Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. Please enjoy this one.

Chapter 65

Oracion Seis' Hoteye

Lyon

It was impressive that this dark mage was able to keep up with the likes of Jura. Both earth mages were seemingly evenly matched. The dark mage in question was Oracion Seis' Hoteye, a blocky man who seemed obsessed with money.

"Hm, I wonder what I could buy with that kind of money?" Hoteye questioned as he nullified one of Jura's attacks.

He's been talking about how much money he could make from the fight. It was really getting annoying. If it weren't got the fact that his magic can make the ground 'soft', Jura would have been finished with him already. The ground beneath us was in a constant state of shifting between liquid and solid because of this. One minute I'm swimming in the ground, the next I'm frozen in it!

Sherry had it a bit easier. When it was hard, she was able to use her doll magic to get her out. Hoteye would instantly step in and turn it to mush though. This man was doing a great job of handling three accomplished mages such as ourselves.

I swam closer to Sherry, who was struggling to stay above the liquid ground. I darted my eyes over to Jura who was able to stand on solid ground. He was trying to extend it over to us, but Hoteye was making it difficult for him. Jura couldn't attack offensively either. Hoteye already proved that he could override Jura's rock spears and turn them to liquid.

The ground around me turned solid again and Jura was able to move in closer to Sherry and I. Almost as quickly as it turned solid, it then turned liquid and pulled us further away!

"Oh, come on!" I shouted.

"Maybe we can make a deal, yes?" Hoteye asked, "How many jewels are your partners worth?"

I once more tried to use my Ice Make but getting my hands together to perform a spell was easier said than done. This wasn't like water. The flowing earth made it extremely difficult to move my body the way I want it to. I could try and cast one handed, but I've been trying to get away from that. Plus, I had no doubt that whatever I cast would be destroyed in an instant. Casting one-handed resulted in significantly weaker spells.

"Gah!" Sherry cried out as her head fell below the liquified earth!

"Sher!" I was cut off by the earth rushing by my mouth.

"This game has to end Hoteye!" Jura yelled, "Don't make me have to go all out!"

I was somewhat annoyed to hear that he wasn't already going all out, but I knew what he really meant. Wizard Saints are the best of the best. Their magical power is insane. I've never actually felt Ur's full power before, but I got a glimpse of it against Deliora, and it was terrifying. Jura may have been ranked lower than Ur, but his power was no less terrifying. No doubt, if he went all out, he could turn the tides instantly, but the risk of collateral damage, namely me and Sherry, were too high for him.

"How much are you willing wager? Yes!"

The ground consuming Sherry hardened, and for a moment I began to freak out. I realized though what he was doing. The earth molded into a golem and helped to push Sherry free. It quickly turned to liquid earth though, but Sherry was free, and a little bit closer to me.

The liquid earth around me began to pull me further away. I fought with all my might to swim closer to Sherry, with her doing the same. With one hand trying to wade towards her, I reached out my hand to hers.

I didn't touch her fingers, no, I felt her knuckle on my palm and her magic through my arm. I only had one hand, but with her help, I might be able to get us out of this. We locked eyes and knew instinctively what we had to do.

"Ice Make: Ice Doll!" Our magics merged together and formed a golem of Ice around us! The ice doll took the form of a giant rat. Its tail spun like a propellor and lifted us into the sky. Despite his magic, Hoteye could do nothing against our spell! Now was the time for our counterattack.

"Angelica!" Sherry cried out in excitement.

Before we could though, a purple explosion rang off in the distance. Purple magic rushed towards us and enveloped us all. Besides being a little hard on the eyes, it did nothing to affect us. Sherry and I were still safely in the sky, though we were falling slowly due to the size and weight of the ice doll.

"Wh-what's going on?" Sherry asked.

"I have no idea." I replied.

I looked down at Jura to make sure he was okay. He seemed fine, minus the confusion as to what was happening. When I looked to Hoteye though, I noticed something odd. He had fallen to his knees and a white aura was glowing around him, before receding into him.

The purple haze dissipated into nothing and the landscape returned to normal. Whatever happened, it didn't seem to have any effect on us. The ground below us hardened back to normal.

"Jura, are you okay?" Sherry yelled down to our ally.

"I'm fine, how about you two?"

Sherry looked to me for confirmation before replying, "We're fine."

We all turned our attention back to Hoteye, who was on one knee looking at the ground. At this point, the ice doll had floated down to the ground. If need be, I would be able to get it back up though.

"So, none of you were affected, huh?" He said.

"Do you know what that was, Hoteye?" Jura asked.

"Yes…I do." Hoteye replied, "That was Nirvana, yes!"

Hoteye shot up and with a glint in his eyes exclaimed, "And it has shown me the light!"

I looked to Sherry who looked to me in confusion.

"All this time I had been searching for money! I thought that with that money I could find my dear, lost brother, yes! That was my prayer! But I allowed that money to corrupt me! I lost my way, yes! Money will not bring me my brother, yes! What will give me my brother is…"

"LOVE!" Sherry shouted in unison with Hoteye.

"Yes! This kind woman understands it perfectly!" Hoteye pointed at Sherry.

"Love will conquer all!" Sherry swooned in my direction, forcing me to grab her. I had half a mind to let her fall, these antics of hers weren't new or anything. It would make her happy though, so I obliged her.

"Exactly! We must spread this good news to the rest of Oracion Seis and help them to see the light!"

Sherry had the biggest smile on her face, and I was beginning to feel…jealous?

"Hold on one second!" Jura called out, "While I support your...'newfound' outlook on life. I don't understand where this is coming from."

"That is the work of Nirvana, yes!" Hoteye explained, "On it's release, it shifts those who are unsure of themselves to the side of light or darkness! I was unsure of myself and was shifted to the side of light, yes!"

"This seems…really convenient."

Jura nodded his head in agreement. Before we could continue our conversation though, we all sensed Siegrain's magic in the direction we had come from. In that direction, we could vaguely make out a large golden meteor descending on the planet.

"Isn't that Siegrain?" Sherry asked.

"It is, I wonder what's going on?" Jura replied.

A moment later, it was flung back into the sky and detonated.

"What?" Was all Sherry could say.

"Hm…maybe we should investigate, yes?"

"It's Fairy Tail, they'll be fine." I replied, "They're strong."

"I have to agree," Sherry said, gripping my arm, "Fairy Tail is full of powerful mages, they can handle whatever is thrown at them."

"I am still worried about Siegrain though." Jura added.

"Well, I will support whatever you decide, yes! But I will point out, we are closer to where Nirvana was released than where Siegrain is."

Jura looked to me and Sherry, "So, you two think we should push on?"

"Yeah."

"And what should we do about Hoteye?"

"If he really has sided with LOVE, then we should bring him with us. He could be invaluable."

I silently agreed with Sherry sentiment. Better to make friends than enemies.

"Very well, if you would be so kind as to lend us your strength, we would greatly appreciate it, Hoteye."

"I would be more than happy to join you and spread the good news of LOVE!" Hoteye announced, "Oh, and please, call me Richard."

Thank you for reading.

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