Thanks to the help of the Magic mobile, the gang still at the guild hall were able to reach the forest surrounding the town base in only a matter of time.

"We most definitely shouldn't try our luck entering the town." Levi concluded, as everyone stopped in the forest.

"Of course" Erza said. She looked at Lucy. "Lucy, do you think Virgo can dig a hole from here?"

"I'm not sure, I'll ask her." Lucy said. She took out a small golden key. "Open, gate of the Maiden! VIRGO!"

In a flash of light, a teenager with a maid outfit and short pink hair appeared out of nowhere. Attached to her hands were very long chains.

"... Wow." Was all Leorio could manage to say. "So this is your magic?" Kurapika asked.

"That's right! I can summon spirits from the celestial world to help me. This is Virgo, one of the golden gate keys." Lucy said.

"Do you wish for me to punish these new faces, Princess?" Virgo asked, talking to Lucy.

Lucy sighed. "Of course not. I was wondering if you could dig a hole from here, all the way to the SIA base."

Virgo thought for a moment surveying the distance. "I can do it Princess. However, only one person will be able to go at a time and it will take some time for everyone to get through."

"That's fine." Levy said. "Besides..." She rummaged through the backpack she brought along and finally brought up another lacrima. "It's a Collector lacrima. That means that once we find the power source, we can extract some of it and then shut the rest off. That reduces the amount of people who need to go inside the base."

"Good job Levy!" Lucy said. "Okay Virgo, do your thing! Remember the spot I told you to surface."

Immediately, the spirit began to sink into the surface. Everyone waited above ground for around ten minutes. Finally, Virgo resurfaced out of the same hole. "It is done, Princess. I'd suggest that you take turns going into the hole at ten minute intervals."

"Okay. So who wants to-" But before Erza could finish her question, Kurapika stepped forward. "I'll go in first"

He held up the Archive lacrima. "I have this, so I'll know where to go and you guys can follow."

It was a strategic enough reason so nobody could argue. However, Erza couldn't quite ignore the glaring resolve in Kurapika's eyes.

Soon, Kurapika had disappeared down the hole. Erza looked off into the rest of the forest. "I'm going to go find Wendy and Killua."

"Oh right!" Levy said. "I'll come with you!"

"No, it's fine." Erza said. "I shouldn't take long, they have to be somewhere around here."

And with that, Erza set out. According to the Archive, they had to be around this part of the forest. After some walking, Erza could finally sense some of their energy. She followed it and quickly turned in the direction she could sense it the most.

Had she been a second late, it would have been all over.

The first thing she saw was Killua sleeping against one of the trees. And in the next second, she saw a sword hurtling down towards him.

She acted quickly. Before Erza could even process what was going on, she quickly ran in front of the sword and blocked it with her own. It was only then when she realized that the other sword was being wielded by a human.

And just like that, she found herself face to face with another enemy.

They both backed away. The woman was wearing a long dress and in both of her hands, were two long swords.

"Are you a member of the SIA?" Erza asked.

The woman scowled. "I guess that makes you the guild that won't mind their own business."

"E-Erza?" Erza heard Killua's voice.

Killua couldn't believe that he had only been a few seconds away from certain death. He had been careless, he knew better than this. "We're sorry... you see we-"

"There's no need to apologize." Erza interrupted. Killua and Wendy wouldn't have been sleeping on the job if they hadn't already gone through something. "How much magic energy do you have left?"

Killua hesitated. "The... enemy we faced... did something weird to my aura. It'll take some time for it to go back to normal. And Wendy..." He looked over at her, who was still sleeping. "I doubt she has any energy left."

Erza sighed. She knew what she had to do. "Okay, I need you two to get out of here. Wendy's sense of smell will lead you to the others." Erza then conjured another sword.

"Leave her to me."

Killua fought back the urge to argue. There was nothing he and Wendy could do in this battle, they would only get in the way.

He went over to Wendy and shook her shoulder. "Wendy, wake up!"

Wendy slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Erza standing face to face in front of another woman. "We need to go find the others." Killua said.

Wendy immediately got to her feet. "Erza! We-"

"You two can explain later. For now, you need to get out of here and meet with the others. I'll catch up soon." Erza said.

Wendy only nodded. If she felt worried or guilty, she didn't show it. "Okay, good luck!" And with that, the kids took off.

Leaving Erza alone with her opponent.

"So you're also a swords woman." Erza observed.

The woman refused to answer. Instead, she made the first move with her swords.

Erza immediately blocked it with her swords. But something was wrong.

