Hello everyone!

Chapter 27 is here! Did the last chapter excite you? Ha! Too bad, I'm not going to give the answers today! Mysteries will keep piling up as it unravel for people to see!

Anyways,

Enjoy!

Twenty-Seventh Wish:
Divine Treasure

Gray saw the fire had already spread as he galloped towards the barracks. If the woman earlier hadn't stopped them, would he have gotten caught in the explosion?

Luckily, the soldiers managed to get out of the place in time.

Unfortunately, not all of them managed to get out.

"Gray!"

Princess Mira called as she looked anxiously at him. Gray greeted her with proper courtesy.

"It's good to see that Your Highness is safe."

Mira nodded, but she looked graved. "We are able to retreat to safety thanks to the warning you sent earlier, but . . ."

He frowned. "What is wrong?"

She pursed her lips. "Not everyone was able to get out in time. In the barracks, Wakabe-san was sleeping from drinking last night. I think he hadn't heard the order to evacuate because of it. Macao-san went to save him. Until now, both of them are still not out. . . I'm afraid they might have met with a mishap . . ."

She looked at him worriedly. Macao was Gray's senior and friend, although they are of the same rank now. He was among the friendly and kind-hearted people that he had met in his life. When normally, a person would get jealous or be secretly bitter if a junior had suddenly excelled them, Macao was different. He acted like a father watching his son's growth and proudly celebrated his promotion, boasting at every person who had patience to listen that his junior had actually become a Captain of one of the Imperial Platoon at such a young age.

He always acted like a family to him, so Gray couldn't help but also treat him like his own uncle. Actually, it was not just him. Because of Macao's humble, pleasant and outgoing nature, everyone – whether inside or outside the palace – had taken a great liking to him.

Gray immediately went down from his horse, swiftly removed his armor, and grabbed a bucket of cold water from the people who were trying to abate the fire. Without saying another word, he splashed it onto himself and ran to the burning building.

"Gray!"

Mira called out worriedly. Unfortunately, she called out too late and was unable to stop him.

Gray had rushed to the burning building. He used his hand to cover his nose from inhaling too much smoke while calling out to the people trapped inside. Running inside the burning building, it was like being cooked inside an oven. To make things worse, Gray had always been sensitive to heat. For him, the heat was several times hotter than a normal person would have felt.

Despite all this, he tried his best to only focus in finding the two people and ignored the burning feeling that wants to melt his skin and flesh.

". . . Gray? Is that you?"

In the crackling and raging fire, he heard a weak voice called out.

"Wakaba-san!"

Finding hope in this burning place, he immediately ran to the direction of the sound while carefully avoiding the fiery pillars and walls. Immediately after, he saw a lean man that looked more like a bandit than a soldier with his weird pompadour brown hair and unruly face that had very narrow and squinty eyes. Nonetheless, he also had that gentle and kind aura, so rather than scary-looking, he looked more like a goofy sort of man who doesn't have much ambition aside from drinking and admiring women.

However, looks can be deceiving. Despite easy-going manner, he can display chivalry and loyalty fiercer than any common soldier when the situation calls for it. Such a personality was being displayed now, as he tried to help a black-haired man around his age who was trapped beneath a fallen pillar.

"Macao-san!"

The man's head was bleeding. He was almost unconscious on the ground. However, upon hearing a familiar voice he tried to force his head up and his line of sight met with the raven-haired youth. If he wasn't in so much pain and about to faint, he would have scowled fiercely at him.

"You . . . idiot . . ." his voice was weak but still clear and audible for them to hear. "Why . . . did you . . . come here? You youngsters . . . shouldn't be . . . acting too recklessly . . ."

He tried to scold Gray, but too bad, his voice was too weak to carry the usual crisp and mighty strength of the senior Captain. Still, his intention was clear. "Scram! Don't come here! Wakaba, hurry up and go with Gray to get out of here!"

He tried to muster all the strength left in his body. He bit his lips till it bled so that he could stay awake and regain the power in his voice. The last thing he could do was to yell at them in order to get them to safety.

Wakaba looked at him helplessly, clearly frustrated. "But you . . . what about you?"

He scoffed. A smile was on his lips as if he heard a joke. "Are you blind!? Can't you see that it's too late for me? Don't act like fools and get out of my sight!"

He yelled at them, blood dripping from his mouth.

Gray ignored his words and quickly strode over to help Wakaba lift the pillar. Unfortunately, it was way too heavy even for two people and the pillar's top end was stuck underneath the debris of stones and wood. They won't be able to lift it up.

As if that wasn't enough, the pillar had also caught on fire. Any sooner, it would reach them and spread around. If they don't leave soon, they will be stuck together with Macao and become charred meat.

Gray removed his shirt and wrapped it around his sword hilt. Despite the leather bounding, he could still feel the burning heat that his sword had absorbed so he has no choice but to use his shirt to avoid burning his hands. He immediately went to chop at the thick wood.

Wakaba looked at him with shock while Macao looked at him helplessly.

"Wakaba, that kid is hopeless. . . You know better . . . please don't recklessly throw away your lives".

He pleaded at his long time friend.

Gray's sword wasn't an axe. Even if it was, it would take a while before they managed to completely chop off the wood. By the time he finished, they would have already been surrounded by fire.

Wakaba looked torn, tears fell from his eyes. "If it wasn't for me . . . if it wasn't for me . . ."

Macao smiled. "Idiot. . . Don't blame yourself. . . It's my fault for not paying attention. . ." If he had, he would have quickly realized that there was one person left in the barracks or avoided the crumbling pillar.

