It wasn't until Sunday that Astro and his group finally reached the capital of Joya Kingdom. The large city stretched before them, its buildings standing tall and elegant, crafted in the style that Astro remembered reading about. The architecture resembled the grand designs of German towns from his previous life—houses and halls pressed close together, their sharp rooftops and carved stonework forming a picture both orderly and beautiful.
"This place is so awesome," Shawn breathed, his orange eyes shining with wonder. He tugged at the hem of his new black cloak—the one Astro had bought for him. Underneath, he wore his usual gray shirt, black pants and shoes.
Astro glanced at him and chuckled. "Yeah, this place does feel livelier than Magnolia. But then again, that's expected of a capital city." His gaze wandered across the bustling streets. He had been to the Joya Kingdom before, back when he traveled across the continent, but never to its heart—the capital city of Rosenwacht.
Everywhere they went, life thrummed around them. Shops brimmed with color, food stalls crowded the streets with their scents, and performers drew clapping crowds. There wasn't a single corner that lay quiet. The constant rush of people, the chatter, and the sounds of merchants calling their wares turned the city into a living, breathing thing.
Their destination, however, silenced even Cana and Shawn's chatter when they arrived.
"I've never seen someone own a place this huge before," Cana muttered, staring up in disbelief.
"It would make sense if it belonged to the royal family," Astro said evenly, eyes narrowing. "But if this belongs to a noble alone… then this 'client' isn't just any simple noble."
Gray's brow furrowed. "Should we ask the guards if we're even in the right place?"
Before Astro could answer, Cana snatched the mission poster from his hand with a determined huff. "I'll handle it." She strode toward the armored guards standing rigid by the gate.
"Hi," she started, raising the poster. "We're from Fairy tail. We came here for a mission posted by… um… Lady Margrada von Hohenlicht?"
The guards turned their heads slowly. They paused, staring at her with expressions so empty that it made her embarrassed for a bit. But still not one of them spoke.
"Uh… hello?" Cana waved awkwardly. "This is Lady Margaret's place, right?"
Cana misspoke the name without even realizing it. Astro was going to correct it, but something made him pause.
Finally, one of the guards gave a stiff nod. Without a word, he opened the gate, gesturing for them to follow.
The Fairy Tail group exchanged quick glances but stepped through. Cana tried asking more questions, but the guard remained silent, his expression locked in stone. Shawn, however, was too busy gawking at the golden gates, the polished statues all around, and the beautiful flowers in the garden they passed. His excitement was almost contagious.
Almost—because Astro was doing the same, albeit in a quieter, more thoughtful way.
Gray, walking beside Shawn, looked back at Astro and noticed it. Astro had been relaxed and easygoing throughout their journey, but the moment he saw the guards, something in him had shifted. His eyes had sharpened, his movements had grown careful.
'He's not nervous, But… tense.. Like he knows something's wrong.' Gray realized, watching him.
When Astro caught Gray's glance, he mouthed something silently.
Gray's eyes widened slightly, a flash of surprise running through him before he quickly turned his expression back to neutrality. He turned his gaze to the guard ahead, feigning the same curiosity as Shawn.
The guard led them into the mansion and pushed open a massive door. Cana stepped inside first, her boots echoing on polished stone. One by one, the others followed.
She blinked. "Well… this is disappointing."
Instead of a decorated hall, they found themselves in a cavernous chamber. The room stretched wide, its walls bare, its corners swallowed in shadows. There was nothing—no furniture, no chandeliers—just darkness.
Cana frowned. "Don't you think it's weird how empty this—"
The door slammed shut behind them as soon as everyone entered, burying the giant room in darkness.
In an instant, the guard spun around, spear raised, its sharp tip aiming straight for Cana's chest.
Her body froze in shock, hands flying to her waist bag. Even in darkness, her well trained eye could see enough to realize the incoming attack. Her instincts screamed at her to pull a card, but she was too slow. The strike was already descending—
"Ice Make: Binding Ropes!"
Gray's voice cut through the silence. An icy serpent lashed out from Can's right side, coiling around the guard and binding him before he could harm Cana.
At the same time, a rush of purple wind streaked past Cana's left side.
