Chapter 505: Thank You For Agreeing To My Plan
Zeref stood on the ocean surface, staring at the exact spot where Noah had unleashed his final strike. Despite his vast experience and cursed immortality, a look of profound, genuine shock was etched onto his perpetually apathetic face.
Noah had actually managed to injure Acnologia.
Zeref understood better than anyone alive exactly how incomprehensibly durable the Black Dragon's physical body was. He had been thoroughly impressed watching Noah trade blows with Acnologia in a high-speed dogfight earlier. Even factoring in the sheer volume of extreme enhancement magic Noah had stacked upon himself, his baseline physical constitution had to be absolutely monstrous to survive such a clash. If the foundation wasn't strong enough, no amount of enhancement magic could bridge the gap to engage Acnologia in pure physical combat.
But to actually breach its defenses? To physically carve a gash into its scales and draw blood? Zeref felt a surreal sense of disbelief wash over him.
It had been so long. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen Acnologia bleed.
The wound Noah inflicted might have seemed insignificant relative to Acnologia's colossal size, but the mere fact that he managed to pierce the Dragon's absolute physical defense was an unprecedented miracle.
Zeref's own theoretical plans for defeating Acnologia didn't even involve physical destruction. He intended to rely entirely on psychological warfare, exploiting the Dragon's specific desires and emotional vulnerabilities to bypass its absurd, near-absolute immunity to magic and its indestructible flesh.
To witness a human physically tear through that defense with pure, unadulterated kinetic force was awe-inspiring.
Zeref permanently carved the name 'Noah' into his memory.
"It truly is a pity. A man of his caliber... dead. I had actually begun to wonder if someone with his potential could eventually grow strong enough to kill me and end my cursed existence... What a shame," Zeref murmured to himself, a profound sadness in his voice.
He turned and walked away across the churning ocean. Tenrou Island was destroyed, Acnologia was gone, and it was time for him to resume his eternal, solitary wandering.
"WHAT?! WHAT KIND OF ATTACK WAS THAT?!"
Back in the Magic Council's central chamber in Era, the Councilors stared at the live feed in absolute, paralyzing horror.
The apocalyptic, twenty-kilometer-wide blue fireball that had completely obliterated Tenrou Island was still burning brightly on the main screen. The sheer kinetic and magical interference from the blast was causing the magical feed to violently distort and tear.
The telemetry data displayed on the secondary screens was even more terrifying.
"Look at the ambient Ethernano density!" one Councilor screamed, pointing a trembling finger at a specific terminal.
The other Councilors looked over, their faces turning completely ashen.
The magical particle concentration in the epicenter of the blast was so catastrophically high that it was theoretically impossible for any biological organism to maintain its physical form within it. Everything caught in that blast radius would have been instantly, atomically disintegrated.
It was an undeniable, terrifying testament to the absolute power of the Black Dragon.
Earlier, they had been profoundly shocked when Noah's magical beams had generated kilometer-wide fireballs upon hitting the ocean. While those explosions were nowhere near the destructive yield of the Etherion cannon, they were still incredibly powerful—powerful enough that very few mages in existence could survive a direct hit.
But Acnologia's single Roar?
That single breath attack had completely dwarfed Noah's output. The resulting apocalyptic explosion was powerful enough to instantly wipe a small country off the map, or completely vaporize the capital city of a major nation.
While it might still fall slightly short of the concentrated, theoretical maximum yield of a fully-charged orbital Etherion strike... they all knew this wasn't Acnologia's absolute limit.
The live feed had clearly shown the beast casually flying away immediately after the attack, displaying absolutely no signs of magical exhaustion or fatigue. Who knew how many times it could fire an attack of that magnitude in rapid succession?
No wonder the ancient texts claimed that Acnologia's appearance heralded the end of an era. The Black Dragon possessed the sheer, apocalyptic firepower to literally bring about the end of the world.
A single Roar dropped on every major city would spell the extinction of human civilization.
Furthermore, its speed was a massive tactical nightmare. The sensors had clocked it flying at over Mach 20, making it virtually impossible for any conventional magical artillery to lock onto and hit it. If they hadn't drastically widened the satellite's field of view, they would have lost track of the beast entirely during the dogfight.
Even if they possessed a weapon capable of killing it in a single strike, its absurd speed and hyper-enhanced draconic senses meant it would simply dodge the attack long before it landed.
The Councilors had watched the live feed closely. When Noah had teleported away, Acnologia had merely glanced around before immediately locking onto his new coordinates and flying straight toward the cloaked Tenrou Island—a distance of nearly a hundred kilometers—in a matter of seconds.
