When Getting Lost Reaches an Art Form

Magnolia was as bustling as ever, but a roar suddenly erupted from inside the Fairy Tail guild, drawing the attention of passersby.

"What did you say?! Natsu went up to the second floor without permission?! And he even took an S-Class request?!" Makarov roared furiously, his eyes blazing with rage!

"Yes, Master! When I checked the S-Class request board on the second floor today, I found that one request was missing. At the same time, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy suddenly vanished from the guild without a word!" Mira said worriedly. "There's no doubt that the two things are connected..."

"What connection?! It was definitely that punk Natsu's doing!!!" The thought that Natsu had dared to sneak up to the second floor behind his back—and even take an S-Class request—made Makarov explode with fury. He gritted his teeth and roared, "No! This absolutely cannot be tolerated!! He must be severely punished!!!"

"Heh heh! Old man, looks like your authority doesn't count for much anymore!" Laxus leaned against the second-floor railing, casting a disdainful glance at the people below. Then he sneered, "I suggest you retire obediently and hand the guild master's position over to me!! Ahahahaha—"

"Shut up, Laxus!" Makarov's face immediately darkened. He demanded in a low voice, "You were on the second floor the whole time. Didn't you notice what Natsu was doing?!"

"Tch, I only saw a cat." Laxus spat disdainfully. "A sneaky cat stealing food. I thought it was looking for fish. I only saw it fly around the request board furtively, then it seemed to carry off some piece of paper. I didn't pay attention to anything else! Who knew it had taken an S-Class request? Ahahaha, what an interesting cat..."

"Stop putting on an act! I don't believe you knew nothing at all!! Since you saw it, why didn't you stop it?! Even if you didn't stop it, why didn't you tell me?!" Makarov's face had completely darkened, and chilling glints flashed in his eyes from time to time. His grandson's inaction had clearly pushed his anger to its limit!

"Hmph! What does any of this have to do with me?! If it were up to me, I'd kick all the weaklings out of the guild! Then I'd create the strongest mage guild in history! No one would dare defy me!!!" Laxus declared arrogantly.

Makarov was about to lose his temper again, but Mira raised a hand to stop him.

"Master, this isn't the time to discuss that! Our top priority is bringing Natsu back! It's far too dangerous for Natsu to take on an S-Class mission alone at his current strength!!" Mira said anxiously, though her expression had also completely darkened.

"Mm, that's right!" Makarov knew Mira was correct. He immediately said to Laxus, "Laxus! Go bring Natsu and Lucy back!"

"Don't make me laugh! I have missions to complete. How could I have time to waste here?!" Laxus refused disdainfully. "Still, it's been a long time since I've seen you make that face!! Hahahaha—" His last remark was directed at the grim-faced Mira. With that, ignoring the faces of Makarov and Mira, both so dark they looked ready to drip water, he laughed wildly and walked away.

"Damn it! Erza is away on a mission. Aside from you, Laxus, who else in this entire guild has the ability to bring Natsu back?!" Makarov roared, but Laxus did not even spare him a glance as he left.

"Hey! Old man! I can't pretend I didn't hear that!" Gray stood up with an annoyed expression. "What do you mean, aside from that guy, nobody can bring back that fire-breathing bastard Natsu? Are you indirectly looking down on my strength? Am I weaker than that fire-breathing bastard?!"

"Gray! Are you really confident?" Makarov asked seriously, a trace of relief flashing in his eyes. Aside from Laxus, most of the guild still cared about their comrades.

"Of course, no problem at all!" Gray said with complete confidence. "Just watch how I bring that fire-breathing bastard back!" With that, he did not waste another moment and headed out.

Elsewhere, over the boundless sea, a swift figure raced through the air at low altitude! The immense wind pressure generated by the speed even carved a long depression across the ocean's surface!

"Heh heh! There's no doubt that the Tower of Paradise was built on an island somewhere at sea!" As fierce winds howled past his ears and tossed his long black hair, Achill wore an indescribably strange expression. He seemed excited and relieved about what lay ahead, yet also sorrowful and pained by it. Two utterly incompatible, contradictory emotions appeared to have been forcibly mixed together.

