Chapter 15

Chapter 15. Island of Demons.

There were demons, I don't deny. But they self-destructed.

Inspired by 'Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession'.

Sephiroth. Home Sweet Home.

Back in Magnolia, I sat down again in the 'spell chambers', continuing to download books on magic, traditions and laws of the kingdom into my head. In addition, it would be nice to continue working on the control and development of the elements, and the stocks of various purely chemical agents should have been replenished. But, alas, it was unrealistic to do everything at once (damn it, there are not enough shadow clones, it is a pity that I have not exactly been noted in the shinobi world). Once again loaded with information to the green fairies in front of my eyes (and that one, the third in the fifth row, is even nothing), I turned off my consciousness until lunchtime. Oddly enough, but this time I dreamed of something. Some kind of dregs, like someone tried to contact me, or to shout, the Darkness was whispering something in my ears, but I could not make out the words. In general, I woke up a little broken and slightly out of shape. Having transformed the cloak into a more comfortable suit, somewhat reminiscent of pajamas (for fun, I decorated it with all sorts of funny dragon and demonic faces), I went to the shower - it would not hurt to cheer up. I got out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, this time changing my pajamas for a warm robe and slippers, and then went to the side of the kitchen in search of food. Something edible should have remained in the refrigerator, although it was wildly lazy to cook, but I think sandwiches with scrambled eggs would be quite enough for my unpretentious personality. Either consciousness has not really woken up yet, or the effect of brain overload was somewhat greater than I thought, but the suspicious sounds from, in theory, an empty kitchen did not alert me at all. And here is the kitchen. There is a stove in the kitchen. Behind the stove, standing with her back to me, was a girl with red hair, dressed in armor, on top of which was an ordinary apron. And recklessly turned something over with a spatula, I must admit, she did it very skillfully. The feeling of reality waved goodbye to me and happily flew away into unknown distances, sitting on the roof, just the same rushed into flight. Elsa ... the first thought came. Elsa is preparing dinner ... the second. Elsa is preparing dinner in my kitchen ... the third completes the chain.

"I must say that you are a terrible sleepyhead, Sephiroth," the girl said calmly.

-Yeah ... and good morning to you, - consciousness was still slipping, - um, what is actually happening?

"Dinner," Scarlett's back answered me, and embarrassment flashed in the emophone. A lot of embarrassment.

-Lunch? - I still did not catch up with the situation.

- Yes, we agreed that I would treat you to dinner - the calmness and equanimity in the voice of the Valkyrie would envy the rocks.

-Uh, what does my kitchen have to do with it? - now I felt completely lost, my brains did not want to turn on and explain what was happening here.

-The best lunch is one that is prepared with your own hands, and in order to keep warm, I decided to do it in your kitchen.

-Khm. I thought we were just going out somewhere, but your idea ... I'm amazed.

-With what? - the girl was alert.

-How is it what? It turns out that besides the fact that you are a wonderful (in both senses of the word) sorceress, you can also cook. I must admit that my patience is more than for camping porridge or an omelette is rarely enough, - the compliment escaped my lips by itself, I remember Elsa did not greatly favor them, immediately sending a potential gentleman, but this time the praise caused only a new explosion of embarrassment in the girl's emophone and ... some fun. But the reddened tip of the ear amused me a lot.

- Sit down at the table, everything will be ready soon, - Scarlett continued to conjure over the stove, I just arranged the plates, cut the bread ... in general, I took up all the little things. Having prepared the food, the girl tried to retreat, but who will let her go? A small argument culminated in my complete triumph, so Titania accompanied me at the table. Mmm, the warrior cooked very, very well, a lot of experience is visible.

Having strengthened our strength, we went to the guild, I must say, our appearance together caused a lot of noise, boiling down to a surprised 'is he still alive?' and 'why did they come together?' as well as two suspicious looks from Mira and Lucy. But the Master clearly received from everything that was happening just a lot of pleasure - he was smiling, even the fact that he buried himself in a mug does not much hide his expression.

-Hello! - we smile and wave, gentlemen, we smile and wave. The audience responded with something approvingly welcoming. Scarlett went to the counter and began a conversation with Mira, to which Lucy quickly joined (the girl's masters were simply transplanted to the other end of the counter, the old man sighed sadly, muttering something about the spanks who had strayed from his hands and the girls who had cooled to their sweet grandfather ... perverted, I'm watching you!)

Then Natsu intercepted me ...

-Sephiroth, let's brush it off! - Dragneel began his eternal song. Hmm, why not, in the end, strengthening the guild will benefit me as well, and the dragonseer is a normal guy. When not grimacing (which, however, happens quite rarely).

-Good, but on one condition - I feel the silence in the hall, wow, how many interested ears.

-What do you want? - Dragneel was ready to immediately comply with any requirements, just to scratch his fists.

-You will thoroughly study the book that I will give you, and in case of failure, you will read one book a week from the list I made until you can stand against me for ten minutes. And the first fight, so be it, will take place in advance - you will study the book later.

-Do not overestimate yourself, I will roll you into a pancake much faster! So I agree to your terms! -hm, strange, although the guy continued to 'kick himself in the chest with the heel', but on the empathic plane he was very serious, is it really such a way to ask me to improve his fighting skills? We'll see...

-Master, can you help with the barrier?

-Eh, spaniard, do not let you rest in your old age, - the magician pretended to grunted, - let's go, what is already there ...

And again the familiar backyard, trampled down to a stone state, and again the familiar words of Makarov about 'fair fight' and further in the text. The long-awaited 'Mochi!' and sparring began.

Natsu immediately 'flared up' and rushed into battle. Hmm, and pumping magic through the body turns out to somewhat increase the speed, dodge a blow that left a good dent on the compacted ground, ahem, and the physical strength of the magician.

-You use your fire very interestingly, - a step to the side and the fire magician again sweeps past, - but, - again by, - too straightforward and predictable. I create a hand from my own fire, without using Darkness, and lightly tug on the dragon's leg, forcing him to stumble and stretch on the ground. Natsu is back on his feet almost instantly, but that is almost. Leaning on the 'fiery hand', I dash towards him and imprint my foot into the dragon's chest, eh, if the hand-to-hand combat mentor saw me now, he would have buried me on the spot, for such a mediocre and ineffective technique. But it is very effective and clearly showing that there are no extra limbs in battle.

-Khe, how do you do it? Dragneel got to his feet again, regaining his lost breath.

-Do you really think that the magic of fire is reduced only to saturating the body with the elements or fiery spitting? Fire can be a very subtle instrument if you can subdue it to your will. Your fire is not just an element, it is a part of you, which means that you can direct it, give it various properties and parameters. If you have enough fortitude, of course. It's so easy to call your power, which is always with you, to feel it. Especially, such as we - the gods, how ashamed I am, to chat in battle, path and training, I hope none of my old acquaintances will ever know about this. I infuse my lungs with fiery mana, passing it through my channel, now just activate with a voice command and exhale, my control over the element is not yet enough to do without the verbal component - the Roar of the Fire Dragon.