With sensory perception of that caliber, ambushing or sniping the Dragon was a logistical impossibility.
But the most terrifying factor was its absolute physical defense.
They had all watched Acnologia take Noah's massive, ten-kilometer-wide explosion dead-on, only to emerge from the inferno without a single scuff mark on its scales.
It was a defense so absolute it shattered their comprehension of magical warfare. Noah had clearly pushed his magic to the absolute theoretical limit just to carve a tiny, superficial flesh wound into its belly. If a monster of Noah's caliber could barely scratch it, what conventional weapon could possibly deal lethal damage?
Would their ultimate trump card, the Etherion cannon, actually be capable of killing it?
The more they analyzed the data, the colder their blood ran.
"This is no time to sit around marveling at its power! Quickly! Contact the coastal military bases and all neighboring nations! An unprecedented tsunami is approaching their shores! Tell them to brace for impact immediately!" one Councilor suddenly snapped, breaking the paralyzed silence.
The others quickly looked at the feed and realized he was right. The apocalyptic explosion had generated a catastrophic displacement of seawater. Massive, hundreds-of-meters-tall tidal waves were currently rolling outward from the epicenter, barreling toward the distant coastlines.
The Council chamber erupted into frantic activity once more. The Councilors hastily dispatched emergency warnings and coordinated relief fleets, desperately trying to mitigate the impending civilian disaster.
It took them a considerable amount of time to properly coordinate the massive relief effort. Only when the fleets were deployed and the warnings issued did they finally allow themselves to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Acnologia had left the airspace, meaning they didn't have to immediately finalize a suicidal counterattack plan. The immediate, existential threat was gone, allowing their tightly wound nerves to relax slightly.
"Still, to think Tenrou Island was completely annihilated in a single strike. Do you think the Fairy Tail mages taking the S-Class trials were still on the island when it hit?" the eyepatch Councilor asked, leaning back in his chair. However, his tone lacked any genuine concern; it sounded distinctly smug, bordering on schadenfreude.
Yajima, who had been staring intently at the blue expanse of the ocean on his monitor, slowly turned his head to look at the man. His expression was completely blank, his eyes cold and unreadable.
After a long moment, Yajima lowered his gaze, hiding the dangerous glint in his eyes.
While the sight of Tenrou Island being reduced to a massive crater had initially shocked him, Yajima absolutely refused to believe the island—and his family—were truly gone.
Before the connection was severed, Makarov had explicitly assured him that they had prepared specific, foolproof countermeasures for this exact scenario.
Yajima had known Makarov for decades. They had braved countless life-or-death situations together. He trusted his old friend implicitly. If Makarov said they were prepared, then the complete obliteration of Tenrou Island was highly likely a part of their escape plan, not their actual demise.
Comforted by this logical deduction, Yajima felt his heavy anxiety lift.
"We cannot confirm their status at this time. However, we must dispatch search and rescue fleets to the coordinates immediately. We also need to officially notify the remaining members of Fairy Tail regarding the incident on their holy ground," another Councilor suggested.
The others nodded in agreement.
Acnologia's sudden appearance, the total annihilation of Tenrou Island, the catastrophic tsunamis ravaging the coastlines, and the apocalyptic battle between the Black Dragon and a human mage—all of these unprecedented events required immediate, comprehensive explanations to the various national governments and the Legal Guilds currently assisting with disaster relief.
While Acnologia had retreated, it was still alive. It was only a matter of time before it reappeared. Because the Black Dragon was an existential threat to all of humanity, the Council had to immediately begin formulating long-term countermeasures.
This required deploying specialized survey teams to the epicenter to gather residual magical data and analyze the exact nature of the Dragon's attacks.
Furthermore, since Fairy Tail was the primary target and combatant in this incident, the Council had an official obligation to inform the rest of the guild that their sacred island had been wiped off the map.
Faced with a mountain of critical tasks, the Councilors threw themselves back into their work. Orders were rapidly drafted and dispatched, and the entire Magic Council headquarters in Era shifted into high gear, operating at maximum capacity to manage the apocalyptic fallout.
And as the news of Acnologia's return and the destruction of Tenrou Island spread, the entire magical world was thrown into absolute, terrified uproar.
When the blinding blue light finally faded, the Fairy Tail mages slowly opened their eyes, only to find that their surroundings had undergone a miraculous, incomprehensible transformation.
They were still standing on the dirt and grass of Tenrou Island. However, the island was no longer surrounded by the churning, violent ocean.
Instead, they were floating in the middle of a vast, breathtaking expanse of deep blue space, surrounded by a glittering sea of stars.
