It was sunny on another day in the city of Rimuru, the place where the Earthland mages stayed until it was time to return and in the time they had been there, they had had a lot of fun.

That day, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray and Erza were walking the halls.

"This city is so magnificent. It's a shame we have to leave someday." said Lucy.

"I agree. In fact, I hope that, after this, we find a way to be able to travel between worlds." said Erza.

"It would be a benefit to everyone if the kingdom of Fiore made friends with the Jura Tempest Federation." said Gray.

"It better be, because I don't plan on giving up my training with Veldora." said Natsu.

"By the way, how are you, Wendy and Gajeel doing with the training?" asked Lucy.

"Fatal. He hasn't even been hit." said Happy.

"Shut up! That's just for now. You'll see when I get stronger and can kick his ass." said Natsu.

"Don't feel bad, Natsu. The monsters here are very strong. In fact, even I haven't been able to land a blow on master Hakuro." said Erza.

"Really? You, the mighty Erza Scarlet, couldn't take on an old man?" asked Gray.

"First, you shouldn't underestimate him, for he was the master of Lord Rimuru; and second, you'd better not call him that when he's around. I saw a hobgoblin call him that and the master almost beat him to death." said Erza.

"It's scary." said Lucy shaking with fear.

As they walked along, some monsters in the area began to cough.

At first, there were only a few that did it and they did it in a habitual way, but then, more monsters began to cough continuously to the point where they were coughing more than talking.

All of this did not go unnoticed by the wizards of Earthland.

"Huh? What's going on?" asked Erza.

"Have they all caught a cold?" asked Happy in confusion.

"No. That's not it. I can smell something strange in the air." said Natsu seriously.

"What...?" asked Lucy before she started coughing violently.

"Lucy!" shouted Gray before he started coughing as well.

It wasn't just the monsters anymore, the mages of Earthland were coughing heavily as well.

It was then that the whole area was filled with a strange blackish green mist.

Enduring the coughing, Gray put his hand to his face and created an ice mask to cover his mouth and nose before creating more.

"Put them on." began Gray handing the masks to the others who were quick to put them on. "It won't stop whatever is happening to us, but it should help us a little."

"That's more than enough." said Erza.

"What is it?" asked Lucy looking at the surrounding fog.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's affecting everyone." said Natsu looking at all the monsters who were kneeling on the ground coughing fiercely.

"We have to help them as soon as possible!" said Lucy.

"Quick, we have to warn Lord Rimuru!" said Erza.

Suddenly, a hobgoblin came running down the street as he went coughing.

"Run! *Cough* Run everyone! *Cough* We're under attack! *Cough*" shouted the hobgoblin as he ran.

Looking ahead, the mages were shocked when they saw a group of some beasts running down the street, destroying everything in their path.

These beasts were large and bulky, resembling dogs, but they had horns and glowing red eyes.

The most striking thing about them was that they were made entirely of gold.

"What the hell are those things?" asked Gray.

"No idea, but I won't let them hurt anyone." said Natsu.

"Happy, go find Lord Rimuru and tell him the situation. We'll stay and take care of these creatures." said Erza.

"Aye, sir." said Happy before taking off his wings and quickly taking flight.

The beasts continued on their way as the mages prepared to fight.

"Very well. Come if you will, you ugly mutts." said Natsu before lunging towards one of them with his hand wreathed in fire. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" shouted Natsu slamming into one of the golden beasts, sending it crashing into a nearby stand.

"I can't summon spirits at the risk of them getting sick from the mist, so… Star Dress! Taurus Form!" shouted Lucy changing her appearance completely. "Earth Wave!" shouted Lucy slamming her whip into the ground, causing a crack to form in the ground and slam into several beasts, knocking them down in the process.

"Ice-Make: Cold Excalibur!" shouted Gray creating a large ice sword with which he hit another of the beasts. "I feel like I've seen this before, but where?"

Erza simply stood in her current armor and swung her sword at several of the golden beasts, knocking them down in the process.

"Are you all okay?" asked Erza.

"Yeah, but I'm starting to feel weird." said Natsu.

"It's like my magic power is going down." said Lucy.

