On a train bound for Cascot Town.
"Hey, Zorn, have you heard of demons? Have you ever seen one?" Cana asked from her seat, propping up her head and covering her mouth with one hand as she yawned.
"Demons... Of course I've heard of them, but I've never seen one. Though I'll get a good look this time." Zorn lost himself in thought. Of course he had heard of them, and he had seen them too. In his previous world, he could find plenty of pictures of demons online, not to mention that he had seen all the demons Zeref created. On top of that, END was in the guild right now. But Zorn couldn't tell the truth.
"What kind of answer is that? Haah... Never mind. Haah... I'm so sleepy, I can't stay awake. I'll get some sleep. Wake me when we get there." Cana was dissatisfied with Zorn's answer, but she was too sleepy. She mumbled the words, and when she finally couldn't hold on any longer, she laid her head down and fell asleep.
Just as Zorn and Cana entered town, a wagon laden with goods creaked past, accompanied by cheerful cries. People of all kinds crowded the streets and alleys, and the stalls were filled with a dazzling array of goods.
At the other end of an alley, a lively cat chased falling leaves, while children on a street corner played hide-and-seek.
"It's so lively," Cana said, looking at the bustling scene before her. She took a deep breath and breathed out all her weariness, unable to help exclaiming.
"Let's find the client first and learn more about the situation. The client should be..." Zorn checked the description on the request sheet, then, having determined the direction, looked up and spoke to Cana, who was still absorbed in the scenery beside him.
"So that's what happened..." After listening to the village chief, Zorn gave a rough summary.
A priest had come to the mountain a few years ago and opened a church. Whenever something happened in the village, the villagers had always gone to the priest at the church for help. But that had changed some time ago. When villagers went to the church to ask for the priest, they no longer saw him. All they could see in the shadows of the church was a pair of blood-red eyes, unmistakably the eyes of a demon.
"Oh, then hasn't this demon come out and hurt anyone?" Cana hurriedly asked the chief.
"Church? Demon?" Those two words in the chief's account brought to Zorn's mind a very familiar plot and three members of Fairy Tail: the future S-Class Mage Mirajane Strauss, her younger brother, the Beast King Elfman Strauss, and her younger sister, Lisanna Strauss.
After thinking of them, Zorn looked again at the request sheet in his hand. Its simple description mentioned clearing out a demon and gave the address. He smiled helplessly.
"No, it hasn't. But roars sometimes come down from the mountain, and a few days ago, hunters who went up saw the torn-apart carcasses of animals. The mountain is forbidden ground now, and none of the villagers will go in. Everyone in the village is on edge every day, so please get rid of it as quickly as you can," the chief replied with a worried look.
"Zorn, Zorn," Cana called, watching him sink into thought.
"What are you thinking about? Did you find something?"
"No, I just thought of a few things. Let's head straight up the mountain now." Zorn decided to go straight up the mountain and settle the matter more efficiently.
"Chief, Chief, this is bad! Hah, Mirajane ran up the mountain all by herself. She said she was going to deal with the demon!" A villager came rushing toward them from across the way, his breathless voice reaching them before he did.
"What?"
"Um, honored mages, could you please hurry and save that girl?" After crying out in alarm, the chief turned to Zorn and Cana, the two people there who could solve the problem.
"Cana, follow me. I'm going ahead," Zorn said. Golden light spread over his body, and he flashed away, heading straight for the mountaintop.
"Honestly."
"Oh, right, Chief, don't go near the mountain. Tell all the villagers to stay well away."
Cana was unhappy that Zorn had spoken and left on his own, but thinking of how powerful his magic was, she still felt uneasy and gave the chief a few more instructions.
As soon as Cana finished speaking, she pulled out a card. "Wings of Wind." Her Card Magic formed something resembling wings behind her. She pushed off the ground and soared into the air, shooting after Zorn. From time to time, she kicked off the air to accelerate. Clearly, Cana had gradually begun to master the Six Powers.
"Chief, are all mages this strong?" The villager who had rushed over with the news stared at the cracks in the ground and swallowed, then asked the chief, the only one who had seen the wider world.
"Yes, to ordinary people like us, they are. But they're bound by rules too. They can't attack civilians or start wars as they please," the chief said with a sigh of feeling.
"Oh, right, did you have someone watch over Mirajane's younger brother and sister?" the chief suddenly remembered and asked the villager urgently.
"No... I forgot... I... Ow, stop hitting me, Chief, stop!" The villager had barely said a few words before the chief began striking him with his cane. The villager covered himself with his hands and cried out, but still couldn't block the blows.
