Fairy Tail Space Mage

Since reaching adulthood, specifically starting this year, Natsu's magical power has been increasing rapidly! It's likely that with his body fully matured, he no longer needs to worry about being overwhelmed by immense power. He's currently increasing his magical power at a rate beyond human comprehension!

"That...that's because of something else...I mean something else. Please don't worry about it."

Mira blushed at the mention of Lucy's nickname. She tried to brush it off vaguely, but this only made Sora and Kaoru more curious. However, neither of them was foolish enough to ask her directly.

While Mira was trying to bluff about a certain girl's nickname, the girl with that nickname happened to be surrounded by the enemy along with her teammates.

However, they looked very strange.

Natsu and Happy, on the other hand, looked serious and were ready to go!

Their enemies, Duke Aibal and the Panish brothers, were the same!

Lucy was the only one there, huddled in a corner of Duke Albar's spacious study, reading a book with an air of indifference.

Okay, in the past, Sora often opened books regardless of the occasion. But he can guarantee that he has never done so when a battle is about to break out (actually, he did, once when he was doing a raiding quest with others, in "The Circle of the Sky")!

The book Lucy is reading is the very one that had to be destroyed in this mission, *Sunrise*. It's worth mentioning that Natsu, with his beast-like intuition, found it instantly from the pile of books. And, moreover, it's an unpublished masterpiece by the famous mage author, Cam Saleo!

Therefore, Lucy, who aspires to be a novelist and is also a fan of Cam Saleo, immediately recognized this as a cultural heritage and demanded its protection!

Of course, Natsu promptly rejected the proposal.

After all, this is a commission.

And they, on the other hand, were at work.

If they determined that the request shouldn't have been taken on, they shouldn't have accepted it in the first place. But since they did, they had to take it seriously. At least, Natsu, still upset by Happy, wasn't willing to give up on the request.

As a compromise, Lucy changed her strategy, asking that the book be destroyed only after she had finished reading it.

She used "Wind's Glasses" to read, which didn't actually take much time. But in this context, it was really too willful.

"Panish brothers, take back the book, and then kill them!" At least, the short, stout, and ugly Duke Abar was furious.

“Unfortunately, retrieving the book is no problem, but killing them is not something we can do,” the brother with the long braid replied.

“Yes, Mom will be angry if that happens,” the spiky-haired brother replied.

"What are you talking about? Aren't you mercenaries from the 'Southern Wolf' Mercenary Guild? Would anyone from that guild be afraid to kill?" Duke Aibar asked incredulously.

“We’ll soon no longer be the mercenaries of the ‘Southern Wolves’,” said the brother.

"Mom wants us to join the 'Red Leaf' guild," said the younger brother.

"Are you kidding me? You were trained by 'Southern Wolves,' and if you want to leave 'Southern Wolves,' they won't let you off the hook!" Duke Aibar had been dealing with 'Southern Wolves' for a long time and knew the guild's ruthless and decisive style.

“No problem. Because the entire ‘Southern Wolf’ will join ‘Red Leaf’.” Brother.

"This place was originally created to settle martial artists who fled the war in their hometown. Now that our hometown is at peace, it's time for us to go home..." Mother said.

“So, we won’t kill anyone. This is the last time we’ll accept your capricious request,” the brother added.

"Tch! Whatever. Just get that book back for me!" Duke Abar was very dissatisfied, but now was not the time to care about such things.

Duke Aibar harbored deep resentment towards that so-called "Red Leaf"!

It turns out to be a guild that refuses to issue illegal commissions! Even some legitimate mage guilds recognized by the "Council" will issue some shady commissions.

The task that Fairy Tail members are currently accepting, such as destroying other people's collections of books, is one of them.

That guild actually set such rules! It will close down sooner or later due to a lack of business! Duke Aibar was so certain, and at the same time believed that "Southern Wolf" would one day return to being the "Southern Wolf" it once was.

When it comes to hiring people to do shady things, Duke Aibal would rather hire mercenaries than dark mages. Because they are all ruthless and heartless.

He had hired "Southern Wolves" to do many evil deeds. While keeping an employer's secrets is a given, mercenaries are not so rule-abiding.

