A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"What's down there?" Lucy asked curiously, taking two steps forward and looking down. She saw a mountain of wolf carcasses piled up below the snow cliff, their blood staining large patches of white snow.

“This is…” Lucy stared in shock at the mountain of corpses at her feet, “Did Winter do all of this by himself?”

The melting snow mingled with the blood of the wolves, adding vibrant colors to the pristine white earth, as if an artist had painted a rose on a blank canvas, dazzling and enchanting.

Before Lucy could react, Natsu jumped down, leaving Lucy with no choice but to let Happy carry her down with him.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Happy exclaimed. "I never expected that little girl to be so strong."

Looking at the mountain of wolf corpses piled up in front of her, Lucy gestured slightly with her hands and concluded that they were about three times her height, and each one was larger than her.

If Kira were to witness this scene, he would realize that these wolf carcasses were from the same group of snow wolves he was tracking, and that this was where they had fought with humans.

"That girl named Winter is stronger than many people in our guild than she can handle such a large pack of wolves all by herself. If she has that kind of strength, she doesn't need our help at all."

"This is the wolf pack that old man was talking about? Hasn't it all been taken care of?"

Hearing Lucy and Happy's conversation, Natsu was also a little annoyed: "This doesn't feel like an S-rank mission at all! If we can't do anything, isn't this a wasted trip?"

"But now that the wolf pack has been defeated, what can we do?"

"Aren't the enemies still those demons who created the wolves? Let's teach them a lesson for the tavern owner!"

"But we have absolutely no clue!"

Natsu sniffed the air: "No, it's not hopeless! I can smell it. Some of the wolves have left. It seems they weren't all defeated. Although the scent is faint, the smell they left behind hasn't dissipated yet."

"Oh, I see! As long as we catch up with the remaining wolf pack, we can follow them to find the demons who created the demon wolves!"

"Hehe, Happy's right! Let's chase after them!"

Happy excitedly replied, "Yes!"

Just as Lucy was about to give chase, an unexpected incident occurred!

Several hard, white guns rained down from the sky, carrying an indescribable killing intent, about to strike the unsuspecting Lucy.

"careful!"

Having grown up in the mountains and forests, Natsu, who was raised by Igneel to be as sharp as a wild beast, was the first to react. He turned around and pounced, grabbing Lucy in his arms and using the momentum of his forward run to slide off into the snow.

Her movements were practiced and smooth, far superior to Kira's clumsy skiing skills.

"Nani?" Lucy was pinned down before she could react, Natsu's heat hitting her face and making her face turn bright red.

"Not bad! It seems you are the mages who were commissioned to come here?"

A proud, loli-like voice interrupted Lucy's thoughts. Looking up, she saw a girl with pigtails standing atop the wolf corpse, hands on her hips, looking disdainful and scrutinizing her.

Clearly, the attack just now was her doing.

"Who are you? Why did you suddenly attack Lucy?" Natsu shouted angrily. Although they had only known each other for a short time, he already regarded Lucy as an important comrade and would never allow anyone to hurt her.

"Me? Hmph, listen up! Foolish humans! I am the mistress of this icy kingdom beneath your feet, Princess Crowley of the Clouds!"

"Oh, so you have a princess complex."

Natsu turned to Happy and complained that he'd learned the word from Kira, who had been his literacy tutor when he first joined the guild. He remembered Kira saying that the word described women who called themselves princesses.

“Natsu, I remember Kira said this disease is called chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).” Happy retorted, clenching his little fist.

"No, you're mistaken, it's princess syndrome!"

"No, it's chuunibyou! The one who's got it wrong is Natsu!"

Klaus was furious at what the two guys said. Because she had been living in the snowy mountains for many years, she was out of touch with the information she had received, so she didn't know what "princess syndrome" or "chuunibyou" meant, but her intuition told her that it wasn't something nice.

The most obvious thing is that the man and the cat completely disregarded him.

"You two are making such a racket!"

Just as Krowy stomped his foot and shouted in anger, Natsu's fire attack came right at his face.

Chapter 62 The Queen in the Snow

Natsu and Happy have been playmates since Happy was born, spending six years together. Their level of understanding goes without saying.

Most of the time, as soon as Natsu opens his mouth, Happy knows what he's going to say and do; even more so, sometimes they don't even need to say anything. The telepathic understanding and trust between companions allow them to unleash unexpected coordinated moves.

They have used this tactic of feigning arguments to lower the enemy's guard, confuse the enemy's thinking ability, and then launching a direct attack when the enemy is unprepared countless times, and each time they have achieved a precise strike.

Of course, he learned it from Kira. In his words, this wasn't cunning; it was tactical.

It's worth mentioning here that although Kira taught the guild members a lot of things, the most highly regarded one was to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, rush in, and unleash your ultimate attack!

So as soon as Natsu opened his mouth, Happy knew what he wanted to do, and cooperated by pretending to argue. When Krowi stomped his foot in anger, Happy grabbed Natsu and flew away at top speed.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The familiar attack moves were mixed with Natsu's endless rage. His anger fueled the power of the flames in his hands, and with Happy's help, he struck the girl in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Regardless of whether she is male or female, old or young, human or demon, anyone who attacks their companion will suffer the wrath of the fairy.

"Natsu! Happy!"

Lucy exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't expected them to start fighting so quickly. Although the girl had attacked first, the change happened so fast that she hadn't had time to react. From the moment Natsu tackled her to the moment he attacked the girl of unknown origin, less than half a minute had passed.

