On the snowy mountain near Ice Lake Village.
Calling it a snowy mountain was a bit of an exaggeration; it was merely a pile of rocks a few tens of meters high...
It had become a mountain simply because the surrounding mountains, thousands of feet tall, had been razed to the ground.
Ice Lake Village wasn't originally called that...
And there was no ice lake here originally, but rather a snowy mountain range.
According to rumors, about four years ago...
A powerful individual, no weaker than the Saint Ten Wizard, passed through this area and suddenly discovered Deliora, a demon that had rampaged across the continent for four hundred years, and engaged in an earth-shattering battle with him.
The man and the demon fought for three days and three nights, turning the entire world upside down!
They destroyed villages and shattered entire mountain ranges!
They tore a huge gash in the earth...
And the ice and snow on the original snowy mountain were melted into water by their magic!
This water poured into the gash that had opened from deep within the earth, forming an artificial lake as vast as a sea, which is how Ice Lake Village came to be.
There were also rumors!
Ultimately, that Magician exhausted all his power and sealed the demon here.
Deliora: "Don't believe rumors, don't spread rumors! I'm not that amazing..."
Above the mountaintop.
There seemed to be figures resembling giant eagles or large birds circling in the sky.
Below these large birds, a group of fierce bandits gathered, each with a sinister smile on their faces and arrogant expressions.
Among them, several minor characters, looking like cannon fodder, huddled around a man with a face full of scars, fawning and flattering him, chuckling, "Boss, your trick is still the best! We bought magic tools from a neighboring country at a high price that can control Double-footed Dragons, disguised these artificially bred dragons as wild beasts, specifically attacked nearby villages, and then disguised ourselves as Magicians from a Guild to repel these dragons, making a huge profit! This way, we can legally collect protection fees."
"Hehe, who told these foolish villagers that their thinking was so stubborn?"
"They don't trust the nation's army, nor do they trust the Magic Council; they simply believe in those so-called Magicians from the Fairy Tail Guild?!"
"To tell you the truth! The nearby lord has long disliked these villagers! Since the lake was born within the lord's territory, it should belong to the lord!"
"But these ignorant people actually rejected the lord's kindness to jointly develop it, insisting on managing it themselves. Think about it, how much is such a large lake worth? Can a mere village consume it all? Aren't they afraid of overeating?"
"But it's good! This makes things convenient for us; we can safely earn the difference in price from now on, and no one will bother us, whether it's the Magic Council or the nearby lord..."
The man with the scarred face, whom everyone called the leader, first yawned, then spoke with disdain.
"Leader, I'm still a bit worried."
Beside the scarred man, a man with glasses on his nose, who looked quite learned, frowned tightly, seemingly deep in thought, with worry in his eyes.
"Worried about what?"
The scarred man, the leader, looked at the man with glasses and asked.
"If we impersonate Magicians from the Fairy Tail Guild like this, won't it really attract the real ones to come after us? The people of Fairy Tail are not to be trifled with, and their Guild Master, Makarov, is an even stronger individual whose name echoes throughout the Ishgar continent..."
The man with glasses pursed his lips; honestly, he was a little nervous.
The name of Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, was probably known to everyone.
He had been dominating the continent fifty years ago, even before the man with glasses was born.
He was truly one of the continent's legendary powerhouses.
"Hahaha..."
"I thought you were worried about something else!"
"It's just Fairy Tail; just ignore them."
"Besides, their Guild is on the western coast of the Fiore Kingdom, and we are in the eastern inland of the kingdom. Can he cross thousands of miles, from the westernmost part of the kingdom to the easternmost part, just to beat me up?!"
The scarred man laughed after saying that.
How big was the Fiore Kingdom?
An ordinary person could not traverse it in a lifetime! (The size of the Fiore Kingdom is close to the entire Australian continent, and it is a small border country on the entire Ishgar continent. Yes, this world is ridiculously large...)
"But I'm still worried..."
"You said that four years ago, the person who eliminated the demon Deliora, could he have been a Magician from the Fairy Tail Guild?!"
"If that's the case, then it all makes sense why the nearby villagers have a good impression of the Fairy Tail Guild's Magicians! And why they reject all forces except Fairy Tail..."
"Because in their most difficult moment! Only the Magicians from the Fairy Tail Guild stood up and saved them..."
The man with glasses looked anxious and couldn't help but continue.
"Pfft..."
"Are you saying that this mountain range beneath our feet was truly destroyed by a battle between a human and a demon?"
"What a joke? As fellow humans, how could there be such a huge difference in power?"
"Besides, haven't we seen the Magicians of the Magic Council's mobile units? They are just a bunch of guys who can't do anything without their staffs!"
The scarred man was completely amused by what the man with glasses said.
"But..."
The man with glasses seemed about to say something else.
"There are no 'buts'...
"Besides, haven't we already investigated it thoroughly?"
"It was that demon Deliora, who had done so many evil deeds, that he finally incurred Heavenly Condemnation and was crushed to death by a meteorite that fell from the sky..."
The scarred man said confidently.
"Y-you're right."
The man with glasses lowered his head; he seemed to agree with the scarred man's words, but his brows remained tightly furrowed. He didn't know why, but he just felt uneasy, as if some disaster was about to descend.
"Yo!"
"So you also know that Deliora incurred Heavenly Condemnation because he did so many evil deeds?!"
"Then aren't you afraid that by impersonating Magicians from the Fairy Tail Guild and swindling people across the continent, you'll also incur Heavenly Condemnation?"
Just as the scarred man and the man with glasses finished speaking, a ethereal voice, as if from all directions, reached everyone.
"Who?!"
"Who's there?"
"Come out now!"
Suddenly, all the bandits present changed their expressions drastically. They all picked up their weapons and looked around nervously.
"Hehe!"
"If there really is Heavenly Condemnation, then let it come!"
"I can take it..."
"As for you, sir..."
"What kind of ability is it to hide and speak?"
"If you have the guts, show yourself and let's talk!"
The bandit leader, the scarred man with the face full of scars, also picked up his weapon at this moment, looking around nervously, and said coldly.
"Who am I?"
"I am your Heavenly Condemnation!"
"Look up, the gift has arrived..."
"I hope you are satisfied with this gift!"
As these bandits panicked, the voice once again echoed in everyone's ears.
When everyone heard the voice and actually looked up.
They saw three black shadows falling rapidly towards them in the sky, but these were not what truly panicked them...
What truly terrified them was that behind those three black shadows, there was a giant snowball, nearly a hundred meters in diameter, descending from the sky like a meteorite.
"This..."
The scarred man looked at the snowball in the sky and was utterly stunned.
A self-fulfilling prophecy!
Heavenly Condemnation had truly descended, but the scarred man seemed unable to withstand it.
Second update, brothers, please collect, keep reading, and vote! Also, there will be another round at midnight, so I'll add another update soon! No more talking, let's go!!!
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