Natsu complained, "We can't smash our way in, and we can't rush through, so what should we do?"
"Since it's an illusion that disorients us inside, then..."
Buzz...
The ground lightly shook, and a purple light shot through the illusion into the sky.
"It's this!" Hapi said, "This is the light we saw!"
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!"
Erza lightly leaped up, floating mid-air, with dozens of weapons appearing behind her.
She swung her hand forcefully, and various weapons flew into the Illusion Magic Array, embedding into the ground, marking a bizarre, winding path.
Erza finished Rhode's unspoken words, "Then make markers before our sense of direction is affected by the illusion."
Hapi said, "But Erza, you drew a curve."
"No, I'm sure I drew a straight line, one step, one weapon," Erza said with an indisputable tone,
"From now on, don't trust your eyes, ears, and nose. Follow the sequence of swords, spears, axes, staffs, and halberds, and you'll naturally arrive."
"Oh!!!" Natsu fully trusted Erza's judgment and charged in after he spoke.
In the eyes of others, Natsu's figure seemed ghostly and unpredictable, circling around several times before stopping, and disappearing when he took another step.
"It's feasible. Let's go too."
"Aye!"
Actually, Rhode had another plan to dig underground, but because he wasn't sure how the seal inside was arranged, he worried about breaking it by accident.
They followed Erza's weapons into the Illusion Magic Array.
After dozens of steps, the scene before them suddenly changed. A rock mountain as tall as a ten-story building appeared abruptly.
Complex golden techniques were inscribed on the mountain, but more than half had turned purple, and the purple was slowly eroding the rest.
A thin crack appeared on the rock mountain, and purple-black light seeped out from the crack.
Hapi was startled, "Is the seal about to collapse?"
"It doesn't look like it can last much longer," Erza said seriously, "We must notify the Advisory Council to come and repair it quickly."
"What trouble," Rhode hoped this thing would collapse slowly, otherwise, they'd be guilty by association being here when it did.
Being there when the seal collapsed was like jumping into a river and not being able to wash away the guilt.
Only Natsu looked excited, "Why notify those guys? Just beat up the demon, and that's it, hahaha, hey! You inside, come out quickly!"
Rhode said with a headache, "Stop messing around, the demons in Jellal's Book can easily destroy towns, it's no joke to let him break the seal."
He still had one question. The last time he visited, the summoning ritual shouldn't have been performed yet, and the council made this seal just in case.
So, why now was there a bare seal with no sacrifices or summoner, and the demon seemed about to break out at any moment?
"Be careful!" Erza warned.
Perhaps due to Natsu's jinxing words, the golden techniques suddenly crumbled into scattered starlight.
Cracks on the rock mountain became more pronounced as a cracking sound resonated, and stones tumbled down, falling into crevices.
"Summon, Crimson Marked Tree Monster, Crown of Embers!"
Rhode applied red buff to Erza and Natsu before the rock mountain completely split open, "Since the seal is broken anyway, let's hit it hard now."
"What's this?" Natsu curiously looked at the red stream of light around him, then gave an accusing look, exclaiming,
"Isn't this the magic the President used when he hit me? You used it too last time!"
"Ahem..." Rhode felt a little embarrassed, "We'll discuss this later. For now, let's deal with the trouble in front of us."
"Requip: Morning Star Armor!"
Erza wasn't as talkative as Natsu, having already spotted a demon horn,
"Starlight Particle Sword!"
The twin swords in Erza's hands emitted golden light with electric currents, resembling giant light cannons shooting toward the demon horn in the crevice.
The three red streams around her transformed into flames, adhering to the attack.
Based on her previous battle experience with Mira, using light attribute attacks against demons would be more effective.
"How sneaky, Erza, you took the initiative!" Natsu complained before taking a deep breath, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The flames Natsu spewed were also covered in an extra layer of red fire, crashing with the breath into the crevice.
Boom! Boom!
"Roar~~~~"
As explosions thundered, mingled with the demon's roar, the rock mountain, which had only cracked a seam, collapsed with a rumble, burying the demon trying to crawl out.
The ground nearby trembled, strong winds blew from the center of the attack, and the valley temporarily lit up as bright as day.
"Aye~" Hapi grasped Natsu's scarf with both hands, swaying with it in the wind, nearly blown away, "So strong! This should succeed now, right?"
Rhode glanced at him and unnecessarily said, "Charge!"
The Tree Monster, under Rhode's command, rushed toward the collapsed rock mountain. If the demon wasn't dead, it would strike again; even if dead, it would give another hit.
However, things obviously weren't going that smoothly. A gigantic figure suddenly rose from the rubble, sending countless debris shooting in all directions.
The Tree Monster slapped the ground, rapidly growing and weaving over a dozen vines into a large net to intercept the large stones.
Erza swung her swords frequently, smashing the rocks that slipped through the netting.
It was only now that they could clearly see the demon's form, standing nearly ten meters tall.
The seemingly powerful Crimson Marked Tree Monster was merely equivalent to a large-sized dog in its presence.
This giant had a single horn, a mouth full of fangs, large ears, a snorting nose, strong limbs, and a huge belly.
This was the Cannibal Demon from Jellal's Book—Canopus.
The demon's head bore some burn marks, with a grim scar across its face.
But relative to its body size, such wounds seemed insignificant.
Erza's face turned grave, "Taking such an attack without any defense, and it's only lightly injured?"
The demon's scarlet eyes examined the people before it, bellowing as it smacked the conspicuous Tree Monster.
The Tree Monster showed no fear, roaring as it clawed back.
A cracking sound followed as the Tree Monster's entire right front leg was shattered, while three bloody scratches appeared in Canopus's palm.
Rhode's expression turned sour, "This guy seems quite strong."
Last time, even Baggs's full-force attack only left a pit in the Tree Monster's palm, but now a slap wasted an entire leg.
This thing's attack power alone had already surpassed an ordinary S-Class Magical Beast, right?