Chapter 501: It's Good to Have a Young Man Like Him in the Guild
Naturally, Noah wasn't just going to sit there and take a beating.
After dodging the relentless barrage for a few minutes, he had successfully recovered a significant portion of his magic and stamina.
Waiting for a slight gap in the Dragon's attack pattern, Noah raised his hand and fired a concentrated magical beam in retaliation.
Acnologia simply tilted its wings, effortlessly banking to the side and evading the blast.
KABOOM!
Noah's golden beam struck the ocean surface, instantly expanding into a massive, kilometer-wide fireball. The catastrophic explosion flash-vaporized millions of gallons of seawater, generating towering, fifty-meter-high tidal waves that rolled destructively outward.
ROAAAAR!
Seeing Noah fight back, Acnologia opened its maw and retaliated with a rapid-fire volley of devastating magical blasts.
Noah nimbly wove through the incoming fire, raising his hand to fire another golden beam back at the Black Dragon.
A high-speed magical shootout ensued between human and Dragon. However, given their absurd mobility, both fighters effortlessly dodged each other's attacks.
Acnologia fired with far greater frequency; for every two or three blasts it launched, Noah only retaliated with one. Furthermore, Acnologia's beams were demonstrably larger and more destructive.
Despite the overwhelming volume of fire, none of the attacks landed. Noah was perfectly content with this stalemate. By limiting his attack frequency and focusing on evasion, his monstrous natural regeneration and the stacked buffs were actually allowing him to slowly recover his magic and stamina during the shootout. His recovery rate was outpacing his expenditure. If this kept up, he would eventually return to peak condition.
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
Deafening explosions continuously rocked the sky. The missed beams plummeted into the ocean, detonating into massive, overlapping fireballs.
The catastrophic shockwaves constantly battered the ocean surface. The sea was thrown into absolute, violent chaos. Towering tidal waves, ranging from a dozen to over fifty meters high, continuously formed, collided, shattered into mist, and reformed in a terrifying cycle of destruction.
The sheer volume of seawater being continuously flash-vaporized generated a colossal, thick fog that rapidly ascended into the sky. The massive influx of moisture caused the previously clear sky to darken as thick, ominous thunderclouds rapidly formed.
Lightning crackled within the artificial storm clouds, and thunder rumbled continuously. The world was plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the blinding, apocalyptic flashes of the magical beams detonating on the ocean surface below.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The massive tidal waves generated by the distant explosions relentlessly battered the golden barrier surrounding Tenrou Island, producing deep, thunderous impacts. The Fairy Tail mages watched the apocalyptic duel from the safety of the dome, their jaws slack in absolute awe.
"S-So strong..." Natsu muttered, his face practically pressed against the golden barrier, his unblinking eyes glued to the distant, high-speed dogfight.
"As expected of Noah," Gray murmured, his eyes tracking every minute detail of the clash.
"I knew he was a monster since we were kids, but this... this completely redefines the meaning of the word," Lyon sighed in profound amazement.
"That bastard somehow got even stronger!" Laxus grumbled helplessly.
A long time ago, Laxus had given up on treating Noah as a rival to surpass, instead using him as an absolute benchmark to push his own limits. But seeing Noah's current display of god-like power, it was clear the gap between them had widened into an insurmountable abyss.
Even if he no longer viewed Noah as a direct rival, seeing someone his own age wield such incomprehensible power still generated an immense, crushing psychological pressure. It was an unavoidable side effect of standing too close to the sun.
Huuu...
Laxus let out a long, heavy breath, expelling the suffocating feeling of inadequacy and forcing his mind to calm down.
Having been beaten up and outclassed by Noah since childhood, Laxus had learned exactly how to process these emotions. If he allowed the frustration to fester, it would only breed resentment and hinder his own growth.
He looked back at the apocalyptic duel, a genuine, slightly resigned smile touching his lips. Looking at it from another perspective... having a monster like that as a comrade is pretty damn reassuring.
"It really puts things into perspective. Whenever he sparred with us at the guild... he truly wasn't using even a fraction of his real strength," Erza remarked, her eyes fixed on the distant explosions.
"If he attacked us with that level of intensity, we wouldn't last a minute," Mirajane shook her head in agreement.
"He's incredible! Does Noah really have that much magic power?!" Lucy gasped from the sidelines.
