Somewhere in the eastern part of the Fiore Kingdom, on a forest path.
A Pink Wild Boar Beast pulled a two-section double-wheeled carriage, galloping across the rugged, bumpy yellow earth. The violent jolts sent the large and small bags of luggage piled on the rear section shaking constantly.
"I feel like something huge is about to happen. But seriously..." Lucy sat in the front carriage section, hugging her knees and letting out a wail. "Why do I have to participate in such a dangerous operation?!"
Considering the team's coordination and overall strength, Makarov's final decision was the same as in the original: he entrusted the mission to subjugate Oración Seis to the Strongest Team.
"Lucy, you've learned Celestial Spirit Dress and become stronger, haven't you? You can't be lacking motivation like this!" Erza said from across the carriage with a serious expression. "The master entrusted us with this mission because he trusts us. We have to live up to his expectations!"
"That's right! This is a great chance to prove ourselves!" Gray clenched his fist excitedly.
Knowing that Ur would be participating in the battle, he was eager to show off his skills, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Even so, this is still one of the continent's three strongest dark guilds..." Lucy remained worried and anxious.
If, based on power and reputation, Oración Seis possessed strength comparable to their counterpart Tartaros—that is, if they were on par with them—then they would be facing at least six enemies on the level of Absolute Zero·Silver!
Just the thought of such a scenario filled the guild newbie with fear.
"Relax. You've got Ur and the elites from the other guilds too. And those guys probably don't all possess power like Silver's."
Chase sat on the head of the wild boar beast. Hearing the conversation inside the carriage, he immediately guessed Lucy's fear. Turning his head, he said calmly, "Besides, Lucy, this is a perfect opportunity to test the results of your training in Bondari Forest."
He had volunteered to participate in this operation.
Though the members of Oración Seis weren't even worth experience points to him now, their master Zero—Brain's sealed inner personality—was strong enough to have a good chance of dropping new cards.
With the Tenrou Island event drawing closer, Chase planned to dealing with Grimoire Heart in advance to eliminate that potential threat. Naturally, he didn't want to miss this opportunity to collect new cards and become even stronger.
Beyond this most critical factor, Ur would also be present this time. He really wanted to see Brain get beaten up.
As for the so-called danger...
Chase didn't want to speak in absolutes—but with himself, Ur, and Jura (who was already a Ten Wizard Saint), the legal guild coalition had three Saint-level mages. They could completely thrash the Six Demons!
Among the three giants of the Balam Alliance, Oración Seis was simply not comparable to the other two dark guilds!
"Chase..." Lucy poked her head out to look at Chase's back. Somehow, she suddenly felt more confident. "I'll do my best!"
She had almost forgotten. Her own team was also full of incredibly strong and reliable "monsters"!
"Ugh... a-are we there yet?" Natsu sprawled limply by the carriage window like a dried-out maggot, dry-heaving.
"Aye~ I can already see buildings, Natsu!" Happy said from the carriage roof.
Following the cat's gaze, a small, entirely pink castle came into view at the end of the forest path.
That was Master Bob's private villa, the meeting point and operation center for the Oración Seis subjugation.
The wild boar beast stopped in front of the villa. Chase stepped forward and was just about to greet everyone using Fairy Tail's signature door-knocking method when Erza, quick as lightning, beat him to it—gently pushing open the closed door.
She could handle Natsu and Gray with a single punch, but Chase was a different matter entirely. She had to stay on constant alert.
The ever-dominant Fairy Queen found it quite headache-inducing.
The outside light poured into the slightly dim villa. It was very quiet inside. The members from the other guilds didn't seem to have arrived yet.
Just as Lucy was curiously and awkwardly commenting on the villa's decor, the lights in the hall suddenly lit up.
"HEY HEY HEY HEY! WELCOME! WARMEST WELCOME! WELCOME, FRIENDS FROM FAIRY TAIL, WHO'VE TRAVELED FROM AFAR!" x3
Confetti cannons fired. Streamers fluttered down. Three men in suits stood under the spotlight, saying their oddly synchronized welcome speech.
From left to right: Eve, Hibiki, and Ren.
"We are—"
"The ones Blue Pegasus selected—"
"To participate in this Oración Seis subjugation—"
"TRIMENS!" x3
After this brief self-introduction, Lucy recognized Hibiki—a perennial leader of the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine's "Most Wanted Boyfriend" rankings—and couldn't help but swoon.
At the same time, she mentally belittled Natsu, who was still carsick, and Gray, who was frantically searching for his inexplicitly missing clothes.
