By the time Shane and Erza made their way over the rubble-strewn ground to the edge of the huge crater, the poor little bar had already been reduced to ruins by the violent exchange of magic. Broken walls and shattered debris were everywhere.
Lying in the middle of it like a dead dog, eyes rolled back and body scorched black, was Erigor.
"He's still alive?"
Shane crouched down and checked the man's breathing. It was weak, but steady enough.
He couldn't help feeling a little impressed.
The guy had taken a point-blank magic blast like that, with half his body blasted into the ground, and he was still hanging on.
It really had to be said: mages in this world had vitality like cockroaches. They were nothing like the "glass-cannon mages" from those stories Shane used to read, the kind who shattered the moment you touched them.
"So?"
A slightly breathless voice came from beside him.
Mira had already released her Satan Soul form, and her silver hair was sticking in messy strands to her cheeks.
But she looked to be in excellent spirits. Her delicate chin was tilted high, and she was looking at Shane with an expression that practically screamed, Go on, praise me already, her voice full of poorly concealed smugness.
"This is what my strength looks like now!"
She held grudges very well.
Just last night, Shane had said she wasn't as good as Erza, that she couldn't compare to that "violent woman" at all.
And now?
Not only had she developed a new way to use her magic, she had also cleanly taken down an enemy of this level without even needing practice.
She was already dying to see a shocked, awkward, or thoroughly slapped-in-the-face expression on Shane's face.
However—
"Amazing."
Shane stood back up, glanced around at the surrounding ruins—which looked like they'd just been pounded flat by artillery fire—then turned to her with an open, sincere smile.
"You really are amazing, Mira."
"You really did get stronger. More than I expected."
"Well done, Mira."
Erza also nodded from the side, her dark eyes full of admiration.
"The timing on that last attack was perfect. If it had been me, I'm not sure I could have done it any better."
"Huh?"
That one-two combo hit Mira so hard she completely froze.
She stood there blankly, her expression instantly shifting from smug pride to total confusion, and then a distinctly unnatural blush spread across her face.
In her memory, this bastard of a master of hers had never once said anything decent. He either mocked her for being stupid or criticized her for being weak.
He spent every day finding new ways to bully her—when had he ever praised someone this directly?
"Hmph…"
Mira quickly turned her head away in a fluster, her fingers tangling awkwardly together behind her back.
"As if I needed you two to say it."
"This much… was only natural!"
Her mouth was still as stubborn as ever, but her body was far more honest. The silver ponytail behind her was swishing happily from side to side like a cat getting its fur stroked.
"Honestly…"
Shane couldn't help finding her hilarious.
Mira's personality might usually make her seem like a loud little demon, but in a way, she was honestly so simple it bordered on adorable.
Every emotion she felt—joy, anger, pride, embarrassment—was written all over her face. She was so easy to read it made people want to tease her.
"Yes, yes. You're the strongest."
Looking at the way she was unconsciously lifting her chin in satisfaction, Shane reached out without thinking and lightly scratched under her smooth chin with his fingertips, like he was teasing a cat.
Mira instinctively lifted her head to follow the motion, her eyes narrowing slightly. She was just about to let out a comfortable purring sound from her throat—
"?"
Erza tilted her head in confusion.
She looked at Shane's technique, then at Mira's blissful expression, and slowly nodded to herself.
So this is the correct way to deal with Mira?
No wonder she dislikes me so much. Is it because I never did this?
So Erza copied Shane. She carefully reached out and lightly rubbed the skin on the other side of Mira's face with her fingertips.
"Does it feel nice?" Erza asked curiously.
"Mm… not bad… wait!!"
Still floating in the afterglow of being praised, Mira abruptly snapped her eyes open.
The moment she realized the two of them were standing there like a pair of caretakers petting her from both sides, she exploded.
Whoosh!
Her foggy brain finally restarted.
Like she'd just been electrocuted, she jumped three whole meters backward, clutching her chin and glaring furiously at the both of them.
Humiliating! This was too humiliating!
How had she… how had she accepted that so naturally?!
She'd practically made a weird noise too!
"What exactly do you take me for?! A pet?!"
"And you! Erza! Who said you could touch me?!"
