Deltara Forest, Outskirts of Filan City—
Raizel, Wendy, and Carla arrived at the location Iwasta had revealed during interrogation.
Sure enough, there was a solitary wooden cabin in the forest.
Inside, the alchemist wearing a headscarf and orange-tinted glasses was still complaining to himself.
"Damn it! Why did that female Mage have to be so ridiculously cautious?!"
His camera had been created through alchemy.
Anyone captured in one of its photographs would be unknowingly pulled into the picture itself.
It worked somewhat like a sealing card, except the effect was not limited by the target's amount of Magic Power.
There was one major flaw, however.
Anyone trapped inside the photograph could still use Magic.
In other words, even if Kagura and Erza had fallen for the trick, Erza could simply have Requipped the Nakagami Armor and cut her way out of the artificial space.
"They would've made such excellent alchemical materials too..."
The moment he spotted Erza and Kagura in Filan City, he had been astonished by the Magic Power contained within both women.
...
A Hidden Cave in the Deltara Mountains—
The cave had clearly been excavated and converted into a place to live.
Strange noises echoed from somewhere inside.
"Mmm... Ah... Mmmgh... Aaah..."
"..."
Lucy and Happy sat on the ground with their hands tied, staring blankly at the old woman who had kidnapped them.
She was struggling to chew on something.
Cold sweat trickled down Lucy's forehead.
"What are you doing?"
The old woman continued chewing with great difficulty.
"Can't you tell? I'm eating a sweet potato."
Lucy could no longer hold back.
"How old is that sweet potato?! Why is it so damn chewy?! And why do you have to make noises like that just to eat it?!"
She took a breath and returned to the more important issue.
"So why did you kidnap us in the first place?"
"Don't know."
The old woman answered with surprising honesty.
Lucy stared at her.
"So the part about being an information broker was a lie too?"
"No, that part was true. That's how I learned about this job."
The old woman gave them another unsettling smile.
"Capturing Mages from Fairy Tail earns a very large reward."
...
Meanwhile, Ultear and Mira had also extracted information about Gold Owl from Sai.
At first, Sai had stubbornly refused to say a word.
Then Mira used Kyoka's ability to amplify his sense of pain until even a light breeze brushing across his skin felt like countless blades cutting into him.
Sai did not last much longer after that.
"Capturing members of Fairy Tail was ordered by our guild master, Duke Barbaroa!"
"He said he wanted them as alchemical materials. A Mage's Magic Power is an extremely valuable resource for alchemists like us!"
Ultear immediately followed up.
"Why Fairy Tail specifically?"
Sai fell silent.
Mira narrowed her eyes and looked down at him.
"Would you like to experience that feeling again? The one where even the wind touching your face feels like it's slicing you apart?"
Sai instantly felt as though a predator had locked its jaws around his throat.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
His wrists were secured behind the chair with Magic-Sealing Handcuffs, and ropes bound the rest of his body tightly.
Sai explained awkwardly,
"I reported everything that happened inside the Dogramag Labyrinth. After hearing about it, Master Duke became interested and said he wanted Mages from Fairy Tail..."
Sai himself did not know anything more specific.
He was only a mid-ranking member of Gold Owl, nowhere near the level of the Signario Sisters.
Even God Serena, despite only joining recently, had already surpassed him in status.
Unlike Sai, Serena had strength that Gold Owl genuinely valued.
Sai also confirmed what Iwasta had told them.
Gold Owl's guild hall could be found by leaving Filan City and heading north.
It was not difficult to locate either.
The building was enormous.
...
Erza pointed toward the triangular entrance of a cave ahead.
"Lucy and Happy should be in there."
"LUCY!!! HAPPY!!!"
Natsu charged straight into the cave while shouting their names.
Kagura sighed helplessly.
"You announced us a little early, didn't you?"
Fortunately, it hardly mattered.
Natsu was moving so quickly that there was barely any time for the enemy to prepare, and the tunnel itself was not particularly long.
The instant he spotted Lucy and Happy, Natsu skidded to a stop inside the cave.
"Natsu!"
"Erza and Kagura are here too!!!"
Happy grabbed the bars of the cell with tears in his eyes.
Natsu looked at the two captives.
"You guys okay?"
Lucy nodded.
"We're fine. She didn't do anything to us."
"Aye!"
Natsu immediately grabbed the old woman by the collar with one hand and lifted her off the ground.
"Hey, old hag! You're the one who kidnapped them?!"
"Stop that. Are you really going to attack a frail old woman? Put me down..."
"Anyone who messes with my friends gets hit! I don't care if you're old or a kid!"
"I fought Acnologia, and that bastard was hundreds of years old. You think I'm scared of punching one old lady?!"
Natsu promptly delivered an uppercut.
The old woman shot upward and slammed headfirst into the ceiling of the cave.
Meanwhile, Kagura drew Archenemy and slashed twice across the iron door of the cell, carving out a gap large enough for Lucy and Happy to pass through.
Once free, Lucy exhaled heavily and clasped her hands against her chest.
"We're saved. Thank you, everyone!"
Erza folded one arm across her chest and rested her other hand beneath her chin.
"But why did they want Lucy and Happy in the first place?"
"Aye! She said Gold Owl wanted Mages from Fairy Tail!"
"To be precise, they want the Magic Power of Fairy Tail's Mages..."
An unfamiliar woman's voice came from outside the cave.
A figure appeared within the dim light at the entrance.
As she drew closer and stepped into the illumination inside the cave, Erza, Kagura, and the others finally saw her clearly.
Her entire body was white, almost as though she were clad from head to toe in smooth white armor.
Even the exposed sections of her skin looked subtly different from those of an ordinary human.
On close inspection, the texture resembled the artificial body of Wall Eehto.
Natsu frowned at the unexpected arrival.
"Who are you?!"
Athena smiled.
"I am Athena. I came to collect the prisoners. Ara, ara."
Erza's pupils contracted.
"Athena?"
Lucy's lips parted in surprise.
"Don't tell me..."
"The weapon created to oppose the Five Dragon Gods—Athena?" Kagura asked, equally stunned.
"You—"
Natsu had barely begun to speak when tears suddenly poured from his eyes against his will.
"Wh-Why? Why am I crying all of a sudden?!"
He frantically wiped at his face, completely at a loss.
"Me too! Why?!!"
Tears streamed continuously down Lucy's cheeks.
"What the hell is happening?!"
Kagura wiped her own tears away with the back of her hand.
She could barely remember the last time she had cried like this.
"I suddenly feel... so sad..."
Erza bit her lip and sniffled, looking genuinely heartbroken.
"WAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
Happy's tears came pouring out like a broken dam.
He cried as though every fish in the entire world had suddenly gone extinct.
Athena watched them with a pleasant smile.
"Your tears have been transmuted..."
"Through my power."
---------
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