Fairy Tail - The World of Mages -

Chapter 47

- 6 years since the Tenrou incident –

“Damn it!” Sarah said, throwing herself back on her seat, “This will never end!”

“Ignore those below A-rank. I will post them to other guilds later." Luna said without taking her eyes off the stack of papers in front of her.

“When will Boss and the others be back?” Sarah asked while dragging her lazy body back to the desk to continue the paperwork.

"They were on S-rank mission but they should be back in a while. It has been 2 days since they went." Luna answered.

"Will Rena change role with me when she is back? I am no good for this paperwork..." Sarah grumbled.

“I’m sure Clave will happily do that for you.” Luna answered teasingly.

It had been a year since they revealed their identities as the Investigation Department during the Grand Magic Tournament. Thanks to that, the Council, or rather the department had been receiving numerous job requests from all over the places during the past year, from the normal rank jobs to even SS-rank jobs.

Being a department of less than 10 members, they had no way to attend to all requests. They were not a guild after all. Despite not being able to find out what the source of strange magic in the tournament, it seemed that the Council welcomed this sudden fame happily and had no intention to expend their department or to help out in reducing their workload. So, the only thing they could do was to cancel some requests or re-post them to other guilds that still had capacity. Most of the requests that they took on were of the high ranks due to the difficulty and rewards.

Thanks to that, Luna needed an assistant now and then to sort out the requests. This time, Sarah lost to the others and was forced to stay in the HQ to do paperwork.

“We are back!” Kamui said as he entered the room happily with other members behind him.

“SOMEONE! HELP ME!!” Sarah wailed as she saw them came in, “I can’t do this anymore!!”

Both Rena and Clave went over to help her out with the work. They were more suited for desk job like Luna after all. All other members were helpless in this, including their Boss.

“So what’s our next job?” Vyera said as she handed the rewards to Luna for records.

“… For now, there is none… so rest up.” Luna said to all members. They welcomed that happily as they had been going without rest for the past month.

“It is good that we have a lot of job but it is getting out of hand. Shouldn’t we get more members into our department?” Zack suggested.

“If you have candidates, we would be happy to take them in.” Luna sighed, “Problem is, they have to go through training and all sorts of documentations in the Council so it is a hassle. I would rather not.”

Vyera took a stack and scanned through the requests, “You know what… Just send some to Crime Sorciere. They would be happy to help."

"Good idea." Luna said, "Anyway, dinner should be ready by now."

"I have been waiting for this the whole day." Kamui said happily he walked to the dinner hall. Well, the food was always exceptional now that they changed the chef role recently. Not that Luna's was bad but it was just better.

Over the next few days, all of them helped out with the paperwork so it was done in a matter of hours. Afterwards, they chose several missions to be done over the week.

"... This A-rank can be done by Zack and Rena... So... Sarah, Kamui and Clave can take this S-rank." Vyera said as she divided the job as she spread the requests on the table, "... I guess I can do this S-rank alone..." She said as she took up one on her own. It was to take down an army of demons at some underground village.

"It is better to take someone with you." Luna said.

"Nobody is free. After all, I can always request for help via our earrings." Vyera said, brushing off Luna's concern, "... When everyone is back, we will take care of this SS-rank mission."

"Roger." They acknowledged.

"So... As usual, best of luck, guys." Vyera said.

"You too, Boss." Zack replied.

They went off to their respective missions and as predicted, they came back within 3 days at most. The last group to come back was Kamui's group.

"... Boss! You are fast!" Sarah said when she saw Vyera was drinking her tea leisurely in the dinner hall when they came back exhausted.

"Told you I can handle it alone. Going rampage in the village of demons was the best exercise." Vyera said happily.

"Hey, you guys are back." Zack said as he entered the hall, "That's slow." He teased.

"Not you too!" Sarah said.

"Tomorrow I will brief everyone on the next mission. So rest well." Vyera said as she looked through the report on the next mission. It was not the usual mission after all so she must at least research on it.

The next day, after breakfast, they gathered at the meeting room, ready for the briefing.

"... This mission is to destroy a cave." Vyera started. This was kind of unexpected to everyone. They were rather speechless.