"It'll be over soon, Gerard. Once I find the location of the Tower of Paradise—" A deeply complicated look flashed through Achill's eyes as he murmured, "I'll truly bring all of this to an end..."

The instant his words fell, his speed increased once more!

"Whoosh—" A much wider trench was gouged into the sea!

From the beginning, Achill had known clearly that the Tower of Paradise was built at sea. He simply had never known its exact location! The ocean was boundless, after all. Finding one island in that vast, endless expanse was simply far too difficult. That was why he had traveled everywhere in search of clues and information, all to learn the Tower of Paradise's precise location at sea!

Then, two days ago, he had finally received a useful piece of information: the Tower of Paradise was somewhere in the southern deep sea!

Although the southern deep sea covered a huge area, and he still did not know exactly where in those waters it was, Achill was unwilling to give up! The moment he received the news, he hurried toward the coast!

Of course, to avoid getting lost again on the way to the coast, Achill had learned his lesson this time and taken a train directly to the nearest shore! He had been quite proud of himself for a while because of that~

However, five days had passed. Including the previous two days, Achill had now been flying over the sea for a full week! Yet—he still had not found the Tower of Paradise's island! To put it simply, forget the island where the Tower of Paradise stood—he had not even seen a single ordinary island! He had seen plenty of reefs, though...

The complicated expression on his face had long since turned into a massive look of utter speechlessness! In truth, he really was speechless this time...

He had thought that taking the train to the coast would spare him the trouble caused by his terrible sense of direction. Who would have thought he had still vastly underestimated that terrifying, legendary trait of his? As he flew and flew, well... he got lost in the air... Sweat~

After checking his dwindling supply of rations, Achill's face began twitching. Hey, hey, Achill, am I seriously going to get lost in this endless sea and starve to death alive?!!

At that thought, a chill ran through Achill's heart. Damn it, I'm still a virgin!! I don't want to die tragically as a virgin again, just like I did on Earth in my previous life!!!

Forget it! When getting lost reaches a certain level, it becomes art! Yeah, I'm an artist! Achill comforted himself inwardly.

After flying for another three or four hours, night had completely fallen.

"Hm? This strange magic fluctuation..." Achill suddenly raised an eyebrow and focused his gaze to his left. The faint outline of an island appeared in his sight. "An island? Is it the Tower of Paradise?!" The moment he spoke, he accelerated sharply and flew toward the island!

He had just sensed an extremely powerful and highly strange, mysterious magical fluctuation from that direction—the direction where the island lay!

Five hours later—

Achill finally understood what it meant to see a mountain and ride a horse to death trying to reach it. Damn it, even flying at full speed had nearly killed him! It had taken a full five hours! Even with Achill flying at maximum power, he had still needed five hours just to barely reach the island's outer edge!

It was already deep into the night.

"This doesn't seem to be where the Tower of Paradise is located!" Achill landed from the air and stood on the beach, frowning as he swept his gaze over the island's surroundings. But something about this place feels wrong too.

He remembered very clearly that the sea around the Tower of Paradise was a lifeless dead sea because the forbidden R System had been built there! Yet while this place also looked extremely strange, it was clearly not where the Tower of Paradise from his memories stood!

"Hm? This moon is so strange..." Looking at the eerie full moon in the sky and sensing the strange magical fluctuations permeating the air, Achill's brows furrowed deeply. He muttered, "And what is this hair-raising magic? Even I feel a little creeped out..."

"Boom—" A tremendous explosion suddenly rang out from the depths of the island. At the same time, Achill sensed a familiar magic power!

"This magic is—" Achill murmured in surprise. "Natsu, that Dragon Slayer?! Huh, wait! Erza too!!! Why is she on this strange island as well?!"

He sensed several familiar magical fluctuations in succession, including Erza's! Achill could no longer remain calm. He immediately flew anxiously toward the depths of the island!

"I want to see just what this island really is!!!"