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CHAPTER 20
RESCUE MISSION

The next morning I had only just entered the guild hall, when I nearly got overrun by Jet, who came running in at supersonic speed and halted in front of the guild master. He was completely out of breath.

"M–Master! The enemy captured Levy and Droy!" He said with a tone of desperation in his voice. Their guild was heavily fortified and we got overwhelmed by their numbers. I only barely managed to escape, but I need help to rescue them! Please!" Jet had turned to the others who were in the guild hall; everyone was listening.

"Your team was tasked with taking out the Crimson Snakes, correct? How did they grow this powerful?" The guild master said while in thought.

"They received a bunch of reinforcements shortly before we arrived! Several powerful wizards have joined their ranks. We were no match for them." Jet replied desperately.

"Very well. Who's in for a rescue mission!?" The guild master shouted at the rest of the guild.

Most people, however, had only just recently returned from their task of eliminating a number of smaller Dark Guilds, and were still wounded or tired from everything. Gajeel slammed his hand onto the table he was sitting at and was the first to volunteer to be part of the rescue mission. Elfman followed right after him. I held up my hand as sign I was willing to join, as well. After a day like yesterday, I was well rested and in good condition; I would definitely lend my aid. After me, Freed and Bixlow also decided to join ("Rescue! Rescue!" Bixlow's totems shouted.)

"The five of you! Please hurry, rescue our guild members andbring them back safely!" The guild master told us.

We all held up our fists and shouted. We were all ready to go. I quickly grabbed some crackers, and then followed after the others. It looked like no one was going to bother with any type of transport. We'd just run there instead. At times like this, I was glad I'd been doing training.

"Do you know where we need to be?" I asked Gajeel, who was leading the group.

"Crimson Snakes is a couple of hours from here if we keep up the pace. To think they took two of our members; they used to be too small to be even worth taking out." Gajeel stated.

"Most likely the news of Dark Guilds getting eliminated has reached the others Dark Guilds. Levy's group must have been the last to finish, hence its target getting the most time to bolster their defences." Freed added.

"At least they ain't running from us. That would take all the fun out of it." Bixlow said with a crazy grin and his tongue sticking out of his mouth. ("Fun! Fun!" The totems echoed.)

"They're manly for daring to stand up against Fairy Tail! Manly fools, but manly nonetheless." Elfman almost sounded like he admired their act of retaliating against our guild.

"Do we have a plan for when we get there?" I asked.

"Plan? We'll just tear the place down and get those two out of there." Gajeel clearly didn't want to bother with some kind of plan this time around.

"Don't worry, I will set up some enchantments around the place when we get there, in case they try anything funny." Freed said calmly.

We had been running for at least two hours straight now. I was feeling tired, but I wouldn't allow my legs to slow me down now. A spark of anger was burning inside of me, giving me the energy to keep going. I was sure the others felt the same. To capture two of our guild members…That was unforgivable. Poor Levy, I wondered if she was doing okay. The same for Droy... They better not be hurt when we find them.

After a long time of running, we finally reached the location. We stopped a distance away from it and took the opportunity to give our tired legs a bit of rest. I felt like lying down for a while. Then a scream could be heard from inside the Dark Guild's building, loud enough to reach our ears. Was that Levy's? She sounded as if she was in agony.

All of us got up, revitalised by our thirst for revenge. Forget feeling tired, there were two of our guild members that were in pain and needed to be rescued! We all made a charge at the building where the screaming was coming from. We didn't bother with looking for the entrance; it probably was at the other side of the building. Gajeel, who was leading the charge, turned his arm into a giant metal blade, and smashed his way through the wall, creating an opening for us to enter through. I Prequipped myself with Lightning Battler gear as I jumped through the hole in the wall. Elfman transformed himself into a giant beast.

"The fairies are here! Take them out!" Some enemy wizards shouted when they saw us storming their guild hall. It looked like they'd expected an attack from us. There actually were fewer of them than I'd expected. That probably meant those that were here should be pretty strong, if they had been able to capture our guild members.

Close to one of the walls in the guild hall, Levy and Droy were both tied to one of the pillars supporting the roof. They looked weakened, and wounds all over their bodies were visible. They must have been subject to torture from these guys. They were going to pay for this! Everyone, including the normally coolheaded Freed, went into a frenzy at the sight of Levy and Droy all beaten up.

While I had taught myself to always calmly control the flow of magic in my body, even during moments of pressure, I found myself clawing at it wildly, like a wild beast now. I kept on grabbing chunks of magic and releasing them before properly channelling them to their location. My whole body was radiating sparks of lightning. I unleashed a barrage of Lightning Shocks at the enemy wizards in front of me. I was consuming my magic at a rate faster than I'd ever done before, but it wasn't enough yet. I tapped into my reserves – no mercy would be given. The enemy had been driven back in a matter of seconds since our assault, forced into a position of defending themselves before the rage of five mad Fairy Tail wizards.

"Don't ever… mess with… Fairy Tail again!" We all shouted.

They were in a corner with nowhere else to go, surrounded by the five of us. Their attempts to fight back were futile; their spells were hastily cast and poorly aimed. Unleashing our maximum rage, we caused a huge explosion in the location where they were standing, destroying over half of their guild hall in the process, and sent them flying to someplace over the horizon.

As the dust of the explosion slowly cleared, I felt power ebbing from my body. The backlash of consuming such huge amounts of magic in such a short period of time became quickly apparent as my body started aching, and I collapsed onto the floor. The others weren't having an easy time either. Combined with the fact we hadn't rested at all after the long run to this place, we all suffered for it badly now.

"Uhm… it would be very much appreciated if you could untie us now…" Levy said, showing a weak smile. We were lying on the floor, completely out of energy from our rampage. Elfman and Gajeel, after a short pause, finally got up and untied Levy and Droy. Their bodies were so hurt, they couldn't even stand up properly. We all spent the night lying on the floor of the ruined guild hall, resting and slowly regenerating our magic and energy again.

"I–I am so glad you guys came for us." Levy said, sounding like she was on the verge of crying.

"Thank you all so much… for freeing us." Droy said, really meaning it.

"Of course! That's what men do! Hahah– Ow! That hurts." Elfman tried to laugh, but his body was hurting too much.

"We couldn't let two of our guild members behind like that. Who do you think we are?" Freed said with a smile. This was the first time I had seen him fight in name of Fairy Tail. He's actually a pretty cool guy, I thought.

"Leave no one behind! That's how Fairy Tail works!" Bixlow followed up. ("Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail!" The totems shouted after him.)

I wanted to say something too, but I couldn't think of anything. I loved how close everyone was. I felt happy to be a part of this guild. With those thoughts in my head, I fell asleep.

The next morning we were in much better state already, with a portion of our magic recovered again, but it would probably be best to take it easy on the way back. With Levy and Droy still heavily wounded, we slowly began our journey back to the guild hall again. I shared some of the crackers I had brought with the two Shadow Gear members. It was my time to repay them for that time they'd shared their lunch with me.

We arrived back at the guild hall late that evening. The guild master and Jet, with tears in his eyes, thanked us all for bringing back Levy and Droy alive. Mirajane immediately tended to their wounds, wrapping them in bandages until they both almost looked like real mummies. She stated it might take them a few days to full recover, but at least they were fine for now.