After the snake pattern vanished, the church sank farther into the ground.
Without the cursed object's support, the stone pillars in the basement broke one after another. A long crack opened overhead, and just as moonlight shone through, half the bell tower came crashing down toward them.
"Mission complete, retreat!"
Macao raised a wall of fire overhead, while Wakaba's smoke wrapped around the falling rocks, clearing a path for the four of them.
Lin Yuan raised his hand and released the sealed space.
The doors, windows, and drains, which had been connected end to end, reconnected to the outside world. The explosions, dust, and ash trapped inside the church all found an outlet at once.
Boom!
The mountainside seemed to let out a sudden, thunderous sneeze.
Dust burst from every window, blowing the mayor and guards back as they prepared to head up the mountain to meet them.
"Couldn't you have released it more slowly?" Mira shouted, covering her ears.
"You could have made the church collapse more slowly."
"It doesn't listen to me!"
"Aren't you good at making things listen with your fists?"
Mira had already released her Full Body Take Over, leaving only her right arm in demon form. She punched the wall beside her, opening a gap straight through to the outside for everyone.
Macao watched half the wall fly away. "Great, that's another page for the report."
"We're running for our lives!"
"That's why I haven't asked you to pay for it yet."
Less than ten seconds after the four rushed out of the church, the battered bell tower snapped in the middle. The heavy bronze bell smashed through the roof, and the entire building collapsed into rubble along foundations hollowed out by the cursed object.
Lin Yuan folded the distance behind him, sending the last flying fragment of stone tile back into the rubble. Wakaba covered the mountain path with smoke, blocking the tumbling debris.
The church fell completely silent.
In the distance, the lights of Sunken Bell Town were still shining.
When the mayor reached the mountainside, he counted the members of Fairy Tail first. Only after confirming that all four were there did he brace his hands on his knees and breathe a sigh of relief.
"How are things in town?" Macao asked.
"Everyone's been evacuated, and there were no casualties. The ground on several streets cracked, and three wells were full of dead black roots, but they've stopped moving."
"What about the nine missing people?"
"They're all awake, but they still can't remember clearly what happened after they were taken."
Macao nodded and finally wrote "Subjugation complete" in the mission record.
Lin Yuan looked back at the rubble.
The snake pattern had left no trace of magic, as though it had never appeared. But his spatial perception couldn't have been mistaken. The thing hadn't slipped into an ordinary crack, but into an extremely narrow interstice between worlds.
"Still thinking about that snake?" Mira asked.
"It's more troublesome than the cursed object."
"Next time we see it, we'll catch it."
"You make it sound simple."
"You seal it in, and I'll smash it. Isn't that what we did this time?"
Lin Yuan glanced at her.
Macao walked over and handed Lin Yuan a metal box. "Put whatever we find in here and take it back to the Guild for the master to judge."
The four searched through the rubble again.
The cursed object's flesh and roots had turned to ordinary ash, but a black stone the size of a fingernail remained beneath the statue's base. Half a snake scale was carved on its front, while the back bore ancient writing they had never seen before.
Lin Yuan didn't touch it directly. He used spatial magic to send it into the metal box.
Mira stared at the box. "It won't grow a mouth on the way back, will it?"
Wakaba blew a smoke ring. "Then let's have Macao carry it."
"Why me?"
"You're in charge."
Macao shoved the box into the deepest part of his backpack, his face dark.
After daybreak, the townspeople gradually returned home.
Several streets damaged by the roots pushing up through them needed to be repaved. The four from Fairy Tail had planned to help immediately, but discovered that the townspeople had only prepared three shovels and a cart with a crooked wheel.
Mira picked up a shovel and gave it a gentle push, sending the paving stones from half the street flying into the ditch beside it.
Everyone looked at her in silence.
"The ground cracked on its own."
Lin Yuan pointed at the shovel still stuck between the stones. "But it was probably straight before."
Mira looked down and saw that the shovel had bent into an arc.
In the end, the mayor politely but firmly asked the four to rest in the square, leaving the road repairs to actual stonemasons.
The nine rescued townspeople were also brought to the square. To thank them for saving their lives, the bakery owner brought over freshly baked loaves; the general store owner, holding his son Noi, brought a large basket of fruit.
Mira immediately picked out the only box of strawberries in the basket.
"These are mission supplies," she announced solemnly.
"The mission's already over," Lin Yuan said.
"Then they're spoils of war."
"You can't call things the townspeople gave us spoils of war," Macao corrected her.
After the four finished breakfast in the square, the mayor approached with the stamped mission certificate and their reward. He handed the money pouch to Macao first, then looked up at the church on the mountaintop, of which only half remained.
Mira immediately hid the box of strawberries behind her back.
"The church collapsed mainly because of the cursed object."
"She demolished the walls, the drains, and part of the basement," Lin Yuan added.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?"
The mayor froze for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
"That church was going to be demolished anyway. Not only did you save the townspeople, you also saved us the cost of demolition. The committee has decided to add a bonus on top of the original reward."
Mira slowly turned to Lin Yuan and raised her chin triumphantly.
"Did you hear that?"