Chapter 493: I Was Simply Helping Them Better Understand the Enemy
"Are you all alright?" Yajima asked Noah, noticing the young mage retracting his magic.
"I'm fine. I sustained a few minor injuries during the fight, but it's nothing serious," Noah shook his head, offering a polite smile.
He knew Yajima was asking because Noah had explicitly mentioned earlier that several Fairy Tail mages had been injured during the war with Grimoire Heart.
"Mhm. That's good to hear," Yajima nodded in relief.
"I've delivered the evidence, the intelligence, and the prisoners. My job here is done. I'll be taking my leave now," Noah said.
As he turned to go, he paused, looking at the Rune Knights and the hostile councilors scattered across the dirt, still paralyzed and exhausted from his sudden display of overwhelming magical pressure.
Noah raised his right hand. A warm, brilliant golden light erupted from his body.
Seeing Noah moving again, the prone councilors and knights panicked. Many instinctively tried to scramble away or raise defensive barriers, but their limbs were still too weak to respond.
However, the impending attack never came.
Instead, countless tiny, golden specks of light drifted outward from Noah, raining down gently over everyone present.
The moment the golden motes touched their skin, they were enveloped in a soothing golden aura. Instantly, the lingering exhaustion and muscle strain caused by Noah's oppressive gravity vanished.
But it didn't stop there.
Many of the Rune Knights, who had accumulated numerous hidden injuries and chronic aches from years of brutal combat missions, suddenly realized their bodies felt lighter and healthier than they had in years. They leaped to their feet, rolling their shoulders and stretching their limbs, marveling at the incredible surge of vitality coursing through their veins.
The effect was even more pronounced on the older councilors. Age and stress had taken a heavy toll on their bodies. While the Magic Council possessed excellent medical facilities, standard medicine couldn't hold a candle to the absolute pinnacle of Noah's Light-based healing magic.
Bathed in the golden light, the elderly councilors felt decades of fatigue and chronic pain melt away. Their pale, drawn faces flushed with healthy color, their breathing steadied, and even a few of their wrinkles seemed to smooth out. It felt as though they had instantly de-aged twenty years.
Before anyone could fully process the miracle, Noah tapped his foot against the ground.
Rumble.
The massive crater Noah had blown into the earth mere minutes ago rapidly filled itself in. The shattered bedrock mended, and the dirt smoothed over until the clearing looked entirely untouched.
"My apologies for the earlier outburst. I let my youth get the better of me," Noah smiled politely, offering a brief, entirely insincere bow to the stunned councilors and Rune Knights.
"Oh, it's perfectly fine! Young people are naturally a bit hot-blooded! No harm done at all!" one of the councilors standing next to Yajima laughed heartily, his face glowing with newfound health.
"Exactly! A little passion is to be expected! Just be a bit more mindful in the future, my boy!" another older councilor agreed enthusiastically.
Gran Doma and the hostile councilors, however, remained entirely silent.
While their bodies felt incredible—their complexions rosy and their chronic aches completely gone—their expressions were incredibly sour, their brows knitted in deep, humiliated frustration.
They desperately wanted to yell at him, to order his arrest for assaulting a Council official. But the sheer, apocalyptic terror of Noah's magical outburst was still burned fresh into their minds.
Furthermore, Noah had just completely healed them, restoring their bodies to a state of health they hadn't felt in decades. It was a massive, undeniable favor.
Even worse, the surrounding Rune Knights—who had just received the same miraculous healing—were now looking at Noah with blatant awe and profound gratitude. The hostility from the guards had vanished entirely.
And, of course, Yajima and his faction of older councilors were clearly and vocally supporting the boy.
"Hmph!"
Realizing they had been completely outplayed on every conceivable level, Gran Doma and his faction spun on their heels and marched away without another word.
"You can head back for now. We will notify your guild once we have officially processed the prisoners and the evidence. By the way... you're currently a Thought Projection, aren't you?" Yajima chuckled, his eyes twinkling knowingly. He remembered Noah's penchant for sending projections to handle errands.
"Spot on. Just dropping off a delivery didn't exactly warrant a trip in person," Noah's projection laughed.
To prove his point, Noah took a step toward one of the nearby Rune Knights and casually swiped his hand directly through the man's armored chest. His arm phased through the knight like a ghost.
A collective gasp echoed across the clearing.
Gran Doma and his hostile faction, who had only taken a few steps, froze dead in their tracks. They slowly turned around, their eyes bulging in absolute horror as they stared at Noah's phased arm.
