"Alright, stop analyzing."
"Let me see how much the reward is."
Cana didn't care about the Council's little schemes; political games and power balances were far less real to her than a glass of wine.
She stared intently at the request form in Hope's hand, her eyes full of anticipation. She was curious about how much the Council was willing to pay for this request.
When she saw the long string of numbers in the reward column, Cana's eyes immediately lit up. "Two... twenty million Jewels! Those old geezers at the Council are way too rich! Think of how much wine this could buy!"
With a roll of her eyes, Cana immediately had an idea.
She lunged at Hope, wrapping her arms tightly around his, practically hanging off him.
Cana leaned close to Hope's ear and said in a deliberately softened, manipulative voice, "Good brother, count me in for this mission too~ You see, I've been a bit short on cash lately, I don't even have money for wine~"
After speaking, Cana even blew a puff of air into Hope's ear.
This sudden act of acting cute made Hope's whole body stiffen, followed by a wave of goosebumps.
Hiss—
So cheesy!
Hope quickly shook Cana off and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms with crossed hands. "Cana, please, acting like this really doesn't fit your character."
However, in the end, Hope still agreed to her request to join the team.
This was entirely to give his destitute companion a chance to earn money, definitely not because he couldn't withstand Cana's pestering... Nowadays, Kinana could handle things on her own. After Mirajane explained some matters, she confidently handed over the reception work to her.
The three of them were currently "idle," so they decided on a whim to take on the mission and immediately set off on the journey to the Crobat Great Canyon... The Crobat Great Canyon, also known as the "Spider's Nest Valley."
In ancient times, countless faults were formed here due to earthquakes. It's said that many explorers got lost here and never made it out.
If you were to ask where this labyrinthine canyon is, Hope could only say one thing: as the country where the main cast resides, the Kingdom of Fiore is truly a land of many disasters.
The Kingdom of Fiore is just a small coastal country on the continent of Ishgar, with a population of less than 17 million. Maintaining a neutral political stance among nations, it should look like a peaceful country.
But here there are the Cursed Song demon, Phantom Lord, the Tower of Paradise, Oración Seis... and now another Crobat Great Canyon where a powerful demon might exist.
With this lineup, if the two Dark Guilds whose whereabouts are unknown, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros, also appeared in the Kingdom of Fiore one day, Hope wouldn't be surprised at all.
Oh, right.
The Spirit Peak Mountains where the Black Dragon once appeared also happen to be connected to the Kingdom of Fiore... and besides the villains, some righteous forces have also taken root in the Kingdom of Fiore. Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale are all Mage Guilds within the Kingdom of Fiore.
Mages who have mastered various Lost Magics also gather here.
Even those said to be unique in the world, the Twelve Golden Zodiac Keys—Lucy alone collected nine of them within the Kingdom of Fiore, unlocking an achievement with a promising future.
The reason Hope was so unusually dedicated to this demon investigation mission, besides Makarov being unable to stand seeing him idle for a day and forcing this mission on him, was a deeper reason.
The Devil Slayer organization "Demon Slayers," which was destroyed by a Black Wizard 87 years ago, had its headquarters right in the Crobat Great Canyon.
So, the Kingdom of Fiore is truly disaster-prone...
—
One day later.
In the north-central part of the Kingdom of Fiore, outside a massive, rugged, and sparsely populated rift valley, three handsome men and beautiful women arrived.
Standing atop the towering cliff wall, Hope looked down.
A massive rift valley looked like the earth had been split by a sharp axe, winding and twisting into the distance. The bottom was filled with thick white mist, making it hard to see the whole picture without using magic; one could only vaguely hear the sound of the wind, like the low growl of a beast, coming from the depths.
A faint, chilly aura permeated the air above the Grand Canyon, completely different from the freshness of the nearby forest. Even though it was noon with the sun at its peak, the sunlight seemed to avoid this area.
On the way, Hope used a Long-range Communication Crystal made by Warren to contact Mest, hoping to get detailed information from him.
And now that they had just reached their destination, Mest's message arrived.
Hope immediately took out the communication crystal to check.
According to the information, although the Grand Canyon was eerie and gloomy, there were several villages on its outskirts.
In recent months, villages near the Grand Canyon had reported mysterious disappearances of livestock. Eerie howls would come from the canyon at night, and some even witnessed "black shadows with wings and horns" circling above the canyon.
After receiving the reports, the Council immediately sent a reconnaissance team into the canyon to investigate, but the team lost contact after entering.
It wasn't until three days later that a delirious Mage team member crawled out. His body was covered in snake bites, and he kept repeating "demons" and "snakes" in his delirium before passing away due to severe poisoning.
Because of this, the Council, realizing the severity, had to lower its pride and request Fairy Tail, which has experience in fighting demons.
Hope explained this information in detail to his two companions.
"You have someone in the Council?" Cana noticed the key point.
Is that the point... Hope's mouth twitched, and he brushed it off vaguely.
An important guild member like Mest, who could go undercover in the Council and had now worked his way up to the middle and upper management, naturally needed his identity kept secret.
Mirajane looked at the bottomless Grand Canyon thoughtfully. "There is indeed a lingering aura of Demonic Curse Power having appeared below."
Unlike the beast-type Souls of Power that Elfman took over, Mirajane's Take Over magic leaned towards taking over demon-type Souls of Power, so she was exceptionally sensitive to demonic energy and auras.
Cana rubbed her arms. "Is that so? I just feel a bit chilly. The money from those old guys in the Council really isn't easy to earn."
Hope focused his senses and nodded.
He was no stranger to the Curse Power unique to demons, but the aura of the demon hidden in the Grand Canyon was quite different from the Deliora he had encountered.
But the uncomfortable "malice" within it was consistent.
The former base of the Demon Slayers who once hunted demons is now occupied by an unknown demon. How ironic.
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