On the day of departure, Magnolia was sunny.
Lisanna wrapped a white scarf around Lin Yuan's neck three times, until it became difficult for him to even bend down.
"It's too cold up north, Brother Lin Yuan can't pick them."
Mira stood beside him, a thin jacket draped over her shoulders. "He'll be strangled by the scarf first."
"That Mira wears only half of it."
"I'm not cold."
"You secretly packed two thick sweaters yesterday," Elfman said.
Mira turned and glared at him. Elfman immediately hid behind Lisanna, his massive body concealing only his head.
Lin Yuan took off the outermost scarf and casually wrapped it around Mira's neck.
"Now we'll each have half."
Mira tugged at her scarf, but ultimately didn't take it off, only scoffing, "What a waste of time, I'm leaving."
Two days later, they arrived at Stone Hearth Town in the North.
The town is less than half a day's journey from the transport tunnel. Frost has already formed outside the town, and convoys loaded with grain and coal are crowded on both sides of the road, the longest of which has more than a hundred horse-drawn carriages.
The foreman in charge of the fourth repair Boone, a short, stocky man with a beard covered in lime.
When he saw Lin Yuan, he first looked at the guild emblem, then at his still somewhat immature face, and finally his suspicion was written all over his eyebrows.
"You're S-Class Mage?"
"Just promoted." Lin Yuan handed over the stamped authorization.
Boone's brows furrowed even more.
Mira took a step forward, crimson magic rising from behind her shoulders, and demonic wings suddenly unfurled in the cold wind. Several packhorses nearby retreated simultaneously, and the workers fell silent in unison.
"Does it look like it now?" she asked.
"It's so similar, so very similar." Boone nodded quickly. "Could you fold the wings first? The horse's about to gallop away."
The transport tunnel runs through the entire Frozen Rock Mountain, with a total length of nearly six miles.
The first collapse occurred two weeks ago. The maintenance team had just cleared the passage when it was blocked by falling rocks the next day. On their third attempt to enter, they were attacked by more than a dozen Rock-Armored Beast, resulting in two people suffering broken bones and all their tools being left inside.
"Those things will run into anyone they see," Boone said, pointing to the red circle on the map. "Their shells are harder than iron; they're not afraid of hammers at all."
"Has anyone died?" Lin Yuan asked.
"No. That's the strange thing; they just knocked people away, as if they didn't intend to chase after them."
Lin Yuan made a mark next to the red circle.
The repair team consisted of twelve people. Before entering, Lin Yuan had everyone tie ropes around their waists and leave spatial markers on the rock wall every fifty steps. Mira walked at the front, while he guarded the center of the team, with Boone leading the workers behind.
It's colder inside the tunnel than outside.
Abandoned miner's lamps stretched along the wall, and broken supports and rails were scattered on the ground. After passing the first collapse point, large scratches began to appear on the rock wall, all pointing towards the exit.
Mira crouched down and touched the marks. "Left by Rock-Armored Beast."
"All facing outwards."
"He might also be out looking for a fight."
"This habit is very much like yours."
Mira threw a punch at him, but Lin Yuan had already created distance, so even though her fist was right in front of him, it never touched his face.
"You'd better not run away after the mission is over."
The workers behind the two exchanged silent glances. Boone finally believed that Fairy Tail had indeed arrived, but his belief had nothing to do with their strength.
After going two miles further, the ground suddenly began to shake.
At first, it sounded like rocks rolling down in the distance, but it quickly turned into the sound of rapid running. One miner's lamp after another swayed, and a dozen pairs of yellowish-brown eyes lit up in the darkness ahead.
"They're here!"
Boone had barely uttered a sound when Mira had already Take Over the entire body.
Dark red magic filled half the tunnel. She charged towards the horde, grabbing the two curved horns of the foremost Rock-Armored Beast with both hands, her boots leaving long tracks on the ground.
"Stop!"
The power of the demon suddenly erupted.
The Rock-Armored Beast, as large as two carriages, was forcefully thrown to the side and crashed between three others. The herd behind it was caught in chaos, their roars causing rocks to fall from the rocky roof.
Lin Yuan pressed down on the rock wall at the same time.
Black and silver spatial ripples spread along the tunnel, fixing the loose rock layers in their original positions. Several large boulders that had already fallen hung above the workers' heads, as if separated by a distance that would never end.
"Go back to the previous marker!"
The workers tightened the ropes and retreated in an orderly manner.
Mira didn't chase after the fallen Rock-Armored Beast; instead, she stood guard in the narrow passage and repeatedly pushed them to either side. Strangely, even after the beasts got up, they still refused to attack her, instead desperately searching for an opening to rush towards the exit.
A young Rock-Armored Beast was pushed to the ground beside the railway tracks.
The mother beast turned to protect her cubs, taking a hard shove in the back from her companion, but still did not swat her claws at Mira, who was right next to her.
" Lin Yuan!" Mira called out.
Lin Yuan had already seen it.
He folded the distance between the front and rear of the herd to both sides, creating a narrow passage leading directly to the exit.
The Rock-Armored Beast, almost without hesitation, led their cubs past the workers and Mira. After the last one disappeared, the tunnel quickly fell silent again, with only heavy breathing and the sound of rolling gravel remaining.
Boone gripped the hammer, unable to put it down for a long time.
"Is this considered an attack?" Mira disconnected the Take Over and brushed the stone chips off her arm.
Lin Yuan walked towards the direction where the beast horde had appeared. His spatial perception extended deeper into the tunnel, and three hundred paces away, he suddenly encountered a region that was constantly shaking.
A deep rumble came from there, like some enormous creature slowly turning over inside the mountain.
All the scratches on the rock face extended from that direction.
Lin Yuan looked into the darkness and withdrew his hand from the wall.
"They're not attacking the repair crew."
Another tremor came from beneath my feet, much stronger than the last one.
They are fleeing for their lives.