Chapter 8

Sleeping like a dormouse, while sitting on a branch, Natsu was savagely awakened by Mine, who crushed her foot on his cheek.

"Hey, let's concentrate!"

"Hmmh?" he said, stretching. "Did the target show up?"

"Not yet!" Tatsumi said, looking at the mansion of their next target with a pair of binoculars.

"In that case, I can go back to sleep!" he said.

"Idiot!" shouted Mine. "We have to be on our guard, no matter what happens!"

"Don't worry! Even in his sleep, Natsu is able to dodge any attack!" Happy assured her, while eating a fish. "He has the instinct of a dragon!"

"He's unconscious, yes!" retorted Mine.

"Anyway, I guess you want to kill the target in one shot!" Natsu remarked. "Apart from observing you, there's not much we can do!"

"Yes! Learn!"

"Learn what? I don't use firearms!"

"Learn to be alert, idiot!"

"Iwokaru is out!" cried Tatsumi suddenly, still staring at the mansion.

"Hmm?" she said, aiming at him at once with Pumpkin.

Staring at the mansion, Natsu and Happy, in turn, saw a group of women coming out, while a man held them all with leashes.

"So, this guy kidnaps and treats women like slaves?"

"And seeing his lecherous smile, I doubt he'll regret it!" remarked Happy.

Thinking the same thing, Mine then put herself in the firing position to Tatsumi's great surprise:

"Hey, you can't attack him now! Several people are with him!"

"So?"

"What? You're not going to shoot them anyway!"

"Let go!" Natsu suddenly advised him, while taking a look at Mine.

To tell the truth, Mine now looked like Bisca, getting ready to shoot at her target. All that came out of her was intense concentration. And if Mine had the same shooting skills as her friend, then Iwokaru was a dead man.

Shooting at that moment, Mine made a beautiful shot that pierced her target's skull, before the target could do anything about it. He was dead without knowing it.

"Bull's-eye!" cried Happy, while Tatsumi was speechless.

"I'm a professional!" Mine assured.

Seeing guards coming out of the mansion and looking for them, Natsu began to smile, before shouting to Happy:

"It's ours!"

"Aye!"

Seeing them leaving, Tatsumi took a few seconds to react before leaving the tree in turn.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Find the intruders!" Orders one of the guards. "If the assassin goes unpunished, the prime minister will kill us!"

Splitting into two groups, the guards eventually stopped dead in their tracks with the sudden arrival of Night Raid. The first group was then confronted with Bulat, Akane, Leone, Lubbock and Sheele. As for the second, they were surprised to see Gajeel and Natsu fall from the sky, with Happy and Lily on their backs.

"Wha...? Who are you?"

As Najenda had ordered, after Natsu let Tero live, the two men and their cats wore masks on their faces, hiding them.

"We're from the Night Raid!" Natsu said. "And we'd like to ask you a few questions!"

"A few questions?"

"Is it true you kidnap women and beat them to death?" Wanted to know Happy.

Giggling at this moment, one of the guards pulled a sword out from under his clothes and asked him:

"And then?"

"Why are you doing this?" Natsu wanted to know.

"It's simple! Because there's nothing better than dominating a woman and hearing her screams while beating her! Right guys?"

"Yeah!" shouted his comrades, running towards the two dragon-fighters. "Women are nothing but animals created to satisfy the impulses of men! And we'll be happy to torture you too!"

"Do you still want to spare them?" Wanted to know Gajeel.

"No!" confessed Natsu.

Immediately, the mage dodged a sword swung in his direction, before grabbing the wrist of his attacker.

"What...?" the latter was surprised to see flames appear.

"I hate killing people!" said Natsu. "Nevertheless, with so many people rotting to the bone, the situation in this town will never improve if I spare everyone! Compared to Tero, you guys can't change anymore! FIRE DRAGON'S..."

"No, stop, please!"

"...ROAR!"

Attacking with all his might, Natsu hit the man head-on, causing him to cry out in pain. Betraying his agony, the man's voice then disappeared, as did his whole body. Soon, only a pile of ashes remained of him when Natsu stopped his attack.

Staring at the gray dust at his feet, Natsu stood still, while a breeze finally blew the ashes away, taking them in the direction of a forest where they would be scattered here and there.

"Are you all right, Natsu?" Happy asked him.

"I'm really not made to kill coldly!" remarked his friend. "Nevertheless, we can't leave all these bastards alive! From now on, I'll only spare those who express remorse!"