A stream of flame rushes into the dumbfounded dragonsleer, compared to what Natsu himself can give out - for example, a thin stream against the background of a normal river, but now, instead of a direct blow, the fire begins to swirl around Dragneel, creating a small branch of Hell inside. The funny thing is that I took as a basis the same Gehenna spell found in the book, more precisely, the effect of its use, however, the temperature there is much higher, but these are already details. To find an alternative, and again, acting on pure instincts and insight during the battle, just using the main attack of the dragonller and the smallest amount of control ... I still trudge over the affinity of the magicians changed by dragons with their own magic - an ordinary fireman would twist his finger at his temple and left to teach a much simpler Gehena for him. I was not afraid to burn it - to fry a fiery dragon slayer, it needs to be in the magic of fire at the level of God's chosen one, but to immerse it in the elements, make you feel it ... And my caustic comments during this end of the world should push him. And exactly, just a few seconds later, the ring of fire was torn by the fiery hands and pushed Dragneel at me. Natsu had already set his fists on fire and was going to pile on me properly, but this was definitely not part of my plans.

"Perhaps that's enough for today," the fireman's head meets my fist as it approaches. Knockout, however.

Then there were congratulations to the 'fairies', an educational pull from the Master (he looked at me somehow strangely, and scolded me purely for show, oh, I don't like all this) and ... the girls completely ignored me. All three, are they offended by Natsu? Doesn't look like ... so what to do? I think it's worth getting a little better first.

A couple of days passed and everything seemed to be working out, except for the strange behavior of the most beautiful trio of 'Tail'. If they found themselves all together, then my complete ignorance began, interspersed with the strange looks of the girls at each other, but if I managed to find one of them alone, then everything became not so scary. At the same fencing training with Elsa, she communicated with me quite normally and even reacted calmly when I touched her and corrected movements or guided my hand (and I managed to persuade her to change her armor to something lighter, so as not to cook in that canned food, so the lack of indignation when I sometimes 'accidentally' pressed against her a little more tightly than was required for training said a lot), also quite normally we communicated during my training in Rearmament, but as soon as Mira or Lucy appeared, everything ended. The same thing happened with Mirazhana - she herself, brings me a cooked lunch with her own hands (it was in the guild and every bite I ate was followed by the local male representatives with such a look, which became somehow uncomfortable, and Elfman was almost like his head against the wall began to beat), then seemed to forget about my existence. It was the same with Lucy, though it turned out to be more fun with her - as soon as the girl began to parade ignore me, I began to joke and tease her a little (I confess, I used empathy in full to better control the situation, so as not to bend). Heartfilia strengthened, Heartfilia was embarrassed, but stopped ignoring. This is how we lived in this madhouse named after Master Makarov, periodically getting out four of us to cafes, restaurants or other interesting places (at first, such trips resembled a game of tags in a minefield, but gradually the girls began to get used to and even have fun, however, often at the expense of the combined bullying of the poor and unhappy me, but still, it was worth it.By the way, this was the only time when the girls, even three of them, did not give me menacing looks, but on the contrary began to slowly compete for my attention, and it seems , they themselves did not realize it. It was damn nice), I continued to gain control in Fire, expand the channel and slowly practice in other schools available to me. The master was generous with a master class (hmm, funny pun) on all sorts of rituals and barriers. I must admit that this direction is very, very promising. In fact, with the help of the ritual, you can carry out any magical action, there would be a desire to calculate the most complex drawing. Moreover, most of the spells of magicians are just rituals, although they are outrageously simplified (although again, it depends on the 'level' of the spell and the skill of the magician), it remains only to understand how the rune circle arises, even if the sorcerer does not own any spell ... In general, the theory turned out to be quite coherent, however, it did not explain why there is such a strict distinction between schools and why mana has such an effect on wizards, but I am working on it ... Another noteworthy event is the destruction of my library ... well, ruin, just a book that I periodically ran in order to improve her ability to search for information in it, reached the shelves with ordinary books. Hmmm, glutton, now I'm not letting it out of my spatial pocket, oddly enough, but this magical thing took up almost less space than an ordinary book of the same volume could "eat away".

Day after day, life went on as usual - in the morning classes with Elsa or Elfman purely in physics, lunch combined with a casual conversation with Mira and an easy walk around the city, which Lucy sometimes joined, in general the blonde made a double impression - on the one hand , quite a normal girl, quite well-read and with common sense everything is in order, but on the other hand ... in general, it was like this ...

- You have beautiful hair, Lucy, how did you get it? I would not mind either ... - I ruffle my slightly disheveled hair. In general, I started this conversation for a reason - if I really felt the urge to raise the level of the 'Tail' mages, then this must be done thoroughly, besides, Lucy is not just one of the mages, for me personally she is much more dear and interesting than the same Natsu with Gray combined (and if someday the day comes when this changes, I'll hang myself), which means that her growth is much more interesting to me, but just going up and asking how she's doing with the spirits will be strange, everything- Still, now we just have friendly relations, but no matter how friends the magicians are, it is considered bad form to go to someone else's monastery with advice, to put it mildly (thanks to the library for information about the relationship between magicians and the traditions of Fiore). So, you need to carefully bring the girl to the idea of ​​increasing the combat capability of her spirits, but first, to justify the need for this increase and lightly press.

-Do you like? - a slight embarrassment in emotions, - this is the work of my star spirit - Cancer, - hmm, and here is the other side of Lucy - to use one of the 12 Great Spirits as a hairdresser, it was necessary to think of it, I wonder, but she would chop nuts with a suitcase with red button?

-Khe, I'm sorry, I understood correctly, the Spirit of the Zodiac is only a hairdresser for you? - no, I am already convinced of the madness of this world, but bliiin! There must be a limit somewhere.

-Well, he can still help a little in battle ... - calm, Sef, only calm. The fact is that in the endless deposits of the library I found one small mention of this 'hairdresser' - after all, his key has been around the world for several centuries. So, according to the library records, the Zodiac Spirit Cancer is an aspect of water, specialization is close combat. Moreover, if you believe the description - this spirit is a close relative of a certain Kali from Indian mythology, in any case - a whole bunch of additional limbs that can cause a lot of problems to those around him. Plus the power, as an aspect of water - it is very, very difficult to hit on it, and it moves very quickly, and even 'mesmerizes with its movements', which the author of the article meant, I did not understand, but I admit that Cancer through its aspect as- This can affect opponents, because people, for the most part, are the same water. And this monster, with whom I would not refuse to measure strength in battle, is used by the girl as a simple hairdresser. It seems my eye twitched. No, I knew that Lucy was using spirits, to put it mildly, for other purposes, but to be so ... and it's one thing to know this from a stoned anime. And to get confirmation from the real world, albeit also stoned ... hmmm ... And the girl was very lucky - she obviously liked the Spirits for something, otherwise I cannot explain that she has not been crippled yet. Yes, the spirit is forbidden by contract to kill the summoner. But ... firstly, it is forbidden to kill with your own hand, but indirectly - let's say, everything becomes much more interesting there. And, the contract does not say anything about the fact that the spirit cannot inflict damage to the summoner (which Aquarius actively uses, hehe), I suppose this was done for some protection of the spirits themselves, and secondly, sometimes, to save, you have to apply these same damages. Although, these are only typical contracts that I found all in the same book in the library, but each summoner can change the contract in a certain range.