Astro moved like a shadow, his figure blurred until he stood before the guard, a glowing purple blade in his hand. The sword's light flickered against his long coat, illuminating his eyes—two purple flames in the dark.
"Tempest Blade."
The wind howled as the strike fell. In one clean motion, the guard's head separated from its body, clattering to the floor. Not a single drop of blood spilled.
Astro didn't look twice. "Cana. Light."
Still shocked, she blinked at the order, then quickly obeyed. "Right—Card Magic: Light Ball!"
She tossed a card upward, and from its shimmer burst a glowing orb. It floated toward the ceiling, flooding the room with pale light.
Shawn's voice trembled. "W-what's happening?"
Cana's face was pale. "That… that guard tried to kill me. Did we just kill one of Lady Margrada's men? If we did, this is bad—we could get branded criminals! We need to get out—"
"Relax." Gray's calm voice cut her panic short. His sharp eyes focused on the unmoving husk. "It wasn't human. Just a puppet being controlled. Look—no blood."
Cana's eyes widened as she finally looked down at the body on the ground. Her breath caught—there was no blood. Just an empty shell lying where a man had stood moments ago.
"Wait…" she muttered, looking between Gray and Astro. "Did you two already know?"
Gray gave a casual shrug. "I figured something was off, but I didn't realize it was a puppet until Astro mouthed it to me." His mind flashed back to the moment he'd caught Astro silently forming the word 'puppet' while they followed the guard.
Cana felt her cheeks burn. "So I was the only one left in the dark, huh?"
Shawn on the side did not speak, he just blended in with Astro and Gray and acted like he noticed too.
Astro didn't answer right away. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the shadows of the wide chamber before crouching down beside the puppet's body. His hand rested briefly on the strange material, his expression sharpening with curiosity.
"You were in the front," he said calmly. "I didn't get the chance to warn you. To be honest,, I thought it was just some unique security measure. I didn't expect it to attack us."
Shawn crouched beside him, his curiosity burning bright in his orange eyes. Finally he decided to not pretend anymore. "But… how did you even know it wasn't human?" He poked at the puppet's severed head without hesitation.
Gray leaned in too, frowning. "Yeah. It's too human-like. If you hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have guessed either. The only obvious thing is that they can't talk—no human organs inside to mimic speech. But…" His voice trailed off as his hand brushed against the head. "Why's it heating up?"
The head was glowing faintly, heat radiating unnaturally from within.
Astro's instincts flared. He picked up the body and snatched the head from Gray's hands and hurled them toward the ceiling.
The explosion followed instantly. Every part of the puppet exploded all at once.
"—Ice Make: Shield!"
Gray's hands moved in perfect sync with Astro's throw, a massive wall of ice erupting above them. The blast slammed into it, scattering chunks of frozen shrapnel, but the team remained safe under its cover. The shockwave rippled through the room, strong enough that without the shield it could have seriously injured even experienced wizards.
Cana and Shawn stared, both wide-eyed.
Gray exhaled slowly, patting Astro's shoulder. "Looks like someone really is trying to kill us. And in a pretty desperate way, too."
Shawn swallowed hard, but instead of fear his expression was puzzled. "So… how did you know it was a puppet in the first place, Astro?"
Cana echoed him quickly, still shocked, but she was not scared either.. "Yeah, explain that. Because it looked real to me too."
Astro straightened, brushing dust from his long coat. His tone was calm, almost casual, but his eyes were sharp as blades as he looked around the huge room.. "At first, I wasn't sure. But there were three points that didn't add up. First, they weren't absorbing ethernano from the air like normal people. Every human does it, even unconsciously. Second, I could sense a thread—something invisible—connecting them. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it in the atmosphere, channeling ethernano into the puppet's body."
Shawn tilted his head, his face scrunched. "That sounds… complicated."
Cana and Gray exchanged a glance. They were just as lost as Shawn, but pride wouldn't let them admit it.
"Well, it makes sense why you'd realize they are a puppet." Gray said, nodding with exaggerated seriousness, refusing to admit he was just as confused hearing it as the eleven year old kid.