This kid had just unleashed a wave of apocalyptic magical pressure that had physically crushed an entire battalion of elite knights and several Council members into the dirt... and he was merely a Thought Projection?!
If a mere clone possessed that level of catastrophic power, how unfathomably monstrous was his true body?!
"Well, I'll be off then. See you all later," Noah waved casually. In a flash of golden light, his projection vanished from the clearing.
Yajima watched him leave, a wide, satisfied grin spreading across his face.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Gran Doma and the new councilors. Seeing the sheer, unadulterated terror and shock etched into their pale faces, Yajima's smile only grew wider.
Noah's little 'outburst' had perfectly demonstrated his power. While it was undoubtedly a deeply unpleasant experience for the arrogant new councilors, it served a vital, necessary purpose. It would force them to tread incredibly carefully whenever they dealt with Fairy Tail in the future. And that was exactly what Yajima wanted.
Fairy Tail's notorious reputation primarily stemmed from their tendency to cause massive collateral damage during missions—destroying buildings, bridges, and occasionally entire towns because they got too carried away fighting. However, the guild always paid for the damages in full and never shirked their responsibilities.
There were also minor disciplinary issues, like Gray's chronic stripping, but those were trivial eccentricities, not genuine crimes.
Almost all truly powerful mages possessed unique quirks or massive egos. Fairy Tail simply had an incredibly high concentration of exceptionally powerful mages, which naturally resulted in a high concentration of chaotic quirks.
However, Fairy Tail's track record was undeniable. They successfully completed some of the most dangerous, high-risk missions the Council issued.
Because of this, the previous generation of Council members had maintained a love-hate relationship with the guild. With Yajima constantly acting as a mediator, the Council's threats of disbandment rarely amounted to more than angry paperwork and stiff fines.
But things had changed. The Council had recently been restructured following Jellal's infiltration. The newly appointed councilors were desperate to prove themselves, regain public trust, and assert their absolute authority.
Naturally, Fairy Tail—a guild notorious for constantly flouting Council regulations—was the perfect target to make an example of.
However, after Noah's terrifying demonstration, combined with the irrefutable fact that Fairy Tail had just single-handedly annihilated Grimoire Heart, any thoughts of 'making an example' of them would be instantly abandoned.
Unless they were completely braindead, the new councilors knew that publicly punishing a guild immediately after they had saved the continent from the strongest Dark Guild in history would be political suicide. It wouldn't assert the Council's authority; it would shatter their remaining public credibility entirely.
If a guild could be punished for defeating a top-tier Dark Guild, every other Legal Guild in the kingdom would lose all faith in the Council. The backlash would be catastrophic, and the councilors responsible would be immediately forced to resign.
More importantly, Noah's outburst had served as a stark, violent reminder of a fundamental truth of the magical world: Absolute power commands absolute respect.
The Council was a political entity, but their authority was enforced by magic. They could not afford to needlessly antagonize mages of Noah's caliber.
If they pushed a mage of that strength too far over trivial matters, the consequences could be disastrous. Other powerful factions would immediately swoop in to offer the aggrieved mage sanctuary, severely undermining the Council's monopoly on power.
In extreme cases, a sufficiently enraged, god-tier mage could simply march into Era and slaughter the Council themselves. While the Council had numerous defensive measures and elite guards, Noah's clone had just paralyzed their Custody Enforcement Unit with nothing but raw magical pressure.
Furthermore, during the entire outburst, Noah hadn't broken a sweat. His expression hadn't changed. They had absolutely no idea where his true limits lay.
According to the official reports from the Phantom Lord incident, Noah had physically beaten Jose Porla—a Wizard Saint—to a bloody pulp. That meant Noah possessed power comfortably within the upper echelons of the Ten Wizard Saints. He had even rejected the title when it was officially offered to him.
Dealing with a rogue mage of that caliber required extreme caution.
And it wasn't just Noah. Fairy Tail housed Makarov, an established, veteran Wizard Saint. Having two mages of that terrifying caliber in a single guild shifted the balance of power entirely. Anyone who wanted to move against Fairy Tail had to factor those two monsters into their calculations.
Noah had clearly demonstrated that he had a short temper and zero tolerance for bureaucratic bullying. If they pushed him, he would push back—hard.
"Well then. Let us return to Era and process the Grimoire Heart prisoners, as well as the Jellal situation," Yajima announced cheerfully, turning to his colleagues.
He was in an excellent mood. The new councilors' aggressive plans to target Fairy Tail had almost certainly been permanently shelved.
