Ophiuchus

The group headed towards the deepest part of the spiral passage.

The pink passageway wound its way forward, its walls rough, and the sound of footsteps echoed loudly on the hard surfaces.

The further you go in, the stronger that indescribable scent becomes in the air.

The passageway was completely sealed off and had no light source, yet it wasn't dark at all.

There was no end in sight; only the road beneath our feet stretched on and on.

Natsu and Gray were trailing at the very back of the group.

The two walked side by side, shoulder to shoulder, neither willing to give way.

As I was walking, an elbow quietly poked me.

"Stupid Fire Dragon!"

"Ghostly ice cubes!"

The two exchanged insults in hushed tones, but their hands were anything but still, elbowing each other and getting more and more excited with each thrust.

One gritted his teeth, the other glared, neither willing to back down first.

The commotion was too loud and caught Erza's attention.

She turned around and glared at the two of them fiercely.

His eyes were as cold as two knives.

Natsu and Gray immediately became obedient and quickly created distance between them.

One looked to the left, the other to the right, pretending nothing had happened.

Happy shrugs and complains.

"Natsu and Gray are so childish."

After it finished complaining, it ran to Carla's side and started chattering and trying to curry favor.

Just then, the wall beside them rippled slightly.

It was like something touching the surface of the water.

Several electrical wires silently emerged and coiled around the two of them like snakes.

Wrap around arms, waist, and legs.

Their pupils contracted, and just as they were about to shout, a cable covered their mouths.

Mmm!

The cable pulled the two people along, inch by inch, towards the wall.

Natsu struggled twice, but couldn't break free. The cable tightened more and more, making his bones crack.

The people at the front were discussing the current situation, completely unaware of what was happening at the back of the line.

"Natsu just said he smelled the scent of Riyao."

"That eerie green energy?"

"Hmm, but that shouldn't be the magical energy of the Riyao; it's just mixed with the essence of the Riyao."

Natsu's face turned red from being strangled, and he kicked his legs in frustration.

After struggling for a while, he finally remembered that he could still use magic.

Boom!

Its entire body burst into flames, which then burned along the electrical wires and cables.

The fire snaked along the cable deep into the wall, the cable crackling and emitting a burnt smell.

"Mmm..."

Gray's approach was simple and direct.

Frozen, shattered.

The cables on his body instantly frosted over, then snapped with a crack, scattering across the ground.

"What is this thing? A cable?"

Gray shook the ice shards off his hands, looking disgusted.

The commotion finally caught the attention of the people in front.

Everyone turned around at the same time.

Upon seeing the pile of charred, frozen cable remnants at their feet, they were both taken aback and simultaneously assumed combat stances.

Happy hid behind Natsu, peeking out half his head.

Lucy drew out the River of Stars with a swift motion.

"What happened? Why are there so many... cables on this wall?"

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back.

Levy raised an eyebrow at Lucy.

His eyes clearly said, "Something's not right with you."

Lucy blushed, raised her hand and turned Levy's head to the side, pretending nothing had happened.

Levy she was twisted, but she wasn't annoyed; instead, she winked at her.

Seeing that his sneak attack was about to fail, Ophiuchus Ophiuchus simply stopped pretending.

Countless cables emerged from the walls, spreading outwards and sweeping towards the crowd.

This attack seemed somewhat hasty.

There are many cables, but their quality is poor.

The group quickly cleared a path.

It only delayed the Fairy Tail group's progress by a tiny bit.

Seeing that this tactic was ineffective, Ophiuchus completely merged into the wall.

The next second, the entire spiral tunnel came to life.

Countless sharp spikes sprouted from the walls, and the passage began to rotate, like a giant stomach writhing and contracting.

This caught everyone completely off guard.

The ground tilted, the walls turned upside down, and sharp thorns brushed against the hem of clothing.

The spikes on the wall grew longer and longer, cutting the corners of our clothes and causing them to fall down in a rustling sound.

Lucy lost her footing and fell on her bottom.

"Ouch, what happened now? That hurts!"

She grimaced and rubbed her bottom.

Princess Hisui Emerald reacted quickly, grabbing Arcadios to prevent herself from falling.

She steadied herself, looked around, and her expression turned serious.

"This is probably inside some kind of creature."

These words caused a collective gasp from the crowd.

"Is this inside a living creature? It's so big, and the walls are so hard. Does such a creature really exist?"

Lucy was rubbing her bottom and about to stand up when she suddenly felt a sticky sensation under her feet.

"Ouch... What's this liquid under my feet? My shoes!"

She looked down and saw a patch of pale yellow liquid at her feet, bubbling slightly.

The wall had secreted some kind of liquid at some point, with obvious corrosive properties, and the soles of my shoes had begun to soften.

Arcadios scooped up the Princess Hisui in his arms.

"Your Highness, hold on tight! We need to get out of this passage quickly. This must be stomach acid secreted by that creature."

The others immediately followed.

Before I could even take a steady step, stomach acid was already rising, making a hissing sound as I stepped on it.

The spiral channel can rotate at an increasingly faster speed.

My feet slipped, my center of gravity swayed, and I couldn't stand up at all, let alone run.

Erza was the first to react.

She switched to the Heaven's Wheel Armor, her sword wings flapped behind her, and she lifted Arcadios and the others into the air.

Everyone used their own unique methods to overcome stomach acid.

Levy raised her hand and wrote the two Solid Script for "cloud." The characters condensed into a soft cloud in mid-air, and she jumped up, hugged the cloud characters, and flew steadily into the air.

Cana pulled out a card with wings drawn on it, threw it on the ground, and the card instantly grew larger. She jumped on it and used it as a flying carpet.

The three Dragon Slayer all took flight on the backs of the kittens, with Happy, Carla, and Lily each carrying one, flapping their wings and following behind the group.

Lily was the biggest, and she carried Gajeel the most steadily as they flew.

Gajeel was secretly pleased with his choice.

"When choosing a cat, you really have to choose the strong one."

Mirajane picked up Lucy and Juvia with each of his left and right hands.

Cana, along with the remaining few, swung a rope and threw it towards Mirajane.

"Mira, we're too slow!"

Mirajane's tail curled up behind her, firmly wrapping around the rope.

"Sit still!"

She led everyone to accelerate deeper into the passage; as they sped up, the wind was so strong it made it hard to open their eyes.

Stomach acid was dripping from above, a steady trickle that looked like acid rain.

Acid rain fell on the walls of the passageway, making a hissing sound.

A drop landed on Lucy's shoulder.

"Ouch! That hurts! Stomach acid is being secreted up there too. How long is this passage?!"

Lucy gasped in pain, shortened the River of Stars, and swung it around, barely managing to ward off the dripping stomach acid.

The others who weren't flying also tried their best to block out the stomach acid.

Gray immediately donned an Ice-Make, conjured several ice umbrellas, and tossed them to the group one by one.

The icy umbrella hissed in the acid rain, its surface steaming, barely holding on.

"Just make do with it, there's no better way."

Holding umbrellas, the group continued rushing forward through the rotating tunnel.