Chapter 27: Let's Chase!
"Hey~! Lucy, you're jumping to conclusions!" Erza's face flushed red. "Dino and I don't have that kind of relationship! Don't say weird things! Besides, it's not just me—Mirajane has teamed up with Dino too."
Lucy's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Oh? So it's a complicated love triangle?"
"That's not—!"
"Bonk!" Erza's fist found its mark on both Lucy and Happy's heads, crushing their gossip session instantly. "We're here to take down a Dark Guild, not play matchmaker."
Lucy and Happy both clutched their heads, tears in their eyes. "Yes, ma'am~~!!"
"So this is the Dark Guild Eisenwald? It looks like something straight out of a horror story." Lucy stared at the twisted, blackened trees surrounding the building, their bare branches reaching out like grasping claws.
Thanks to Mirajane's detailed map, the group had made good time after getting off the train and reached Eisenwald's headquarters without any detours.
"BOOM!"
"Alright, you bastards! We're here!" Natsu kicked the door clean off its hinges, but the guild hall beyond was completely silent.
Erza's eyes narrowed. "Something's off…"
Happy flew a quick reconnaissance loop around the interior. "There's nobody here!"
Dino Maxim pressed his hand against a teacup on a nearby table, testing the temperature. "Still warm. They left recently—we just missed them."
Feeling bold now that no enemies had appeared, Lucy laughed nervously. "Maybe they heard we were coming and ran away scared?"
"Impossible." Erza's voice was firm. "Something big enough to mobilize an entire Dark Guild just happened. I don't like this." Her expression hardened. "We need to find out where they went. That many people moving together—someone must have seen them. Let's head to town."
The group rushed toward the nearest populated area. As they approached the train station, loud, panicked voices reached their ears.
Erza grabbed a station worker by the collar. "What happened here?"
"T-train hijacking! Some guy with a scythe and a huge goat-man broke in and stole a train!"
Another bystander chimed in. "I know those guys! They're from that Dark Guild nearby!"
"And there was this weird flute," a third person added. "Had three eyes and looked like a skull. The guy with the scythe got real excited when he saw it."
Lucy's face went pale. "A three-eyed skull flute? That's… that's Lullaby! The Cursed Song!"
"What?!"
Lucy's voice shook slightly. "Curse-killing magic is one of the types banned by the Magic Council. I read about it once—Lullaby is a Death Magic artifact. Anyone who hears its melody… dies."
Erza's expression turned grim. "A sealed weapon that dangerous, and now Erigor the Reaper has it? This is bad. I should have stopped him when I had the chance." She turned back to the worker. "They hijacked a train—they must be planning something. We have to go after them!"
Natsu groaned. "They took a train? How are we supposed to catch up?"
Erza grabbed the station worker again. "When's the next train?"
The poor man stammered, "A-about an hour, but after a hijacking, the line will probably be suspended—"
"Then we'll use a Magic Mobile." Erza released him and started walking.
"Wait, you mean we have to ride in a vehicle?! Urgh~!" Natsu's face immediately turned green.
Dino placed a reassuring hand on Erza's shoulder. "Easy, Erza. Nothing bad has happened yet, right?"
He knew the Fairy Tail story well enough—at least the major beats. Akunologia, the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, had always been his primary concern since arriving in this world. But honestly? His memory of the smaller arcs was fuzzy at best. Besides, the moment he'd appeared in this world, the timeline had already shifted. No point stressing over what should happen.
Erza took a breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "You're right. I'm sorry—I let my emotions get the better of me." She felt responsible; she'd discovered the threat but hadn't stopped it in time.
Dino grinned. "You're an S-rank mage of Fairy Tail. Have some faith in yourself. There's nothing you can't handle. Sounds like you need more training, though."
He turned to the station worker. "How long ago did they steal the train?"
"About… twenty minutes ago?"
Dino rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Twenty minutes… We should still have time." Without warning, he vaulted over the platform edge onto the tracks.
"Eh?! Dino?!" Lucy yelped.
The others stared in shock as Dino landed on the railway below. The crowd murmured in confusion—jumping onto train tracks wasn't exactly normal behavior.
Dino clenched his right fist, focusing his power. "Buzz~~~!!" A glowing white sphere materialized around his knuckles—the destructive power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Then he slammed his fist into the rail.
"CRACK!"
The air itself shattered like glass.
"Click-click-click-CRACK!" Fractures spread outward from the point of impact. The railroad ties began to warp and buckle as the shockwave rippled down the tracks at incredible speed. "DING-DING-DING!" Every spike holding the rails in place popped out simultaneously, launching into the air. The entire railway line undulated like a wave, rails and ties flying up in a spectacular cascade before crashing back down, completely destroyed.
The devastation stretched as far as the eye could see.
The entire station stood frozen, jaws hanging open.
"What… what the hell just happened?!"
"He destroyed the entire railway?!"
Natsu burst out laughing, pumping his fist. "Ahahaha! That's Dino for you! Always doing crazy stuff!"
Dino dusted off his hands and looked back at the group with a confident smirk.
"Alright! Now let's chase them down!"