"On the way back to the city from my last job, I made a detour to a bar where Mages gather in Onibus, and there was a group of guys who caught my attention."
Erza began to recount what she had encountered in the tavern; there were four Mages with somewhat volatile tempers, and they seemed to be trying to unseal a magic called Lullaby, but they appeared to be encountering obstacles.
"Lullaby? Is it some kind of sleeping magic?"
Lucy couldn't help but guess when she heard the name.
Erza shook her head and said, "I'm not sure, but since it was sealed away, I imagine it must be very powerful magic."
Happy said, "I have no idea what they're talking about; perhaps it's just their job."
There were many jobs in the Fairy Tail Guild that involved breaking magic seals, so it was quite normal for people from other Guilds to take on such tasks.
At this moment, the train had arrived at the station, and the group collected their luggage and disembarked.
Erza continued, "That's right, I thought so too at first, so I didn't pay it any mind, until I remembered the name Erigor, then I didn't think so anymore."
At this point, the expression on Erza's face became serious: "The ace of the Mage Guild Iron Forest, Erigor the Death God."
"De… Death God?!"
Lucy was startled; someone actually had that title.
Erza explained, "He earned that name because the requests he accepts are all assassination-type jobs. Originally, the Council strictly prohibited Mage Guilds from accepting assassination requests, but Iron Forest disregarded the Council's regulations and chose to prioritize money. So, six years ago, Iron Forest was expelled from the Mage Guild Alliance and is now classified as a Dark Guild."
"Dark Guild?!!?"
Lucy broke out in a cold sweat from fright.
She had just heard about Dark Guilds yesterday; they were said to be a lawless bunch, and she hadn't realized they even took on assassination tasks. Only now did she understand how dangerous Dark Guilds were.
Happy said, "Lucy, you're sweating a lot!!"
"That's sweat!!"
"Wait a minute!! Expelled, didn't they receive any punishment?!"
Lucy suddenly remembered that Erza had mentioned expulsion, not imprisonment.
"Yes, the then-Guild Master of Iron Forest was arrested, and the Guild was ordered to disband, but most Dark Guilds continue to operate despite disbandment orders."
"I was too careless at the time. If I had paid attention to the name Erigor back then, I could have sacrificed all of them!"
"Those guys want the Lullaby magic; they must be planning some despicable scheme. I can't just stand by, so we're going to break into Iron Forest."
Erza stated the main reason she had invited Qi Yan to come along this time.
"Break into Iron Forest?!!?"
Lucy was somewhat dumbfounded. She knew that when two powerful Mages like Qi Yan and Erza met, they were bound to do something incredible, but she never expected it to be about eliminating an entire Dark Guild.
"I think I'll just go back…"
Lucy turned to walk back. As a mere rookie, it was better for her not to get involved in such dangerous matters.
Happy reminded her, "The train is leaving."
"So it's about eliminating a Dark Guild! I thought it was something major."
Qi Yan had been in the Fairy Tail Guild for half a year, and he had naturally encountered some Dark Guild members. Most of the time, they kept to themselves, but there were also some foolish individuals who, upon seeing Qi Yan was from a legitimate Guild, actively sought trouble. The outcome, of course, was bad luck for those individuals.
Lucy couldn't help but retort, "Isn't eliminating a Dark Guild a big deal?!"
Suddenly!
Whoosh—!!
A scorching flame erupted beside them.
"Eliminating a Dark Guild?! That sounds very interesting! I'm all fired up!"
After getting off the train, Natsu was initially dizzy, but now he was fully revived and extremely excited to hear about eliminating a Dark Guild.
Natsu looked at Erza and asked, "Erza, do you know where Iron Forest is?"
He was now somewhat impatient; there was no need for any reason to deal with those rats from the Dark Guild.
"We'll find out if we investigate around here."
The group quickly arrived at the Mage tavern where Erza had stayed before. In any city, a Mage tavern was definitely the most informed place.
Soon, the group easily found out that the Iron Forest Guild's base was in Kuluji Town, the next stop after Onibus.
Knowing the location made things easier. Erza borrowed a magic carriage and quickly drove the group towards the Iron Forest Guild.
"Is this the Dark Guild Iron Forest? It looks a bit scary!"
Lucy involuntarily shivered as she looked at the Guild building in front of her, and she became even more frightened at the thought of potentially confronting an entire Dark Guild soon.
She regretted it immensely now. Wouldn't it have been better if she had just gone to work honestly? Why was she so curious and followed along? Now it was too late to regret.
Boom—!!
Natsu's fist, wreathed in flames, slammed into the main gate of the Iron Forest Guild, and the gate exploded with a roar.
Natsu, engulfed in flames, roared furiously, "You bastards of Iron Forest!! All of you, get out here!!!"
"..."
The imagined scene of the Iron Forest members erupting in anger and rushing out to fight did not occur.
At this moment, the Iron Forest Guild was empty and silent, not a single person inside.
"Where are they?!"
"Hey! Where are you?! Hurry up and get out here!!"
Natsu yelled loudly, but no one replied.
Happy spread his wings and flew around the Guild once, finding no one. The entire Guild was empty.
"No one? Is this Guild abandoned? Could they have all gone for a picnic?"
As Lucy said this, a look of serious contemplation appeared on her face.
"..."
Everyone was speechless at Lucy's sudden train of thought.
Happy scoffed, "Lucy sometimes says the most inexplicable things."
Coming to her senses, Lucy clapped her hands and joyfully said, "It looks like they're all out. I don't know when they left, but does this mean we don't have to fight? That's great, we can go back."
She was still young, and she didn't want to risk her life here. Not having to fight was the best outcome for her.
However, a single sentence from Qi Yan shattered her dream.
"No, they left not long ago, approximately one hour and twenty-three minutes ago, and they left together. Furthermore, there should have been quite a few of them, at least fifty people."
Lucy's eyes widened and she said, "Qi Yan, how do you know that?"
Qi Yan pointed to the food scraps on the tables and floor: "It's easy to determine based on the number of utensils and the speed at which food spoils."
After receiving so many characters, the most useful things to him, besides the characters' own abilities, were the experiences they possessed. This greatly helped Qi Yan when performing missions.
Erza's expression was serious as she said, "An hour ago? That's not too long. Let's go, we'll pursue them immediately!"