In the deserted village, Arlen, Ultear, Erza, and Makarov split up and searched in four different directions, trying to uncover the reason behind the disappearance of all the dark guild members. However, aside from the cracks in the ground, they found no other useful clues. In the end, they could only regroup at the central plaza to discuss further.
"Well? Did you find anything?" Erza asked, looking at Arlen, Ultear, and Makarov.
"Other than noticing more cracks, I didn't find any additional clues," Ultear shook her head.
"Same here. Not a single person in sight. This village is probably finished," Makarov said with his hands behind his back.
"Not necessarily. From all the signs, people were living here before. But I have a hypothesis—this might be related to the mysterious disappearance of those dark guild members," Arlen said calmly, one hand resting lightly on his sword hilt.
"What hypothesis?" Erza asked.
"These cracks—don't they look artificially made? We've seen similar ones in different areas, varying in size. If you connect them all together, they resemble the outline of a magic circle," Arlen explained seriously.
"A magic circle…"
Makarov stared at the cracks again, muttering to himself.
With Arlen's reminder, Ultear and Erza began to see it as well. Otherwise, it would be too strange—why would anyone carve such orderly cracks all over the village for no reason? Especially when this village was inhabited by members of a dark guild.
Who knew if they were planning something as insane as the Eisenwald incident?
While the four were deep in thought, the "mushroom team" elsewhere was engaged in a chaotic brawl.
Natsu and Gray, both with oversized, colorful mushrooms growing from their heads, were wrestling each other.
"I'm begging you—if you've got mushrooms growing on your heads, maybe don't fight?!" Lucy complained helplessly. She was starting to regret not staying behind with Erza's group.
"Hey, Lucy, look! I found a huge mushroom!" Happy flew over, proudly holding an enormous mushroom.
"Whoa, that's real alright… but it looks kinda weird. Even weirder than the ones Natsu and Gray ate earlier," Lucy said, startled by its size.
"Wow, that is big. Happy, you got lucky," Natsu grinned.
"Yeah, a mushroom this big could last us at least two days," Gray said, stroking his chin.
"Hey! You're seriously planning to eat that? It looks suspicious! And I do not want a mushroom growing on my head like you two!" Lucy protested, imagining herself walking around with a giant mushroom on her head and being laughed at everywhere. The thought alone made her shudder.
Crunch.
While Lucy was still scolding them, a biting and chewing sound came from behind.
Happy had already taken a huge bite out of the giant mushroom and was chewing it expressionlessly.
"Ahh! You can't just eat random things! What if it's poisonous?! Spit it out!"
Lucy panicked, snatched the mushroom away, and shook Happy frantically, trying to make him spit it out.
But Happy kept chewing, even looking like he was enjoying it—until suddenly, his face twisted in pain. He clutched his throat, looking extremely distressed.
Just as Lucy was about to rush him back to find Arlen and the others, the pain vanished.
In its place—just like Natsu and Gray—a mushroom had sprouted from Happy's head. And it looked exactly like the one he had just eaten.
Lucy finally understood. No matter what kind of mushroom you ate, the same type would grow on your head.
Great. The mushroom-head squad had grown from two to three. What a disaster.
"Forget it, let's stop looking for mushrooms and go back to meet up with Erza and the others. Wait… Natsu, Gray, your mushrooms look bigger now," Lucy said, eyes wide.
"Really?"
The two glanced at each other—and sure enough, the mushrooms had grown larger.
The next moment, the mushrooms suddenly fell off completely.
"Hey! They finally dropped off!" Natsu and Gray burst out laughing. They had been worried about being seen like that—too embarrassing.
"Do you feel anything strange?" Lucy asked, examining them closely.
They checked themselves—magic flow, physical condition…
"My magic power feels like it's decreased a bit. Not much, but noticeable," Gray said.
"Same here," Natsu agreed.
"Looks like these mushrooms don't harm the body, but they absorb the eater's magic power. Once they absorb enough, they fall off," Lucy concluded.
"Let's not worry about it for now. Let's head back to Arlen and the others," she said.
The four set off together, though Happy still looked a bit unhappy. As for mushrooms—none of them dared to eat any more, even though they were still starving.
"Arlen, Master—you're here. How did the investigation go?" Lucy and the others returned to the village plaza and spotted Arlen's group.
Grrrr… hiss…
A low growl and the sound of something slithering echoed through the silent village.
Erza's expression changed. She scanned the surroundings. "Did you hear that?"
"It sounds like a beast's growl… and something like a snake crawling," Ultear said.
The moment she finished speaking, the entire village ground began glowing red—and trembling.
The roads and buildings undulated like waves, rising and falling layer by layer.
"What is this? What's happening?!" Lucy steadied herself, her voice filled with tension.
"Forget that—let's get out of here. Head for higher ground," Arlen urged.
No one hesitated. They dashed out of the village in one go and climbed onto a nearby cliff, staring down at what was happening below.
In the next instant, the red glow intensified. A massive crimson magic circle appeared.
Then—
The ground and buildings themselves transformed into living monsters, slowly writhing and shifting, occasionally letting out terrifying roars