After hearing the old chief's speculation, including the guard uncle Bereste, all the villagers fell silent. Their fists at their sides unconsciously clenched.
None of them had imagined that the source of the shadow hanging over them for three or four years would be Éclair, who had been desperately searching for a solution.
This truth was too cruel, both for Éclair herself and for them.
"You mean, Éclair's arrival caused the village's crisis?"
Lucy's beautiful eyes contracted. She covered her mouth in disbelief. "How could this be..."
THUD.
As her words fell, the sound of a dropped package came from deep in the forest.
Éclair, covered in wounds, stood there frozen, her expression terrified.
Blood continuously dripped from her limp arm, reflecting her state of mind upon hearing the truth.
Momo stood beside her, at a loss. The bird's face forced a smile. Its voice trembled as it asked, almost pleading, "Hey, Lucy, Chief, everyone... you're joking, right? There's no way Éclair could be the cause of the disaster, right?"
Complete silence. The villagers all lowered their heads, silent, unsure how to answer, or how to feel about Éclair.
Even if Éclair was the "root cause" of their losing loved ones and living in fear, her efforts over the years on the village's behalf couldn't be erased.
Having nearly died to monsters several times, she had worked harder than anyone, wanted the village to return to its former stability and peace more than anyone.
Seeing the villagers' silent acknowledgment, Éclair's last shred of hope completely vanished. Her psychological defense began to collapse.
"Everyone's suffering... all this misfortune..."
She collapsed, sitting on the ground, looking at her bloodied hands. "...was caused by me."
It was blood from wounds infected by monsters in the forest. But in her eyes now, it looked more like the silent, resentful curses and wails of the demonized villagers.
She could even accurately name those people!
Perhaps due to the severe stimulation, Éclair's head throbbed with pain. Lost memories uncontrollably surged back.
An ancient tribe is engulfed in flames, the dying entrustment of the Fire People's chief, and the need to find the wizard Caland!
That's right!
The reason she had "wandered" to the Forest of Bondari was originally to find the wizard Caland!
The memories of the past and present madly ravaged Éclair's nerves. Her entire body couldn't stop trembling. Two streams of tears slid down her dirty face.
"It's all my fault..."
"Because of me... everyone in the village is suffering..."
Just as despair and self-blame were about to completely consume her consciousness, Éclair felt a weight on her body.
Something soft suddenly bumped into her arms.
Her tear-blurred vision reflected a head of golden hair.
"No, it's not! Éclair didn't know anything about this! And she's been working so hard for the village's future!"
Lucy spread her arms and hugged Éclair, who was sitting on the ground. "So, this isn't all your fault!"
The sudden embrace left Éclair at a loss. Clothes couldn't insulate body heat. She could clearly feel the warmth from Lucy's chest.
"Easy for you to say..."
After a dazed moment, her face twisted in pain. She struggled, trying to push Lucy away. She shouted, "You wizards with your great power... you can't possibly understand how I feel right now!!"
She had always resisted, even disgusted wizards, believing their power brought misfortune.
And now, she herself had become the source of misfortune and disaster.
This filled her with self-blame, pain, and deep despair!
Facing Éclair's almost crazy struggling and pushing, Lucy, abandoning her usual weakling nature, used even more strength to hold her tighter.
"I do understand. I understand."
Lucy's lowered head rested on Éclair's shoulder. Her golden hair covered her sad, yet determined beautiful eyes.
"Because of my background, I put my comrades, who wanted to protect me, through the torture of war. And the guild, carrying so many memories, was destroyed. So, so..."
"I know very well the pain and sadness you're feeling right now!"
Even now, she vividly remembered the scene when Phantom Lord's Magic Colossus had appeared behind the guild, and her comrades had fearlessly stepped forward to defend her.
Éclair's situation was exactly the same as hers back then. She wanted to die, to atone with her life.
But Lucy knew that doing that — or even thinking that way — was completely wrong!
This was the fundamental reason she had been the first to comfort Éclair.