-Hmm, yeah ... a little, - catching more thought in my voice, I asked, - and Aquarius, by any chance, did you try to use it to water the flower beds? Heartfilia blushed. Is she serious?

-Tried, but she does not listen to me at all and it all ended in a flood, - hmmm, if I were constantly called to fix my hair or 'renew' my face before some kind of reception, I would not have done without self-harm in the place of the spirit ...

- Tell me, Lucy, have you ever read books on your perfume?

- No, I haven't found such books at home, and I haven't seen them in stores either - hmm, maybe it's not all that bad. The girl might just not know.

-That's what, I'll give you one interesting book from the guild library, where there are references to your 'hairdresser', I think you will be curious to read, and one more thing, - I turn to a serious tone, - 'Fairy Tail', first of all , a guild of war mages where everyone can defend themselves. Talk to your companions about their past and capabilities from a combat point of view. I am sure you will find a lot of interesting things. However, it's up to you - I change the subject, so as not to leave some unpleasant reticence at the end of the conversation. - Maybe let's go for some ice cream? - I nod at the door of the cafe, which caught my eye at the right time.

"I think you can," the girl answered casually. I think my words really made her think, it's good ...

My usual evening passed under the command of Elsa - now she was chasing me around Rearmament. I must admit that the girl's fantasy was rich and a little unhealthy (or did she take revenge in the morning?) - to change weapons in a jump, in a roll, dodging the enemy's attack - and this is just the beginning - then, smiling sweetly, the girl promised only to complicate the program. Then the cruel deity placated the cake and went to the women's hostel.

The night was completely devoted to practice in Fire and further absorption of theory. True, now I have two more classes. The first was preparation for a date with Deliora - the sketches of a plan to absorb it had been spinning in my head for a long time, but now I more or less imagined how it could be carried out and go unnoticed. To do this, it was necessary to apply about four hundred runes to the hands in order to carry out the Absorption ritual without external effects. A small explosion that destroyed the area in Onibas was unnecessary for me. So for what night I was sitting in combat mode and counted the necessary sequences of signs and places of their application. The second thing, one might say, a matter of honor, was the digging of an underground passage to the women's hostel. I knew that this was a crazy idea, I knew and ... I continued to dig, perhaps the madness was contagious, but damn it, it's adrenaline rush, risk, Spirit of the Hunt, in the end (for more details about 'Spirit of the Hunt' see books Alex Kosha 'If I were a vampire' and 'Fire Department', good thing, author's note). About two weeks later, after two careful excavations, I dug into a whole network of underground passages. Judging by the traces of dust on the floor, no one has appeared here for forty years, if not more. Well, now all that remains is to study them properly, and we'll start by going in the direction of the female dorm, hehe.

Well, not bad, very good, I was especially pleased with the cleverly made observation deck under the pool, as well as going straight to the hostel itself, yeah, the last generation of guys in the 'tail' did just a titanic job of avoiding the watchful eye of the commandant, honor to them for this and praise (but the fact that there was no passage to the showers is a big minus, how can I dig it there?).

Periodically, such weekdays were interrupted by trips to missions (nothing worthwhile, Elsa refused to take S missions, citing my irresponsibility, and the usual killing of any monsters or eliminating the consequences of experiments of unlucky magicians somehow quickly became boring, only the company of a beautiful girl pleased, but in no way the tasks themselves and fees for them), and Natsu's weekly attempts to wave the unfortunate me in sparring. I must admit that the dragonseer took my conditions very seriously and really almost memorized the books provided to him. Even though not everywhere he managed to get through the heaps of theory, but what he did not understand from the textbooks, the guy compensated due to his natural intuition and abilities, or simply copied from me, for example, as happened with the analogue of Gehenna - by the third sparring he Spun his flame around me. And by the fifth, I learned to fly on a jet thrust, releasing flames from my legs and adjusting the flight with my hands - I could not repeat this trick, for example, on a bare source of fire, only spending the reserve or adding Darkness to the Fire, while Dragneel even not particularly tired.

Lucy walked very thoughtful, she seemed to have learned a lot of interesting things from her spirits, but, apparently, she had not made a decision yet.

Slowly I began to get closer to the Magic of Life, in itself this direction gave very wide opportunities, in combination with the Symbiont - in general, something with something, but so far rituals and only rituals remained my lot. Well, the spell chamber needs to be equipped sometime, why not now? So, my primary task is to 'resurrect' Ur, although, purely formally, she did not die and there really was an opportunity to get to her soul. So, the first thing I need is a body, where this soul will need to be placed in some other way. You can, of course, use someone unnecessary, but if you have a long time, why not try to create it yourself, fortunately, there are no problems in biomass - the ice cellar is packed with meat. So, we consider and draw the necessary circle, put the meat there, launch the Symbiont to transform into a humanoid form, simultaneously with a similar ritual of 'transformation of the flesh' - perhaps through Simba it will be possible to remove any changes in the structure and principles of this change, which, in turn , may allow me to move from ritual to direct spells.

Hmm, it would be nice to use the DNA of Ur itself, but alas, what is not, that is not, however, soon there should be an island with demons, on which her daughter runs, I will not say that the option is ideal, but still much better than completely an extraneous genome, I have a suspicion that the closer the 'cloned' body is to the original, the easier the soul transfer will take place. By the way, about the similarities. In some way I still need to 'swing' the conductivity of magical energy in this carcass, at least to the level of an S class magician, otherwise there is a possibility that the body will be torn apart by rebellious magic. Hmmm, here my knowledge in Life will not be enough, but through Simba something can work out, at the same time I will see how such manipulations affect the body, maybe later it will turn out to increase the reserve for my beloved, and maybe not only for myself.

After a week of manipulations with the future receptacle of Ur, I nevertheless got off the ground and felt how to effectively 'pump it over' - you need to distill huge reserves of 'raw' mana through the body - then the body, getting used to these volumes of energy, significantly increases its own 'capacity', and it happens very quickly. Almost all the stocks of lacrima, which I lovingly collected, had to be used for this business, but what can you do, scientific research has always been a costly thing, and I had a hope that the crystals would still be able to be recharged later.