Chase, meanwhile, took a deliberate look at Eve.
Don't get the wrong idea—he had no such interests. But if memory served, Eve originally joined Blue Pegasus after serving as an intern in the Council's Enforcement Unit, following the Council's dissolution.
Yet now, due to his own intervention, Ultear had not destroyed the Council as in the original story. So why had Eve still come to Blue Pegasus?
Chase couldn't quite figure it out. In the end, he could only attribute the cause to the perverted master Bob—who, to some extent, shared Makarov's strange "collecting habits."
As he pondered this, Lucy and Erza had already been invited to sit down on the leather sofa. The three handsome men gathered around them, serving tea and water, making the two women quite speechless.
"You guys... that's enough."
A voice full of masculine magnetism came from the second floor of the villa, instantly capturing all of Lucy's attention.
Hoping to find a "super handsome guy" based on the voice, she looked up—and was immediately petrified by the highly distinctive, abstract profile before her.
"Erza... I've missed you so much, my sweetheart~"
Ichiya slid down the stair handrail, landing gracefully while striking a rather flamboyant pose. "I am Ichiya, the one who lives for you! Man~"
This guy was also representing Blue Pegasus in the operation!
Looking at that familiar face, hearing that familiar tone, Erza seemed to be assaulted by memories of the dead. She instinctively stepped back, disgusted.
"Erza... is trembling?" Lucy was shocked. It was the first time she had ever seen Erza like this.
"Sorry, Lucy. This guy is not a type I can handle." Erza quickly shoved Lucy in front of her as a shield.
"So she's Ichiya's girlfriend. We apologize for our rudeness earlier." x3
The handsome trio earnestly bowed and apologized.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Erza clenched her fists, her eye twitching.
"I've heard about you all, Erza... Lucy."
Still bathing in shimmering sparkle effects, Ichiya changed his pose and pointed at Erza and Lucy. Then, completely skipping over the unimportant Natsu, Gray, and Happy...
When his gaze fell on Chase, that previously ambiguous expression suddenly turned serious.
"And you, Chase."
"To think that a monster like you would also be participating in this Oración Seis subjugation... it's incredibly reassuring."
Whether it was crushing the legendary Eighteen Demon Gods, or confronting Phantom Lord's master Jose, or stopping and defeating Jellal who tried to rebuild the R-System—any one of those achievements alone was enough to earn the profound admiration of this Blue Pegasus S-Class mage.
Thus, Ichiya was very surprised to see Chase here.
"Ichiya of Blue Pegasus. As the rumors say, you're quite the handsome guy," Chase said with a smile, returning the greeting.
Lucy: Wait—wait, wait, wait! This guy? A handsome guy?
Chase, your taste...
"Hahaha! That's just what others say about me. I have absolutely no interest in such empty fame."
That said, the chrysanthemum-like smile on Ichiya's face thoroughly reflected his inner secret delight. "From this moment on, Mr. Chase, you are my closest, most trusted friend!"
"Our closest friend!" x3
Where do you get the courage to go along with that?!
And—becoming best friends over a single sentence? You're way too easy to buy off!!
Lucy's inner self was madly complaining.
She suddenly realized her earlier thought had been completely wrong. It wasn't that Chase's taste was problematic—he had totally and utterly figured out Ichiya's psychology!
"Closest friend, huh? Actually, there are a few words I'd like to say to you." Chase spoke.
"Please, don't hold back. Tell me, my dearest friend!" Ichiya, now thoroughly light and fluttering, struck another new pose.
Hearing this, Chase slowly stepped forward. Before everyone's eyes, he went up to Ichiya, leaned down, and whispered quietly in his ear.
Watching the two of them huddled together mysteriously, Lucy couldn't help but sidle over to Erza. "Erza... are Chase and that... uh... Ichiya really that close?"
"I... I don't know. This should be their first meeting, right?"
Erza was also quite bewildered, unable to fathom what Chase was up to.
The only thing certain was that, after hearing Chase's words, the self-admiring, relaxed expression on Ichiya's face immediately turned extremely grave.
"Mr. Chase... is what you said true?!" Ichiya asked in a low voice.
"It should be accurate," Chase said, stepping back to put two body lengths between them.
Getting that close to that face, he was genuinely afraid of catching the "Ichiya Virus"!
Just then, the sound of footsteps from the entrance interrupted the subtle atmosphere in the room.
Two men and one woman walked into the hall: the members of Lamia Scale had arrived.
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!