Chapter 285 The Cursed Magic Book (4)
In the second round, Natsu was no longer afraid, because after the previous fight, he had seen through his opponent's attack method, or in other words, his opponent's attack method was almost the same as his own, so he could naturally deal with it easily.
"Only by knowing yourself well enough can you become stronger!"
Perhaps Natsu was strong enough, or perhaps the black shadow itself was too weak, the outcome of this battle was decided in less than five minutes. Under Natsu's powerful and fiery fist, the black shadow quickly disappeared without a trace.
"What... The horror of the second stage... is just this!"
After dealing with the enemies, Natsu and Happy sat on the side of the road again to analyze the current situation. "But, we are in trouble! We made such a big noise, but no one came out after such a long time. It seems that it is just as we thought. Everyone in the town is gone. There are only two of us left in the whole Magnolia!"
"Is this the curse of the magic book? The so-called 'the gears of fate will start at dusk' refers to the time when the curse begins, which is when we go to Hope Hut. During the time we were unconscious, the other people in Magnolia have been cursed and taken to an unknown place!"
Natsu turned around and took out a magic book that appeared from a corner. "Think about it carefully. What else has appeared on it?"
Happy thought for a moment and said, "Hmm... I think there's also something like 'Don't look up at the moon'."
At this point, the two of them looked up at the sky at the same time: "It looks like something terrible will happen after seeing this..."
“…” ×2
“It’s over!!!”
“I saw the moon!!!”
The whole cat jumped around in panic: "What will happen if we see the moon? Will we transform? Kira said that some people will turn into giant monsters when they see the moon! Will we turn into monsters?"
"No...don't worry...Happy..."
Natsu said in relief with a cold sweat, "The monsters that Kira said can transform are fake! And they are from outer space, we are just ordinary humans and cats! And they can only transform when they see a full moon, and it's not a full moon now! And they have tails, we don't..."
"Tail... Tail!!!" Happy ignored the previous chatter and panicked again when he heard the word "tail". "I have a tail!! And I'm from Edlas, so I'm similar to him in some ways!! You know, many of Kira's stories are based on reality!!"
"But you haven't turned into a monster yet."
"Ah! That's right!" Habib suddenly woke up, the stone hanging in his heart fell gently, and he sighed, "That's great!!"
Just as the two of them had settled down, the environment around them changed again. The moonlight that was originally like water suddenly turned into snowflakes falling from the sky, and a cold wind blew in, bringing gusts of chill.
In an instant, Magnolia was dressed in silver, and everything was white.
"It's snowing? Why is it snowing in this season?"
“It’s so cold…”
Natsu glanced at the book in his hand again and said, "I remember there was a sentence in it that said the blizzard would gradually devour the trapped beasts. Could this be what it was talking about?"
"Natsu, what do we do now?"
"I don't know... How about we go to Lucy's house first... Wait! This smell..."
Just when Natsu was about to take Happy to Lucy's house to avoid the cold, a familiar smell suddenly filled the air.
"It's Lucy! In the direction of the guild!"
"Really? Then let's go check it out!"
The Dragon Slayer's nose is sharper than a dog's. Happy is already familiar with Natsu's extraordinary perception. Without any hesitation, he immediately urged him to go to the guild to find out.
Without further ado, Natsu started running, and Happy spread his wings and flew, heading towards the guild that was just in front of them. However, ten minutes later, the distance between them and the guild had not been shortened at all.
"What's going on? It's clearly right in front of us, why has it taken so long to get there? It never feels so far away!"
The continuously dropping temperature made Natsu exhale hot air continuously. Happy could not stand the cold any more and quickly released his wing magic which landed on Natsu's head. He was shivering, his cat fur trembling in the wind, and two strands of snot, one long and one short, hung on his face.
"N...Natsu, could it be...because...of the curse?"
"It's very likely! Isn't there a saying before that 'the blizzard will gradually eat away the trapped beast'?"
Even though Natsu is strong and a fire wizard, the ice and snow before him are invisible and piercing, and cannot be resisted by magic alone.
"It's so cold... No! Lucy is still waiting for us in the guild..."
With such belief as his support, despite the uncertain road ahead and even though he was trapped in the curse, Natsu still overcame the physical fatigue and sleepiness with his indomitable will.