Thoughts flashed that it was possible to increase my reserve in this way, but remembering the 'wonderful' sensations from working with my own magical container in the past, I decided to postpone the experiments on myself for now, and there was just enough lacrima for Ur's body, so to experiment then there was nothing special, but I was not very upset about this, because psionics and 'Blood Magic' were still waiting for me! And why are there only 24 hours in a day ?! As a result, after a while, in my basement, in a special sarcophagus dotted with drawings and runes, there was a homunculus with a 'reserve' of a powerful S-ovic (further growth rates dropped sharply, perhaps the reason for this is the absence of a rational soul, or maybe the method itself has certain limits), in which it remains to invest the necessary genome and soul. And if about the first I already had worked out schemes, then what to do with the second, I had no idea. Need more information ...

The idyll ended two months later, when he appeared in 'Tail' ...

Mystogan, although the nickname 'Glitch Eyes' would really suit him. I felt that some force was gently pouring into my body, but I did not feel any changes in myself, but the guilds began to fall asleep and almost fell where they stood. Here Natsu and Gray collapsed on the table and snored, marvelously synchronized, by the way. Elsa's eyes closed wearily and she snuffled softly. Propping your head in your hands. Lucy and Cana sat next to me ... Damn! A sharp jerk and I manage to catch Mira falling from behind the counter with a knife in hand, and I don't cut myself for long. The slightly widened eyes of the Master, full of surprise and complete shock in his emophone were my reward.

And then Mystogan ascended to the guild pathetically, you can't say otherwise. Wrapped in a dark blue robe with a whole bunch of different staffs on his back ... and a complete lack of energy structure in the body. Heh, I think I ruined his way out - the poor fellow hesitated and looked at me in bewilderment. Damn, I can't help it.

-What? I have already slept ... - from behind came a strangled cough, suspiciously similar to laughter.

-Hmm, nothing, I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry, - the most unsociable magician 'Fey' walked around me and tore off several posters with tasks from the board, and then went to the exit.

- Hey, at least wake everyone up, - the Master shouted after the departing. He just waved his hand and snapped his fingers at the doorstep of the guild. Hmmm, he has style.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Happy flying away from the second floor. Well, that started ...

The people slowly came to their senses, remembering with a 'quiet kind word' a walking sleeping pill, Lucy, who did not understand a little what it was about, explained who Mystogan was and that no one except the master knew what he looked like. Of course, this moment could not help but take advantage of one guy with a vile character. On Gray's phrase that, they say, no one knows Glitch-eyed in person, came from above in a voice full of contempt for those around him.

-No, I know, - Lexus, and who else could it be, immediately decided to dot the Yo and began to pour waste products on everyone around him, he did it with full dedication and love for the process, only this time, deviated slightly from the canon.

-And you are interesting, newbie, beat Elsa, overcame the influence of Mystogan. How about joining my Thunderbolts? Why mess with the trash downstairs? - and it looks like he is the emperor and offers me, at least, a ducal crown. But I didn't listen anymore. How, how could I forget about it !? On the belt of the electromagnet hung a small box, from which wires ran, ending in something very, very similar to headphones. Damn it, it's a PLAYER! - so what do you say? - meanwhile, the grandson of the Master finished his campaign.

-Hey? Sorry, I turned a deaf ear ... - the instinct of self-preservation hinted that angering a magician who can cast 'Faerie Law' is a bad idea, but damn, the expression on this type's face was worth it.

- Tyyy ... - Lexus slightly twitched his eye, and the air around him sparkled slightly.

-I, I, in fact, listen to a person who calls his guildmates rubbish - it's beneath my dignity, so ... go to .., - I looked at the quiet hall, in which there were still a lot of girls, and even Macao, his petty dragged in and decided to be polite ... as far as possible, - ... fig, I live quite well here too, - in confirmation of my words, I slightly hugged Elsa, the most surprising thing, no sanctions followed, it seems that I managed to catch something- something similar to ... pleasure, or somewhere in that area - everything was drowned out by two outbursts of jealousy and annoyance, I think, from whom, there is no need to explain.

- I will! I'm the strongest in Fairy Tail! How dare you ... - now he really started to spark.

-Lexus !!! - Natsu tried to go up to the second floor and naturally got away from Makarych, but I got the impression that he did this not in order not to let the dragonslayer go upstairs (or rather, for this too), but so that the two of us would not decide his grandson ...

- Well, well, kid, first grow up a little, - this bad figure found himself a new victim. No, in principle, if you correct your brains, then he is still nothing, but this is his obsession with strength and contempt for 'weaklings' ...

"Hmm, and this is the 'strongest' Tail mage ... annoying," deciding to check Lexus's endurance, I just walked over and sat down at the counter, ordering Juice Mira (Elsa had to let go, to my disappointment, but alas). Meanwhile, once again pouring out his negativity on those around him, the fake for a dragon-leaker dumped into the shadows. More precisely, she took one of the S level contracts and sat down at a table upstairs, demonstratively studying the offer.

Either my empathy slowly began to reach a new level, or simply these events unsettled the Master, but now I clearly felt his shame and regret. The old man sadly buried himself in his mug. But if you think about it, he was not lucky with his family: the son is still a scumbag, the grandson is currently following in the footsteps of the daddy, and you won't talk to Polyushka, well, in a certain sense. In general, there is an ambush all around. I was just thinking about the colossal task - to arrange an accident for Lexus in order to pick up the player, or to look for workarounds to solve the problem. There was nothing of the kind in Magnolia's stores, and on the black market they just shrugged. Where did the asshole get him from? Without coming to any conclusions, I decided to ask Makarych about this.

-What, player? Well, it was my gift to Lexus, when he became a full member of the guild, - the magician sighed heavily, - in our country they don't make them, I had to order from the Empire.

Hmm, Empire is the largest state on the mainland, in terms of territory and population it surpasses Fiore by an order of magnitude, but the magic there went along a slightly different path of development - they have few militants (although, according to rumors, their militants can eat our chosen ones for breakfast, most likely this is propaganda, but even if they are about the same level, it inspires), but in everyday life - all competitors are left far behind. Makarych ordered a gift from the local craftsmen for his grandson. I had to negotiate with the Master to get one more device, perhaps with normal ears, and not this spiked something, and a device for recording songs would not hurt. Dreyar promised to find out how much and tell me, but this is not a quick matter, so earlier than in a month the results can not be expected. Having sincerely thanked the head of the fairies, I returned to the girls. Mira was just explaining to Lucy about the second floor and that the tasks there were deadly for her at the current time.

- Lovely ladies, can you tell me where you can go fishing here?

-The port is big, you can go fishing from the pier, or you can go into the eastern forest - there are several lakes, but why did you think about fishing? Elsa asks.

-Yes, something has spoiled my mood, - I frown slightly to create the right effect, - so I decided to take a little rest, catch fish. By the way, would you like to keep me company?

