Through the vision of the river crab, Rhodes carefully scouted the area and indeed found another group of more than twenty people nearby.
Rhodes led everyone to a secluded hollow he had picked out earlier, where he marked the targets' positions and their direction of movement on a map for Captain Kephtin.
After thanking him, Kephtin "requested" that Rhodes and Gray stay put while he began setting up, seemingly trying to encircle the targets and catch them all.
Rhodes casually let two river crabs patrol the area for security while he waited for the mission to end and collect their reward.
"Is this Special Enforcement Unit really that strong?" Rhodes asked.
"In a fight, they're not necessarily powerful, but they have specialized methods for dealing with wizards," Gray replied. "Once they have you in their sights, it's difficult to escape."
"Specialized methods?" Rhodes pondered for a moment. "Magic Sealing Stones?"
"Magic Sealing Stones are used like handcuffs, but for an operation like today's, they'd usually use runes," Gray said.
"Runes?" Rhodes seemed to recall a magic related to this, somewhat similar to Word Magic, but quite distinct.
"I think it's called the 'Capturing Rune.' The council hires specialists who refine it for them. If they know the target's location or a path they have to take, they can quietly set up the runes around them and instantly neutralize the target's ability to resist."
The runes are absolute.
Many wizards who use runes liked to say this phrase. It is a unique type of magic in which anyone caught within the rune must abide by the rules set within it.
For example, if special characters are inscribed around the target that say, "No wizards are allowed to leave," then as long as the area is surrounded and the rune is activated, any wizard within would be forced to stay put.
A more extreme rule might be, "Those within the rune cannot use magic." Once the target falls into the trap, they could easily be defeated from the outside with long-range magic.
The charm of runes lies in the fact that even an ordinary wizard can trap one of the Ten Wizard Saints using this magic.
Of course, such powerful magic has its limitations. The most notable one is that activation requires a long time, far exceeding the casting time of other spells. Therefore, it's more suited to be used as a trap than deployed in the heat of battle.
There are also limitations on complex rules, like "Anyone entering shall die immediately," which seem impossible to implement. Additionally, maintaining the rune's presence requires a certain level of magic power.
In short, it's not the kind of magic an ordinary wizard can easily master.
But with the council's manpower and access to advanced runes, they can achieve considerable effects, which is one of the reasons they dared to go after dark guilds.
"Wait a moment." Rhodes suddenly asked, "You seem to know a lot about these things. Have you been caught by a council rune before?"
"No way—I'm not at that level yet," Gray said with an uncomfortable expression. "I just happened to pick up on it."
"Oh~ always preparing for the worst, are we?"
"You... do you still not have a handle on the common language?" Gray found it hard to judge whether Rhodes had simply used the wrong words or was implying that he'd eventually get caught by the council.
Rhodes frowned. "It seems like we're being watched. They left people nearby to keep an eye on us."
Gray said, "Annoying, but it's a secret mission after all. Now I'm kind of curious what they're trying to hide."
"I'm curious too, but I don't want any trouble."
Rhodes connected to the vision of the river crabs to keep an eye on the two who were keeping watch on them, making sure they weren't silently setting a rune trap for them.
The two chatted idly for a while until two places in the mountains suddenly lit up with magical radiance. A series of strange characters materialized in midair, forming two ring-shaped barriers.
Both locations were where members of Naked Mummy had gathered.
Gray frowned as he looked at the two barriers. "Weren't there three groups?"
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed from where the third barrier should have appeared, followed by flashes of magical blasts and the sounds of battle.
"Something's gone wrong." Rhodes stood up, muttering that the group couldn't even pull off an ambush properly.
"Maybe they were detected while setting up the runes, or perhaps the new arrivals interfered," Gray said, getting up and ready to help.
Rhodes grabbed him. "Let's find those two guards first."
The two soldiers in white robes didn't seem too worried by the sounds of fighting. Instead, they tightened their grip on their staves when they saw Rhodes and Gray approaching.
"Do not interfere with council enforcement, Fairy Tail wizards," one of them said.
Gray asked, "Something's gone wrong over there, hasn't it? Are you sure you don't need help?"
The other soldier replied coldly, "Captain Kephtin can handle it. Do not forget the terms of your contract."
"Fine, they don't need our help. Let's rest," Rhodes said, pulling the worried Gray aside to wait.
The sounds of battle carried on for a while, and then a red flare shot into the sky.
Both soldiers' expressions immediately darkened.
"Hey, whose signal was that?" Gray asked.
"It's... it's the captain's emergency request for assistance," one of the soldiers replied through gritted teeth. "Please come with us to help the captain!"
"Are you out of your mind? They're not allowed to participate in the capture operation!" the other soldier argued.
"But it's a red flare! It calls for as much fighting power as possible!"
The conflicting orders created a dilemma—Rhodes couldn't help but think that this council was doomed if it couldn't even prioritize orders properly.
Rhodes urged, "Hurry up and decide. There are dozens of them. Normally, wizards like us would avoid a large group from a dark guild."
"Rhodes!" Gray was clearly unwilling to ignore the situation.
His concern for the safety of those people made him miss the clear hint in Rhodes' words.
Sometimes, this kid still got caught up in the heat of the moment.
The two soldiers hesitated for a second. "Please, help us! We'll take responsibility!"
The captain had always taken care of them, and at a time like this, more help was needed.
Rhodes summoned two river crabs and sped towards the flare with the four of them onboard.
By the time they arrived, the dark guild's wizards had already disappeared, and thirty or so soldiers in white robes were lying scattered across the ground.
"Captain!"
"What happened?!"
The two soldiers jumped off the river crab and helped Kephtin sit up.
"We were exposed. Zat suddenly attacked, taking out two of our men, and the rune failed to activate..."
Kephtin briefly explained what had happened, then struggled to stand with his staff. "Quickly! Go support Deputy Depte! The Zat brothers are very strong—they'll be in trouble!"
Gray rolled his wrists. "You all focus on helping the injured. We'll take care of the rest."
Kephtin was stunned. "Fairy Tail wizards, why would you—"
"Captain, we took the liberty of asking them to help." At least the two soldiers were trustworthy.
Kephtin made a quick decision. "Please, help my men!"
"You can count on us." Gray cracked his knuckles. "What do you say, Rhodes?"
"You've already said that, so..." Rhodes sighed, urging the river crabs forward again, grumbling halfway, "Don't just take on this kind of trouble."
"But in your plan, didn't you account for the two of us possibly facing the entire guild?"
"That was the worst-case scenario... Let me make this clear: if we can't win, I'm running."