"Aaaah—!"
Levy's scream startled everyone in the restaurant.
Ankh immediately shot to his feet and turned around. The moment he saw what was standing in front of her, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Ichiya?!"
He stared at Jet and Droy in horror.
One Ichiya face was already an assault on the eyes.
Seeing two of them at once nearly made Wendy burst into tears, while Juvia looked physically ill.
"What the hell is this…?"
Ankh instinctively moved Erza and Mirajane behind him. Both women wore expressions of complete despair.
Honestly, this was far more terrifying than any powerful enemy.
"No! Stay away!"
Jet and Droy closed in around the pale, trembling Levy.
Ankh snapped out of his shock and rushed toward them, but before he could get close, he spaused and retreated even faster than he had advanced.
Because he had just watched Jet and Droy lean in and sniff Levy—
And her adorable face instantly transformed into Ichiya's!
"Anyone who smells them turns into Ichiya?" Ankh muttered in alarm. "What is this, some kind of virus?"
What godforsaken monster had released something like this?
Ankh would rather lose an arm and fight world-ending monsters like Zous or the Black Dragon than keep subjecting his eyes to this nightmare.
Before long, he noticed more and more people gathering around them.
No matter where he looked, all he saw was that same magnificent face—one so beautiful it somehow triggered the body's natural urge to vomit.
"You girls get out of here. I'll—"
Before Ankh could tell them to retreat, a small black blur suddenly shot toward him.
No, wait...
That was Yajima-san, who had also transformed into Ichiya!
Ankh reacted instantly, manipulating gravity to slap the little old man across the room.
He then created a repulsion field around the group, holding back the swarm of infected Ichiyas rushing toward them.
Only then did everyone finally get a chance to breathe. Without even discussing it, they all crowded closer to Ankh, who currently looked like the safest person in Magnolia.
Carla stared hopelessly at the sea of Ichiya faces packed outside the barrier.
"What in the world happened…?"
"They all look like Ichiya," Erza said through clenched teeth. "No matter how you look at it, he has something to do with this."
At the mention of Ichiya, Erza's hatred became almost tangible.
Mirajane, meanwhile, looked anxiously toward the guild.
"I hope Lisanna and the others are all right…"
"We'll find out soon enough."
Ankh kept the repulsion field active and forced a path through the tightly packed infected crowd toward the guild.
Along the way, they witnessed every possible variety of Ichiya imaginable.
Different heights, different bodies, different clothes—
The same face.
By the time they reached the guild, any remaining hope in their hearts was crushed.
Bisca-Ichiya and Alzack-Ichiya were kissing in front of the building.
Beside them, tiny Asuka-Ichiya kept chirping, "Meeeen~" over and over.
Lisanna and Elfman looked like something from a cursed comedy sketch, while Cana hugged a barrel of alcohol and bellowed like a bull with Ichiya's face.
"Lisanna…"
Seeing what had happened to her younger siblings, Mirajane nearly broke down in grief. Erza placed a hand on her shoulder and comforted her with equal sorrow.
Anyone watching would have thought the two siblings were dead.
"Gray-sama!"
Juvia suddenly spotted a perfectly normal Gray nearby and cried out in delight.
She immediately rushed toward him, desperate to cleanse her eyes with the sight of Gray-sama's handsome face.
Then Gray suddenly embraced her, his features seamlessly transformed into Ichiya's.
Juvia fainted on the spot.
Then Juvia turned into Ichiya too!
Another comrade had fallen!
Everyone silently mourned her loss.
Then something even worse appeared.
Ichiya-Laxus stepped into view!
His normally proud and intimidating face had been replaced by a biological weapon, and he charged toward Ankh's "safe zone" surrounded by crackling lightning.
Ankh hurriedly lifted the others into the air, then rushed forward to stop Ichiya-Laxus from pursuing them.
Before going in, he wrapped himself in several dense layers of life divine power from head to toe.
Just as he expected, he did not transform.
Ankh had been fairly confident that the infection would not affect him in the first place.
But after seeing Ichiya's face, who would be willing to gamble?
Imagine there was a spell with a ninety-nine-percent success rate of purifying feces into rice.
Even if you were not hungry, would you ever choose to use that spell to cook dinner?
Ankh certainly would not.
The risk might be tiny, but what if it failed?
After becoming Ichiya, the infected seemed to move far more slowly than usual. Even Laxus was no exception.
After exchanging several blows with him, Ankh found an opening and punched him away, then tore through the crowd of infected blocking the guild hall.
The entire building had descended into chaos.
Then a burst of fire erupted in the distance.
"Ankh!"
Natsu's voice rang out.
Ankh turned and saw him charging over with complete confidence.
"I figured out their weakness!"
"Deodorizing Lacrimas! We just need to get rid of the smell on them!"
Romeo had managed to pass that information to Natsu and Lucy before his own "sacrifice."
Natsu had not let him down and had immediately rushed toward the guild, where the deodorizing Lacrimas were stored.
"So that's it…"
Ankh quickly looked toward the counter and spotted a perfume-bottle-shaped deodorizing Lacrima.
He forced his way through the dense crowd, snatched it up, and sprayed it directly into Laxus's face.
A moment later, Laxus touched his restored features in confusion.
"What happened?"
Looking at that deeply familiar face, Ankh was overcome with emotion.
"Laxus, this is the first time in my life I've thought you looked unbelievably handsome."
Laxus stared at him.
"...What?"
Ankh had no time to explain the nightmare to someone who had no idea what was happening.
He and Natsu each grabbed a deodorizing sprayer and charged straight into the approaching Ichiya army.
What followed was a battle filled with screaming, wailing, and far too many cries of "Meeeen~"
By evening, the so-called Ichiya Outbreak had finally come to an end, and the people of Magnolia had all regained their original faces.
Afterward, nearly every victim was said to have suffered some degree of psychological trauma.
Those who had never been infected recovered more easily. Their main problem was the memory of an entire city filled with Ichiya faces, which felt like a glimpse into hell itself.
A few days of waking up covered in goosebumps was enough for most of them to recover.
The infected had it much worse.
Laxus locked himself at home and lay in bed for three days.
Levy fell into such deep despair that she kept muttering that no one would ever marry her now.
Juvia fainted every time she saw Gray's face.
For a while, the guild hall, normally packed with people, became eerily quiet. No one dared look directly at anyone else.
As for Ichiya's Handsome Man Perfume, the Magic Council officially classified it as a highest-level prohibited substance.
Ichiya himself was arrested and thrown into prison alongside it. He probably would not be coming out for quite some time.
Ankh looked around at the guild members' many different faces and shuddered as the memories returned.
The Ichiya Virus truly was terrifying!