Chapter 77: The Chase Begins
As Ren spoke, his voice dripping with a cold fury that was far more terrifying than any loud rage, he took a single step toward the guild's exit. That one step, and the sheer, oppressive killing intent that rolled off him, immediately startled everyone in the guild.
They felt that Ren wasn't just saying he was going to kill Natsu. He was really going to kill Natsu.
Gray and Elfman, who were closest to the door, reacted on pure instinct. They quickly moved to stop Ren, but not with aggression. They were terrified.
Gray, his face pale, got in front of Ren with his hands up. Elfman, in a less-than-manly display of panic, actually grabbed Ren's arm.
"Ren… don't be impulsive! Don't be impulsive!" Gray said quickly, trying to sound reasonable while staring into Ren's cold, unfocused eyes.
"Yeah! Don't be impulsive!" Elfman added, his voice strained as he tried to hold Ren's arm. "Their crime isn't punishable by death yet! It's... it's just Natsu being an idiot!"
Makarov also broke into a cold sweat when he heard Ren's declaration. He knew how persistent and almost obsessed Ren was about S-Class Quests. He had assumed it was just a young man's ambition, but the fury he was sensing now was something else entirely. It was the "Tyrant" that had annihilated Eisenwald.
Makarov had wanted Ren to save Natsu and the others, not butcher them.
"Wait, Ren!" Mira quickly said, her mind racing to find a solution to de-escalate the situation. "Natsu and the others secretly went to do the quest, and it wasn't officially accepted by me or the Master! That means it doesn't count as them taking an S-Class Quest. That is to say... you can still take this quest. It's still valid!"
Ren, who had been about to shrug Elfman off, stopped when he heard Mira's words. His head slowly turned, his cold gaze fixing on her.
"Really?"
His internal system, which had been flashing a red "QUEST FAILED" warning, suddenly flickered.
"Of course, it's real," Mira said, forcing a reassuring smile.
"That's good," Ren said, his aura instantly receding. He looked at Makarov. "Master, I want to go on that S-Class Quest. Officially."
"Good! Yes! I approve!" Makarov practically shouted in relief.
[Ding! S-Class Quest accepted: Save Our Island!]
Seeing the system notification change to "ACTIVE," Ren finally breathed a sigh of relief. The cold fury vanished, replaced by a dark annoyance. If an S-Class Quest—a guaranteed ten-pull—had been lost just like that... he wouldn't kill Natsu, but he would definitely give him a lesson he'd never, ever forget.
"Ren, my boy," Makarov said, wiping his brow. "This quest is for you to complete. But you must bring Natsu and the others back. Safely."
"Don't worry, Master," Ren said, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he turned to leave. "I will definitely bring them back alive. As for whether all their body parts will still be intact... I'm not sure. So, I'm off."
Ren gritted his teeth and left with that chilling smile. Although the quest was saved, Natsu stealing his quest, his gacha pull, couldn't be let off so easily.
Ren's words made everyone in the guild sweat for Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. Ren was usually very easy to talk to and had a good, if quiet, personality. They didn't expect his temper to change so drastically just because an S-Class Quest was touched. This was too scary.
"Gray," Makarov said, turning to the ice mage. "You go with him. Keep an eye on Ren and don't let him cripple Natsu."
Makarov was still worried. Ren would definitely bring Natsu back, but if he really crippled Natsu and the others, that wouldn't be good.
"Understood!"
Gray immediately agreed excitedly when he heard Makarov's words. He had long wanted to do an S-Class Quest. He was tired of Natsu and Elfman getting all the glory. Even if he didn't need to do anything this time, he still wanted to go and see what an S-Class mission was like.
Hargeon Port
"Wow! It's so nostalgic! This is where Ren, Natsu, and I first met."
Looking at the familiar scenery of the port town, Lucy couldn't help but exclaim. The salty air and the sound of the gulls brought back the memory of her adventure starting.
"I remember this place was completely ruined by you two back then," she said, looking at the docks. "Now it has all recovered. The only thing left... is Ren's fist mark on the cliff face over there."
Natsu, who was looking around, asked curiously, "Wasn't that just a while ago?! Is there any need to be so sentimental?"
"It was an important moment!" Lucy huffed. "Now, let's find a boat to Galuna Island."
As soon as Natsu heard Lucy mention a "boat," he was startled. His face turned a pale green, and he said with a panicked expression, "Boat?! No, no, weren't we swimming there?"
The Eisenwald incident a few days ago had left Natsu with lingering fears. He had never been on a vehicle for so long. The train was bad enough, he could barely endure that. But Erza's magical four-wheeled vehicle... that had almost taken his life.
Lucy looked at him, her expression deadpan. "Isn't your idea the unreliable one?! It's an island! Across the ocean! You can't swim there!"
The two immediately went to the port to look for a boatman, but their search was fruitless. All the boatmen—tough, grizzled sailors—visibly paled and refused when they heard that Natsu and the others wanted to go to Galuna Island.
