Chapter 109: The Battle Begins
When Dino saw this cute little girl, he naturally recognized Wendy, one of the adorable members of the Fairy Tail world.
Although he remembered her from the series, the impression was relatively weak. To be honest, there weren't many characters who had left a deep impact on him back then.
Memory was funny like that—if you didn't actively recall things from time to time, they'd fade away, replaced by newer, more recent experiences.
People naturally chose to forget painful memories, and sometimes other fragments disappeared along with them.
Wendy became visibly nervous under so many watchful eyes. "Um… I can't really fight at all… but… I know lots of support magic that can help everyone…" Her voice grew smaller with each word.
"So, please don't leave me out!"
"You're being too timid, Wendy!" A girl's voice rang out as everyone spotted an elegantly dressed white cat walking over with her head held high.
"A cat?!"
"Carla, you came too!"
"Of course I did. I can't leave you alone—you'd be hopeless without me!"
Happy's eyes turned into hearts the moment he saw the pristine white cat. He rushed over to Dino, tugging insistently at his pant leg. "Dino! Go give her this fish for me!"
Dino crouched down and patted Happy's head with a knowing smile. "Happy, you've gotta man up when it comes to girls. You can't be this shy forever."
"Don't give up even if she rejects you a few times. Keep at it!"
"Though the real advanced technique is to make yourself so awesome that girls chase after you. And if all else fails, just—"
"BAM!" Erza's fist connected with Dino's head, sending him crashing to the floor.
Erza's face flushed bright red—whether from embarrassment or anger was anyone's guess. "What kind of advice is that?!"
Happy stared at Carla with stars in his eyes, as if he'd just received the secrets of the universe.
Carla turned her nose up and addressed Wendy primly. "See, Wendy? All men are beasts. You need to be careful around them."
Erza quickly turned to Wendy and Carla, bowing slightly. "I apologize! The idiots in our guild sometimes say ridiculous things. It doesn't matter at all if you can't fight—we have more than enough muscle-headed brawlers here. Support magic is just as important. We look forward to working with you."
"Miss Erza is so cool!" Wendy's eyes sparkled.
"Hmm. She's even more impressive than I'd heard," Carla admitted grudgingly.
Ichiya stood up dramatically. As representatives of Blue Pegasus and the ones who'd organized this mission, they naturally knew the most about the situation.
"Now that everyone has arrived, allow me to explain our battle strategy. But first, I must visit the facilities to… refresh myself! Meeen!" Ichiya struck a pose before rushing toward the bathroom.
Lucy sweatdropped. "Going to the bathroom before a strategy meeting… this guy's incredible in all the wrong ways."
Happy immediately flew over to Carla, attempting to look cool.
After a few moments, Ichiya emerged from the restroom. "Heading north from here lies an endless sea of trees. The ancients sealed away a certain powerful magic within that forest. Its name is 'Nirvana!'"
"Nirvana?"
"Magic I've never heard of."
"That's because it's destructive magic so dangerous that the ancients chose to seal it away rather than destroy it."
"However, we don't know exactly what kind of magic it is."
"The Oración Seis has gathered in the Worth Woodsea to obtain Nirvana."
Ichiya continued with a serious expression, "Precisely! To prevent this catastrophe, we're going to crush the Oración Seis!"
Hibiki stepped forward, using his Archive Magic to project images into the air. "Our enemies number only six, but each of these six is extraordinarily powerful."
"First, there's Cobra—a wizard who uses poisonous snakes and can somehow hear anything. Then there's Racer, who's incredibly fast. Hoteye uses earth magic that can liquify the ground. Angel is a Celestial Spirit Mage, though we have very little intel on her. This one is barely documented—only his name, Midnight. And finally, their leader: Brain."
"Any one of them has enough magical power to annihilate an entire guild by themselves. We need to use our numerical advantage wisely."
Lucy raised her hand nervously. "Um… maybe don't count me in the fighting force?"
Wendy added quickly, "I-I'm not good at combat either!"
Ichiya struck another dramatic pose. "Not to worry! Our strategy doesn't require direct confrontation. We simply need to locate their base, and then our guild's pride—the Christina, the most magnificent magical bomber in all of Fiore—will eliminate them and their base in one glorious strike! Meeen!"
Dino smirked. "If we find their base, we won't need your Christina from Blue Pegasus. Though I gotta admit, you guys bounce back fast—didn't expect you to repair that magic bomber so quickly after last time."
"Alright! I'm all fired up! We're gonna take down all six of them before Dino does! Happy, let's go!" Natsu shouted, already sprinting toward the door.
Happy called back to Carla, "Carla, watch me take 'em all down heroically!" He sprouted his wings, grabbed Natsu from behind, and flew off toward the forest.
"You're not leaving me behind, Natsu!" Gray yelled, running out after them. Recent incidents had all been resolved by Dino—with only six enemies this time, if they moved too slowly, Dino might solve everything before they got a chance to do anything!
Erza turned to Lucy with determination. "Lucy! We're moving out too!" Erza had always been competitive and refused to let herself be overshadowed.
Dino glanced at Wendy with a gentle smile. "Wendy, you should stick with me."
Carla immediately stepped protectively in front of Wendy. "What are you planning?"
Dino held up his hands peacefully. "Easy there, little cat. Wendy's not a combat specialist, and I happen to be pretty good at fighting. Figured the safest place for her would be at my side."
Wendy was destined to join Fairy Tail in the future—if Dino remembered correctly, it would be right after this mission ended. Since she'd become family eventually, and she was such a sweet kid, he naturally wanted to look out for her.
If the Oración Seis commanded so many dark guilds, they couldn't be weak. He couldn't let Erza and the others walk into danger unprepared.
Leon turned to Sherry with fire in his eyes. "Let's go too, Sherry! We can't let Fairy Tail show us up!"
The three Blue Pegasus members exchanged glances before rushing out together. Although this was supposed to be a joint operation between guilds, none of them wanted to be overshadowed by the others.