After an unknown amount of time, Happy's voice began to grow weaker: "Natsu... I'm so tired... so sleepy..."
Natsu hurriedly hugged him in his arms, ignoring the heavy frost and snow blown down on him by the cold wind. He gritted his teeth and used the little magic power left in his body to create a flame, adding a touch of warmth to his body: "It's okay, Happy, I will protect you!"
The harpy in front of him fell into deep sleep with even breathing. Natsu could only hold it tightly in his arms and move his feet with difficulty. Wearing a pair of cool flip-flops, he walked slowly towards Fairy Tail step by step, but the distance between him and the guild was still not shortened.
After an unknown amount of time, a blizzard came howling and swept across Magnolia. Natsu lost his last bit of strength and was engulfed in the snow.
…
In a trance, Natsu felt like someone was slapping him in the face.
"Natsu...Natsu...wake up!"
"Really...it's already night!"
A familiar touch, a familiar voice, this feeling…it’s Happy and Lucy!
Natsu flipped over and jumped up.
"Ah! You're finally up! Then go home quickly!" Kira's voice came into Natsu's ears.
Natsu calmed down and found himself still in Kira's Hope Hut. Lucy and Happy were watching him, while Kira was not far away, half lying on his chair, holding the cursed magic book in his hand.
Through the one-way glass on his side, he could see that it was already dark outside, with people coming and going on the street. Magnolia, as usual, had entered into the brightly lit nightlife.
"Strange...what's happening to me..." Natsu's voice was a little dazed, and it was obvious that he was not fully conscious yet.
Kira answered his doubts in a lazy voice: "You've been hit by my illusion magic! From the moment you and Happy stepped into this place again, everything that happened afterwards was an illusion!"
"Ah?! So those 'curses' are also..."
Natsu looked at Kira in surprise, wanting an explanation, but Kira didn't even raise his head, and just replied: "It's an illusion magic performed through psychological and spiritual double suggestion! The book is just an ordinary magic prop."
"So that's how it is..." Natsu felt relieved when he found out that the previous experience was just an illusion, but then he became angry again, "Ah! Kira! Why would you do such a thing?!"
"Don't look at me, it was Lucy's request!" Kira closed the book, "Of course, I also want to see if you will be scared. Hehehe... I said a long time ago that I would give you special training, but I kept forgetting about it. It's just a good opportunity to test your mental strength now!"
Happy complained in disbelief: "You're so generous as to admit it?!"
"Actually, Lucy was reading a book in my shop this morning, and she heard you guys talking about scaring her with a horror novel, so..."
Natsu and Happy were sweating with embarrassment: "So...so that's how it is... I'm so sorry..."
Noticing Natsu and Happy's apologetic gazes, Lucy blushed a little, and pretended to be angry and pushed her face away: "Really! It's okay that you always destroy my things with your rough hands, but how long has it been this time? You actually want to play such a prank on me! You never learn your lesson! You don't know how to repent until you are taught a lesson!..."
Listening to Lucy's endless complaints, Natsu and Happy were filled with shame and sat on the ground obediently, not daring to say anything back.
Coo coo coo...
"Ah! I'm hungry!"
"I'm hungry too..."
The two of them ran around all day without eating or drinking, and the only action they took, which was to eat, was fake.
He had a big appetite to begin with, and had consumed too much of his mental energy in Kira's illusion. Now he was already dizzy with hunger, but he was holding back from saying anything because he felt very sorry for Lucy.
Seeing this scene, Lucy could only sigh helplessly: "Oh... forget it! I'll forgive you this time. Come on, I'll treat you to food!"
"Oh! Really? Thank you so much Lucy!!"
"Goddess Lucy-sama!!"
The two people and the cat walked out chatting and laughing.
Before leaving, the three of them suddenly stopped and asked, "Is Kira not going with us?"
Kira: “…”
Finally thought of me?
"Haha... I'm already full after watching you guys show off your affection..."
" Goodbye then!"
After everyone else left Hope Hut, Kira sighed deeply, stood up and walked towards the pile of books that had been left there for the day and had not been put away yet.
"These guys are so annoying! They don't even know how to clean up before leaving. Sooner or later, I'll cheat them out of all their money... and make it!"
In the cabin, Kira became more and more angry as he cleaned up.
"Humph, I just cheated them all!"