In the distance, various celestial bodies of different sizes floated peacefully in the void. Further away, massive, ethereal planets dotted the starry landscape, adorned with strange, beautiful architecture.
The entirety of Tenrou Island was safely encased within a massive, shimmering, translucent spherical barrier, floating serenely in the starry void.
"Where... where are we?" Gray asked, his eyes wide as he took in the impossible scenery.
"You have finally arrived, my old friends."
Before Lucy could answer, a colossal, booming voice echoed through the void. A massive, towering figure materialized just outside the island's barrier, looking down at the Fairy Tail mages with a booming, hearty laugh.
"The Celestial Spirit King?!" Sorano gasped, instantly recognizing the towering entity. She had met him briefly during the incident regarding Loke's banishment, but why was he here?
Those who had been present during Loke's arc immediately recognized the King, while the others stared up at the giant in awe and confusion.
"Yes, it is the Celestial Spirit King. And we are currently in the Celestial Spirit World," Noah explained, seeing the confusion on his guildmates' faces.
He looked up at the massive entity and offered a respectful bow. "I apologize for the intrusion. As I predicted, the absolute worst-case scenario occurred, so we've had to take you up on your offer to seek temporary sanctuary."
"Think nothing of it! You are free to remain here until the danger has entirely passed, my old friends," the Celestial Spirit King replied warmly.
"Thank you so much, Mustache-ossan!" Lucy yelled happily, bowing deeply.
"I know I said it before, but thank you again for agreeing to this absurd plan, Celestial Spirit King," Noah smiled gratefully.
Hearing their sincere thanks, the Celestial Spirit King offered them a massive, booming laugh that shook the stars.
"We can talk about how we got into the Celestial Spirit World later. Right now, we need to treat your arm immediately," Ultear said firmly, grabbing Noah's left shoulder.
Hearing her words, the rest of the guild snapped out of their awe and immediately crowded around Noah.
Wendy and Meredy were already by his side. They raised their glowing hands, desperately channeling their strongest healing magic over his mangled right arm.
"It's no use. Don't waste your magic. My current injuries aren't something your magic can heal right now," Noah said softly, gently lowering their hands.
He slowly raised his right arm. The sight made everyone's blood run cold.
His entire hand and forearm were a horrific, mangled mess of shredded flesh and exposed bone.
However, it wasn't just a physical injury. Vicious, dark-blue magical energy was violently clashing and intertwining with his own golden magic within the shredded flesh. The dark-blue corruption was aggressively trying to spread up his arm toward his torso.
Fortunately, it was entirely halted at his bicep. A massive, incredibly dense concentration of golden magic had pooled in his upper arm, acting as an absolute barricade. The dark-blue corruption constantly assaulted the golden barrier but was violently repelled each time.
Despite Noah's warning, Wendy and Meredy stubbornly shook their heads and continued to pump their healing magic into his arm. They simply couldn't stand there and do nothing while his arm looked like it had been run through a meat grinder. They had to try.
Seeing their desperate, tear-filled eyes, Noah sighed softly and didn't stop them again. If it made them feel better, he would let them try, even if he knew it wouldn't help.
"What exactly is happening to your arm?" Erza demanded, her voice tight with barely suppressed panic.
"How do we heal it?!" Mirajane asked, her voice trembling, her eyes rimmed with red.
Sorano didn't even ask. She immediately summoned her Healing Angel and ordered it to cast its strongest restorative spells on Noah's arm.
"As for how this happened... it's the price I paid for physically carving a chunk of flesh out of Acnologia," Noah explained calmly.
"Wait, you actually managed to pierce its defenses?!" Gildarts gasped, staring at Noah in absolute shock.
"Yeah. But I had to put absolutely everything I had into that single strike to do it," Noah nodded.
"Incredible... truly incredible," Gildarts muttered, shaking his head in sheer awe.
"Forget about that! You still haven't told us how to fix your arm!" Sorano yelled, her frustration mounting as she realized her Angel's high-tier healing magic was having absolutely zero effect on the wound, just like Wendy and Meredy's magic.
She was starting to panic. The injury was clearly highly anomalous, yet Noah was casually chatting about the fight instead of telling them how to save his arm!
"I'm getting to that. Let me explain the mechanics of the injury first," Noah said gently, trying to calm her down. "I shattered Acnologia's absolute defense and carved through its flesh. However, its physical body is so incomprehensibly dense and durable that the sheer friction and kinetic backlash of the strike literally shredded the flesh off my own arm.
"In that split second, our blood and flesh physically mixed. And the biggest problem is... Acnologia's blood and magic are incredibly corrosive and highly invasive," Noah explained, gesturing to the dark-blue corruption fighting his golden magic.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn