Ifrit: Your Acting Is Terrible

Simon stared back at Erza's sharp glare and said calmly, "We're building the road to Paradise, Erza. We need your strength."

"Paradise?" Erza froze for a moment, then gritted her teeth. "You're still building that evil thing?!"

"Evil?" Sho said unhappily. "Sis, you don't understand the greatness of the Tower of Paradise at all!"

"Heh. Greatness." Erza sneered. "A structure built by sacrificing innocent people, one that will bring even greater misfortune—what right does it have to be called great?!"

"Wasn't our suffering back then caused by the Dark Magic Cult building the Tower of Paradise?!"

"And now you're actually repeating the same mistakes!"

Everyone on the other side fell silent.

Erza took a deep breath and said, "It was Jellal, wasn't it?"

"That's right." Wally, with his puppet-like face, said, "He said he needed the power of a traitor like you."

Erza's expression dimmed slightly, but then determination filled her eyes again. She turned to Lucy and smiled gently. "Lucy, tell Natsu and the others that I have some personal matters to handle."

"Erza!" Lucy was a smart girl; she had already guessed what Erza intended to do. She hurriedly shouted, "Don't do anything stupid! We're comrades—we should face this together!"

"Big sis isn't that kind of person." Sho, the little blond boy, wore a mocking smile. "When a crisis comes, she's the kind of person who can abandon her comrades without hesitation."

"Shut up!" Lucy roared at him. "Erza isn't the kind of person you say she is!"

"There's no need to argue." Erza said coldly, "Sho, I don't want to explain anything."

With that, she looked up at Simon. "I'll go back with you. Some things must be resolved eventually. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"Let's go." As she spoke, Erza changed into her usual armor.

"Erza, don't go!" Lucy shouted anxiously, but Erza did not answer her and left with the group.

"Damn it!" Lucy was bound by ropes and could not break free. She could also feel that her magic had been sealed, leaving her unable to summon even a Celestial Spirit.

The ropes tightened more and more.

"Lucy—"

Natsu's voice came from the distance.

"Natsu—" Lucy hurriedly shouted back.

Boom!

Amid a burst of violent flames, Natsu rushed in front of Lucy. When he saw her tied up by the ropes, her body bent backward from the strain, his flames immediately went out. He even burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha! Lucy, what kind of pose is that?"

"Natsu, you idiot! Hurry up and untie me! My bones are about to break!" Lucy snapped.

"Got it." Natsu crouched down.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" Lucy watched helplessly as Natsu's face moved closer.

"I'm biting through the ropes for you," Natsu said.

"Chomp—"

He bit down on the rope beneath Lucy's armpit.

"Mmph—" Feeling a stream of hot breath against her armpit, Lucy's face immediately turned bright red.

Natsu bit down hard, snapping the rope. Lucy hurriedly stood up.

"This is bad, Natsu!" Lucy said urgently. "Erza left with a group of strange people. It looks like they're headed somewhere called Paradise."

"The Tower of Paradise," Ifrit suddenly appeared and answered.

"Ifrit, were you here just now? Why didn't you stop her?!" The moment Lucy saw Ifrit, she angrily demanded.

"Erza was right. Some things must be faced eventually." Ifrit adjusted his glasses.

"Ifrit, just now... that was you causing trouble, wasn't it?" Natsu said with a serious expression.

He had just been ambushed by someone with a puppet-like face. That person was not very strong; Natsu had erupted in flames and knocked him down with a single punch.

But Natsu instinctively felt that the other party had not been a real person.

"That's right." Ifrit nodded. "If we defeated all of them here, we'd have no reason to go to the Tower of Paradise."

"What do you mean?" Natsu did not understand.

"The Tower of Paradise is a dangerous place, and its controller is a dangerous person." A card spun around Ifrit's fingertips. He suddenly flicked it, sending it spinning rapidly into the air and embedding it deeply in the ceiling. It then turned into a black streak of light threaded with golden strands and flew back into his palm.

"Erza wants to settle this on her own," Ifrit said. "But family is something that can't help but..."

"Go help her!" Natsu declared firmly.

"That's right." Ifrit nodded.

"So that was your plan." Gray's voice rang out.

Lucy looked over.

Gray and Juvia walked over while supporting each other. Gray was still holding his head, looking as though he had a splitting headache.

He glared fiercely at Ifrit. "So that moment just now was your doing too, right?"

"That's right." Ifrit nodded.

"You..." Gray said helplessly. "At least tell us beforehand."

"Your acting is terrible, especially Natsu's." Ifrit shook his head.

"Bastard, who are you looking down on?!" Natsu angrily spat fire.

"By the way... can your magic really do that? What happened just now—was that some new magic you learned?" Gray asked suspiciously.

Ifrit's magic had always focused on deceiving the five senses. Even if it could influence emotions, it had little effect on Gray and Natsu.

But just now, in only an instant, Juvia and he had been completely unable to resist. They had actually been "scared" unconscious.

"It was just a small breakthrough." Ifrit smiled modestly, then said, "All right, don't waste any more time. Go find a ship. I'll contact the Guild Master first."

"Okay."

Natsu and the others went to find a ship.

Ifrit took out a communication crystal.

"Ifrit, what is it?" Mirajane's face appeared in the crystal.

"Miss Mirajane, good evening. Is the Guild Master at the guild?"

"He is. He just fell asleep after getting drunk."

"Then I truly apologize to the Guild Master, but please wake him. I have something very important to report." Ifrit spoke seriously.

"Okay." Mirajane nodded.

On the boundless sea.

"We haven't gone off course, right?" Gray felt uneasy.

"No." Natsu lay over the side of the ship, barely raising a trembling hand.

"Are all Dragon Slayer Mages like this? Mister Gajeel is completely helpless against transportation too," Juvia said in surprise.

"Maybe." Gray nodded.

"Huh?" At that moment, Natsu suddenly straightened up and warily stared in a certain direction.

"What is it?" Gray's expression changed. He could tell that Natsu was serious, so he immediately prepared for battle.

"I don't know, but... blegh... it feels... blegh... strange." Halfway through Natsu's words, the ship rocked, and he went limp again.