"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Nate chuckled awkwardly. "I volunteered to fight the Oración Seis. Shouldn't you all be impressed?"
Wakaba took a deep drag from his cigarette and replied sarcastically, "Nate! You actually 'want' to work..."
Nate's reputation for slacking off in the guild was well-known. Hearing him volunteer was almost unbelievable.
'Do they really see me that way?' Nate wondered, feeling a bit speechless. 'Have I really been that obvious about slacking off?'
Mirajane covered her mouth as she laughed. "Are you serious about going?"
"Of course. I'll handle the Oración Seis," Nate said seriously. "Plus, I just finished a new feature—perfect timing for a field test."
'Broadcasting the takedown of the Oración Seis will definitely draw a crowd,' Nate thought. Even ordinary people would be interested in something this exciting.
The group finally realized Nate wasn't joking.
"I'm going too," Ultear suddenly said, catching everyone's attention. "I have a personal grudge against one of the members of the Oración Seis. Master Makarov, you won't mind if I mix business with personal matters, will you?"
Makarov wasn't aware of the grudge Ultear mentioned, but he was glad to have her join. "Just the two of you..."
Then, Meredy softly added, "If Ultear's going, I'll go too."
Makarov corrected himself, "Alright, three of you..."
"I'm in too!" Natsu shouted, clenching his fists in excitement. "With me and Nate, that's all we need!"
"Wait, it's not as simple as you think," Makarov responded. He wasn't surprised by Natsu's eagerness, but Nate volunteering had thrown off his plan.
After thinking it over, Makarov realized that having Nate, Ultear, and Meredy on board made things easier. And if Natsu joined, they had a solid team.
"That should work," Makarov finally said. "But this won't be just our guild. Going after the Oración Seis with only Fairy Tail would make us a target for the Balam Alliance in the future."
"That's why the local guild alliance decided to form a joint force," he continued. "Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cait Shelter will join forces to take down the Oración Seis!"
This strategy was meant to spread the risk, but Nate thought it was unnecessary. With Fairy Tail's reputation, combining with other guilds wouldn't change much.
Lucy, still new to the magic world, was shocked. "We need four guilds to take down six people?"
Mirajane shook her head. "Think of it the other way, Lucy. Just six people make up one of the three most powerful dark guilds in the Balam Alliance. That means each of them must be incredibly strong."
Lucy glanced at Nate, then at Ultear and Meredy. The other newbies were going, so as a fellow newcomer, she felt she should go too—but the thought scared her a bit.
'No, no,' Lucy told herself. 'If I stay close to Nate, he'll protect me!'
She raised her hand, but before she could speak, Juvia beat her to it. "Juvia wants to go too!"
With that, Lucy had no choice but to raise her hand as well. "I'll go too..."
Makarov, however, shook his head. "Only Nate, Ultear, Meredy, and Natsu will go."
Juvia looked devastated, regretting not being the first to raise her hand. She glanced at Nate, her eyes full of tears.
Nate thought for a moment and said, "Master, I just finished developing a new feature last night. Everyone can watch us take down the Oración Seis through the Magic Net."
He briefly explained the new [Live Stream] feature and shared the stream's link through the guild's chat group.
Everyone was used to Nate's frequent updates, so the idea of a live broadcast didn't surprise them too much. It sounded like a version of communication magic crystals.
---
With the team decided, the four prepared to set off.
Well, four people and one Exceed.
Happy, who was always with Natsu, naturally tagged along.
"Our meeting place is at Blue Pegasus Guild Master Bob's villa," Nate said as they left the guild. He opened the live stream while speaking to the others. "It's a bit far. No direct train, so we'll need to rent a carriage."
If it were just Ultear, Nate could've flown her on Obsidian. But with four people and a cat, his magic transport wouldn't be enough.
"The meetup is three days from now, so there's no rush. We can take our time."
Nate turned to the live stream, where his upper body appeared on-screen.
He waved at the camera and smiled. "Hey, everyone! Can you see me?"
After a pause, he pointed down. "At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a 'comment' function. I can see the messages you send."
Within seconds, comments began flooding the screen.
Gotta Earn Money: "Whoa! This feature is so cool!"
Knight: "I see how this works. Nate, can you see this?"
Sunny Doll: "Nate-sama! Nate-sama~"
Nate nodded. "Yup, I can see it all. But if there are too many comments..."
As he spoke, the screen filled with even more comments.
Wakaba: "This is such a fun feature. I thought it was just a magic crystal communication thing at first."
Laxus: "Nate! You promised we'd have a rematch when the full version of Magic Arena was released!"
Huh? Laxus was watching the stream too? Wasn't he out of the guild?
'Must've seen it in the group chat,' Nate thought. 'This guy's always lurking!'
He waved dismissively at the screen. "Next time, for sure."
Ultear and Natsu both leaned into the frame from either side of Nate.
"This is fun," Ultear said, waving at the screen.
"We can only see ourselves though," Natsu grumbled, poking at the screen, his finger passing right through. Then he grinned mischievously. "Hey, Nate, can I live stream too?"
"Not yet. The trial version is still unstable," Nate replied, shaking his head. 'Besides, letting you stream would split the audience. Maybe later.'
"Anyway, we're setting off. I'll stream again when we reach the meeting point. See you then!"
After saying their goodbyes, Nate closed the live stream.
The group rented a carriage and set off for the rendezvous point.
Nate didn't hold back and rented the best carriage available. It was spacious, smooth, and comfortable.
He sat next to Natsu, while Ultear and Meredy sat across from them.
As soon as the carriage moved, Natsu turned green.
"I'm gonna be sick..."
"I'll help you out." Nate smiled and knocked Natsu out with a punch to the gut.
At that moment, all their rings flashed with white light.
Opening the Magic Net, they saw it was an invitation.
["Against Oración Seis Allied Force" invites you to join. Accept?]
Nate clicked accept, and the group chat appeared.
Young and Handsome (Bob): "Has everyone from Fairy Tail joined?"
Sigma Man joined the chat.
Witch of Pain joined the chat.
Maguilty Sense joined the chat.
Happy joined the chat.
Jenny Realight: "Nate!!"
Jenny Realight: "Why didn't you reply to my message!! Angry face.jpg"
Ultear blinked and looked at Nate, her eyes silently asking a question:
'Another one?'
"No!" Nate quickly denied. "I don't even know who she is."
'Wait, who was that again?' Oh, right, it was Mira's friend—Blue Pegasus' poster girl...