Out of the Tiger's Mouth and into the Wolf's Den?

The sealed, pitch-black basement gradually grew brighter, thanks to Balrog the Flame Demon's selfless contribution.

"Zeref... and a demon. This is the world of Fairy Tail!!"

Hughes held the black-and-red flame that Balrog the Flame Demon had turned into in one palm and pounded his head with the other.

He had a mental illness and was prone to episodes when stimulated. After each episode, his head would ache horribly.

This time was all right. It wasn't unbearable.

Once the pain had eased a little, Hughes glanced around. By the light of the flame, he could finally see his surroundings clearly.

It had been too dark to see before, but now he could see that the corpses on the floor had been cut open, with unmistakable signs of human handiwork.

All their internal organs were missing, and these people lived in the world of Fairy Tail and addressed a demon as "Lord."

In an instant, the name of an organization surfaced in Hughes's mind: the "Black Magic Cult."

In Fairy Tail, this was the one organization that would go mad committing atrocities with demons created by Zeref. Never mind ripping out hearts and lungs-even massacring villages was a regular occurrence.

The Magic Council had launched several campaigns against them without ever wiping them out completely. Every time, they managed to rise from the ashes.

"Come to think of it, what year is it? I hope I haven't transmigrated to an unfamiliar point in the timeline."

Smack! In an instant, Hughes viciously slapped himself with the force of a caress. Was this really the time to be thinking about that?

Shouldn't he be worrying about his obviously faulty system instead? Without a system, a modern man like him was trash in this man-eating world of magic.

Hughes raised his eyes slightly. In his field of vision, "[Pending task: King of Mount Colubo]" stood out.

So how was he supposed to complete a task from the world of One Piece in the world of Fairy Tail?

There didn't seem to be a mountain range called Mount Colubo in the world of Fairy Tail!

Hughes stayed where he was and pondered for a moment with what little brainpower he had left...

"Fuck, don't give a mental patient a problem like this!!"

With a roar, Hughes clenched his free hand. Flames blazed from his fist as he drew his arm back, gathered his strength, and punched.

"Fire Fist!"

A massive, solid blast of flame surged from his fist and swept away everything in its path. The stone door, as impassable as a chasm, shattered instantly.

The blast still had plenty of force, smashing through several more walls before the flames shot straight into the sky with earthshaking force.

Despite the terrifying sight, Hughes was particularly dissatisfied.

"Is it really that weak?"

He remembered that when Sabo and Ace first used the Flame-Flame Fruit in One Piece, their destructive power hadn't been this weak.

Fire Fist was a move capable of destroying several Marine warships in succession, yet he had only broken through a few walls?

Was it a problem with his physique, or was he simply not proficient with the fruit's power?

"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I don't need to think about it!"

Hughes had always known how to convince himself. After scratching his head, he promptly put his worries behind him. Yep, it had nothing to do with his mental illness!

He glanced at the black-and-red flame in his hand...

"I suppose I'm sick. I clearly can't eat any more, but I still want to..."

"Slurp!"

More than half the black-and-red flame in his palm vanished in an instant!

[Ding! Devoured the demon origin corresponding to the fruit. Flame-Flame Fruit Awakening +5%. Current Awakening: 5%]

Having devoured every last bit of the black-and-red flame in his hand, Hughes raised an eyebrow as he watched the fruit ability line on the screen, which should have said none, change to [Fruit ability: Flame-Flame Fruit (Awakening: 5%)].

"Oh, I didn't turn it off... No, my brother was a good man. He died, but his memory lives on!"

Just as Hughes was mourning his brother, a flurry of hurried footsteps and flattering voices reached him.

"Lord Balrog is the strongest flame demon! END isn't shit!"

"Lord Balrog is the strongest demon in the world!!"

Hughes: (´▽`)?

You're this bold. Does Zeref know?

Still standing in the basement, Hughes stared across the distance at six or seven people wrapped tightly in black robes.

Neither side said a word, and the atmosphere was a little awkward. Hughes didn't understand why they weren't attacking, while he was waiting for the black-and-red flame inside him to finish digesting... He was a little full!

With the Flame-Flame Fruit, Hughes studied them at his leisure. Their outfits really were distinctive to the Black Magic Cult he remembered...

So he had transmigrated into the Black Magic Cult's stone prison and happened to thwart their plot too?

A black-robed man whose legs were trembling slightly sized Hughes up, then spoke in a feigned tone of calm. "Hey! Who are you? Where's Lord Balrog?"

Hughes recognized the voice. It belonged to the man who had nearly opened the stone door for him earlier.

So...

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Hughes gently pushed out his right palm, and rings of fire appeared out of thin air around all the black-robed figures. The blazing flames instantly reduced everyone except him to ashes.

As everyone knew, 99.9 percent of the Black Magic Cult members in Fairy Tail were ordinary people.

Using a spark on the ashes, Hughes appeared beside him in an instant and patted him on the shoulder.

"Try to bring a brain next time you're born. It's hard to get by without one!" Hughes remarked in the tone of someone speaking from experience.

The frightened Black Magic Cult member trembled, his voice wavering. "I'll tell you everything, everything! I know lots of secrets. Our next plan is... Gah!"

"Oh, I don't want to hear it!"

Hughes pressed down lightly with the hand resting on his shoulder. The ring of fire surrounding the black-robed man erupted, and the intense heat vaporized him instantly.

Hughes dusted himself off, turned, and strolled out.

He had no interest in listening to an enemy's nonsense.

It was just that he rarely met someone who might have an even bigger problem with his brain than he did, so he had let him live a few extra seconds and given him some advice for his next life.

Even ten deaths wouldn't be enough for those Black Magic Cult members to atone for their crimes.

Standing amid the ruins, Hughes watched with his own eyes as a dilapidated building that looked like a church slowly became history in his flames.

As someone who had been bombarded with knowledge, Hughes was clever as hell. He knew that a transmigrator had to promptly destroy any evidence at the scene of his transmigration.

Beneath the ruins, a discharge notice gave off a hazy glow in the flames. The words on it faded away, replaced by "The patient's condition has worsened; transfer to another hospital has been successfully arranged," before the notice slowly faded away.

Outside the ruins, Hughes looked puzzled. He was wondering where his strength ranked by the standards of the Fairy Tail world!

D-Class, B-Class, A-Class, or S-Class?

Hughes had thought he would be on solid ground once he gained the Flame-Flame Fruit's power, but the more he thought about it, the more he scratched his head.

The Fairy Tail world had magic-sealing stones similar to Seastone, as well as all kinds of sealing magic that countered elemental transformation. Even Time Magic and spatial magic existed.

They could even travel between worlds!

Why did it feel like the world of Fairy Tail was even more outrageous than the world of One Piece?

A moment later, Hughes, whose brain wasn't working too well, quickly gave up on making trouble for himself.

As long as he wasn't a B-Class mage, he could accept anything. Back home, "B-Class" was a pretty crude insult.

Rather than have the strength ranking of B-Class mage hanging over his head, Hughes would rather be a D-Class mage, the worst of the lot.

Besides, ranking people in an idealistic world of magic was bullshit in itself.

A single "We're Fairy Tail!" was even more outrageous than the sit-ups next door in One Piece.

At that thought, Hughes blinked, somewhat dazed. He had the Flame-Flame Fruit and used fire.

What would he do if he ran into Natsu, who ate fire? Could he eat Natsu's fire too?

While his imagination was running wild, a huge rock came flying at him from behind. It struck his head with a bang, taking off half of it.