Lucy was becoming increasingly curious about the Spriggan 12, whose names had already spread across the continent.
"So who's this annoying guy you're talking about? Have we met him before?"
Brandish shook her head.
"No. He rarely shows himself and usually stays near the Emperor."
Natsu, still sprawled across Lucy's bed, yawned and casually asked, "Compared to Mard Geer, how strong is the guy behind the White Magic Cult?"
Brandish glanced at him.
"In terms of straightforward combat power, Mard Geer was basically the weakest member of the Spriggan 12. Above him are people like Jacob and Neinhart. Neither of them is overwhelmingly powerful in a conventional fight, but their unusual abilities can raise their effective combat strength considerably."
"The person I'm talking about is similar. His raw destructive power might not seem that impressive, but his abilities are so troublesome that whether he's fighting one person or an entire group, bringing him down is extremely difficult."
Natsu's eyes immediately lit up.
"That strong? What's his name?"
Brandish looked at Natsu, then gave Lucy an oddly meaningful glance.
Instead of answering, she suddenly asked,
"Have you two slept together?"
Lucy's face turned scarlet in an instant.
"WHY WOULD YOU ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!"
"Something's definitely going on~" Happy snickered, covering his mouth with both paws.
"Huh? But I sleep in Lucy's bed all the—"
Natsu was answering with complete sincerity when Lucy lunged over and clamped both hands around his mouth.
"THAT IS NOT WHAT SHE MEANS!"
Brandish watched the two of them wrestle and lazily nodded.
"So you haven't. Good. That means you might actually have some chance against him."
Lucy stopped pulling at Natsu's cheeks.
"What does that mean?"
Brandish sighed.
"His name is Larcade Dragneel."
She paused.
"He's Emperor Zeref's son."
"SON?!"
"DRAGNEEL?!"
Lucy and Natsu shouted at exactly the same time, although for completely different reasons.
Lucy's eyes immediately shifted toward Natsu, subtle worry entering her expression.
"Zeref's surname is Dragneel too? Then what does that make Natsu…?"
Natsu, on the other hand, seemed far more interested in the revelation that the infamous Black Wizard even had a son.
Zeref's son.
Someone like that had to be strong.
His fighting spirit was already starting to rise.
Brandish nodded and answered Lucy first.
"The Emperor's real name is Zeref Dragneel. From the way he acts sometimes, there's clearly someone from his past he still misses. But whether that has anything to do with this pink-haired idiot…"
She glanced at Natsu.
"I honestly can't say."
Lucy lowered her head.
A fragment of the Memory of the Stars surfaced in her mind.
The image had been brief and indistinct, but among the children being sent through the Eclipse Gate four hundred years ago, she thought she remembered seeing one with pink hair.
If Natsu really had been sent from four hundred years in the past…
Then he might genuinely be connected to Zeref.
Her thoughts immediately became tangled.
She began recalling the childhood stories told by the Dragon Slayers she knew.
Four hundred years ago…
If that was true, then Wendy, Gajeel, and the others might also have originated in the past, warriors sent forward in time in the hope that one day they would become strong enough to defeat Acnologia.
They really needed to ask Igneel and the other dragons about this.
Unfortunately, those dragons were nowhere to be found.
Lucy suppressed her growing concern over Natsu's origins.
Brandish, oblivious to what was going through her mind, continued.
"Despite being the Emperor's son, Larcade doesn't use Black Magic. His magic is extremely pure White Magic, which is exactly why I suspect he's connected to the White Magic Cult."
The world tended to despise Black Magic and admire White Magic, but at sufficiently high levels, both could be horrifyingly lethal.
Using Black Magic didn't automatically make someone evil, just as using White Magic didn't make someone good.
The main difference lay more in how the two types of magic tended to destroy their targets.
Black Magic often attacked the body first, breaking it down from the outside inward and inflicting overwhelming pain before death.
White Magic was more inclined toward the opposite approach, disrupting a person from within. Some victims might not even realize they had been affected until it was too late.
Others could die with a smile still on their faces.
"Larcade's specialty is a form of White Magic centered around desire," Brandish explained. "He can forcibly stimulate powerful urges buried inside his targets until their minds and bodies become too overwhelmed to fight properly."
She raised one finger and grimaced.
"Desire is something almost every living creature possesses, which is why Larcade has even been described as a secret weapon against Acnologia. Even the Black Dragon isn't completely free from instinct."
"Desire…"
Lucy and Natsu tilted their heads in perfect synchronization.
Two pairs of blank eyes stared at Brandish.
Question marks might as well have appeared over their heads.
A vein twitched on Brandish's forehead.
She covered her face with one hand.
"You two really are idiots…"
She reluctantly tried again.
"To put it simply, Larcade has one indiscriminate technique that's extremely difficult to resist. Anyone who has experienced sexual pleasure can be forced straight into an overwhelming climax, leaving them too weak and overwhelmed to fight."
As she continued explaining, Brandish watched the expressions on Lucy and Natsu grow steadily more vacant.
She finally gave up and waved dismissively.
"Whatever. The point is that you need to be careful. That isn't even his only trick. He can forcibly draw out other desires buried in your mind as well."
"When you fight Larcade, you're not really fighting him."
"You're fighting your own instincts."
Lucy and Natsu remained silent for several seconds.
Then, with perfect coordination, they both raised a thumb.
"Got it!"
Brandish rolled her eyes.
"You clearly didn't."
At least she finally understood why these two had ended up together so often.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, someone unexpectedly knocked on Lucy's front door.
That alone was strange.
Most Fairy Tail members usually came through the window.
Lucy walked over in confusion and opened the door, only to become even more bewildered when she saw Ankh, Erza, Gray, and Wendy standing outside.
"You guys actually used the front door?!"
Ankh gave an awkward smile before stepping aside with Gray to reveal someone standing behind them.
"We brought a guest this time."
There was unmistakable amusement in his expression.
"Hello…"
Lucy instinctively greeted the cute silver-haired girl.
The girl's eyes instantly turned into hearts.
She charged straight into the apartment.
"Natsu-sama! I finally found you!"
Ankh, Erza, Wendy, and Gray immediately leaned forward with shining eyes, all four of them watching Lucy's reaction with intense interest.
Brandish, who had been lounging lazily in a chair, suddenly sat upright as well.
Her eyes widened.
A love triangle?
She had barely moved in and she was already getting front-row seats to something this entertaining?
"Huh?"
Natsu looked up when he heard his name.
"Who are you?"
Touka didn't hesitate.
She launched herself straight toward the bed where Natsu was lying.
Lucy's expression immediately tightened.
Natsu's changed too.
His reaction was remarkably fast.
He rolled off the bed in a perfectly executed tactical escape.
And yet…
The scene everyone had been waiting for still didn't happen.
Touka landed directly on Happy instead!
She wrapped both arms around the blue Exceed, rubbing her cheek happily against his face while Happy—who had been giggling moments earlier in anticipation of the drama—went completely stiff.
"Natsu-sama…"
Touka smiled blissfully.
"You smell wonderful!"
Everyone stared.
Silence filled the room.
Then—
"HUH?!"