Mirajane smiled as she handed over a quest request form.
"Pear Village, an unknown curse phenomenon has appeared, and many villagers are weak and sick.
We now need to investigate and resolve the source.
Quest Level: C (but given the special nature of your team...)"
"A curse? Again?!" Natsu wailed.
"A curse?" Gray frowned.
Lucy looked at Christian with some concern. "Mr. Christian, your curse resistance..."
"Data recorded... 'Curse Resistance (Weak)'... can handle low-level curses... requires on-site analysis." "Risk... controllable."
"Alright, alright! Let's go! The sooner we solve it, the sooner we can come back!" Natsu shouted, as if resigned to his fate.
"Aye! I heard Pear Village has specialty pear juice!" Happy drooled.
Pear Village is located in the mountains and forests on the outskirts of Magnolia.
It should have been the harvest season, but the village was shrouded in a depressing gloom. The fields were barren, the fruit trees withered, and the villagers were all sallow and emaciated, listless, with fear and despair in their eyes.
"Such... such a heavy sense of gloom..." Lucy shivered.
"There's... a nasty smell in the air." Natsu wrinkled his nose.
"Magic Power... is polluted." A tiny ice crystal formed on Gray's fingertip, its edges quickly tinged with a grayish decay.
Christian's Omni-Perception and Magic Power Perception (Skill) scanned at full power.
"Analysis: In the environmental Magic Power... highly concentrated inert curse factors are mixed... nature... similar to Mount Hakobe variants... but more... dispersed... insidious. Source... in the mountains behind the village... direction of the abandoned mine shaft."
"Mine shaft?" Lucy looked at the village chief.
The old village chief said tremblingly, "Yes... yes. A month ago... black mist suddenly emerged from deep within the mine shaft... people who went near... quickly fell ill... their bodies became weak... as if their strength was drained..."
"Another curse?" Natsu clenched his fist. "This time, we'll definitely find the source!"
The group arrived at the back mountain.
A deep, dark mine shaft entrance, like the throat of a giant beast, was continuously emitting visible grayish-black mist, carrying a nauseating smell of decay.
"I'll go first!" Natsu was about to rush in.
"Wait!" Gray stopped him. "The space inside is narrow, your fire could easily cause a collapse. And the curse mist concentration is too high."
"Then what do we do?" Natsu was impatient.
"Leave it to me." Christian floated forward, his blue gelatinous body particularly striking against the Gray mist at the cave entrance.
"Predator... is most suitable... for environmental cleanup."
Core Drive!
Buzz!
A powerful, invisible suction field, centered on Christian, suddenly expanded! Like a giant blue vortex!
The grayish-black curse mist permeating the cave entrance, like rivers flowing into the sea, frantically surged towards the blue Slime! Captured, torn, and inhaled by the Devouring Field!
[Alert! Massively devouring inert curse factors...]
[Alert! Analyzing... Components: Life energy decay curse... mixed with residual resentment...]
[Alert! Curse resistance slightly increased... Acquired skill: 'Low-Level Life Drain Resistance'... Environmental purification efficiency: High...]
The Gray mist at the mine shaft entrance visibly thinned! Revealing the pitch-black opening!
"Wow! So amazing!" Lucy exclaimed.
"This cleaning speed..." Gray also felt surprised.
"Tch! Stealing the show!" Natsu pouted, but his eyes also showed approval.
"Aye! Chris is awesome!" Happy cheered.
As they delved deeper into the mine shaft, the curse mist grew thicker, almost solidifying. Christian continued to devour it, his volume seemingly expanding by a circle, and the purple tinge within his blue gelatinous body became even more pronounced.
"Warning... curse factor concentration... approaching critical... devour rate... needs to increase..." Christian's voice remained steady, but his core calculations were clearly accelerating.
"Do you need help?" Lucy asked worriedly.
"Temporarily... maintain. Target... approaching." Christian's perception locked onto a powerful Magic Power source deep within the mine shaft.
Finally, they reached the deepest part of the mine shaft: a huge natural cavern.
In the center of the cavern, a football-sized, continuously pulsating dark purple crystal core floated!
It was like the heart of a living creature, each pulsation releasing dense grayish-black curse mist, eroding the rock walls and the air! The surface of the crystal core was covered with distorted, suffering, resentful phantoms, emitting silent wails!
"That's it!" Natsu roared.
"What a powerful curse core!" Gray conjured an ice blade.
"Wh-what is this?" Lucy felt a pang in her heart.
