Burning at the Stake

"What happened?" Chiba asked in surprise.

Feiyin quickly replied, "Our mission location is very close to yours, so Seele said she was coming to find you. But we were intercepted by a group of mysterious people on the way, Seele was captured!"

Can the footage from that time be retrieved?

"Able!"

"Alright! Let me see!"

A scene slowly emerged before my eyes: a scene in the canyon.

In the scene, Seele and Feiyin walk through the canyon, surrounded by silence.

Suddenly, a hot woman descended from the sky above the canyon and blocked their way.

"I am Suomeier of the Blood Demon Knights], here on orders from the President to invite Seele to our residence. If you are unwilling, I hope you will not take offense and resort to Seele."

Seele was on high alert and immediately used Wood Release Ninjutsu to fight the woman Suomeier Somel. However, with Seele's strength, she was quickly subdued by Suomeier, while Feiyin didn't even put up a fight, and the two of them were taken away by Suomeier.

Chiba stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Mira asked.

Chiba frowned deeply. "Seele has been captured."

He then told everyone present what Feiyin had just told him.

"I can locate their position using Feiyin; I need to go find them." Chiba's expression was somewhat gloomy.

Before he could even cause trouble for Bolunte, the latter came looking for trouble for him!

Although he might not be able to fight the entire Blood Demon Knights head-on with his current strength, he still has a slight chance if he were to forcefully kill Bolunte.

"I'll go with you," Mira said.

"I can go by myself." Chiba smiled at her.

Mira remained silent. She knew that with her current strength, if she were to accompany him into the lion's den, she would be willing but unable.

"Don't worry! I'll bring Seele back safely." Smiling, he ruffled Mira's hair, then took a deep breath and turned around under the gaze of the three.

"Walk."

Village, shrine.

The entire village was devastated by the attack of the puppet Weir, but fortunately no one died. Only a number of guards were injured, and a few were seriously wounded.

The reason no one died was mainly because Weir arrived in time and stopped many of the Weir. Later, when she broke into the barrier, Jura and Aria Totomaru annihilated the dolls one by one.

Everyone gathered at the shrine.

The battle between the old priestess and Weir had completely destroyed this ancient shrine, leaving it in ruins. Many people had gathered there, and in the center of the ruins were Weir and Ailiya, bound to a cross.

They had all returned to their human form, but they were all in a sorry state, especially Ailiya, whose wings had been cut off by the old witch and whose back was covered in blood.

"Is that a demon? It looks no different from a normal person?"

"That girl looks like one of the people who just attacked us."

"Then it seems one appeared, blocking the others."

"They look so pitiful..."

"What's there to pity? They're both demons, they deserve to die."

People whispered and pointed at the two men tied to the cross.

On the cross, Weir, whose magic had been drained, remained motionless.

Beside her, Ailiya lowered her head, biting her dusty lips, tears streaming down her face.

If it weren't for me... if it weren't for my insistence on attacking this village, if it weren't for... if it weren't for my insistence on destroying the Demon Sword Crimson Sakura, my sister wouldn't... and they wouldn't have been captured...

This time... I'm really going to die...

But no matter what... I have to make sure my sister lives...

A resolute glint flashed in her eyes.

On the other side...

"Lady Aria, Totomaru, Jura, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, the village would probably be finished." The old priestess bowed deeply to the three of them.

Totomaru waved his hand and laughed, "This is just our job. Catching these two devils is only right and proper."

Aria said, "Although it is so sad, thankfully the village was saved."

The old witch smiled slightly, looked at the two people on the cross, and said, "As for the reward, the village will naturally provide it, so please don't worry too much."

"What about those people from Fairy Tail?" Totomaru asked with a half-smile.

The old priestess said in a deep voice, "Fairy Tail also played a significant role in this operation. Without them, these two demons would not have shown themselves. Naturally, we have no doubt about the contributions of the Fairy Tail members."

Totomaru pouted.

"Your Grace, Priestess," Jura bowed and said in a deep voice, "From my observation, these two did not cause any deaths. The dolls seemed to be targeting only the buildings here, and the girl even stopped them before we arrived. Your Grace, isn't it too cruel to kill them simply because they are demons?"

The old witch shook her head and said, "Jura, you have no idea how terrifying the Demon God Halphas and the Demon Monster Aibudelun are, let alone how much harm they can bring to people."

"But..."

"Jura, there's no need for further words..." the old witch interrupted him, then shouted, "Burn him at the stake!"

As the old witch gave a low shout, two guards carrying torches stepped out from the crowd. They threw the torches onto the pile of firewood that had been soaked in oil, and almost instantly, the area was engulfed in flames.

From within the flames came the agonizing screams of the girls. Without the protection of magic, they were just two ordinary girls. Even ordinary flames could cause them unbearable pain.

Jura slowly clenched her fists, her gaze sweeping over the faces that seemed to show fear, pleasure, distortion, and... ferocity. She closed her eyes, slowly turned away, unwilling to watch this scene unfold any longer.

The fire burned for a very, very long time, until...

"Boom!"

As a bolt of lightning struck the earth from the sky, Laxus's figure was revealed.

Then, water poured down from above and extinguished the fire.

Who are you?!

"How did you put out the fire?!"

What are you doing?!

Shouts and curses erupted from the crowd.

Mira and Erza, clad in the Sea King Armor, lowered the two seemingly charred girls from the cross.

"What did you do to them?" Laxus asked calmly, her eyes narrowed.

"Fairy Tail members... why are you stopping us from torturing them?" The old priestess stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "The mission is complete. There's nothing more for you to do here..."

Laxus frowned.