An Overwhelming Genjutsu

He said calmly, "Magic Divine Crystals have been extremely rare since ancient times, and very few people truly know anything about them. Similarly, the claim that Magic Divine Crystals can enhance a mage's magical power is also unfounded and cannot be truly verified."

"During the Southern War, you received the Magic Divine Crystal as a gift from the Bone Dragon. Although we don't know how you did it, it's common knowledge. You probably don't know that many people are waiting for your awakening, because they want to know what kind of transformation those who absorb the Magic Divine Crystal undergo."

He took a deep breath and said, "The legends have proven true. You've gone from a low-level mage who couldn't even use a magic slingshot to A-Class mage. Based on your completed missions, you rarely use your ninja powers; most of the time, you rely on your sword and Life Magic. But this has also made more and more mages realize that Magic Divine Crystals can indeed enhance a mage's cultivation."

"Then, a piece of information was unearthed: there was a large Magic Crystal Ore located at the site of the S-Class Mission [Annihilate! The Demon Lurking in the Village], and the locals made their living by mining magic crystals. Many mages flocked there, wanting to come and explore, but the village chief refused them all visits."

At this moment, he said with a faint smile, "That guy doesn't seem to allow mages who accept his missions to come here. In fact, if we weren't going to help him deal with the demon, he probably would have driven us away too."

"So, including us, the main objective of these three teams is the Magic Divine Crystal?" Chiba raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Hmm." Laxus nodded slightly.

"So look at you, you can make such a racket even when you're sleeping." Mira pinched Chiba's cheek.

Chiba pinched her back, but she dodged it. He said, "Be careful of those Phantom Lords. They might do something to harm us for the Magic Divine Crystal, especially Aria."

"That guy seems pretty kind, completely different from Totomaru." Erza didn't know why Chiba said to be wary of Aria.

"Some people can't be judged by appearances alone," Chiba said.

"Feiyin, Aria's magic shouldn't work on me, right?" Chiba asked Feiyin while she was sealed away.

"Ah... you mean that blindfolded fat guy?" Feiyin lay on the ground and asked, "Why do you think his magic won't work on you?"

Chiba said, "I'm not a pure mage. Even if he drains my magic power, I still have Chakra to use..."

"Ha..." Feiyin couldn't help but laugh out loud.

She couldn't help but laugh, "You're both a ninja and a mage now, so if either one is reset, you'll die, okay? The moment you became a mage, your magic power became connected to your life."

Chiba: "..."

Doesn't that mean I've gone from having one weakness to having two?

"Oops!"

Suddenly, a girl's voice reached the ears of the four, drawing their attention.

Below the hillside, a little girl, only eight or nine years old, lay on the ground, having tripped over a stone.

Erza ran down first, helped the little girl up, and asked, "Are you alright?"

The little girl looked pitiful, almost crying; she seemed to have fallen quite hard.

The other three followed. The little girl sat on the grass, and it seemed that she had abrasions on her knees and calves.

"Where did this brat come from?" Laxus frowned and said, "So careless."

Chiba immediately crouched down, forming a silver magic circle in his palm and placing it above the little girl's legs.

Healing Magic!

The magic circle gently turned, and magic flowed into the wound. The little girl's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and as time passed, her injuries gradually healed.

"Thank you, brothers and sisters." The little girl stood up, bowed to them, and said very politely.

"It was nothing," Chiba waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to thank him.

The little girl looked at the four of them suspiciously, her little head darting around, before she cautiously asked, "Are you brothers and sisters mages from the Mage Guild?"

"Hmm." Erza smiled slightly. "We are mages from Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail..." The little girl's eyes shone with longing. "I want to join the mage guild too..."

The group became quite interested in the suddenly appearing little girl. Mira, hands on her hips, chuckled, "Little one, where are your parents?"

The little girl suddenly became flustered, then lowered her head and whispered, "I... I don't have parents..."

Mira paused, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Mira and Erza both showed expressions of affection; they were both orphans, so perhaps they had a special feeling for this little girl.

"It's alright!" The little girl forced a smile, then said, "My parents passed away when I was very young. I grew up eating food from everyone in the village."

Chiba patted the little girl's head and asked, "Little girl, what's your name?"

The little girl tilted her head back, looked into Chiba's eyes, and said with a smile, "My name is Menair."

Looking into the little girl's innocent eyes, Chiba felt a sudden flutter in his heart, and at that moment Feiyin, who was sealed, actually made a sound.

"This little girl..."

"What's wrong?" Chiba asked.

Feiyin's voice was low. "There's an indescribable feeling, this little girl is very strange..."

"Is there any danger?" he asked.

Feiyin shook her head. "I can't sense any malice."

"Something's not right!" Feiyin seemed to realize something and suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, "This is... Genjutsu!"

Chiba was startled. His Mangekyō Sharingan quickly materialized, and under the influence of his eye power, the little girl in front of him shattered. However, she was still smiling at him, creating an extremely eerie scene.

Time seemed to stand still. At that moment, the wind stopped, the leaves and branches ceased swaying, and the birds remained suspended in the air. Mira and the others quietly maintained their poses from the previous moment, like a casually taken photograph, if one ignored the little girl whose heart was breaking.

Then, not only did the little girl begin to shatter, but the entire world around her began to shatter, eventually breaking into endless darkness.

"Snort!"

Chiba snorted coldly, his Mangekyō eyes unleashed their power, and then the entire dark world vanished.

The scene shifts back to the hillside, where Laxus leans against a tree, Erza gazes at the scenery below, and Mira stands in front of him, rubbing his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Mira, who was closest to him, was the first to notice the change in the boy's expression.

The Mangekyō in Chiba's eyes slowly disappeared, and everything returned to normal.