Strawberries

Riyao suddenly slapped his forehead, only then remembering the huge trouble of "Face." He had been so busy with his own affairs that he had almost forgotten about it.

Mirajane and Riyao took turns supporting Lucy's arms, one on each side.

Lucy hadn't quite caught on yet, and blinked.

"Let's go stop Face."

Riyao gestured with his chin toward Natsu and the others who had arrived.

"You guys spar with these guys, hit them all you want, they're pretty tough."

"Do I have to go too?" Lucy's eyes widened.

"Then you can stay here." Riyao said, and started to let go of her arm.

Lucy turned her head to look at the ferocious-looking demon opposite her, and then at Natsu and the others on her side who were always out of their minds and extremely unreliable.

She chose Mirajane and Riyao, who seemed to offer her more security.

"I think I'll go with you guys, hehe."

Lucy gripped both of their wrists tightly.

"Who knows, once we get there, I might need to use my clever mind to solve some mechanisms, right?"

Mirajane and Riyao didn't waste any words. They lifted Lucy up and took to the air, flying towards the control room inside the Underworld Beast.

Just as they took off.

Natsu, standing below, instinctively looked up and let out a gasp of surprise.

"Oh! Strawberry!"

"Whoa! Idiot, don't look!"

Lucy let out a piercing scream.

With her arms held up, she couldn't cover herself at all, so she could only desperately curl her legs up, shrinking into a perfectly cooked shrimp in mid-air.

"You two bastards, put me down right now!"

Mirajane and Riyao exchanged a glance.

"Pfft."

The two of them couldn't help but burst out laughing, which was quite unkind of them.

"Wow, you two definitely did this on purpose!"

Lucy shook her head angrily, trying to glare at the two nasty guys to death.

Mirajane laughed and pulled Lucy into her arms, blocking the view below.

"Oh dear, who knew that Natsu, being so straightforward, would actually blurt it out."

"Is this something I should or shouldn't tell anyone? Waaah, I'm so ashamed!"

Lucy buried her face in Mirajane's chest, overwhelmed with grief and anger.

Hey! Lucy, where are you head-shaking?!

Upon seeing this, Riyao was immediately indignant and issued a vicious threat.

"Believe it or not, I'll make a hundred copies of all the novels you've written and post them on the guild's commission board."

Upon hearing this decisive statement, Lucy was so startled that she jerked her head out of Mirajane's embrace as if she had been electrocuted.

"Stingy," she muttered to herself.

A loud clang of magical energy clashing came from afar, interrupting the three's farce.

They immediately sped up and rushed forward, following the broken passage into a corridor inside the Underworld Beast.

In the dimly lit corridor, large areas of the once vibrant, fleshy walls had peeled away, revealing a withered, rotten, dark brown residue, and the air was filled with a nauseating stench.

At the end of the corridor, Wendy puffed out her cheeks and opened her mouth to spew out a violent white spiral storm.

[The Sky Dragon's Roar]

With a deafening roar, Franmalth was blasted away by the storm, crashing into the shattered flesh.

Wendy turned her head and saw the three members of Riyao landing, and was overjoyed.

"Brother Riyao!"

The moment she cried out, a thick tentacle silently pierced through the ruins.

With lightning speed, Carla grabbed the stunned Wendy and pulled her away from the fatal blow.

"Idiot, don't get distracted during the battle!" Carla scolded sternly.

"I was so happy to see Riyao and the others that I didn't notice... I'm sorry, Carla."

Wendy stuck out her tongue and apologized sheepishly.

Carla turned her head and shouted at Riyao, who was still watching the show.

"Stop staring, you scheming man! Come and help!"

Riyao raised an eyebrow, slowly walked over, and reached out to give Carla's head a couple of firm rubs.

"You little kitten, you're really not being polite."

"Meow!" Carla opened her mouth and bit his finger without any hesitation.

Franmalth, who had been blasted into the wall, got up and saw that the other side had suddenly gained three more powerful foreign players. His already protruding eyes darted around rapidly, and he began to have second thoughts.

Oh my, the magical energy emanating from these two newcomers is terrifying!

It won't be easy, it'll be incredibly difficult!

We need to retreat immediately!

Lucy pointed at Franmalth, who was tiptoeing backward, and exclaimed loudly.

"How is this guy still alive?! Didn't Natsu defeat him already? Wait, stop him! He's trying to escape!"

"Oh?"

Mirajane's lips curled slightly upwards, and his azure eyes narrowed slightly.

What abilities does he have? How powerful are they?

She exuded a dangerous aura, clearly regarding Franmalth as her most prized prey.

When Lucy saw Mirajane's expression, she immediately gave him a smug, self-important smile.

This time they have a strong backer, so they're quite confident! These two are much more reliable than Natsu, who often loses his mind and just charges in headfirst.

"His ability is similar to Take Over Magic!"

Lucy loudly explains science.

"It can devour human souls to gain their abilities! As for ordinary creatures or demons, they will be directly absorbed and assimilated!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Mirajane's eyes visibly brightened several degrees, as if he were looking at a walking, priceless treasure.

She turned her head and glanced at Riyao.

Riyao gave an "OK" sign in perfect unison.

Swish!

A lingering shadow remained in the air.

Riyao instantly teleported behind Franmalth, blocking his retreat and forming a perfect pincer attack with Mirajane.

Seeing that the situation here was completely under the control of Riyao and his companion, Wendy and Carla did not linger and flew directly out of the building.

"Riyao Bro! Let's go destroy Face!"

Just as Riyao was about to say a few words of advice, he saw that the person and the cat had already flown away and disappeared.

"That little girl runs pretty fast."

Looking at Franmalth's ugly, big head that looked like it was wearing a mushroom cap, Lucy couldn't help but lean closer to Mirajane and whisper a question.

"Mira, are you really going to take this guy? He's kind of ugly."

Mira is such a beautiful woman, but to have her with this round, yellowish-brown body just looks extremely bizarre.

"It's fine."

Mirajane smiled confidently.

"My talent for Take Over Magic is quite high; as long as I have enough magic power, I can completely control my appearance."

Riyao nodded and explained Mirajane's Take Over Magic to Lucy.

"Mira's Take Over Magic is the strongest right now, unlike Lisanna and Elfman, who retain most of the characteristics of the receiving creature. Although Mira was like that at first too, her right hand made her look so ugly it made her cry back then, hahaha..."

"Riyao!"

Mirajane's shout interrupted Riyao's laughter, and he instantly switched to a serious fighting expression, though the corners of his mouth were still slightly upturned.

Mirajane glared at Riyao, her eyes seeming to say: I'll deal with you when we get home.