On a train bound for Casco Town.
"Hey, Zorn, have you heard of or seen demons?" Cana asked Zorn, resting her head on her hand and stifling a yawn with the other.
"Demons, huh... Of course, I've heard of them, but I haven't seen them. However, I can finally get a good look this time." Zorn fell into a state of recollection. Of course, he had heard of them, and even seen them. In his previous world, he could see many pictures of demons online, not to mention he had seen all the demons Zeref created. Furthermore, E.N.D. was currently in the guild, so Zorn couldn't tell the truth.
"Well, what kind of answer is that? Ha~ Never mind, ha~ I'm so sleepy, I can't take it anymore. I'll take a nap first. Wake me up when we arrive." Cana was dissatisfied with Zorn's answer, but she was too sleepy. She mumbled a few words and then, unable to hold on any longer, she slumped over and fell asleep.
As Zorn and Cana stepped into the town, a horse-drawn carriage laden with goods creaked past, accompanied by cheerful shouts. People of all sorts crowded the streets and alleys, and stalls were filled with a dazzling array of merchandise.
At the other end of the alley, a nimble cat chased falling leaves, and children on the street corner played their game of hide-and-seek.
"It's so lively," Cana exclaimed, taking a deep breath and exhaling her exhaustion as she looked at the bustling scene before her.
"Let's go find the client first and understand the situation. The client seems to be at..." Zorn looked at the mission sheet, confirmed the direction, and then looked up at Cana, who was still intently gazing at the scenery.
"It's like this..." Zorn summarized after listening to the village chief's narration.
It turned out that a priest had come to the mountain a few years ago and opened a church. The villagers would always seek out the priest in the church for any matters. However, things changed recently. When villagers went to the church to invite the priest again, they couldn't find him. They could only see a pair of blood-red eyes in the shadows of the church, clearly the eyes of a demon.
"Oh, so this demon hasn't come out to harm anyone?" Cana quickly asked the village chief after hearing this.
"Church? Demon?" When Zorn heard these two keywords from the village chief, he thought of a very familiar plot and three Fairy Tail members: the future S-Class Mage, Mirajane Strauss; her younger brother, the Beast King, Elfman Strauss; and her younger sister, Lisanna Strauss.
After thinking about it, Zorn looked at the mission sheet again, which simply stated "exterminate the demon" and provided the address. He couldn't help but smile wryly.
"No, it hasn't. It's just that roars occasionally come down from the mountain, and a few days ago, hunters going up the mountain would see torn animal carcasses. So now the mountain is a forbidden area, and villagers won't enter it. The people in the village are on edge every day, so please resolve it as soon as possible," the village chief replied with a worried expression.
"Zorn, Zorn," Cana called out to Zorn, who was deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about? Did you find anything?"
"No, just thinking about some things. Let's head straight up the mountain now." Zorn decided to go straight up the mountain to resolve it, which would be more efficient.
"Village chief, village chief, this is bad! Ha, Mirajane ran up the mountain by herself, saying she's going to deal with the demon." A villager ran over from the opposite direction, his breathless voice reaching them before he even arrived.
"What?"
"That Magician, can you please save that girl as soon as possible?" After a gasp, the village chief turned to Zorn and Cana, who could solve the problem here.
"Cana, follow me, I'm going ahead." Zorn instructed, then a golden light enveloped him, and he flashed away, heading straight for the mountaintop.
"Honestly."
"Oh, and village chief, don't go near the mountain, and tell all the villagers to stay far away."
Cana was displeased with Zorn's self-centered actions, but considering his magical strength, she still felt uneasy and gave the village chief a few more instructions.
After Cana finished speaking, she immediately pulled out a card, "Wings of Wind." Card magic formed wing-like structures behind her. Cana pushed off the ground, instantly soaring into the air and shooting away, chasing after Zorn. She occasionally pushed off the air to accelerate, showing that Cana had gradually mastered the Marine Six Styles.
"Village chief, are all Magicians this strong?" The villager who had rushed over to deliver the news looked at the cracked ground, swallowed, and asked the only person who had seen the world.
"Yes, for us ordinary people, they are. However, they also have rules that restrict them; they cannot attack civilians or arbitrarily start wars," the village chief said with a sigh after hearing this.
"By the way, Mirajane's younger siblings, have you arranged for someone to look after them?" The village chief suddenly remembered and urgently asked the villager.
"No... I forgot... I... Oh, don't hit me, village chief, don't hit me!" The villager had barely replied a few words before the village chief started hitting him with his cane. He covered himself with his hands and shouted, but it didn't stop the blows.
