"Meeen~"
Ichiya let out that painfully familiar sound, then flashed Makarov a seductive smile while raising both hands in one of his signature poses.
"Makarov-san, there's no need to panic quite so much. The situation hasn't reached the point where everyone's lives are in immediate danger."
Makarov clearly wasn't accustomed to being comforted by a face like Ichiya's. He forced a smile.
"Thank you for the reassurance."
Ichiya then patted the person carrying him and spoke in his most magnetic voice.
"You can put me down now, handsome."
The arm supporting him immediately relaxed.
Ichiya dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Ankh watched the scene in silence before taking a seat at the meeting table and gesturing for everyone else to do the same.
"Let's organize everything from the beginning."
Makarov nodded and settled into the head seat with a serious expression.
"Fairy Tail doesn't have much information yet. Earlier today, we suddenly discovered a sharp increase in cases of Magic Deficiency Disease throughout Magnolia. Laxus investigated and confirmed that members of the White Magic Cult were responsible, so we immediately sent guild mages out to suppress the unrest."
"After contacting the Magic Council and repeatedly trying to reach other guilds, we learned that similar incidents were happening in cities throughout Fiore. At the same time, the members of every mage guild we tried contacting had disappeared. We still don't know why or where they were taken."
Makarov finished summarizing everything Fairy Tail had learned so far.
Mirajane carefully added, "The people we sent out to deal with the White Magic Cult encountered much stronger resistance than expected. It looks like Fairy Tail itself was also one of their targets."
Erza nodded and explained what had happened outside.
"Crime Sorcière, Kagura, Bacchus, and Ichiya were all under some kind of control and ambushed us. Fortunately, Bro found a way to remove it."
Makarov's eyes widened slightly before his expression became thoughtful.
"So they were being controlled…"
He stroked his mustache.
"If that's the case, perhaps the other guilds were attacked from within as well. That would explain why entire organizations disappeared without any obvious warning."
"That's probably exactly what happened."
Kagura sighed and quietly described the last things she remembered before losing control of herself.
"Everything at Mermaid Heel seemed normal at first. The only thing I noticed was that fewer members were spending time inside the guildhall."
Her expression darkened.
"After watching more carefully, I realized that every one of them had started acting strangely after returning from certain jobs. They would sometimes stare into space for no apparent reason."
"But they never behaved violently or did anything obviously suspicious. Their normal habits and personalities were still there, so I was only concerned rather than alarmed."
"Then Millianna invited me to accompany her on a job in a village."
Kagura's hand slowly tightened into a fist.
"When we arrived at the work site, Millianna, Risley, and the others suddenly attacked me. I was knocked unconscious."
Her voice dropped.
"And the next thing I remember is meeting Ankh and the others."
The room became uncomfortably quiet.
An entire guild gradually being brainwashed from within was a disturbing thought.
Makarov's brows drew together, and he was already considering whether every Fairy Tail member should undergo a thorough magical examination.
Erza folded her arms thoughtfully.
"This kind of magic is extremely strange. If the White Magic Cult is responsible, there's no guarantee they've only used it on guild mages. Ordinary people could have been affected too."
She turned toward Bacchus and Ichiya.
"What happened to the two of you?"
Bacchus obediently raised one hand.
"Pretty similar. I was working with Rocker and the others when they pushed me into a trap. I blacked out after that."
Ichiya struck another pose.
"As for me, I was defeated inside my own guildhall… using my very own perfume~"
Gray stared at him.
"Why are you saying that like it's impressive? You were clearly the easiest one to take down."
Ankh ignored the argument and asked something more important.
"Where were the jobs you went on?"
Bacchus and Kagura looked at one another.
Then they answered at the same time.
"Northern Snow Village, in Fiore."
Ankh paused.
Northern Fiore covered an enormous area.
What exactly was "Northern Snow Village" supposed to mean?
Lucy noticed his confusion and leaned closer to explain quietly.
"It's a famous religious site in northern Fiore. The village preserves a lot of ancient religious ruins, including the oldest surviving cathedral in the north. It's actually fairly large, and almost everyone living there is a devout believer."
She smiled faintly.
"So when people say 'Northern Snow Village,' everyone knows which place they mean."
After receiving Lucy's impromptu travel-guide explanation, Ankh nodded in understanding.
Then something occurred to him.
He looked toward Jellal, whose expression had already become complicated.
"Don't tell me you were also investigating the White Magic Cult and traced them all the way to that village."
Jellal sighed.
"That's exactly what happened."
"The White Magic Cult hides its movements extremely well, but using information from the people you captured last time, we managed to identify a border official in northern Fiore."
"Our investigation confirmed that he was secretly a follower of the White Magic Cult. We avoided alerting him and followed him all the way to Northern Snow Village."
Everyone around the table immediately focused.
At last, they were getting concrete information about the village.
Ultear picked up the explanation, though frustration lingered on her face.
"The entire place felt wrong. The villagers were extremely hostile toward outsiders, yet the village apparently had no visible supply routes bringing in food or daily necessities from outside."
"Patrol teams moved constantly through every part of the village."
She frowned.
"And the strangest part was that the patrols were different every day. We kept seeing unfamiliar faces. There shouldn't have been enough people in a village that size to support that many rotating guards."
"We didn't want to expose ourselves, so we monitored the village from outside."
"Then one day, we watched a group of mages being escorted directly into the village."
"That was when we finally infiltrated."
Ultear leaned forward slightly.
"Once inside, we saw those mages separated into smaller groups and taken into the cathedral."
"What made no sense was the number of people involved. The Northern Cathedral is large, but not nearly large enough to hold everyone who kept being taken inside."
"And yet groups of people were also constantly coming back out."
"Teleportation array."
Ankh spoke immediately, his eyes narrowing in thought.
Ultear nodded.
"That was our suspicion too."
"But before we could infiltrate the cathedral itself, people already under the White Magic Cult's control suddenly surrounded us."
Sorano lowered her head, looking genuinely upset.
"That part was my fault."
"The day before we infiltrated the village, my little sister Yukino suddenly appeared in the room where I was staying…"
No one really needed to hear the rest.
If even one member of Crime Sorcière had already been compromised before the operation began, the entire infiltration had essentially been doomed from that moment.
Ankh reached over and gently smoothed down the stray lock of hair on Sorano's head.
"It wasn't your fault. They probably knew you were investigating them long before that, and they clearly knew enough about each of you to exploit your weaknesses."
Erik folded his arms.
"Exactly. They even had a mage disguise herself as Kinana to trick me."
His expression darkened.
"Bastards."
It was probably meant to be reassurance.
Coming from Erik, it sounded more like he was personally offended that anyone had successfully fooled him.
Jellal sighed.
"I underestimated them."
"When I entered the cathedral, everyone else had already been controlled. They used the others to threaten me."
His expression became bitter.
"I had prepared a dispelling formula inside my body beforehand because I expected some form of mental interference."
"I thought it would activate if they tried anything."
"But…"
"It didn't," Ankh finished.
Jellal nodded.
Ankh rested one hand against his chin and slowly narrowed his eyes as the pieces came together.
"They captured all of you, placed you under their control, and then deliberately sent you back here to attack Fairy Tail."
He looked around the table.
"What if that wasn't merely an assassination attempt?"
His voice grew thoughtful.
"What if sending all of you back was part of the bait?"