Minerva sure knows how to say some misleading things! Or maybe it’s just my inner perverted fangirl who is trying to mess with me.

Summary:

Natsu’s team is wandering around in the maze beneath Crocus. They’ve reached what according to the Executioners is supposed to be the location of the exit. While the group is strolling around, Arcadios well-being becomes the discussion topic. Apparently, he survived the lava pit because of a charm made of jade that he wears around his neck. Yukino says that the princess’ name (Hisui), means “jade”. Everyone notices that Arcadios and the princess share a bond, so Natsu wonders why she threw him down in the pit. Loki tells them they should escape first so that the others can know that they’re fine. The team reaches a door. Natsu prepares to punch it but falls down because it opens up from the other side. The mysterious girl from the previous chapters is standing on the other side.

Back at the palace, the guards are informing the princess about their troubles concerning their Executioners. Hisui smiles at these news but Darton shows up and tells her that a smile is rather inappropriate, and that things went as expected. The princess is surprised that he is present at the castle when he was supposed to be watching the tournament with the king, but Darton says that he came back because of a strange premonition. It is revealed that Darton was the one who threw Arcadios in Hell City, and Hisui used FAIRY TAIL to save him. Apparently, Eclipse is the princess’ plan. Eclipse 2 is in fact Eclipse. It is a plan that was supposed to kept secret but Hisui decides to tell Darton anyway. If the plan fails, Fiore will be no more.

We’re taken back to the arena where FAIRY TAIL is in the lead, followed by Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Mermaid Heel. It seems like it’s time for Juvia to fight. Like Mavis predicted, her opponent ends up being Chelia. Mavis says that keeping Chelia occupied will suffice because the main confrontation will be between Erza and Minerva. But unlike Mavis’ prediction, Kagura launches herself towards Erza. The two girls engage in a battle of swords. Mavis starts crying because her prediction was off. All of sudden, Minerva uses her magic and takes form between Erza and Kagura and sends them flying towards two different directions. Now that there are three women in the battle, it has gone from a dual to a “threesome”.

Why? Just… WHY? Why can’t we know the identity of that mysterious girl yet? I almost made a headdesk when the next page changed the viewpoint. And with the way things have gone throughout this chapter, I doubt we’ll find out until the tournament is over. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s really a mean tease. That girl better have an impressive identity now that there is so much suspense around her.

So, it turns out that Arcadios is a man very dear to the princess, who turned out to be the mastermind behind the Eclipse plan. She told Darton that she wasn’t supposed to speak of the plan, which immediately made me assume that she is connected to Zeref somehow. But then again, this plan was initially made to stop Zeref, so I could be wrong. I guess nothing will make sense until we know the cloaked girl’s identity. But one thing is certain, and that is the fact that Fiore’s existence is being risked in this plan. The princess must have a very strong resolve to see this through if she can bet an entire country on this Eclipse thing. I have a hard time thinking of the princess as a villain but that kind of risk is not really something a hero would do. Sure, no one will suffer from this because it will probably be as if the country never existed, but nothing is really certain. Oh well, at least this makes things more exciting – but not as much as the current battle between the three girls in the arena!

Everyone knew that Erza would eventually be facing Kagura and Minerva, but at the same time? Wow, this battle sure is exhilarating. To be honest, it’s hard for me to care about Kagura now that Minerva is in the game. I just want to see someone beat that woman, and it’s not just because of what she did to Lucy. It’s also because I want someone to change that nasty attitude of hers. She will be a tough opponent for Erza, no doubt. I just hope she and Kagura don’t team up to take Erza down together. That would be so unfair. But then again, Erza who took out one hundred monsters on her own should be able to take these two women down. Kagura will after all, not fight using her full strength unless she is facing Jellal. But Erza and Jellal share a very special bond, so who knows? She might draw her sword in the end. Well, however this battle goes, it is bound to be exciting and beautiful, I mean hey, all three girls look gorgeous! I’m really glad Minerva showed up so Mavis prediction could be somewhat correct. I feel sorry for Mavis, but at the same time, I found myself laughing at her misery. She is truly adorable. Well, having said that, we’ll see how these three girls manage throughout this battle in next week’s chapter. I’m really looking forward to that!

Moete kitazou!

36 Comments

  1. I’m hoping the Erza, Minerva, Kagura threesome (best title ever btw “Threesomes”) lasts more then a couple chapters. Erza is my second favorite character, Kagura is my favorite new character needless to say I’m excited for this.

    Moridin
  2. I feel like the future woman would have a decent chance of not being ‘future-Lucy’ if it weren’t for the flip-flops. Mysterious cloak + goofball sandals just seems like a Lucy move.

    caramel_cod
  3. I remain adamant that Hiro sensei changed his mind about Arcadios half way through the arc, either that or Arcadios actually has some agenda of his own and plans to betray the princess. To be honest I’m almost sure the mystery girl can’t be Yukino’s sister, because that person is almost 100% angel and I can’t see angel playing a significant role after all this time.

