Fairy Tail: The Uncrowned King of Magic

Chapter 136: Chapter 136

Erza drove the flying vehicle toward Oshibana Station at a speed that left sparks practically flying behind them.

By the time they arrived, Eisenwald had already begun its operation.

Thick smoke billowed from inside the station while crowds gathered outside, and the entire area had descended into chaos.

Erza didn’t care about any of that.

She drove straight over the crowd, descended from the sky, and crashed directly into the station.

Fairy Tail’s Strongest Team had arrived in spectacular fashion.

Fortunately, Erza’s vehicle had been reinforced with armor and could withstand the impact without much trouble.

She calmly climbed out and stored it away, leaving behind Gray on shaky legs, Lucy on her knees trying not to throw up, Natsu completely unconscious, and Happy looking perfectly fine.

Waiting directly ahead of them was virtually the entire Eisenwald guild.

Erza’s gaze settled on the scythe-wielding man perched atop one of the magic train cars.

"You’re Erigor?"

Her expression turned cold.

"Hand over Lullaby and surrender peacefully. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee you’ll leave this station alive."

"What?"

Erigor’s eyes narrowed.

’How does she know about Lullaby?’

Then he noticed Gray.

"That shirtless, spiky-haired bastard... Haven’t we seen him before?"

His expression darkened.

"Damn it! You two idiots leaked the plan!"

The irritation lasted only a moment before Erigor sneered and lifted himself into the air with Wind Magic, drifting toward the station’s broadcast speakers.

"Looks like you learned something you weren’t supposed to know."

"But it doesn’t matter anymore."

A sinister smile spread across his face.

"If you know about Lullaby, then surely you also know what this flute can do~"

Erza’s expression changed.

"Don’t tell me you intend to play the cursed song over the station’s broadcast system!"

"Hahahaha!"

Erigor spread his arms.

"There are several thousand fools gathered outside this station just to watch the commotion."

"No... if I turn the volume high enough, the entire town will hear the melody of death!"

His face twisted with fanaticism.

"This is a purge!"

"These ignorant weaklings live in a world ruled by Mages without even understanding how powerless they truly are."

"I, Erigor the Reaper, will punish that sin with death!"

Erza frowned.

She wasn’t particularly afraid of Lullaby’s curse herself, but if Erigor truly broadcast it throughout the station, protecting all the ordinary civilians outside would be extremely difficult.

That made things troublesome.

"I’ll leave these people to you."

Erigor shot upward.

"I’m going to play the flute."

He blasted through one of the station walls with Wind Magic and escaped.

"Damn it!"

Erza immediately moved to pursue him.

"Stop right there!"

Her body suddenly froze.

A pitch-black shadow had stretched from one of Eisenwald’s officers and connected itself to Erza’s own.

By now, Natsu and the others had finally recovered from Erza’s driving.

The moment they looked up and saw what was happening, all three of them reacted at once.

"Holy crap! Shadow Imitation Technique?!" Gray blurted.

"Is that Shikamaru?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"A-A ninja?!" Natsu shouted.

To their surprise, the man controlling the shadow burst into delighted laughter.

"Hahahaha! That’s right its Shadow Imitation Technique!"

"I am Shika-Kageyama of Eisenwald!"

"Against my Shadow Magic, none of you stand a chance!"

Natsu, Gray, and Lucy stared at him.

"You read Naruto too?!" they shouted together.

"..."

Erza forcibly broke through the shadow restraint with raw magic power and rubbed her forehead.

"Can all of you please take this seriously?"

"Go after Erigor before he plays that flute!"

Kageyama’s face changed.

"What?! She broke free from my Shadow Magic?"

Then recognition finally hit him.

"Wait... that’s Erza Scarlet, the Fairy Queen!"

He immediately shouted toward the rest of Eisenwald.

"Bad news! She’s strong!"

"Everyone, attack together!"

Erza turned toward her companions.

"I’ll deal with these people."

"You go after Erigor and stop him from playing Lullaby."

"Got it!" Natsu and Gray answered together.

Lucy pointed at herself uncertainly.

’Me too?!’

...

At the same time, inside Fairy Tail’s projection room, Mira frowned slightly at the live feed.

"Marshall, if Erigor really plays Lullaby through the station speakers, that could become a serious problem."

"Are you going to intervene?"

"It would be troublesome."

