Encirclement

Black Heaven Guild Headquarters

"Rogrand, two little rats have entered our territory." The short man with a distinctive hooked nose and gloomy eyes spoke viciously.

He was Or, the president of the Black Heaven Guild.

Judging by height alone, it was hard to imagine that someone only slightly taller than Makarov could be the notoriously brutal president of Black Heaven.

He sat on his lavish "throne," savoring a glass of fine wine, with jewels and gold coins piled behind him.

Or sensed two people rapidly approaching within his domain. They stopped from time to time to look around. That speed was unusual. Whether they were his own men or not, they would be dealt with as rats.

"Oh ho ho ho ho, my dear brother, there's no need to worry. If the enemy is too strong, we can just run. I've hidden treasure elsewhere too."

Or's younger brother, Rogrand, was the vice president of the Black Heaven Guild.

Dressed extravagantly and sporting a huge belly, he looked like nothing more than a foolish nouveau riche at first glance. But anyone who truly believed that was finished.

"If we don't have to abandon it, we shouldn't. These treasures weren't easy to come by," Or said darkly. He did not care about the strength of the intruders. Powerful mages had tried to capture him over the past few years, but he had escaped every time. He had come to believe that no one could catch him.

"Don't worry. I've already notified my little darlings. They'll help us test them out."

Flocks of crows flew out of the guild.

"Wait, Mira."

Qian Guang and Mirajane could already see the guild, but there was not a single person at the entrance. Qian Guang felt something was wrong. Since there were patrols, how could there be no one guarding the guild entrance? Did they think they were some proper guild?

"Let's just charge in. It's only a guild where the president is strong. Once I win, I'll come help you... Ow! That hurts!"

Before Mirajane could finish, Qian Guang gave her a chop on the head. "Be more careful, Mira. Don't get too full of yourself. They aren't decent people. Poison, traps—there's nothing they wouldn't do if they thought of it."

"Hey, you're actually a lot like them. Ow! I said that hurts!" Mira wanted nothing more than to jump up and bite him!

Qian Guang was speechless too. This was not the time for snide remarks. He took out two products of his years of experimentation: tiny antidote pills.

He had not managed to make mana-restoring potions yet, but he had created plenty of other strange things.

They included, but were not limited to, turning someone's nose into a pig snout or giving them a tail. This was one of the few potions with positive effects.

"This... doesn't have any side effects, does it?" Mirajane had been traumatized by the things Qian Guang made. Who knew what it felt like to wake up one morning with a pig nose?

Qian Guang glared at her helplessly, but thanks to Mirajane's deliberate joking, his mood was no longer as heavy as before. At least he would not lose his head now.

"Caw—caw—"

Several crows circled overhead.

"Hmph, just as expected of a dark guild. There are crows everywhere!" Mirajane was unhappy, mainly because she thought those black things were not cute at all.

Qian Guang felt that something was off, but he could not say what. After all, crows were perfectly normal in such a dim and eerie setting.

Deep within the Black Heaven Guild, an image was projected.

A black-haired and a white-haired brat, both around fifteen years old, were crouching in the bushes.

"Oh ho ho ho ho, two little rabbits. Such young mages... they must be geniuses." Rogrand looked at the information brought back by the crows and smiled at his older brother, though his eyes were filled only with gloom.

"Hmph, they really are looking down on us." Or felt insulted. He smashed his wineglass onto the floor with a slap, his face full of brutality. "Give our little rabbits a taste of what we can do. Don't kill them. They might fetch a good price."

"Oh ho ho ho ho, of course, my dear brother."

"Let's go. Since I can't detect what's inside, we'll have to force our way in." Qian Guang could not sense the situation within the guild. He certainly did not want to alert the enemy.

The two carefully approached. The entire guild did not even have a single window. It was too suspicious.

Qian Guang chose a more secluded section of the guild wall and prepared to slowly make an entrance with earth magic. He had now realized just how important magic knowledge could be.

Unbeknownst to them, a crow perched in a tree and watched them.

Qian Guang made an opening large enough for one person to pass through. He took out a bottle of potion and tossed it inside. Smoke instantly filled the area, and he handed Mirajane another pill. "Remember, if a fight breaks out, fight here, where the smoke is thick."

Mirajane was speechless at Qian Guang's cautiousness, but she obediently swallowed the pill.

The place they had chosen was beside the main hall. More than a dozen people were waiting nearby, but the instant the smoke rose, Rogrand ordered them to retreat.

Rogrand stood on the second floor, watching the smoke spread with a confident smile still on his face. "It seems our little rabbits are quite experienced."

"But this doesn't look like a proper guild. I thought you would charge straight in. Still, it makes no difference. I can see everything."

One of Rogrand's eyes had turned completely black, like a crow's eye. Clearly, the rumors that Rogrand had no strength at all were not trustworthy.

He summoned a pig-shaped creature, though it was green with a round, bulging belly. It took a breath and sucked all the smoke into its stomach, but the moment it finished, it collapsed and began snoring.

"The potion is really potent. Later, ask those brats where they got it." Rogrand narrowed his eyes at the nearly instantaneous effect.

Qian Guang and Mirajane entered shortly afterward, but Qian Guang's eyes narrowed when he saw the situation inside.

More than a dozen thug-faced lackeys wielding weapons closed in around them. Then magic circles lit up behind them, and around ten more lackeys appeared at their backs.

"We walked into a trap. It seems we were exposed from the start, and the sleeping gas is gone too." Qian Guang looked at the unconscious pig and Rogrand's strange eye.

"I told you, we should have charged in from the start and wiped them all out." Mirajane instantly transformed into her demon form. Her powerful magic power made the sneering lackeys take a step back.

Satan Soul Take Over transformed Mira's demeanor in an instant, filling her face with disdain. Unfortunately, she had not fully developed yet, and her ordinary figure lacked a few degrees of allure.

Cold sweat ran down Lackey A's forehead. No way... how could this possibly be a fifteen-year-old brat?

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho, so you're mages from Fairy Tail. How impressive. As expected of a major guild, even your brats are this strong. And when you see a small guild like ours, you just want to bully us." Rogrand was somewhat stunned by the powerful magic, but he still forced himself to keep acting. After all, this level was still no match for his older brother.

"Listen, you're nothing more than bandits. And to be precise, this is a personal grudge!"

The crimson Sharingan lit up instantly. By the time Rogrand realized something was wrong, he had already sunk deep into an illusion.

"Hmph!"

A massive Wind Blade was about to slice off his head when a cold snort rang out. A black hole appeared before Rogrand and redirected the attack.

A short figure with a hooked nose appeared beside Rogrand, who also woke from the illusion. "Bastard!"

"The real one has appeared. Mira, I'm counting on you."

"Leave it to me."

Mira flew into the air and looked down at everyone disdainfully.

Qian Guang let out a breath and fixed his eyes on the president of the Black Heaven Guild—Or!