wore an inexplicable smile and continued walking towards Natsu and Wendy.
"This guy, truly deserving of being me, has such an intense oppressive aura." With just a glance, the disguised Calvin could sense the strength of the other person, which was by no means inferior to his own. Now he was even more worried. With someone like that present, it would be difficult for him to rescue Natsu and Wendy.
"Chief Byro, I'll leave the task of extracting the Dragon Slayers' magic power to you. I have something I want to discuss with the other me." Suddenly, the strongest person in the kingdom, Calvin halted his steps, turned around to face Erza, and spoke with a serious expression.
When Chief Byro heard this, he glanced at Erza. He also understood Calvin's feelings for Erza. A guy who had the same appearance as him suddenly appeared beside Erza. No wonder Calvin had such a reaction. He also did not care. He responded softly, "Yes."
"Erza, you don't mind, right?" Edolas Calvin glared at Calvin fiercely, his tone very unfriendly.
"What's the matter? You don't mind being heard by me, right?" Erza had never been treated with such a tone by Calvin before. Her temper immediately rose and she rushed towards Calvin.
As the others watched, they all felt as if they were caught in a fierce battle, and within his heart, Hughes couldn't help but think, "Erza, you're just adding fuel to the fire. Can't you see that Calvin is about to explode..."
"I also want to talk to you. The other me. Don't worry, Erza. It will be fine." The moment Erza spoke up for Calvin, Calvin felt like he had returned to Earth Land. He gently patted Erza's shoulder and smiled confidently.
However, he did not realize that the people around him saw his actions and took a step back.
"You have guts. Come with me." Edolas Calvin forced out a smile. He couldn't even look at Erza. He turned around and left. Calvin hurriedly followed and stopped Erza from following him.
"Don't worry, he and I are also the same, you don't think I'm really weak, do you?" Said Calvin before he left,
After throwing down such a sentence, for some reason, that confidence always made Erza feel that it was worth believing.
In the prison room, Natsu and Wendy looked at the two Calvin who were far away through the window. Wendy whispered, "Calvin is so powerful that he could sneak into the kingdom so easily."
"Fortunately, you stopped me just now, Wendy. Otherwise, I am afraid I will mess up Calvin's plan... Calvin, please save everyone."
----
Edolas Calvin brought Calvin to an empty room, locked the door, and set up a sound-proof magic. Then he said, "Nice to meet you. I am Calvin Lucifer. I believe you have heard of my name."
"I'm well aware of that. The strongest force in Edolas and the most talented magical artisan in the entire country. It's hard to find someone more fitting for the title of a genius than you," Calvin said calmly. Although Calvin Lucifer had a great reputation, Calvin remained unfazed because he had confidence in his abilities.
"You should know why I wanted to have a private conversation with you," Lucifer said in a low tone, seemingly unaffected by Carlvin's admiration.
"I think we are looking for each other because of the words in your diary." At the same time, Calvin's face became serious.
"After I returned home yesterday, I immediately noticed that my diary had been tampered with. I'll be frank with you, that diary was enchanted with magic. Unless it was me, anyone else who opened it would only see blank pages," Lucifer sneered, clearly mocking Calvin for prying into someone else's privacy.
"I have no interest in your personal life, but the contents of the last page of the diary were truly astonishing. However, the entry was written concisely. Can you explain it in detail? 'Light and shadow, where light extinguishes, shadow shall perish. Alas, I am lacking in power. Even though I sense the impending destruction of the world, I am utterly powerless.' What does this statement mean!?" Calvin asked.
"Indeed, you have keen powers of observation. But the truth behind it is so heavy that it can drive one mad!" Lucifer shook his head, his previously cheerful demeanor now vanished, replaced by an indescribable sense of desolation.
"What do you mean?"
"It seems that you don't truly understand the true nature of this world. After arriving in this world, didn't you find it strange? Why are there people with the same name and appearance as us? Their physical structure is identical, yet their personalities are completely different. Why do your bodies possess magic while ours do not?" Lucifer said.
"Please elaborate," Calvin asked.
"You know, everything has two sides, just like light and shadow, hot and cold. Even the world has its duality. It's like a coin that has a heads and tails, or a ball that has an inside and outside. The relationship between Earth land and Edolas is like the two sides of a coin, and the biggest difference between our two worlds is that one world possesses magic while the other does not."
"Wait, your world doesn't have magic power? What kind of joke are you talking about?!" Calvin frowned when he heard this.
"The appearance of magic power is something that has happened in the past few hundred years. It has never happened before." Lucifer smiled gently and continued to speak of the most secretive thing in this world.
"I am getting more and more confused. What does this have to do with the destruction of the world?" Calvin continued to ask.
"Magic is a natural force in your world, but in our world, which originally lacked magic, it is like a poison. You know, our world consists of only this one continent. I have tried to explore the entire world, but I discovered that beyond the distant horizon, far from the continent, it has already been corrupted by magic."
"In the realm of Edolas where I reside, the existence of magic is strictly forbidden. It is simply not allowed."