Although Lucy believed in Natsu's strength, she was still a little unaccustomed to such a reckless attack. Clearly, she still had a lot to learn and needed time to adapt to the guild's style.

boom!

Flames exploded on the wolf carcasses, but did not harm Klaue in the slightest.

Natsu's outburst was indeed unexpected. Krowi was caught off guard and had no time to dodge. But she was a demon, and not only was her physical structure different from that of ordinary people, but the magic she used was also very special.

In the world of Fairy Tail, almost all superpowers are considered magic, and most demons also use magic.

The only exception is the demons created by Zeref, who use magic, a power gained by exploiting negative emotions such as curses.

To Lucy's disbelief, the girl who called herself "Cloud Princess Krowy" turned into a cloud, and Natsu's fire fist passed right through her elemental body and struck the cloud without causing her any harm.

……

Just as Natsu and Lucy were facing off against Krowy, the other two teams also encountered their respective enemies.

On a snowy mountain, Erza and Gray watched the voluptuous woman before them warily, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

Although the woman was beautiful, the aura she exuded made Gray inexplicably uneasy, a feeling that reminded him of his past nightmare—Deliora.

Sensing something was wrong with Gray, Erza decisively stepped forward and blocked his path, demanding, "Who are you?"

"Hehehe, I am the queen of this snow mountain, Sinuoyi. You have already stepped into my territory. If you don't want to die, leave obediently, or you'll never leave!"

If Snow knew who she was talking to, she wouldn't have said those things, because intimidation has no effect on Fairy Tail members.

As expected, Erza's attitude did not waver because of Sinoi's words. If one had to describe it in one word, it would probably be "neither humble nor arrogant".

"As far as I know, Zonia belongs to the Kingdom of Fiore, not to any queen!"

This means, "I'm well-educated, I know this land belongs to the state, not you. I can come and go as I please, and it's none of your business! You want to kick us out? No way!"

"It seems you're not an easy child to talk to!" Snow Maiden Sinoi's smile vanished. "It seems the only way is to use force to drive you out! You can die peacefully in my arms."

As she spoke, she opened her arms to Erza and Gray, revealing an embrace that made her proud, men drooled over, and women envious.

Normally, Gray might have felt shy upon seeing the other person's large embrace, but now he was only wary.

"Be careful, Erza! This is no ordinary enemy!"

Erza's expression turned serious as she nodded and said, "I know, the nature of this magic is very unusual, it's almost inhuman!"

Doesn't it look human? Gray's heart sank even further.

"She's here!"

Erza's voice pulled Gray back to his senses. When he came to his senses, the woman in front of him had already transformed into a Yeti, merging herself into the snow-covered mountains and whipping up a ten-meter-high snow wave that rushed towards the two of them.

But Erza and Gray were both experienced in big battles and had rich combat experience. Faced with the overwhelming snow waves, they were only surprised for a moment before they reacted and started using their magic.

Amidst the snow waves, Erza and Gray's magical energy surged.

Erza immediately donned her armor: "Change outfit, Snow Empress Armor!"

The Snow Emperor Armor, also designed by H-K and forged by Kira, is similar to the Flame Emperor Armor in that it has strong resistance to magic of the corresponding attribute. All snow-type magic will have its power greatly reduced when facing the Snow Emperor Armor. Its matching weapon is the Snow Emperor Sword.

The entire suit of armor is predominantly white, with ice-blue patterns engraved on it adding a touch of elegance. When Erza wears it, she looks like a female general galloping across the battlefield, heroic and awe-inspiring.

Of course, like most of Erza's armor, this Snow Emperor Armor has many openwork sections. The specifics are not for outsiders to know, but in short, it's very Majima-esque.

Gray also put his hands together and instantly cast a spell: "ICEMAKE, shield!"

Ice Shield, Gray's classic defensive move. The shield is thick, hard, and large, and it is released very quickly. It also has a shape like a blooming flower.

The power of the snow pillar was completely neutralized by the shield's block, but its magic caused the remaining snow to fall to the ground, and within seconds, it controlled the snow in this area.

Gray looked around, wondering where the enemy would attack from. Suddenly, several snow pillars rose from the ground beneath Gray's feet, attacking from the left, right, front, and back!

Snow spikes are extremely fast, but Gray's ice-making speed is even faster!

With a wave of his hands, the snow spikes instantly froze into pillars, stopping about 20 centimeters away from Gray, unable to move forward even an inch.

"Watch out! The opponent can melt into the snow and manipulate the surrounding snow at the same time." Erza swung her sword to cut off the snow spikes that had also appeared at her feet and said to Gray.

“I know, in that case…” Gray punched again, “ICEMAKE, floor.”

In an instant, the snow within a radius of tens of meters was completely covered by ice.

"That means you can't use the snow from nearby!"

However, when Gray looked up, he saw dozens of snow wolves, each as tall as a person, strutting across the snow and surrounding him and Erza.

Chapter 63 The Power of Money

Amidst the snow, a ruin lay, with remnants of a village still faintly visible.

Kana looked around at the ruins of timber and said, "It's unbelievable that there used to be a village in this place."

Rocky's attention, however, was focused on the increasingly thick fog: "Speaking of the unbelievable, I think it's even more bizarre that there's fog in this kind of snowy landscape, isn't it?"

"This seems to be some kind of magic?"