    As for the three ladies dishing it out; my thoughts are that the fight will boil down to Erza and Kagura alone, the reason for that is because while Minerva needs a beat down to learn some humility she is just that; a typical villain with a big ego and overly obsessive pride in her guild that she is willing to crush anything and anyone just to drive her point home, as a result she doesn’t play a significant role and is pretty much in the same boat as Rufus who was equally as arrogant and learned his lesson by being pummeled into the floor just as he thought he was winning.

    On the other hand Kagura and Erza’s battle is a personal one especially because one hates Jellal on a murderous level while the other loves him and since Kagura already knows Jellal is hiding in Fairy Tail it is likely that Hiro sensei will lead the fight until Minerva is eliminated and then have Kagura ask Erza about Jellal, leading to a full on confrontation between the woman who sees him guilty for everything he did and thereby wants to execute him herself and the woman who believes he can atone for his crimes and loves him more than anyone else.

    Side note; crying Mavis…D’awwwwwwwwww >w<

    gawrshness
    1. Mhmm. I fully share your sentiments on Arcadios. Regardless of whether Hiro-sensei planned it or changed his mind, the change in character felt really abrupt.

      I can’t wait to see Minerva get beat down. There are some characters that are so rotten that you can’t help but be frustrated at the sight of them. (even though they’re fictional!) For me, Minerva is one of those villains. She’ll probably get her shit kicked in very soon though, as Hiro-sensei has shown time and time again what is truly important to himself within this manga’s themes.

      I just had a thought after reading some earlier chapters and remembering that at the very early stages, the cloaked woman had Zeref’s presence, which after all this development, struck me as very strange. Everyone thinks it’s Lucy, as do I, but I think it could shed some light on Eclipse’s true purpose. Somehow I don’t feel that Eclipse failing would just be a boom-explosion kind of fail. Too cliche and I don’t buy it. I’m expecting Hiro-sensei to go much deeper (as he proved he is capable of in his other works).

      If we recall what Zeref’s power is (death to all around him, except himself), perhaps Eclipse’s true purpose is to actually PUT a piece of Zeref inside EVERYONE. So that everyone has Zeref’s magic and is therefore immune to its destructive power. And of course, the project failing would be obvious, as Zeref’s power would just…outright kill them. I always thought the mass death with Fairy Tail members was odd, as it doesn’t seem like they would lose so dramatically in a simple fight. It could also explain why the cloaked woman is missing an arm, possibly due to rejection of Zeref’s power.

      I guess the basic concept is “If everyone is Zeref, then the original isn’t so special anymore”.

      Jello
  4. When Kagura suddenly attacked Erza, my reaction was:

    “Oh, S-N-A-P. Swordbabes fighting!”

    Then I did NOT expect Minerva to appear (I’m also with Stereoman; did not expect them to fight together. My reaction was:

    “OH, SHIT JUST GOT EFFING REAL!”

    When this arc started, I was expecting it to be Erza vs Kagura and Mirajane vs Minerva. It was disappointing when Juvia joined instead of Mirajane, but we’ll see how Juvia fights with Chelia next. Juvia has been nerfed hard ever since her sacrifice for Fairy Tail on the Fighting Festival arc. That was one of her crowning moments of awesome/heartwarming for Juvia and when it was time for Juvia vs Meredy, I was really expecting it to be a bloodbath and not… the power of friendship. So I’m also looking forward to Juvia’s fight.

    ..and who are we kidding, we all know that masked woman is future!Lucy.

    underMebius
  5. “I’m not going to cry! I’m not going to cry!”

    “Quick! Someone comfort the First!!”

    Mavis – best time-skip character ever. 😀

    Minerva is going to play so dirty in the upcoming fight. I bet she knows something of ‘Mystogun’s real identity and will use it to throw a psycho Kagura at Erza so that she can cheapshot them both and get a good amount of points for their team. That fits much better in Minerva’s personality.

    Although, I must give her props for being as ‘Queen Bitchy’ as she is – not many people can pull it off like she can. Ultear was better though…

    Arakan7
  6. So Arcadios was pretending to be the mastermind to cover for the princess, whom he cares for dearly.

    Can we all stop doubting Arcadios now? Even if he has his own agenda, he still was ready to sacrifice himself to save Lucy and Yukino so the plan can process for the princess. That’s dedication.

    YanDaMan
      1. Erza loves Jellal and Kagura hates him, I believe that they will fight again after the tournament because I don’t believe that Kagura intends to draw that sword in the tournament, she will only do so with the purpose of killing Jellal and Erza will try to stop her, so when they fight again kagura might pull that sword on Erza first and the fight will be dubbed Love vs Hate just like the battle between Juvia and Melody, so will love conquer all or will hate break our hearts. If love wins then dimasok will be right and Erza and kagura will have mutual respect for each other.