She was beyond embarrassed now—more furious at herself than anything else.
She couldn't believe she still had those humiliating habits from back when Shane used to punish her.
"You looked like you were enjoying it, so I couldn't help myself."
Shane spread his hands innocently.
"Mm."
Erza, meanwhile, stared at her own fingertips with a serious expression and added,
"It felt very nice. Smooth and soft. Very pleasant."
"You two bastards!!"
Mira clenched her fists so hard her teeth started grinding audibly.
If that last Soul Annihilator hadn't nearly drained all her magic, she would absolutely have transformed again on the spot and beaten the hell out of these two idiots who were petting her like a cat.
…
After the teasing died down, the atmosphere finally returned to business.
Shane went back over to Erigor.
"Looks like we're not getting anything out of him."
He frowned and nudged the still-unconscious man with his foot.
He'd originally hoped that since this was Eisenwald's base, maybe he could squeeze some information out of their trump card about that mysterious force gathering the underground factions.
But judging by his half-dead condition, the guy probably wouldn't wake up for three to five days.
"What should we do with them?"
Erza asked, looking at the devastation around them and the unconscious underlings sprawled everywhere.
Shane thought for a moment. His gaze swept toward the shadowy forest in the distance, then back to the filthy chaos of Onibus's underground world.
"Cut down some trees and hang them all up here."
"Make it a big enough display. If the others see how miserable these guys ended up, the rest of the monsters and freaks around here should settle down a little."
He was only a passing visitor to this city. There wasn't much he could do—this was about the most he could manage.
"We're not going to contact the Council or the peace officers?"
Mira sounded puzzled.
Under normal procedure, they should tie them up and notify a nearby branch to come pick them up.
"There's no rush."
Shane shook his head.
"Once we turn in the request, the guild will naturally notify the Council to come collect these people."
"Besides, these are all wanted scum from a dark guild. Even if a few of the weaker ones die, that just counts as doing the public a favor."
The values Shane had developed from growing up in a peaceful era left him with absolutely no goodwill for people like this.
Even if they all died, he wouldn't feel a thing.
Mira and Erza both felt that this handling was a little… off. But since both of them already despised evil, after thinking it over for a moment, they agreed readily enough.
And so—
Over the next half hour—
the last rays of sunset faded, and night fully descended.
Over the ruins of the Nightshade bar, a row of crude wooden stakes was erected.
"Heave-ho!"
Mira might have been out of magic, but she still had plenty of physical strength. Carrying two unconscious big men like they were sacks of rice, she hoisted them up in a few quick motions.
Erza, on the other hand, efficiently sharpened the stakes and pinned Erigor himself up in the highest, most visible position like some kind of trophy.
From a distance, the once-feared "Grim Reaper" was swaying slightly in the night wind like a torn banner.
It made for a brutally effective warning.
…
Once they were done with the scene, the three of them started back toward the inn.
On the road—
"Don't get too full of yourself, okay?"
Looking at the silver-haired girl ahead of him practically strutting with pride in every step, Shane couldn't help throwing a little cold water on her mood.
"You won this time, sure, but you also exposed a lot of problems. From here on, you still need to keep working on your magic control."
"Yeah, yeah, I know!"
Mira didn't even turn around. She was still reliving the sensation of that last strike in her mind.
"Sigh…"
Shane let out a helpless sigh.
"Your total magic reserves may be far greater than those of an ordinary mage, but they're still not nearly enough."
Still unconvinced she was taking it seriously, he kept lecturing.
"Take Over Magic already burns through magic like crazy, and now that you're using this high-compression, high-burst fighting style, the load on your magic is multiplied several times over."
"The fact that you were already gasping after only a few minutes of fighting is the clearest proof possible."
"What if there had been a second enemy? What if Erigor had still had enough strength left to counterattack?"
"Meditation. Training your reserves. You don't get to slack off for a single day. Got it?"
"I hear youuu—"
Mira dragged out the answer lazily, waving a hand behind her in total dismissal.
"You really don't learn unless it hurts, huh."
Shane shook his head. One look at her and it was obvious the words had gone in one ear and straight out the other.
There was no helping it.
