"What… what is that?!"
Gray stared in shock as Kaien summoned a boat out of thin air. He was no stranger to Kaien's current form—he'd seen the terrifying firepower Kaien could unleash, sometimes even stronger than Natsu's.
But he had never heard of Kaien using spatial magic.
"A boat. Never seen one before?" Kaien replied casually.
"No—I know what a boat is! I'm asking how it suddenly appeared?!"
"The boat? I manifested it."
Kaien had known ever since he began using Take Over Magic that he could manifest the original equipment of characters he embodied—like Yoriichi's Nichirin Blade or Whitebeard's naginata.
"Manifest? But you use Take Over Magic. How are you also using Manifestation Magic?"
Gray looked at Kaien in disbelief as he stepped onto the boat. Since there was only one seat at the front, he stood behind it, gripping the mast just ahead of the propulsion outlet.
"I am using Take Over Magic. This boat is part of the gear belonging to the character I've taken over—Ace. He is a pirate, after all."
Ace's single-seater speedboat was one of his signature rides. A few months ago, Kaien completed an S-Class mission to take down one of the top ten pirate crews by riding this very boat. That mission earned him the title "Flame Emperor."
"Hold on tight! We're heading out!"
Gray still didn't fully understand what Kaien meant… but he figured it out very quickly.
FWOOOOOSH—!!
Kaien shoved both hands in his pockets as flames erupted beneath his feet.
Jets of fire burst from the rear and side propulsion vents of the boat. With an ear-splitting roar, the boat made a hard ninety-degree drift and rocketed forward at insane speed.
"Aaaaaaaaahhh! TOO FAST—!!"
Gray clung to the mast with both hands, his entire body flapping like a flag as he screamed in terror.
In about twenty minutes, they reached Galuna Island.
Gray stepped onto land, pale-faced. He'd never been on such a wild ride in his life. The speed was absurd—what should have taken five hours had taken them less than twenty minutes.
Once ashore, Kaien deactivated his Take Over state, and the boat vanished.
"According to the mission briefing, the client should be in a village on this island. The village chief is the one who made the request. Let's go find it."
Kaien and Gray followed a dirt path through the forest that led straight to the village.
Soon, they arrived at the gates. The place looked like a primitive tribal settlement—tall wooden stakes surrounded it as makeshift walls to guard against wild beasts.
At the moment, the main gate was shut tight. A large sign was nailed across the front: "No Entry Allowed."
"'No Entry'? What's going on here?"
"Anyone there? Can we come in?"
Gray called out loudly.
Inside the village, Natsu and the others jumped in shock when they heard his voice.
"GRAY?!"
Everyone started to panic.
"What's going on?! What's Gray doing here?!"
"I have no idea! You think he's here to drag us back?!"
"That was fast! We only left last night!"
They had barely stepped onto the island, and already someone had come after them.
The village guard leaned over the wall and called down: "Who are you people?!"
"We're mages from Fairy Tail. Have you seen a blue cat, a blonde girl, and a certain spiky-haired pink guy with a nasty attitude and a very punchable face?"
Natsu clenched his teeth when he heard Gray describe him like that. "That bastard Gray! Underwear thief!"
He quickly turned to the village chief. "Shh—don't say you've seen us! He's here to take us back! And if we get dragged back now, no one will be able to lift your curse!"
The village chief caught on and quickly shook his head at the guards.
"N-Nope! Haven't seen anyone like that!"
"Then can we at least spend the night in your village? It's getting late."
"N-No, you can't! Outsiders aren't welcome here!"
"I see. Then we'll be on our way."
Hearing that, Natsu and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly—
BOOM—!!!
The village gate exploded into splinters.
"WAHHHHH!!"
Everyone inside was startled.
Through the smoke, a calm, deep voice rang out:
"You thought we'd just leave like that?"
"That voice…"
"No… no way…"
Natsu and the others froze as the dust cleared, and they saw the figure standing in the broken gateway.
Black hair. Black eyes. A plain black t-shirt. Gray pants. Worn black shoes.
He looked completely unremarkable.
And yet, the moment they saw him, everyone screamed like they'd seen a ghost—or worse, something far more terrifying than a ghost.
"Kaien!!!"
Even the village chief and the other villagers panicked, scrambling to hide while sneaking frightened glances toward the gate.
Creak… Creak…
Kaien stepped over the shattered wood and into the village.
"Yo, mission thieves. Good evening."
He said it with a smile.
"EEK—!!"
But to Natsu and the others, that smile was more horrifying than a demon's.
Gray wasn't so bad. He and Natsu usually ended their fights in a draw.
But Kaien… was different.
He was a monster.
And this particular form—his so-called "Tyrant" form—was the most brutal of them all. There were rumors that Kaien, while in this form, once beat up everyone in the guild. Natsu and Gray supposedly couldn't even walk straight for three days.
Lucy hadn't seen him do that.
Now, Lucy and Happy clung to each other, trembling violently. Natsu wasn't much better—his legs started to inch backward on their own, and his whole body shook.
"K-K-Kaien…"
"It wasn't my fault!" Happy cracked under the pressure first and threw his friends under the bus. "It was Natsu and Lucy! They forced me to come!"
Lucy glared. "Traitor cat!!"
Gray crossed his arms and said, "You guys really have guts, huh? Running off to do an S-Class mission in secret? Master told me to bring you back. If you leave now, it might still be forgivable. Otherwise, you'll be expelled. Go back."
Natsu clenched his fists and resisted the fear. "No!! Kaien! I have to do this S-Class mission!!"
WHAM!
"UGH!!"
Before Natsu could finish, he was sent flying across the village.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
He smashed through several houses like a cannonball.
Kaien was already standing in the spot Natsu had just been in, casually picking at his ear with his pinky.
"Hmm? What was that? I didn't catch it.
Say it again?"