But in spite of his words, guilt appeared on his face.

Gajeel blocked the tip of a spear, turning his arm into an iron pillar, and eventually turned it towards his opponent's throat. Being crushed, the latter had the cervical vertebrae dislocated, killing the man on the spot. At the same time, Lily destroyed his opponent's sword, and directed his own sword towards his belly and pierced his abdomen. Eyes wide open, the man opened his mouth, and not a sound came out. Finally, as blood flowed from his wound, he felt his strength abandon him, before finally falling to the ground.

"Mission accomplished!" Lily said.

Nevertheless, sniggering at the moment, the guard he had just stabbed said:

"Poor fool! Do you have any idea what you... you have just done?"

Still giggling, he suddenly spat blood before continuing:

"The prime minister will never give up now! Yes, until your heads are handed over to him, he'll keep sending troops to kill you! Haha, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes!"

Hearing this, Lily simply drew his sword from his body, making him scream in pain.

"No matter who we fight, rest assured that Fairy Tail won't back down from any opponent!"

"Bunch of... idiots!" muttered the man before he died.

"Now we know how things are going here!" said Gajeel. "Either people are against the empire and get killed! Or people are with the empire and become as bad as him!"

"What could possibly cause that?" Happy wanted to know.

Sitting in a suit, looking at the full moon, Natsu finally said:

"It's because of fear! The enemy manipulates these people through fear and corrupts them in this way!"

Remaining then calm, he suddenly ends up heating the air, around him, before roaring:

"I won't leave here until I have rid this world of this prime minister!"

Seeing the others gathering a little further away, Lily said:

"And you're not alone! If we are all here, it is to accomplish this goal!"

"I know it!" Natsu affirmed, finally finding a semblance of a smile. "It's the same for us for Night Raid and for Wendy too!"

Sneezing at this moment, Wendy began to rub her arms while a light breeze was felt. As darkness descended upon the capital, she wanted to know:

"When do you plan to finish the patrol?"

"When I won't have the strength to go on!" said Seryu, continuing to walk ahead of her. "I haven't slept for three days already, but I'm still good for the rest of the week!"

Hearing this, Wendy almost felt like crying, as she realized that her new friend's desire for justice was going to kill her in the process.

"Anyway, it was a good day today!" Seryu said, with a joyful smile. "The children were happy; the merchants were smiling and the capital was bustling! When the city is happy, I am happy too! You too, Koro?"

Walking next to her, the dog finally nodded once, as if to show his approval.

"By the way, Seryu! I noticed you're the only person in the barracks with a hemlock! How come?"

"It's because of my sense of justice!" Seryu said. "Koro was able to detect it! It was Captain Ogre who advised me to go team up with him, saying I had all the right qualities to do so! Thanks to him, I can now defend this city from the villains! If one of them ever shows up, Koro will know what to do to get rid of them! Right, Koro?"

This time, the dog moved with much more energy, showing a true form of joy.

But in spite of that, Wendy couldn't help feeling uncomfortable with the duo. Now that she knew that Seryu's soul was tainted, she couldn't help wondering about her.

"Tell me, Seryu! When you meet a bandit, what ...?"

Then she fell silent, while a cry of agony was heard in the distance.

"What...?" The two girls were surprised.

Looking down an alley, they finally saw a soldier running away, shouting:

"He's coming! He is coming! Help!"

But before he had a chance to join them, his head suddenly separated from his body, and rolled to the ground. Retreating, while a geyser of blood came out of the rest of the man's corpse, Wendy began to shiver, while trying to understand what had just happened.

"Is... is he dead?"

Taking another step backwards, she ends up feeling her back hitting someone's chest, despite the fact that Seryu and Koro are in front of her. Widening her eyes, she pretended to run forward. A man grabbed her by the hair and started to giggle:

"Oh, what have we here? Shouldn't girls your age be in bed at this hour?"

Not bothering to answer him, Wendy tried to kick him. Dodging it without difficulty, her opponent nevertheless took the trouble to release her, while sniggering:

"Oh, yes! A little kitten who already has claws! I can't wait to fight you and then see your little face being separated from your body!"

And his smile lengthened again, when many bullets with two daggers appeared. Then he looked up and smiled at Seryu, who had just fired two tonfas pistols.

"Another amusing prey?"

"Zank, the executioner!" spat out Seryu, whose gaze no longer showed any trace of joy. "Suspected of having killed twenty-seven people once he entered the capital! Highly wanted person!"

