"Yep. According to the mission details and the info Gramps and I pulled, this is definitely the last place the Demon Sitri was sighted." Noah pulled out the request form and double-checked it with his Archive, speaking with certainty.
Hearing this, Sorano couldn't help but complain, "Don't they have any better intel than this? Searching everywhere is a huge pain."
"You have to sympathize with the informants," Noah replied. "They aren't strong enough. If they got too close to Sitri, they'd be killed. So, it's up to us to do the hard part and gather information. Let's split up and search. We'll meet back here in one hour."
Ultear and the others nodded. Sorano was just grumbling, anyway.
The five of them quickly spread out. An hour later, they regrouped. After gathering all their findings, Noah fed the data into his Archive. It calculated the Demon Sitri's most likely direction of travel. They boarded the carriage again and set off in that direction.
After traveling for a long time, the scenery began to change.
"It's getting much more forested," Ultear observed, looking out the window. "And more remote."
Noah opened his Archive to check the map. "There's a large valley and forest system up ahead," he told them. "If I'm not mistaken, that's where we'll find it."
Ultear let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness it's not near an inhabited area. Fighting it while trying to save people would have been a nightmare."
The other three nodded. Out here in the wilderness, they could cut loose and fight without holding back.
They continued on for a while longer until a range of rolling mountains came into view. Noah stopped the carriage, and they all disembarked. They were close to the valley now. If Sitri was here, continuing by carriage would be too loud.
He stored the carriage, and the five of them proceeded on foot, moving quickly toward the valley.
They soon reached one of the peaks overlooking the valley and peered inside. A vast, lush forest of towering trees filled the valley below, looking deceptively beautiful. But they quickly noticed something was wrong.
"There are almost no birds," Erza said, her eyes scanning the forest floor. "A powerful creature is nesting here."
Mirajane continued, "And if I'm not mistaken, the Demon Sitri is right there." She pointed to a clearing in the middle of the forest where the trees were sparse. The others nodded in agreement.
"Then let's move in," Ultear said. "Keep quiet. We don't want to alert it."
They all muffled their movements and advanced quickly. Noah hung back, letting them take the lead. As he'd promised, this first attempt was theirs. He wouldn't interfere.
They grew closer to the clearing, their movements becoming so silent they were almost nonexistent. Reaching the edge, they saw it: a massive monster, lying on the ground. They dared not go any closer.
The demon's most obvious features were two enormous, golden, curved horns and lethally sharp claws. It was humanoid, deep blue, and easily twenty or thirty meters tall. Its eyes were closed, its chest rising and falling slowly. It was asleep.
A flash of excitement crossed their faces. This was the perfect chance for a surprise attack. They had no intention of honorably waking it for a "fair fight." This was a subjugation, and the target was clearly stronger than all four of them combined. Waking it would be irresponsible. Even with Noah as a safety net, they wanted to prove they could handle this.
They exchanged a look, used a few hand signals, and got into position. They were already prepared—Erza was armored, Mirajane was in her Satan Soul form, and Sorano had her angel summoned.
Ultear held up three fingers, counting down. They all began to gather their magic.
Two... One!
They unleashed their attacks simultaneously, four powerful streams of magic blasting toward the sleeping demon.
"Ice-Make: Rosen Krone!"
"Thunder Empress's Spear!"
"Soul Extinctor!"
"Angel of Victory!"
The four attacks rocketed toward Sitri.
The demon was jolted awake by the surge of magic. Its eyes snapped open, and it scrambled to get up, but it was too late. Just as it got to its feet, the attacks slammed into its body.
BOOM!
A massive explosion shook the valley, throwing up a colossal cloud of smoke and dust. The shockwave flattened the surrounding trees and even pushed the four girls back several steps.
They stared intently at the blast zone, desperate to see the results of their ambush.
A gust of wind cleared the smoke. The Demon Sitri was still standing, its arms crossed to protect its face. It was wounded, with blood streaming from several gashes.
But the girls' expressions turned grim. The wounds weren't deep, and as they watched, the gashes were already closing. The bleeding stopped.
It lowered its arms, its face a mask of pure rage. The attack had hurt it. It opened its massive maw, revealing its fangs, and let out a deafening roar.
"ROOOAR!"
The sound was so loud it made their ears ring. They retreated a few more steps, shaking their heads to clear them.
"Requip: Black-Wing Armor!"
Erza switched armors and took to the air alongside Mirajane, diving at the demon with swords and dark-powered fists. On the ground, Ultear unleashed a barrage of Ice-Make spells, creating a stampede of ice animals to attack it. Sorano commanded her Angel of Sunlight, which circled the battlefield, firing beams of light at the demon.
~~~
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