A Flugel's Gacha

Eisenwald.

Originally a legal guild that had specialised in assassination missions, they ended up ignoring the law the magic council passed in the year X778 that prohibited mages from taking assassination requests. This refusal to adhere to the new laws resulted in them being categorised as a Dark Guild. Even though their Guild Master was arrested, the Guild refused to disband and continued to act as a Dark Guild under Erigor's leadership. They were even a subordinate guild to the Oracion Seis- one of the three Major Dark Guilds in the Balam Alliance.

I knew that their plan was to find the Demonic Flute- Lullaby- and use it to kill the Guild Masters at the upcoming meeting by using Lullaby's Death Song.

So, why were they out here keeping people away from Yonju Town for the last two weeks?

'They don't have Lullaby just yet and are looking for it.'

It was the only natural conclusion… If I was right, then either Lullaby was going to be found very soon… Or they already had Lullaby right this moment and were just safeguarding it until someone could come and collect it.

"Haa…" I ran a hand through my hair. "This whole thing just got a lot more complicated," I told Levy.

"What?" She frowned in confusion.

"My Eye Magic- God's Eye- allows me to see up to a kilometre away. I saw into the cave to get more details… The ones holding the Salamanders there are Eisenwald, a Dark Guild… From what I saw, they're keeping the Salamanders subdued with Sleep Magic in order to prevent them from heating up the cave."

"Eisenwald?" Her eyes widened. "This is bad, a Dark Guild… And a pretty high ranking one too…"

"Don't worry," I told her. "Their leader isn't among them, and they seem to be looking for something. They definitely aren't a match for the two of us."

She nodded slowly and looked down. "But that means I can't test myself," she mumbled.

I raised an eye. "Who said that? You can fight them off, and I'll step in if it looks like you're in trouble, just like we planned. Monsters or Dark Mages, it's all the same."

Levy looked at me in surprise, and even I was surprised at my own words after they registered in my mind.

'When did I start seeing human lives like that?'

Was my Flugel blood affecting me more than I thought…? I quickly opened up my Skill Menu before I stared in surprise as I saw something shocking.

Flugel Bloodline (Innate) (Evolving)

Evolving?

My bloodline was evolving? Was that where these thoughts that looked down on humans was coming from? I'd rather not have a superiority complex… I'd have to be more careful with my thoughts in the future, I didn't know what my bloodline evolving would do to me.

I would need to keep an eye on that.

"A bit brutal, but you're not wrong," Levy's words snapped me out of my thoughts. "Dark Mages can be much worse than monsters after all… Monsters only kill. Dark Mages can do so much worse than just killing…"

"Death is release, life is the curse," I nodded at her words.

"That's a pretty grim way of looking at things," Levy told me.

"Well, it's just how it goes," I gave her a smile. "Enough talk about that, let's focus up. You'll handle the mages, and I'll step in if it looks like you need help. If you can't kill them, then just knock them out, nobody would think lesser of you if you did so. Once we've got them secured, we'll call the Rune Knights."

She nodded. "Alright! I'll show you just what I can do," she smiled at me happily.

I nodded and the two of us made our way through the forest. I kept my senses alert and God's Eye Active, looking around us 360 degrees in a kilometre radius. I didn't want to miss it if they approached.

Honestly, now I could see why the Hyuga were so arrogant and prideful in Naruto. Being able to see around myself so perfectly meant I had no blind spots, and being able to see out so far meant that I was always aware of the dangers around me.

… Levy was still swaying her hips… And based on the smirk on her face, she knew damn well I was watching.

I hadn't realised just how seductive Levy could be, she'd never shown this side until finally separating from Jet and Droy… Especially last night and this morning…

"Levy, flirting later, mission now," I told her, face flushing red.

"I'm just walking," she said innocently.

"… You are so fucked."

"I'm counting on it."

I took a deep breath… This sexy bitch…

I shook my head. Mission now, Levy's ass later.

As we approached the cave, the temperature began to increase. Even asleep, Salamander's could increase the temperature. It wasn't a lot, only one or two degrees, but it was enough that both Levy and I noticed it immediately as we approached the cave.

We kept our distance while I used my God's Eye to observe the cave… "There are four people on sentry," I told her. "Two are standing outside the cave in front, the other two are standing on top of the cave facing the opposite direction to keep track from both sides. Can you sense how many people are in the cave? There's too many obstacles in the way for me to see in too deep." That was a weakness I'd need to rectify in the future.

"Yes," she nodded as she wrote the words I taught her again, an invisible pulse rippling out. "Yes… I can feel it. There's about 20 people, and 10 Salamanders…" She looked a bit nervous and took a deep breath.

"We have one of two options now," I told her, noticing her hesitation. "We could call the Rune Knights and let them sort this out, or we can go ahead. Focus on trying to restrain… But be ready to kill if needed."

"You're letting me pick?" She asked, looking at me.

"We're a team," I smiled at her. "It's only natural to let you pick, right?"

She gave me a small smile before she took a deep breath. "Okay, screw it. Let's give it a shot. Any suggestions?"

"Do you want to go the stealth route or the Fairy Tail route?"

"Is that even a real question?"

I just sighed with a smile. So, Levy had destructive tendencies too, huh? "Just avoid fire, we don't want to risk burning down the trees given that's what the mayor was worried about in the first place."

She gave a thumbs up before she slowly and carefully wrote three words in the air, intoning them one by one as she wrote them out.