"Twenty-seven?" Zank wondered. "Hahaha! It's the best of the year!"

Suddenly leaving his lips, he said:

"This number is only the average number of murders I commit every day!"

"What a monster!" thought Wendy. "And he dared to laugh about it!"

As the girl was about to take a step towards him to attack him, she felt a strange sensation next to her. Turning her gaze, she perceived a dark aura around Seryu as she said:

"You're a murderer who doesn't deserve forgiveness! Justice can't let a man like you live!"

Then, raising her arm towards Zank, she finally showed a smile worthy of a psychopath and ordered:

"Koro, devour him!"

That's all it took for Koro to start growling. Then, concentrating, he made his body grow, like Lily did. Nevertheless, Koro's silhouette easily surpassed that of Gajeel's cat, while a huge collection of rows of teeth protruded from his mouth. The whole thing made Koro look like a bloodthirsty demon.

"It's... What's that monster?" Wendy wanted to know, backing away.

"Don't worry!" Seryu assured, still wearing her smile. "Koro is an ally of justice!"

Suddenly showing only cruelty on her face, she shouted:

"Koro will devour this villain and allow justice to triumph! Attack!"

Not wasting a moment, Koro jumps on Zank. Tapping then his strange eye on the forehead, the man suddenly ends up doing a pirouette backwards, to dodge the assault, while shouting:

"Magnificent! So, my teigus can't work on biological teigus! I can't read this dog's thoughts! Haha! Decidedly, we learn something every day!"

"He can read our thoughts?" Wendy wondered.

"He's like Cobra! No... Cobra used his hearing to listen to our thoughts! For this guy, he just called it teigu!"

Looking at her eye at the forehead, Wendy wanted to know:

"Is this your hemlock?"

"Exactly! Spectator! With him, I can read your thoughts by observing your facial expressions, your body language and everything that goes with it! That makes me some kind of telepath!"

Spinning his daggers between his fingers, he then said:

"And added to my murderous skill, this weapon makes me invincible!"

"Shut up!" Seryu ordered him, shooting him again. "Your voice is getting on my nerves!"

Rounding each bullet with his daggers, the man sneered again and again, as he got away without a wound.

"It's useless! Surprise attack; team or otherwise ... nothing can work against my power!"

Opening then his mouth wide behind his head, Koro tried to swallow him in one bite by surprise. Taking a step to the side, to dodge, Zank let the monster pass by him, before sticking a dagger in his eye.

Screaming in pain, the creature already began to pull the weapon out with his huge arms, as Zank noticed:

"Oh, but you feel the pain! I can't wait to see how much you will feel!"

"SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!"

"Hmm?" the man said.

Jumping then, he dodged in extremis a powerful tornado that almost caught him.

"How...?" he wondered, landing on a roof. "Where did this tornado come from?"

Studying carefully, he realized that Wendy was behind it.

"That kid? But what kind of power does she have? Besides, how could I not hear her thoughts earlier?"

Suddenly he understood the reason. Biting her thumb forcefully, Wendy tried to hide her next move by filling her mind with the pain she felt.

"Oh, right! You use the pain to your advantage and you try to make a kind of emptiness in your mind by trying to think only about that! I'll admit this is the first time I've ever had that!"

"Nevertheless, despite your efforts, you will never be able to launch the slightest attack without thinking about it a few moments before! It's totally useless!"

Not having said her last word, Wendy then turned around and made her breath of wind move in all directions.

Seeing the attack wiggle in various directions, Zank felt compelled to move, but he didn't stop smiling.

"Oh, what a sight! I am looking forward to killing you and coloring this street with your blood!"

Suddenly landing on the ground, he was then surprised to see Koro's silhouette on his back. Not being able to read his thoughts, nor to hear him because of Wendy's attack, the man lost his smile for good, while he understood Wendy's maneuver.

"She deliberately attacked me from all sides, hoping that I would move around until I found myself face to face with this monster."

Seeing Koro's jaws about to close on him, he used his daggers that he stuck between two teeth of each of his jaws. Then using his muscles, he tried to block Kuro's mouth and prevented it from closing on him.

However, not being able to do anything else, he heard a click in his back, while Seryu brandished a weapon towards him.

"Justice always triumphs!" she laughed. "I'll kill you, and Koro will eat you!"

