Fairy Tail: This Healing Mage's hits hurt so much!

Natsu rushed out shortly after Sunrise left.

His voice carried a fierce, defiant edge, and his fists were clenched so tightly they cracked.

"We need to settle the score with that sleeping bastard."

Gray cursed under his breath, his lips twitching, but he still took a step and followed.

Erza and Jura both rubbed their foreheads in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized, as if they had rehearsed it.

"Well, there's not much to arrange anyway. We've already witnessed the Oración Seis's abilities."

Erza lowered her hand and calmly swept her gaze over the remaining people.

╮ (╯_╰) ╭

The team is hard to manage.

Jura nodded, his hands behind his back, his voice deep and calm.

"In that case, let's each set off with our own guild members. What do you think, Lady Erza and Lady Ichiya?"

Erza's voice was clear and firm.

"I'm fine."

She struck a signature pose all night, the sequins glittering under the lights, despite the lingering traces of her kidnapping.

"I'm fine with that too, man~"

They split into three groups.

Lucy felt incredibly safe watching Erza walking ahead of her.

She followed closely behind Erza, clutching the Celestial Key tightly in her hand, her eyes scanning the surrounding darkness warily.

The sounds of battle raging in the forest came incessantly from different directions.

The booming sounds of colliding magic, the crashing of falling trees, and the screams of enemies rose and fell in the night, like a chaotic symphony of war.

Sunburst also found the stronghold of the Oración Seis.

It was a huge cave half-hidden in the mountain, located below a depression, and easily visible at a glance.

A faint magical energy wafted through the cave entrance, and the aura of nirvana in the air was so intense it was suffocating.

Just as Riyao was about to approach, a figure rushed out from inside and blocked his way.

Lisa.

His face still bore the anger of his previous suppression, his clothes were covered in mud and broken leaves, but his eyes burned with a furious desire to regain face.

He clenched his fists, leaned forward slightly, and assumed a ready-to-fight stance.

Riyao tilted his head, looking at Lisa with the same look he gave a roadside pebble, his tone full of undisguised contempt.

"Huh, why send out the weakest one? Are you looking down on me?"

"What are you talking about? Don't think..."

Lisa's lips twitched, and she was about to utter a harsh word.

Riyao didn't wait for him to finish speaking.

"Shoot him, you fire poker!"

He suddenly activated the fire poker in his hand, extending it at an extremely fast speed. The tip of the poker turned into a black afterimage and accurately struck Lisa's chest.

The force was so great and the speed so fast that Liza didn't even have time to react.

He was sent flying like a pebble launched from a slingshot, tracing a long arc in the air before disappearing into the distant sea of ​​trees.

Magic that can weaken other people's senses is so trashy, it's completely useless.

"Home run, perfect."

Sunlight retrieved the fire poker, not even bothering to glance at the direction Lisa had flown off in.

Xia Lulu stared wide-eyed, the cat frozen on Riyao's head, forgetting to grip tightly with its paws.

Her voice carried an incredulous bewilderment.

"What happened? He just vanished in an instant."

Riyao slung the fire poker over his shoulder, speaking as casually as if he were commenting on a stray cat on the street.

"He thought my senses had been weakened, so he was showing off and making threats. This thing is supposedly capable of wiping out a guild, but I don't know what kind of small guild it is."

"..." Xia Lulu fell silent.

-_-||

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Riyao shook his head, a smug smile playing on his lips.

"Just praise me if you want, don't be shy, we're already so close."

"..."

Xia Lulu remained silent, radiating an aura of "I don't want to talk to this human."

Riyao stopped teasing Xia Lulu.

He dropped his playful grin, leaped down, and landed steadily in front of the cave entrance.

Xia Lulu gripped his hair tightly, pressed her entire body against his head, and arched her back slightly, ready to deal with any danger at any moment.

Stepping into the cave, the interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Dim torches hung on the rock walls, casting flickering shadows on the rough stone.

Sunlight spotted Wendy immediately.

She huddled in a corner of the cave, hugging her knees, her shoulders trembling, tears streaming down her face.

Harpy squatted beside her, gently patting her back with his two little paws, and kept saying something comforting, but his voice was too soft to hear clearly.

Beside him stood a dazed Gerald. His body leaned against the rock wall, his head drooping slightly, his eyes unfocused and empty, as if he had just woken from a long nightmare and had not yet fully distinguished between reality and dream.

His breathing was slow and heavy, each exhale carrying a faint wisp of white mist.

Brian stood in the center of the cave, his hands resting on the talking scepter, head tilted back, laughing wildly.

His laughter echoed through the cave, reflecting off the rock walls in countless overlapping echoes, sounding particularly jarring.

Dark Night curled up in a corner, fast asleep, his snores mingling with Brian's laughter to create an eerie duet.

