Gray took a deep breath, gripped the seam of the golden egg with both hands, and pried it open with a forceful snap, splitting the golden egg in two.
The chocolate inside was shaped like a heart, exquisitely crafted with a smooth and delicate surface.
The best part was that it even had Gray's portrait painted on it, heavily filtered to give him sharp, well-defined features.
It could even be described as lifelike, looking just a tiny bit handsomer than Gray himself.
Juvia was still staring at Gray from the side, hands clasped to her chest, mumbling to herself. Her voice seemed to materialize, washing over Gray.
◉‿◉
"Eat it quickly... Eat it quickly... Once you eat the chocolate I made, you'll be mine..."
Gray held the heart-shaped chocolate with his own face on it, his lips twitching, not knowing where to take his first bite.
Biting the head felt weird, but biting the body felt even weirder.
He turned it over and over, examining it several times, before finally deciding to close his eyes and take a bite.
Ur sat nearby with her legs crossed, cracking melon seeds and munching on them with a series of clicks.
Her eyes scanned Juvia up and down, filled with a mix of scrutiny and curiosity.
This girl was very likely to become her disciple's wife, so she had to take a good look.
"Hmm, nice figure. She looks quite sturdy."
Gray almost choked on his chocolate.
∑(°Д°)
"Ur! What are you talking about!"
Ur spat out a seed shell and patted Gray on the back with a beaming smile.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just looking."
Alzack opened his golden egg with trepidation, his fingers trembling slightly, terrified that some purplish-black substance would pop out.
The moment the golden egg opened, he closed his eyes first, only opening them slowly after mentally preparing himself.
The chocolate inside had a very unique shape—it was in the form of a sniper rifle, with a long, slender barrel and a slightly upturned muzzle.
Even the details of the scope were present; one could tell at a glance that only someone who put their heart into it could make such a shape.
Instantly, Alzack's heart bloomed with joy, and his entire face lit up as if struck by sunlight.
He suddenly turned to look at Bisca, who happened to be looking at him too, and their eyes met.
(●'◡'●)ﾉ♦
Bisca's face flushed red instantly, and she quickly turned away, her fingers twisting the hem of her skirt.
Alzack also turned his head with a blush, but he couldn't suppress the grin on his face, smiling like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.
Seeing Alzack's happiness, Jet and Droy grew even more anxious, impatiently cracking open their own golden eggs.
Jet's golden egg opened with a snap. The chocolate inside was shaped like handcuffs; the silver chocolate handcuffs were lifelike, with even the links of the chain clearly visible.
Jet froze, his lips twitching several times.
This handcuff-shaped chocolate... didn't look like something Levy would make, no matter how you looked at it, right?
Levy was a Solid Script Mage, so what she made should have been shaped like a book.
Droy hastily checked his own chocolate, only to find an even worse disaster. The shape was completely unrecognizable—a mushy lump like stepped-on mud. One could barely make out a circular base, but the top section had completely collapsed.
"What is this?" Droy wanted to cry but had no tears.
Jet patted him on the shoulder, sighing in shared misery.
"Don't look at it. The more you look, the sadder you'll get."
The two sat on their chairs with slumped heads and dejected expressions. Clearly, neither of these chocolates belonged to Levy.
Jet placed the handcuff chocolate on the table, feeling more and more heartbroken the more he looked at it.
Droy stared at his lump of unidentified object, falling into deep thought.
Happy also opened his golden egg, splitting it into two with his little paws.
The chocolate inside was a thick rectangular block. Upon closer inspection, it was divided into dozens of layers, resembling a set of card-shaped chocolates. They were crafted just like real tarot cards, even replicating the patterns on the back.
"Aye! I got Cana's chocolate!"
Happy was so Happy his tail stood straight up, and he grabbed a few pieces of chocolate with his little paws, stuffing them into his mouth.
"So delicious!"
After swallowing a few pieces, Happy's round eyes slowly narrowed, his body swayed twice, and with a splat, he collapsed directly into unconsciousness, legs in the air, with chocolate crumbs still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
~(+﹏+)~
Everyone was startled. Riyao poked his head over to take a look, and after confirming there was no danger to life, he continued recording with his Crystal Ball.
Cana scratched her head, let out a sheepish laugh, and gestured with her hand, pinching a tiny distance between her index finger and thumb.
"Hahaha... I added a little alcohol to it. Just a tiny bit."
Lucy looked at her speechlessly.
"You call that a tiny bit? Happy got drunk after just one small bite!"
Cana shrugged.
"Who knew a cat's alcohol tolerance would be so poor."
Natsu carefully cracked open a tiny slit in his golden egg and pressed his nose close to sniff hard. Only after confirming there was no sign of that suffocating purple aura did he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, it's not that one."
He opened the golden egg fully. The chocolate inside was somewhat abstract and misshapen, looking like a lump of kneaded playdough, barely showing the outline of four legs and a long snout.
Natsu examined the bizarrely shaped chocolate, tilting his head left and right, and scratched his head.
"What is this? It looks a bit familiar."
Lucy slammed her hand on the table and stood up from across him, her face flushed red with embarrassment and anger.
(▼ヘ▼#)
"That's Canis Minor!"
Natsu looked at it again, a sudden realization dawning on him.
"Oh! Canis Minor! No wonder it looks like a dog."
"It doesn't look like a dog!" Lucy stamped her feet in anger.
Gray leaned over to look at the lump of chocolate and commented with a look of disgust.
"Although Canis Minor itself is already quite abstract, yours is even more abstract. Lucy, your crafting skills are on par with Erza's cooking."
Lucy's eyes welled with tears, and her hands clenched into fists.
