Chapter 431: Erza Scarlet

Chapter 431: Erza Scarlet

"Summon, Shadow Wolves!"

Two sets of Shadow Wolves appeared in the guild, running onto the stage and sniffing around.

Finding people could be left to Wilhelm, but as a precaution, bringing along Shadow Wolves with tracking abilities wouldn't hurt.

"Let the Shadow Wolves lead you to find the others, and then..." Rod held up two pairs of sunglasses, handing one to Gray and the other to Elfman.

"I heard that the Thunder God Tribe, aside from their specialized magic, also possesses a magic that is activated through their eyes. Be cautious."

Magic activated through the eyes is often incredibly powerful, like Erza's petrification eye, which could even turn Erza into stone.

But surprisingly, this type of magic could be blocked by simply wearing a pair of glasses. When Erza used her magic on Lucy earlier, she deliberately pushed her glasses up.

Ever since last winter, when Rod teamed up with Erza, he had prepared several pairs of sunglasses to prevent snow blindness.

He never expected they would come in handy here.

"Then I'll head out first." Elfman took the sunglasses, jumped onto the back of a two-headed wolf, and waved, "Let's go, men!"

The three wolves and Elfman charged out of the guild.

Gray waved him off, "I won't need these. Fried's magic eye is different from the other two, and if necessary, I can make my own."

With his Ice Sculpture magic, creating a pair of glasses was no big deal.

Rachel asked, "What should we do?"

"Rachel, you go take care of the Guild Master. Wilhelm, keep us updated on their locations. The rest of you, protect the stone statue." Rod instructed. "If we find that the numbers are off, they might head to the guild. When that happens, it'll be up to you to deal with them."

The members responded in unison:

"Understood."

"Leave it to us!"

Gray saw Elfman dash off and soon followed on another two-headed wolf.

Natsu watched Gray leave, growing impatient, "Wait, I want to join too! Let me go and fight Laxus!"

Gajuru remained silent, but it was clear he shared a similar sentiment. Although he put on a tough front, he secretly wished to use this opportunity to integrate into the guild.

Rod was helpless, "Can you get out?"

"Then hurry up and find a way to let me out!"

"Once we defeat Fried, you'll naturally be free. Otherwise, keep attacking the magic spell at the entrance; maybe you can reduce Fried's magic power a little, and it'll be like you're fighting him indirectly."

"That's not fair!" Natsu's face was filled with frustration, but he could only punch the air in frustration.

Mira also left the Guild Master in Rachel's care and exited the medical room, "Have you decided?"

Rod nodded and handed her a pair of sunglasses, "Elfman and Gray have already left. We'll split up and follow them soon. Be cautious of traps, and make it quick."

The two waited for a moment, then Rod chased after Elfman, while Mira headed towards Gray.

Before leaving, Rod left a River Crab in the guild to watch the battle report. In a short time, the remaining members had sharply decreased to 60.

Unlike the Harvest Festival last year, the area around the guild seemed calmer today, probably due to the recent commotion.

To avoid stepping into strange traps, Rod chose to jump across roofs and spines, which also provided a good vantage point.

Leaping in the direction away from the guild, Rod occasionally spotted strange lights popping up, indicating the presence of comrades fighting in those directions.

The battle report in the guild continued to update.

"Misha vs. Bigusuro."

"Winner: Bigusuro. Misha lost fighting ability."

"Alzack vs. Fried."

"Winner: Fried. Alzack lost fighting ability."

"Fairy Tail remaining members: 58."

Some had already found Fried and Bigusuro.

Although they defeated their comrades and escaped the traps, they had exhausted a considerable amount of magic power and even sustained injuries, making them no match for the Thunder God Tribe.

They needed to find Fried quickly.

Rod stayed alert, paying close attention to his surroundings to avoid accidentally falling into a trap with others.

He noticed that after leaving the guild, ordinary people didn't seem to be affected much. The festival continued as usual, with people strolling and chatting as they enjoyed the festivities.

The situation on Mira's side was similar; occasionally, a small gap would appear, and two or three people would be fighting inside.

Undoubtedly, they were all members of Fairy Tail.

The locals weren't surprised; it was just a fight between Fairy Tail members. Bored people might even place bets on who would win.

The tourists, seeing that the locals weren't panicking, remained calm as well. Perhaps it was part of the performance? The braver ones stayed to watch, while those in a hurry simply walked through them.

—Fried's spell seemed to only target Archmages, leaving ordinary people unaffected.

Action: In the midst of the street fight, Rod shouted at his companions to calm down, but they paid him no heed. With the ongoing spell effects, there was no time for mediation.

Mira, however, couldn't stand idly by. Whenever she encountered a fight, she would release two basketball-sized pink hypnotic bubbles.

The effect was immediate; the fighters would cease their struggle.

The 'Big Screen' in the guild hall updated with the message, "Winner: Mira Jane."

In the church, Laxus prepared for his showdown with the old man, with Fried providing real-time textual updates of the battle.

"So, you couldn't resist joining, Mira Jane. It was a mistake for Erza not to petrify you as well. But do you think you can defeat the Thunder God Tribe and stand before me?" Laxus taunted.

Laxus didn't consider Mira's involvement as a significant issue, just as he dismissed Erza's absence as inconsequential to the battle's outcome.

With the number of participants dwindling to 40, most of the members had lost their fighting ability. Laxus was more concerned about how long the old man could endure.

He waited, biding his time until the numbers dwindled further. Once he thoroughly defeated the so-called 'Fairy Tactician,' he would confront the old man and announce his abdication before the entire city.

...

"Found you!" Elfman finally spotted his target, Evergreen, after crossing half the city from the guild.