"Idiot, idiot! Her brother and sister definitely went after their sister! Hurry and tell the other villagers to do what that young lady said."
"All right, all right, I'll go right away." The villager immediately ran into the village.
"Ah." After scolding him, the chief sighed and turned to look in the direction where the two mages had vanished. A few moments later, he turned and walked into the village, leaning on his cane.
Meanwhile.
A streak of light fell from the sky like a meteor, bringing Zorn straight to the mountaintop.
A magic circle rose beneath a girl's feet. The demon the other villager had said was the transformed priest wore a pained expression. At times his eyes were clear; at others, they were overrun by demonic energy. Whenever he was clearheaded, he attacked the magic circle desperately, trying to stop it from operating, only to be repelled outright.
Inside the magic circle stood a figure whose long, snow-white hair fluttered in the cold wind, forming a striking harmony with the icy atmosphere around her. Her face was pale as snow, like a ghost beneath the moonlight. The once-clear light in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a deep darkness and confusion.
Demonic power gathered around her, forming clouds of dark red energy so dense they had nearly solidified. The power churned through the air like an imprisoned dragon struggling and roaring. At its center was the girl receiving the demon's power.
Seeing this, Zorn extended a hand toward the demonized priest. "Holy Light Magic: Holy Shield." A defensive spell rose around the priest, protecting him and helping suppress the demonic power. After all, Zorn's light magic had a holy attribute. The priest could clearly feel his corrupted body gradually improving, and he looked gratefully at Zorn with tears in his eyes.
Zorn nodded, signaling him to rest easy. He then used Observation Haki to sense the magic circle and found that Mirajane's own power and the demon's power were in balance. If that balance were broken, it was hard to say what might happen. He could only find a way to strengthen Mirajane's power. Fortunately, the priest's power was insufficient.
After thinking it over, Zorn decided to deal with the enemy first. He suddenly extended a hand in the opposite direction and opened his palm. A golden magic circle instantly lit up before him, and several Laser Beams shot straight out, striking a shadowy spot and kicking up a cloud of smoke.
"Clap, clap, clap." The sound of applause rang out.
"Impressive. You found me in an instant. I was thinking of sneaking away, too. I don't know how you found me, but for someone your age, you're really quite good." A cloaked figure clapped in admiration.
"Onee-chan, Sister, it's me, Lisanna!" A childlike girl's voice rang out, trembling slightly with worry.
"Zorn, I found these two children on the way. They said their sister was up here, so I brought them along," Cana added immediately afterward, holding the two children and panting slightly.
"Thanks for the effort, Cana. Take them to the magic circle first and try to wake their sister. She has to take control of this power. She can't let it corrupt her, or she won't be herself anymore." Seeing Cana holding Lisanna in one arm and leading Elfman with her other hand, Zorn spoke apologetically. He also decided to end the fight quickly. He reached out and cast defensive magic, placing one of the spells over the magic circle as a precaution. They had arrived in time, all things considered.
"Okay. Lisanna, Elfman, come with me." Cana took the two children by the hand and ran toward the magic circle.
"Onee-chan, look at me. It's Lisanna."
"Onee-chan, it's me, Elfman. What's wrong with you?"
The two children's worried, frightened voices reached them in snatches.
"Oh, planning to use the power of family love? But according to the many experiments our guild has conducted, some people couldn't resist the temptation of power. In the end, they were corrupted and killed everyone in their villages. Some could suppress their thoughts a little, but with a little temptation, they were corrupted anyway. This little girl was an accident, but I think she's still a long way off. Hahahaha!" Seeing this, the cloaked figure covered his mouth and laughed wildly as he spoke, mocking them.
"A guild? Many experiments? What do you take human lives for?" Zorn murmured, then spoke in a low voice.
"What do we take them for? Test subjects, of course. And experiments are uncontrollable anyway, aren't they? Who cares?" the cloaked figure replied flippantly, as though unable to sense his emotions.
"Who cares..."
Strong emotions surged within Zorn when he heard those words. His heart pounded as though struck by a heavy hammer, and his blood boiled in his veins. Sparks of anger filled his mind. When he thought of those villagers who had been innocently killed, and of the other ordinary people in the same situation even now, the fire of his anger burned even hotter.
"You really make it hard to contain my anger. Trash, are you ready for how you and your so-called guild are going to die?" Zorn tried to keep his voice calm as he looked at the cloaked figure as though looking at a dead man. Golden magic power began to boil and surge around him, and the ground instantly cracked apart.
To be continued~