(Heartfelt thanks to 'Chenfeng☆,' 'You Bi Ji Yue,' 'Invincible Origin,' 'Wufeng Haotian,' 'Lonely Lactic Acid Lord,' 'Food Is the Foundation,' and 'World's End Ballad' for their tips!)
In the vast sea of trees, mages from the four major guilds traveled together in groups, crossing one towering tree after another as they headed in a single direction.
As they looked upon the endless forest, with no end in sight, everyone's strength and patience were gradually being worn away.
"Is this really the right direction?" Lucy's feet were starting to ache. She rubbed her ankle and complained.
"We've already been walking for over an hour. If we keep going, it'll be dark soon."
"That's true." Erza raised her head and glanced at the increasingly dim sky.
"It'll be night before long. Once that happens, finding the enemy's base will become even harder."
"What a pain." Gray scratched his hair and glanced at Angel, who was tightly bound in chains, before asking Noah, who held one end of the chain.
"This woman isn't playing tricks on us, is she?"
"Believe it or not, I've already told you where it is." Angel looked utterly unconcerned.
"If you don't believe me, then don't go."
As she spoke, Angel twisted her body and said to Noah, who was holding the chain, in a somewhat coquettish tone.
"Say, you've had me tied up for so long. Shouldn't you let me go by now?"
"Let you go?" Noah curled his lip.
"So you can run away immediately?"
"Even if I ran, I couldn't possibly threaten you anymore, could I?" Angel said pitifully.
"You've confiscated all my Celestial Spirit keys. Without Celestial Spirits, I, a Celestial Spirit Mage, have no combat ability at all. And I've already told you everything I know. To you, I'm useless now. Keeping me