"I can't," Mira shook her head, "the end of the month is coming soon and I need to sort out the papers," there was regret in the girl's emotions, "so forgive me.

"I can't either," Lucy repented, "I have to pay for housing soon, but it's a little tough with finances and I need to go on a mission.

-I also have one small assignment, albeit not far from the city, so go alone, - the warrior joined her friends, although she smells my sciatic nerve - the reason is somewhat far-fetched, and the real motive is the agreement between the girls, that he I have no doubts. However, it was not possible to find out its conditions, but this is even more interesting.

-It's a pity, well, well, nothing can be done, - having said goodbye to the guilds, I left the Tail, eh, and I was hoping for a romantic fishing on one quiet peaceful island with demons in the company of charming girls, well, I really have to go alone, although that's even better.

Galuna Island, or Cursed Island, is a famous place. The problem was the absence of those who wanted to take me there, although there was an outlet to the sea in Magnolia, it was located extremely poorly for me - I would have to bypass several capes and rocks - the trip promised to drag on for a week, and the crowds of people who wanted to take me to the damned island too was not visible. I had to trudge to Hargeon, from where it was about half a day's journey to the island with a favorable wind, or a day at the oars and look there. Alas, this port was not very good either - one fisherman was interested in the offer, but when he found out that I just wanted to fish in the waters there, I twisted my finger at my temple and sent it to the forest in disappointment, but this no longer played a special role - I managed to collect DNA samples this 'fisherman'. And there was something to look at - the comrade had two forms - human and animal, although it would be more correct to say 'demonic', but in May, he was far from real demons. Although, who knows - I have never met them, except perhaps for the Lullaby, but she is still an artificial creation, albeit very thick. However, if you believe the stories and legends of my world, local demons are cute kittens and they walk to Asmodeus, Astaroth or Mephistopheles. So the second form. Slightly rearranged muscles, making reasonable times two or three times stronger than the norm, were useless for me - dragon blood gave much more. Chitin armor, in some places, however, scaly, also did not arouse interest - soft, fragile, ordinary human skin certainly surpasses, but with saturated magic, it can no longer stand up to any competition, the same Natsu could break the thorns on this chitin with his bare palm and would not be scratched ... Although, if you refine it a little, combine it with dragon scales and again, saturate with magic ... But experiments are needed here, and obviously not in the field. But the wings were really interesting, and already in their existing form. They were a rather complex instrument, capable of lifting very massive objects into the air with a small wingspan. I suspect that it was not without games with gravity, and in general, something reminds me of ... but oh well, the trip has already justified itself - the ability to change hypostases, coupled with the flight, is expensive, and most importantly, everything is just beginning.

Since there was no point in fiddling with the 'demonic' muscles, as well as with chitin, it didn't take much time - fortunately, I did something similar when working with Forms (meaning variations of the combat forms developed by Walter for different occasions and transitions between them * author's note). Also, a big plus was the absence of conflicts between the dragon and demonic genome, I will not say that they were created for each other, but they got along quite well, and since this 'demon' flew without the use of magic, there were no problems in this direction either. And now, after four hours of fitting and a dozen kilograms of meat, I got a third form - in fact, it differed from the first only in the presence of large leathery wings behind my back, naturally black, but what, am I a demon, or went out for a walk? Now it remains to conduct flight tests.

It was great to fly over the sea - the cooling water threw its warmth into the air, creating ascending air currents, and therefore, it was much easier to fly. Although the wings were more of a symbol than a real way of flying, even a little support made life much easier. But it was boring to fly just like that, wasn't it? So I decided to see what would happen if the wings were inflated with a lot of energy. At first everything went well - the speed and maneuverability increased markedly, I even performed a couple of 'kicks' and a 'loop' (heh, it's just that these are the only aerobatics that I knew how to perform), but then the unexpected happened - the wings could not stand transmitted power and ... in one of them the membrane burst ...

-Myayaya ... gurgle! - approximately this could be heard by a casual passer-by if he happened to pass in the middle of the sea. Hmmm, it seems that I somewhat overestimated the capabilities of the wings - they still have to develop and develop. Well, at least you can see where to swim - a small dot was really already visible on the horizon - Galuna Island was only a couple of tens of kilometers away, but there was nothing to do - there was no way to get up into the air from the water, except for the 'jet thrust' from magic fire, but I did not want to notify everyone of my arrival with illumination and a wild roar, and the start from the surface of the water caused me many questions.

About three hours later.

And here is the island, finally swam. When my foot stepped on solid ground, I felt like a complete idiot - after all, you could just throw yourself up with jet thrust on two sources - Darkness would hide the bright glow of the flame, and then spread the already healed wings and calmly fly to the goal, but everyone knows when smart thoughts come ...

The very stay on the island aroused strange feelings, the combat regime again found some kind of radiation, akin to the previously discovered, determined by the carrier, as 'magic'. Most likely - this is hello from the Moondrop ritual. After receiving the DNA of this 'demon', I began to feel it better , but I do not think that there will be problems with consciousness or memory - the principle of the symbiont's thought processes is slightly different from the processes of humanoids ... well, quite slightly.

Not becoming wasted time, I go to the Temple, fortunately, a hefty purple beam beating from the sky is a good target designator. It was not difficult to penetrate into the Temple itself - no protection or something like that was set up. But in the Temple itself ... I will not say that I was twisted in severe convulsions or I could not come, no, but every step was given with a certain effort - it was not comfortable, I really wanted to turn around and leave, or even better - to smash this place stone by stone. First of all, I sinned on the genetic material of the 'demons', as if they were not very well near the temple either, but no, even having completely blocked these improvements in the body, I did not get relief. There were two options left - either Zeref's demons did not like such temples either, or it was purely my nature to blame, both options were not very good, but I could not imagine anything else. For thoughts and attempts to understand the state of affairs, three hours of wanderings flew by - the complex was rather big. But now, in addition to irritation from the atmosphere of the sanctuary, I caught something related, very weak, but nevertheless, a subtle scent of a mixture of Darkness and Life, to which something else was mixed. Deliora. He was somewhere below, and he was alive. Weakened, but alive. For another forty minutes, I cautiously reached the place, until I finally came across an ice sarcophagus, the size of the same five-story building, inside of which lay another creation of Zeref. An attempt to get to him 'on the forehead', as expected, did not bring results - the blade from adamantium could not take the magic ice and only rang with displeasure at each blow. Expected. Well, let's move on to plan B ...

