But now he was no longer afraid—or rather, he no longer needed to be afraid. In fact, those standing closer to Andrew were already on the verge of vomiting. At some unknown moment, countless ice spikes had begun growing from the ground beneath Andrew's feet and from his body itself. Those silver-white spikes kept spreading upward from his calves.
From his calves to his chest, he was covered in those icy spikes, as though Andrew had turned into some grotesque plant. Around his chest, the spikes were especially dense.
The ice spikes jutted out in a dense mass, as though a thorny ball had grown from inside his chest.
Red Sun could no longer hold herself back. She fell to her knees and began to cry. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Who the hell is he?" Rifan finally asked. In truth, everyone there wanted to know. Yes, those A-rank mercenaries had known who the little girl was the moment she entered, but most people still had no idea!
The little girl did not look at Red Sun, nor did she look at anyone else. She merely clutched her chest and raised her head. "You people don't even know who I am..." Suddenly, she smiled—a sweet, girlish smile. Yet that made the others even more terrified, because it truly was the innocent smile of a little girl.
"She is... Zeref's sworn enemy, the younger sister of God Serena, foremost of Ishgar's Four Heavenly Kings—Celia..." The blond man practically shouted the words.
"Oh? So you recognize me?" Celia looked gloomily at the blond man. "Or did you see it?"
Celia slowly raised a hand. In an instant, the entire hall lost all light. No one knew what she had done, but every lamp went out in that moment.
And everyone wanted to scream!