'Though it's a shame that I won't be able to save Ur and my revenge too... Well, master knows about Ur, though it's unlikely, maybe somebody in future will be able to reverse it.'
Gray had sensed that either way he was going to die, so he chose to take Anne with him if he was going down.
Anne clicked her tongue. 'He should be around Tracy's age, but where is this resolve coming from? Given how his body is shaking, he is terrified, yet he is ready to activate that spell any moment.'
Anne could tell from experience that Gray was not putting on any facade but would activate the spell if she tried to use her spell or tried to kill him.
So, they were now at a deadlock.
'Well... I could respect that. He reminds me of that damn
woman...Unfortunately, there's still a weakness.'
"Don't tell me you guys want your friend to die? From what I have heard, isn't Fairy Tail supposed to treat their members as family?"
'I wonder if this is fate... Fate really could be cruel.' A melancholic smile appeared on Anne's face, which was gone as soon as it appeared.
Gray's eyes met Erza's briefly. The latter's face bore a serious expression.
Cana was the first one to panic. "Gray! Don't do this! You... you are too ugly to die."
Gray's eyes twitched. "What do you mean, too ugly?... Also, it seems she's trying to do something with my body by sending her magic inside me. So, this is better than doing nothing."
Anne raised an eyebrow. 'He noticed that?' Things have gotten too complicated with that.
"You—"
"Anne!" Anne snapped her head to the side, finding Lucas standing there, his breathing rough.
Whoosh.
Anne suddenly found her hands pulled out from Gray's neck.
'Telekinesis.' She thought as she quickly jumped back, dodging an ice spear that erupted from the spot where she stood.
"Lucas, I am sorry." Anne placed her hand on Lucas before the latter could say anything.
'He must have used that potion to come here. I would have preferred it if it hadn't come to this. I have grown fond of him over the years... Though not fond enough to choose his life over mine.' Anne felt her heart heavy as she cast her spell over Lucas.
"Don't worry, it would be painless. Thank you for everything." A green light enveloped Lucas for a second before it flowed to Anne. Her flesh visibly regenerated in the next few moments.
Lucas's expression didn't change even as all his flesh moved towards Anne.
Before anyone could react, Lucas was gone. Dead.
Anne felt a pang of pain in heart, which she quickly suppressed.
"DAD!"
Anne stiffened.
She slowly turned her head towards the source.
There stood Tracy, looking at her in horror.
Anne felt her throat go dry.
'Your father died during the battle.'
'They took him hostage. I had no choice.'
'They killed him while escaping.'
All the excuses she would have said to Tracy later began to come to mind.
However, all of them had one similarity.
They didn't take into account that Tracy would witness this scene.
"I—" Anne suddenly felt dizzy as she lost control of her magic.
Thump
Her eyes widened as she felt something plunging in her chest from behind.
She slowly turned her head back and found Kazu holding a steel sword, now plunged in her chest.
---
"Aaah"
"Please don't do this to me."
"SOMEBODY PLEASE SAVE ME."
Various shouts and pleas could be heard throughout the village.
A bloody-red circle loomed over the village in the sky. Various red threads came out of it as they made their way towards the villagers.
Anyone who got touched by them first found themselves losing control of their legs, followed by their hands and soon their whole body.
So, those who hadn't become the targets now were doing the best to survive.
"Tracy, burn this sight in your memory. One day, you would be responsible for doing this." Anne had her arms crossed as she stood there watching the scene.
"Those red threads look delicious." Tracy looked at the magical threads in wonder.
Anne's eyebrows twitched. "Guess, it's too much for a three-year-old's attention span."
"Please save me." A teenager begged, running towards them—towards Tracy.
Tracy tilted her head as she saw the boy reaching within 10 meters.
THUMP
One second, he was running, and the next second, there lay a literal human paste.
"Tch. Guess, I need to make sure that the right ones don't escape." Anne muttered before kneeling, matching Tracy's level, who was looking at the human paste in confusion. "Where did that oni-chan go?"
