Mira returned to the guild a little later than the others. Rhodes noticed her expression and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
"Jenny said she wanted to see where her father works, so I asked Elfman and Lisanna to take her," Mira explained. Her eyes drifted to the glowing sphere in Rhodes's hand. "I've been aning to ask… what is that? So kind of pet?"
Rhodes shook his head. "I was just about to show you. It feels a bit more like… a demon."
"Really?" Mira leaned in close, pressing her face near the golden, transparent sphere. Inside, the little creature bared its sharp teeth and scratched against the barrier, clearly trying to act tough.
"Ah, it's actually kind of cute," Mira concluded with a bright smile.
"Be serious," Rhodes sighed. "Maintaining this barrier eats up a lot of magic."
"But with your magic protecting it, it's sealed too well," Mira pointed out. "I can't sense what its power really feels like. Why don't you release it first?"
The little creature's lips curled into a sly smile, its eyes flashing with mischief.
"One look and I can tell it's plotting sothing," Rhodes muttered. "This thing's expressions are way too easy to read."
Mira chuckled. "True. It's not very good at hiding its intentions."
Imdiately, the creature dropped its grin and instead put on a pitiful act, gazing up at Mira with teary eyes.
"It definitely has intelligence," Rhodes mused. "Otherwise it wouldn't have been able to impersonate a Raven Tail mage. Let's take this outside."
Even if it turned out dangerous, if his makeshift Fairy Sphere couldn't contain it, then it wouldn't pose much of a threat.
Together, they stepped into the guild's backyard. Rhodes tossed the golden sphere into the air. The barrier silently shattered, releasing the creature.
The small being hit the ground, sprang up quickly, and bolted without looking back.
Rhodes raised his hand, chanting softly, "Gather here, river of light guided by fairies! Shine now, annihilate the servants of evil! Fairy Glitter!"
A massive golden halo descended from the sky, surrounding the creature. It shrank down, condensing into a thin bracelet of light that locked tightly around its forelimbs, pinning them to its sides.
The creature stumbled, crashed face-first, then used its tail to push itself forward in a frantic crawl. Panic filled its beady eyes.
'This man is terrifying! Who uses Super Magic on such a cute little pet?!'
"Rhodes?" Mira's eyes widened in shock. "Isn't Fairy Glitter overkill?"
"It's fine. I've mastered this spell well enough," Rhodes replied calmly. "The Master said it might be connected to Zeref. We can't take chances."
He clenched his fist. The golden halo tightened sharply, and the creature squealed in pain, its body going limp as it lost the will to resist.
With a pull of his hand, the glowing ring dragged the little being back, suspending it helplessly in front of them.
"Alright. Take a closer look," Rhodes said. "If it even twitches, I'll crush it."
Mira smiled wryly, amused despite herself. "You're making feel like so delicate researcher."
Rhodes smirked. "Then I'll be the personal bodyguard of a beautiful scientist. Works for ." He added quickly, "Don't touch it directly. Raven Tail set this thing up as an assassin, it might trigger magic through contact."
"Got it," Mira said softly, leaning in to examine it more carefully. The creature hung limp, its limbs bound, glaring at her but too weak to struggle.
The mont Fairy Glitter had activated, its light flared so brightly that Makarov noticed at once. He pushed open a window and peered into the yard, brows raised. "What's going on out there? Enemies?"
Rhodes turned imdiately and called back, "No, Master! Just research. A precautionary asure."
Makarov gazed at the tiny creature, its aura almost completely drowned out by the brilliance of Fairy Glitter.
"If I'm not mistaken, that really was Fairy Glitter, wasn't it? Condensed down to this level, and it hasn't even exploded yet…"
He let out a quiet sigh. "Research? More like testing whether a mosquito can survive being hit by a cannon."
Shaking his head, he closed the window without another word. His thoughts drifted back to the old days, when a certain nervous newcor would always run to him for protection whenever he got a new summon.
That sa boy, who had once lacked any sense of security, now felt like he was the one providing security. Makarov's heart swelled with emotion. This child had changed so much, yet in so ways… he hadn't changed at all.
But then, the Master suddenly rembered Fairy Glitter's "activation effect."
"Wait. Won't this cause a commotion in town?"
In truth, it had caused a stir, but because the massive golden halo had descended directly over the Fairy Tail guild, most of Magnolia's long-ti residents brushed it off as normal.
In fact, there was a strange kind of reassurance. Fairy Tail was causing a huge ruckus again.
According to the so-called "Fairy Tail Trouble Cycle Rate," summarized by bored townsfolk six years ago, this ant Magnolia could now expect a short period of peace.
For the next two or three days, couples could go on dates and families could plan outings without worrying that Fairy Tail might suddenly blow sothing up nearby.
Of course, not everyone was pleased. Across town, mbers of Twilight Ogre were grinding their teeth.
A few days earlier, so of them had run into Rhodes in the street, picked a fight, and ended up humiliated. Since then, they'd been gathering friends and planning revenge.
But after hearing reports that Rhodes had single-handedly crushed five Dark Guild, their courage wavered.
And today, after seeing that insane magic light up the entire sky and learning it was just Fairy Tail "ssing around"? Their bravado collapsed completely.
"Uh… Thibault, my rent's almost due. I'd better head to work. Let's forget about that plan we discussed."
" too. The Guild Master said not to provoke Fairy Tail carelessly. I'm leaving first."
Thibault stamred, "Actually, I don't have any problem with Mr. Rhodes. Last ti, I just...uh...it was my first ti seeing him, and I got too… excited to stand still." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novｅlfire
"Is that so? That's great. Sa here! Hahaha..."
Back in Fairy Tail's backyard, Mira had been examining the creature for so ti.
Its appearance bore clear traces of demonic heritage. Yet its magic felt… strange. Beneath the overwhelming residue of Fairy Glitter, she finally managed to sense a sliver of its own power.
Her expression hardened. "It's almost certain. This is a demon. Its 'quality' is higher than the ones created by the Second Master on Tenrou Island, but… it feels weak. Rhodes, are you suppressing its magic?"
Rhodes shook his head. "No. It's been like this ever since I found it."
Mira tilted her head, puzzled. "Strange. Why would sothing like this be sent as an assassin after you?"
"Either it has so special trick to let the weak defeat the strong," Rhodes said, his eyes narrowing, "or it's pretending to be helpless."
He flicked his left hand, sending a small bullet of light the size of a fingertip tapping against the creature's forehead.
"Alright, enough acting. You've been with Raven Tail this long, you're not mute. Speak."
...
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