Not far away, Wakaba lay injured on the ground, having just been defeated by Evergreen.

Evergreen, unaffected, casually strolled through the crowd, continuing their game of hide-and-seek.

"Evergreen!" Elfman shouted, "Don't even think of escaping!"

The crowd had already been avoiding the two-headed wolf, and upon hearing Elfman's roar and seeing his ferocious expression, they retreated further.

It was best to keep a safe distance from a potential fight.

Evergreen, unperturbed, adjusted her glasses as she watched him: "You found me with your wolf's sense of smell? That's not cute at all."

Her pupils flashed, and in an instant, the three wolves turned to stone and then disappeared from their original spots.

Elfman, wearing sunglasses, was spared, but his body lurched forward due to inertia.

He clenched his fist and struck towards Evergreen's face.

Evergreen's four purple wing-like ornaments on her back fluttered, lifting her into the air to dodge Elfman's attack.

Elfman's punch shattered a nearby street stall. The vendor, after noting their appearances, scrambled away.

Not wanting to get injured during the festival, Elfman decided to seek compensation from the guild later.

Evergreen hovered in mid-air, looking down at Elfman: "With your crude appearance, how can you even call yourself a 'Fairy'?"

Elfman brushed off her taunts: "It doesn't matter. If you're a real man, quickly restore the girls to their original state!"

"Them? They look quite cute as statues. One fairy is enough for this guild!"

Evergreen, in a green dress, black stockings, and long brownish-yellow hair, with four purple wings, truly resembled a 'Fairy' as she flew in the air.

First, a left hook to Elfman's cheek, followed by a right kick to the back of his head.

"You really are... not cute at all, except for your name..."

(Elfman's name probably means 'sprite', a super tough guy with an adorable name.) Without the ability to fly, Elfman waved his large hands frantically, but he couldn't even touch the hem of Erza's dress.

Fortunately, her punches and kicks weren't too heavy, and Elfman barely felt any pain from the blows.

The scene was like a mosquito irritating a lion, with the mosquito buzzing around freely while the lion could only watch helplessly.

Finally, as Elfman landed on the ground, he noticed countless tiny golden specks floating around him.

Although they shimmered in the sunlight, emitting a faint golden glow, Erza, wearing sunglasses, couldn't see them clearly.

"Unfortunately, you're already surrounded by fairy scales..."

Erza smirked and flipped in the air, creating some distance, "Fairy Bomb: Little Fairy!"

All the scales around Elfman burst into a brilliant light and exploded with a loud boom.

Fire and smoke filled the air, and the ground seemed to tremble.

A powerful blast wave spread from the center of the scales, causing the nearby stalls to sway gently.

Erza landed outside the blast radius and gently lifted her glasses, intending to turn Elfman into a stone statue and eliminate him from the game once the smoke cleared.

However, when the smoke actually dissipated, what appeared before Erza was not Beast King, but a thick stone wall.

"What...?"

Before Erza could understand the situation, the ground beneath her suddenly bulged, and a stone fist the size of a cooking pot struck her chin.

Dodge? Defend? Before her body could react, her chin had already taken a heavy blow.

Erza grunted and flew backward, crashing onto the ground behind her.

Expending all her strength, she could barely lift her head to see the face of her assailant.

— Behind him was a pair of massive dragon wings, his hands had transformed into dragon claws, and his eyes were a pair of intimidating vertical pupils. His face was adorned with earthy yellow dragon scales.

Erza was momentarily hesitant to recognize him. Was this the Fairy Tactician? What was with this menacing expression and the oppressive aura of magic?

Without saying a word, Rod immediately pounced, crouching down and grabbing Erza by the neck with his right hand.

He patted the ground with his left hand, causing stone manacles to emerge and bind Erza's wrists and ankles, while a stone beetle with pincer-like mandibles clamped onto her slender waist.

The stone wall behind them crumbled, and as Elfman stepped out, he found his opponent lying on the ground, not even knowing how he had won.

Since he didn't fully withstand Erza's attack, Elfman only suffered minor external injuries, with some tears in his pants.

This reckless kid always ended up ruining his clothes when he transformed into the Beast King.

"I'll give you a chance. Dispel the petrification magic, or I'll send you out myself."

Rod tightened his right hand, choking her to the point of suffocation, then loosened his grip slightly when he saw that she wanted to speak.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Erza coughed violently, "It's useless. Even if you kill me, the magic won't be dispelled."

She put on a defiant expression, "And I can control them remotely, I can shatter them at any time! So, I'm giving you a chance... Kneel down and admit defeat now, or else I'll..."

Rod released his grip on her neck and punched Erza in the abdomen, causing her eyes to bulge and blood to spew from her mouth.

"Hey, Rod..." Elfman was concerned that Rod's actions might be driven by anger, but he didn't know what to say.

Erza exclaimed in disbelief, "You dare... You don't care about their lives at all?"

"This is a calm judgment based on the current situation. Their lives are in your hands, and I can't control you to dispel the magic. I can only decide your fate."

"According to the rules you bastards set, defeating you would save the hostages. But now you're using the hostages to force me to admit defeat—in other words, you never intended to follow those boring game rules, and no matter what, they won't survive."

Rod's eyes turned cold, "In that case, I'll have you join them in death. Fortunately, they're stone statues, maintaining their beautiful poses even in death, and they won't feel any pain."

Erza hadn't expected this reaction, "Huh?"

"But you won't have that kind of luck. As you can see, I'm not like that straightforward idiot of a brother. For their revenge, I'll do whatever it takes..." As he spoke, he summoned a magic swamp frog.

"Huh?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end