Chapter 78: Say It Again
"What... what is this?!"
Gray was completely shocked to see Ren conjure a boat from thin air. As an Ice-Make Mage, he was a specialist in Molding Magic. His reality was based on shaping magic power into physical objects. But this... this was different.
Gray had naturally seen Ren in this fiery "Flame Emperor" state before. His powerful Flame Magic was clearly even stronger and more controlled than Natsu's. But he had never, ever heard that Ren also knew Spatial Magic or high-tier Materialization Magic.
"A small boat! Don't you recognize it?" Ren asked, his voice in this form slightly deeper, more relaxed.
"No... I certainly recognize a boat... The problem is, how did this boat appear?!" Gray yelled, pointing a shaky finger at it. "It's made of... fire! Is this thing safe? We're on the ocean!"
"A boat? Of course, it was materialized," Ren said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Ren had known this when he first started using Take Over Magic. He could materialize specific, iconic equipment owned by the anime characters he channeled, like Yoriichi Tsugikuni's Nichirin Blade or Whitebeard's Murakumogiri, by consuming his own magic power.
"Materialize? Don't you use Take Over Magic? How can you also use Materialization Magic? Are they related?"
Gray looked at Ren in disbelief, his brain trying to categorize this ability. He cautiously got onto the fiery boat, which, to his surprise, felt solid and not hot to the touch. Since the front of the boat was a single seat, which Ren took, he could only stand on the small deck behind the propulsion port, gripping the mast for dear life.
"I use Take Over Magic," Ren explained, his voice laced with the easy confidence of Ace. "And this small boat, the 'Striker', is the original equipment of the character I've taken over. Ace is... well, he was a pirate, and this is his ride."
Ace's single-person speedboat was one of his most commonly used pieces of equipment. A few months ago, Ren had taken an S-Class Quest to eliminate ten pirate groups. He had used this small boat to skim across the ocean, single-handedly defeating those pirates and their entire fleet, which was what had earned him the great name 'Flame Emperor'.
"Hold on tight!" Ren called back, his face splitting into a wide, adventurous grin. "We're off!"
Gray was a little confused by what Ren said, but he soon understood.
Whoosh—!
Ren, who had been sitting, put his hands in his pockets and let his feet erupt in flames, which connected to the engine port of the Striker.
Immediately after, flames erupted from the rear and left propulsion ports, creating a terrifying, rocket-like thrust. With a ninety-degree drift that sent a wall of water into the air, the speedboat shot forward, accelerating from zero to an impossible speed in an instant.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!! Fast! Too fast—!"
Gray clutched the mast with both hands, his whole body flapping in the wind like a flag as he screamed in terror. He was an Ice Mage; he hated this much uncontrolled, high-speed fire. This was a thousand times worse than any train! This wasn't just motion sickness; this was pure, unadulterated, pants-wetting terror!
After about twenty agonizing minutes, Ren and Gray, having crossed a stretch of ocean that should have taken hours, arrived at Galuna Island.
Gray's face was pale, his lips blue. He had never ridden such an exhilarating—or terrifying—boat in his life. The boat's speed was simply too fast; Ren had covered a journey that would normally take four or five hours in less than half an hour.
After the two landed on the beach, Ren, with a thought, released his Take Over stance. The fiery small boat dissolved into embers and vanished. Gray, his legs trembling, stumbled onto the sand and promptly fell to his knees, kissing the ground.
"Solid ground... I'll never make fun of Natsu ever again..." he moaned.
"According to the request form, the client is in a village on this island," Ren said, ignoring Gray's breakdown. "The village chief is the client for this quest, so let's go find the village."
Ren led the way, with Gray stumbling behind him. The village was not difficult to find; there was a single, worn path in the dense, purple-leafed woods. Following it straight led them to their destination.
The two soon arrived in front of the village. It looked like a primitive tribal village, surrounded by tall, sharpened wooden walls to prevent the island's... whatever... from attacking.
At this moment, the village gate was tightly shut, and several large, ominous characters were painted on it: "No Entry."
"No Entry? What's going on with this village?" Gray muttered, his confidence returning now that he was on solid land.
"Is anyone there? Can you open the gate?" Gray stepped forward and shouted loudly. "We're from the Fairy Tail Guild!"
At this moment, inside the village, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, who were in the middle of talking with the village chief, were startled by the sound.
"Gray!!!" Natsu yelped, his blood running cold.
The three of them immediately panicked.
"What's happening?!" Lucy whispered, her face pale. "Why is Gray here?! How did he get here so fast?! We only just arrived!"
"I don't know!" Natsu hissed. "He's not here to drag us back, is he?! This is too fast!"
He quickly turned to the village chief, Moka. "Shh~! Don't say you've seen us! He's here to take us back, and if we get caught, no one will be able to help you lift the curse! Just tell him to go away!"