First of all, it was difficult. Usually blocking was effortless, but Erza was finding hard to stay steady against her enemy's swords. Then, to her horror, she noticed something else.

Starting from the top, Erza's swords were crumbling at the touch of her enemy's!

Before she knew it, her swords crumbled away and Erza had to jump away to avoid getting struck down by her opponent's swords.

What was going on? Erza had no way to know. But she had to keep on fighting. She summoned more swords.

This time, she got the first move. Erza struck out with such speed and intensity that her opponent almost got caught off guard. But she blocked with her own sword and the two continued their sword match.

It went okay at first but Erza soon found that she was losing grip on her swords. Suddenly, one of her swords got flung out of her hand. Using that moment, her opponent struck Erza away. Erza had to slide her feet into the ground to avoid falling.

What had happened? As far as Erza could notice, her opponent didn't have any exceptional technique when it came to her swords. Erza was at no means at a disadvantage against her.

In the end, it seemed like her opponent's swords were simply... stronger.

"Finally figured it out?" the lady asked, noticing Erza's expression. "There's a big difference between your mere magic swords and mine. Yours don't stand a chance."

So that explained everything. Before Erza could think about it more, her opponent struck again, this time scoring a cut on Erza's face.

Stumbling backwards, Erza barely had time to take in the lady's next attack.

She left her side open, in her overconfidence.

So in that moment, Erza felt another power overtaking her. And using it to the best of her ability, Erza punch her opponent in the face with all her fight.

She went flying to the ground. Erza took that opportunity to get up and see what had happened.

She had activated Ren. If course. Erza had slowly gotten better at it and now, it was providing some use in battle.

As Erza summoned her swords, she noticed something. Her swords were slowly taking in some of that aura. What would happen if she took all the aura surrounding her, and projected it into her swords?

It took a few seconds but the result was astonishing. Now, Erza was equipped with swords bursting with powerful aura. Her swords felt comfortable in her hands, but she could almost feel the damage they could strike. Knowing this, Erza felt a whole new level of confidence.

She got the next move. She struck out at her opponent and their swords met. But things were different. Her swords didn't crumble at a touch, They didn't go flying. They held their own. And more. They were overpowering the other swords.

Her opponent looked shocked. "Wha- How!?"

Erza could only smile. "Say goodbye."

And with that, Erza's exceptional technique took over, and she was able to get a head on strike on her enemy. The lady's swords broke to pieces. And she fell to the ground.

"Wendy, why are we going back!?" Killua asked. It was Wendy that had suggested they turn around and go back.

"My nose picked up some different power at Erza's area. I need to see what's going on!" Wendy said. In reality, she wasn't as much worried as she was curious.

They finally reached the fight. They sheltered themselves in the bushes, out of harm's way.

"Whoaa..." Wendy said, seeing what was going on. Erza's swords were emitting a completely different energy. It was nothing she had seen before. Next to her, Killua gasped.

"She enhanced her swords!" Killua exclaimed. "She's... found a Nen style, she's an Enhancer!"

And with that, Erza was easily able to win the fight. Wendy sighed. "Why am I not surprised that Erza was the first one to master it?"

Once the fight was over, Erza finally noticed Wendy and Killua. "What are you two doing here!?"

After some scattered explanation, Erza sighed. "Oh well, all is well that ends well. We should get back."

Killua was shocked. He and Gon had gone through some intense training to master their Nen styles. The fact that Erza had already discovered her's really came to show how amazing wizards could be.

"Okay, let's hurry."

He froze for a moment. But thankfully, alarms didn't go off. He had clearly entered through the correct spot. Now, he just had to be careful.

It was a surprisingly simple layout. He was in a single hallway. He opened up the Archive to see where the power source would be. He would have to go right.

Suddenly, probably due to the close proximity, his Archive began to update.

And what he saw made his eyes widen.

He could see how to get to the Power Source from the right pathway. But the left pathway also began to update. A series of corridors all lead to one location.

It was simply marked

But that was all he needed. There was no other place they could be. He knew where he needed to go.

What was he going to do? His friends were probably on their way here. They were counting on him to lead the way to the power source, their main goal.

If he went left, would he get back in time for the next person to arrive? Was he willing to take that risk?

Did it even matter at the end?

I should probably wait, Kurapika thought. That's the smartest option, I can always go back after our original mission. He clenched his fist.

And he looked back towards the left pathway.

In his heart, he knew the option he was going to take from the beginning.

"I'm sorry." Kurapika whispered under his breath.

And with that, he headed off to the opposite direction.