The situation changed so suddenly, it could be said to be completely without warning.
Rhode and Mira never expected that this old lady, who seemed to know nothing about magic, would suddenly launch an attack.
The attack was sudden and fierce, to the point that Mira did not have time to dodge.
The pitch-black claw struck Mira—hitting the Warm she was holding in her arms.
Warm was grabbed with such force that it deformed like a little rubber ball, flying backward with Mira.
White fluff drifted down, and then was no more.
Warm's skin was quite tough, even without transformation, this sudden strike only left three red marks.
Mira spun around in mid-air holding Warm, tapped the ground with her toes, then anchored herself with her heel digging into the ground, standing firmly again. Her long white hair swung forward, then smoothly slipped off her arm and fell back down her back.
"No!" she shouted.
Rhode's fist stopped in front of Granny An, the terrifying wind from the punch scattering her temple locks, her loose skin tugged backward.
Granny An, perhaps shocked, froze for a moment. Then, the red light in her eyes flashed, and she fiercely thrust her claw at Rhode's heart.
"Tch!" Rhode rudely spat at the old lady, but what came out was not saliva, but a palm-sized ball of spider silk.
The ball unfolded in the wind, turning into a foot-wide spider web, entangling the opponent's claw.
Mira didn't want to hurt her, so they would capture her alive.
Four more than two-meter-long purple spider legs protruded from behind Rhode, bending and reaching forward.
Every spider leg sprayed a two-finger-thick white silk from a foot away from the tip.
Granny An hadn't yet shaken off the silk tangled on her right claw when the new attack came.
She extended the sharp claw blade on her left claw, a dark gleam slicing toward the silk...
Successfully letting a strand of silk wrap around her wrist.
"?"
"You'd better behave." Rhode's four spider legs swung, deftly hanging the silk on Granny An's hands and legs.
Then, amid her struggles, they lifted her into the air, using some skill, making her spin like a spindle.
The four strands of silk quickly wrapped around, soon cocooning her into a large chrysalis, leaving only her head and toes outside.
"Hiss~~~" Granny An let out a beast-like growl with red eyes, but couldn't exert any strength.
Mira curiously touched Rhode's spider leg, the hard bristles springing up defiantly after being pressed.
"It's a bit prickly," she commented.
Rhode shook his leg and said, "You owe me one, let me touch the Devil Horn next time."
Mira gave him a sideways glance, what next time? Next time what? Surely not just for touching horns normally.
Before answering, Warm leapt from her arms, headbutting the large chrysalis—it was for the grudge of that claw.
Then it stuck to the silk, whimpering pitifully, begging Rhode to take it down.
So Warm lost a tuft of fur again.
"Granny An~ Granny An~" Mira tried to wake her, "I'm Mirajane, please look at me carefully!"
Granny An shook her head, letting out a roar with indiscernible meaning.
Rhode asked, "Are you sure she's Granny An? Not some demon in disguise?"
Rhode didn't know the real Granny An and left it to Mira to judge.
Mira affirmed, "It must be her, but her current state is somewhat like a berserk Elfman."
Rhode said, "Berserk after Receiving Magic lost control? But what about the memory loss before that?"
Mira shook her head, "Probably influenced by some other magic, it's still uncertain now."
"Hmm... In such a situation, it's best to calm her down first?" Rhode pondered his magic supply.
Attack, defense, imprisonment, healing, scouting, he had some knowledge of various magic, but the forced calming one... he was only good at physical calming methods.
The Magic Book from Master Second might have something...
"Let me do it." Mira raised her hand and pointed, a pink hypnotic bubble floated toward Granny An.
The red light in Granny An's eyes dimmed slightly but immediately turned fierce again.
"Receive·Demon Lala Bai!"
Mira's clothes transformed into a brown cloth long dress, blue-purple mysterious patterns appeared on her shoulders and ankles, and she wore a three-eyed demon mask on her face.
Rhode, knowing his place, retreated with Warm, passing the chrysalis as far away as possible with his spider legs.
Mira sang a lullaby, Granny An's eyes slowly closed, her head drooping down, falling completely asleep.
"When Granny An wakes up, she should regain her sanity." Mira released Receiving Magic.
Rhode put her down, gently slicing the silk with a spider leg, the silk lost its stickiness, breaking and scattering on the ground like ordinary rope.
Mira's judgment might be right, as Granny An's right hand hadn't fully recovered, instead, resembling Mira's childhood, remaining in a demon's form.
Rhode stared at the pitch-black devil hand, "Was this how you were as a child?"
"Yes." Mira did not shy away from mentioning her childhood, nodding gently, "We must think of a way quickly, Granny An would be frightened."
She gently placed Granny An onto a bed inside, carefully sensing the demon power hidden within her.
Rhode took out his book, studied for a while, and according to the instructions, drew a magic array on the bed.
After Mira checked it, a sphere of light attribute magic power flew out from Rhode's fingertips, activating the magic array.
The golden light scanned Granny An from head to toe, finally gathering into a sphere on her forehead and then gradually dissipating.
The two exchanged a few words about her 'condition', and Granny An soon woke up.
Rhode and Mira watched Granny An with some vigilance, only slightly relaxing when they confirmed she didn't go berserk.
Granny An raised her hand to rub her eyes but found the touch felt different, she looked at her hand with some confusion.
"Ah, ah————"
A scream emerged from the old lady's mouth, Mira quickly calmed her.
She understood Granny An's fear at this moment the most, explaining as gently as possible what Receiving Magic was.
It took a while for the old lady's emotions to finally settle, her eyes welling up with tears.
Mira held her hand, continuing to soothe her, explaining how to recover.
"I'm sorry, good child, I'm sorry..." Granny An kept apologizing to Mira, "I didn't know, I didn't know you would be so scared back then..."
Even after living alone for many years, Granny An found that becoming an 'other' was more frightening than she imagined.
Mirajane was still a child at that time, with younger siblings to care for, and she couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for that child.
If only she could have known magic back then, if only she could have persuaded everyone more...
Mira lightly smiled, "What's done is done, as long as you know you're okay, and your arm will recover, that's good enough."