"KAZU!" Erza shouted. She hadn't seen the whole torture, like Kazu, but she was filled with anger and disgust at whatever scenes she saw. The only thing that kept her sane was the lifeless eyes Kazu bore.
The once strong guild member bearing such a look didn't sit right with her. The only thing she could do was be calm and act as the brain for the duo.
However, that didn't last long. This distraction didn't go unused.
CRACK
Her last sword broke along with whatever hope she had left.
Before she knew it, she was overwhelmed by the others, getting a lot of attacks in before a hit on the head, knocking her unconscious.
"They should have escaped the first thing they did instead of confronting me..." Anne shook her head, muttering, "Inexperienced fools."
Her minions brought those two's unconscious bodies in front of her.
'Though they do seem unconscious, I don't want to risk getting closer to them... just yet.' Anne, despite her appearance, was more than half a century old and was one of the experienced mages on the continent.
Though she liked being reckless normally, these two's talent had made her take caution.
She threw two handcuffs to one of the minions, who carefully grabbed them with a cloth, not making direct contact with their skin.
It then put them on the two.
"Now, they are harmless. Without Magic, they are just kids. I will sacrifice them with the next batch." She then looked at a particular tree.
Lucas came from behind it. His face was stoic, betraying no emotion.
"I will put them in the cellar. We can use them for that ritual after you get the other 2 mages." He said before she could say anything.
Calling a mage was part of the plan, as they wanted to sacrifice them.
"Thanks, honey. I will go to the town." After giving Lucas a last glance, Anne marched with her monster army into the forest.
---
Cana didn't know what exactly happened. One second she was talking with the mayor, and the next second, a part of the floor hurled her outside the cart at insane speed.
"Fuck!" She cursed while looking at the upside-down tree approaching her.
She was barely able to shield her head with her hands before impact.
THUD
Unfortunately for her, her body didn't stop there.
'Why is the world spinning?' Cana felt nauseous as she made contact with multiple trees before dropping into a lake.
"Wa—" Cana opened her mouth only to find water rushing inside. She quickly closed her mouth while rushing towards the surface.
'I am never going to come to a forest ever again.' She promised.
Cana moved for a few seconds. However, the surface didn't come.
The oxygen in her lungs was depleting at a fast rate due to crashing into the lake unprepared.
'Why am I not reaching the surface?' Cana thought as fear finally crept into her mind.
She stopped moving, and so did the world.
"Oh—" She quickly closed her mouth, which she had instinctively opened. 'Fuck. The world was spinning before. I was moving down instead of up.' She pushed her body to the limits as she rushed upwards—in the right direction.
20 metres.
The blunder just now has caused her to lose more oxygen. 'Shouldn't have opened my mouth. How can I make the same mistake again?'
10 metres
Her body started feeling weak. Moving them proved to be an insanely difficult task. She was finally out of oxygen.
5 metres.
All thoughts ceased inside Cana's mind. Her body and mind got perfectly aligned with one goal—oxygen.
"Blegh" She quickly vomited all the water and greedily sucked air.
"Thought... gonna...die...before...telling...dad." She muttered in between her breaths.
After inhaling oxygen for the next minute, she finally started swimming towards the edge.
"Where am I? Didn't know there was a lake here." Cana said, landing on the ground and looking around.
Her eyes met somebody else's.
Beastly eyes.
Cana's entire body stiffened in fear at the killing intent it excluded.
Magical Beast. Gigantic bear.
Both of them stared at each other. However, their gazes were different.
They both realised the same thing. Their positions were different.
Predator and prey.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, the bear finally moved.
The predator moved towards its prey.
Cana didn't move. She watched the approaching boar in horror.
'Move! Body fucking move!' Cana internally thought, yet her body refused to move.
Not due to inability. But due to sheer fear.
'Move. Kazu will come.'
The thought surfaced, sharp—desperate.
He had rescued her two times before, first with a boar and then with a rat. So, coming again should feel natural...right?
'He's not here...'
