Chapter 152 - The Lacrima.

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Goals and rewards of the week.

TOP 1 = Three double releases.

TOP 2 = Two double releases.

TOP 3 = One double release.

Y'all can even pick the days for these.

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[Erza Scarlet. POV.]

As I left Laxus fighting Faust, the resolve to save everyone had once again ignited a fire in my heart as I set my sights on the enormous Lacrima, keeping Adam's power away. 

Each step felt heavy, burdened not by fear, but by determination. "I will save them, I will save you," I vowed to myself, my heartbeat echoing my conviction as the images of my friends, especially Adam, played across my mind. 

Despite having no real enemies ahead of me, the path to the Lacrima wasn't clear. Soldiers, hundreds of them, had stepped forward to block my trajectory, following the King's command. Part of me understood, they were just doing their job, still, their actions were beyond forgiveness.

"Move! Or I'll be forced to go through you!" I warned them, my voice echoing across the field. They answered with a silent display of their gleaming weapons, showing that they were ready to die for their cause, it was admirable, but futile nonetheless. 

I sighed, gripping my sword tighter. "So be it."

Respecting their resolve, and my own goals, I moved like a tempest, cutting through them with power and precision clearing my path to the Lacrima.

It wasn't before long that the battlefield fell into silence, as all the guards that once stood against me, now lay on the ground, defeated.

"Adam... hold on," I murmured.

Standing before the Lacrima, I could feel the immense power trapped within, it was more than I could've possibly imagined, making me wonder just how much power Adam was really hiding. 

The lacrima, pulsed with an eerie light, not quite blue like the rest of the others, it seemed almost… ethereal, its light reflecting in my widened eyes. The face of Adam, and a woman I had never seen before seemed to stare back at me from within its depths, both carrying an expression I couldn't quite grasp. 

Pushing my thoughts aside, I gripped my sword tighter. "This ends now!"

Without any more words, I lifted my sword, the weight of it seeming to echo the weight of my responsibility, and as I did so, the world seemed to slow around me, as the echoes of the battles behind me faded into an almost deafening silence. 

The light from the Lacrima painted long, ominous shadows around me, the silence broken only by my breath and the faint humming of the trapped magic.

Silently, I drew back my blade, every muscle in my body coiling like a spring. Then, in a blur of motion, I struck, my sword cutting through the air. In an instant, the sharp edge of my blade met the surface of the Lacrima before a brilliant burst of light erupted from the point of contact, pushing me back as the release of magic created a massive shockwave that rippled through the air and the entire city, taking my breath away.

As more and more power continued to pour out, the world itself seemed to shudder under its pressure, giving me just an idea of how powerful Adam truly was. 

"I did it," I muttered with a smile. My words were lost in the explosion of magic, and for a moment, I was suspended in that bright light, the immense energy threatening to consume me. 

Despite this, I was happy. I had saved Adam, I had helped him where no one else could, and now I could leave the rest to the others. 

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[Adam C. POV.]

Pain. 

The world came into focus through a veil of pain. Every breath felt like a thousand needles jabbing into my chest, every heartbeat a hammer to the anvil. 

Despite Wendy's best effort to fix the consequences of what was happening to my body without power, my situation was becoming worse by the moment. 

Though I was pretty sure most of this was because my counterpart had poisoned me, if Wendy's words were anything to go by.

Maybe it was a fifty-fifty kind of thing.

I tried to move, to sit up, but as of now, my body refused, drained from whatever it was happening. Sadly, I was trapped in my own body, unable to move, unable to do anything more than hear. 

Not going to lie, it was maddening.

As minutes turned into hours, I could do nothing but reflect on my plight, and wonder for just how long I would be here, and to think all of this was happening my power had been drained to sustain a world that wasn't even my own. 

However, this situation didn't last for much longer, because all of a sudden, there was a change. A surge of energy coursed through my body, making every nerve sing with life. It was like a river breaking through a dam, unstoppable, uncontainable. 

Power, my power, was returning.

I forced my eyes open, a smile spreading across my face as the pain in my body subsided. 

"A-Adam?!" Wendy muttered, her breath shaky. Showing that the return of my power had taken a toll on her, which was to be expected seeing that for one moment I hadn't been able to contain it. 

Smiling at her, I pushed myself to sit up, as I took a brief moment to savor this sensation, my power surging and pulsing within me. As fun as being weak had been, it felt good to be strong again.

I could feel my power in every beat of my heart, in every breath I took.

Then, a thought crossed my mind. Erza. I don't know how, but I knew she had been the one to free me. For a strange reason, I had the memory of her, standing before the Lacrima, keeping my powers away.

"Thank you, Erza," I smiled. Deciding it was time to end this charade. Once and for all.

I wanted to go home, and if that meant taking this entire arc by the horns, then by all means I would oblige. I mean, sure I had originally wanted to leave the others to deal with the situation, but that was then, now I'm tired of this place.

"Y-you can't leave!" Wendy stammered, panic lacing her voice. "You still haven't recovered, and I haven't fully treated the poison in your system! So if you w-want to leave, you'll have to g-go t-through m-me!" 

So, I was right, the bastard had tried to poison me.

I turned to her, my expression softening as I placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, it was adorable to see her caring so much about my health. "I know, but don't worry. This will only take a second."

I wasn't kidding when I said that. Now that I was back to full strength, this entire thing would take just that, a second of my time.