"Galuna? The Demon Island? Are you insane, kid?"
"Not for all the Jewel in Fiore! That place is cursed!"
The reputation of the Demon Island made even seasoned pirates shy away.
Finally, an old boatman, who was mending his nets, shook his head. "Although I don't know what you're planning to do, there definitely won't be any boatmen going to that island. Even pirates have to go around that island."
"Ah! What should we do?" Lucy whined, her hopes sinking.
Since all the boatmen refused to go, she had no choice. Without a boat, she couldn't reach Galuna Island, and without completing the quest, she wouldn't get the Golden Key.
Natsu, on the other hand, became visibly happy when he heard there were no boats going. "See! It's a sign! We can just swim there!"
"Hey!"
The old boatman couldn't help but say when he heard Natsu's words, "Swim there? Are you committing suicide? The open sea around here is full of big sharks!"
"I'm not afraid!!" Natsu declared, his confidence returning. "I'm going to roast them into fish jerky! Then eat them!"
As Natsu spoke, he released flames from his hands, trying to look intimidating.
The boatman's expression changed immediately when he saw the flames in Natsu's hand. He stood up, his eyes wide with a new, desperate hope. "Fire?! You… you are Mages?! Are you... are you here to break the curse of that island?"
"Yes!!" Natsu said, puffing out his chest. "We're Mages from Fairy Tail!"
The boatman's demeanor changed instantly. "Get on board. Now."
"Really?!"
"Great!"
The two cheered when they heard this and quickly boarded the small, worn-out fishing boat.
The boat sailed out of the harbor, towards the open sea and Galuna Island.
"Ugh~~!"
As soon as Natsu got on the boat and the waves started to rock, he started to get seasick. He immediately collapsed onto the deck, feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit.
"I don't know why," Lucy said, looking out at the endless ocean, her excitement fading. "But I'm only starting to feel a little scared now…"
She was very excited when she first got on the boat, driven by the thrill of the quest and the promise of the Golden Key. But now that she thought about it, she was going to do an S-Class Quest. An S-Class Quest where even an S-Class Mage could lose their life if they weren't careful.
"Uncle," she said, turning to the boatman to distract herself. "Weren't you unwilling to sail just now? How come you're willing to sail after knowing we're Mages?"
The boatman, his hand firm on the tiller, his gaze fixed on the horizon, explained, "My name is Bobo. I... I used to be a resident of that island. I later escaped from that daunting little island."
Happy, who was perched on the railing, asked curiously, "Mr. Bobo, since you are a resident of that island, you must know what the curse is, right?"
"This..." Bobo's voice was heavy with a pain that was decades old. "This is the curse…"
As the boatman spoke, he slowly revealed his right arm from under his cloak. The three of them were startled when they saw this arm. What kind of arm was it?
The arm was covered in a grotesque, purple-black carapace. It was twisted and demonic, and his hand had elongated into sharp, vicious claws. It looked exactly like a demon's arm.
"If you go to that small island, this disaster will also befall you," he said, his voice trembling. "Can you... can you really break that curse? Can you break the Moon's curse... the demon's curse?"
Back at Hargeon Port...
"They've been gone for three or four hours," Ren growled, his patience gone.
"These idiots... they run quite fast!"
Ren and Gray had arrived at Hargeon Port and, unlike Natsu and Lucy, had no trouble finding information. After all, people going to the Demon Island were rarely seen in a year, and Natsu (pink hair), Lucy (blonde), and Happy (a small, blue, flying cat) had features that were far too obvious. The boatmen all remembered them.
"What should we do if the boatmen here refuse to go to Galuna Island?" Gray asked.
When Gray had inquired about Natsu, he naturally also asked the boatmen if they could take them there. And, as expected, they all refused, even when he offered a large sum of money.
"It doesn't matter," Ren said, his voice cold. "If they won't go, we'll go ourselves."
As Ren spoke, he walked to the edge of the dock and activated his Take Over Magic.
"Full Body Take Over · Ace!"
The air around Ren shimmered with heat. Freckles, unique to Ace, appeared on his face. An orange cowboy hat with two distinctive medallions materialized on his head. He was now wearing black shorts, no shirt, and a massive tattoo of the Whitebeard Pirates' flag appeared on his back. This was Ren in his Ace Take Over form.
Then, Ren consumed his magic power. He held his hands out over the water, and fire erupted from his palms. A small, orange boat, made entirely of fire, materialized in front of him.
The boat was not big. Rather than a small boat, it was more like a single-person speedboat. It was sleek, with a single seat. There were three flame jets at the back of the speedboat: the rearmost one, the largest, was responsible for propulsion, and the two on the sides were for changing direction. This was Ace's personal "Striker."
"Get on the boat," Ren commanded, stepping onto the fiery vessel, which didn't burn him. "We're going to chase them."
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