By the time Rhodes and Mira reached the village, the sky had already begun to darken. After speaking with the village chief for a short while, night fully settled in.
Mr. Jasper had offered to arrange accommodations for them, but the two politely declined. Instead, they chose to assess the situation outside first.
Bill and Butch, the two young men on night watch, had already lit protective fires around the village's perimeter.
From above, the village glowed with flickering lights, like stars nestled in the valley, and the ring of fire around the outskirts resembled a sacred barrier.
It looked just like the 'Ring of Fire', the Destined One would draw in Black Myth Wukong.
But just beyond the firelight, hundreds of small glowing dots gleamed in the dark.
Dozens of pairs of tiny eyes glittered at the border so many, they looked like a second, eerie sky.
Bill and Butch stared, nervous sweat on their brows. Each pair of eyes was a rat, and there were already hundreds massed near the flames.
They swallowed hard, praying the fire would hold. If the rats decided to charge all at once, the two of them wouldn't stand a chance.
The only thing offering comfort was the presence of strange magical beasts, wolves, raptors, and two powerful wizards standing at their side.
Mira covered her mouth, eyebrows drawn. "That's... way more than I expected."
She wasn't afraid of rats, but even she was disgusted by how many had gathered in one place.
"Let's give it a shot," Rhodes said calmly.
He signaled to his raptors, and the birds soared into the air. With a mighty flap, they unleashed a barrage of enchanted feather-blades into the darkness.
The rats shrieked in terror and scattered, panicked by the swift attack.
But it wasn't long before they regrouped.
Rhodes nodded to the wolves, who stepped forward and growled menacingly.
The rats hesitated, held back for now, but they didn't flee.
Then Mira stepped up. Her right arm transformed into her demonic form, glowing with a swirling purple-black energy. A small orb formed in her palm.
With a flick of her wrist, she lobbed it into the swarm.
BOOM!
The explosion blasted a meter-wide crater into the dirt, shaking the ground beneath their feet and sending hundreds of rats scrambling.
Mira frowned. "Still not enough…"
Rhodes chuckled awkwardly. His girlfriend really was a demolition expert. She'd just wrecked the road without hesitation.
Even so, the reprieve was short-lived.
Before long, the rats gathered again, this time clustering near the corpses of their fallen.
They formed a ring, heads turned inward, tails outward, their teeth clicking in a sickening rhythm.
Bill's face went pale. Butch looked like he might vomit.
"T-They're... eating their own!" Butch stammered.
Rhodes narrowed his eyes. Cannibalism, whether by instinct or desperation, meant things were far worse than they'd thought.
It was a warning sign.
The rats were growing too hungry. At this rate, they'd soon lose their fear of fire... and charge the village.
Rhodes's expression darkened.
"We can't afford to wait any longer."
With a wave of his hand, he sent most of his summoned beasts back to the Rift, leaving only two Scuttle crabs to patrol the village's perimeter.
"Summon: Blue Sentinel."
"Blue Buff."
As Rhodes activated his magic, a surge of light materialized into a towering golem made of shimmering azure stone. Nearby villagers, curious about the arrival of Fairy Tail's wizards, had begun to gather, many of them clutching pitchforks and hoes, ready to defend their home.
When the Blue Sentinel appeared, standing tall and imposing at the village's edge, gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd.
The village chief quickly stepped forward, waving his arms. "Back up, everyone! Don't get in the wizards' way!"
Rhodes turned to the onlookers and offered a calm warning. "What I'm summoning next might be a little... unsettling. Try not to panic."
He gave Mira a quick glance.
She smiled reassuringly. "I've seen the Void grubs before. They're not exactly pretty, but if you've never flinched at my transformations, why would I be scared of yours?"
A glow of dark violet light erupted on the ground, and with a flash, three grotesque worm-like creatures emerged, Void grubs. Towering as high as a grown man, they had jagged fangs, a sharp single horn on their heads, and pulsating purple-red egg sacs bulging from their backs.