"Target Lightning Blast."

Blue energy surged to lift in front of her, causing all four people to turn in our direction, before blasts of lightning unleashed from the words, slamming into all of them and sending them crashing to the ground, spasming as the energy coursed through their bodies, the four screaming in pain.

"What the hell was that!?" A voice came from inside the cave.

"Well, if that wasn't a Fairy Tail way to start things," I chuckled in amusement. "Give 'em hell, Levy. And try to keep one conscious for interrogation?"

Levy grinned and leapt out of her hiding place in excitement as she began to really show her prowess before my eyes. She began to fire off elements one after the other, taking the time to write 'Bind' in the air once an enemy was down to keep them out of the fight. I even saw her write 'Sleep' and pushed it to the Salamanders to keep them unconscious.

I frowned in confusion as I watched her… This wasn't the kind of prowess I'd expected from Levy, truthfully. What was different between this and the show…

The answer struck me, and it was so obvious.

I was the difference. Those times when Levy would sneak away from Shadow Gear and the two of us would spend time reading books and talking about magic with one another and other things, they had contributed to Levy's training and her own growth.

More training meant that she also had more magic to work with due to pushing herself and expanding her Ethernano container.

As Levy was now, she was pushing high C Class to low B Class in terms of being a Mage whereas before and during the original canon, she was low to mid C Class.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and watched as Levy subdued them all easily. As expected from Eisenwald, of course they had a bunch of cannon fodder around and doing the menial tasks while the stronger ones did other things.

Which meant there was a high chance that Lullaby wasn't here, they would have sent someone like Kageyama if they thought that Lullaby was going to be in this place.

Or one of these guys was a higher up and was just really weak or had been subdued my Levy early.

Finally, Levy stopped. She took a deep breath, having managed to defeat every Dark Mage in the cave- around twenty- by rapid firing words and using her surroundings to her advantage, by using words like 'spike' and throwing it into a wall to cause a spike to shoot out.

She turned to me, sweating slightly but she had a smile on her face. "I did it," she told me, sounding proud of herself.

"You did it," I agreed with a smile. "You did really well, Levy. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you…" She said softly.

"Now then…" I turned my gaze on the only mage who was in a state of being able to talk properly, looking at the both of us with pure fear in his eyes.

"W- What do you want?" He stuttered, trying to sound tough and failing miserably.

"You know exactly what we want," I told him, putting a hand on Levy's arm and stepping forward. "So, why don't we cut the bullshit, and you tell us why you're here? That way, I don't have to hurt you more than is needed."

"Th- there's no way I'll tell!" He exclaimed. "Eisenwald never turns on their own!"

"So, you're from Eisenwald," I said with a nod, causing him to pale as though he'd just given something away. "Eisenwald, you used to specialise in assassinations, right? Went dark when the Magic Council outlawed those six years ago. So then, why would Eisenwald be here…?"

I hummed as I rubbed my chin slowly, watching him slowly pale at my words and squirm. "An assassination? No, that can't be it, the Salamander sightings have been happening for too long for it to be an assassination. You would have just gone in, killed someone, and left before anyone could follow your tracks. No, not an assassination…"

My God's Eye watched him as I saw his shoulders relax a bit. "Unless… You're trying to prepare for an assassination…"

The man tensed again, and I smirked at him slowly. Of course, I already knew all this information… But I had to put on a show for Levy, otherwise she'd start wondering how I knew everything from the start.

"So, you are preparing for an assassination," I hummed and rubbed my chin. "Let's see, Eisenwald's Class as a guild wasn't low… I'm sure everyone's only gotten stronger too, especially their leader- the Shinigami, Erigor… So, who are you targeting and just what are you looking for?"

"I- I'll never talk!" The guy retorted, looking more and more afraid with each word spoken.

"Is that so?" I only smiled at him. "Well now, let me think… It must be someone strong for Eisenwald to make such long preparations… Or perhaps it's a large number of people, it's hardly an assassination if people are there to see it after all…" I rubbed my chin. "For such a large number of people, even Erigor would have trouble… So, it must be someone exceptionally strong, like an S Class Mage… A Wizard Saint… Or perhaps even someone like a Guild Master is a possibility…"

The man paled heavily when I said the latter.

"So, it's a Guild Master, isn't it…" I tapped my chin. "Come to think of it, isn't that Guild Master conference coming up soon?" I asked Levy.

"Yeah, it is," she nodded before her eyes widened. "You don't think-?"

"Why else would they be out here for a month looking for something?" I asked rhetorically. "So, we have our targets in the Guild Master's during the conference in a few days… That just leaves the question of what Item they need… We can rule out normal items, the Guild Masters- and especially Master Makarov as a wizard saint- would handle such things easily… So… It must be a very dark item, maybe even something from the Book of Zeref?"

The man shuddered and scrambled back. "H- how are you doing this?" He whispered. "Are- are you reading my mind?"

"So, it is from the Book of Zeref," I tapped my chin. "Hm, there are many things in the Book of Zeref, but only one stands out…"

I levelled my gaze at the Dark Mage.

"Lullaby. The Flute that leads to eternal sleep."

"You… You figured that all out just because I said what my guild was…?" He looked horrified at the prospect. "Just what kind of monster are you?"

"Amazing," Levy whispered as she stared at me in pure awe.

"I'm no monster," I told him. "But to you, I may as well be The Devil."