Noel also sensed something ominous in the air.
It felt almost like the tension of two love rivals running into each other.
…Wait, why was he getting that kind of feeling?
"It's not your body—it's inside my body…" Juvia said smugly.
"Ah… o-oh…" Lucy could only nod stiffly.
Given the situation, she really had no idea how she was supposed to respond.
"When everything suddenly went dark just now, I decided to take some precautions, heighten my guard, and observe the situation," Gray explained.
Considering the circumstances, it was actually a rather level-headed approach.
"By the way… where are Natsu and Erza? I don't see them anywhere," Gray asked, sounding concerned.
"Natsu's over there. Just a bit ago someone shoved a gun straight into his mouth, so right now he's extremely pissed off." Noel pointed in Natsu's direction.
"And from the looks of it, those guys' real target is Erza," Noel added, voicing his deduction.
Lucy's expression immediately darkened. "Erza's been captured."
"What?! No way—no matter how strong they are, there's no way they could beat Erza!" Noel blurted out in shock.
"Don't tell me… they had a top-level fighter among them?"
"It wasn't that… Erza seemed… troubled about something. Anyway, the point is—she was taken," Lucy admitted reluctantly.
"That damned blockhead… I'll never forgive him!" Natsu roared furiously.
Seeing Natsu so full of energy, Noel realized his earlier worries about him had been completely unnecessary.
Still, something about that left him feeling oddly wounded inside.
Natsu was about to charge out recklessly when Noel stopped him.
"You're really going to go after them like this? Without any preparation? That's just way too reckless."
Natsu had been brimming with rage, but after Noel physically barred his path, his temper fizzled out.
Scowling, he slumped into a chair at the bar instead.
The others, seeing this, also sat down one by one.
It was time for another strategy meeting.
"But how are we even supposed to find them? We don't have a single lead," Lucy said helplessly.
"Well, we've got our very own humanoid radar." Noel gestured toward Natsu.
"This guy's nose puts wild animals to shame!"
"I… see…" Lucy turned toward Natsu.
Yeah—only Natsu would have that kind of skill.
"Based on the evidence we have, their objective is clearly Erza.
Lucy, you probably know more about this than we do—so now would be the time to share."
"I don't know all that much either…" Lucy admitted uneasily.
"But the ones who attacked me were a card dealer and a cat-eared girl. They were the ones who took Erza away."
Noel briefly described the pair's appearance. Lucy's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait—how do you know that?"
"Because they came for me first. Out of nowhere they bound me with some strange magic, and it took me ages to break free. The worst part? Once you're tied up by it, you can't use any magic at all. Seriously, what a pain in the ass." Noel complained.
"By the way—Gray. Was the one who attacked you part of the same group?" Noel asked.
"No. The guy who came after me used some kind of dark-element magic. Looked like an assassin," Gray answered.
"Oh, and remember that moment when the whole casino went dark? That was his doing," Gray added.
"What about you, Natsu?"
"It was some blockhead-shaped freak! He tried to shoot a bullet down my throat! That guy's the worst!!" Natsu yelled angrily.
A blockhead-shaped freak…
Noel frowned—he thought he might've seen someone like that before.
Could it have been the man sitting across from him during that round of cards?
At this point, they'd pieced things together fairly well.
The enemy numbered four.
They now had a basic grasp of their magic abilities too:
One who fought with card-based magic.
One who used sealing magic.
And two who wielded assassination-type dark magic.
"…Hey, has anyone noticed? We're missing somebody. Where's Happy?" Lucy suddenly realized.
"No idea. But wasn't Happy with you, Natsu?" Noel asked, turning to him.
"…Happy was taken too," Natsu finally remembered.
"What? That doesn't make sense. Their target was Erza—why would they bother taking Happy?"
Noel couldn't figure it out.
It was completely illogical.
Could one of them have just grabbed him on a whim? That seemed far too unlikely.
The group searched the entire casino from top to bottom just in case, but there was no sign of Happy anywhere.
Even if none of them wanted to accept it, they had no choice but to face the truth: Happy had been taken too.
Their first step was to notify the Council. After all, a whole crowd of people had been trapped inside those playing cards—that was something only the Council could deal with.
To their surprise, the Council's people showed up almost immediately.
In fact, their response was so fast that Noel began to doubt whether these people really were from the Council at all.
Thanks to Noel's negotiations, the group then managed to rent a Council ship—though he had to pay for it out of pocket.
Naturally, he used the money he'd just won at the casino.
Thus, the party set sail on a proper vessel.
Noel was the captain.
Natsu was… the "radar."
The rest sat in the captain's cabin, all wearing tense expressions.
Everyone was deeply worried about Erza and Happy, silently praying they were safe.
But the "radar" wasn't looking too reliable.
As soon as they boarded, Natsu was already slumped against the window, pale.
"Ugh… I think I'm gonna hurl…" he groaned.
As they traveled further, things only grew stranger.
No matter which direction they looked, there was no land in sight.
"Where the hell are we?" Gray muttered as he scanned the horizon.
"Did we… get lost?" Juvia asked nervously.
"Natsu, are you sure this is the right way? We don't have time to waste here." Noel pressed.
"We're all counting on your nose, so pull yourself together already," Gray complained.
"I… I can't… ugh…" Natsu clutched his stomach, gagging. "Bluuugh…"
"Don't you dare throw up in here! This is a Council-issued ship, remember? If you puke, I'll be the one stuck cleaning it!" Lucy scolded him.
Noel gritted his teeth and kept steering ahead.
After some time, a towering structure came into view on the horizon.
It was a massive tower.
But the surrounding waters were far from normal.
The closer they got, the more sinister the sea became.
Dead fish floated across the surface in swarms, filling the air with the stench of rot.
Above them, seabirds tried to fly past—only to suddenly drop lifeless into the waves the moment they neared this stretch of ocean.
"This sea… something's definitely wrong here. It feels… extremely ominous," Noel said gravely.
"But that tower up ahead… what in the world is it?" Gray asked, staring at the looming structure.
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