        K C M
    1. Tales of Xillia reference! Leia’s (Hayami Saori) hi-ougi! So she’s also voicing Kagura, huh? That’s going to be cool because I’ve always wanted to hear more of a ‘serious’ side to her.

      ftw
    1. Or something stupid like Lucy from the future. Given that she has a certain attraction to Fairy Tail and Future Levy seems to be writing to Lucy as if she isn’t there anymore, not to mention given Carla’s vision has a lot to do with Lucy.

      Ace
  7. People! Why do you doubt Kagura so much? Her will is to fight Erza, so her and Erza will beat Minerva and move on.

    As for the cloaked girl it’s not Lucy cause Natsu didn’t recognize her (by scent)and Arcadios is not evil leave him alone

    Aquarian DragonSlayer
  8. Here is the latest battle stats.

    1. Erza vs Kagura vs Minerva.( Triple threat match ) – Battle of the Strongest female Mages

    2. Juvia vs Cherry ( one on one ), then later Juvia vs Milliana or Cherry vs Milliana ( you decide) – Battle of Rivals

    3. Gajeel vs Rogue and Sting ( 1 on 2 handicap match ) – Battle of the Dragon Slayers ( 1st generation vs 3rd generation )

    4. Laxus vs Orga ( mano et mano ) – Battle of Dragon Slayer and God Slayer

    5. Gray vs Leon ( one on one ) – Battle of Sibling Disciples ( Elder Disciple vs Younger Disciple )

    6. Finally, Laxus vs Jura ( one on one ) – Battle of Son of a Wizard Saint and One of the Wizard Saints.

    Can you predict the outcome of the matches.

    K C M
      1. I’m gonna have to disagree with you, I think Lamia Scale will win and get first place. However, Fairy Tail will kick Sabertooth’s butts and avenge Lucy’s honour by knocking Sabertooth out of the number one position. Fairy Tail will get second place, Mermaid Heel will get third place and Sabertooth will get fourth place( that will piss them off ) Blue Pegasus is already in fifth place making Quarto Cerberus/puppy sixth place.
        Don’t misunderstand me Natsu, I love Fairy Tail and I want to put them in first place in fact my selfish side has already put them in first place but my speculating side thinks it will turn out this way for a reason. They don’t need first place to prove that they will always be no.1 in fiore in fact they have regained their respect and hype that they lost seven years ago so all that is left is to teach those stuck up tigers a lesson about messing with other peoples Nakama when you they don’t care about their own.

        If you and I were betting I would want you to win that bet Natsu. PS, I want FT to get that prize money another reason why I want them to win.

        K C M
  9. Mavis = “HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!”

    Mavis stole this chapter for me!!!

    Mavis for Best Fairy Tail Character Ever!!!

    Mavis for Best Loli Ever!!!

    Mavis for Best Guild Master Ever!!!

    Mavis for Best Strategist Ever!!! (…Not! LOL)

    Mavis, MAvis, MAVis,MAVIs, MAVIS, MAVVIIIIIIIIIISSSS!!!

    OK, I’ll stop now! ;p

    Now on the chapter,There are a lot of questions that popped up in my head because of this chapter. Questions like:

    Why does a “maze with no escape” have a door (and a huge one at that) in it?

    Where did that jade amulet come from? Was it given to them just like Natsu’s scarf?

    What is the connection between Arcadios and the Princess?

    Why would the country not exist if the eclipse 2 plan fails?

    Why did Minerva show herself in front of Kagura and Erza? Why didn’t Minerva just wait until the two were both exhausted? Does she want to prove to everyone that she is the strongest female mage?

    Who is that mystery person? (I’m with the “Future Lucy” bandwagon as well!)

    And the most mind boggling questions of all —

    “WHY IS MAVIS SOOOOOOO ADORABLE!?”
    and
    “HOW DO YOU CONSOLE HER WITHOUT DYING OF CUTENESS!? HOW!?

    Just Passing By
  10. ^ The guy above me, “Just Passing By,” I am a lolicon police officer and I am here to take you to the police station.
    You are suspected of being a super lolicon and you have the right to remain silent.
    *puts on handcuffs*

    Michael
    1. Huh, Sorry but you can’t arrest me officer! You’ve got nothing on me. I’m innocent…INNOCENT I TELL YA!!!

      Everything is just circumstantial evidence! *slips a photo of Mavis in Michael’s pocket*

      You’ll let me go now, right? ;P

      Just Passing By
  11. Isn’t the girl in the cloak, Levy from the future? I believe its Levy doing all the narrations in the manga and anime, and i think at one chapter it showed her face all scarred or something

    SoulG

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