"Erza..."
They gazed at each other, drawing closer and closer until their lips finally met.
...The censorship crab passed through, leaving not a blade of grass...
A few minutes later, Erza pulled away from Xi Feng, her face flushed and a faint trace still lingering on her lips...
Looking down at Erza resting against his chest, Xi Feng whispered into her ear, "Erza, could you leave your door unlocked for me tonight?"
"Mm..." At Xi Feng's words, Erza's face instantly turned scarlet. At her age, she knew exactly what he meant, and her hand unconsciously reached for his waist and gave it a twist.
"Hiss..." Xi Feng sucked in a sharp breath as Erza pinched his waist, but in the end, he gave a timid reply.
Hearing that, Xi Feng was thrilled and hugged Erza even tighter. Seeing his reaction, Erza blushed even harder. She did not even know why she had agreed to his request. At the same time, she began looking forward to tonight.
"Oh, right. Where are Mira and the others?" Xi Feng asked in confusion. He had not seen the three siblings at the guild earlier.
"Why are you asking about them?" Hearing Xi Feng bring up Mira, Erza said with a hint of jealousy, "Do you miss her too?"
"No, I just haven't seen them today. Did they go on a job?" Xi Feng shook his head repeatedly. With Erza in his arms right now, he was not foolish enough to say he missed Mira.
After looking into Xi Feng's sincere eyes, Erza nodded. "Yes, Mira and the others went on a job. It's an S-Class job, something called the Beast King!"
"What?!" Erza's words left Xi Feng completely stunned.
"What's wrong?" Seeing his tense expression, Erza asked anxiously.
"Mira and the others are in danger." As he spoke, Xi Feng hurriedly got up from the ground.
"How could that be?! How do you know, Xi Feng?" Although Mira and Erza had always been rivals, deep down they had already acknowledged each other. They were comrades and friends.
"I can't explain right now. I need to go check on them."
"Xi Feng, I want to come too."
"It's all right. I can go on my own."
"All right, then." Erza nodded and stopped insisting.
"Okay, I'm off." With that, Xi Feng turned and left.
Lisanna, wait for me. I'll change your fate.
Chapter 23: The Mighty Beast King
"Wow! It really lives up to the name Beast King! If Elfman takes it over, he'll definitely get stronger." Looking at the enormous Beast King not far away, Mira, who had already transformed into her Satan form, took several deep, ragged breaths. She spoke with a hint of relief.
"Still, you're not quite strong enough, are you? Dark Spark!" A dark, flashing orb formed between Mira's hands, and she unleashed a continuous barrage at the Beast King.
Looks like it's almost done. One more hit should let Elfman take it over! Still, I'd better hit it hard one last time! Seeing the enormous Beast King fall under her attacks and kick up towering clouds of dust, Mira thought with a relaxed expression.
"Soul Extinguisher!" A purple-white magic circle with a demonic emblem at its center appeared before Mira. Vast amounts of dark magical power gathered in her hands, passing through the circle to create an immensely powerful, black shock wave that blasted toward the fallen Beast King nearby.
"Let's see you get up after that. Elfman, come take it over!" Mira said smugly to the battered Beast King, then called to Elfman, who was standing a short distance away.
"Okay, Mira!" Elfman answered excitedly. He was already imagining how strong he would become after successfully taking over the Beast King's soul, and how his guildmates would envy him. The next time a fight broke out, he would no longer have to watch from far away as he had just done. Even Lisanna could help Mira because she could fly. Now he would be able to protect Mira and Lisanna too.
"Mira, watch out!" Just then, Lisanna cried out.
"!!!" Hearing Lisanna's warning, Mira froze, then hurriedly turned to look. The Beast King had climbed back to its feet.
"Roar!" With an enraged roar, the Beast King swung a fist straight at Mira.
