The sun had already set beyond the western mountains, and the moon had just begun to rise into the night sky. Beneath the soft silver glow of the moonlight, Mira patiently explained the classifications and principles of Take Over Magic to Su Mo.
"There are three main ways to gain a new Take Over form," she began.
"The first is the most dangerous—but also the most common." "You defeat a monster, then forcibly assimilate its body into your own." "As long as the caster's willpower can overpower the monster's, the assimilation will succeed."
This was the specialty of the monster called Vulcan that dwelled in the snow-covered mountains. Strictly speaking, this method was a kind of forcible body possession. And it wasn't just something humans could use on monsters—monsters could use it on humans too. Once a person is taken over and loses the initial struggle for control, their body is essentially lost. Without external interruption, there's no escape.
"The greatest danger in this method," Mira said with a serious look, "is that if your willpower fails to subdue the monster's, it might turn around and possess you instead."
Her expression darkened slightly as she recalled a memory from years ago—an incident where her younger sister nearly lost her life.
At the time, Mira, already an S-Class Mage, had taken her younger siblings with her to subjugate an S-Class monster—the Beast. But things went terribly wrong.
Not only did she fail to defeat the Beast King, but in her moment of carelessness, the monster managed to strike at Lisanna.
With its monstrous strength, just a single blow could have ended her life. Mira had been too far to intervene in time.
That was when her brother, Elfman, made a desperate decision: to perform a Full Body Take Over on the Beast.
The problem was, the Beast's power far exceeded his own.
Though Elfman was skilled in Take Over Magic and could easily handle A-Class monsters, this was an entirely different level.
The Beast had a violent and dominating consciousness befitting an S-Class entity. Elfman tried with everything he had to suppress it, to absorb its form as his own.
But his strength wasn't enough.
The Beast's will began to override his. If no one could knock the monster unconscious and erase its awareness, Elfman would be lost—his body overtaken, his soul buried.
Fortunately, at the last moment—just as the Beast was about to strike Lisanna—a flash of light intervened. Su Mo appeared. Not only did he save Lisanna, he knocked the Beast out cold. Elfman regained control of his body.
Thanks to Su Mo, Mira didn't have to mourn her siblings. That event had forever etched in her mind just how dangerous the first method of Take Over truly was.
Fail to dominate the target, and the spell will consume you.
So she strongly advised against using this method on anything stronger than oneself. The risks were simply too high.
"Yeah, I understand," Su Mo nodded thoughtfully.
Inwardly, he placed a question mark over his idea of using Take Over Magic on the Heretic Gods of the Godslayer world. Even though his soul had grown stronger through various shared experiences across worlds, he wasn't entirely sure it would be enough.
Divine Beasts might not be a problem.
But Gods? Especially the rebellious, myth-defying Heretic Gods that descended into the mortal realm? Overpowering their will wouldn't be easy.
…
Seeing that Su Mo had taken her warning to heart—and knowing he was a cautious person—Mira didn't press the issue. Instead, she continued her explanation.
"The second method is rarer. It's the one I use most often."
As she spoke, Mira activated the magic power within her.
"Take Over: Satan Soul!"
Her appearance shifted completely.
Dark wings and a devil's tail emerged from her back, her hairstyle transforming as well.
Floating midair on her wings, Mira continued her explanation.
"This form comes from assimilating a free-floating soul in the world—this too can grant new forms."
"I obtained this one when I was still a child. I had gone to help exorcise a demon at the church, and by accident, I absorbed the demon's soul and became its vessel."
Originally, Mira had lived peacefully with her siblings in their village. After awakening her Take Over Magic, she volunteered to help deal with a troublesome demon plaguing the local church.
But the spell backfired, and the demon's soul attached itself to her, turning into a permanent Take Over form. She couldn't fully control it at first.
When the villagers saw the demonic marks on Mira's body, they panicked. They turned on her and her siblings, trying to drive them out of the village. Yet even as she told the story, there was no bitterness on Mira's face—only a soft smile.
"It was then that I met you. You told me it wasn't possession, but just the magic's power."
Back when she and her siblings were at their lowest, Su Mo had appeared. He explained that it wasn't demonic possession—just the nature of her magic. And then he brought them to Fairy Tail and welcomed them into the guild.
That day changed their lives.
For Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman, it was a turning point—and they never forgot Su Mo's kindness. Over time, that gratitude would evolve into something deeper.
"With this type of soul-based Take Over, you gain the abilities of the soul you absorb," Mira explained.
"And these souls don't have to be limited to demons—they can be angels, animals, anything."
"Lisanna, for example, uses this method to Take Over animal souls."
Her gentle-hearted sister had no desire to harm innocent creatures. Naturally, she wouldn't use the first method that required killing.
After all, forcibly taking a creature's body is not much different from ending its life.
So Lisanna chose to Take Over only the souls of those animals that had already passed away. As a result, her Take Over forms were not very powerful—but they were all adorably charming.
"This method is much safer than the first," Mira said.
Only the living have strong survival instincts. Souls don't resist as fiercely.
"The only problem," she added with a sigh, "is that powerful souls are extremely rare."
The strength of a Take Over Mage is directly tied to the forms they acquire. S-Class monsters are relatively common. S-Class souls? Much harder to come by. In all her years, Mira had only come across a few strong souls.
If Su Mo wanted to follow this path, his biggest challenge wouldn't be controlling the soul—it would be finding a soul worth absorbing.
There were plenty of animal souls around—but none strong enough to matter.
"Hmm…" Su Mo fell into thought. Powerful souls… now that was something he lacked. The monsters in the Ultraman world probably didn't even have souls. The creatures in the Dungeon World weren't particularly intelligent—their essence lay in magic stones, not spirits. With the exception of the Xenos, most of them probably lacked souls altogether.
The world of Teyvat had some promising options. The soul of Andrius, the Wolf King of Wolvendom, still lingered there, guarding his old territory.
But taking that noble soul for himself felt… wrong. Andrius still had a will of his own. The same went for Azhdaha.
As for the Godslayer world—well, the Heretic Gods came down with their bodies. They weren't disembodied spirits. Still, what was a problem now might not be one forever. Once more of his alternate selves arrived from other worlds, this issue might be easy to solve.
With that, Su Mo stored Mira's advice in his heart and asked: "What about the third method?"
"The third kind of Take Over is the safest," Mira replied as she dispelled her Satan Soul form and returned to her usual, gentle self.
"But it takes much more time and effort."
"If the caster can fully understand the structure, nature, and essence of a form, they can transform into it without needing to take over a creature or a soul."
"This method works for both living and non-living things."
All three of the Strauss siblings could use this technique. It required far more effort than the others—but it was completely safe. In fact, it was the primary method used for transforming into non-living substances. To demonstrate, Mira raised her right hand and cast a spell—turning her arm into stone.
"Simple materials like this are easy to mimic," she said, "but there's not much use for them. That's why most mages don't bother." After all, most mages only had access to things like rock or steel. And compared to magical defenses, ordinary metal was hardly impressive.
That's why this method wasn't very popular. In the original world of Fairy Tail, the "Iron Claws" used by the Seven Kin of Purgatory were forged from a special alloy—a fantasy construct far beyond mundane materials.