Mirajane admitted that she had underestimated her opponent. She had underestimated the Beast Apostles, or rather, she had underestimated Ur's current strength.
Before the mission began, she had already learned that Ur had killed two members of the Beast Apostles. Additionally, Ur had only been learning magic for a few months. If he could defeat them, how strong could the others possibly be?
Mirajane's analysis and reasoning were flawless, but unfortunately, her subject of analysis turned out to be an idiot. An incredibly thick-skinned idiot at that. So, she was in trouble.
The Beast Apostles consisted of six members. The two weakest had already been killed by Ur, leaving four members, each with abilities comparable to ordinary A-Class mages. Even on her own, Mirajane would struggle to defeat one of them, let alone being surrounded by four.
Various bizarre magic rained down on her mercilessly. It wasn't long before Mirajane was sent away, crashing through several walls. When she finally came to a stop, she saw Ur standing ahead.
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.
Mirajane had intended to call for Ur's help, but her pride caused her to hesitate for a few seconds. Then, she watched Ur vanish from sight in an instant.
"…(╬◣д◢)"
"Damn this support! What good is a teammate like this?" Mirajane's anger flared.
At first, even though she was struggling in battle, her anger level was not high. While in Satan's Soul state, Mirajane retained a relatively rational mind. But Ur's actions had caused her anger to spike.
No matter how much reason tried to calm her. No matter that Ur's behavior was technically correct. Just thinking about how he had left without hesitation filled her with frustration.
"Ah!" A torrent of darkness. A pair of demon wings unfurled behind Mirajane, her hands crackling with black magic, and she charged at the four remaining members of the Beast Apostles with all her fury.
Boom!
The terrifying magical energy erupted. The four members of the Beast Apostles were shocked by Mirajane's sudden outburst, and their destructive power seemed to have increased by nearly half compared to before.
"Damn, this woman is insane!"
The four of them became intimidated. For the first time, Mira gained the upper hand in this one-against-four battle.
Nearby, Gildarts observed the scene. Seeing Ur and Mira's actions, his face showed interest. Especially Ur—his calmness and judgment during the mission had impressed Gildarts greatly. After all, it was rare for a fifteen-year-old boy to have such rational thinking, especially one from his own guild.
As one of Fairy Tail's veterans, Gildarts had a good sense of what their guildmates were capable of. Considering the sheer number of thank-you and complaint letters they typically received, a normal mage like Ur was unusual—so much so that he almost wondered if Ur had been sent as a spy from another guild.
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Inside the castle, Ur sneezed twice in quick succession. "What's going on? Did I catch a cold?" He sniffled, confused.
He had nearly searched the entire castle, but so far, he had found no trace of Singer.
"If Mira can't hold out much longer, it'll be trouble," Ur thought, relieved that he had moved quickly enough to avoid being detected.
Their mission was to rescue, not to annihilate, the enemy. Even if they eliminated the Beast Apostles, if the hostage was harmed, it would be a disaster.
"Too bad I don't have detection magic, otherwise it would be much easier!"
Detection-type magic was rare. Most belonged to wind magic unless naturally awakened, and Ur had no wind magic talent.
Ur searched from the first floor up, and finally, when he reached the castle's top floor, a completely pitch-black door adorned with bizarre carvings appeared before him.
"What is this?" Seeing the door, a wave of caution rose in Ul's chest. The door radiated dark and evil magical energy.
Frowning slightly, Ur did not immediately attempt to open it. He first checked the top floor thoroughly, looking for other entrances or possible ambushes.
As expected, there were no other openings on this floor aside from the door.
"It seems I have no choice but to go in." Standing before the pitch-black, mysterious door, Ur's gaze grew serious.
Magic coalesced around his hand as he slowly reached out to push open the dark and enigmatic door.
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Next Chapter: The Unknown "Trash"
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