After this matter is resolved, he must immediately find a way to contact the other old clients of "Southern Wolf" and put pressure on "Red Leaf" together!

"Since they're an outside guild, if they want to find work in the Kingdom of Fiore, they have to follow the rules here!" Duke Aibar wanted them to understand this principle.

“There seems to be some secret in this book… Kem Saleo has cast a spell on it to conceal the true contents!” Lucy’s sudden exclamation interrupted Abal’s reverie.

"What! Could it be that the book contains the dark secrets of our careers!? Oh no!! If the council's testing mage gets hold of that book..." Aibal was shocked.

He was just worried that "Southern Wolf" would reveal his secret to "Red Leaf," and now that he heard the word "secret," it was only natural that he would make that connection.

Moreover, in order to force Kem Saleo to write this adventure story with him as the protagonist, he locked that man in solitary confinement for three whole years! It was entirely possible that the man would harbor resentment towards him and want to kill him!

We must get that book back no matter what!!

Chapter 101: Is Natsu a Celestial Spirit?

"Natsu, Happy, I'm leaving this to you. I need to spend time deciphering this book and figuring out its secrets!" Seemingly sensing Duke Abal's thoughts, Lucy put away the book, said goodbye to Natsu and Happy, and immediately opened the door and slipped out.

She wasn't worried that Natsu wouldn't be able to handle the three people opposite him. Because Natsu was extremely powerful, not someone that mere mercenaries could defeat.

"Change strategy! You two defeat these two. I'll go after that ugly woman!" Duke Aibar's aesthetic sense was extraordinary. What the world considered beautiful, even in the Balkans, he considered ugly. Conversely, what would frighten even the Balkans would find ugly, he considered beautiful.

"Happy, go after Lucy. I can handle both of them on my own." Natsu completely disregarded the Panish brothers.

"Love!" Happy thought it was only natural, and flew out the window to find Lucy.

……

"Hey! Didn't you hear me clearly? We are the mercenaries of 'Southern Wolves,' the Panish brothers who specialize in dealing with mages! How dare you face both of us alone!"

"Brother! We've been looked down upon. Mom is very unhappy too!" said the younger brother.

"Besides that, you're also a fire mage, right? Do you know how many fire mages have fallen to us so far?" Brother.

"Mom said this is our chance to prove our strength before joining 'Red Maple'. Let's defeat 'Fairy Tail'!" said the younger brother.

"Stop being so long-winded! Hurry up and get on with it! I'm about to fight that guy, let me warm up first!" Natsu was really impatient, so he swung his fist and charged forward.

ten minutes later……

Despite their boastful claims, the Panish brothers possessed a secret weapon against fire mages: a frying pan capable of absorbing and reflecting any fire magic.

But... martial arts and close combat posed no threat to Natsu, who was an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and the reflected fire magic couldn't harm him either. Finally, after Natsu got tired of playing around, he unleashed a "Fire Dragon Wing Strike," whipping the two brothers into the sky with two lashes.

And so, the battle ended so casually... sending mercenaries to fight the top combat force of the strongest mage guild. It was a joke from the start.

The scene shifts to Natsu easily defeating the Panish brothers. Meanwhile, Lucy faces a crisis. Duke Abal possesses earth-burrowing magic and effortlessly captures Lucy, who is hiding in the sewers reading "Sunrise."

However, Happy appeared just in time. With a "Happy Headbutt," he sent Aibal flying!

Don't worry about Happy's head. Kong taught it a little enchanting magic. It's been well protected by magic. Of course, Happy sometimes forgets to do this and knocks itself unconscious...

After escaping, Lucy finally stopped hesitating and began to fight. She hadn't had a chance to fight last time when dealing with the Balkans. And capturing the "Feathered Fish" wasn't a combat request after all.

Therefore, this is her first real battle against a mage!

"Open, Gate of Cancer, Keisha!"

The key to the Zodiac is naturally the key to unlocking the doors of the strongest within the Zodiac. But this time, it wasn't a powerful being like Aquarius who appeared. Instead, it was a man with slightly dark skin, wearing stylish sunglasses, trendy clothes, and a strange crab-like hairstyle!