Seeing that the struggling in her arms had lessened, Lucy slightly relaxed her grip. She looked up into Éclair's tear-filled eyes.
"Not all mistakes should be blamed on oneself. Doing that only brings more regret and sadness to those around you..."
Hearing this, Éclair was stunned.
Following Lucy's lead, she looked at the concern in the eyes of the old chief and the villagers.
Her hands, which had been pushing against Lucy's shoulders, relaxed, sliding down powerlessly.
She had known, from the first moment she saw Lucy, that this blonde girl was different from other w
izards. Deep in her eyes was a gentleness that could understand human sorrow.
Because of that, she didn't feel the same disgust for Lucy, and had even felt a small liking. She just hadn't shown it much due to her tsundere nature.
"Lucy... please tell me... what should I do?" Éclair's voice trembled. She took the initiative to reveal her inner despair and helplessness.
"If you have no one to lean on, let me be your comrade and help you!"
Lucy was glad that Éclair, who had always been so cold, would say such things. She was even happier that she finally understood how her comrades had felt back in the Phantom Lord incident. A bright smile appeared on her face. "Besides, this is our job!"
"Well... does that sound a bit too cool? I'm still just an inexperienced person. Without Chase, I can't do anything."
"Ah ha, ahaha."
Having acted cool, she immediately became coy, scratching her head and laughing awkwardly.
Truly the guild's strongest bitch wizard. She doesn't even spare herself.
Éclair blinked blankly. She wasn't sure if she was moved by Lucy's declaration of wanting to be friends, or just shocked by the huge contrast.
"As Lucy said, handling the village's crisis is why we're here."
Seeing that Éclair's emotions had stabilized under Lucy's comfort, Chase walked over.
"Also, don't blame yourself so much. The Phoenix Stone was only a trigger. Even without the stimulation of the Phoenix's aura, the Demon King would eventually awaken."
"Or rather, your arrival caused the lurking Demon King to expose itself in advance, giving us a chance to save the situation."
From Ultear's information about the Demon King's abilities, it wasn't hard to speculate that the ability the villagers had gained from the egg-shaped fossil wasn't "weaken forest monsters," but "absorb."
The principle was probably that the slumbering Demon King used their bodies as a medium to indirectly absorb energy from the outside world for its own recovery.
The villagers used this ability to survive in the dangerous forest. The Demon King could also grow slowly, quietly waiting for the day it would make a comeback.
By then, it wouldn't be just some villagers turning into demons!
Éclair, with her Phoenix blood, appeared and broke up this conspiracy. She made the Demon King feel the sense of crisis of its sworn enemy, thus triggering the so-called "abnormality."
That was the whole story.
"So, next is simple."
Chase punched his fists together. His eyes sparkled with barely contained fighting spirit. He grinned. "Go to the underground altar and smash the magic egg!"
The signs of the Demon King's full awakening were obvious. Having Éclair leave the village now would be Useless.
"W-Wait, Chase! Didn't Ultear tell us not to act rashly?" Lucy quickly reminded.
"If those Council guys get involved, we can kiss the job reward goodbye."
With just that one sentence, Chase made the hesitant, timid Lucy suddenly full of energy. "You're right! 18 million!"
Seeing the money-grubbing Lucy so eager, Dark Magician Girl leaned close to Chase's ear and whispered, "The reward? Master, you're just itching for a fight, aren't you?"
Chase smiled and said nothing.
"Um, if possible, could I go with you?" Éclair slowly stood up.
This matter had started because of her. She felt she needed to face the Demon King and settle it.
"Same here. Lucy-sama, Mr. Chase, please allow us to accompany you!"
The old chief and the villagers walked over. Everyone's expression was extremely determined.
Even though it had been a conspiracy that had been planned for years, the magic egg's existence had ensured the village's safety for nearly 400 years. That fact couldn't be erased.
For their ancestors, for their demonized loved ones, and for the village's future, they wanted to witness this fate-defining moment in person.
