The Oración Seis Appears

"Don't worry, leave the task of finding Erik to me. He reeks of poison!"

Outside Magnolia, Natsu ran at the front of the group, lay on the ground, and sniffed around like a puppy, searching for any lingering scent of Erik.

"Go for it, Natsu!" Happy cheered Natsu while riding on Natsu back.

Makarov didn't specifically name Happy for the rescue operation, but since Happy and Natsu are partners, it's natural that Happy would come along.

Although Happy initially chose to protect Wendy with Carla, considering that Natsu might burn all the fish in the house, Happy ultimately chose Natsu instead. After all, Happy isn't some heartless little cat who would forget its allies for the sake of beauty.

Seeing how hard Happy and Natsu, the cat and a human, were working, Eleven was too embarrassed to tell them that Erik had a mental imprint left in his mind. He let Natsu crawl all the way out of Magnolia from the guild, since it didn't take up much time anyway.

Once they left the town of Magnolia and entered the desolate wilderness, where no one was blocking their path, Eleven finally realized that Natsu was climbing a bit too slowly. Erik's coordinates seemed to be getting farther and farther away. At this rate, how long would it take Natsu to climb?

Sigh, it seems a bit unrealistic to have Natsu crawling to find Erik. What a pity...

The next moment, Eleven's Telekinesis swept through, lifting everyone's bodies into the air and charging towards a target.

Natsu, still flying in a crawling posture, was completely bewildered. He hadn't even told everyone the direction of Erik's lingering scent, so how did Eleven know? Did Eleven also possess an extraordinary sense of smell?

(Wow! That's Eleven for you! I definitely want to challenge Eleven's nose sometime; I won't lose when it comes to smelling!)

At that moment Natsu suddenly became full of fighting spirit, his eyes fixed intently on Eleven's back. The surging fighting spirit made Eleven shudder involuntarily.

Meanwhile, Erik, who had disappeared from Fairy Tail, was standing in front of a tall, dark castle, a secret stronghold of the Oración Seis and the place where he had arranged to meet Brain.

"I never thought I'd end up back here." Erik's expression darkened as he slowly pushed open the castle gate.

When he first joined Fairy Tail, he genuinely harbored a sliver of hope for a bright future. Though he wouldn't admit it, he would occasionally imagine himself as a successful light mage, envisioning a future free of intrigue and scheming, and a new life with Kinana... settling down and starting a family.

But ever since Fairy Tail was targeted by the Demon General for protecting Wendy, all of Erik's beautiful fantasies shattered like bubbles in the blink of an eye.

Although Erik had already killed the slime guy who recognized him, he, as Fairy Tail mage, didn't hide his identity at all, and his existence could be discovered with a little investigation.

At first, Erik considered hiding his identity, but he didn't have the courage of Mystogan to live entirely behind a mask, so he simply gave up.

Anyway, he disappeared before the Oración Seis became famous, and not many people know him. As long as he can kill those who recognize him, it shouldn't be a big problem.

Clearly, Erik underestimated Oración Seis, one of the three giants of darkness.

Once the Oración Seis actually began investigating Fairy Tail, Erik's identity was completely exposed in less than three days.

At first, Erik resisted very actively. He spent almost the entire last year killing and hunting, silently cleaning up the dark mages who had penetrated Magnolia every dark night.

Because of his past experiences in the Dark Guild, Erik did not tell his guildmates about these things, and the long-term killing made him increasingly withdrawn.

This is why Kinana feels that Erik is becoming increasingly distant.

However, even so, Erik was unable to stop the Oración Seis from infiltrating Magnolia; there were always some who slipped through the net and leaked information.

Besides, to be honest, those guys from Fairy Tail really don't have any secrets they can keep. If you get anyone drunk and ask them a few questions, you might even find out how many moles Erik has on his butt.

So in early X781, Brain's Thought Projection approached Erik and invited Erik to rejoin the Oración Seis.

Erik had no right to refuse; the consequence of refusing would be the complete destruction of Fairy Tail and Kinana.

At first, Erik simply didn't believe Brain had the ability to do what he said. Oración Seis was indeed powerful, but Fairy Tail wasn't made of clay.

Although this guild usually looks like a mental hospital, it's definitely a den of dragons and tigers when it really gets going.

Leaving aside unfathomable old monsters like Makarov and Gildarts, even the new generation of Eleven and Laxus are terrifyingly strong, in no way inferior to the current Oración Seis. The foundation of Fairy Tail, a century-old guild, is not something that the Oración Seis can easily shake.

However, when Brain told Erik the identity of the man who had replaced him as one of the Oración Seis, Erik fell silent.

This man probably understands Fairy Tail better than most of the Fairy Tail; he knows all the guild's weaknesses like the back of his hand. With such an enemy, no matter how strong the guild is, it will become as fragile as paper.

And given his identity... could those powerful members of the guild really bring themselves to harm him?

"Brain, how did you get that man to join the Oración Seis? What did you do to him?" Erik asked, frowning, as Brain emerged from the darkness to greet him.

"Ha, is that the first thing you say when you get back, Cobra?" Brain's expression was flat, his face expressionless as he looked at Erik, sending a chill down one's spine.

"I didn't do anything; he did it voluntarily."

Erik clearly didn't believe Brain's words and was about to say something when suddenly a figure moved in front of him with lightning speed and lashed out at him with a whip kick.

Even though he had heard the commotion beforehand, Erik only had time to raise his arm to block it in front of his chest. The powerful whip kick sent Erik staggering back several steps with a thud.

"A comfortable life has slowed you down, Cobra."

A punk with a pointed nose and long eyebrows suddenly appeared where Erik had been standing, coldly staring at Erik.

Erik was about to retaliate when another person suddenly appeared behind him. However, this person didn't attack; instead, he sat cross-legged in mid-air, seemingly asleep.

But the appearance of this person instantly gave Erik goosebumps. He felt that it was much more dangerous than Racer's surprise attack, and he quickly jumped back to avoid being surrounded by the two.

Erik looked warily at his two former "partners," feeling only estrangement and no sense of familiarity whatsoever. They had changed so much over the years, completely different from the people Erik Memory when they mined together.

I wonder what they've been through all these years following Brain.

"Ah, long time no see, Racer, Midnight."

Search for fantasy novels on 3W.7wX. org to read Fairy Tail: Thoughts Follow Your Heart.