If talking didn't work, then the only thing left was…
He stopped walking, turned to Erza beside him, and tilted his chin subtly toward the smug silver-haired girl ahead.
"Go 'spar' with her a little."
Shane lowered his voice, his tone ominous.
"As for the intensity… you know."
"Understood."
Erza immediately got the message and nodded.
The next instant—
Shing—
The clear sound of a sword being drawn rang through the night.
An incredibly sharp sword aura locked onto Mira's unguarded back in an instant.
"Huh?"
Every hair on Mira's body stood on end. She whipped around—
and saw the red-haired girl standing there expressionlessly with a sword in hand.
"W-wait? What is this supposed to mean?"
Mira panicked and instinctively tried to initiate a full-body Take Over.
Bzzz—
But the moment she moved her magic, a hollow, exhausted emptiness hit her all at once.
That Soul Annihilator had drained her way too hard. She had absolutely no spare magic left to sustain that level of transformation now.
Shhk!
The sword was already there.
In desperation, she managed to squeeze out the very last scraps of magic and partially transform her left arm, barely blocking the strike.
Clang!!
Sparks flew everywhere.
The impact forced Mira stumbling backward several steps, her arm numb.
"You violent psycho! What the hell are you doing?!"
Mira sounded genuinely aggrieved.
She had only just started revising her opinion of Erza a little. But no—this woman was just as hateful as ever!
"This is special training."
Erza's face remained completely blank as she swung again.
"Shane said so."
"You bastard master!"
Mira ground her teeth.
"If your brain won't listen, then let your body remember properly…"
Watching Mira getting chased around in the moonlight by Erza until she had to clutch her head and run, Shane followed behind at an easy pace with his arms folded.
"Just how important magic reserves are."
…
Not long after the three of them left in noisy chaos—
another sound joined the wind outside the ruined Nightshade bar: a set of faint footsteps.
"That's some pretty excessive destruction…"
A light, flippant female voice echoed through the ruins.
In the moonlight, one could make out a young white-haired girl.
She tilted her head as she looked at Erigor, who had been pinned at the highest point like a rag doll. The ahoge on her head, shaped almost like an angel's halo, swayed gently.
"That guy… really wasn't one of the S-Class mages from that guild, was he, Cobra?"
"Angela, shut up."
Behind her, a boy with short dark-red hair, slanted eyes, and an unruly, defiant look spoke coldly.
A purple venomous snake was coiled around his neck and arm, flicking its tongue at the air.
"The sounds I hear are telling me… that woman who can Take Over demons is strong, but she isn't the most dangerous one."
Cobra tilted his head as though listening to voices carried on the wind.
"The other woman, the redhead, and that black-haired man who never once stepped in…"
"Their 'voices' are both stronger than the silver-haired girl's."
"Hehe, and they look about the same age as us, don't they?"
The girl named Angela covered her mouth and laughed lightly.
"And yet the master keeps saying that aside from the Jellal he trained personally, there's no one in the world our age stronger than us."
"Leave it to the famous Fairy Tail—looks like the boss misjudged this one."
"Hmph."
Cobra snorted but didn't argue.
He stared in the direction the three had gone, his eyes cold.
"Not every legal guild is made up of trash."
"Especially that man… I heard malice from him."
"He kept paying attention to us. He was trying to listen for the heartbeat of a 'third party.'"
"He was even… hoping we'd show ourselves."
"Oh? So he noticed us?"
Angela raised a brow, and the smile on her face faded a little. She lifted a white-gloved hand and lightly brushed the dust off her skirt.
"Then we'd better be more careful with the next move."
"Let's not attract the Council's attention—or those monsters' attention—too early."
"Quietly, silently… we'll gather those idiots into our hands."
"Agreed."
Cobra nodded. His defiant face was surprisingly calm.
"The master also said there's another unknown force looking into him. We can't reveal ourselves too soon."
Then he gently stroked the purple snake around his neck.
"Cubellios."
"Hisss—"
The purple snake lifted its head, and a pair of fleshy wings suddenly spread from its back.
"Go."
"Carry the message to the others. Tell them all to lie low for now."
"And while you're at it… let them know that if they ever run into Fairy Tail again…"
"They should be careful."
~~~
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