After transforming into light, it didn't take Su Mo long to arrive at his destination.
Port Hargeon.
The moment he landed, his eyes locked onto a massive ship slowly pulling out of the harbor.
"Looks like I'm just in time."
With that thought, Su Mo vanished from where he stood.
....
....
Meanwhile, aboard the massive vessel...
A blue-haired man, who called himself "Salamander," stood with a smug, malicious smile.
"Welcome aboard my slave ship. Behave yourselves until we reach Bosco."
In front of him stood a blonde girl—Lucy, a Celestial Spirit Mage—her face filled with disbelief.
"Slave ship? Wait—what about Fairy Tail?"
"I thought you said you were taking me there to join them?"
She'd heard this man was a famous mage from Fairy Tail, known as "Salamander." Eager to join the guild she had always admired, Lucy had accepted his invitation to dinner, hoping to learn how to become a member.
But never in her worst dreams did she expect this ship to be a trafficking vessel.
How could someone from Fairy Tail—a guild she had idolized—do something so vile?
"Hmph."
The man scoffed at her naive question, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"I never planned to take you to Fairy Tail. You were always just cargo to me—give it up."
His underlings cackled, chiming in with flattery.
"That's our Salamander! One charm spell and they line up to be sold!"
"Hahaha, we've hit the jackpot with this one!"
At that moment, the door swung open.
Out on the deck lay a heap of unconscious women—completely unresponsive, like lifeless dolls.
Victims of charm magic, they were now empty shells, stripped of will and awareness.
Wives, daughters, mothers—whatever their past lives had been, those identities were now gone.
They were products. Slaves destined for the bitter cold of Bosco, where even suicide might be too much to hope for.
They weren't at fault. They'd simply been walking down the wrong street at the wrong time, caught by a charm spell they had no defence against.
In this world, magic—especially for ordinary people—was terrifying in how absolute and unfair it could be.
Lucy stood frozen, staring at the horrifying scene before her.
The grinning Salamander. His sycophantic followers. The unconscious "merchandise" who were no longer even treated as human.
At last, Lucy grasped the reality of her situation—and the man before her.
He was nothing more than a trafficker, abusing his magic for profit.
"Drip…"
As if betrayed by her own dreams, tears of anger and helplessness streamed down Lucy's face.
"This... this is what Fairy Tail mages are like?"
Her voice trembled with disgust and fury as she glared at the blue-haired man.
The guild she had spent years idolizing could actually harbor people like this?
Her dream—beautiful, cherished—was now shattered.
That pain, combined with her fury at what she'd just witnessed, made her stand tall.
Her eyes were ablaze.
"Charm magic, lies, slave trading..."
Her voice cracked but did not falter.
"Fairy Tail is the worst mage guild in the world!"
Her furious cry echoed across the deck. But to Salamander, it was little more than noise.
After all, he wasn't really from Fairy Tail.
And without her keys, a Celestial Spirit Mage like Lucy wasn't much different from a regular person.
No threat. No need to worry.
He just smiled.
"Scream all you like. No one's coming to save you."
Lucy stared at him, defiant—but her expression dimmed with despair.
He was right.
They were on a ship. There was no one nearby. Her voice wouldn't carry far enough.
Even heroes needed to hear cries for help before they could save anyone.
She closed her eyes, on the edge of surrendering to despair—
—when a stranger's voice rang out.
"Not necessarily."
Both Lucy and Salamander jumped, startled.
They turned toward the source—and saw a dark-haired, black-eyed boy landing lightly on the deck from the mast.
"Even at your lowest moment," the boy said with a warm smile, "never forget to cry out for help. You never know when some random passerby might hear you."
Lucy looked at him—and her breath caught.
Her expression froze in utter shock.
Salamander didn't notice. His gaze was locked on the newcomer, wary, the glow of a magic circle starting to form in his palm.
He snarled, "Who the hell are you? I'm Salamander, one of Fairy Tail's top mages! Do you want the tyrant's wrath on your head?!"
The boy raised an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed.
"Didn't expect trash like you to ask that."
He shrugged.
"But sure. I'll introduce myself."
"I'm a member of the guild that young lady just called—the worst mage guild in the world."
Salamander blinked in confusion.
One of his lackeys suddenly gasped, voice trembling.
"M-Mister Bora, that guy—he looks just like the real one! I swear I saw his face in a magazine—"
"Shut up, idiot! Don't use my real name! Call me Salamander!"
Bora—the blue-haired trafficker—snapped.
But the lackey was already pale.
"I think… I think that guy's the real deal. That one. The scary one from Fairy Tail…"
"The Tyrant."
At that, Bora's face went sheet white. His voice came out shrill and twisted with fear.
"The Tyrant—Su Mo?!"
Su Mo gave a casual nod.
"That's me."
The atmosphere shifted.
No one moved, but the air itself grew heavy, as if suffocating under sheer pressure.
"Just this morning," Su Mo said lightly, "my guild was still the most popular one in the country."
"And now... people are calling it a haven for slavers and scum."
He chuckled—but the sound carried no joy.
"Getting smeared is fine. Dirt washes off."
"But sometimes," his eyes fixed coldly on Bora, "you need blood to scrub it clean."
Then he smiled—a razor-edged, merciless smile.
"And today… it looks like yours will do nicely."
A chill swept through the deck.
And then came the screams—
—agonized howls like the gates of hell had opened aboard that ship.