Chapter 172

Key of Hope is the one hundredth and seventy-second chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.

Full Summary
The team arrives at the town of Leun. Lucy Ashley is explaining that magic trading was banned by the Kingdom and that magic in Edolas comes form things that are inserted with Lacryma. The others concludes that wizards in Edolas only uses Magic artifacts because they don't have natural magic abilities. Lucy then shows them to a black market where they can purchase magic items.

After purchasing their magic items the team heads for a cafe and begins to chat. Lucy is laughing at the thought that Earth Land Lucy writes novels and comes from a wealthy family. Wendy asks her how to use the items that they bought, Lucy tells her to hide it since it was banned. Natsu says that they will fight the Royal Capital to free the Edolas from the monarchy of the king. Lucy says that she would not be fighting with them but only show them the way to the capital and Natsu thanks her for that. Suddenly they were discovered by the guards who recognizes them as members of Fairy Tail. Natsu tries to fight them with his magic sword but fails since the guards have shields and he can't control it. Wendy then manages to use her magic that created a tornado and gives them the opportunity to hide and escape.

The team then hides inside a shed when they heard that the guards have captured a Fairy Tail member. The team then realizes that the guards were not referring to them but to Earth Land Lucy. Natsu runs to save her, but Lucy does not need saving. She manages to open a gate and summoned Scorpio who easily defeated the guards. The team and Lucy then catches up but was interrupted when another swarm of guards appeared. Lucy tells Natsu to defeat them but everyone reveals that only she can use magic. After teasing them that she is now the strongest member, she summons Aries who uses her Wool Bomb to defeat the enemies. The team then runs for it, Edolas Lucy thinking about Earth Land magic.

After taking shelter on a forest, Lucy explains that Horologium saved her from Anima and Mystogan briefed her about what happened and sent her to Edolas. The team asks Lucy how come she is able to use magic but Lucy doesn't have an idea. Edolas Lucy then asks whether they are serious with fighting the Royal Kingdom and points out the fact that they can't use magic properly. Lucy says that she will fight the guards since she is (at the moment) Fairy Tail's strongest mage and Natsu, Wendy, Charle and Happy has no choice but to rely on her. The chapter ends with Edolas Lucy feeling that they can change the world...

Characters
*Note: Bold+Italicized=First Appearence