Arriving at Orcus by the afternoon of the next day, as I took a nap on the way, I walked through the city, finding nothing of interest, though, not that I would, given my current state. After several minutes, I neared the Magi Council's HQ, though before I could enter, two magic knights stopped me. "Sir, this area is off limits." "Only authorized personnel are allowed beyond this point."
Eyeing the two in annoyance, I grunted before turning around, pointing to my back, and while I couldn't see their reactions, I could hear them. "I'm Cooper of Fairy Tail—S-class mage. I came here for a meeting with Fairy Tail's assigned Magic Knight." "W-We apologize!" "Y-Yes, sir, right this way, please enter." Grunting, I ignored them and promptly entered. "Was that really the 'Beast' of Fairy Tail?" "Yeah, crazy, right? I never thought I'd meet someone as famous as him when I applied for this job."
Entering the building, I passed several more security measures along the way, which were only adding to my annoyance, before I finally arrived at the lobby of the building. "Um, h-how could I help you, Sir?" "Where is the magic knight assigned to Fairy Tail? I need to speak with him." "Sir Doranbolt? He's on the third floor in office 3232-" I didn't wait for the receptionist to finish speaking as I quickly walked away, taking the nearby stairs to the third floor.
When I arrived, I spotted more magic knights than usual on this floor, which looked just like the others, but it wasn't something I cared about from the beginning, so I just ignored it. Once I arrived at Mest's office, I opened the door, only to stop in the doorway as I stared at the empty room. "Oh, if you're looking for Sir Doranbolt, he's currently in a meeting. You probably won't be able to speak with him for another few hours."
Snapping my head at the passing knight, I subconsciously growled before sniffing the air. 'Got you.' Once I caught Mest's scent, I followed it through the third floor, walking down different halls and taking several turns before I finally arrived at a large glass office, prompting me to enter. "... Regarding the magic- " The moment I entered the room, the conversation came to a halt, and all eyes were instantly drawn to me while my eyes narrowed at Mest, ignoring everything else.
"Doranbolt–" "Cooper! What are you doing here!? I'm in a meeting!" Full of confusion, anger, and shock, Mest stood up and tried to stop me, though he was far too weak for that. "Quiet." Narrowing my eyes, I released a short burst of overwhelming magic power, silencing Mest while the other magic knights fearfully lowered their gaze.
Reaching into my pocket, I handed Mest the document of Jasmine Hady and let him read it, only for him to furrow his brows in confusion while raising his gaze. "I want everything you have on her." "I-I don't have that authority; you'll need to ask someone in the forensic depart-" "Where is the forensic department?" "I-I can lead the way-" "Then do so."
With a hesitant nod, Mest left the office while I followed; we headed up to the fifth floor and took several turns before walking down a long hallway. "Listen, Cooper, I don't know why you want her stuff, but you won't get a response immediately; there is a procedure to things. After a week, you'll get a response, and this all assuming your request gets accepted."
Listening to Mest speak, I came to a halt and dangerously narrowed my eyes before heaving a deep sigh. "Gramps will be upset, but whatever." "Huh, what are you-" "Sorry in advance." Before Mest could finish speaking, I karate chopped the back of his neck, causing him to slump onto the ground while I continued walking down the hallway. I came here for information, and I would leave unless I got it.
Nearing the end of the hallway, I opened the door, only to enter a large room with a massive vault door on the other side. "Um, I've never seen you before, can I-" Before he could call for reinforcements, I swiftly knocked the man out. Shifting my focus to the large vault, I approached and partially enhanced myself while digging my nails into the steel before forcefully prying it open.
'Ugh, this is a bit difficult.' Enhancing my body more than I thought, I finally managed to pry the vault open, causing it to hang limply to the side as I swung it open, though just as I did so, an alarm began to blare throughout the entire HQ, causing me to click my tongue. 'Whatever, I just need to be quick.'
Entering the vault, I began searching for items or information regarding Jasmine Hady, though first, I needed to find where her stuff was being held, and thankfully for me, everything was ordered alphabetically, so it wasn't difficult to find her name. Once I found the drawer housing her stuff, I was a bit disappointed when I saw how few items there were.
"Tsk, great." Grabbing everything, I stuffed them into my pockets before heading to the entrance, though when I arrived, there was a whole mini army of magic knights, and standing at the forefront were two pretty strong opponents. One was an older woman, probably in her forties, wearing a red dress and wielding a red staff, and the other was a handsome man in his thirties with long blond hair.
"Cooper, come out with your hands up and allow us to arrest you." Ignoring the words of the magic knight from behind the two, I cautiously eyed both of them, who both seemed to look at me without a hint of caution. "Seventh and Eighth Wizard Saints… Tch, bunch of cowards." I've sent several requests for challenges to every single wizard saint except for God Serena, and only the top three bothered to respond. Every other Wizard saint has just outright ignored me, and in my eyes, that just made them cowards.
"I don't need some brat calling me a coward. Listen, allow yourself to be arrested, seeing how you're already injured, I'd prefer not to further injure you." Pointing at me with her staff, the seventh wizard saint, whatever her name was, barely paid me any attention, treating me as if I were merely an annoyance to her.
"I hope you refuse, Cooper; hearing how much the Sorcerer Magazine wants you despite refusing my help has been pissing me off." Narrowing his eyes, the eighth wizard saint looked at me with a sadistic expression unbefitting of his handsome appearance.
However, despite their threatening words, I merely scoffed; even if I were facing two wizard saints, I wouldn't back down. "I'll say it once, leave." "Oh, looks like this little punk is refusing to surrender." Without warning, the man suddenly raised his hands, causing numerous thick beams of light to fly right at me, forcing me to enhance my body to the limit as I charged at him, while his attacks merely left a deep bruise on my body.
"Tsk, dammit, fool." As I neared them, the woman pointed her staff at me before a sea of flames far bigger than anything Natsu had ever created to engulf me. 'Tsk, this is actually hot.'
Clicking my tongue, I raised my arms, protecting my face as I continued to run through the sea of flames while approaching the woman; unfortunately for me, the man was still accurately attacking me even within the sea of fire. "Tch. Enough!" With a burst of speed, I neared the woman and grabbed the tip of the staff where the sea of flames continuously spewed from, interrupting her attack and surprising her.
"H-How di-" Of course, I didn't give her the chance to retaliate and grabbed her face before slamming her into the ground, causing her to lie unconscious, only for me to growl when I felt a plethora of attacks slam against my back. Eyeing the man, whose confident smile was gone and was replaced with a grim expression, I charged towards him. "Oi, s-stay away from me, you beast!"
Arriving in front of him, I went to grab his face, but he managed to just narrowly dodge; unluckily for him, I happened to catch his tie. "W-Wait, ple-" Punching his stomach, I ended the fight by planting him face-first into the ground. Heaving a deep sigh, I raised my head and gazed at the ceiling before wincing in pain and glancing at my body. 'Tch, my wounds have reopened. Fighting two Wizard Saints isn't easy; it would've taken much longer if they hadn't underestimated me.'
Stretching my arm while wincing in pain, I eyed the stunned group of magic knights before walking to the exit while they all subconsciously parted the way; I'd just defeated two wizards by myself, so it would be stupid of them to attack after witnessing that. "S-Surrender…" Ignoring that fool, I walked down the long hallway, where I saw Mest slowly coming too, prompting me to karate chop his neck once more before taking the stairs to the first floor and exiting the building.
'Now, it's time to find Jasmine Hady.'