The village chief, Moka, torn between his fear of the curse and these new Mages, immediately shook his head, signaling the guard on the wall.
"Who are you?!" the guard shouted down.
"We are Mages from Fairy Tail!" Gray yelled back. "Have you seen a small blue cat, a blonde girl, and a very conspicuous guy with cherry-red hair? He's got a very annoying face, and an extremely bad personality."
Natsu, hearing this from behind a nearby hut, gritted his teeth in anger. "Gray, that jerk! Underwear thief!"
"No... we haven't seen them!" the guard shouted back, just as Natsu had instructed.
"Then can you let us into the village?" Gray asked. "It's getting late, and we'd like to rest here for the night."
"No... you can't!" the guard said, his voice trembling. "This village... this village doesn't welcome outsiders! Please, go away!"
"I see! Then we'll leave," Gray said, his voice full of disappointment.
Hearing Gray say they would leave, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy let out a collective sigh of relief.
Suddenly!
BOOM—!!!!
The entire, massive village gate exploded inward, sending splinters of wood, dust, and shrapnel flying into the village square.
"Whoa ah ah ah ah!!" The villagers, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy all screamed and dove for cover.
A mature, cold male voice emerged from the settling smoke. "Did you really think we would just leave like that?"
"This... this voice..." Natsu's blood ran cold.
"No... no way..." Lucy whimpered, her entire body starting to shake.
Hearing this voice, Natsu and the others were instantly terrified.
Soon, everyone clearly saw the appearance of the person standing in the ruined gateway.
It wasn't Gray.
It was Ren.
He was wearing a black T-shirt, gray pants, and black 'old man' shoes. His black hair was unkempt, and the scar at the corner of his mouth gave him a dangerous, feral look. He looked utterly unremarkable.
But it was this specific appearance that made Natsu, Lucy, and Happy scream in terror, as if they had seen some terrifying monster.
Or rather, a monster more terrifying than any monster.
"Ren!!!"
The village chief and villagers were also panicked at this moment. They quickly hid behind their huts, secretly peeking in their direction.
Creak. Creak.
Ren stepped over the shattered gate fragments and entered the village, his expression calm and unreadable. Gray followed behind him, looking apologetic.
"Yo," Ren said, his voice a low, lazy drawl. His eyes found Natsu, Lucy, and Happy cowering behind a large pot. A cold, dangerous smile touched his lips.
"Quest thieves? Good evening!"
"Eek—!"
But this smile, to Natsu and the others, was even more terrifying than a devil's smile.
Lucy remembered the carnage at Eisenwald. Natsu remembered the absolute, helpless, one-sided beating in the guild hall. Happy just knew this was death. This was the 'Tyrant' state, the one Mira had warned them about, the one that had beaten everyone in the guild so badly they couldn't get out of bed for three days.
Lucy and Happy hugged each other, trembling all over. Natsu was not much better, his feet involuntarily retreating, his body constantly shaking.
"R-R-Ren..." Natsu stammered.
"Ren! It's not my fault!" Happy was the first to buckle under the pressure. He flew out from behind Lucy and immediately chose to betray them. "It was Natsu! He made me do it! He forced me to! And Lucy came because of the Golden Key! I'm just an innocent bystander cat!"
Lucy, seeing Happy's behavior, immediately couldn't help but retort, "TRAITOR CAT!"
"You guys are really bold," Gray said, stepping forward, trying to act as the mediator. "Daring to sneak out to do an S-Class Quest... on Demon Island of all places. The old man is furious. He sent me to bring you back. It's still not too late to go back now, Natsu. If you come back, maybe he won't kick you out of the guild. Let's just go."
Natsu, his body still trembling, looked at Ren's cold, smiling face. He suppressed his fear. His pride, his stubbornness, and his desperate need to prove himself took over.
"No!!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Ren! I don't care! No matter what, I must do an S-Class Quest!"
Bang!
"Whoa!"
As soon as Natsu finished speaking, he was sent flying.
There was no fire. No magic. Just a blur of motion. Ren had appeared where Natsu had just been, his fist now buried deep in Natsu's stomach.
Boom... boom... boom!!
Natsu's body, like a cannonball, smashed clean through the wall of the chief's hut. He continued flying, crashing through the next house, and the next, leaving a trail of pure, physical destruction before finally smashing into the village's thick outer wall, where he was embedded, unconscious.
The village was dead silent.
Ren appeared where Natsu had just been, his body not even having moved from his spot. He calmly, slowly, used his pinky finger to pick his ear, his lazy, terrifying gaze shifting to Lucy and Happy, who were frozen in terror.
"Hmm? What did you just say?" he asked, his voice soft. "I didn't hear clearly. Can you say it again?"
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