She watched in sheer envy as Noah continuously fired massive golden beams, each one generating a kilometer-wide explosion upon hitting the ocean. If she possessed even a fraction of that magical capacity, opening two—or even three—Zodiac Gates simultaneously would be effortless. She could even cast the ultimate Celestial Spirit Magic, Urano Metria, without draining her lifeforce.
"Are you finished with the preparations?" Sorano asked, glancing back at the blonde mage.
"Yes! Everything is set. The moment Noah steps inside the barrier, I can activate it immediately," Lucy confirmed.
"Good. Now it's just a matter of seeing how far Noah wants to push this," Sorano said, turning her attention back to the sky.
"To answer your question, Lucy: yes, Noah's magical capacity is absurdly vast. But more importantly, his natural regeneration rate is unfathomably high. Knowing how he fights, the way he's currently pacing his spells means his magic and stamina recovery is actually outpacing his expenditure. In other words, the longer this fight drags on, the better his physical condition becomes," Ultear explained calmly.
"WHAT?! Are you serious?!" Lucy's eyes bugged out in shock.
She looked around at the other S-Class mages. Laxus, Erza, Mirajane, Sorano, and Cana all nodded in agreement, none of them refuting the insane claim. Lucy had no choice but to accept the ridiculous reality.
"Who the hell actually gets stronger the longer a fight drags on...?" Lucy muttered in absolute disbelief.
"Because he's Brother Noah!" Meredy declared proudly, having walked over with Wendy and the others.
The rest of the guild nodded in unison. That statement alone explained everything perfectly.
"He truly has reached an unimaginable level," Ur sighed, crossing her arms and watching the aerial battle with profound respect.
"His strength has definitively surpassed mine," Gildarts stated calmly, though his eyes burned with fierce, unadulterated excitement.
Because Gildarts's magic was so absurdly destructive and his growth rate so rapid, he had spent the vast majority of his life without a true rival. Due to the lethal nature of his Crash Magic, he could rarely fight anyone without holding back massively.
His spar with Noah three years ago had been the most exhilarating fight of his life. To seek even greater strength, he had undertaken the Century Quest, hoping the ultimate challenge would push him to new heights. Unfortunately, he had run into Acnologia, resulting in catastrophic failure and a long, agonizing recovery.
While Noah had now definitively surpassed him, Gildarts felt zero resentment or jealousy. Only pure, unadulterated joy.
He had witnessed the true terror of Acnologia firsthand. He knew monsters of that caliber existed in the world. Having a comrade like Noah—someone who had surpassed him and could stand against such monsters—was a massive blessing. It meant he had an absolute benchmark to strive toward, a rival he could safely spar with to push his own limits.
He was still in the prime of his life. For a Great Mage, he was relatively young and full of drive. He desperately wanted to grow stronger. Noah's existence only fueled his ambition, and watching this apocalyptic clash made his blood boil with excitement. If his magic weren't completely useless against the Black Dragon, he would absolutely be up there fighting alongside Noah right now.
"It's truly wonderful... having a young man like him in our guild," Mavis murmured, her voice filled with profound warmth and admiration.
In a guild built on bonds and shared ideals, naturally, everyone wished for their comrades to be strong and safe. Noah perfectly embodied the spirit of Fairy Tail. His incredible strength, his unwavering reliability, and his deep compassion made him the absolute pillar of the guild. Everyone trusted his judgment implicitly. Having a guardian like him was the greatest blessing Fairy Tail could ask for.
Hearing Mavis's words, a radiant, incredibly proud smile bloomed across Makarov's face.
He had never imagined the tiny, quiet boy he found fifteen years ago would grow into the absolute titan fighting in the sky right now. Time flew by so fast. In the blink of an eye, the small child he had sheltered had grown broad enough to shelter them all.
Seeing the overwhelming, god-like presence Noah exuded on the battlefield, Makarov felt a deep, profound sense of fulfillment.
After fifteen years, Makarov truly viewed Noah as his own flesh and blood—his own grandson. To see Noah achieve such monumental strength, and to hear him praised so highly by the First Master, filled Makarov's heart with absolute joy.
But more importantly, Noah wasn't forcing himself. He genuinely loved the guild, lived happily alongside his comrades, and willingly became the pillar they all relied on. That was what made Makarov the happiest.
"Now, it's just a matter of when he decides to end the fight... or if Acnologia decides to finally get serious," Mavis noted, her eyes tracking the high-speed maneuvers.
