"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu yelled. A dragon of fire erupted from his mouth, sending Toby flying straight away. In a flash, Toby became a tiny star and disappeared on the horizon.
Chen Fan shielded his eyes and watched Toby fly away. "Oh, he's flying away, he's flying away," he said.
Suddenly, a gloomy voice sounded from behind Chen Fan. "You're going to fly away too!" Chen Fan jumped in shock and turned around, only to see Erza standing behind him with a grim expression, a large hammer in her hand, which was already swinging toward Chen Fan.
"Ahhh!" A scream echoed, sending shivers down the spines of all who heard it. They silently mourned for Chen Fan, touching their foreheads and chests with their index and middle fingers, then clasping their hands to their chests, saying, "God, have mercy on this poor child."
Inside a tent, Chen Fan was tied to a pole. Erza held a leather whip that Lucy had brought and swung it, making a "crack, crack" sound. Sweat dripped from Chen Fan's forehead.
In the corner, Lucy and Happy huddled together, tied with rope, their eyes squeezed shut as if a bloody scene was about to unfold.
Suddenly, Erza threw the whip to the ground. Chen Fan finally relaxed, thinking that his yearly 'training' was not in vain. But soon after, his heart tightened again.
Erza's hand conjured a magic sword. "Don't get too excited, Erza!" Lucy suddenly screamed. She was afraid she would end up like Chen Fan.
But Erza didn't seem to hear. She continued to swing the sword toward Chen Fan's neck. In that critical moment, Chen Fan couldn't take it anymore and yelled loudly, "Wait!!!!"
Erza's sword stopped, but she didn't lower it. Lucy and the others opened their eyes, wanting to see what Chen Fan would say before he died.
"What else do you want to say?" Erza said in a cold voice.
Chen Fan looked at Erza with passionate eyes. "When this sword is only 0.01 centimeters from my throat, and my life might end the next second, I have decided to say the words I have always wanted to say from my heart."
He ran his hand through his hair, turned to the side, and said deeply, word by word, "A long time ago, there was a sincere feeling in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. Only after I lost it did I feel deep regret. If Heaven gives me another chance..." He suddenly turned to Erza with a "whoosh...!" and said, "I will say three words to that girl: 'I' 'love' 'you'."
However, Erza still didn't lower her sword. Chen Fan had no choice but to continue with a stronger move: "If there must be a time limit for this love, I hope it is ten thousand years!"
"So touching... sob sob!"
"This is truly touching, I never thought Chen Fan was this deep with his feelings! I really misjudged you, sob sob!" Lucy cried from the side.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm saving you guys, why are you getting so emotional?! And by the way, that last line about 'misjudging me', why does it sound so strange?" Chen Fan mumbled.
Erza's magic sword swung down and cut Chen Fan's ropes. Chen Fan thought he had finally won Erza over, but soon after, his head began to hurt again. A large iron hammer appeared in Erza's hand again. "Ahhh!" Another scream, and those who heard it got goosebumps again, praying for Chen Fan again.
"Ouch! That hurts, Erza! Can't you be a little gentler?!" Chen Fan complained while rubbing his back.
"How dare you say that?! Don't you know how dangerous an S-Class mission is?! And you brought them here to mess around!" Erza roared.
"Well, yeah, yeah, no need to be so serious, right? Didn't I come along? Besides, I'm also an S-Class Mage," Chen Fan said, striking a bodybuilding pose, which disgusted Lucy and the others.
"It's precisely because you came along that it's dangerous. Who knows if you'll sell us out at a critical moment?" Lucy and Happy also looked at Chen Fan with suspicion.
"Don't slander my character! Blame Natsu, that disloyal man actually ran away, leaving me to bear Erza's wrath! Oh, and where's Gray? Where did he go?" Chen Fan yelled.
"He ran away too," Lucy said, tears streaming down her face. "Ah..."
"This isn't good! They must have gone to look for those guys!" Lucy suddenly remembered something and said anxiously.
With two "whoosh, whoosh" sounds, Erza cut Lucy and Happy's ropes. "In that case, go quickly and see! We'll deal with you when we get back to the guild." She then ran out of the tent. Happy and Lucy followed her.
Chen Fan was about to follow, but as soon as he stepped out, "bang!" a large hammer hit his stomach. He heard Erza say, "You'd better just rest here quietly." After seeing Chen Fan close his eyes, Erza called two villagers to carry him to a bed, then turned and left.
Opening his eyes slightly, Chen Fan sat on the bed after Erza's figure had disappeared. He looked at his hand under the moonlight from the window, clenching and unclenching it, deep in thought.
Time passed, and after an unknown duration, a piercing sound suddenly rang out. Chen Fan instantly directed his gaze toward the source of the sound. He knew that Deliora had been revived.
He got out of bed, looked at the purple moon in the sky, and muttered, "It seems it's time to end this farce."
After speaking, two whirlpools appeared under his feet. He flew directly toward the moon, using the cover of night.
"Ahaha! I'm finally back! The air here is the freshest!" Natsu yelled excitedly, waving his hands, attracting the attention of people on the street.
"Why are you so happy? You're going to be in big trouble when we get back to Fairy Tail, after all, you broke the rules, right, Erza?" Chen Fan said with annoyance. Those two ungrateful people had run away at the critical moment, leaving him alone to bear Erza's wrath. Chen Fan was not going to be soft-hearted when it came to revenge.
"Hmm, even if I forgive you, the decision is with the Master. Everything will be decided by the Master," Erza said after thinking for a moment.
Hearing this, Chen Fan was not happy and yelled at Erza, "Then why didn't you hand me over to the Master back then?! You even used a personal punishment on me! I'm still sore all over now!"
"Hmm? What, you have an opinion?" Erza frowned and said coldly, making Natsu and the others quickly move away, afraid of being caught in her wrath.
Chen Fan instantly cowered and mumbled, "No..."
"Good that you don't. I know everything about you and the Master; it would be strange for the Master to punish you, humph," that final soft snort made Chen Fan go limp, and he no longer dared to argue.
Suddenly, whispers from the roadside began: "Those Fairy Tail guys are so pitiful. They probably don't know what happened."
"Yeah, yeah."