"Analysis: Highly condensed curse crystal... core contains... nascent 'decay' and 'resentment' rules... danger level: High." Christian quickly scanned. "Physical attack... may trigger a curse outbreak... spreading pollution."
"Then what do we do?" Lucy was anxious.
"Optimal solution: Direct devour." Christian's core light shone brightly! "Predator... maximum power! Overload mode... activated!"
Buzz—!!!
A devouring field ten times more powerful than before erupted! The air in the entire cavern seemed to be sucked towards Christian! Targeting that pulsating curse crystal core!
"Roar!" The curse crystal core seemed to sense a fatal threat, its pulsation suddenly intensifying! Countless dark purple curse rays, solidified like substance, shot towards Christian like venomous snakes!
At the same time, the curse mist in the entire cavern wildly surged back, attempting to protect the core!
"No way!" Natsu and Gray attacked simultaneously!
"Fire Dragon's—Wing Attack!" Natsu's arms ignited, forming a fire vortex, not to attack the crystal core, but to sweep away the curse rays shooting towards Chris! Fire and curse collided, sizzling!
"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray erected several thick ice walls in front of Christian! Blocking the remaining curse rays and the surging mist!
"Taurus, open!"
"Taurus! Protect Mr. Christian!"
"Moo! Leave it to me!" Taurus swung his giant axe, scattering the stray curse aura!
Under the full cover of his companions, Christian's Devouring Field enveloped the pulsating curse crystal core without obstruction!
"Devour!"
The dark purple crystal core struggled violently! Terrifying curse power furiously impacted the Devouring Field.
Christian's blue gelatinous body instantly turned deep purple, its volume fluctuating wildly, and even tiny cracks reappeared on its surface! The core light flickered rapidly! Overload warnings for calculations screamed in his consciousness!
[Warning! Overload curse rule impact! Erosion intensified!]
[Warning! Core logic firewall under pressure!]
[Analyzing... Forcibly analyzing... Suppressing...]
"Devour... complete!" The core emitted an unprecedentedly strong will!
Buzz!!!!
The Devouring Field suddenly collapsed inward! That powerful curse crystal core, as if captured by a black hole, was instantly stretched, twisted, and finally transformed into a dark purple stream of light, completely absorbed into Christian's blue (now deep purple) gelatinous body!
The curse mist in the entire cavern lost its source, like rootless duckweed, and was quickly cleared away by the residual Devouring Field!
Light returned (though still dim), and the air became fresh (with a mineral scent).
Suddenly, the cave was silent.
Only Christian floated in place, his volume expanded to nearly human height, his entire body a deep violet, radiating a strange, heart-pounding pressure that was a mix of pure Magic Power and settled curse.
[Alert! Devouring 'Decay Resentment Curse Core' complete!]
[Alert! Acquired skills: 'Curse Resistance (Medium)', 'Life Drain Resistance (Medium)', 'Resentment Impact (Weak)'... Strength, stamina, Magic Power limit... significantly increased!]
[Alert! Analyzing rule fragments: 'Decay', 'Resentment'... partially understood. Status: Magic Power saturated... rule information overloaded... entering... Magic Power blank period... estimated time: 24 hours...]
"Ch-Chris?" Lucy tentatively called out.
The giant deep purple Slime slowly turned towards her, its core light stabilized, and its color visibly faded from deep purple back to its original azure, its volume also shrinking.
"Mission... complete. Curse source... cleared." His voice carried a hint of satisfied fatigue. "Energy... saturated. Requires... dormancy... digestion."
After speaking, he no longer maintained his float, slowly descending to the ground. His gelatinous body became soft and elastic, and his core light became gentle and stable, as if he had truly fallen into a deep sleep.
The purple color quickly faded from his entire body, returning to a pure, deep blue as if containing a starry sky, and his volume stabilized at a state slightly larger than before.
Natsu walked forward, squatted down, and curiously poked the sleeping Christian.
"Haha, I didn't expect a dormant Chris to be so bouncy and cool."
"Hey, hey, he's already asleep? He sure can eat..."
Gray looked at the clear cavern and the sleeping Slime, his eyes complex.
"To directly devour something like that... truly a monstrous magic..."
"Aye! Chris saved the village!" Happy happily flew in a circle.
Lucy looked at the sleeping blue Slime, a gentle smile on her face. She gently stroked his cool, smooth surface. "You worked hard, Mr. Christian. Get some good rest."
On the way back, Lucy held the sleeping Chris, with Natsu and Gray following behind. The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
In the direction of Magnolia, the Fairy Tail Guild's lights were already coming on, waiting for its family to return. And deep within the core of the sleeping Christian, new power and rules were quietly gestating.