Through the perspective of the River Crab, they carefully scouted and indeed found more than twenty people nearby.
Rhode concealed the group in a depression he had chosen beforehand and marked the targets' positions and directions on a map for Captain Kaptin.
After Captain Kaptin thanked him, he 'requested' Rhode and Gray to stay in place and immediately began setting up, seemingly intending to surround and capture them all in one go.
Rhode routinely placed two River Crabs to patrol and guard the surroundings while waiting for the task to be completed and for his reward.
"Is this Strong Detention Team very powerful?"
Gray said, "In terms of fighting, they're not considered strong, but they have special ways to deal with mages. Once they target you, it's hard to escape."
"Special ways?" Rhode pondered, "Demon Sealing Stones?"
Gray said, "Demon Sealing Stones are just used as handcuffs. For an arrest operation like today, they generally use Techniques."
"Techniques?" Rhode seemed to have seen this magic before, related to Text Magic, but very different.
"I remember it's called 'Arrest Technique,' specially refined by mages proficient in Techniques for the Advisory Council.
As long as you know the arrest target's location or inevitable path, quietly setting up these Techniques around will immediately render the opponent unable to resist."
The Technique is absolute.
Mages who use Techniques often have this phrase on their lips.
This is a very special kind of magic. Anyone within the Technique must adhere to the rules set by the Technique.
For example, writing "Mages are not allowed to leave" with special text around the target.
Then, once the target area is surrounded and the Technique is activated, the mages inside will have to obediently remain trapped.
Even more audaciously, you could write "People inside the Technique can't use magic," allowing you to easily defeat them from a distance once they fall into the trap.
The charm of Techniques is that even an ordinary mage can trap a Ten Wizard Saint with them.
Of course, such powerful magic also has its limitations, most notably the long activation time required, far exceeding the chanting time of other magic.
Therefore, this kind of magic is suitable as a trap but difficult to use in combat.
Rules like "Anyone who enters dies immediately" don't seem to work either, and there are various restrictions on overly complex rules.
Maintaining the existence of the Technique also requires a certain amount of magic power.
In short, this isn't magic that an ordinary mage can use effectively.
But the Advisory Council's squad, utilizing intelligence advantages and numbers, can achieve a quite strong effect when jointly using specially refined Techniques.
This is one of the reasons they are emboldened to trouble the Dark Guild everywhere.
"Wait a minute," Rhode suddenly asked, "You know so much about this, have you been dealt with by the Advisory Council's Technique?"
"How could it be, I'm not at that level yet." Gray looked somewhat uneasy, "I just happened to know about it."
"Oh~ Preparing for the worst?"
"You, have you corrected your common tongue yet?"
Gray found it hard to determine whether this person used the wrong word or was implying he'd be eventually dealt with by the Advisory Council using Techniques.
Rhode frowned, "It seems we're being watched; they've left people around to keep an eye on us."
Gray said, "Though it's unpleasant, it's a secret mission. I'm a bit curious about what they're trying to hide."
Rhode said, "I'm curious too, but I don't want to cause trouble."
He connected his sight to the River Crabs, watching the two team members responsible for surveillance to avoid being silently trapped in a Technique.
The two chatted on and off for a while, and suddenly two places on the mountain lit up with magical light.
A series of strange texts appeared out of thin air, forming two circular barriers.
Both locations were places where members of the Naked Bandage Men gathered.
Gray looked at the two barriers and gradually felt something was off, "Weren't there supposed to be three?"
Boom!
The sound of an explosion came from where a barrier was supposed to form, followed by magic bullets' light and the sound of battle starting.
"Something's happened." Rhode patted the dust off his pants as he stood up, internally complaining that this group can't even sneak attack properly.
"Perhaps they were discovered when setting up the Technique, or someone who just arrived disrupted them." Gray stood up, ready to help.
Rhode pulled him back, "First, let's find those two on guard."
The two soldiers in white robes weren't worried about the sound of battle. Instead, when they saw Rhode and Gray approaching, they tightened their grips on their Magic Staffs:
"Do not interfere with the Advisory Council's law enforcement action, mages of Fairy Tail."
Gray asked, "Something went wrong over there, are you sure you don't need help?"
One soldier said stiffly, "Captain Kaptin can handle it. Don't forget your supplementary clauses."
"Well, they don't appreciate it, so let's rest." Rhode pulled the worried Gray to the side to wait.
The sound of battle continued for a while, and a red flare rose into the sky.
The expressions of the two soldiers immediately turned grim.
Gray asked, "Hey, whose signal is that?"
"It's... it's the captain's emergency call for help." One soldier gritted his teeth, "Please, the two of you, come to support the captain with us!"
"Hey, are you crazy? They're not supposed to participate in the arrest operation!"
"But the red signal requires mobilizing as much force as possible!"
So are these conflicting orders bugged or what?
Rhode felt that this broken Advisory Council was bound to fail without even prioritizing such important orders.
Rhode urged, "Hurry up and make a decision; the opponent has dozens of people.
Ordinarily, when ordinary mages like us encounter a large number of Dark Guild mages, we should avoid them as soon as possible."
"Rhode!" Gray clearly didn't want to let it go.
Concern for those people's safety kept him from noticing the obvious implications.
This kid occasionally gets a bit heated.
The two soldiers hesitated for a moment, "We implore you to lend us a hand! We will take responsibility!"
——The captain usually takes care of them very well; a little more help at such a time is best.
Rhode summoned two River Crabs, loading all four onto them, and sped toward the direction of the signal flare.
When they arrived, the mages of the Naked Bandage Men were nowhere to be seen, and about thirty soldiers in white robes lay all over the place.
"Captain!"
"What happened!?"
The two soldiers jumped off the River Crabs and helped Captain Kaptin sit up.
"We were exposed, Zat suddenly attacked and took two people down; the Technique didn't work..."
Captain Kaptin briefly explained the situation, then struggled to stand up, leaning on his Magic Staff to walk, "Quick! Go support Dipudi and the others. The Zat Brothers are very strong; they will suffer losses!"
Gray cracked his knuckles, "You save the wounded first; leave that to us."
Captain Kaptin was momentarily taken aback, "Mages of Fairy Tail, why..."
"Captain, it was us who brought them over on our own." The two soldiers were at least honest.
Captain Kaptin quickly made a decision, "Please, help my subordinates!"
"Leave it to us." Gray cracked his knuckles, "What do you say, Rhode?"
"Since you insist," Rhode sighed, urging the River Crab to set off while complaining on the way, "Don't just take on trouble like this."
"But isn't there a scenario in your plan where it's just the two of us against an entire guild?"
"That's the worst-case scenario... Just so you know, if we can't win, I'm running."