On the road toward Eisenwald, Shane was clearly in a great mood, even humming an off-key tune under his breath.
Thinking back to earlier, Erza couldn't help asking, "You look really happy. And… was it really okay to point a blade at the client like that?"
Everlue's attitude had bothered her too, but guild rules were clear: raising a hand against a client was a serious matter.
"Relax, I had it under control. I wasn't actually going to hurt him," Shane waved it off, then grinned even wider. "I'm happy because that Everlue guy screams rich."
"And if there's a problem, we let the master deal with it. We're guild members—our job is to finish the request."
His time with Gildarts hadn't been long, but he'd already picked up that particular trick—and it worked.
"I see…" Erza nodded, then added, still uncertain, "But… is that really a good thing?"
"Of course it is!" Shane's eyes lit up. "It means he can definitely pay. And if he dares try to weasel out later…"
"We can go 'visit' him without feeling guilty."
Chatting, they headed northwest. The trees and grass along the mountain path thinned, revealing packed earth beneath.
The world was quiet; only wind rustled the leaves.
"Erza, keep an eye out," Shane murmured, scanning the slope ahead. He picked a sturdy old tree and climbed up in a few moves.
From there, eyes narrowed, he could see the silhouette of a grim building—like a converted, abandoned church—that housed Eisenwald's base.
According to the job intel, Eisenwald had no truly notable mages. Aside from their usual brutality, there was only one man worth special attention: Erigor—here called Death God.
Even so, two million J was two million J. Shane had no intention of underestimating them.
A lion uses full strength even on a rabbit.
As he weighed the easiest way to wipe them out, Erza looked up and called, "How about I draw them out, and you snipe from here?"
They were a team now; she didn't want to rely entirely on Shane. She wanted to pull her weight.
He looked down and met her trusting gaze.
After their sparring, he had a clear sense of what she could handle. As long as she wasn't instantly overwhelmed or completely surrounded, his long-range support should keep her safe.
"Alright," he said after a moment. "But your safety comes first."
"I'll be fine." True to form, Erza didn't waste time—she turned and sprinted straight for the building.
Her trust wasn't blind. In her mind, if the enemy was exposed to Shane's arrows, it was the same as having their name called by Death.
What danger could there be?
Shane stopped hesitating as well. He settled into position in the branches, bow half-drawn, ready to release at a moment's notice.
Soon Erza had reached Eisenwald's front door. Without a pause, she drove her boot into the heavy wood.
BOOM.
The doors flew inward in a cloud of dust.
Scarlet hair whipped in the rush of air; sword in hand, she stood tall and called into the hall in a clear, icy voice:
"Eisenwald—get out here!"
"…"
Watching from afar, Shane shook his head at the sheer aggression of her entrance. She was going further and further down the "fighting is fun" path.
Inside, the dark guild was silent for a beat—then curses exploded.
"Who the hell barged in?!"
"Got a death wish?!"
But when they saw the intruder was just a teenage girl, scorn and sleazy humor slipped into the yelling.
A bleary-eyed man rubbed his hands as he sauntered up, grinning. "Well now, what's a little girl doing in a place like this? Got something you wanna tell uncle?"
Erza was nervous—anyone would be, storming a dark guild alone.
So when that hairy, filthy hand reached for her, she picked the simplest answer: draw.
Steel flashed.
His grin froze. He didn't even see the motion—just felt a hammer blow to his chest and found himself flying into the wall before everything went black.
"…Hah…"
Her breath rushed out; tension melted into that familiar, indescribable thrill.
Cutting things down always felt better.
She raised her eyes and, copying Shane's infuriating habit, flicked her sword tip toward the rest.
"Bitch!"
"You wanna die, brat?!"
The bait worked perfectly.
Five or six men roared and lunged.
Erza gripped the hilt in both hands, feet set, eyes calm to the point of chilling.
Not enough… I need to take them down, piss off the rest, draw them out and then…
The killing intent rushing at her reflected in her black pupils like a still mirror.
She slipped a fireball by and swept two men aside with a single horizontal cut.
A knife brushed her right arm, spraying beads of blood; another blade tore her sleeve and exposed the Fairy Tail emblem on her arm.
"Fairy Tail!" someone yelled.
That name got everyone moving. With a legal guild hunting them, they couldn't let her walk out alive.
Nearly twenty men swarmed like kicked hornets.
Teeth clenched, Erza spun her blade in tight arcs, parrying strikes from all sides as she edged back toward the doors.
Watching his men struggle, a tall man at the head table finally snapped.
Rings weighed down every finger; his hair was an explosive mess and his face twisted with violence.
"Useless trash!"
Erigor—Death God, the one Shane had flagged.
Seeing the boss finally move, Erza knew the plan had worked.
She stopped hesitating, took the recoil from a parry, spun, and dashed out through the doors without looking back.
"Run? Too late." Erigor slashed a hand. "All of you—after her! I'll crush those Fairy bones myself!"
Forget their earlier trouble; with prey fleeing, Eisenwald's men howled and charged after her.
After barely a hundred meters, the scarlet-haired girl at the front stopped and turned in a clear patch of ground—calm, not scared.
The ones in the lead faltered under her gaze.
That was when the wind sounded—
Not natural wind, but the sharp tear of something ripping air.
"Nice work, Erza…" Shane's murmur came on the breeze.
Thud.
The first man dropped, blood blooming from his chest.
"More enemies?!"
Before the shout finished, a second and third arrow screamed down.
Ffft! Ffft! Ffft!
No misses. The pursuers fell like wheat under an invisible scythe, one after another, each hit marked by a sickening thunk of arrow into flesh.
~~~
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