Clover Grand Canyon
The village chief of Xiluo'er Village discussed the matter with the villagers for most of the night, and in the end they decided to continue entrusting it to them.
Because a devil was involved, the quest request was raised to S-Class. A quest of that rank couldn't be undertaken on a whim; it first had to be approved by Makarov.
After Hughes and Mira discussed it, he stayed behind in Xiluo'er Village in case anything happened, while Mira took the new quest request back to the guild overnight.
As the sky grew dark, Hughes, who had no desire to sleep, informed the village chief of Xiluo'er Village before returning to Clover Grand Canyon. He carved marks along the way, then plunged into the canyon without looking back. It was riddled with faults and had complex terrain.
Following the chaotic tracks left by beasts on the ground, Hughes slowly made his way deeper inside.
Clover Grand Canyon lived up to its reputation as a place where countless people lost their way, some never finding their way out even before they died.
Even following the beast tracks on the ground, Hughes came to dead ends several times.
[Absorbed a small amount of Devil Origin. Flame-Flame Fruit awakening progress +0.002%] [Absorbed a small amount of Devil Origin. Flame-Flame Fruit awakening progress +0.002%]
The system's constant notifications sounded like heavenly music to Hughes. Once again becoming an exhaust fan, he kept inhaling and exhaling furiously.
I'll fucking eat, eat, eat...
Whenever he finished absorbing the Devil Origin in the air, Hughes immediately moved to the next spot. The Flame-Flame Fruit's awakening progress soared in a short time, soon reaching the 9% threshold.
This was why Hughes had entered Clover Grand Canyon alone. With Mira at his side, he couldn't have acted so freely.
As he ventured deeper, Hughes encountered more and more beasts. They fled through the canyon, gathering in herds and charging around like mad.
Hughes slowly stopped and glanced back the way he had come. Xiluo'er Village lay at the end of the route the beasts were fleeing along.
Beasts weren't frightening, but a large herd of rampaging beasts was comparable to a natural disaster. Not to mention, there were plenty of giant lions and wild elephants among them, and even a few distinctively shaped Beast Kings.
If a force like this were allowed to charge out of Clover Grand Canyon, Xiluo'er Village would definitely be trampled flat.
Hughes shook his head and sighed helplessly. The next instant, Perfect-Level Tekkai covered his entire body.
Hughes pushed off the ground and raced toward the herd, leaping into its midst. Like a god of death, he fought his way through the beasts, killing several with every movement of his hands and feet.
A giant lion king that knew no fear of death roared at the sky and pounced on Hughes. Hughes planted his feet and let it bite and claw at him.
It treats me cruelly, so I'll treat it kindly!
Hughes gently stroked its mane with both hands. Flames spewed from his palms, serving it the famous dish "braised lion's head."
The Wild Elephant King, which Hughes had previously battered back again and again, stamped its feet with a deafening rumble. The tips of its two tusks gleamed coldly as it thrust them straight at Hughes.
Hughes dodged with Elementalization and struck back with a slap. His small hand collided with the enormous elephant's head...
"Boom!"
The Wild Elephant King crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from the five openings in its head!
"You're too dangerous, Elephant King. I can't let you live!"
Standing atop the elephant's body, Hughes wore a serious expression as he unleashed a blast of concentrated flames from his fist.
"Fire Fist!"
The massive flames carried terrifying force and heat, scorching and shattering everything around them. With that, the wave of beasts that could have threatened every village around Clover Grand Canyon was wiped out.
Standing amid the blood and corpses that littered the ground, Hughes took a few breaths, then pulled out a mental energy potion worth 1 million J and downed it in one gulp. He looked grimly to the side as flames rose from his body.
"Still hiding? With a smell that strong, you gave yourself away a long time ago..."
As his voice faded, a magical beast with magic power surging through its body revealed its true appearance from the darkness. It had blood-red eyes, resembled a wild dog, and had claws like blades. It actually stood upright like a human.
"Human, we only want to escape from here." As soon as it spoke, the upright, wild dog-shaped magical beast abruptly vanished.
Hughes wasn't surprised that the magical beast could speak; Forest Vulcans could talk too, after all. But what the hell was this thing? Its speed was one thing, but its claws were this sharp too!
Hughes looked down at his chest. Blood was flowing from three scratches. Had his Perfect-Level Tekkai really been breached so easily?
Hughes hurriedly activated Elementalization in secret and turned to look at the magical beast, releasing flames from his hands in rapid succession.
He couldn't keep up with the magical beast's speed, so he would attack in every direction instead.
Hughes became a flamethrower, bombarding the area with ceaseless bursts of fire from his palms. The entire little hollow became a sea of fire in an instant.
The beast corpses on the ground crackled as they burned, giving off a foul stench.
"Whoosh... whoosh." Two gusts of wind had barely sounded beside Hughes's ears when he saw the flames before him sliced into three. Claws flashed, and he shattered into pieces that scattered across the ground, the cuts smooth.
Watching the human slowly regain his shape after its claw strikes, the wind hound magical beast roared in despair, "Human, let me leave, now! Any later and it'll be too late. We'll die, we'll all die! That devil has gone mad. It ate all the magical beasts in the canyon!"
Hughes, who had re-formed his body, was stunned by its words, but quickly recovered. He couldn't tell how much of what the magical beast said was true or false. But the devil should still be far away, because the system's notifications hadn't sounded in a long time.
He took a moment to glance at the display, which showed that the Flame-Flame Fruit's awakening progress had reached 10%.
This magical beast had to be eliminated here. Its mind had already broken, and there was no telling what kind of disaster it would cause if it got out.
Ever fiercer flames rose from Hughes, scorching the moisture in the air and sending it rising as vapor.
It's fast and its claws are sharp, but it still needs room to use them!
Hughes tapped his toes against the ground and rose into the air, spreading both palms as flames rained down from the sky.
The blazing flames on the ground were like a pot, while the flames descending from above were like a lid, trapping the wind hound magical beast inside to steam and burn.
The wind hound magical beast struggled ceaselessly inside the flames, while Hughes continued releasing fire outside without stopping for a moment. The two sides were locked in a contest of endurance, each waiting for the other to give out.
The roars within the flames gradually died away. Still afraid it was a trick, Hughes kept spewing flames from both palms for a while before dispersing them.
The firelight slowly faded as Hughes remained on guard, revealing the bones inside. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Day had already broken. After sitting on the ground and resting for quite a while, Hughes got up, carved a few more marks, and continued into Clover Grand Canyon.
He had to absorb all the Devil Origin in the air before it dissipated. Chances to increase his strength so rapidly were rare.
Meanwhile, Mira, who had reached the guild, hurriedly handed the new quest request to Makarov for approval and told him everything in detail.
After hearing her out, Makarov knitted his brows and headed for the guild library. Clover Grand Canyon was connected to a secret-which book was it in again?
A short while later, Makarov hurriedly found Mira and told her some things he had learned. He then quickly called on Laxus and Mira to go to Xiluo'er Village.