Wendy looked up at Riyao through teary eyes, her voice filled with self-blame and grievance.

"Mr. Riyao, I...can't refuse...he is my benefactor."

Her lips were slightly red from crying, and the tip of her nose was also red; she looked extremely pitiful.

Harpy's voice carried a hint of unease, and his two paws nervously rubbed together.

"Sunshine, they resurrected Gerald with Wendy's help."

Brian saw Sunshine walk in and smiled dismissively. His smile carried a condescending arrogance, as if he were looking at prey that had walked right into his trap.

"Sunrise, I've heard so much about you. Why don't you join us? With your strength, you'd definitely have a place among the Six Seals."

"Seven Demon Generals doesn't sound good, forget it."

Sunlight walked straight to Wendy's side, squatted down, and gently wiped away the tears on her face, his movements as tender as if he were wiping a fragile piece of porcelain.

"Pah, pah, pah, what resurrection? Gerald was just on his last breath; he's only recovered now."

Riyao's voice was light and confident, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"Don't cry, Wendy. The treatment is over, it's not a big deal."

Wendy looked up at Riyao through teary eyes.

Brian was furious at Sunrise's arrogance.

The flames in its eye sockets surged wildly, emitting a piercing scream that echoed through the cave like a dull knife scraping an iron pot.

"You dare to barge into our stronghold and ignore us! Do you even know who you're talking to?!"

Riyao glanced at the talking scepter, his gaze completely unmoved, as if he were looking at a roadside stone.

He ignored it and turned to Gerald.

A faint, ethereal light shone in Riyao's eyes, and something seemed to be slowly turning deep within his pupils.

Sure enough, after dying once, the demon inside him disappeared.

The dark entity that once parasitized Gerald's soul has been completely annihilated in the baptism of death.

Riyao came up with an interesting idea.

His lips curled up slightly, forming a mischievous smile.

"Gerald, my dear brother, I'm your older brother, Gerald!"

Riyao's voice suddenly rose a few decibels, carrying an exaggerated intimacy.

"My name is Zekrein, do you remember me?"

Upon hearing this, Gerald's confused mind seemed to be struck by lightning, and some long-forgotten fragments of memory began to loosen.

The name Zekrein echoed in his mind like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples upon ripples.

Fragmented information surfaced from the depths of memory, blurry and broken.

"Brother? I remember a little bit now. I do have an older brother, but I remember his hair color was the same as mine."

Gerald's voice was hoarse and slow, like a rusty machine struggling to run.

"I dyed my hair later to avoid being arrested by the council."

Riyao answered without changing his expression, his tone as confident as if he were stating an undeniable fact.

Xia Lulu rolled her eyes wildly, reaching the extreme of eye-rolling for the entire cat.

At the same time, Sunlight subtly winked towards the cave entrance, signaling Happy to take Wendy away from the cave.

The movements were stealthy and swift, a complete silent exchange completed in the blind spot of Brian and the scepter.

Harpy looked at Sunrise with some concern, his two cat eyes full of unease.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he gritted his teeth, grabbed Wendy, and rushed towards the cave entrance.

Wendy's scream was swallowed by the wind, and the two figures quickly disappeared into the light at the cave entrance.

Xia Lulu's eyes widened, and she quickly understood Riyao's intentions.

He was sending away irrelevant people so that he would have no worries about the future.

Without further hesitation, she flapped her wings and followed Harpy out of the cave.

Brian didn't stop them.

Anyway, he's already achieved his goal. Gerald has been resurrected, and Wendy is no longer of any use to him.

He simply tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on Riyao, a playful smile curving his lips.

"Oh? So you're planning to take action?"

"Before Nirvana starts, I need to use my demon form, otherwise it'll all rust."

Riyao slowly stood up.

His body began to change.

The air around him seemed to be ignited, and began to twist and churn violently.

A terrifying magical power erupted from his body, like a beast that had been imprisoned for too long finally breaking free of its cage, letting out a deafening roar.

【Life Mimicry - Demon】

His body was enveloped in a layer of magical light, his muscle lines became even sharper under the light, black claws extended from his fingertips, and two wing shadows appeared behind him.

That magic carried a sense of oppression that made people instinctively want to escape, as if an ancient demon was awakening from his body.

【Life Magic: Hundred Battles】

A second spell was applied.

Tactical patterns spread from his chest, crawling along the dark red magical light all over his body, outlining dazzling golden lines on his skin.

The entire cave became incredibly hot.

The air seemed to be roasted over a fire, twisting and deforming. The torches on the rock wall shot up several times higher under the impact of the magic, then exploded into fragments with a crackling sound.

The pebbles on the ground began to tremble slightly, as if being pushed from below by an invisible force. The rocks on the cave ceiling began to crack under the high temperature, and fine stone chips fell down.