-So, now a couple of symbols here and a drop of blood from above, hmm ... it seems like everything, - I could be proud of myself - almost a day of the ritual inscribed behind a block of ice, away from casual looks and four hundred runes on my hands should be neatly ' drink 'Deliora, leaving only a lifeless shell in the real world. The ritual was called 'Spider's Lair' and was used to clean up the nest of weak monsters - any touch of a specially marked magician to the monster literally pulled all the juices out of it and transferred it to the caster, in a modified version (appendix two in the third volume) it allowed not only to draw out forces, but completely absorb targets. Of course, such a variation of the 'lair' was almost never used - many magicians and from one absorbed from the coils flew, and here it was possible to 'drain' the whole territory. The only drawback is that the ritual was rather complicated in design and did not work on people. Now all I had to do was wait, as my cells in the bodies of the guilds reported, Natsu, Gray and Lucy had already arrived on the island, judging by the delay, they got there not without incident, although I would be surprised if nothing happened in the company of Natsu and Gray, well at least not a week late. Well, you just have to wait for the necessary events, and at the same time, casually look after the guys - you never know. There is one more little thing left - to provide yourself with an alibi in front of the warrior, which will also soon arrive on the island. Having disguised the traces of the preparation of the ritual with the help of Simba, I pulled out a fishing rod from my spatial pocket and set off for the coast.

"Catch a fish, big, very big and just huge," I said, putting a small piece of meat with blood on a hook and sending it on a long flight into the waves — local small sharks are an interesting dish, they say, very tasty and nutritious. I think I can persuade Mira to cook this fish.

A couple more days passed in relative calm - the 'fakes' were rushing around the island, the cultists also carried out their ceremonies and rituals, until a solemn meeting of two old friends - Leon and Gray took place. During their intercourse, Natsu suffered again. But this time he was simply knocked out of the arena, unable to be chained into ice, so the dragonseer quickly returned back and prevented Leon from turning Gray into a chop. True, on the way to the village, he almost made a kebab out of the ice magician himself, hesitating to listen to his groans on the topic of a difficult life.

In the village, Lucy, having agreed with Virgo, arranged a whole obstacle course. I don't know if our conversation influenced her so much, or if they went too far in the canon, but instead of a simple well dug in front of the entrance to the village, a whole network of traps, mines and other delights awaited potential attackers that a natural born sapper-saboteur. Fortunately, the guys were warned in time and got to the village thanks to the dragonsleer's 'jet thrust'. At that moment I was slightly distracted - I started to peck! When I was able to return to observing the events in the village again, all the most interesting had already happened - Natsu and Gray quickly knocked out unexpected visitors for a couple. Damn, they actually flew in on a giant rat-helicopter, gods, my brain, for what ?? Okay, this is all lyrics, but Lucy really got into a very bad situation, it is worth moving closer to her.

And now I have already observed the most unpleasant picture - a controlled Taurus lane at its mistress, swinging an ax. Hmmm, that's another picture ... I pick up a small pebble from the ground and throw it at the puppet who is already celebrating the victory (damn it, how I don't like to harm pretty girls, but she's better than Lucy). A pebble is imprinted on the caster's forehead and knocks her out, the minotaur comes to his senses and immediately begins to burn out with shame, Lucy looks around, trying to understand what happened in general. Heh, that's all - one small stone - and the problem is solved. Oh, I almost forgot about the rat - the mutant - the creature tried to sneak up on the girl from behind. Hmm, well, now it has become twice as large, but the copies turned out to be twice as small, it happens. And now - on the coast, to meet the angry fury.

Hmm, judging by the annoyance and anxiety felt even from the forest, Elsa was seriously moved by the events in the guild. So. A fishing rod on your shoulder, on a creepy monster called 'Evil Elsa', attack!

Elsa 'Titania' Scarlett.

I can't believe these idiots didn't think of anything better than taking on a mission that they couldn't afford! Let them be alive, I'll beat them myself, first get them out of this ass. And then I will have them for a month, no, it is better to walk exclusively in formation for a year and think on command! And so I wanted to go fishing with Sephiroth. I wonder where he is now? - the girl's reflections were interrupted by a very familiar voice.

-Hi, beauty, have you decided to take a moment and join me? - a silver-haired magician with a fishing rod on his shoulder came out onto the beach, smiling at all thirty-two teeth. To say that the girl was confused means to say nothing.

-What are you doing here?

- Yeah, but I was hoping for something like 'hello, I missed you and decided to keep you company' ... no luck. What am I doing here? Yes, I'm fishing here - local dwarf sharks are a delicacy, by the way, - for persuasiveness, the guy shook his fishing rod. There seemed to be nothing to find fault with, and he did not take the task and was completely clean before the rules of the guild, but ... her intuition told the girl that something was unclean here.

-And you, of course, have no idea what's going on on the island? - the girl almost sang in a sweet voice. Those who knew Scarlett well would have preferred her to throw thunder and lightning - it was much better.

-Why? - the guy was surprised, - a couple of days ago, Natsu, Gray and Lucy moored here, like for some kind of assignment.

-And what did they say? - the girl tightened her grip on the sword hilt.

- Well, I didn't communicate with them - I was busy fishing, besides, - the guy grinned, - in the guild everyone is free to choose where to go. Yes, and they are already big boys and girls - they must be able to take care of themselves, and the problems are small ... for now, - Elsa wanted to be indignant at the guy's words, but the last phrase suggested some thoughts. Withdrawing her sword, the warrior sighed heavily.

-Tell me, and at the same time, take me to these ... figures.

-What is there to tell, sailed on a fishing trip, decided to take a walk around the island at the same time, found a hefty demon in a piece of ice and a crowd of idiots trying to melt it, and then our heroes sailed and began to fight with these idiots and prevent them from freeing the demon, - the guy is slightly laughed.

-So, you were not only fishing here, but also looking after them ... thanks. But why do you laugh at the mention of the demon? - during the conversation, the girl calmed down a lot, and the words that the restless magicians were carefully looked after all this time finally brought the girl into an almost complacent mood (that is, when meeting with the fugitives, she will not try to scare half to death, but will simply tie and drag on the right to Makarych).

-No why, after all they are from my guild, but as for the demon ... as you know, I am fond of magic and sit in the library a lot, - Elsa nodded, for a couple of months of Sephiroth's stay in the guild, he already managed to get the honorary title of Levi number 2, - and so, there is a ritual that helps to determine the state of the target, it was invented at one time by healers to diagnose various diseases. In general, the demon, if not dead, then at death, certainly does not pose a real threat, except for a completely exhausted and weakened magician - something in the guy's words alarmed the warrior, intuition whispered quietly that something was wrong, but everything looked logical and competent, there was nothing to complain about.

-Oh, hi Lucy, how are you? - the magician was the first to see the blonde and decided to observe the laws of decency. For some reason, this innocent phrase made a strange feeling flare up inside the girl. What is happening to her? After all, she just walks with this strange magician to tease Mira and snatch a couple more points in their competition. But then why does she go to Sephiroth's training with anticipation every morning, when there is an opportunity, and is upset if Elfman is also present there? And his touch is ... pleasant. The girl's thoughts, which began to take a strange turn, were interrupted by Lucy's answer.

