Onibus Station.
The group—four people and one Exceed—stepped naturally off the train.
Erza and Lucy went to collect the luggage, while Happy followed closely behind Noel.
"Is Eisenwald still in this city?" Noel asked with concern.
"No idea. We're just about to begin investigating," Erza replied, shaking her head.
"Well, that's going to be troublesome…" Noel muttered, feeling uneasy.
As Happy sat atop the luggage rack, something suddenly seemed off.
"Where's Natsu?!"
Everyone froze in place.
"Wait... did he not get off the train?"
"We were too busy talking… we completely forgot!" Lucy exclaimed.
The group immediately turned back and rushed toward the train—after all, Natsu's combat power on a train was essentially zero.
"Choo... choo..." The train roared as it began to pull away from the station.
"It's leaving!" Happy waved toward the retreating train, as if bidding Natsu farewell.
"Should we chase the train?" Happy suddenly suggested.
"How would that even work?!" Lucy snapped.
"And that kind of idea is something only Natsu would come up with!"
After a moment of thought, Erza sprang into action. The rest of the group followed as she headed for the central control room of Onibus Station. Without hesitation, she pulled the emergency stop lever.
"You're putting me in a tough position. That lever isn't meant to be pulled casually," said a man in a blue uniform—clearly a station employee.
But Erza didn't move. She kept a firm grip on the lever, unmoved by his scolding.
"This is for a comrade. Please understand," she said calmly.
"Please don't say such unreasonable things…" the worker replied, sweating awkwardly. He had never dealt with a passenger like this before.
"Could you please take my luggage to the hotel?" Erza asked politely.
"…Why me? Why should I carry your luggage to the hotel?" the worker said in disbelief.
"Typical Fairy Tail…" Lucy muttered, embarrassed.
"Don't lump me in with them!" Noel protested.
"Me neither," Gray added—while casually stripping off his clothes.
"…Where are your clothes?" Lucy asked, exasperated.
"This is a public area. Be careful or the guards will arrest you," Noel added dryly.
"It's just a habit..." Gray quickly put his clothes back on.
Meanwhile, Erza and the station worker were still locked in a standoff. Noel stepped forward to try and mediate.
"I sincerely apologize for causing you trouble," Noel said respectfully.
"…Your apology is appreciated. But the most important thing now is to get the train moving again—we can't delay the other passengers!" the worker said, clearly relieved to find someone reasonable.
"Could we ask you to wait just a bit longer? We really have something urgent to deal with in this city. Please," Noel said.
"Well…" the man hesitated. This wasn't something he could decide on his own.
"I can't say too much, but… this matter involves people's lives."
Before Noel could finish, the man nodded quickly.
"All right! But only a few more minutes. No more than that."
"Thank you so much."
After resolving the issue, the group rented a Magic Vehicle and raced down the tracks beside the train route.
In the distance, they could already see the train, which hadn't yet left the station.
Once the train came into view, Erza stepped on the gas.
Thick black smoke began billowing from the train's chimney—it looked like it was about to start moving.
Then—something flew out of the train and crashed.
THUD!
Natsu and Gray slammed into each other head-first and collapsed to the ground.
"Ow, that hurt!" both of them groaned as they rubbed their heads.
Erza stopped the vehicle and immediately checked their condition. Fortunately, they only had minor bruises.
"That really hurt! Do you even realize what you did?" Gray complained.
"Shut up! You guys left me behind!" Natsu shouted angrily.
"Sorry. But I'm glad you're not hurt," Erza said sincerely.
"It's fine. No need to make a big deal out of it," Noel added, trying to defuse the tension.
Natsu didn't seem too mad. He began animatedly describing what had happened to him on the train.
"It wasn't nothing! I ran into some weird guy!"
"Weird guy?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Yeah! It was the same guy from the forest last time—the one who tried to kidnap and eat Happy! He escaped back then, but now he's back. Said he was from Eisenwald."
The moment Erza heard Eisenwald, her body tensed up.
She slapped Natsu hard across the face.
"You idiot! Eisenwald is exactly who we're after! Why did you just let him get away again?!"
"I don't remember you ever telling me that…" Natsu mumbled, totally confused.
"I just explained it earlier! You better start paying attention when I'm talking!" Erza barked, hands on her hips.
Noel recalled that Natsu had been knocked out cold on the train earlier… so, missing that info wasn't exactly his fault.
"What a powerhouse," Lucy muttered.
"Right?" Noel agreed.
"That's Erza for you," Happy added proudly.
After hearing the update, Erza quickly got back into the driver's seat and started recalibrating the Magic Vehicle. The others chatted nearby.
"Natsu, did that guy have any distinct features?" Noel asked.
"Hmm... not really," Natsu said, thinking. "Oh, wait—he had a staff. It looked like a skeleton with three eyes."
"A three-eyed skeleton…" Noel repeated thoughtfully.
"That's seriously messed up," Gray muttered.
But Lucy's expression changed—something clicked.
"I've heard of that staff. It's called Lullaby. A cursed melody. A death magic."
She spoke a string of ominous words that left the group silent.
"What did you say?" Erza asked, interest piqued.
"A cursed melody… You mean a Death Song?" Noel asked, his memory stirring.
Lucy nodded.
"There's a forbidden magic called Death Curse, right?"
"That's right," Erza said seriously.
"It's a dark magic that targets a specific person and destroys their life force. Lullaby is even worse."
"I remember now," Noel added.
"That flute was originally just a conduit for Death Curse spells. But Zeref transformed it into something far more powerful—a demonic flute."
"It's said that anyone who hears its melody will have their soul devoured by the flute," he continued.
"It's an extremely dangerous, large-scale group death curse—Lullaby."
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