The cute little girl patted her chest and promised, "Master, I'm not afraid!"
'Emily, Lyle, Mary, Haru, Gavin, I'm sorry.'
'Sister's path ends here.'
'The road ahead can only be walked by you all.'
'That money should support you for a while. I can only hope that he won't go back on his word.'
Ikuto wasn't afraid of death.
She had long prepared for this day.
Her master was the former ace mage of the dark guild—Skull Society.
She was someone who spent her life repenting for past mistakes.
Ikuto didn't know much about the early days of the guild's founding, but the previous guild master had been very tolerant of them as master and disciple, and had taken special care of her.
After her master passed away from illness, the guild master assigned her to become the captain of the Triforce Squad.
She refused assassination missions and other commissions.
Therefore, everyone in the guild resented her.
After the new guild master took over, their conflicts intensified.
She already knew that this mission meant certain death.
The new guild master's vendetta wouldn't stop at Udaru Das' betrayal.
This was the rule of the dark world: once someone offended you, they must be eliminated root and branch, or they would retaliate sooner or later!
So even if she killed Udaru Das, afterward, there would certainly be all sorts of conspiracies and enemies coming at her relentlessly—she would have to die for it to end.
Battle.
Ikuto wasn't afraid of battle.
But her family wasn't a secret.
The new guild master was ruthless; once, to make an example of someone—a member whose wife was pregnant wanted to quit, and the entire family was slaughtered.
Ikuto couldn't take the risk.
In this situation, she couldn't find a way out.
She no longer had her protective master, and she had never made friends along the way.
Alone, facing the entire dark guild's vengeful retaliation, she could die heroically in battle.
But they wouldn't give her that chance; more likely, they would threaten her with her younger siblings.
Perhaps it was time.
The words her master spoke years ago, she now fully understood.
She was that gentle moon, and also that beautiful flower.
For the birth of new love, withering was her fate.
Dying at the hands of the Fairy Queen wasn't shameful.
Ikuto closed her eyes.
*Tap*
Footsteps sounded near her ear, accompanied by a familiar voice, "Why does someone without fighting spirit go to the battlefield?"
Him?
Ikuto quickly opened her eyes, seeing only a pair of shiny polished shoes.
A conversation came from above.
"Jehfrit, I heard you encountered Pudden?"
"Mhm, I killed him," Jehfrit replied nonchalantly.
"It hasn't been long..." Erza was astonished, "How much stronger have you become since you left?"
"Not bad, mainly because Pudden happened to be countered by my magic," Jehfrit modestly said, he is truly humble.
"Do you know this woman?" Erza didn't dwell on this question.
"One could say we're acquaintances."
"She had no will to fight, but I couldn't hold back at that moment," Erza explained.
"I understand."
"Leave her to you; I'm going to find Jellal," Erza said.
"Sister!" Sho quickly said, "Let me go; I want to ask him which of you is telling the truth!"
"I've already said it, Sho," Erza stated, "It wasn't me who abandoned you all those years ago—it was Jellal who deceived you!"
"This matter, I will definitely get to the bottom of it!"
"And I will definitely give you an answer!"
Erza looked at Jehfrit and said, "They are in your hands."
"Alright, you go first; I'll come shortly," Jehfrit nodded.
Erza turned and ran.
"Sister!" Sho wanted to chase after her but suddenly felt an indescribable panic.
This sudden fear almost consumed him.
It felt like he would die the next second.
Sho collapsed to the ground with a thud, gasping for breath while clutching his chest.
Fortunately, this feeling came quickly and went just as fast.
After Erza left,
Sho found that he no longer had those strange symptoms. He angrily looked at Jehfrit and said, "Your magic just now, right?!"
"Yes."
"Don't stop me!" Sho angrily said.
"Little blondie," Jehfrit tilted his head slightly, "I don't have much patience for you."
"You—" Sho tried to attack.
"Enough, that's enough!" Suddenly, someone jumped out and stopped Sho.
"You are a true gentleman, sir." The newcomer was square-face Wally, who always talked about becoming a gentleman, bowing politely to Jehfrit.
"You too, sir, my name is Jehfrit," Jehfrit returned the courtesy.
"My name is Wally."
"Meow, I'm Millianna!" A cat-eared girl popped out from behind Jehfrit.
"Jehfrit." At this time, Lucy and Juvia also arrived.
They looked at the woman lying on the ground. Lucy asked, "Who's this?"
"A former enemy," Jehfrit said, "I'll leave for a while; use this time to unify your opinions."
As he spoke, Jehfrit squatted down, picked up Ikuto, took a step back, and disappeared.
Everyone gathered.
Natsu had previously beaten Wally and Millianna when looking for Jellal, waking them up—mostly due to Simon's mediation.
Wally and the others trusted Simon, and Lucy's side also trusted him because Erza trusted Simon.
Thus, upon meeting now, they put aside their previous conflicts.
Lucy said, "Sho, you probably already have a decision in your heart, right?"
Sho bit his lip and remained silent.
Juvia said bluntly, "To be frank, you shouldn't cause any more trouble. I understand your feelings, but this is a battle between a Wizard Saint and Fairy Tail's strongest team; even the aftershocks could kill someone!"
Millianna nodded, "Yes, meow. If you lose your life, everything's gone. Jellal... I've always been reluctant to say it, but he's really no different from those people back then."
"Simon has always believed in Erza," Wally said, "I believe in Erza, and I trust Simon even more!"
Wally's voice grew more serious, "Back then, it was Erza who faced the greatest dangers head-on, protecting us and overthrowing the Zeref Cult."
"She must have had her reasons for leaving us for so many years and not returning!"
Lucy nodded and said, "Exactly, Erza is a respected and trusted comrade in our Fairy Tail. There must be some misunderstanding!"
"What we need to do is believe in our comrades, believe in Erza!"
"Oh, one piece of information," Jehfrit's voice came though he wasn't present.
"The Magic Council has approved the use of super destructive magic-weapon Etherion to launch a devastating strike here. Although I've already informed the Master in advance, we might not make it in time, so just in case, you'd better leave here first."
"What about Natsu?!"
"Gray-sama!"
Lucy and Juvia tensed up.
"I'll go notify them; you quickly leave here. There's a ship outside."
"No need to be too nervous; when Etherion strikes, it will be absorbed by the Tower of Paradise and won't harm Natsu and the others. But anything can happen, so you'd better leave here first."
"Yes," Wally and the others nodded.
"Jehfrit!" Lucy solemnly said, "You all must return safely!"
"Rest assured."