The six red legs on his back, resembling both crab and shrimp, were both eerie and somewhat comical. At least, Happy, who had high hopes for the "Cancer" sign, was quite disappointed.

"Lucy, this is actually the sign of Pisces, not Cancer, right?" Happy refused to accept reality.

"This is Cancer. And there's no such thing as Shrimp!" Lucy knew that Cancer would be criticized after it appeared, but she didn't expect that the first one to criticize would be a cat.

Honestly, if the Cancer key were really that powerful, Lucy wouldn't have been able to obtain it so easily. After all, it's still the key to the zodiac.

Lucy believes that the so-called twelve zodiac signs are actually "twelve flawed signs," each with a decisive flaw. But this is currently just her speculation.

Furthermore, Lucy believed that what made a Celestial Spirit Mage truly outstanding was their ability to help the Celestial Spirits overcome these weaknesses. Therefore, she wasn't particularly concerned about it.

"It's the Zodiac Twelve!" Duke Aibal dared not underestimate the Celestial Spirit summoned by Lucy. Because he himself was a Celestial Spirit Mage, he was well aware of the power of a Celestial Spirit Mage who could be recognized by the Zodiac Twelve.

"Then, I will open the Virgo Gate as well, Baruka!"

"Huh!!" Lucy and Happy were both dumbfounded.

They wanted to be surprised by so many things. For example, Aibal was also a Celestial Spirit Mage who used the Golden Key. And then there was this Virgo Celestial Spirit before them, named Balgo. Why was she so breathtakingly beautiful!

What on earth is this monster dressed in a maid outfit, a mix of bear, cow, and gorilla?!

However, soon after, something even more surprising happened to Lucy. This event not only left Lucy and Happy speechless, but also greatly shook Duke Abel!

Because Natsu came out of the "door" with Balgo.

That side of the door should clearly be the Celestial Spirit Realm! Why did Natsu come out from that side?! Can humans even reach the Celestial Spirit Realm?!

The three people, no, the two people and the cat, were in complete confusion.

"Oh, I know! Natsu is actually a Celestial Spirit!" Happy slapped his forehead and came to this conclusion.

"Kitty, are you alright? Did you really hurt your head trying to save me?" Lucy looked at her pitifully.

"A bunch of despicable bastards! Balgo, get rid of them all right now!" Aibal was clearly annoyed, or rather, he was starting to panic as things spiraled out of control.

"Lucy, what should I do?" asked the Celestial Spirit named Natsu.

"Get her aside!"

Lucy really didn't want to see this zodiac sign with such serious "flaws" anymore. Yes, this zodiac sign did look very powerful and imposing. But as a Virgo, Lucy felt that the power gained by sacrificing her appearance was too great a sacrifice.

"Oh!" Upon hearing Lucy's words, Natsu casually tossed the "unknown monster" next to him into the thick wall of the sewer.

That's exactly what they mean by "one-hit kill"!

"How is this possible!" Aibal exclaimed in disbelief. How could this unassuming little mage be so powerful?! And since he was here, it meant that the Panish brothers...

"Kaisa, it's time to get to work!" Lucy was also surprised by Virgo's fighting power, which was quite different from what she had estimated.

But now is not the time to be so leisurely. If we don't seize the opportunity to make a move, who knows when the so-called first battle between mages will be realized.

She drew her whip from her waist and lashed it hard across Abal's body, turning him into a spinning top.

At the same time, as if they had coordinated many times before, Keisha's figure vanished instantly.

After leaving a few afterimages beside Aibal, despite Aibal spinning at such a high speed, his few remaining hairs, eyebrows, and well-maintained beard were meticulously and completely shaved off!

Aibal became a man with a completely bald head. And in the final spin, he was also firmly embedded in the wall!

Lucy's first battle against the mage ended in a perfect victory!

Chapter 102 An Empty Invitation

Lucy eventually handed "Sunrise" over to the commissioner.

Surprisingly, the person who commissioned the book was the author of the book—the son of Kem Saleo, a writer and mage.

As the son of a deceased famous writer, he had heard his father say before his death: "I was forced by the Duke of Aybars to write a truly terrible book!"

After saying all this, his father lamented that "he was already dead as a writer," and then committed suicide in resentment.