The last smear of sunset on the horizon clung stubbornly to the treetops, dyeing the Worth Woodsea a heavy, dark red.
Behind Shane, his dragon wings drew in slightly, adjusting the airflow as he lowered their altitude again.
He loosened the arm around Ultear's waist and pointed at the open stretch below. "Look down there."
Ultear didn't understand, but followed his gesture and looked.
Her eyesight wasn't freakish like Shane's, but from this height she could still make out the figures on the ground.
That signature blue hair made her recognize him immediately.
"Jellal?" There was real surprise in her voice. "What's he doing here? And… he's with a little girl?"
That was exactly what puzzled Shane too.
By all rights, Jellal should've been busy teaching Wally and Sho magic at the Tower of Heaven. Why would he have the time to wander off into the wilderness with a child?
"No idea." Shane shook his head. "We'll know once we land and say hi."
Then, as if remembering something, he added, "He's probably still on guard around you because of what happened before. Try not to talk—let me handle it."
"…Okay."
Ultear pressed her lips together. She knew full well that, after she'd manipulated him before, Jellal's opinion of her was rock-bottom. She really wasn't the right person to step forward.
Shane didn't hesitate any longer.
He folded his wings and slid down like a falling leaf, landing steadily a short distance from them.
"Yo, Jellal. What are you doing out here?"
Shane wore his usual lazy smile as he spoke, and his curiosity immediately shifted to the small figure near Jellal.
The child looked six or seven at most—a blue-haired girl. She was stumbling along, visibly exhausted, but still trying her hardest to keep up.
Jellal had been thinking about something. When the voice came out of nowhere, he froze, confused: why would someone recognize him out here, in the middle of nowhere? And that voice… why did it sound familiar?
He turned instinctively.
What he saw was Shane's slightly delicate, slack-lidded face.
And—
Those jet-black dragon wings unfurled behind him, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
In an instant, Jellal's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
The relaxed tension in his body snapped tight like a drawn bowstring.
"Shane! What are you doing here?!"
He stared at Shane, his voice full of disbelieving shock—and underneath it, a thread of… fear.
Shane blinked at the overreaction and scratched his cheek. "What kind of question is that? I'm out on a job with Ultear. You're the one who's weird—why are you out here—"
As he spoke, he noticed Jellal's near-panicked wariness.
Shane misunderstood. He thought Jellal was freaking out because he'd spotted Ultear.
"Relax. You don't need to be nervous."
He released his hold, letting the black-haired girl drop to the ground and stand on her own. Then he waved casually. "Ultear's fine now—she's already—"
"Skyscraper!"
A shout—sharp with terror and bone-deep hatred—exploded from Jellal's throat, cutting Shane off.
Jellal moved fast, no hesitation at all. He yanked a strange-looking staff from behind his back and thrust the tip straight at Shane.
Hummm—
Magic surged. The ground beneath Shane's feet rippled and warped like boiling water.
Then a massive, pale, glowing cube—like a skyscraper erupting from the earth—
shot upward with a roar.
And yet, standing at the very center of that terrifying spell, Shane acted as if he hadn't noticed anything happening at all.
He just stood there, even tilting his head slightly, staring at Jellal in utter confusion—as if he couldn't figure out what the hell Jellal was doing.
"You're not dodging?!"
Watching the pillar of light about to swallow Shane while the idiot just stood there spacing out, Ultear cursed inwardly.
No time to think.
She lunged forward on pure instinct and drove her foot into Shane's waist.
Bam!
Shane had been completely unprepared for Ultear. He went flying several meters, kicked clear of the spell's range.
And in the next instant, Ultear—who'd taken his place—
was struck dead-on by the pillar of light that blasted skyward.
"Ugh!"
She didn't scream, but Shane saw it clearly: her body went rigid, and pain twisted across her face.
"You—"
Shane finally snapped out of it.
Jellal had attacked?
He couldn't understand why the usually steady, careful Jellal would launch a strike without listening to a single explanation.
"Hey, Jellal!" Shane frowned, his voice dropping. "What's wrong with you? You're acting weird."
"Run! Wendy!"
Shane still didn't get to finish.
Jellal either didn't hear him—or refused to.
The moment he released his magic, he grabbed the small blue-haired girl at his feet, and with all his strength, hurled her toward the distant woods like he was throwing a sandbag.
"Illusion magic doesn't work on Shane! I don't know how long I can hold him off! Run! Don't look back!"
"Illusion magic?"
Shane caught that phrase instantly. His frown deepened.
So that was why Ultear had kicked him away—because what they were seeing wasn't the same.
Right now, Shane was in his Lancer state: his mind was crystal-clear, and normal illusions couldn't interfere with his senses at all.
But that only made things more wrong.
Even if it was an illusion, why would Jellal attack with both Shane and Ultear inside the blast radius? And—
"Hold me off? Why would you be holding me off?"
Shane's confusion spiked.
To figure out what was going on—and to keep the girl from getting hurt—he didn't hesitate.
Whoosh!
His black dragon wings snapped once.
Shane vanished from where he stood.
In the next heartbeat, he appeared along the girl's flight path and caught her cleanly, steadying her before she could hit the ground.
"Let Wendy go, you evil dragon!"
Jellal's shriek came from behind him—hysterical, furious, desperate.
Shane blinked, pointed at himself, and looked utterly lost. "Me? Evil dragon?"
He glanced at the little girl in his arms, then at Jellal—eyes bloodshot, looking like he was ready to die just to take Shane down—and something finally clicked.
This idiot…
"Wait," Shane said, his tone turning strange. "You're not targeting Ultear… you're targeting me, aren't you?"
~~~
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