According to the old chief's information, the magic egg was located in an underground altar at the very center of the village.
Chase and the others had to navigate through the maze of village paths in the black mist, cross the central square, enter an underground stone door, and go through an underground passage to reach the final altar.
The whole process didn't sound complicated. Simply put, just keep moving forward.
But even Bacchus of Quartet Cerberus, despite giving it his all, could only reach the halfway point of the underground passage. He had to give up, never even seeing the magic egg.
Chase had barely entered the village when he guessed the fundamental reason for Bacchus's failure.
The black mist permeating the area wasn't a natural phenomenon. It seemed to contain some kind of magical particles. Inhaling them would invade the body, causing one's magic power to fall into uncontrollable disorder.
This feeling... It was similar to the Miasma Particles released when Etherious from Zeref's books self-destructed!
Though he hadn't directly confronted Tartaros yet, Chase immediately thought of this term.
On second thought, it wasn't strange. After all, the villagers' demonization was clearly caused by the magic egg.
Since they were demons, the ones Zeref created had probably referenced native demons in some ways. It wasn't surprising they would have similar abilities.
"Master, something's wrong with this black mist." Dark Magician Girl also sensed the anomaly, frowning slightly.
The Miasma Particles (for lack of a better term) seemed to affect her, too, despite her use of dark magic.
"Huh? Is it the black mist?"
Lucy belatedly blinked. "No wonder breathing became difficult once we entered the village!"
With all her attention on demons that might jump out at any moment, she had thought it was just in her head.
"Let's try something."
Chase stopped. Light interwove at his fingertips, forming a card. "Magic Card — Cyclone, activate!"
HUM!
A black tornado, mixed with lightning, roared out, tearing down the village path.
Its powerful gravitational pull churned the surrounding black mist, violently sucking it into the eye of the storm and carrying it out of the village.
Their field of vision instantly widened. Along the now-clear village path, they could clearly see the central square at the far end!
As the black mist cleared, Lucy immediately felt her breathing ease. The depression in her chest also dissipated.
"As expected of Chase — amazing!"
Watching the collapsed houses on either side of the road, she gasped, "But isn't this too amazing?!"
She had a strong gut feeling: the reward from this job was definitely going to be much smaller than expected!
This accurate sixth sense was all thanks to teaming up with Natsu, Gray, and Erza.
"To complete the job, such sacrifice is necessary." Chase smiled, scratching his head.
Judging by the thin black mist still remaining in other parts of the village, he had actually held back significantly.
If he had activated the Magic Card to dispel all the black mist, the village would be gone.
The main reason, of course, was to avoid spreading the demonized villagers wandering the area.
ROAR!
The moment he finished, hoarse, low growls came from all around.
Pairs of scarlet eyes lit up in the side paths and deep within alleys. Monsters with horns, purplish-black skin, twisted faces, sharp claws, and fangs!
This was the downside of clearing the black mist. Though their view and breathing were clear, the commotion attracted a large number of demonized villagers!
"Th-There they are! The demonized villagers!"
Startled, Lucy's initial fear turned to suspicion as she saw the "monsters" approaching. "Wait, they really do look like the ones on Galuna Island!"
Aside from Their intimidating scarlet eyes, the demonized villagers' posture and appearance were nearly identical to the demons on Galuna Island.
Remembering the friendly, honest islanders of Galuna, Lucy mustered her courage and stepped forward, trying to communicate. "Um, hello there."
ROAR!!
In response, the frontmost demonized villager lunged with its claws.
Fortunately, thanks to yesterday's forest training, Lucy had developed basic conditioned reflexes. With a very flexible backward lean, she barely dodged the attack.
"These guys don't seem to understand human speech." Chase's eyes sharpened as he carefully observed the gathering demons.
Some still retain some human characteristics. Others had fully transformed into demons, even growing black bat wings on their backs!
As his preliminary assessment last night had suggested, these people's final demonization form tended infinitely toward the demons of Galuna Island!
There might truly be a connection between the two.
With that thought, Chase crossed his arms, clearly preparing to watch the show.
"As we agreed, Lucy. I cleared the black mist for you. I'll leave these guys to you."
"Huh?!" Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief.
The demonized villagers didn't give her much time to react. They bent their legs slightly, briefly gathered power, and charged.
"Open! Gate of Virgo, Virgo!"
With no choice, Lucy quickly summoned a Celestial Spirit.
"Princess, please punish me." The adorably blank Virgo said her usual line.
Ignoring her masochistic request, Lucy pointed at the charging demonized villagers. "Virgo, incapacitate them without harming them. They're villagers."
"Understood!"
Virgo, aware of the situation, nodded. Starting from her white-stockinged legs, she drilled straight into the ground.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
***
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