"What do you mean Nozomi and Lucy took an S-Class Job?" Erza frowned as she looked at the Master, a day having passed since Gray left.
"It's what you think," Makarov sighed. "Nozomi took an S-Class Job and seems to have convinced Lucy to go along with her... On top of that, Gray hasn't come back either..."
"Nozomi was probably able to subdue him and forced him to go on the job as an accomplice," Brandish spoke, clenching the table hard because she didn't want to release her magic power and cause the town to go into Gildarts shift again. She was clearly furious that Nozomi had dragged Lucy into her dumb idea. "Especially if the idiot was caught off guard."
"This isn't good..." Makarov groaned, covering his face. "Erza, can I rely on you to bring them back?"
"Yes, leave it to me, Master," she nodded seriously.
"I'll go as well, I need to give Lucy a stern talking to," Brandish agreed.
As I watched them, I really thought about seeing if I could go along with them to the Cursed Island. That was what I should do, right? Get involved in the plot?
And yet... Despite knowing that, I felt no desire to do so- in fact, I felt it wasn't my place to intervene in the upcoming arc at all.
Butting my nose into Cursed Island Galuna- especially with Brandish going- felt not only like overkill, but it felt like there wasn't much I COULD do to change the plot.
If I went to the Cursed Island, what could I do to change the plot?
Kill Lyon? I saw no reason to do so, he was essentially just a grieving child who lost his way- the thought of killing him put a sour taste in my mouth.
Kill Ultear? She was an evil bitch at this point in time for sure, but she was also a steadfast ally later on. Killing her would give no satisfaction beyond a quick power up- not worth it.
Kill Deliora? The Demon was essentially already dead at this point, me killing him would make no difference than if Nozomi killed him instead.
In other words...
There was almost no reason for me to go to the Cursed Island Galuna. The only 'major plot change' I could do would be disrupting the Moon Drip ritual early- but that would do little for me since the end result would be the same: fight Lyon, encounter Ultear, kill Deliora.
There was almost no room for true Deviation... So, I made the choice to not get involved in the Cursed Island. The others could handle it, I would put my focus on other things.
Instead, I finished my drink and pat Levy's head, "I'm going to check out the mission board, I'll be right back."
"Sounds good," she gave a thumbs up, returning to her conversation with Mavis.
I left the two of them to talk as I made my way over to the board, slowly looking over the options. Since I was an A-Rank Mage now, I could take higher ranked missions- though I'd still be careful to make sure Levy was safe.
As I looked over the missions, one of them in particular caught my eye.
A-Class
Client: Magic Council
Location: Gazania
Description: Unusual disappearances have been taking place when people venture out to Gazania for the last 2 months. Please find the source of these disappearances and either resolve it or report it back to the Magic Council.
Reward: 700,000J for Reporting, 1,000,000J for Resolving.
Unusual disappearances in Gazania??
Gazania was one of the Major Cities in the Kingdom of Fiore, but it didn't have any incredibly strong guilds that lived there except for Sabertooth. However, at the current point in time, Sabertooth wasn't yet the powerhouse it would become in the future.
Right now, it was still a rather weak guild that wasn't considered to be very good. It was only after the events of Tenrou Island that Jiemma would take over as Guild Master, recruiting the likes of Sting, Rogue, Rufus, Orga, and Minerva and turning Sabertooth into the new Number One Guild until Fairy Tail's return in the year X791.
In other words, no guild in Gazania was capable of tackling an A-Class mission... And, I'd admit, I was curious about this mission. I'd never heard of any sort of incident like this in Fairy Tail. Granted, it never really tackled issues outside of Fairy Tail... So, I finally decided it was worth giving this mission a try.
I took the flier off the mission board and headed over to Mavis. I took a seat and handed it over to Levy to read first.
Levy looked over it slowly and frowned. "Unusual disappearances? I see why this is an A-Class Mission... I'm really curious on what's happening now too," she rubbed her jaw.
"I can take this one alone if you'd rather not," I offered.
"Don't be stupid," she swatted my arm. "Part of the reason I'm going on this mission with you is so I can get stronger too. If I shy away from an A-Class Mission, what's the point in even coming with you?"
I just smiled at her warmly. "Then it looks like we've got our quest," I told her, handing it over to Mavis.
She hummed as she eyed it carefully. "A-Class is dangerous, but you and Levy should both be able to handle it, right? I'll approve this mission- but be careful. This mission makes me nervous."
Levy and I both nodded seriously at her words... This mission also gave me a weird feeling- but that was exactly why I decided to take it. It was different, interesting. What use was being reincarnated if you weren't willing to take a few risks?
"Alright, Team Ragnarok is on the job," I smiled.
.
.
.