"I know it sounds weird but it is still SS-rank mission." Vyera said, addressing their confusion, "This is a magical cave. Thousands entered but none came out. Its location varies every season and unpredictable where it will appear again. This week is the final week before it changes its location again."

"Since it keeps changing and won't harm anyone so long nobody goes in, why the request?" Rena asked, "I am curious on who requested this..."

"It was requested long ago by a woman... prefered to remain anonymous but her husband and son went in and was missing till now." Luna explained.

"Apparently, after I dig around, this woman was one of the ex-Council members. She was dead last year." Vyera continued.

"Then why are we doing it?" Clave asked.

"This request is designed to go on even if she died. The reward was prepared beforehand so there is no problem with that. But if she died, this request changed from rescue mission to destroy mission. So it became SS-rank." Luna added.

"I have checked against the archives these few days but the info is limited. All I could say that this cave... is alive. That's what make it dangerous as it is unknown." Vyera said, "To tell you the truth... I have bad feeling about this mission."

"The Council put priority on this mission. It has been 50 years since it was first requested." Luna said, "Which is why we have no choice but to do it. We will need to go in and reach the end while rescuing those who are still alive and then destroy it from within."

"I need everyone to be extra cautious. Luna will be coordinating from HQ and map out our direction in the cave. Highly likely it is a labyrinth. We will leave tomorrow morning." Vyera concluded.

"Roger, Boss."

The next morning came earlier than expected. Everyone was ready but anxious. Their Boss had never asked them to be so cautious before in any mission. There were too many unknown factors in this mission compared to others as well.

"All ready? I will teleport everyone to the entrance." Vyera said.

"You have it on your list?" Clave asked. Their teleportation magic was still limited to the places they went before that had their magic items there to trace. Unless they did that, they wouldn't be able to teleport there.

"I went to scout the area yesterday. I placed the usual charm there." Vyera said, "Make things easier, don't you think? Ready?" She asked again. Everyone nodded.

The cave that appeared in front of them looked omnious. Nothing would be good going into it. The darkness, the feel that it gave, all pointed to bad luck.

"... I wonder why people still want to go in..." Sarah said with disgust. She was bad with this type of horror.

'Rumour says there is powerful magical item inside... Elixir of Life, Demon's Heart, Immortality Stone, Ancient Lost Magic, Treasures and the list goes on.' Luna explained through their earrings, which was heard by everyone.

"Ready, Luna?" Vyera asked.

'Anytime.' She answered. Vyera could imagine she was ready with a pen and a blank map in front of her now at the meeting room.

"... Let's move." Vyera ordered and went in the cave, followed by the others.

The cave was full of traps... and skeletons. Most of the time, Sarah was clinging tightly to Clave, fearing the dark and the skeletons around the floor. They had light source as Vyera used her fire magic around the group. The rest were pretty much trying to spot the traps and avoid it. It was not even half an hour when they found the 10th traps since the entrance.

"Damn... This is really annoying. How many traps do they have here?" Vyera said in annoyance. Walking in front and detecting traps was her job and it was not difficult but the point was, they were not moving much. The traps ranged from spikes, arrows, swinging axes and even floor traps. Most of the skeletons or corpses were done in at the 7th traps or so. The amount of skeletons was getting lesser as they moved on. By the time they reached the 15th, it was clear. They were the first ones to reach this far.

"... Just in case..." Vyera flicked her finger and the chibi form of Xrytos appeared, floating in the air.

"What is it this time?" He asked.

"You know so stop asking me to repeat. Go in front and detect the traps. At least you won't die if you are hit." Vyera ordered, "There are no more corpses for me to predict what the traps are."

"... Damn you woman..." He complained but still went first deeper into the cave.

"... Luna, how far have we walked?" Vyera asked.

'Roughly around 5km in but the path is complicated so I might be wrong.' She answered.

Indeed, it was like a labyrinth. Without Luna's map, they would have no way to go out of here. None of them remembered the way out. Even Clave who had the best memory lost track half way in. In addition, they could not return so easily without deactivating the traps again. Luna deduced that the switch should be at the end of the cave, which they did not know exist or not. Their best bet was to go on.