Marshall watched the projection thoughtfully.

"But I don’t think the people in Oshibana are his real target."

He pointed toward the screen.

The viewpoint of his Light Telescope rose higher, revealing that the entire station had been surrounded by a vast wall of raging wind.

It was an advanced Wind Magic barrier known as Wind Wall.

The spell generated powerful cutting currents that sealed its victims inside and prevented them from breaking through from the interior.

It was a sophisticated barrier-type spell, though it had one major weakness: like Jutsu-Shiki, the formation had to be prepared in advance.

Even Marshall, whose Wind Magic had reached Level Three, had never learned this particular spell and couldn’t reproduce it on short notice.

Apparently Erigor wasn’t completely useless.

Still...

He’s only slightly impressive.

Mira studied the screen.

"Wind Wall?"

"So he wants to trap Erza and the others inside the station?"

"Why?"

Marshall rested his chin on one hand.

"I think Erigor’s true target was never the ordinary people of Oshibana."

He pointed beyond the town on the projected map.

"Look. Clover Town is nearby."

"That’s where Master and the other Guild Masters are holding their meeting right now."

"My guess is that Eisenwald hijacked the rail line and sealed Oshibana to delay pursuit."

"Their real objective is to take Lullaby to Clover and use it against all the Guild Masters gathered in one place."

"My~"

Mira smiled pleasantly.

"That gentleman from the dark guild certainly has... admirable courage."

Something mischievous clearly occurred to her.

She pulled Marshall closer and whispered into his ear.

"Marshall, why don’t we guide Erza and the others toward the conference?"

"We could give Master a little extra excitement."

Marshall hesitated.

"That might not be ideal."

"I was hoping to find a chance to secretly keep Lullaby for myself."

"If we take it all the way to the Guild Masters’ meeting, hiding a demon flute under Master’s nose would become much harder."

"That’s true."

Mira nodded.

"And Lullaby is dangerous enough that leaving it unattended isn’t a good idea."

"So are you going over there now?"

"No need to hurry."

Marshall grinned.

"The hero always appears at the last possible moment!"

...

Naturally, Erza had no idea Marshall and Mira were watching everything from the guildhall.

After a brief but violent battle, Erza’s group defeated every Eisenwald member remaining inside the station.

Aside from Erigor himself, Eisenwald had effectively been wiped out.

Only afterward did they learn his true objective from the defeated members.

Just as Marshall had guessed, Erigor intended to take Lullaby to Clover Town and make a spectacular attack on the Guild Masters’ conference.

Erza and the others weren’t particularly worried about Makarov.

Nor did they seriously believe one cursed flute could wipe out a room full of powerful Guild Masters.

Still, being trapped behind Wind Wall while their enemy escaped was infuriating.

The group now stood before the roaring barrier, staring at it helplessly.

Gray frowned.

"So we’re stuck."

"We really fell for it."

Erza considered their options.

"Gray, contact Master through the terminal and warn him."

"After that, we may have to leave Erigor to the Guild Masters."

"It should be fine."

Natsu immediately objected.

"What?! No way!"

"That bastard is our enemy!"

"How can we just hand him over to Master?!"

"We can’t leave," Gray reminded him. "This spell won’t disappear on its own for at least another four hours."

"By the time we get out, everything will probably already be over."

"Damn it!"

Natsu clenched his fists.

Then, miraculously, his brain began working.

"Wait!"

"In a situation like this, shouldn’t we just ask Marshall?"

The others paused.

"That makes sense," Gray admitted.

Lucy and Erza nodded as well.

Natsu immediately pulled out his terminal and called for reinforcements.

"Marshall! Get over here and help us!"

After hearing their predicament, Marshall smiled in a way that immediately suggested trouble.

"Sure."

"But I charge an appearance fee."

"NANIIII?!"

Natsu exploded.

"You stingy bastard! How much money do you want?"

"Money?"

Marshall sounded offended.

"I don’t need money."

"I want something else."

He paused deliberately.

"For example..."

"How about Lucy serves as my maid for three days?"

Lucy froze.

"???"

"WAIT!"

She nearly lunged at the terminal.

"WHY AM I THE PAYMENT?!"

Natsu and Gray immediately turned toward her.

"Lucy, please!"

"This is your chance to contribute!"

"What?! That’s completely unfair!"

Lucy recoiled in horror.

"No! Absolutely not!"

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