Both Levy and I headed out into the desert of Gazania, dressed in coats that covered our figures along with hats. They were enchanted with cooling magic, allowing our bodies to remain nice and cool as we headed into the sandy wasteland.
"So, we're looking for the source of the disappearances caused over the last two months," Levy mused. "Any ideas?"
I shook my head. "It could be any number of things I'm afraid: Dark Guild, Magic Beasts hiding beneath the sands... For all we know, it's a Leprechaun named Geoffrey who's just having some fun."
Levy nodded at my words. "True..." She frowned. "What makes this even more tricky is that the people in town were just as clueless as us- they have no idea what's been causing all the disappearances either. It's strange, to say the least."
"Oh? How do you figure?"
She shook her head. "After two months, usually there's some sign- like that mission we took where they thought it was Salamanders. And yet... Nobody is any the wiser here, that's what makes this so strange. By now, normally, someone or something would have obtained some hint as to what was going on or have some clue; but all we have is people going missing in the desert."
I found myself nodding at her words, she made sense... Even on the Cursed Island Galuna, the demons believed the Temple had something to do with their problem- the very place Deliora had been brought to and hidden under by Lyon.
There were always usually some hints to use as reference but all we knew was that what we sought was in the desert.
I activated my God's Eye, spreading out my vision as far as I could... But I didn't see anything off at all- I didn't even see any movement of the sands that wasn't caused by the wind.
It was like there was nothing in the desert at all beyond the usual dangers.
And that, more than anything, made my body tense.
Things just seemed too... Normal.
Still, we pressed on through the desert- I'd stored many things in my Re-Quip space like a tent so we could rest in the desert if needed, and we also had plenty of food. It was just a case of finding what was making people go missing.
Levy continued to scan the area using her Letter Magic, but we still weren't finding anything.
We ended up looking for hours, but with no luck... That made me even more weary, the fact we looked for so long and had two scanning methods- and yet we weren't finding anything beyond the usual dangers.
Finally, as the sun began to set, Levy perked up. "I got something!"
I snapped my gaze over to her. "You did?"
She nodded. "I got a 'Ping' on the Scan..." She frowned and pointed. "That way. It's weird though, it was hard to pinpoint it..."
I immediately looked in the same direction using my God's Eye...
However, what I didn't see anything. Even as I tried to look at the flow of magic, there was nothing off.
"I don't see anything," I told her.
Her frown grew. "That's strange, I'm still getting the ping that there's something there... You really can't see anything?"
I shook my head. "Let's go and check it out. But be careful, we don't know what we're about to encounter."
Levy nodded and quickly pulled out her Pen- she could write Letter Magic normally, but she could write faster when using her Pen. She was taking this seriously.
The two of us followed Levy's Radar until we finally came to a stop not far from the location she was sensing.
"According to the Scan, it should be about 10 feet in front of us," she told me. "But... I don't see anything either, there's nothing."
My God's Eye also saw nothing... It was as if nothing was in front of us, magic was even flowing normally...
And yet... What was this feeling of discomfort?
I tried using Copy Magic to copy whatever I was looking at, to no avail. I tried enchanting the space in front of me just to see if there was something there, but still no result.
Even Levy joined in, using words like 'Reveal' and 'Expose' to try and force whatever was hiding right in front of us to show itself... And yet, our magic seemed to be aimed at nothing. Almost like it was trying to touch on something that simply couldn't be touched, that didn't exist.
"... There's definitely something there, right?" I asked Levy.
"Yes, it's freaking me out at this point," she admitted, looking a bit nervous. "... At this point, the only thing we haven't tried is getting closer to... Whatever is there."
I frowned... I really didn't want to get any closer, my body was telling me it was a bad idea... But we had a job, and I needed to see it through.
Despite every instinct of my body telling me not to do so, I slowly took a step forward...
That was enough.
Suddenly, the air in front of us cracked... Like broken glass, the world in front of us cracked and fractured.
My eyes widened as a sucking force began to drag us towards the fracture, Levy letting out a yelp as her lighter body was pulled faster.
I grabbed her wrist, dismissing my magic as I spread my wings and tried to fly away- but the suction only got more powerful! No matter how hard I flapped my wings, it just kept pulling at us- unable to escape!
Left with no choice, I pulled Levy against me and wrapped my wings around the both of us. "Hold on tight!" I told her, felling her arms curling around me.
CRRRACK- SHATTER!
Like shattering glass, the rift in the world finally burst open, dragging the both of us into a void of unknown... Levy and I both clung to one another as darkness took us away...
The last thing I saw before surrendering to the darkness was a clawed hand- like a giant black dragon- reaching out towards me, only for it to be swat aside as an unholy screech rattled my brain.
[World Shift Detected.]
[Changing World Gacha... Change Complete.]
[One World Roll available.]