"What was that—" Gerard jolted awake, his eyes fixed on the distance.
"Magic power similar to Zeref's!" Ultear and Meredy had awakened as well. Like Gerard, both stared toward distant Crocus in shock and uncertainty.
It was almost midnight. Shrouded in darkness, Crocus resembled an ancient beast crouching in the shadows, silently waiting to choose its prey. Its eerie stillness inspired an involuntary dread.
"Mysterious Magic! Has it finally appeared—" Ultear said gravely. "Why did it take so much longer to appear this time?!"
"This is far too unusual!" Meredy's face was equally serious as she stood beside Ultear on the hill where they had made camp, staring at Crocus beneath the night sky.
"This isn't the time to discuss that. Now that it's appeared, we need to find its source immediately!" Gerard threw on his usual cloak with a snap and said in a low voice, "I don't know why, but unlike its appearances in previous years, this time I have a bad feeling!"
"So you feel it too. I thought it was just me." Ultear gave Gerard a surprised look. When she saw the glance her obedient goddaughter Meredy sent her, her heart grew even heavier.
The meaning in Meredy's eyes was obvious: she felt it too—
If only one or two of them had sensed something ominous, they could have dismissed it as an illusion born of excessive worry. But with all three experiencing the same strange feeling, they had no choice but to take it seriously!
"We have to let Nameless know too, though he's probably already noticed." Although Gerard knew Achill's Kyoka Suigetsu made it unlikely anyone would recognize him, he still habitually pulled his cloak's broad hood over his head. His exposed eyes gleamed with solemn concern. "But I should still tell him, and