Chapter 153
Neither Gray nor Natsu had ever considered the possibility that the "mastermind" standing before them might actually be someone from their own guild.
Even Lucy, despite having received advance instructions from Marshall, was struggling to keep up with everything that was happening.
So although the mysterious Aitei-sama’s voice sounded familiar—and, in Natsu’s case, his scent was extremely familiar as well—neither of them immediately put the pieces together.
As far as Natsu and Gray were concerned, they had been captured by some evil lunatic who was probably about to torture them.
Honestly, neither of them had ever been taken prisoner before, so they had no idea how they were supposed to act in a situation like this.
Naturally, they fell back on stubbornness.
"Do whatever you want, you shitty masked bastard!"
This time, however, Lyon was the one who grew nervous.
He had started genuinely worrying that Aitei-sama might actually be some terrifying villain who would kill his junior, so he stepped forward and pleaded respectfully.
"Aitei-sama, Deliora is already dead. We no longer have any reason to fight them. Perhaps... we should simply let them go?"
Marshall slowly turned toward him.
"Oh? Are you teaching me what to do?"
Lyon immediately lowered his head. "I wouldn’t dare!"
Marshall tilted his head. "Didn’t you hate this junior of yours? You’re actually asking me to spare him?"
"...Ur saved his life."
Lyon’s expression became complicated.
"I don’t want her sacrifice to have been for nothing."
"Lyon..."
Gray stared at him, conflicting emotions twisting across his face before he eventually lowered his head in shame.
He hated how powerless he had been throughout this entire incident.
Marshall gave a dark chuckle.
"No. I’ve changed my mind."
He turned toward the captives.
"I’m going to turn these two into demons!"
Then he gestured dramatically.
"Just like the people in that village. They’ll make excellent experimental subjects!"
Natsu’s head snapped upward.
"NANIII?!"
His eyes burned with fury.
"So you’re the bastard who cursed the villagers?! You son of a—!"
Marshall gasped theatrically.
"You dare to speak to me like that? Fine! I’ve changed my mind again!"
He spread his arms and laughed like a third-rate villain.
"I’ll kill all of you instead! Hehehehe! I’ll feed your souls to demons!"
Happy immediately burst into tears.
"Aye! Don’t kill me! I’m just a cat!"
Marshall was getting increasingly immersed in the role!
Who knew he had such a natural talent for playing the villain?
Magnificent.
Absolutely magnificent!
Lyon, unfortunately, took every word completely seriously. His expression turned solemn as he dropped to one knee.
"Aitei-sama! Please show mercy!"
Marshall pretended to consider the request.
"Well... since you’re asking so sincerely, I suppose I can compromise. I’m not a monster, after all."
He looked toward the Fairy Tail prisoners.
"You’re all from Fairy Tail, aren’t you? I never imagined the so-called strongest guild in Ishgar would have Mages this weak."
Natsu’s eyebrow twitched.
Marshall smiled beneath his mask.
"How about this? If that boy who insulted me shouts ’I’m the weakest person in Fairy Tail!’ three times... I’ll release all of you."
Natsu immediately exploded.
"WHAT?! I’D RATHER DIE! You bastard! Once I get out of these vines, I’m gonna beat you up!"
"Natsu!"
Gray gritted his teeth. He couldn’t let Natsu’s stupidity make the situation even worse.
"This happened because of me. If somebody has to say it, I’ll do it."
He looked toward Marshall.
"If I say it, you’ll really let everyone go?"
"You damn ice bastard!"
Natsu thrashed furiously against his restraints.
"I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY! I’ll say it!"
He sucked in a breath.
"I’M THE WEAKEST PERSON IN FAIRY TAIL! Happy now?!"
Gray immediately shouted back, "No! I’m the weakest person in Fairy Tail!"
"I AM!"
"IT’S ME!"
"NO, ME!"
Somehow, the two idiots managed to start arguing even while tied to crosses.
Marshall finally lost control.
"PFFFFT—HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"That was perfect!"
Still laughing, Marshall extended a hand toward the side.
"You got all of that, right?"
Several recording devices floated over.
Multiple angles.
Perfect sound.
And best of all, a beautiful group photograph of Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy tied to crosses after their humiliating defeat!
Marshall’s eyes practically sparkled.
This photo alone had made the entire trip worthwhile~
Lucy’s face turned scarlet.
"Marshall! Enough already! Let us down!"
She was especially horrified because she was in the recordings too.
"Marshall?!"
Natsu and Gray immediately perked up.
"Marshall’s here?!"
"WHERE?!"
For several seconds, they eagerly looked around, apparently convinced that reinforcements had finally arrived.
Then both of them slowly froze.
A thought occurred to Gray.
’Wait... why does this guy sound so much like Marshall?’
Natsu’s nose twitched.
’And why does he smell exactly like Marshall?’
Before either of them could voice their suspicions, Marshall ripped off his mask.
