Infiltrating Dragon Corpse Valley

Makarov raised an eyebrow and said in a deep voice, "Lord Hodrian, do you want me to order them back?"

Hodrian stared at him intently, without saying a word.

"Hmph! I don't care if he's a ninja or a mage. Once he joins Fairy Tail, he's a Fairy Tail mage! A mage, having chosen his path, should walk it steadfastly! Every Fairy Tail mage should have their own pride. If they can't even complete the missions they've chosen, how can they be worthy of bearing the name of Fairy Tail?"

The old man became more and more agitated as he spoke, and finally stood on the counter and shouted loudly.

"Bang!"

Hodrian slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and stared at the glaring Makarov. He roared, "Old man, you may not care about your children, but I do care about my two apprentices! If you won't step in, I will!"

"Go away, you damned old man, you better not let me see your disgusting face again."

"Hmph! Even if I die there, it's better than you, you short old man who has to look up at me even when you're standing behind the counter!"

"..."

Hodrian flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

Makarov sat down angrily, took another big gulp of wine, and said fiercely, "Another jar of wine, please!"

A jar of wine was handed to him at just the right moment, and the old man immediately took it and took a big, vicious gulp.

"That wretched old man, his words are as awful as ever!"

Remembering how Hodrian mocked him for not being as tall as him even when standing on the counter, Makarov was furious. "Back in the day, I had long legs and short blond hair, okay?"

"So... what did you two argue about?"

A familiar girl's voice reached my ears.

"Isn't it because that old geezer is worried about his two precious disciples? How could that brat be in danger? With his sister there, even if all the Shadow Skull experts attacked together, they would be defeated by him," the old man said casually.

What do you mean by that?

"Hey... Yohohoho, Mira, Erza, Natsugra, what are you all doing here?"

Makarov sobered up considerably and then noticed that the children, led by Mira and Erza, had gathered around him.

Mira leaned closer to him and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Makarov told them what had happened, but concealed what Hodrian had shown him.

Mira gritted her teeth. "You old geezer! Last time, it was because we were near a volcano, and that guy used all the magma from the volcano to defeat them, okay? This time... this time there's no volcano, who can he fight?!"

Erza said in a deep voice, "They're on the southern front, right? If we rush there at full speed, we should be able to get there in five days at most, right?"

"The war will officially begin in about five days..." the old man said leisurely from the side.

"Shut up!" Mira stood up and stormed towards the door, saying, "It takes five days to arrive, how did they manage to get there in just one day?"

Erza followed, and the two left the guild somewhat hastily. However, the people in the guild felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.

Natsu and Gray stared at each other blankly, completely unaware of what had happened.

Makarov gave a mysterious smile.

A few days later.

Dragon Corpse Valley?

Inside the cabin, Chiba and Nuolin asked the same question in unison.

Across from them, Tianna nodded and said, "That's right, this is the latest information we've uncovered."

Then, she continued, "Dragon Corpse Valley, as the name suggests, is a valley where true dragons were buried. Our people have sent word that there is actually a Magic Crystal Ore there."

"Magic Crystal Ore?" Chiba was hearing this term for the first time.

Tianna explained, "So-called Magic Crystal Ore is a type of crystal containing a high concentration of magical energy. Renowned for its rarity, it's known as 'Divine Crystal.' By absorbing the magical energy from Magic Crystal Ore, mages can not only accelerate their magical cultivation but also avoid any side effects."

"That's a valuable item! Doesn't the Magic Council consider collecting it?" Chiba asked.

"That's true, but a war is about to break out here, and we don't have enough manpower. Although our headquarters personnel have been arriving gradually," Tianna said, "This place used to be the headquarters of the [Sword of Slaughter]. They've been here for so long, there's no reason they wouldn't know about the existence of magic crystals in Dragon Corpse Valley. But the fact that the magic crystals haven't been collected is very suspicious. So, we're preparing to send people to infiltrate the depths of Dragon Corpse Valley to investigate."

"Is the reason you told us this because you were selected?" Chiba seemed to have guessed something.

Tianna sighed, "Bad luck. I was assigned this mission, deep into Dragon Corpse Valley. But what can I do? I'm good at stealth."

She stood up, patted Chiba on the shoulder, and said with a grin, "Idol, remember to take good care of yourself while I'm gone, don't let anyone sneak up on you and take you down!"

She blinked her bright eyes, seemingly teasing Chiba and anticipating his reaction.

To her disappointment, Chiba didn't listen carefully to her words. Instead, he pondered for a moment and said, "Why don't I come with you? We're here to Assist the Magic Council in destroying the Sword of Slaughter anyway, and since we're just killing time, it'll be good to gather some information."

"With me?" Tianna hesitated for a moment, then said, "No way, idols don't have my stealth abilities. How can they..."

However, she froze before she could finish her sentence.

Because she saw it, Chiba on the other side had transformed into her likeness.

"My God, you're my idol! How did you do that?" Tianna exclaimed, her beautiful eyes sparkling with excitement.

Chiba returned to his original form and said, "One of my abilities is the Transformation Technique. It allows me to transform into whatever I want, and it's useful for disguise."

"So? Can I go with you now?" Chiba asked with a half-smile.

"Yes! Of course!"

Chiba then looked at Nuolin and smiled, "Senior Sister, why don't you stay here and wait for our news?"

"Hmm." Nuolin nodded slightly. She didn't have the same excellent stealth abilities as the two of them; direct confrontation was her forte.

So, Chiba and Tianna headed towards the so-called Dragon Corpse Valley.

Outside, snow was still falling heavily, but the snowfall was not as intense as it had been yesterday.

Dragon Corpse Valley is located in the southeast of the battlefield, towards the main camp of the Sword of Slaughter. There are no powerful monsters here, but strangely, there is no one around, not even any plants or animals.

Is it because of winter?

Stepping onto the snow, Chiba asked softly.

He changed into a white robe; black was too conspicuous in the snow, while white offered some camouflage.

"Rustle..."

Tianna walked beside him and shook her head. "No, Dragon Corpse Valley is like this all year round. No magical beasts appear, but there are no other living beings... not even plants. Even treasure hunters don't want to come here to search for treasure."

Chiba frowned; there was something about this place that made him very uncomfortable.