"Idiot, idiot! Her younger siblings must have gone after their sister! Hurry up and tell the other villagers to do as that little girl said!"
"Okay, okay, I'm going right now!" The villager immediately ran towards the village.
"Sigh," the village chief sighed after scolding him, then turned to look in the direction where the two Magicians had disappeared. A few moments later, he turned and walked into the village, leaning on his cane.
On the other side.
A meteor-like light descended from the sky, and Zorn arrived directly at the mountaintop.
At the scene, a magic circle was rising beneath the girl's feet, and the demon that the other villager said the priest had turned into showed a pained expression. Its eyes were sometimes clear and sometimes corroded by demonic energy. When clear, it desperately attacked the magic circle, trying to stop its operation, but was directly repelled.
The figure within the magic circle, with her snow-white long hair fluttering in the cold wind, created a striking harmony with the surrounding icy atmosphere. Her face was as pale as snow, like a ghost under the Moonlight. The clear light that was once in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a deep darkness and confusion.
The demon's power gathered around her, forming dense, almost solidified dark-red energy. This power surged in the air, like a trapped evil dragon struggling and roaring. And at the center of this power was the girl who was receiving the demon's power.
Seeing this, Zorn extended one hand towards the demonized priest. "Holy Light Magic: Spriggan Shield." A defensive magic rose around the priest, protecting him and helping to suppress the demonic power. After all, his light magic had a holy attribute. The priest clearly felt his corroded body gradually improving, and he looked at Zorn with grateful, tear-filled eyes.
Zorn nodded, signaling him to relax. He then used Observation Haki to sense the magic circle and found that Mirajane's own power and the demon's power were in a state of balance. If this balance were broken, the outcome might be unpredictable. He could only find a way to strengthen Mirajane's power. Fortunately, the priest's power was insufficient.
After thinking, Zorn still decided to deal with the enemy first. He suddenly extended his hand in the opposite direction, palm open. A golden-yellow magic circle instantly lit up in front of him, and several laser beams shot out, immediately impacting a dark spot, instantly stirring up smoke.
"Clap, clap, clap," applause rang out.
"Impressive, you found my location in an instant. I was originally thinking of sneaking away. Although I don't know how you found me, for this age, it's really excellent." A cloaked person clapped and praised.
"Onee-chan, Big Sister, I'm Lisanna," a childlike, trembling, worried girl's voice rang out.
"Zorn, I found these two children on the way here. They said their sister was up there, so I brought them along." Cana said, slightly out of breath, holding the two children tightly.
"Thank you, Cana. Take them to the magic circle first and try to wake up their sister. She must control this power and not be corrupted, otherwise, she won't be herself anymore." Zorn looked at Cana, who was holding Lisanna with one hand and Elfman with the other, and apologized, deciding to end the battle quickly. He extended his hand to cast defensive magic, adding one of the defensive spells to the magic circle as a precaution, arriving just in time.
"Okay, Lisanna, Elfman, come with me." Cana led the two children to the magic circle.
"Onee-chan, look at me, I'm Lisanna."
"Onee-chan, I'm Elfman, what happened to you?"
The worried and scared voices of the two children came intermittently.
"Oh, planning to use the power of family? But according to our guild's extensive experiments before, some people couldn't resist the temptation of power and were eventually corrupted, then directly killed all the villagers. Some could suppress their minds slightly, but with a slight lure, they were still corrupted. Although this little girl is an accident, I think she's still far from it, hahahaha." The cloaked person saw this scene and laughed wildly in mockery, covering his mouth as he spoke.
"Guild? Extensive experiments? What do you take human lives for?" Zorn murmured softly, then said in a low voice.
"Take them for what? Of course, as experimental subjects. Of course, experiments are uncontrollable, it doesn't matter." The cloaked person replied flippantly, as if unaware of the emotion.
"It doesn't matter..."
As Zorn heard these words, strong emotions surged within him. His heart pounded as if struck by a heavy hammer, and blood boiled in his veins. His mind was filled with sparks of anger, and the thought of those villagers being innocently killed, and now other ordinary people facing the same situation, made his anger burn even hotter.
"It's truly infuriating, you trash. Are you ready for how you and your so-called guild will die?" Zorn tried to calm his tone, his eyes fixed on the cloaked person as if looking at a dead man. Golden magical power began to boil and surge around him, and the ground instantly cracked.
To be continued~