Pursuit

"Ah!"

A heavy blow to her butt jolted Erza awake, drawing a cute little cry from her.

"Laxus, what are you doing?" Flustered and indignant, Erza turned and glared at Laxus, who had just kicked her.

"Cut the crap. Is there any way to undo these ropes? Eleven's been captured!" Laxus wasn't in the mood to worry about Erza's maidenly feelings. He twisted his body, showing her the ropes binding him.

Only then did Erza notice that she, too, had been tied up. She instinctively began wriggling in the mud.

"Is this Magic Sealing Stone? I can't use my magic." After carefully sensing the changes in her body, Erza's expression turned serious.

"Yeah, I can't muster any strength at all," Laxus replied impatiently. "Don't you use swords? Do you have a weapon hidden on you? I'll see if I can cut the ropes."

Erza frowned deeply at Laxus's words and shook her head. All her swords were in her Requip space; she didn't carry any on her.

Ignoring Laxus, who had begun raging helplessly beside her again, Erza continued wriggling, adjusting her position. Then she somehow sprang to her feet with a kip-up.

Laxus stared in shock. He immediately tried it himself on the sly, only to find that even arching his back took effort, let alone getting to his feet.

How is this girl's physique so good? What kind of genes does she have?

With her legs bound too, Erza could only hop along. Seeing that she could even hop around, Laxus fell completely silent, as though he had lost his dreams.

Erza hopped over to her large suitcase again and began trying to open its zipper with her mouth.

Laxus watched Erza's performance quietly from behind. He hadn't expected her to have brought those two big, battered suitcases along. No wonder she'd run so slowly and fallen behind everyone else.

After an enormous struggle, Erza managed to open the suitcase a crack. Then she stuck her butt out and plunged her head inside. Her little butt swayed back and forth outside as she seemed to search for something.

Before long, Erza gave her butt a twist and pulled her head back out of the suitcase, a broken sword clenched between her teeth.

Laxus's eyes lit up at once. He hurriedly wriggled toward Erza, hoping she would cut his ropes first.

Erza looked pleased with herself, but she didn't waste any words. Holding the broken sword in her mouth, she immediately set about freeing Laxus.

A moment later, freed from his bonds, Laxus felt as though he'd been given a new lease on life. He had finally found the thing he hated most in this life—Magic Sealing Stone. He never wanted to experience such humiliation again.

Ever since Erza had handed the broken sword from her mouth to Laxus, she had worn a look of gratification tinged with pride. It made Laxus want to hit someone. He ignored her and concentrated on cutting the ropes.

When Laxus paid her no attention, Erza held out for a while before she finally couldn't keep it in any longer. "Ah, I really am protected by these precious memories," she said to herself. "I'm so glad I brought them with me."

Laxus: ...

With Eleven gone, he felt that he actually couldn't keep up with Erza because he wasn't enough of a goofball!

Once the two had freed themselves, Laxus began twitching his nose repeatedly and soon settled on a direction.

"This way. They only just left, and there's still a little of their scent." Laxus pointed in a direction and charged out ahead of her.

Erza stared in amazement behind him. He could still pick up a scent in this downpour? Her little nose twitched a few times too, but she couldn't smell anything except the scent of nature.

How is this guy's nose so good? What kind of genes does he have?

Elsewhere, the man in the suit and his group were resting beneath a large tree. The tall, thin man plopped himself down on Eleven, who was bound up like a rice dumpling, and chewed great mouthfuls of dry rations.

"Be careful. Keeping him uninjured was one of the client's requirements," the man in the suit said, frowning as he reprimanded him.

"Tch!" The tall, thin man tore at the dried meat in his mouth in annoyance, barely concealing his violent nature.

The three of them had already put some distance between themselves and their pursuers, though not much, so they no longer looked particularly tense.

But just as they finished resting and the man in the suit hoisted Eleven onto his shoulder again, ready to set off, a thick bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky and slammed down in front of him.

If the man in the suit hadn't stopped in time, the strike would have charred both him and Eleven.

"I finally caught up to you, you bastards!" Laxus emerged through the curtain of rain, his face contorted, his clenched fists crackling.

"Tch, this is trouble." The man in the suit frowned deeply. He hadn't expected Laxus and Erza to escape their ropes so quickly and track them down so precisely.

Erza summoned a longsword, stepped forward, and shouted, "Give Eleven back!"

"Hahahaha, these brats really are impressive!" But at that moment, the tall, thin man laughed, his laughter wild and joyful.

"Boss, take the 'goods' and go. Leave these two brats to me and Fatty!"

The tall, thin man gave a wolf whistle and blocked Laxus and Erza's view.

"All right, I'll leave them to you." The man in the suit said no more. Carrying Eleven on his shoulder, he disappeared into the jungle.

"Stop right there!" Laxus wasn't about to stand by and watch Eleven be taken away. He immediately gave chase.

"Heh, how could I let you go?" As the tall, thin man spoke, he kicked the short, stout man beside him in the butt, sending him flying straight at Laxus like a ball.

"Out of my way!"

Laxus had no intention of stopping. Lightning flared around his fist as he punched the short, stout man hard in the face.

In slow motion, his cheek would have been seen flattening under Laxus's punch, gradually twisting as it quivered. Then he was knocked back like a ball, bouncing repeatedly between the trees before landing in the grass.

Laxus didn't pause for a moment after striking him and continued charging forward. He passed the tall, thin man without meeting any resistance, but failed to see the strange smile on his lips.

"That hurt..."

A murmur came from ahead of Laxus. Paying it no mind, he stepped on the source of the voice and charged past.

"I said that hurt, you bastard!!!" A roar like that of a wild beast suddenly rang out.

The short, stout man whom Laxus had knocked into the grass seemed to swell all at once, his body expanding rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he had become a three-meter-tall creature like a mountain of flesh. The rolls of fat covering his body were piled together in countless layers.

The sudden change caught Laxus completely off guard, and the enormous mountain of flesh grabbed him by the leg.

Thud!! Bang!!

The mountain of flesh picked Laxus up and immediately gave him a series of "Hulk slams." Then, before Laxus could catch his breath, he flung him into the woods as though skipping a stone across water.

After finishing this series of moves, the mountain of flesh scratched his head. As if a beat slow to react, he suddenly bellowed in a gruff voice, "Ah~ don't run away!" Then he gave chase, shaking the ground as he went.

"Laxus!" Erza hadn't managed to react at all; everything had happened too fast! Seeing Laxus injured, she was frantic and raised her sword to go after him.

"No, no, little girl, I'm your opponent!" The tall, thin man stomped forward and barred Erza's way, looking supremely arrogant.

Erza wasn't Laxus. She was much calmer at the moment. Rather than trying to rush past, she gripped her sword in both hands and prepared to face him. She still remembered Eleven's assessment of the two men: they were extremely dangerous!

The tall, thin man ran his bright red tongue over his lips, a cruel smile appearing on his face. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. We gave you a chance to live, but you didn't know enough to treasure it. Don't blame me for what happens now, you flies from a light guild!"