Black magic power overturned the three tables closest to Mira.
The plate in Lisanna's hands flew into the air. Lin Yuan swept a hand, and the distance between the plate and the floor suddenly stretched. The plate drifted down slowly, but the two pieces of bread on it fell first, landing squarely on Elfman's head.
"Big sis is going berserk, and you're worried about the bread!"
Elfman shouted with the bread on his head.
The office door burst open, and Makarov strode into the hall. His right arm instantly swelled into a giant's hand. One grab was all it would take to pin Mira to the floor.
But he didn't act immediately.
A layer of magic power had already spread over the hall, protecting Lisanna and Elfman while sealing the doors and windows. Makarov instead stepped back beside the counter and folded his arms.
Erza stood with her sword drawn in front of the two siblings. Makarov shook his head at her. "Watch for now. If there's real danger, we can stop her at any time."
She lowered her sword. The master wanted to see Lin Yuan's magic, and whether Mira could regain control of herself.
"Lin Yuan, didn't you just say you could hold her down?"
Lin Yuan glanced at him. "I also said that when there's someone who can do the job, you should use them."
"Young people need more practice."
"You just want to watch the fun."
Makarov coughed but didn't deny it.
In the center of the hall, black scales had spread across half of Mira's face. She was on all fours, the magic power behind her forming a pair of incomplete wings. Her blood-red eyes locked onto Lin Yuan, the closest person to her.
The next instant, a demon's claw came crashing down at him.
Lin Yuan stood still.
When the claw was half a foot above his head, it abruptly slowed. Mira was still moving forward, but the distance between her arm and Lin Yuan seemed to stretch without end. No matter what she did, she couldn't reach him.
"It worked!" Lisanna exclaimed in delight.
"It just means she can't hit me."
Lin Yuan took two steps to the side. Mira immediately turned and chased him, her claws tearing through tables and chairs one after another, but she missed him by just a little every time.
She chased him faster and faster, while Lin Yuan continued walking at the same unhurried pace.
On the third lap, Elfman couldn't help asking, "Why does big sis keep running around the same table?"
Lisanna watched closely. "And Lin Yuan isn't going around the table at all."
Space had been folded into a circle that connected end to end. Mira thought she was charging in a straight line, but in reality, she kept circling after a shortcut that didn't exist.
Makarov stroked his beard, a little more satisfaction appearing in his eyes. Lin Yuan had only known how to eat distance by instinct before, but now he had learned to fold space in a localized area.
But he kept his eyes on Mira. If her aura crossed the safety limit, that giant hand would end the training immediately. Letting a child take a tumble was part of growing up; watching a child crash through a wall was a failure of the master's duty-and repairing walls was expensive.
Mira suddenly stopped.
The demon seemed to have finally realized she was being toyed with. She let out a low growl, and black magic power exploded in every direction, forcibly shattering the looping space.
The black and silver lines before Lin Yuan's eyes wavered, but they didn't disappear. He brought his hands together, folding the space around Mira inward.
Mira had just charged half a step forward when she returned to where she had started.
She turned and lunged left, then returned to the same spot.
She beat her wings and leaped into the air, only to return to the same spot again.
After three consecutive attempts, the rampaging demon flew into a rage and punched the floor beneath her.
"Don't smash the floor!" Makarov finally cried out.
Bang!
The freshly repaired boards split on the spot.
The guild fell silent for a moment.
A vein bulged on Makarov's forehead, and his giant hand was already rising. But Lin Yuan shouted first, "Lisanna, she can hear you!"
When Mira had smashed the floor just now, her fist had clearly veered away from where Lin Yuan stood. Her consciousness hadn't disappeared; it was merely being suppressed by the chaotic magic power.
Lisanna hurried up to the edge of the space. "Big sis, there's only one piece of strawberry cake left for dinner!"
The demon's movements stopped for a moment.
Elfman quickly chimed in. "If you don't change back soon, the master's going to eat it!"
Makarov said angrily, "Why me?"
The blood-red eyes slowly turned toward the counter.
Lisanna added quietly, "Actually, Lin Yuan ate it."
The demon lunged at Lin Yuan, twice as fast as before.
"Why did you tell her that?!"
"Because big sis really can hear us!"
Lin Yuan maintained the folded space, and Mira vanished from in front of him again and again, only to reappear where she had started each time. Black magic power poured off her in anger, and at last she forced a muffled sound from her throat.
"Bast...ard..."
"If you can curse, you're awake," Lin Yuan said. "Pull your magic power back, and I'll make it up to you with cake."
"Two... pieces!"
"Deal."
As soon as he finished speaking, the black magic power around Mira abruptly contracted inward. The incomplete wings were the first to dissipate, followed by the curved horns and scales. In the end, only her right arm remained in demon form.
The moment her feet touched the floor, she fiercely grabbed Lin Yuan by the collar.
"Where's my cake?"
Lin Yuan looked at the empty plate. "It was there."
Mira raised her fist on the spot.
Makarov brought his palm down between them, pinning them both to the floor.
"Very good. You both seem full of energy."
He pointed at the mess covering the floor, smiling with extraordinary kindness.
"Mira smashed the floor, and Lin Yuan tested his magic on the furniture. You two will put the hall back the way it was tonight. Neither of you is allowed to sleep until it's fixed."
"You deliberately stayed out of it!" they shouted together.
Makarov walked toward the office with his hands behind his back, leaving them with a casual reply.
Erza held her sword and corrected them. "The master was ready to step in the whole time. You can't use that as an excuse to wreck the guild next time."
Mira turned and glared at her. "Who asked you, armor girl?!"
"My name is Erza."
"Even a master has to trust young people to grow once in a while."
Mira and Lin Yuan looked at each other.
The next second, they both grabbed broken boards from the floor and threw them at the unconcerned figure walking away.