Distracted, Mirajane took the Beast King's blow head-on and rolled a long way across the ground before coming to a stop. She coughed up a mouthful of blood and braced herself to stand. She tried to fly into the sky, but the moment the demonic wings on her back moved, a tearing pain shot through them. As the Beast King closed in again, Mira fell into a daze. She began blaming herself for bringing Lisanna on this job.
"Get out of the way, Mira!" Lisanna and Elfman shouted again.
"!!!" Hearing their voices in the distance, Mira immediately came to her senses and dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding the Beast King's claws. She looked up and saw that her younger siblings were unharmed, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She staggered to her feet. She had to face the Beast King again, because she had to protect Elfman and Lisanna.
Mira's gaze hardened, and she fought the Beast King despite her injuries, launching demonic blasts at it one after another. The powerful dark rays did little damage, but her agility still caused the Beast King considerable trouble for a while. As more and more claw wounds covered her body, however, she began to slow down.
This can't go on. Mira decisively leaped back, putting distance between herself and the Beast King. She knew that the longer this dragged on, the worse her situation would become.
Boom! Powerful magical energy erupted from Mira's body, and a small sphere of condensed magic appeared between her hands. Exceptionally strong dark energy pulsed from it.
"Roar!" Seeing this, the Beast King roared and charged at Mira.
"Die!" At the same time, Mira finished her spell and blasted it straight at the Beast King.
Boom! Another tremendous explosion rang out as Mira's spell struck the Beast King directly.
"Finally got it... Impossible! How?!" Just as Mira began to relax, her heart plunged into hell. Not far ahead of her, the Beast King, which had been lying on its back, suddenly pushed itself up with its arms. The purple gleam in its eyes looked even more sinister than before.
"How is this possible?" Mira stared blankly at the monster before her, her heart sinking into despair. With no strength left to fight, she could not possibly stop the Beast King. That meant certain death for her, but that was not what mattered. What mattered was that Lisanna and Elfman were still here.
Mira's entire body began trembling uncontrollably. Looking past the Beast King toward Lisanna and Elfman standing farther away, she used the last of her strength to shout, "Run!"
Lisanna and Elfman remained rooted to the spot, seemingly stunned. When the Beast King rose again and their sister clearly had no strength left to fight, anxiety spread across both their faces.
The Beast King cared nothing about that. It grabbed Mira, who had collapsed on the ground, with one claw and flung her toward the cliff. Just as Mira was about to fall over the edge, the light of Take Over flashed around Lisanna. A brightly colored bird appeared at the cliffside, swiftly took flight, and caught the falling Mira on its back before gently flying back to the edge.
When the Beast King at the cliffside saw that the human who had injured it was still alive, it charged at her again in fury.
"Lisanna, take Elfman and get out of here!" Mira knew that, badly injured as she was, she would only be a burden. Lisanna's ability had clearly shown that she could escape. Seeing the Beast King about to attack again, Mira hurriedly spoke to Lisanna, who was supporting her.
Even now, Lisanna's expression remained bright. She gently hugged her sister. "That's enough. We would never leave you behind. We're family." With a smile, Lisanna turned under Mira's stunned gaze to look at her brother, who was smiling too.
Elfman stepped forward and gave Mira a gentle hug. "If we're going to die, we'll die together, all three of us. But I won't give up. This time, it's my turn to protect you." With that, Elfman turned and ran toward the Beast King, his face filled with anger. Its raised claws were right before him.
"No!"
The Beast King's claws swung down, and Mira and Lisanna immediately cried out. But the scene they had imagined, of Elfman being sent flying, never came. Instead, every muscle in Elfman's body bulged as he gripped the Beast King's wrist tightly.
"This time, it's my turn to protect my sister. Beast King, let me take you over!"
(Wendy did indeed appear at the wrong time. I'm aware of that.)
Chapter 24: Change (Please Send Flowers and Bookmark)
"Let me take you over!"