It was at least a few hours before they finally reached the dead end. It was quite a feat to reach the end in their first try but it was all thanks to everyone's magic that they were safe. Vyera detected magical traps, Rena used her vines to check where they were, Sarah used her shadow as decoys, the other 3 guys took care of the rear, in case of the traps re-activated again.

The end was not what they were expecting. There was nothing. Nothing except for a dead end.

"... Why is it a dead end?" Kamui asked irritably, "All that traps and there was nothing here."

"There might be something behind the wall though..." Zack approached the wall. Kamui followed out of curiosity. The moment they touched it, the whole cave was shaking, as if it was going to crumble anytime.

"... Look out!!" Vyera said as she pushed both Kamui and Zack away from the wall. The wall literally attacked them. Earth spikes were appearing from it.

"... Boss..." Zack said in shock as he regained his standing after being pushed by Vyera. Kamui was speechless at the scene, unable to move.

To save them, Vyera took the hit. The spikes shot through her body, making her blue blood flowed freely from the wound. She coughed out blood as well. The spikes must have hit her internal organs.

"Boss!" Rena approached, wanted to help her away from the wall.

"Don't come nearer!!" Vyera immediately ordered, making Rena stopped at her track, "... This wall is alive... It will attack if you come near..." She said with difficulty.

The wall reacted again. This time, vine-like spikes appeared from the wall, wrapping around dragging Vyera nearer to wall, as if to make her fuse together with it. Indeed, Vyera's body was turning into the stone, as if being absorbed by the wall. The spikes that injured her were still within her body. The crumbling and the quake were getting stronger.

"No, Boss!" Zack said in panic, going nearer to save her but was blocked by an invisible barrier.

"... This is an order... Get out of here." Vyera said. The stone had covered most of her body.

"But-"

"... Tell him I am sorry..." Vyera said softly with a smile.

Without waiting any further, Vyera quickly looked at Xrytos who was still around and he understood immediately. He casted a portal to teleport all of them out. They were not spared anymore choices and the sight of their Boss turning into the stone wall disappeared from their sight.

The next moment, they were already outside, at the place where their Boss put her teleportation charm. Zack tried to enter again, but it was already blocked by the same invisible barrier. Now he knew, it was casted by their Boss. If they couldn't destroy it, then don't let anyone going in.

Then the cave disappeared with a trace, leaving the place a vast empty land. Their Boss was gone along with the cave.

'... Anyone! Respond! Is everyone alright?' Luna's shout was heard suddenly from their earrings, 'Someone! Respond!'

"Luna..." Rena voiced out.

'Thank goodness... The magic is not reaching since you reached the end... Is everyone alright?' She asked.

"..." Nobody was able to answer. Only sobbings were heard.

'... What's wrong?' Luna asked again worriedly, 'Anyone injured?'

"... We lost Boss..." Rena choked out in a soft voice.

'Eh? What do you mean? What happened?'

"Boss... saved us... and was trapped inside. She sacrificed herself to seal the cave." Zack said, he cannot stop his tears of regret.

"Damn it! What are we supossed to tell him now..." Kamui said and punched the ground hard to let out his anger and regret. His fist was shaking.

"Guys... Don't give up." Clave suddenly said with confidence, "I managed to place a charm at the end of the cave. I believe we can still teleport in."

"Are you serious?!" Zack asked, "Teleport us now!" Zack never losed his cool like this. He was really affected by this. Boss was his life savior. He would never had such a happy life if he didn't meet her.

"Calm down, Zack... I have tried but I cannot detect it anywhere. It hasn't settled on the location yet." Clave explained, "I won't give up in finding her. We will definitely save Boss out of there."

Kamui stood up, "We must save her out of there. I won't let it end like this."

'Everyone, come back for now. We will start planning for the time it appears. There is no time for us to mope around.' Luna commanded.

Everyone was determined. Even if it took their whole life, they will save their Boss out of there. For sure.

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Shorei's Message:

I promise I will bring back the gang when the new year comes. Till then, please wait patiently! Don't kill me yet okay!

Will probably update around mid-Jan... or worst case, early-Feb due to upcoming festive seasons. 

Thanks again for reading! Do vote and comment!

Merry X'mas and Happy New Year 2014!

Love you guys <3