"Though there's no threat left in the village, I can't guarantee you won't be affected by the Demon King's aura. Perhaps—"
Chase's tone was serious. "You could turn into demons like the other villagers!"
Given the sufficient amount of magic power being absorbed, wizards who came for jobs, as long as they ran fast enough, wouldn't be demonized. They would at most experience magic depletion or other discomfort.
But the weak villagers were another matter. The risk was considerable and unpredictable!
Even though he could already see the answer in their determined eyes...
"Even so, we are not afraid!"
As Chase expected, including the old chief, none of the villagers backed down.
Having learned the whole truth, knowing that their demonized loved ones could never return to normal, they seemed to have made some kind of determination.
Seeing this, Chase said no more. He waved his hand and led the group back through the wall gate and into the village.
Lucy, Dark Magician Girl, Éclair, and Momo walked beside him. Behind them were the villagers, led by the old chief.
The path was clear.
Soon, they reached the central square and headed down the dark, damp underground passage toward the altar.
Chase led the way, his dark gold magic barrier enveloping everyone.
Though it couldn't completely resist the magic egg's invisible suction, it helped a little. They wouldn't be completely drained.
Finally, they reached the open space at the deepest point and saw the egg, suspended above the altar, wrapped in a crimson energy ring.
"A few years... I didn't expect it to become so terrible..."
Though mentally prepared, seeing it firsthand still shocked the old chief.
When the anomaly had first appeared, he had risked coming down to see.
Back then, the egg had still been a fossil, and there had been no heart-palpitating energy ring.
Éclair's reaction was similar to the other villagers'. She couldn't believe this sight lay beneath the village.
"Éclair, could I borrow your Phoenix Stone?" Chase asked, looking at her.
Clearly, to destroy the magic egg and stop the Demon King's awakening, they first needed to break the energy ring.
Based on the feedback from Kuriboh and Plue's "suicide attack," the energy ring seemed to contain some kind of rule-based power, similar to Freed's runes. Forcibly breaking it from the outside would be difficult.
Though he was confident he could shatter it if he went all out, doing so would completely erase the village from the map!
So, he decided to first try using the Phoenix Stone, which contained the aura of the Demon King's sworn enemy, to preserve magic power for unforeseen circumstances as much as possible. If that didn't work, he would resort to violent destruction.
As a former "Destruction King" for Weekly Sorcerer, he had no qualms about that.
Without hesitation, Éclair quickly removed the half-piece of Phoenix Stone from her neck.
Accepting the stone, Chase wasn't in a hurry. He weighed it in his hand.
After all, it was used to seal something as extremely dangerous as the Phoenix. The material it was made from was quite special, with great hardness. Seven years later, even a full-power Fire Dragon Iron Fist from Natsu couldn't break it.
Driven by a damn competitive spirit, he wanted to try and crush it.
The result was obvious. He couldn't.
Sighing regretfully, Chase's expression became serious. A slowly spinning golden magic circle appeared on his right arm.
Chains rattled. The Right Arm of the Forbidden One appeared, accumulating power for the coming attack.
Then, representing Slifer's God Slayer magic, a crimson streak of light bloomed, elevating this power to an even higher level!
"So, off you go~!"
Chase stomped down hard, shattering the ground, and forcefully hurled the Phoenix Stone.
Under everyone's tense gazes, the stone, carrying furious energy, drew a crimson line through the air and crashed into the magic egg's energy ring!
CRASH!
The ring's surface rippled violently upon impact. After a few seconds, it shattered, dissolving into specks of light.
"Great! It worked!!"
Lucy and the others couldn't help but cheer.
But Chase frowned, sensing something wrong. The Phoenix Stone had fallen to the ground after breaking the ring. It clearly hadn't touched the egg inside. So why had cracks also appeared on the egg's surface?
BOOM!!!
As he wondered, a deep black light suddenly bloomed. A violent yet oppressive, ancient aura swept through the entire space.
Amidst the scattered shell fragments, a pair of scarlet eyes slowly opened.
The terrifying monster that had existed centuries ago...
Had awakened early!
***
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