"Indeed. The dismantling of Grimoire Heart—and by extension, the weakening of the Balam Alliance—is a monumental victory. With the Dark Guilds severely crippled, we can finally begin implementing several of our more aggressive anti-crime initiatives," an older councilor smiled warmly.
"Let's head back and convene an emergency session," Yajima nodded. He then turned to Lahar and Doranbolt. "Secure the Grimoire Heart prisoners in the maximum-security wing. Place Jellal in solitary confinement for now. We will determine his official sentencing after the Council convenes."
"Understood, Councilor Yajima," Lahar saluted sharply.
He and Doranbolt immediately led their squads to haul the prisoners—including a heavily guarded Jellal—away for processing.
With the handover complete, Yajima and the Council members departed.
Back on Tenrou Island.
When Noah's Thought Projection finally returned, the once-quiet base camp had erupted into absolute chaos.
Natsu and Gajeel were currently pressing their foreheads together, screaming insults and looking like they were seconds away from a full-blown brawl.
Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen had surrounded Laxus, chattering excitedly.
Lyon was aggressively swooning around Juvia, while Juvia was aggressively swooning around Gray, creating a deeply uncomfortable love triangle.
Mavis, having been successfully consoled by the girls, was sitting quietly beside Makarov, Gildarts, and Ur, watching the chaotic guild members with a soft, content smile.
Ultear, Sorano, and the younger girls were sitting in a circle, chatting happily with Simon, Kagura, and Panther Lily.
Lucy and Levy were huddled over an ancient tome, deep in an animated discussion about magical history.
Mirajane was giving Elfman and Lisanna a stern, detailed lecture on their tactical missteps during the initial vanguard skirmish.
Noah's Thought Projection walked over to where his true body was sitting beside Makarov, seamlessly merging back into himself.
"How did it go?" Makarov asked, glancing at Noah.
"It went fine. There was a minor bit of friction with the new councilors, but I smoothed things over," Noah replied, quickly summarizing the events at the drop-off point.
"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Makarov asked instinctively, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Grandpa, I sent a Thought Projection. How could I possibly get hurt?" Noah laughed.
"Ah. Right," Makarov chuckled, shaking his head at his own lapse in logic. "As long as you're safe, that's what matters. Don't worry too much about the Council's grumbling. As long as you didn't technically break any major laws, their complaints mean nothing."
In his youth, Makarov had a notoriously short temper and had destroyed more than his fair share of public property during missions. His signature Giant Magic wasn't exactly designed for precision work. He had been reprimanded by the Council countless times. Over the decades, he had simply learned to let their shouting go in one ear and out the other.
In many ways, the current generation of Fairy Tail had inherited their chaotic, unapologetic nature directly from him.
"Of course. I made sure to leave them absolutely zero grounds to officially complain," Noah nodded firmly.
Always maintain the moral high ground. That was rule number one. As long as you were technically in the right, you could do whatever you wanted, and the bureaucrats couldn't touch you.
"As long as you know what you're doing, I leave it in your hands," Makarov smiled approvingly. Noah had been managing the guild's major affairs for years; Makarov trusted his judgment implicitly.
"To think the new Council would immediately try to target us after we literally just handed them the biggest victory of the decade. They really are ungrateful," Ultear remarked, having listened in on the conversation.
"It's not just the new ones. The old Council didn't exactly love us either. They only backed off because we constantly saved their asses during major crises. Still... to openly threaten and physically intimidate the Magic Council..." Sorano mused, looking at Noah with a mix of awe and exasperation.
"Hey, who said I threatened anyone? Learn how to phrase things properly. I simply provided them with a visceral, educational demonstration of the enemy's true strength so they could better appreciate the gravity of the situation," Noah corrected her with a completely straight face.
"Right, right. You 'educated' them by nearly crushing them to death with gravity, and then you 'generously' healed all their chronic injuries and made them feel twenty years younger. Because you did that, the vast majority of the knights and older councilors are probably singing your praises right now—after all, they just received a miraculous, full-body rejuvenation from a master healer for free. You completely neutralized their anger, leaving only those few arrogant new councilors to seethe in impotent rage because they can't even formally complain without sounding ungrateful," Sorano rolled her eyes, perfectly dissecting his manipulative tactics.
"Pretty much. Oh, but don't try to copy me. You aren't nearly strong enough to pull a stunt like that yet," Noah warned her playfully.
"I know that! I'm not an idiot; I'm not going to actively seek out a death sentence," Sorano scoffed, rolling her eyes again. She knew her limits perfectly well. Trying to intimidate the Magic Council without god-tier power to back it up was a quick way to end up in a maximum-security cell.
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