A New Life in Fairy Tail

”Just as expected, Noah is fine.”

A smile appeared on Erza’s face.

”Was that beam from Noah?” Lucy asked, seeing everyone relax after the light shot out of the tower.

”Yes. That’s one of Noah’s most commonly used spells,” Mirajane nodded.

”I still wanted to fight...” Natsu said, his desire for battle surging now that his worry for Noah had subsided.

”Noah has his own fight. Let’s do our job here,” Ultear said.

Erza and the others nodded and continued their work.

There were too many cult members present. Even though they were sealed, waking up en masse could cause chaos. Ultear suggested re-knocking out anyone who started to stir, a proposal readily agreed to by Sorano and Mirajane.

So, while Wendy-kun and the younger ones watched, Ultear and the others went around ensuring the cult members stayed unconscious.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

At the top of the Tower of Heaven, Jellal fired magic bullet after magic bullet at Noah.

Noah intercepted each one with light bullets of his own.

Explosions rocked the area, shattering the surrounding Lacrima crystals and littering the floor with shards.

”Hah...”

Seeing his magic having no effect, Jellal stopped attacking. Noah dismissed the magic circle in front of him.

”Try this! Hah!”

Jellal, now certain that Noah was stronger even with a Thought Projection active, gathered his magic power. Wind whipped around him, blowing away the crystal debris.

He crossed his arms above his head. Magic began to converge above him, forming a black sphere of energy.

”Shadows stretching toward the light source? Interesting magic,” Noah noted, observing the unnatural shadows on the ground.

By now, the sphere above Jellal had grown massive. The wind wasn’t blowing away from him anymore; it was being sucked toward him, into the black void he had created. Even smaller Lacrima fragments were being pulled in.

”Heavenly Body Magic: Altairis!”

Jellal swung his arms down, sending the black sphere hurtling toward Noah.

As the sphere neared the ground, the Lacrima floor shattered, the fragments sucked into the void. The sphere grew larger as it absorbed the debris, reaching seven or eight meters in diameter by the time it reached Noah.

Noah extended his right hand and stopped the sphere dead in its tracks.

Though halted, the sphere continued to grow, devouring the surrounding crystal shards.

HUMMM!

A golden magic circle appeared between Noah’s hand and the black sphere. The sphere instantly stopped growing.

Then, it began to shrink rapidly until it was nothing more than a speck, which then vanished into thin air.

The debris that had been sucked up fell back to the ground, and the wind died down.

”!!!”

Jellal couldn’t hide his shock.

Blocking or destroying the sphere wouldn’t have surprised him. But Noah had simply made it vanish. The difficulty of doing that was leagues beyond simply countering it. And Noah looked like he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

”Well? Think my strength is decent?” Noah smiled at the stunned Jellal.

Jellal opened his mouth but couldn’t find words.

This strength was far beyond his own. Noah hadn’t even used any unique magic, just countering whatever Jellal threw at him.

Yet Jellal was completely suppressed, unable to land a single effective hit. And this was against a weakened Noah.

The pride he felt as a young Wizard Saint crumbled away.

”So? Still want to fight?” Noah asked.

”Yes. Of course. I can’t go back unharmed; Hades would suspect me. Plus, the tower needs to be destroyed. We have to continue,” Jellal replied without hesitation, regaining his composure.

”In that case, pay attention. I’m attacking.”

Hearing this, Jellal tensed, staring unblinkingly at Noah.

HUMMM!

Magic power surged from Noah, creating a shockwave that blasted outward.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Surrounding Lacrima crystals shattered under the pressure and were blown away.

”Meteor!”

Jellal activated his speed magic immediately, boosting his reaction time.

BANG!

Noah stomped the ground, creating a crater and vanishing from sight.

”!!!”

Jellal hadn’t even seen him move. Before he could look around, Noah was already in front of him.

”Gah!”

Jellal had no time to react before Noah’s fist buried itself in his gut.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Jellal was sent flying, smashing through several crystal pillars before crashing into a large Lacrima formation.

”Gah!”

He coughed up blood. One punch, and he was injured.

Suddenly, Noah appeared in front of him again.

Ignoring the pain, Jellal pushed Meteor to its limit, barely dodging Noah’s stomp.

CRASH!

Noah’s foot smashed the Lacrima Jellal had just been leaning against, shattering it into dust.

Seeing he missed, Noah turned to track Jellal.

Jellal was now darting around the arena at maximum speed.

”Found you.”

Noah’s voice whispered in Jellal’s ear. Shocked, Jellal was punched out of his Meteor state before he could react, flying toward another crystal formation.

”Gah!”

Jellal coughed more blood. Terrified to stop, he leaped into the air, aiming his hands at Noah below. ”Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot!”

Seven magic circles formed the Big Dipper, firing seven beams of light at Noah.

”Hah!”

Noah leaped into the air to meet the attack, swinging his fist forward.

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the sky. Jellal’s eyes widened in disbelief.

”Grand Chariot has the destructive power of a meteor... and he...”

Jellal watched Noah land safely. His worldview took another hit.

Someone had punched apart a meteor-level spell with their bare hands. Before today, Jellal would have called anyone who claimed such a thing crazy. Now, he wondered if he was the crazy one for seeing it.

”Crap!”

Jellal realized Noah had vanished from the ground again. He tried to turn in mid-air to activate Meteor and flee.

But when he turned, Noah was already behind him.

”Grin and bear it.”

Noah said, punching Jellal’s hastily raised guard.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Immense force slammed into Jellal, driving him from the sky, through the floor, and smashing through dozens of layers of crystal until he stopped in the lower-middle section of the tower.

”Gah!”

Jellal vomited blood, his face turning white. That punch had severely injured him. Several bones were broken, his internal organs were damaged, and he had numerous external wounds. He struggled but couldn’t sit up.

”How is it? Still alive? I held back quite a bit,” Noah asked, landing beside him.

”I... I’m okay...” Jellal wheezed.

Noah looked up. Because of his punch, the entire tower was cracking and crumbling from the top down. The structure was teetering on the brink of collapse.

~~~

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