Chapter 509: Defusing a Ticking Time Bomb
"If I recall correctly, when Noah first started learning magic, his power grew so quickly that he couldn't control his strength and constantly destroyed everything around him. Back then, I used to catch stray punches all the time because he 'couldn't control his output'."
Laxus spoke up, a nostalgic and slightly suspicious look in his eyes.
"Though, looking back, I'm pretty sure he was using that as an excuse to beat me up."
Laxus shook his head. "And now... he's capable of this level of microscopic magical manipulation. Time really flies."
"Of course I have. And I assure you, this method is significantly better than your crude amputation idea," Noah replied with a grin.
"As long as you have a solid plan, that's all that matters. Are you going to start right now?" Laxus asked.
"Yeah. Better to get this sorted out before the banquet. Showing up to a feast with a mangled arm dripping dark-blue corruption isn't exactly appetizing," Noah answered.
"Fair enough," Laxus nodded.
"Brother Noah, is there anything we can do to help?" Wendy asked eagerly, Meredy nodding beside her.
"Help... sure. You two can catch the severed chunks of Acnologia's flesh and seal them in containment units for me. After that, you can bandage my arm," Noah decided, seeing how desperately they wanted to contribute.
"Okay!" The two girls nodded vigorously.
Ultear, Erza, and the others had also wanted to help, but seeing Wendy and Meredy take charge, they stepped back and gave them space.
Noah pulled a dozen heavy-duty, magically sealed containment vials from his spatial pocket and set them on the grass, quickly showing the girls how to operate the locking mechanisms.
Once they were ready, Noah took a deep breath.
He didn't produce a massive, flashy explosion of aura like he did in battle. Instead, a terrifyingly dense, suffocating concentration of magic power began to pool entirely within his right arm. The ambient atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive simply from the sheer density of the localized magic.
The golden glow radiating from his arm intensified, turning blindingly bright as more and more magic was funneled into the limb.
Focusing his mind completely, Noah began to manipulate the dense golden magic, using it like a microscopic battering ram to forcefully push the corrupted flesh outward, starting from the area near his elbow.
Sensing the aggressive purge, the residual instinct within Acnologia's flesh reacted violently. It aggressively escalated its absorption of the ambient ethernano from the air, generating thick, dark-blue corrupted magic to resist the golden push.
If this had been the true Acnologia, Noah's magic would have been instantly consumed or dispersed. But this was merely a tiny, severed chunk of tissue relying on base instincts. Against the absolute, overwhelming flood of Noah's concentrated magic, its resistance was futile.
Slowly but surely, the corrupted flesh near his elbow was forcefully detached from his own muscle tissue and pushed out of his body.
Meredy immediately stepped in, using a pair of magical tweezers to carefully extract the bloody chunk of dark-blue flesh and drop it into a containment vial, snapping the seal shut.
Noah continued the grueling process, slowly working his way down his forearm toward his hand.
The closer he got to his hand, the deeper and more extensive the corruption became, requiring exponentially more magic and concentration to sever. However, having recovered his reserves, Noah maintained a steady, methodical pace, meticulously purging every single contaminated cell.
Meredy and Wendy worked flawlessly alongside him, catching the falling chunks of corrupted flesh and sealing them away. Yukino soon joined them to help manage the vials.
"Phew... finally done."
Noah let out a long, heavy exhale as the final shred of dark-blue corruption was pushed out of his fingertips.
Maintaining that level of microscopic magical precision for so long had been incredibly mentally taxing. Coupled with the sheer physical exhaustion from the apocalyptic battle and his intense research session, a deep wave of fatigue washed over him.
But with the ticking time bomb finally removed from his body, the underlying anxiety completely vanished. He slumped slightly, fully relaxing for the first time since Acnologia appeared.
Mirajane stepped forward with a soft towel, gently dabbing the sweat from his forehead. Noah looked up and offered her a warm, tired smile.
"Brother Noah, let us bandage it now," Wendy said softly, pulling out rolls of pristine white bandages and high-grade medicinal salves from her medical pouch.
Since she and Meredy were the guild's primary healers, they always carried extensive medical supplies. The salves and bandages were actually formulated and enchanted by Noah himself, making them incredibly effective. They had become standard issue for Fairy Tail missions.
"Alright," Noah nodded, extending his freshly purged, albeit horrific-looking arm.
With the corrupted flesh finally removed, the massive, jagged wounds across his forearm and hand were completely exposed. Because Noah had used his magic to force the flesh out, the bleeding had already stopped, but the sheer amount of missing tissue made the arm look like it had been shredded.
Instead of immediately applying the bandages, Wendy and Meredy placed their glowing hands over the wounds, pouring their strongest healing magic into the damaged tissue.
Without Acnologia's corruption actively fighting back, their healing magic finally took effect. The shredded muscle fibers began to writhe and knit themselves back together at a visible rate. However, because a significant volume of flesh was entirely missing, their magic was struggling to reconstruct the arm completely.
"Alright, that's enough. Just apply the salve and bandage it up," Noah interrupted, seeing that the girls were preparing to empty their magical reserves to force the regeneration.
Reluctantly stopping their spells, the girls carefully applied the potent medicinal salve over the remaining wounds and wrapped the arm tightly in clean white bandages.