"Yeah, it makes perfect sense," Cana added, pretending she understood too.
Astro caught the act but didn't bother to call them out. He sighed softly, too lazy to explain further, and let the subject drop.
"There's some other interesting things about this place too.", Astro said as he tapped his boot lightly against the ground. The sound carried oddly, a hollow echo reverberating beneath their feet. "For one thing, I can smell dried blood. Someone definitely bled here recently. And this floor? It's hollow. There's a massive cavity beneath us. Big enough to hide… well everything."
Gray looked down at the floor, he could not tell if there was a hole below but he didn't question Astro. "Convenient," he muttered, "Kill someone, drop them through the floor, and no one ever knows."
"Yeah, isn't that right? You've been listening to us for quite some time now, haven't you?" Astro suddenly shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls.
He raised his hand, magic flaring to life as a purple wind-forged sword materialized in his grasp. Gray and Cana exchanged confused glances—there were no enemies in sight—but they trusted Astro. Without hesitation, they slid into fighting stances. Shawn mirrored them, small but determined, ready to throw himself into the fray.
Astro's voice cut through the tension. "I know you can hear us. You've hidden puppets all around this room, tucked behind the walls. You were going to strike, but you stopped the moment Gray pointed out he'd figured it out earlier. You just wanted to hear how we knew, didn't you?" His tone was sharp, daring, echoing through the chamber like a challenge.
Gray, Cana, and Shawn stiffened, realization dawning—they were already surrounded. But not one of them showed fear.
As if on cue, hundreds of small holes burst open across the chamber—some from the ceiling, most from the walls. From each gap emerged puppets. Not the lifelike ones from before, but crude wooden constructs, every one clutching a wicked blade, spears and scythes gleaming in the dim light. The sharp edges all angled toward the mages inside.
Astro inhaled sharply, catching a faint, acrid scent. His expression darkened. "Be careful. The weapons are poisoned."
The warning was enough. Before the first puppet could lunge, the Fairy Tail mages struck.
Astro was the first to move. He dashed forward, so fast he blurred, his wind sword slicing through dozens of puppets in a single sweep. Just as he raised his blade again, his steps faltered for the briefest moment—his gaze flicking toward the sealed door. He felt it: a powerful magic presence just beyond it. Not the puppet master, as the puppets were not connected to him. His pause lasted only half a heartbeat before he spun back into the fray, tearing the constructs apart.
"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted, slamming both palms onto the ground. A surge of freezing power spread outward, the stone floor instantly coated in frost. From the ice burst countless spears, lancing outward in every direction. Puppets that charged too close were pierced and frozen solid, locked in jagged tombs of ice.
Cana was already mid-motion, tossing a glowing card into the air.
"Card Magic: Burning Blaze!"
The card ignited, bursting into flame—and with it, four flaming tornadoes erupted around her, roaring outward. Puppets that tried to dive over Gray's ice were swallowed whole, burning to ash in the blazing spirals.
From above, more puppets rained down, scuttling through the ceiling holes. Shawn gritted his teeth, thrusting his hands forward. "Ash-Make: Falcons!" Dark-gray ash swirled around him, taking shape as dozens of sharp-eyed falcons. They screeched and dove, colliding with the falling puppets in fiery explosions, reducing them to blackened fragments.
Astro shot forward again, faster than sight, his sword glowing brighter with every slash. In a matter of heartbeats, every last puppet fell to the ground, splintered and lifeless.
The entire battle was over in less than five seconds. Hundreds of puppets, reduced to rubble by Fairy Tail's unrelenting force.
Astro's gaze swept across the wreckage. Every puppet lay in pieces, but he could still feel it—the faint tug of that invisible string. The connection wasn't broken. Whatever magic bound them was still pulsing faintly through the air, persistent and eerie. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of spell could weave such threads.
Gray's voice broke the silence. "So who's our mysterious enemy, Astro? Is he around?" He glanced at the carnage, then at Astro, who was already striding toward the sealed door.
"I don't know where he's hiding," Astro admitted. He clenched his fist and slammed it into the door. The wood shattered with a crack—but behind it was nothing but solid stone.