Makarov nodded. Noah had explained the tactical plan to him in private. If Noah decided to end the fight, he would retreat into the barrier, and they would immediately trigger the island's ultimate defense. If Acnologia suddenly unleashed its true power, Noah would also be forced to retreat and trigger the plan.
For now, however, Acnologia hadn't shown any indication of getting serious. It was entirely up to Noah when he wanted to call it quits.
The relentless bombardment of magical artillery continued to devastate the ocean.
The sea within a hundred-kilometer radius was a chaotic, boiling nightmare of massive explosions and towering tidal waves, and the zone of destruction was rapidly expanding.
The catastrophic, thunderous roars of the explosions echoed for dozens of miles across the open ocean, terrifying every passing merchant vessel and passenger ship.
"TURN AROUND! FULL SPEED AHEAD! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Captains screamed orders at their crews, desperately fleeing the apocalyptic storm on the horizon while frantically establishing magical communications with their respective nations.
It was blindingly obvious that this wasn't a natural weather phenomenon. It was an apocalyptic magical clash.
Simultaneously, coastal towns and cities bordering the affected ocean region began frantically contacting their governments for aid.
The massive tidal waves generated by the distant explosions were beginning to reach the mainland. Huge surges of water crashed against the shores, destroying coastal infrastructure and threatening to pull people out to sea.
Fortunately, most civilians realized the danger early and evacuated inland. Furthermore, several traveling mages and local guilds stepped in to help mitigate the damage and rescue stranded civilians. However, as the ocean grew increasingly violent and the tidal waves grew taller, they desperately needed military and magical reinforcements to hold the line.
The various national governments, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of emergency reports, immediately forwarded the crisis to the Magic Council, demanding answers and assistance. The scale of the destruction clearly indicated a catastrophic magical anomaly, which fell strictly under the Council's jurisdiction. They also mobilized their national armies to assist with coastal evacuations and disaster relief.
Receiving the frantic reports, the Magic Council immediately activated their high-altitude satellite surveillance magic, focusing the arrays on the epicenter of the disturbance.
"W-What... what in God's name is that?!"
When the blurry satellite feed finally focused, the monitoring technicians in Era gasped in absolute horror.
"Is that... a Dragon?!"
Another technician's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. He was staring at a massive, winged, reptilian monstrosity engaged in a high-speed dogfight over the ocean.
The entire room erupted into a terrified panic.
Dragons were supposed to be extinct! They hadn't been seen in over four hundred years! Yet, the creature on the screen perfectly matched every historical description and anatomical diagram they had ever studied. A living, breathing Dragon had returned to the modern era!
"T-That... that black coloration... the blue markings... It's the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse! Acnologia!"
One of the senior analysts, having finally pieced the terrifying visual data together with classified historical archives, screamed the name. The creature whose appearance heralded the absolute end of an era. The Black Dragon, Acnologia.
"And the person fighting it... wait, isn't that the guy who was just here?!" another technician pointed at the golden silhouette weaving through the sky on the screen.
"That's Noah from Fairy Tail! He's actually fighting Acnologia?!"
"QUICK! FORWARD THIS FEED TO THE COUNCILORS IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS A CLASS-S EMERGENCY! THE BLACK DRAGON ACNOLOGIA HAS APPEARED!" the senior analyst roared, his voice trembling with sheer, primal terror.
His fear was entirely justified. Acnologia's historical record was written entirely in blood and ash. Every single recorded appearance of the Black Dragon had resulted in the total annihilation of a country or an entire continent.
While Zeref was feared as the most evil and malicious Black Mage in history, his creations could be sealed, and his curses could be managed.
Acnologia, however, was the absolute embodiment of pure, unadulterated destruction. Whenever it appeared, apocalyptic annihilation followed. There was no reasoning with it, and there was no resisting it.
Now, the Black Dragon had returned. How to handle this cataclysmic threat was entirely up to the Council Chairmen. The technicians could only frantically gather as much data as possible to support the Council's inevitable crisis meeting.
As the senior analysts quickly briefed the room on Acnologia's terrifying history, the sheer gravity of the situation settled over the technicians.
The control room erupted into frantic activity. Every single magical sensor, telemetry array, and scrying spell was activated and aimed directly at the coordinates of the apocalyptic duel, desperate to record every scrap of data on the Black Dragon and the human monstrous enough to fight it.
~~~
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