Mira and Lisanna watched in shock as the light of Take Over shone around Elfman. Then, under their hopeful gazes, his body slowly disappeared.
The Beast King's hand suddenly dropped, and silence settled over the surroundings. The two sisters nervously watched the enormous monster before them.
"Did it... work?" Looking at the now-quiet Beast King, Lisanna and Mira felt a flicker of hope.
"Roar!"
But the answer they received was a beast's howl. The Beast King before them moved again.
It began pounding the ground as though venting something. At the sight of its mindless behavior, Mira covered her mouth, a tear slipping from her eye.
"It still... failed. Is there no one left who can stop it?" Mira stared at the Beast King in despair. Her younger brother was inside that body. If this continued, Elfman's consciousness would be assimilated by the Beast King, and he would never return.
Mira lowered her head in despair. Just then, Lisanna moved beside her, slowly walking toward the Beast King.
"What are you doing, Lisanna?! Come back! Don't go over there!" Mira struggled to stand and shouted anxiously at Lisanna, who had walked right up to the Beast King.
"It's all right, Mirajane. He's Elfman." Lisanna turned back and spoke to Mira, the same heartwarming smile still on her face. Then she spoke to Elfman, who had become the Beast King.
"Elfman, I'm your little sister, Lisanna! And you haven't forgotten Mira too, have you? You'd never forget us, right? Didn't you say it before? That you'd protect your family with your own hands? Honestly, hitting Mira so hard! She's definitely going to give you a good scolding afterward. But don't worry! I'll put in a good word for you, so please wake up, Elfman."
"Roar..." Looking at the human before it, the Beast King suddenly sensed the human consciousness inside its body resisting again. It let out a wild roar and forcibly suppressed that consciousness. Its eyes, which had begun to calm, turned savage once more. It stared ferociously at the human before it, its crazed, bloodthirsty killing intent crashing toward Lisanna.
"You could never forget us, right, Elfman? Because Mira and I love you more than anyone!"
"Roar..." Sensing the consciousness within it awakening again, and feeling its own consciousness on the verge of fading, the Beast King raised its thick right arm high. Tremendous magical power coursed into the arm, and its sharp, jet-black claws gleamed with streaks of dark light...
"Come on, let's go home together, Elfman." Lisanna opened her arms and spoke to her brother with a smile.
"Lisanna! No! Get out of the way... Hurry and dodge, Lisanna!" Mira's tear-filled eyes seemed to lose focus, all their light abruptly fading. Even so, she summoned every last ounce of strength, forcing her body up with her left hand and reaching toward Lisanna with her right. She desperately wanted to rush forward and protect her little sister, to take the Beast King's attack for her, but her body could no longer support such an action.
"Roar!" The Beast King bellowed and swung straight at Lisanna.
Boom! A tremendous crash rang out.
"No!!!" Looking toward where Lisanna had stood, Mira's heart filled with despair. Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes as she kept blaming herself.
"It's all my fault! I did this to Elfman and Lisanna! If I hadn't brought them here, none of this would've happened! Sob..."
"Phew... Good thing I made it in time."
But just then, Mira heard a familiar, resonant voice and looked over. At some point, Xi Feng had appeared before the Beast King, with Lisanna in his arms.
"Xi Feng!" Seeing him, Mira was both astonished and delighted. A smile returned to her face. "Thank goodness. Thank goodness!"
"Xi Feng!" Lisanna, who had thought she was about to die, was equally astonished when she heard his voice.
"Lisanna, you can't be so reckless next time," Xi Feng said softly, looking at Lisanna in his arms.
"I know." Lisanna nodded, then hurriedly added, "Xi Feng, please save Elfman!"
"I will. Go take care of Mira first."
"Okay."
"Lisanna..." Seeing Lisanna run back, Mira immediately hugged her and began checking her over.
"Thank goodness you're all right. Thank goodness."
"It's all right, Mira. Don't cry. I'm fine, aren't I?"
Before you continue