Gray frowned, though his tone stayed calm. "Wait. We're trapped?"
"Looks like it," Astro said with a shrug. He could feel it—someone outside was steadily reinforcing the walls, layering stone around them like a tomb. But rather than panic, his eyes shifted downward, toward the floor beneath their feet.
"This mission has gone sideways already," Astro said. His tone was matter-of-fact, but the weight of leadership carried in it. "As your leader, I should say the mission is dismissed."
The trio behind him reacted with visible displeasure. Shawn's lips pressed tight, Gray narrowed his eyes, and Cana crossed her arms. Astro's expression softened into a small smile.
"But," he continued, voice lightening, looking down at the floor again, "as a considerate leader, I'll put it to a vote. Do we continue the mission?" He tilted his head, smiling faintly as he felt the heat building in the air. The broken puppets were beginning to glow faintly, warmth radiating from them as if they were preparing to explode too.
The others felt it too. The air was heating up fast. But none of them flinched—such low heat didn't scare Fairy Tail wizards.
"Well, if you phrase it like that to a Fairy Tail wizard," Cana smirked, flicking a card between her fingers, "there's only one right answer."
"Of course," Gray added, clapping his fist into his palm. "They dared to cross Fairy Tail. If we don't crush them, we'll lose face."
Shawn puffed up his chest, copying Gray's stance with determination. "I thought this mission was going to be boring. But it's actually getting exciting!"
Astro chuckled softly. He could feel it now—the stone barrier outside had stopped shifting, the trap sealed tight. And all around them, the scattered puppets were beginning to burn hotter, their remnants glowing like embers.
Astro glanced at his team, all standing ready. Without hesitation, he leapt high into the air, both hands glowing with violent purple winds. He raised one palm, compressing the magic tightly.
"Tempest Tornado," he whispered.
A roaring spiral of wind burst forth, purple currents tearing through the chamber. The tempest swept up the shattered remains of every puppet, dragging them upward until they clustered against the ceiling like scraps caught in a storm.
With his other fist cloaked in crackling purple gales, Astro slammed down with all his strength.
"Sky Devil's Tempest Fist."
The stone floor shattered instantly. Cracks spiderwebbed outward before the entire ground gave way, collapsing beneath them. The group plummeted into the vast hollow beneath the mansion—so deep, the bottom was lost in shadow.
Above, the gathered puppets detonated. The explosion was fiercer than before, flames flooding downward like a burning tide rushing to swallow them whole.
"Ice Make: Multiple Platforms!" Gray thrust his hands out. Layers of thick ice slabs formed above them, intercepting waves of fire. The flames struck the barriers with a hiss, splintering them but failing to pierce through.
Cana flicked her wrist at the same time, throwing a glowing card into the void.
"Card Magic: Light!"
The card split into dozens more, scattering down the shaft. Every fifty meters, they ignited into luminous orbs, dotting the abyss with spheres of golden light. The hole stretched endlessly downward, but now its depth was visible.
Cana's eyes widened as she calculated. "We've got at least a kilometer left! Get ready to cushion yourselves.
Shawn grinned fearlessly. "Leave it to me!"
He clapped his hands together, summoning forth dark ash that coiled and took form.
"Ash Make: Giant Crows!"
Four enormous crows spread their wings, ash and ember feathers rustling as they swooped beneath the group. Each Fairy Tail wizard landed on one, the constructs carrying their weight with ease as they descended.
Gray steadied himself on his crow, watching the faint embers smolder off its feathers. "Hot… but not burning. Not bad." His lips quirked slightly.
"Good job, Shawn," Gray added more sincerely.
Shawn gave a shy but proud smile as the flock glided downward, the abyss now lit by dozens of glowing orbs.
Astro remained silent as they descended, his sharp gaze locked on the abyss below. The faint glow of Cana's light orbs reflected in his purple eyes, but his mind was elsewhere—focused, calculating. His instincts prickled like needles against his skin.
"There are people down there," he finally said, his tone low but steady. "I don't know if they're enemies… but some of them are quite strong."
The light orbs flickered across the dark stone walls as they glided deeper, the abyss swallowing sound. Every second brought them closer to whatever waited below.