Gray gritted his teeth. "If you have time and energy for idle chatter, save it to keep yourselves alive after we leave this place". He would have asked Wakabe to help on chopping the wood too, but there was only one sword. He glanced at Wakabe and saw that his arm was actually bleeding. From the looks of it, he seemed to have broken it too.

"Wakabe-san, I think it'll be best if you leave first and call for help. . ." Gray told him as he swung his sword.

Expectedly, the man was agitated at his words. "What are you taking me for!? Do you think I'm the kind who'll leave his friends behind to save one self!? I'm not going to leave you! I'm the one who should be trapped in here in the first place!"

Gray was frustrated. Chivalry and loyalty were important virtues for a knight, but rationality was also important in times of crisis. "Our priority is to limit the casualty as much as possible! You shouldn't let your heart cloud your judgement! With your arm like that, you're useless and just a burden! Hurry up and leave!"

His words were cold and harsh, but not without reason. Wakabe opened and closed his mouth, not knowing how to reply. Even if it was logical for him to leave first, his heart couldn't bear the burden of guilt of leaving his friends behind. He stayed rooted on the spot.

Macao, meanwhile, was speechless at the hypocrisy of his junior. He was scolding his friend for being unreasonable and even dared to scold him for acting base on emotions instead of reason, saying the fact that limiting the casualty was priority. If so, he should have understood his superior's feelings!

If you know! Then why are you not escaping with Wakabe!?

Such a hypocrite! I don't want to bear the guilt of bringing my two comrades to the early grave with me!

Just as he was about to speak up and yell back the words of this uncooperative defiant youth, he heard a woman's voice.

"Gray-sama!"

Everyone looked in shock at the blue haired woman who came running here.

"You!? What are you doing here!?"

Gray looked at Juvia in shock. He was sure he left her with the other soldiers to be taken care of. How could she be here!?

Just then, the ceiling gave a rumbling and cracking sounds above them. They looked up in alarm. Crap! It seemed that even before we get burned to ashes, we are going to be crushed to death first!

Seeing the situation, Juvia's eyes widened and she leaped to protect him.

"Gray-sama!"

She had lost him once. She doesn't want to lose him again! Tears were streaming down her face. She had chased after him in worry. She was determined that no matter what she had to do or the price to pay, she would definitely protect him. If heavens have mercy, after all the misfortune she went through, they should at least grant her this much compensation!

As she leapt towards them, her necklace glowed with a deep blue light. Water formed out from her chest and snaked through her arms and into her hands, finally shooting out like a geyser into the sky.

. . .

"Divine Treasure. . ?"

Upon hearing the words, Natsu remembered that it was mentioned before. Just a while ago, they were running when the celestial beside him suddenly stopped and looked back with shock on his face. His face that was usually masked with a smile had turned pale. ". . . How can there be Divine Treasure users in this place?"

Natsu remembered the creep's explanation about it before.

"It's a divine stone made by the gods or powerful spirits. . . It's usually sealed in gold or silver in the form of accessory. It's like a device that helps you control the forces of nature . . . People who held divine treasure will gain unimaginable powers. I believe you humans call it magic?"

Truth be told, when Natsu first heard it, he felt a bit excited at the information. He was a thief, and their job was to steal treasures. Saying that he wasn't interested in a treasure that gives divine powers would be a complete lie.

But hearing it now, Natsu couldn't help but feel anxious. And it wasn't only him.

Loki was the most unsettled by this piece of news. He looked behind him.

"How can I feel power fluctuation in this kind of place?" From a far distance, he could see smoke coming from the castle where dark clouds gather. He tried to suppress the anxiety he was feeling.

Since the gods had abandoned this world, there shouldn't be any mages left. It was quite some time. The knowledge about magic should have long been forgotten and obliterated from this world. With this unrefined way of control, it was obvious that it wasn't a fellow deity or spirit but a human using magic. It shouldn't normally be so noticeable when being used. The explosive force showed that the person had just awakened the ability. No wonder the irregularity in the air could be felt even this far away.

At the distance, he could see smoke rising up to the darkened and cloudy sky. Such great affinity with the water element. . .

Loki knew. The sudden appearance of mages was highly likely due to a certain goddess arriving in this world. But this situation was way too fast! They weren't even here for more than a month!

With this rate of development, doesn't it just prove how highly dangerous it would be for Lucy to stay here?

If Natsu had looked back, he would have seen the smoke was coming from the palace's ground. If he had looked, would he have rushed there to ensure the safety of his princess? In the end, he was not that interested to look behind him as there was a more pressing matter in his mind.

"You said there was a divine treasure?" Natsu looked at him seriously.

Loki was startled out of his thoughts and looked at him gravely. "Yes. There's someone using a divine treasure. . ."

Ahead their path, they could see black smoke rising out. The treetops seemed to glow with fiery red and orange light and they could hear the faint screams of people.

Their hearts dropped at the sight. They knew Lucy was just up in that place.

Ignoring the abnormal situation behind him, Loki immediately quickened his pace along with Natsu and Happy as they rushed forward.

But before they could even get closer, a bright white light flashed and almost blinded them as it enveloped that patch of the forest with fire.

That white light, without needing to express it, they knew who it was from.

. . . * . . .

End of Chapter

The appearance of Divine Treasures! With the existence of magic in the Kingdom, how would this affect the rest of the people and Lucy who was the root of it all!?

A/N: Haha, switching POVs, I knew some of you would be frustrated to know what happened with Lucy. It will be tackled in the next chapter . . . probably.

PS: I didn't pay attention to editing so you can point it out for me to correct if there's grammar or spelling error.

Thank you for everyone who favorite and followed this story!

For those who reviewed, thank you! I'll try my best!