Chen Fan frowned upon hearing it. He was already irritated, so he had no patience to listen to the monster blabber. He pulled a coin from his pocket, his finger twitching lightly, and shot it towards Lullaby. The coin turned into a deadly projectile, hurtling like lightning.
With a "whoosh," the dense shooting star shot out, slicing through the air. The monster's head vanished instantly, exploding into fragments of darkness. Then, its entire body, lacking magical support, slowly turned to dust and disappeared into the air, as if it had never existed, leaving emptiness behind.
The terrifying lullaby, which had just been so threatening, simply died, giving everyone a strong sense of unreality. Everyone's mouths hung wide open, as if they had seen divine power.
Natsu shielded his eyes with his right hand, carefully observing the fading light, and said with a hint of emotion, "Oh... a big shooting star!" Only he, being too naive, would say such a thing in the midst of the crisis that had just passed.
Gray slapped Natsu's head, a loud thwack sounding, and yelled, "When have you ever seen a shooting star shoot from the ground to the sky, you idiot?!"
"Oh, right." Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head, an adorable expression. Then his tone instantly turned fierce, directed at Gray. "You could have just said it, why hit my head, ah?!"
Gray ignored him, then looked at Lucy with her eyes closed, hands clasped to her chest. He asked, somewhat confused, "What are you doing, Lucy?"
"Making a wish!" Lucy said very seriously, with an innocent expression on her face, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Only Erza looked at the fading light in the sky with a rather serious expression and asked Makarov, "Master, what kind of magic is this? It has such destructive power." Her voice was full of inquiry.
Makarov's expression was also somewhat serious. He looked in a certain direction, roughly guessing it was Chen Fan, and then said to everyone, "Let's all go back. Lullaby has been destroyed, and the Death Song crisis has been resolved. Alright, everyone, go back now." He began to dismiss people, his movements quick and decisive, as if wanting to hide something.
Everyone saw that Makarov had spoken, and although they were somewhat confused, they said nothing more. They all returned to their rooms. Only Goldmine and Bob seemed to know something, yet they chose to remain silent in front of everyone, exchanging meaningful glances.
Erza was also somewhat confused as to why the Master was like this, but she knew the Master's temperament, so she, like the others, didn't press the matter further. She followed Makarov towards the villa.
Suddenly, Erza felt a chill run through her body, and she shivered involuntarily. She looked towards the villa with a hint of fear and saw Chen Fan with a brilliant smile on his face, waving and shouting loudly, "Xiao Shasha, Xiao Shasha!" He ran towards Erza while shouting, like an excited pet dog seeing its owner.
"Xiao Shasha?!" Lucy said, astonished, cupping her face with her hands, slightly dazed, her head tilted.
"Bang!!" Erza appeared beside Chen Fan in the blink of an eye, her sword already drawn. She hit the hilt against Chen Fan's head, a dull thwack that made a strange sound. After knocking Chen Fan unconscious, she let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yosh, everything's settled. Alright, everyone back." With that, she grabbed Chen Fan by the collar and dragged him towards the villa, as if Chen Fan were just a useless sack of potatoes.
Erza's actions made everyone break out in a cold sweat, and they quickly scurried back to their rooms, as if afraid to provoke her, avoiding the intimidating gaze of the Fairy Queen.
Early the next morning, Chen Fan began extensively scavenging leftover food from the banquet, packing it all into his backpack, which greatly surprised Makarov and the others, who had no idea what was on Chen Fan's mind.
Because Chen Fan's appearance at this moment was quite embarrassing—covered in crumbs and stains—they were too ashamed to approach and ask him what he was doing, each turning their faces away and pretending not to know him, like villagers avoiding trouble in any anime.
What they didn't know was that their expressions had long been seen by Chen Fan. Chen Fan thought to himself, 'Alright, you don't know me, do you? There will be a time when you beg me.' A faint smirk appeared on his face.
Soon, Chen Fan finished his scavenging and set off on the road home with Makarov and the others. As he left, Chen Fan also took a bottle of red wine from the bartender, a small act of unexpected mischief.
Under the scorching sun, Chen Fan and his companions walked step by step across the cracked earth, dust swirling with every footprint.
"Ah... Seriously, I'm telling you, Happy, you're lost again, aren't you? No matter how long we walk, we can never reach Magnolia Town, you stray cat!" Lucy complained to Happy, her voice frustrated, her hands on her hips.
"Saying I'm lost again is really rude! I wasn't lost last time, you know. This is the first time!" Happy argued, with an honest tone, wagging his tail.
"Even if it's the first time, the fact that we're lost can't be changed," Lucy continued, her tone cynical, her eyes narrowed.
"Ah... I'm hungry, Chen Fan, give me food," Natsu pleaded with Chen Fan, his stomach rumbling, his hands clutching his belly.
"No, I still need to save some for my Xiao Shasha," Chen Fan said proudly, then pulled a piece of bread from his backpack and said to Erza, "Here, Xiao Shasha, this is for you." A sweet smile radiated from his face, yet full of hidden meaning.
"No, I'm not hungry," Erza forcefully turned her head away, though her eyes secretly peeked at the bread in Chen Fan's hand, her throat seeming to swallow, a faint "Gulp" sound coming from her hungry stomach.
Makarov darted in front of Chen Fan with surprising speed for his age and said, "Chen Fan, give me the bread! Do you remember, it was my bread that saved your life back then!" His expression was full of drama, mimicking a heroic pose.
Chen Fan, who had been amiable, suddenly turned grim and roared at Makarov, his facial expression dramatically changing like a shonen character who had just remembered an old grudge, a dark shadow covering his face. "It's fine if you don't mention it, but when you do, it makes me angry! It's true you gave me bread, but that was supposed to be a one-day trip, and you dragged me for half a month! How dare you even mention it?! You had no money to pay for food and even pawned me! Luckily, I'm smart and escaped with my unbeatable 'slippery eel' technique, and also..."
Lucy quietly asked Happy, her eyes wide, "Was Chen Fan always like this before? And did the Master really do that?"
"Ay... He even pawned me a few times," Happy said, sobbing pitifully, tears streaming down his cat face, a poignant comedic scene.