"It must be something about this fog. Not only does it make us sick, but it also makes us weak." said Gray.

"We'd better get all these people away from here quickly." said Erza.

It was then that the golden beasts stood up again and focused their gazes on the mages.

"We have to finish these things off first." said Natsu wrapping his fists in fire.

"I hope Happy was able to get there safely." said Lucy.

Rimuru was standing near the city hall with the rest of the Fairy Tail members.

"How's it going with the teleportation spell?" asked Gajeel.

"There's not much left. It'll possibly be ready in no time." said Rimuru.

"Good. Then we can go home." said Charle.

"That's too bad. I'm going to miss all the people I've met here." said Wendy.

"Yes, everyone was very kind to us despite being strangers from another world." said Lily.

"Of course. Hospitality is a very important thing in this city. It doesn't matter where you come from or what species." said Rimuru.

"You're right." said Wendy with a smile.

"LORD RIMURU!"

They all turned in the direction of where the shout came from and saw Happy flying towards them as he was losing strength.

When he was very close to them, his wings disappeared and he fell to the ground.

"Happy!" exclaimed Wendy before running to catch the exceed before it fell to the ground.

"What happened?" asked Charle.

"A-A… *cough* strange fog suddenly appeared…*cough* and… everyone's getting sick. *cough* Then… some monsters appeared… *cough*, but Natsu and the others have stayed to take care of them… *cough* while I went to look for you *cough*." said Happy with little strength.

"He's very sick. Charle, take him to the infirmary quickly!" said Rimuru.

"Understood." said Charle pulling out her wings and grabbing Happy before flying off in another direction.

"The rest of you, come with me." said Rimuru.

"Yes." said Wendy, Gajeel and Lily in unison.

Wasting no time, the four of them took off running towards the affected area and as they were running, Rimuru decided to report.

"Listen up everyone." began Rimuru mentally, communicating with his strongest subordinates. "It seems that an epidemic has broken out in one part of the city. I don't have much information about it, but right now, block any routes leading to the affected area and if you see anyone affected, take them to the infirmary immediately, understood?"

"Yes, sir." they all said mentally before setting off.

Back with the others in the affected area, Natsu and the others continued to fight the beasts.

However, although they knocked some down, they would later get up to continue fighting and the mist was gradually weakening them, making it harder to fight them.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" shouted Natsu shooting a couple of torrents of fire from his arms that hit a golden beast, but only managed to push it back a bit, much to the dragon slayer's frustration. "Damn. They're getting tougher and tougher."

"No, you idiot. It's just that you're getting weaker, and you're not the only one. Ice-Make: Ice Hammer!" shouted Gray creating a spiked hammer which he used to strike a gold beast, but only pushed it aside as the weapon shattered like glass.

"We're not going to be able to hold on for long." said Lucy breathing heavily before throwing a whip at a gold beast, but it did nothing to her.

"We can't give up. We must continue until reinforcements arrive." said Erza before a golden beast came at her and swiped at her with a paw, knocking her to the ground.

"Erza!" shouted Lucy worriedly before jumping to the side to avoid a swipe from another gold beast.

"I don't care if I get weaker or stronger. I'll keep fighting to the end." said Natsu decisively.

"So am I. I'm not one to give up easily." said Gray.

One of the golden beasts lunged toward them to attack when…

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

A tornado of metal pieces was suddenly shot out and hit the beast, sending it backwards.

The fire dragon slayer and the ice mage looked back to see Gajeel covered in iron scales.

"Heh. You're losing faculties, Salamander." said Gajeel with a toothy grin.

"Gajeel. I never thought I'd be glad to see you." said Natsu happy that help was coming.

"Did you get Happy's message?" asked Gray.

"Yes, we came right away to help." said Gajeel.

"How nice." said Lucy with a smile.

"Lucy, look out!" shouted Erza as a golden beast charged towards the celestial mage, who turned to look in horror at the incoming beast.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Suddenly, a tornado hit the beast, sending it backwards.

Soon after, Wendy appeared in front of Lucy.

"Phew. Thanks, Wendy. That was close." said Lucy.