"Tracy, I will be back in a while. Stay with your dad and don't cause him any trouble. Okay?" She said, while pointing at Lucas, who looked at the village with a stoic face.
"Okay," Tracy replied after a few seconds.
With that, Anne disappeared from beside her.
Tracy looked back at the remains of that teenager. She then looked at Lucas. "Daddy, did that Oni-chan die?"
Lucas turned to her. His face betrayed nothing. "Yes."
Tracy made a pondering expression for a few seconds. "Why?"
"He ran in the wrong direction. I don't know whether he knew that we were the source or not, but it was his bad luck. If he knew that we were the source, then he was targeting you, trying to take you hostage. If not, then he was just unlucky to almost run into you."
Tracy furrowed her brows, as if trying to understand what Lucas said. She spoke after a few seconds, "So, Momma killed him 'coz he tried to hurt me?"
"More or less." Lucas wasn't surprised that Tracy understood what he said. She was a smart child.
Tracy nodded, as if understanding. "So, it's fine to kill those who try to hurt me?"
Lucas looked in the front for a few seconds. Making sure that Anne wasn't nearby, he turned his attention back to Tracy.
He then knelt, dropping to the same level as Tracy. "It's not. You will learn this with experience, but it's fine to hurt them, but not outright kill them. Promise me one thing, Tracy, you must not kill anybody without carefully thinking it through."
Lucas held his pinky finger towards Tracy.
Tracy looked at the finger for a few seconds, "But Momma..."
"Momma had thought this whole thing before. So, killing him was under her careful consideration with her goals. Also, she is not always right. We have talked about this before, right?"
Tracy continued looking at his finger in confusion. "...Fine. I won't kill anybody without deeply thinking about it. Pinky Promise."
Lucas nodded and stood up, his gaze back to the devastating scene in front of him.
"Daddy, you are so cool. You always seem calm. Even momma doesn't have the same expression all the time." Tracy suddenly said, startling Lucas.
"...You find this cool?"
Tracy nodded enthusiastically. "Yup, you always look cool. You always look calm, as if nothing could faze you. Almost otherworldly."
"I see." Lucas glanced at his arm.
It was trembling.
He wasn't completely unaffected by what was happening to the villagers.
'I am at the limit...I need to kill my emotions or get desensitised to others's suffering if I want to continue like this.' Lucas didn't feel any confusion in choosing what to do.
The answer was obvious.
'I hope my efforts won't be in vain.' He glanced at Tracy, who had a bright smile on her face as she looked at him.
Little did Lucas know at that time that his efforts over the years wouldn't be wasted.
---
"Did you put her in the cell?" The mayor asked his men.
"Yes, sir, but..."
"But?"
"But, won't she escape as we don't have equipment to restrain a mage?"
The mayor waved his hand. "It would be fine. She had a pretty tough battle and isn't she encased in ice? Even if she somehow escapes, there is no way for her to use her magic as there are no animals around."
The mayor had successfully pulled the ice encasing Tracy with him to the town.
"Anyway, where is my assistant? I have some matters—"
BOOM
Suddenly, the building shook, disorienting everyone.
The mayor fell on the ground, on his bottom.
"What's this?"
The guards's reaction was quick. They quickly surrounded the mayor as they watched the only door in the room.
The group were currently on the first floor, in the Mayor's office.
They waited for a few moments. The rumbling stopped.
"Somebody go and check it—" The mayor's voice suddenly stopped.
The guards's turned to him and noticed something.
The mayor had a knife held to his throat.
The knife was held, or more like part of the little girl's body.
The same girl who was supposed to be in the cell.
"Say... I am going to ask you nicely. I want a carriage or some quick means of transportation from here to a bit in the forest. Please don't be difficult, 'coz I don't want to break a very important promise I made. You also won't like me breaking that." Tracy smiled.
***
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