The villagers gasped again, several instinctively stepping away.
Mira, unfazed, gently took Rhodes' hand in both of hers. "Can your magic hold if you keep them summoned for long?"
Rhodes pointed to the faint blue aura surrounding him. "With the Blue buff boosting regeneration, I should last a few hours. It'll drain me, but nothing too serious."
Even as they spoke, the eggs on the worms' backs cracked open with a hiss. A dozen smaller larvae burst free and began scuttling around their broodmothers.
Rhodes gestured toward the field. "Line up along the fence. Attack any rats that get too close, but keep your fangs off the village buildings, got it?"
That last part was crucial. The last thing he needed was to complete the mission only to get billed for property damage.
With the defenses deployed, Rhodes could finally take a breath. Maintaining the Blue Sentinel and the three Void grubs was no small effort, but with proper management and backup from Mira, it was doable.
Fortunately, the smaller Voidmites didn't require his direct energy to sustain. As long as their broodmothers remained summoned, the larvae would continue to spawn, feeding off the ambient magic in the air.
Twelve seconds later, another wave of twelve Voidmites hatched. They leapt from their broodmother's backs, forming up just beyond the village fence, their glowing eyes locked on the distant swarm of rats.
Village Chief Jasper, mustering his courage, stepped forward. "Mr. Rhodes… is this what you meant earlier?"
Rhodes nodded calmly. "Exactly. Those worms over there? They spawn twelve every twelve seconds. That's sixty per minute, about 3,600 an hour. I plan to launch the full assault in two and a half hours. Sound good to you?"
Jasper's eyes widened as he did the math. "That would be… 9,000 of them." He glanced at the growing cluster of purple creatures. Though unsettling in appearance, they were larger than rats, sturdier, and clearly capable of holding their ground.
'Could this really work, fighting numbers with numbers?'
For the first time in weeks, hope flickered in his chest. "And, uh… after the rat problem's resolved, what happens to the worms?"
"They'll vanish." Rhodes spoke casually, as if talking about cleaning up after a spell. "They're constructs made of magic. Once their purpose is fulfilled or they fall in battle, they'll dissolve back into the ether."
The Voidmites were different from their broodmothers, the Voidgrubs. The Voidgrubs would return to the Summoner's Rift to regenerate after being dismissed or defeated. But the Voidmites? They'd simply fade away.
"Thank the stars…" Jasper exhaled deeply in relief. "Do you need anything else from us?"
"Just assign some people to keep watch around the village perimeter," Rhodes replied. "If anything looks off, let us know immediately."
"Understood! I'll organize the patrols right away!"
With a real plan now in motion and tangible defense forming before their eyes, Jasper's demeanor shifted entirely. Gone was the weary, anxious man from earlier,he moved with a new sense of purpose. He hurried off to relay orders, gathering villagers into small patrol groups and instructing them to avoid getting in the way of the wizards' work.
And with Jasper's detailed explanation spreading through town, the villagers' fear toward the summoned creatures gradually faded. In fact, many began to look at the Voidgrubs and the mass of worm-like minions with awe and curiosity, as though gazing at rare, magical marvels rather than monstrous entities.
Mira chuckled and turned to Rhodes. "So, what would you have me do, Mr. Rhodes?"
Rhodes considered for a moment, then answered with mock seriousness. "Miss Mira, I hereby appoint you as my personal bodyguard."
Mira gave a graceful, exaggerated bow. "Gladly~"
But Rhodes grinned. "Don't just say yes, come closer."
"Is that the real task?" Mira playfully bumped him, then held out her hand. "Hand over the ingredients."
They had gone shopping together the day before. Rhodes originally wanted to store the food strictly for emergencies. But Mira, ever thoughtful, had insisted on buying extra ingredients he liked, just in case they ended up needing a field-cooked meal. And now, judging by the look on Rhodes's face earlier, she suspected he'd appreciate a homemade dish more than any banquet.