"HAHA! DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING, DID YOU?!"
He grinned at them.
"IT WAS ME, MARSHALL!"
Gray’s face went black.
Natsu’s face went white.
Lucy’s last remaining hope quietly died.
Happy, who still hadn’t figured out what was happening, immediately screamed, "Marshall! Save us! There’s a bad guy here!!!"
"..."
Everyone went silent.
Several seconds passed.
Then Natsu and Gray exploded.
"MARSHALL!!!"
"ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!"
"LET US DOWN!"
"You bastard!"
"What the hell have you been doing?!"
"I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"
Marshall swayed backward mockingly.
"Ooooh~ So scary~ The two weakest Mages in Fairy Tail are threatening me~"
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Natsu nearly combusted from rage.
"I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! GRAY! TEAM UP WITH ME! WE’RE BEATING THIS BASTARD TO DEATH!"
Gray’s brain had initially short-circuited as well, but he gradually managed to calm himself down.
"Marshall..."
He stared at him incredulously.
"How the hell did you end up working with Lyon?! And who are those seven people in black?!"
Lyon looked equally confused as his gaze shifted between Marshall and Gray.
"You... know each other?"
"You idiot, Lyon!" Gray snapped. "We’re from the same guild! This brat is one of Fairy Tail’s S-Class Mages!"
Lyon opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
He had several thoughts about Fairy Tail after everything he had witnessed tonight.
In the end, he decided it would be more polite not to share them.
Natsu, meanwhile, was still struggling against the vines.
"Marshall, you bastard! Are you done screwing around?! Let us go!"
Marshall wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
After all, he occupied the moral high ground!
"My, my, Natsu. Did you perhaps forget who illegally stole an S-Class quest from the second floor?"
Natsu froze.
Marshall turned toward Gray.
"And Gray... weren’t you supposed to bring Natsu back? So what exactly are you doing here?"
He smiled pleasantly.
"Hmm? Which one of you would like to explain first?"
"..."
Neither of them said anything.
Their anger disappeared almost instantly.
There was no helping it.
Marshall was right.
They had absolutely no defense.
Gray still felt wronged, however.
After stewing over it for a moment, he protested, "Fine! We screwed up! But that doesn’t mean you can cooperate with a bunch of evil bastards!"
He pointed toward the Seven Sins Apostles.
"They nearly killed Natsu! Marshall, don’t go down the wrong path!"
"You mean them?"
Marshall pointed behind himself, his smile becoming suspicious again.
"Take off your masks. Let these two get a proper look at you."
The Seven Sins Gugas obeyed one after another.
Their masks came off.
Natsu and Gray’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
"ERZA?!"
"CANA?!"
"MIRA?!"
"You’re all—"
They stopped.
Then stared at another face.
"WAIT!"
"WHY IS THERE A LUCY VERSION TOO?!"
The real Lucy stared just as hard.
"Huh?"
She pointed at herself.
"Do I have a little sister I don’t know about?!"
Marshall proudly shook his head.
"Nope. They’re my newest creations. Upgraded Gugas!"
Then he looked toward Natsu with unbearable smugness.
"And Natsu couldn’t even defeat something I built in my lab."
His smile widened.
"What a weakling~"
That did it.
Natsu had already exhausted every drop of magic power earlier, yet somehow fresh flames began rising from his body purely through rage.
"HOW IS THAT MY FAULT?! THERE WERE SEVEN OF THEM! YOU GANGED UP ON ME! If you’ve got guts, make them fight me one-on-one!"
Marshall grabbed the Apostles’ black cloaks.
Then he pulled.
The dramatic robes fell away, revealing seven bizarre, elongated penguin-like Guga bodies underneath.
Their proper humanoid combat bodies hadn’t even been built yet.
Marshall gestured toward them innocently.
"You’re sure? You want a serious one-on-one fight against Gugas that don’t even have proper hands and feet yet?"
He sighed.
"Natsu, that’s shameless even for you."
"You—!"
Natsu’s face turned completely red.
"I...!"
"You...!"
Words failed him.
Gray, meanwhile, had abandoned resistance entirely. He simply hung limply from the cross and accepted the humiliation.
There was, however, one thing he still wanted to know.
"So what exactly was your role in all this?" Gray asked. "You already knew about Deliora?"
"Nope."
Marshall shrugged.
"I only arrived on Galuna Island a few hours before you. I just wasn’t particularly worried about Deliora."
Then he gave them an innocent smile.
"And since this was such a rare opportunity, I thought I might as well let you experience what an actual S-Class Quest feels like. Master specifically told me to teach you a lesson, you know~"
"..."
Gray stared at him.
Marshall had arrived only a few hours earlier...
And somehow, in that short amount of time, he had become Lyon’s boss.
There came a point when something became so ridiculous that all a person could do was laugh.
Gray finally did.
A helpless chuckle escaped him before he lowered his head.
"You win, Marshall..."