-Sephiroth, hello, and what are you doing here ..., - then the magician of Spirits noticed another participant in the conversation, examining her with the expression of a seasoned entomologist who had already raised a needle over another butterfly, - oh, Elsa, and we are here ... a village ... we save.

-Aaaa, Elsa has come, we will all die! - the cat who showed up nearby raised a panic.

Scarlett's eyes flashed with demonic fire - why yell like that, and even in the ear?

About eight seconds later.

-Well, that's all, - the warrior pretty shook off her hands.

"Hmm," Sephiroth looked at her in a strange way, "I didn't know that you liked games with binding.

-What are you talking about? - the girl did not understand, looking at Lucy pouring paint, packed in the best traditions of BDSM, - this method is optimal for reliable fixation and carrying of the prisoner, - the warrior really shouldered a bellowing blonde who clearly wanted to speak out about this, but was deprived of such an opportunity due to gag in the mouth.

Sephiroth.

It did not take long to take the lovely ladies (and one cat, who was also tied up and now worked as an improvised Elsa kite) to the village. There, Elsa caught Gray and arranged for him a major debriefing, however, unlike the canon, without poking sharp glands in the direction of a pretty rumpled guy. Then, Fulbuster, who had come to his senses a little, began to pry from me, what, in fact, I was doing on the island, and how long ago had I become a punisher, and if not, then why am I not connected, like Lucy? I just handed him one of the dwarf sharks (the cat was trying to choke on saliva at that moment).

-I was on a fishing trip, who knew that a crowd of abnormal people would be impatient to dance with a tambourine around a half-dead demon, and another crowd of equally abnormal, but still dearly beloved by me, fellow guilds would feel an urge to interfere with the first crowd in this matter? - Of all my speech, Gray grasped the most important thing.

-How's half-dead? What do you mean?

-Hmm, for some reason I have the feeling that only three people read books in our guild - the Master, Levi and your humble servant. I explain ...

After repeating the story once again, I firmly finished - I will not retell it for the third time, so tell Natsu yourself. Hmm, by the way, where is he? - at the same moment there was a small earthquake, approximately in the same place where the temple stood - the question is removed.

It was already evening on the street and we hurried to the temple - although the demon was no longer a problem, Gray had an important conversation with Leon, and Natsu would not hurt to learn about the arrival of Elsa through his soul. For the sake of speed of movement, the girl even untied Lucy (kote, as one of the main culprits of all this commotion, continued to work as a kite), but I, somehow unnoticed by the others, separated from the general group, after which I pressed at full speed and ended up in temple much earlier than others. So, as far as I remember, Natsu will drive Ultear directly to the demon, which means that it will be possible to hang a mark on it and find it on the island later. So that's where I need it.

I managed to do it just in time - the Moon Drop Ritual had almost completed its work - thin streams crawled over the block of ice and small pieces slid. I summon several test tubes of reinforced glass and fill them with 'Ur in a liquid state', along the way, tossing small pieces of ice into another pair. Why bother and reinvent the wheel, when I know for sure that the theory of the unity of the whole and the separated part is true, and also that there is magic that can rip the soul out of one body and infuse it into another. As a last resort, I have a couple more options for the resurrection of Ur, but I will start with this, only a little later.

Meanwhile, a colorful couple burst into the hall - Ultear under the guise of a peasant-shaman (and what else to call a type in such a gorgeous mask, but to complete the image only a tambourine is not enough), by the way, Natsu was right - for the instinct of a dragonsler it seems that she really, except that she did not bathe in perfume, here our girls are much better in this regard - just a few drops for a subtle scent that teases and ... so, it seems, I went over with magic again. Well, the second actually was Comrade Dragneel. So, okay, while they are busy with each other, I will go to a big and such delicious uncle, now that the prison is almost destroyed, I can distinctly sense Deliora. His condition, of course, is awful, but if you give a day to recover ... Better yet, and have a snack with something, it will be almost as good as new, but at the moment, he will have enough of a click, flavored with magic. Oh, the head is already free! Without giving the demon time to howl, I simply touch his head to activate the ritual. This time, no loud phrases and bright flashes. It's just that the essence of the demon is rapidly flowing into me. Carried away by the massacre, the magicians do not even notice it. Unlike Lullaby, Deliora does not even try to resist - in my inner world he is carefully braided and dissolves the harnesses of Darkness - at the moment my most powerful element. And just now it has become even more powerful. Together with her, Life came to me and ... damn it, Zeref was definitely a complete scumbag - Light! This time the magic of Life was used as an adapter. I could not also open the magic of light in myself - Darkness would simply have hammered this school, alas, I would have to develop it with pens and from scratch, enduring the monstrous resistance of the body, but Light has some similarity with Fire, so it was possible to strengthen the fiery channel, I will not say that it is strong enough, but about a third of Natsu I went out. (Reference Natsu is in the Weights and Measures, gee. ^ _ ^)

Meanwhile, the battle somehow ended by itself and the participants stared at me (there was already a mark on Ultear, however, not surprisingly, I did not regret my cells for this room, and during the battle it was applied a couple of times to the walls and even the ceiling). More precisely, on my blade, which was now in the back of the frozen demon's head.

-What? He would start yelling and cursing loudly, but I love silence!

-You, you killed Deliora, how? - Oh, Leon is already here and it looks like I didn't kill the demon, but his beloved hamster.

- Well, formally yes, but actually he was already dead - this ice pulled all the energy out of him - one weak blow and that's it - the demon disintegrated, - after my words, the ice mage, possessing quite impressive firepower, just burst into tears. Ten years of life - down the drain, there is something to fall into longing, however, in his team there is a certain girl who looked at Leon with loving eyes, I think she can comfort him ... damn, what is it, after Deliora I constantly tends to the same topic. Speaking of the beautiful, while the people were digesting the news, Ultear safely made her legs, however, no one would be able to stop her anyway - Natsu, like Leon and Gray, was slightly out of shape, but I didn't need it, but still , she is good, devil, she quickly came to her senses and retired, just a fine fellow, and pretty ... uh, good to get involved ...

Then there was a holiday and real help to the village, which consists in breaking the dome of thickened mana - a side effect of the ritual, after which the holiday is again. Gray turned out to be quite popular with the locals ... ahem, girls. It seems that now I'm starting to understand why he pretended to be a felt boot in relation to Juvia throughout the anime - yes, damn it, after that I would also stay away from women - here you are dancing with a cute girl, and then she is forgotten and you suddenly realize that you will hug something horny-scaly-chitinous, with such a face that it takes horror ... brrr, poor fellow. Well, well, I feel somewhat redundant at this celebration of life, and besides, there is one more unfinished business. Stepping aside, I spread my wings and take off - it's time to talk to one ice beauty.

Ultir. Forest near the village.

