"It has been a long time, Miss Erza. And... the person next to her," Ichiya said, looking at Erza and then Chen Fan.
"It has been a while. And you are...? My apologies, but I have no memory of things that are not beautiful," Chen Fan retorted without mercy.
Before Ichiya could respond, his lackeys stepped forward. "You bastard! How dare you speak to Master Ichiya like that!"
Chen Fan ignored them completely. To him, small-fry characters weren't worth remembering.
Ichiya waved his hand to silence his subordinates. "Truly, your tongue is as sharp as ever. You haven't changed a bit over the years."
"Neither have you. After all this time, you're still just as short and dumpy," Chen Fan replied, his words dripping with venom.
Ichiya decided not to pursue the argument further. When it came to verbal sparring, he was utterly defeated. He turned to his three members. "We aren't here for play. Hurry up and put those things away."
"Yes, Boss!" The three hurried off to clean up.
Once they were gone, Ichiya turned his head back to Erza. "I never imagined we would meet again. Is this the tether of fate?" As he spoke, he began to lean in toward her.
"Don't come any closer!" Erza shouted, hiding behind Chen Fan.
"Sniff, sniff... Erza, your fragrance is as refreshing as ever... Sniff, sniff." Ichiya leaned in regardless, his nose twitching like a pig's.
BAM!
Chen Fan sent Ichiya flying with a single punch. "Didn't I tell you not to come over here?"
"No, I don't think that was the line you used," Erza muttered, unable to stop herself from criticizing Chen Fan's logic.
"Boss!"
"Master Ichiya!" The Blue Pegasus members cried out as they saw their leader get punched away. They glared at Chen Fan. "You really want to fight, don't you?"
Natsu and Gray had been annoyed with these guys for a while. If Chen Fan hadn't moved first, they would have stepped in long ago. Now that the first punch had been thrown, their hands were itching for action. "A fight? Count me in," they declared.
"You'd better think twice. We are very strong."
Suddenly, the villa's main door swung open. A figure appeared and grabbed Ichiya by the head. A chilling frost manifested in his hand, and ice began to spread from the top of Ichiya's head. In an instant, his entire head was encased in a block of ice.
"What a polite greeting. Are you all waiting for Lamia Scale?" the figure at the door asked.
"Lyon!" Gray shouted in surprise as he recognized the man. Indeed, the person standing at the door was none other than Gray's senior disciple, Lyon Vastia.
Hearing someone call his name, Lyon looked up and saw Gray. "Gray!" The atmosphere became subtle and tense. Natsu, however, lacked the brainpower to notice the mood. He looked at Lyon with excitement. "Did you join a guild too?"
Lyon didn't answer directly. He gave a cold snort and tossed Ichiya back like a piece of trash. Ichiya, apparently shameless, groaned "Man, Man..." as he flew through the air. His body bounced like a ball across the floor, the impact shattering the ice on his head, before he finally slid to a halt in front of the Blue Pegasus group.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gray yelled at Lyon, his expression far from friendly. It seemed the two brothers hadn't reconciled since their encounter on Galuna Island.
"Didn't you all start this?" Lyon countered.
"Hey, what did you do to our Boss?"
"This is too much!"
"Could all you men please just leave?" The Blue Pegasus trio shifted their focus to Lyon, completely forgetting that Chen Fan had just done something even more excessive.
"Oh my, there are women here too," another voice spoke up. "Doll Play: Carpet Doll!"
The carpet beneath them seemed to come to life. Lucy was unfortunately the only one standing on that specific rug and was unceremoniously tossed off.
Lucy recovered quickly. "Wait, this magic... Sherry, did you join Lamia Scale too?" Standing next to Lyon was indeed Sherry Blendy. Having fought Lucy before, she clearly still held a grudge.
On the other side, Ichiya had bounced back to life, and Chen Fan, finding the man impossible to deal with normally, had resorted to playing a game of 'cat and mouse' to keep him away.
While Chen Fan's side was chaotic, the atmosphere between Natsu, Gray, and the newcomers was incredibly tense, as if they were ready to explode at any moment.
"Stop!" A majestic voice boomed from the doorway. Everyone turned in surprise to see a large, bald man standing there. He held a staff and looked much like a warrior monk.
"Master Jura!" Lyon's voice was filled with excitement.
"Jura?"
"The Allied Forces were formed to defeat Oración Seis. Is this the time for internal strife?"
"Is that the ace of Lamia Scale? The one known as 'Iron Rock' Jura?"
"Who's that?" Natsu asked.
"One of the Ten Wizard Saints," Happy replied.
Suddenly, Chen Fan vanished and reappeared right next to Jura. "Jura, that new haircut is pretty cool. Does it help you attract the ladies?"
Before Jura could answer, Lyon snapped. "You! What do you think you're doing to Master Jura?" A ball of frost appeared in his hand, and with a wave, three ice birds soared toward Chen Fan.
"Stop!" Jura shouted, but it was too late. The magic was already upon Chen Fan.
Chen Fan's hand moved like a blur, appearing as a phantom. In the blink of an eye, he had caught all three ice birds by their necks. With a light squeeze, the ice birds dissipated into nothingness.
"Do not be rude to Mr. Chen Fan. Apologize to him at once," Jura commanded Lyon.
"But..." Lyon tried to protest, but he was silenced by Jura's sharp gaze. He turned his head away with a huff.
Jura turned back to Chen Fan. "He is young and impulsive. Please don't take it to heart."
"It's fine, it's fine. Young people have plenty of fire; it's normal. Weren't you impulsive once too?" Chen Fan said with a grin.
"Yes, quite. I owe much to your guidance back then," Jura replied humbly.
It had to be said that Chen Fan was quite famous among the truly high-level figures of the magical world. They treated him with great respect and understood his temperamentunlike the younger generation, who had no idea how much weight Chen Fan carried.
"Now that three guilds are here, we're only missing the group from Cait Shelter."
As Chen Fan stood by Jura, Ichiyawho was currently being held aloft by Erza's spearsuddenly spoke. "That group... I heard they're only sending one person."
"One person?!" The group was stunned.
"They're only sending one person for such a dangerous mission?" Gray yelled in shock.
"I... I wonder what kind of dangerous person they could be," Lucy said, clutching her cheeks.
Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps echoed. Everyone looked toward the door.
Trip!
The figure tripped and fell flat on her faceright into the hole Chen Fan had stomped earlier.
"Ouch..." The girl scrambled back to her feet and patted the dust off her clothes. She lowered her head shyly and stammered, "Uhm... I'm sorry I'm late. I'm from Cait Shelter. My name is Wendy. Pleased to meet you."
"A girl!"
"A child!"
"Wendy?"
Wendy looked up and suddenly spotted Chen Fan. Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Brother Chen Fan!" and went running straight toward him.
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