Magnolia.
Inside the hospital run by Doctor Grisha.
Weston, who had rushed over, saw the guild members who had also received the news gathered there as soon as he entered the ward.
Mavis, Zera, and several others from Tenrou Island were all there; the ward was packed to the brim with people.
"Master, you're finally here!"
"Weston, Hude and Sward, they—"
Weston nodded in silence, his gaze passing over the crowd to rest on the hospital beds behind them.
Hude and Sward were both lying there, unconscious.
Their entire bodies were wrapped in bandages, looking like two mummies recently excavated from an ancient tomb.
Moving closer, he could faintly feel a slight heat radiating from their bodies.
Seeing this, Weston's heart sank. "What exactly happened?"
A guild companion stepped forward; he was the first one to find Hude and Sward.
"I don't know exactly what happened either."
"I was supposed to head out for a job today, but as soon as I left Magnolia, I saw them lying on the ground, unconscious and severely injured."
"I immediately brought them to Doctor Grisha and then went to the guild to inform everyone."
Hearing this, Weston thought back to the last time he had seen the two.
"I remember they took a request to 'repel magical beasts' three days ago, but that job should have been well within their capabilities!"
"Why were they hurt like this?"
Just then, Doctor Grisha walked over. "Both of them have suffered extremely severe burns, and the burns cover their entire bodies."
"Sward's injuries are lighter, while Hude's are more severe."
"Especially Hude's hands; they are almost completely carbonized."
Burns?
Weston remembered that in the mission they took yesterday, the magical beast they were supposed to repel was not fire-attributed.
In that case, their injuries weren't caused by a magical beast?!
Doctor Grisha continued, "Burns of this degree are hard to achieve with ordinary flames. I suspect it was likely caused by some kind of fire magic, and the temperature of this fire must have been extremely high!"
Fire magic—
Hude's magic is'Shield,' which can create shields and strengthen defense to block physical and magical attacks.
Even with Zera's Flame God Slayer Magic, it would be difficult to cause direct damage to him without using ultimate moves like 'Bellow.'
So normally, it should be very hard for him to get hurt.
But now, Hude's injuries are more severe than Sward's—
Everyone immediately guessed the reason. "It must be that Hude, in order to protect Sward, did not hesitate to use his own body as a shield to block the enemy's attack. But the opponent's magic was too strong, which is why he suffered such severe injuries—"
Thinking of the deep friendship between them, the guild members were greatly moved.
"Can they be cured?"
Grisha adjusted his glasses and said with a look of regret, "I've already used the best ointment I have, but it's hard to say how effective it will be on him."
"To be honest, in my opinion, it's already a miracle that he's still alive after suffering burns of this degree."
"I can only do my best to save his life for now. As for his hands... I suggest you don't get your hopes up."
Hearing this, the faces of the Mages immediately turned extremely pale.
This wasn't the answer they wanted to hear.
"How could this happen—"
"Doctor Grisha, do you really have no better way to treat him?"
"You're the best doctor in all the nearby Towns!"
The best doctor—
Don't you people from the guild know how that title came about?
If it weren't for your help in solving the plague before, this title wouldn't have fallen to me—
Grisha sighed inwardly and helplessly spread his hands to the crowd.
"On the level of medical skill, I've already done everything I can."
"Perhaps you could send him to the Royal Capital and have a more skilled doctor take a look."
"Or... if you can find a Mage proficient in Healing Magic, maybe his body can be restored to its original state."
This served as a reminder to everyone.
However, a moment later, they began to worry again.
"Healing Magic—"
"I remember that's a very rare, high-level, and difficult magic to learn, right? The kind that might not appear even once in a thousand Mages!"
"Where are we supposed to find someone like that in such a short time?"
Weston pressed his hands down, giving everyone a look that said'stay calm.' "The Council keeps track of over seventy percent of the Mages in Ishgar. If we seek help from them, we should be able to find someone proficient in Healing Magic."
"I'll go contact them right now."
Hearing this, the crowd felt a bit more at ease. "That's good."
"There's one more thing that might be of help to you."
Doctor Grisha suddenly took out a piece of paper from his pocket. "When I was applying the medicine, I found burn Marks in the shape of this pattern on them. I suspect it was left by the people who attacked them."
Weston took the paper Grisha handed him and found a special pattern drawn on it—a serpent entwined in flames, with an eye printed behind it.
"This is... Fire Serpents Eye?!"
As the Guild Master, Weston dealt with local alliances and the Council year-round, so he recognized the organization represented by this pattern at a glance.
"Fire Serpents Eye?"
"That Dark Guild active in the southeastern part of the Fiore Kingdom, famous for being skilled in fire magic?"
Mavis thought for a moment and quickly pulled up memories related to Fire Serpents Eye from her mind. "Why would they attack Hude and Sward?"
"Is it possible that our guild has a grudge with them?"
Weston was silent for a few breaths. "Perhaps... there is!"
When he and Precht wiped out the City of Lawlessness previously, the Dark Guild there, Night Scorpion, had a connection with Fire Serpents Eye.
The master of Night Scorpion, Mark, even used the Demonization Potion given to him by Fire Serpents Eye.
Later, because Mark lost to Weston, the entire Night Scorpion were sent to the Council's prison.
Could it be that Fire Serpents Eye attacked Fairy Tail because of this?
Regardless of the reason, since the people from Fire Serpents Eye beat Hude and Sward so severely and branded their guild's emblem onto them, it is a provocation to Fairy Tail, and even more so, a declaration of war against Fairy Tail!
"Those bastards—"
Weston's voice was laced with endless fury.
"If they knew how to keep their tails between their legs and hide in the gutters, I wouldn't bother with them."
"But since they've laid hands on our guild members, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"Go back and inform everyone—it's war!!"