However, Wendy was more focused on the surrounding mist, which caused a surprised expression to appear on her face.

"That smell… It can't be. But… how come…?" asked Wendy mentally quickly recognizing what that mist was.

Another golden beast stood in front of Erza and was about to attack when Lily, in his warrior form, appeared and knocked the beast down with one punch.

"Good thing we got there in time." said Lily.

"Yeah, right." said Erza with a relieved smile.

Her train of thought stopped as the golden beasts got back up and prepared to fight again.

"Looks like we'll have to deal with those things." said Gajeel.

"That won't be necessary."

They all turned their eyes to see Rimuru arrive at the scene and walk normally, passing by the Earthland mages.

The beasts' attention was focused on the human slime and one of them lunged at it to attack it, but Rimuru, in a sweep of his arm, launched a cutting wave of water that split the golden beast in two, much to the surprise of the mages.

"How dare you attack my city?" asked Rimuru before turning an angry glare at the other golden beasts. "I won't forgive you."

The gold beasts gave him a snarl before all charging towards him, but then, Rimuru drew his katana and, in less than a second, appeared behind the beasts who were paralyzed on the spot.

A few seconds later, the golden beasts ended up broken into several pieces.

Needless to say, the Earthland mages were amazed by this.

"Impressive." said Natsu.

"I never thought I'd see Lord Rimuru in action." said Wendy.

"He's the leader of this nation for a reason." said Lily.

"And a Demon Lord too." said Lucy.

"And now…" began Rimuru putting away his katana. "Let's put an end to this strange mist." said Rimuru extending his hand forward. "Raphael, proceed."

"Analysis. Beginning absorption of toxic particles in the surrounding area." said Raphael.

Then, in Rimuru's hand appeared a huge vortex that began to suck up all the mist around like a vacuum cleaner.

Soon after, all the fog in the area disappeared and Rimuru closed his hand to stop that.

"What was that?" asked Erza.

"That was 'Predator'." said Gajeel.

"Predator?" asked Gray.

"Lord Veldora told us about it in one of our training sessions." said Wendy.

"It is a power that allows him to devour everything. From magical attacks to living things." said Natsu remembering, for once, something.

That came as a great surprise to the other mages, for such a power was unbelievable.

If he was someone from their world, he would have become the most powerful mage in the world, even more than the black mage, Zeref.

"Let's not waste any more time." began Rimuru turning around to look at them seriously. "We must deal with this situation."

Hours had passed since that mysterious event.

Thanks to everyone's efforts, there were no more victims and those that there were, were rushed to the hospital where they were treated immediately.

Fortunately, thanks to Wendy's healing magic, as well as Rimuru's potions, they were able to heal everyone quickly, especially Natsu's group who had stayed behind to defend the people from the golden beasts.

Once they had checked everyone over to see that they were completely safe and sound, Rimuru led them to a room where the rest of Rimuru's troops, including Veldora, were waiting seated around a table.

"First, I would like to thank Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza for protecting the people who were in the affected area." said Rimuru.

"No need to thank us." said Lucy.

"Yes, it was something any of us would have done without hesitation." said Erza.

"We weren't about to let those things hurt the inhabitants of a city that has welcomed us without a problem." said Gray.

"Exactly. That's us." said Natsu.

"Aye, sir." said Happy.

"Now, let's move on to the central point. It's clear that what happened wasn't a fluke." said Rimuru.

"No. It was clearly an attack on us." said Benimaru.

"Souei, are you sure you didn't detect anything around the city?" asked Shion.

"My squad and I have been on patrol the whole time. If anyone approached the city with hostile intentions, we would know it on the spot." said Souei.

"Then it's likely they were able to carry out the attack far enough away to escape our radars." said Hakuro.

"But who would attack us? I thought that after Lord Rimuru's rise as Demon Lord and Lord Veldora's return, people wouldn't dare lay a finger on us anymore." said Shuna.

"Tsk. Either they really have guts those bastards or they're ignorant." said Veldora.

"I… I might have an idea who it was." said Wendy nervously as she raised her hand, thus drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Really? Well, if you have any idea, you can say it." said Rimuru.