"Shut up! I spent so long making it!"
Juvia's resentful gaze shifted from Gray to Lucy. Her stare was like a thorny vine, wrapping around Lucy and making her feel utterly uncomfortable.
Lucy looked completely helpless, waving her hands.
"Don't look at me! I'm not your love rival! There's really nothing between Gray and me!"
Steam began to billow even more furiously from Juvia.
"But Lucy showed her chocolate to Gray..."
"He was the one who leaned over to look!"
Jet and Droy were jumping up and down like badgers in a melon patch, craning their necks to look everywhere, trying to see who had gotten Levy's chocolate.
(°Д°≡°Д°)
"Who got Levy's? Did anyone see?" Jet paced around in circles anxiously.
"Did you see who got a book-shaped chocolate?" Droy asked every passing member he could grab.
Unfortunately, no one could answer them, as everyone was busy cracking open their own golden eggs.
Lisanna was also curious about who had eaten her chocolate, looking around and scanning the room, but she couldn't find them for the moment.
Just then, a commotion arose from the Celestial Spirit World.
Loke had originally wanted to return and join in the fun; after all, as a member of the guild, he wanted to participate too.
However, the moment he appeared in the guild hall, he was surrounded by a crowd of women.
They weren't guild members, but rather his former girlfriends. Having somehow caught wind of the event, they had rushed over to deliver chocolates.
Loke was nearly buried under the pile of chocolate boxes, with only his helpless hands waving from atop the mountain of chocolate.
"Everyone! Please calm down! Although I am very touched, still..."
ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
Riyao pointed his Crystal Ball at Loke, grinning from ear to ear.
"This footage is too good."
Wakaba and Macao were happily opening their golden eggs, looking inside with anticipation. Before they could even eat the chocolates, they were grabbed by their ears from behind by their respective wives.
"You dare eat chocolate made by other women?" Wakaba's wife twisted his ear, her voice chillingly dark.
Macao's wife was not to be outdone either. With one hand twisting Macao's ear, she confiscated his golden egg with the other. "Go home!"
The two middle-aged men were dragged out of the guild doors by their ears, their golden eggs thrown into the trash can, as their screams gradually faded into the distance.
Romeo sat in the corner, quietly eating chocolate with a satisfied smile on his little face, shaking his head like someone who had seen through the vanity of the world.
"Adults are so troublesome."
Finally, the highly anticipated moment arrived.
Elfman opened his golden egg. The moment he pried it apart, a purplish-black aura shot out from the gap like a venomous snake, winding and spreading through the air.
Once it was opened, the crowd within a few meters of him seemed to be pushed back by something, retreating in unison to form a vacuum zone.
Elfman stood all alone in the center, holding the purplish-black unidentified object in his hands, while the surrounding ground was dyed a dark purple by the aura.
The chocolate—if it could even be called chocolate—had purple bubbles rising from its surface, emitting a bizarre smell somewhere between decay and fermentation.
Occasionally, it even let out a gurgling sound, as if it were alive.
Seeing the purplish-black aura spread, Riyao's eyes lit up. He quickly aimed his Crystal Ball at Elfman, a mischievous grin playing on his lips.
"It looks like this year's sacrificial victim has appeared."
Mirajane covered her nose and took two steps back.
"Darling, you must record this."
"Don't worry, full HD and uncensored."
Elfman stared at the purplish-black 'chocolate' in his hands. The expression on his face turned from shock to despair, and then from despair to a resolve to face death.
(▼ヘ▼)
He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, with a look of tragic heroism.
"A real man! Never backs down!"
Before eating, he glanced at his brother-in-law. Riyao nodded at him, giving him a thumbs-up, while his other hand was already prepared with Healing Magic, standing by at any moment.
Elfman closed his eyes, stuffed the purplish-black lump into his mouth, and chewed twice. Instantly, his face turned a kaleidoscope of colors—first blue, then purple, followed by green, and finally settling on an indescribable, pale Gray.
"A real man..." he trembled as he uttered those words, and then collapsed to the ground with a thud, foaming at the mouth.
Riyao walked over unhurriedly, squatted down to pat Elfman's face, and then cast Healing Magic, enveloping Elfman in a purple glow.
"Don't worry, he won't die. At most, he'll have diarrhea for three days."
Up on the second floor, Freed distributed the extra golden eggs to Laxus and Bickslow.
Laxus leaned against the railing, his eyes closed as he listened to music through his headphones, looking like he didn't want anyone to bother him.
Freed placed the golden egg on the table beside him, sat down next to him, and cracked open his own golden egg.
Bickslow sat on the other side, an expectant look on his face beneath his mask, turning the golden egg over and over as he examined it.
Laxus snorted, reluctantly took off one earphone, reached out to pick up the golden egg, and pried it open with one hand.
Freed and Bickslow leaned in to look, the three of them crowding their heads together.
Inside were several chocolates shaped like small animals—a rabbit, a kitten, and a little bird, all adorably crafted.
"These animal-shaped chocolates look delicious," Freed commented with a smile.
"My babies want to try them too," Bickslow said, holding up a rabbit-shaped chocolate to examine it closely.
Laxus expressionlessly grabbed one at random, tossed it into his mouth, chewed twice, and closed his eyes to listen to his music again. His expression didn't change at all, as if he had just eaten an ordinary piece of candy.
Freed and Bickslow exchanged a glance, tacitly choosing not to disturb him.
In the hall, the joy of opening eggs continued. Some were pleasantly surprised, some were disappointed, some were poisoned, and some fell drunk.
Riyao held up his Crystal Ball, recording all of this, the smile on his lips never fading from beginning to end.