After accepting the mission to unfreeze Sun Village from Warrod, Kenichi, Erza, and the others boarded the magic airship and headed towards Sun Village.
Soon, a village surrounded by forest appeared in their field of vision.
However, the entire village was already covered by a thick layer of ice.
Everything in the village had become ice sculptures.
"Is this Sun Village?"
"Everything is frozen solid!"
Erza and Wendy, standing at the edge of the magic airship, looked down at the frozen village and spoke with heavy expressions.
"Let's go down and take a look first!"
After saying this to Erza and the others, Kenichi leaped down towards the frozen Sun Village below.
Immediately after, Erza, Mirajane, Wendy, and the others followed.
Gray crouched down, placed his palm on the thick layer of ice, and then activated his ice-based magical power.
It seemed he was trying to melt this ice.
But after activating his ice magic, the thick ice showed no signs of melting.
"It's no use. This ice contains a very terrifying magical power. My magic can't melt this ice!!"
As he spoke, Gray looked at Kenichi.
Before Kenichi could speak, Natsu said excitedly: "Let me try!"
With that, crimson-red flames rose around Natsu's body.
Under Natsu's control, the crimson-red flames turned into a sea of fire that spread out in all directions.
Although Natsu's flames were overwhelming, after roasting the ice for a long time, the ice remained completely motionless, showing no signs of melting.
"What kind of ice is this? Even my flames can't melt it!"
Natsu withdrew his magical power and exclaimed in amazement.
"Didn't the old man say before we came? This ice even froze the Eternal Flame!"
Hearing Natsu, Erza casually remarked, then looked at Kenichi and asked: "Kenichi!"
Although Erza didn't say more, Kenichi knew Erza wanted to ask: 'Can you melt this ice?'
"Of course!"
Although the ice from the Ice Devil Slayer Magic was indeed quite powerful, to Kenichi, it was nothing.
After replying to Erza, Kenichi used Fire Dragon God Power.
Bzzzt-
The moment Kenichi used Fire Dragon God Power, a very dense crimson-red flame appeared around him.
The instant this Fire Dragon God's flame appeared, the temperature of the surrounding air rose sharply.
"So hot!"
After exclaiming, Wendy, along with Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, and Gray, all retreated away from Kenichi.
At the same time, Erza, Mirajane, and the others happily discovered that the thick ice beneath Kenichi's feet had already begun to melt.
"Look, the ice is melting!"
Looking at the melting ice, Wendy said joyfully.
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the ice that had frozen the entire Sun Village began to melt in a ring-shaped pattern spreading out from Kenichi as the center.
Soon…
The frozen trees were unfrozen.
The people turned into ice sculptures were restored.
The thick ice covering the entire Sun Village disappeared.
…
While Kenichi was melting the ice outside Sun Village, inside the village, there were three treasure hunters.
Originally, they intended to steal Sun Village's Eternal Flame.
But when they arrived at Sun Village, they found the Eternal Flame had already been frozen solid by ice.
To melt the ice freezing the Eternal Flame, they brought Moon Drip, which could dissolve any magic.
But before they could use the Moon Drip on the ice, they were shocked to discover the thick ice on the ground was melting at a terrifying speed.
"Look, the ice is melting!"
"What's going on?"
"Who cares what's happening? We're here for the Eternal Flame. Now that the ice is melting, it's even better for us!"
With that, the three treasure hunters rushed towards the altar where the Eternal Flame was located.
When these three treasure hunters reached near the altar, they found two people standing at the base of the altar, one man and one woman.
The man had a burly build and possessed fangs like a demon's.
The woman had her hair in a long ponytail.
"Who are you people?"
"Are you also here to steal the Eternal Flame?"
The three treasure hunters shouted warily at the two people ahead, but the two acted as if they didn't see them.
"Hey, rookie, time to get to work!"
The burly man glanced at the three treasure hunters, then called out to the woman with the long ponytail.
"Don't call me rookie, call me young lady!"
The woman retorted to the burly man with displeased expression, then stretched out her palm towards the three treasure hunters.
Ah-
In the next second, screams of agony resounded throughout Sun Village.
While these three treasure hunters didn't know who the two people standing at the base of the altar were, Kenichi knew.
Hearing the screams, Kenichi, Erza, and the others immediately rushed over from outside Sun Village.
Soon, Kenichi, Erza, and the others saw the two people standing at the base of the altar.
"Minerva?!"
Erza looked at the woman with the long twin ponytails and said in surprise.
That's right, the woman now in the sight of Kenichi, Erza, and the others was indeed Minerva, the Young Lady of Sabertooth.
However, this Minerva had already joined a dark guild.
The burly man standing beside Minerva was named Doriate.
He was a demon modified by the Tartaros Guild.
Kenichi came to Sun Village primarily for this demon.
Looking at Doriate, Kenichi's expression shifted slightly.
While Kenichi, Erza, and the others were looking at Minerva and Doriate, Minerva was also looking at Kenichi and the others with surprise.
"I never expected to meet you here!"
Minerva looked at Kenichi with a complex expression.
If it were before, Minerva would have been very composed when facing Kenichi, Erza, and the others.
But after fighting Kenichi during the Grand Magic Games, she knew that Kenichi was someone she couldn't afford to provoke.
Even though she really didn't want to admit it, that was the fact.
"You know them?"
Doriate, hearing Erza and Minerva's words, casually asked.
"They're from Fairy Tail!"
"Never heard of them. Let's finish them off!"
"These people aren't weak!"
"Then I'll deal with these guys myself!"
As he spoke, Doriate stepped forward and walked towards Kenichi, Erza, and the others.