Having no other choice, Zank gave up his weapons. Using his feet, he hit them hard against two of Koro's teeth and leaned on them to jump backwards. Seeing the monster closing his mouth on his two daggers, the man looked at him again with amusement, while a smoke accompanied his weapons.

Thus, crunching inside, Koro released a huge cloud of smoke, which enveloped him, just like Zank. Seeing Zank disappear in the smoke, Seryu started shooting, hoping to shoot him. However, as soon as the gray cloud disappeared, she quickly noticed that her opponent was gone. Only Koro was in front of her.

"Is he... Is he gone?"

"Not quite!" Zank laughed behind her back.

Getting ready to kill her with a new dagger he pulled out of her sleeve, the man couldn't hold back a grunt of frustration, dodging a new windstorm created by Wendy.

"You won't take it out on Seryu, or anyone else!" the child said. "Because I won't let you!"

"Well, we had a good time, but now I want to see the color of your blood!" cried Zank.

Seeing him continue to dodge Wendy's attacks without any problems, Seryu began to reload her weapons to attack him again.

"He really can read minds! If that's the case, only Koro has a chance to shoot him down! Nevertheless, this guy moves too fast!"

As one of the tornadoes passed by, one of the tornadoes whipped her face and pushed her back.

"I can't even get near them with this wind!" she said.

But then a thought occurred to her: Wendy's tornadoes weren't breathing in the air; they were pushing it out. Noticing this, Seryu showed her cruel smile again before running straight to Zank.

He was getting closer to Wendy while dodging her tornadoes and singing:

"A little piggy goes upwind! Another at the market! Another little piggy went to see his friend!"

Blowing again, Wendy saw the man jumping in the air while pointing his weapons at her:

"And the last one was taken to the slaughterhouse!" the man laughed.

Shots were then heard. Turning around, Zank was surprised to see Seryu fire all her bullets into Wendy's tornado.

"What...?"

"Koro!" Seryu shouted, protecting her face with her arms.

Suddenly moving, her teigu placed himself in front of Wendy just as a shower of projectiles came out of the tornado. Taking advantage of the wind's rejection of air, Seryu had simply fired into the tornado and waited for her bullets to come out in the wind.

Now the bullets were fired in all directions and it was impossible for anyone to predict their rate.

Unable to read a thought, Zank managed to deflect two bullets, before one pierced his arm and another passed through his pelvis.

With a groan of pain, he let himself fall to the ground as the tornado disappeared.

Still surprised by what had just happened, Wendy saw Koro in front of her with many bullet holes on his body.

"K... Koro?"

Regenerating himself, the teigu of Seryu healed himself. And in a few moments, his body was free of wounds. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with Seryu. Having herself been the target of her own ploy, the girl had been shot in the abdomen, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Seryu!" horrified Wendy, rushing towards her to heal her.

"Haha!" Seryu laughed suddenly, despite her injuries. "I killed the evil! Justice won!"

"Are you sure?"

Getting up at that moment, Wendy saw Zank who continued smiling despite his injuries. In fact, he looked ecstatic as he saw the blood flowing out.

"Wow, so this is what my own blood looks like? It's been so long since I've seen it! It almost makes me want to cut my arm off!"

Exploding with laughter as if he had just said a joke, he finally calmed down, hearing noises of footsteps not far from him.

"This way!" shouted someone.

"The noises came from here!"

"It must have been the murderer we were looking for!"

"Tsss! The army!" Zank understood, seeing their silhouettes in the distance.

Staring at his wounds, Zank then watched Koro grunting as he stayed close to Seryu, being treated by Wendy. Seeing Wendy close her wound, Zank said:

"Even if he has a gun, a butcher can't do anything against a hundred pigs to slaughter!"

With these words, he jumped on a roof before leaving.

"We'll meet again another night!"

"He's leaving!" Wendy noted.

"No, stay here!" ordered Seryu, trying to get up. "Justice will...!"

Her wound worsened then, letting more blood fall and forced Seryu to fall on her stomach.

"Seryu, stop!"

Banging her fist on the ground, Seryu roars:

"How is that possible? We are justice! And justice had to kill that man! Then why is he still alive?"

Hearing him, Wendy couldn't help but shiver with fear, seeing her look of pure hatred.

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to slaughter him! And Koro will eat the rest of his corpse to the last crumb!"

Smiling at this thought, she giggled:

"Yeah, justice will always triumph!"

Seeing her face filled with cruelty, Wendy couldn't help but back away from her, not really knowing who the person facing her was.