"I-I think it was… Phoenix Tail." said Wendy, to the horror of the other Earthland mages.

"Phoenix Tail? Wasn't that that dark guild you were fighting against when the incident that brought you to this world happened?" asked Rimuru.

"Yes, the same one." said Lily.

"How did we not think of it before? They were in the same room as us, so it was clear that they would end up in the same situation as us." said Erza in frustration.

"And now they've attacked innocents and all because of us." said Lucy with her head down.

"Don't blame yourselves for that. You weren't to know they would do something like this." said Rimuru.

"He's right. The only ones to blame are those bastards." said Gajeel.

"Those guys… When I catch them, I'll make them pay for what they've done." said Natsu slamming his fist into his palm.

"There's something that worries me a little." began Gray drawing the attention of the others. "When we fought those gold beasts, I sensed that they might be from that gold mage I fought. However, I could sense that his magic was very different from the one he displayed that time. It felt… stronger."

"Stronger? How so?" asked Happy in confusion.

"That doesn't matter now. What happened was surely a small taste of what they can do. Who knows what they will do the next time they attack." said Rimuru.

"In that case, we should prepare to counterattack." said Benimaru.

"That won't be necessary. They are our problem, so it is our duty to deal with them." said Erza.

"We don't want to get involved in our business." said Wendy.

"I appreciate your intentions, but those guys have attacked my city and hurt my people. That makes it my business too." said Rimuru.

"That's understandable." said Lily.

"Even if I agree to go after them, we have no idea where they are hiding." said Charle.

"True. Even with your senses of smell enhanced by your magic, the area around the city is very wide. It would take time to search for them with that alone." said Veldora.

"I could locate them. I don't think they have anything to hide their power, so I should be able to detect any suspicious spikes of magic in a radius of several miles." said Rimuru.

"I know you can, Lord Rimuru." said Shion.

Rimuru nodded before closing his eyes.

"Raphael, proceed with it." thought Rimuru.

"Analysis. Commencing magical detection process." said Raphael.

Unnoticed, an invisible dome formed from Rimuru and began to grow and expand until it occupied much, much, much, much, much space.

Rimuru remained in a state of concentration and waiting until…

"Warning. Detected several spikes of magical energy in a south-southwesterly direction near S rank and Demon Lord." said Raphael.

"What? How is that possible? Never mind. Thank you, Raphael." thought Rimuru before opening his eyes. "I've already located them."

"Great! Let's go get them!" exclaimed Natsu happily, getting up from his seat and ready to go.

"Wait." began Rimuru stopping the fire dragon slayer. "Not only have I located them, but it looks like what Gray said is true. For some reason, they are as strong as us." said Rimuru referring to himself and the monsters.

"What? That's not possible." said Gray in surprise.

"Either they have hidden their power level well when we first encountered them or something has happened that made them stronger." said Erza.

"So what do we do now?" asked Wendy.

"What we talked about before." began Rimuru before standing up. "We're going to go to their location and take them all down."

"I like that already." said Gajeel with a toothy grin.

"Benimaru, Shion, Souei, Hakuro; you will come with me and the Earthland mages to attack them. Veldora, you are to stay here in case they launch another attack while we're away." said Rimuru.

"Heh. You can rest easy. If any of those bastards set foot in this city, they'll be dealing with me." said Veldora with a smile.

"You can count me in too, Lord Rimuru." said Shion with a smile.

"Those guys will wish they hadn't messed with us." said Hakuro.

"If I may, Lord Rimuru, I would like to join as well." said Shuna to everyone's surprise.

"Shuna, are you sure?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, I won't allow them to go unpunished for their crimes. So, will you allow me to join, Lord Rimuru?" asked Shuna.

Normally, Rimuru would deny the situation where she would go to a dangerous place, but after what happened at Clayman's castle, she had proven that she was capable of fighting.

"It's fine. As long as you're careful, you can go." said Rimuru with a smile.

"Thank you." said Shuna.

"You take it easy, Lord Rimuru. We won't let anything happen to her." said Souei.

"Then, it's all said and done. At dawn we will leave and attack them." said Rimuru.

"Yes!" they all shouted in unison.