The plan failed, who would have thought that Ur would be powerful enough that even turning into ice, he would retain, if not his mind, then the goal - to destroy the demon and cope with the task in such a ... non-standard state. The girl sighed, something told her that she was going along a very risky path, but ... there was still no other option to achieve her goal. She just reported to her 'boss' Jellal about the death of the demon. A naive boy, he will die without realizing that he is just a puppet ... the girl's thoughts were interrupted by a blade that appeared at her throat. A thin trickle of blood trickled down the blade.

-Good evening lovely Ultear. Today is wonderful weather, isn't it? - the blade slightly moved away from the neck, allowing normal breathing and speaking, but making sharper movements ... the girl recognized the owner of the voice and remembered the characteristics in the personal file collected by the Council, it was mentioned there about the possession of weapons, as well as about for what merits this person earned the name Demon.

- I cannot agree with you, Sephiroth, - the sorceress carefully accelerated the time around the blade - if she can destroy the sword, she will break the distance, after which she will not leave a wet place from the enemy, but this takes time - imperceptibly strong acceleration cannot be imposed.

- In vain, in vain, because today, it is quite possible that you will get a rare chance to become closer to the realization of your goal, although not by the method you think.

- Don't you think that offering something like that to a lonely girl in a dark forest, and even with a knife at her throat is somewhat ... strange? - raised an eyebrow the sorceress, mentally the mother of the gunsmith, who made the blade - ten thousand years, and in a damp sea climate, and it has not even tarnished!

- Well, how else can I offer you this? If you have enough intelligence and cunning, for eight years now to lead poor Jellal by the nose? - the girl shuddered, how could he know? - I somehow do not care about his attempts to resurrect someone who never died, let him play, but here you, Ultear, what did you think about when you started working for Hades? - now the daughter of Ur was completely scared - in addition to the fact that this man knew what he could not know, his sword ... a hundred thousand years have passed, even artifacts of the divine level would have crumbled into dust ... the sword was still producing the impression of just leaving the forge.

-What? - several questions were spinning in the girl's mind now, 'Who is he? What does he want? And what to do with all this? '

-Do you really think that he will honestly fulfill what he promised? With his attitude towards others, I assure you, beauty, as soon as he ceases to need you, he will get rid of you, - an insinuating voice whispered to the girl of the idea that she herself repeatedly scrolled in her head.

-And what do you suggest? Ultear frantically tried to put together the scattering facts. Magic ... her magic has no effect on living things. Not a single sword, even an artifact sword, would have lasted that long. Plus knowledge about Zeref, and when he talked about resurrection, it felt like he wanted to say something different. Stop. Lullaby, Sephiroth is the only person who absorbed the demonic essence and remained in his mind, and did not turn into another unappetizing looking monster. But this is unrealistic, if only ... yes, that would explain everything, only its creator can painlessly absorb the artifact - the one who knows all the subtleties and tricks, but is it sealed? Although, can you be sure of something when it comes to the most powerful dark magician in all known history?

-Oh, just work for me. Nothing special, do the same as before, just ... send messages not only to Jellal and Hades. But also to one sweet and charming type.

-How can I trust you? Ultear was somewhat shocked. What to do in such a situation and how to deal with the information that hit it? But if this is the one she thought of, then ... Aida is in for a big surprise, yes, such a joke would be in Zeref's style, - And why do you need all this?

-Everything is very simple, Ur is needed not only by you, but also by me, - the girl shuddered when Sephiroth called her innermost desire.

-What for? - this story began to smell worse and worse.

-If I say that I have a weakness for beautiful girls, you still won't believe it? - The interlocutor answered cheerfully, is he mocking? - There may be a lot of reasons - a way to kill boredom, learn something new, or maybe I just want to understand if I can turn my plan, or will have to go a different way?

-So simple? - the girl tried to keep an indifferent mask on her face, but ... the bastard knew where and how to hit, she was forced to admit - for this man, hmm, but a man? She is an open book.

- Life is already a very complicated and interesting thing, why complicate it even more? So you say, believe me, I'm much better than Aida ... and prettier, "the girl felt Sephiroth run his hand over her thigh, paint poured onto her cheeks.

- I agree, - the sorceress gasped.

-Well, that's great, - the magician said in a completely normal voice, putting the sword into the spatial pocket, then, take a small gift from me, - Ultear felt the touch of the guy's lips on the still aching cheekbone, where Dragneel's blow fell, and the pain immediately went away, and then a pleasant warmth began to spread through the body and the consciousness floated away somewhere into the darkness.

The girl woke up from a ray of sun that slyly hit her in the eye. She was lying on a sleeping bag in a small tent located in the middle of the thicket of the forest. The clothes, as well as personal belongings, were in place, and a pleasant lightness reigned in the body and ... there was no pain, completely, as if the beats of a dragon-glider had not flown into it. Taking out a mirror, the girl was convinced - not a single bruise or abrasion. Complete healing, available only to high rank Life mages, and if you consider the absence of words-activators and a rune circle ... at least S rank ... or whatever she thought of. Shaking her head, Ur's daughter went to the coast - you need to return to Eru and think about it. In her head, the thought did not even arise to warn Jellal or Hades, too much was at stake ...

Sephiroth.

Oh, I haven't been so exhausted for a long time - my head was buzzing mercilessly, my legs were giving way, and the general condition could be succinctly described in one word - shitty! But recruiting Ultear was worth not such torment, and the combination of empathy with the knowledge of what the girl really wanted and her character gave a very good chance to tip the scales on her side. But I had to strain to the fullest - the girl was a very powerful sorceress and it was very difficult to break through her natural block, and it was very difficult to maintain a gap - only by acting through fear and surprise, if the first time fear could still be used, then recruit further on one intimidation - no I'm not that crazy. As a result, I had to play on her desires, emotions and, in some moments, physiology (well, well, no, I would admit that I was impatient to touch a pretty girl, and here, as an excuse, a whole scientific base was summed up).

Of course, I was not going to completely trust her, and the amount of symbiont that I placed in her body would be enough to observe and, if necessary, eliminate the sorceress, although I would not want to. True, great magical efforts will "burn out" Simba, and over time ... but, firstly, some can be "hung" on top and on clothes, and secondly, you just need to refresh the stock from time to time.

But now the issue with the genetic basis for the homunculus has been resolved - I have obtained more than enough blood from Ultear. It's time to go home.

Once, in a cold winter season, I went out of the forest ... even though the time was not cold and not winter. But the forest was present, so everyone is gut. In the village, the holiday had already ended, our former opponents were happily drunk along with everyone, Gray made desperate attempts to escape from five tipsy ladies who were in semi-transformation (a sight even worse than their full demonic form), in general, when Elsa, with a command roar, ordered to go aboard the ship and sail off to Magnolia, the ice mage was almost the first to run into the ship.

Well that's all, on this adventure on Demon Island can be officially considered complete.