Star Slave Heaven·Kuanghua, female, member of the Gate of the Underworld, one of the Nine Ghosts Sect, extremely powerful.
That's it.
This is all the current information that Fairy Tail and the Council have gathered.
And even this bit of information was kindly disclosed to them by Sin of the Witch.
Even though Sin of the Witch has former members of the other two legs of the Balram Alliance and two former Evaluators, they've only heard a few names from the Nine Ghosts Sect.
At most, they know about a legend regarding the Nine Ghosts Sect: none of them are human; they are demons from Jellal's Book.
But this legend was just overturned by Team A.
Because they just heard about the Demon Destruction Mage.
It's somewhat acceptable for demons to work with a Demon Destruction Mage, just like dragons working with Dragon Slayer Mages.
But can a Demon Destruction Mage also be a demon?
Natsu now cared more about the battle situation: "How did the two of them lose?"
Rekete shook his head: "I don't know."
Everyone was stunned: "Don't know?"
Floros shook his head too: "Fro doesn't know either."
Rekete explained: "We broke into the headquarters of Eye of the Dream Demon and found it empty inside. Everything was overturned, except for some black paper cut-out figures."
"We thought they had discovered their exposure and fled ahead of time. But when we went in to investigate, we encountered that woman."
"Fro feels she's not human."
"That's right! Her hands and feet had very long claws, like a demon!"
"She said that since our target was the Guild under the Netherworld, we could be considered enemies, and she attacked us.
"Stinger and Rogue initially said they wanted to try their new power, but after just a few moves, they stood still!"
Rekete and Floros described the battle process in turns.
But it sounded nothing like a battle.
It was completely Kuanghua torturing and abusing Stinger and Rogue!
The Sabertooth Twin Dragons stood there to be beaten without a sound at first, then suddenly started to scream in torment!
Even when the opponent just blew a breath on their face, they screamed as if cut by knives!
Everyone looked at each other, finding such a 'battle process' inconceivable.
Rekete indignantly said: "That guy must have used some despicable magic! Otherwise, Stinger wouldn't lose so easily!"
"Fro also thinks so!"
"That's certain," Erza nodded, speculating, "It must be some kind of powerful imprisonment magic."
Lucy asked: "Then, how did you escape?"
Rekete excitedly said: "It was the young lady! That Kuanghua said Stinger and Rogue had some aptitude and wanted to take them.
The young lady arrived back just in time, saying... saying... Anyway, the young lady used magic to transfer us far away, and Fro and I brought them here to meet the Council."
Minerva's words at the time were unpleasant, and Rekete didn't want to repeat them.
But he thought the young lady belittling Stinger and Rogue, calling them useless, trash, and worthless, was surely to save them.
Just like she saved him from the President's hands in the past.
Floros lowered his head and said: "But the young lady didn't come out."
Soon after they left, Nightmare's Tooth exploded, and it was ablaze over there.
Rekete and Floros didn't know what happened to Minerva in the end, nor dared to go back and check.
But Lahar did.
After learning about what happened at Nightmare's Tooth, he left a few to help heal Stinger and Rogue while he led a team to check the situation.
Now Team A wasn't in a hurry to leave.
They wanted to wait for Stinger to wake up and ask about the situation.
If necessary, they could also go to support Lahar.
In official matters, Lahar always took care of Fairy Tail whenever possible—mainly for Rhode's sake.
So, despite Lahar being with the Council, they considered him a decent person.
-----------------
When Stinger and Rogue's condition improved a bit, Lahar happened to return with his team.
Fairy Tail appearing here made him feel a bit surprised, but it made sense upon reflection.
After exchanging greetings, Erza asked: "Excuse me, how is the situation at Eye of the Dream Demon over there?"
"The whole Guild was burned down completely, with no clues left behind," Lahar answered. "We didn't encounter anyone from the Gate of the Underworld."
Rekete pressed on: "And the young lady?"
"Minerva? We didn't see her either."
Stinger, half-conscious, heard their conversation and asked: "Rekete, what did you just say... what happened to the young lady?"
Rogue had the same confusion.
"Stinger!"
"Rogue!"
The two little cats didn't bother answering the question and instead threw themselves onto their partners, crying a stream of worried words.
Stinger and Rogue winced in pain as their facial muscles twisted, but they first needed to comfort the two cats.
After a while, Rekete finally explained to Stinger's inquiry: "It was the young lady who saved us, didn't you know?"
"Fro also thinks so."
Both of them found it strange; Stinger and Rogue were present and hadn't fainted, so how could they know nothing?
Rekete had no choice but to repeat what he saw and then asked Stinger why he didn't fight back.
"I don't know." Stinger smiled bitterly. "I have absolutely no idea what happened, only remember that after trading a few moves, I couldn't see or hear anything, completely losing all sensations."
"Same here. Later, I suddenly felt pain all over, as if countless little knives were cutting my skin. Besides the pain, I couldn't feel anything, and my body was entirely out of control." Rogue pressed his forehead as he recalled the experience, feeling phantom pains creeping over his body.
Stinger said dejectedly: "It was mere one person from the Gate of the Underworld, yet the two of us didn't even know how we lost."
Stinger and Rogue couldn't believe they lost so badly.
A few days ago, they had just absorbed the Magic Crystal, mastering both White Dragon and Shadow Dragon attributes of Dragon Slayer Magic, feeling on top of the world.
Based on their thoughts, no matter how strong an opponent they faced in the future, it wouldn't be a problem. Even if they couldn't win, with Shadow Magic, they could always manage to escape.
But how could they have known that on their first trip after 'mastering divine skills,' they'd encounter such a monster?
After only a few rounds, their five senses disappeared completely.
Though their minds didn't stop, clearly knowing they were still alive, they couldn't hear or touch anything, couldn't open their eyes—even though their eyes were open, they didn't know whether they were or not.
The pain they later experienced must have been intentionally returned by the enemy to torment them.
In that state, they had no idea where they were, what posture their bodies were in, let alone launch a magical counterattack or escape.