That realisation cut through her delusions. Kazu was a few hours away from her in the village, likely saving the village.
'Gray then—'
Another spark of hope flickered. But even before the thought completed—
The bear's growl drowned it out.
She wasn't being hunted.
She had already been caught.
---
"Where is Cana?" If looks could kill, Gray would have killed Tracy with just his looks.
Tracy raised a brow. "I thought you guys didn't like each other, seeing how you were fighting throughout your time here."
Gray frowned. "So, you were spying on us the whole time. Your magic... You could control those animals. Also, somehow enhance—"
"Transform." Tracy corrected him.
Gray's frown disappeared. His face was stoic, contrary to his gaze, which was colder than his magic. "Doesn't change anything. Where is Cana?"
Various magic circles appeared around him, floating in the air. Lances, Arrows, hammers, and even a chainsaw could be seen poking out from them. Ready to be launched at a moment's notice.
All pointing menacingly at Tracy.
"Why do you care? As I said before, don't you dislike her? I think you should be more worried about yourself."
The animals surrounding Tracy moved, surrounding her defensively. The wolf in front of her closed the distance between them in an instant, appearing in front of Gray, pouncing on him.
The ice chainsaw moved. Blood splattered.
Gray's body became more bloody.
"I dislike her to some extent. That's true." Gray said, looking Tracy right in the eye.
"But, it doesn't matter.
She's family."
The lances around him moved. In an instant, most of them impaled the animals surrounding Tracy in the vitals, incapacitating them.
"I see. That makes sense." A complex look appeared on her face for some time before disappearing, replaced by a smile.
She continued. "Guess, I will be holding your family hostage then. Things couldn't get easier." Tracy smirked.
Gray blinked. Then he smirked.
He tossed off his bloody t-shirt before conjuring multiple projectiles.
"You said you 'will'. Guess you haven't captured her yet. Cana's pretty weak, that's true. But compared to you," The weapons around him vibrated menacingly.
"She's pretty strong."
Whoosh
Just like that, the battle between two young mages began.
Animals of various types could be seen wielding Ethernano, working cohesively to combat the onslaught of countless ice-weapons.
If a bystander had even an ounce of knowledge of mages, then they would have been shocked by this sight.
10-year-olds weren't supposed to be this powerful.
"They call those people delusional. Guess, you were some delusional exhibitionist." Tracy taunted, barely dodging a machete, threatening to cut off her arm.
"I call it trust. In fact, that's pure facts, that's going to get slammed right in your face." Gray increased his onslaught.
'I knew these guys were strong given their stamina, but isn't this too much?' Not even a minute had passed, but Tracy was already on the back foot. She realised that if Gray wanted to kill her, then she would already be dead.
This left a bitter taste in her mouth.
'Guess, I have to hope that bear will bring that girl here.' Tracy looked at the animals guarding her and frowned. 'I need to stall till then. Time to go all out.' With that, she stopped thinking about saving any Ethernano.
---
'I got captured...' Erza thought while looking at the dark ceiling.
The room, no—cellar was dark. She could smell blood in the room.
Blood which wasn't hers.
Erza looked to her side and found Kazu tied in a similar manner to her. She squinted and after a few seconds, her eyes finally adapted to the darkness to see his face.
His eyes were open, blank.
Erza gulped. She recognised that look.
She had seen the same lifeless look in multiple people during her time in the Tower.
She opened her mouth to say something.
Cling.
A metallic sound echoed in the cellar.
Lucas entered the room. His face was stoic.
Erza hatefully looked at him.
She tried moving Ethernano inside her body, but it was futile. She was helpless.
This whole experience was familiar to her.
Being tied up, seeing people without hope, as if she were back in the Tower of Heaven.
A shiver crawled up her spine, remembering how she lost her right eye.
Klang.
She wanted to touch it instinctively. However, her bindings made it impossible.
She glared at Lucas, who stopped near a wall. A red button was present on the wall.
He slowly moved his hands towards the button—
and pressed it.
***
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