While Noah possessed more than enough magic to instantly regenerate the missing flesh himself, it would require a massive expenditure of energy. He preferred to let his body's natural healing factor—accelerated by the medicine—handle the rest over the next few days. It was less taxing.
"Thanks, girls," Noah smiled, patting them on the head with his good hand. He then turned to Mirajane. "Where did Loke say the island was supposed to park?"
"He said we should move it over there," Mirajane pointed toward the starry void outside the barrier.
Following her finger, Noah spotted a massive, beautifully adorned planet floating in the distance, dotted with Greco-Roman style architecture.
"Alright, let's head over."
Noah raised his left hand, summoning a golden holographic console in the air. He typed in a few commands. The entire island gently shifted in the void, slowly floating toward the designated planet.
Within minutes, Tenrou Island arrived alongside the celestial body.
Immediately, a shimmering, translucent bridge made of pure, sparkling starlight extended from the planet, connecting directly to the edge of Tenrou Island's barrier like a glowing river of stars.
"ALRIGHT! BANQUET TIME!"
Seeing the bridge connect, Natsu instantly recovered his energy, sprinting wildly toward the exit.
BONK!
Natsu slammed face-first into the invisible inner wall of the island's barrier, bouncing off and landing flat on his back.
"BWAHAHAHA!" Gray burst into roaring laughter, clutching his stomach as he watched Natsu groan on the dirt.
"What are you laughing at, ice-stripper?!" Natsu sprang back up, furious, and charged at Gray.
"I'm laughing because you're a complete idiot who just ran headfirst into a magic wall!" Gray shot back flawlessly.
"You wanna go, droopy-eyes?!" Natsu roared, slamming his forehead violently against Gray's.
"Bring it on, squinty-eyes!" Gray snarled, pressing his forehead back with equal force.
"If the banquet is ready, why isn't the barrier opening?" Sorano asked, ignoring the two idiots wrestling in the dirt.
"Because the natural atmosphere of the Celestial Spirit World is fundamentally incompatible with human biology. If we stepped out right now without protection, we'd suffocate," Noah explained. "Ah, look. The delivery boys are here with our gear."
Noah pointed toward the starry bridge. Everyone looked over and saw Loke and Capricorn strolling across the bridge, each carrying two massive, overflowing duffel bags.
Noah tapped the holographic console again. Since Capricorn wasn't an official member of Fairy Tail, the barrier wouldn't normally let him pass, so Noah manually granted him access.
The moment Loke and Capricorn stepped through the barrier and dropped the heavy bags, Natsu abandoned his brawl with Gray and immediately tore into one of the bags.
"Clothes?" Natsu asked, pulling out a handful of strange, elegant garments. He looked up at Loke, confused.
"Exactly. These are specialized Celestial Spirit garments. You have to wear these to survive, breathe, and move normally within the Celestial Spirit World," Loke explained with a smile.
"We have prepared a wide variety of styles for Lady Lucy and the rest of you. If you cannot find anything to your liking, I shall return and fetch more options," Capricorn added with a polite bow.
"Let's see what we have first," Ultear said, stepping forward and rummaging through the bags with genuine interest. The other girls quickly crowded around her, excitedly picking out outfits.
"Thanks for the help, guys," Noah said to Loke and Capricorn.
He knew that pulling Tenrou Island across the dimensional boundary had required the combined effort of the Zodiac Spirits on the other side to forcefully open and stabilize the portal.
"I'm a member of Fairy Tail too. Of course I'd help," Loke grinned. "Besides, when you and Lucy both ask for something, and the Celestial Spirit King personally approves it, we aren't exactly going to say no."
"Indeed. As Lord Loke said, it is our honor to assist," Capricorn bowed again.
"If you guys ever need a favor in the future, just let me know," Noah offered warmly.
"We'll keep that in mind," Loke smiled. Knowing Noah's absurd, world-shaking power, having a favor from him was practically a get-out-of-jail-free card for any crisis.
"By the way... what happened to your arm?" Loke finally asked, staring at the thick bandages wrapping Noah's right arm.
In the three years Loke had been with Fairy Tail, he had never once seen Noah sustain an injury that required bandaging, let alone something this extensive.
"Oh, this? I took a hit while fighting Acnologia. It's been dealt with, so it's nothing to worry about," Noah dismissed it casually. "I'm going to go change. We can catch up properly during the feast."
Seeing that a few guild members had already picked out their outfits, Noah cast a quick Wood-Make spell, raising several sturdy wooden cabins from the ground to serve as temporary changing rooms. He then pulled his own set of Celestial Spirit clothes from his spatial pocket, stepped into a cabin, and quickly changed.
Since Noah's Thought Projection had spent a considerable amount of time residing in the Celestial Spirit World studying magic, he already possessed a wardrobe suited for the dimension.
Once everyone had changed into their celestial attire, Noah snapped his fingers, dissolving the wooden cabins back into the earth. He tapped the holographic console one final time, permanently opening a small gateway in the barrier leading directly to the starlight bridge.
"Alright, the barrier is open. Let's go party."
The moment the words left Noah's mouth, Natsu shot through the gateway, sprinting across the starry bridge at breakneck speed.
"FOOD! MEAAAAAAAT!" Natsu's joyful scream echoed across the void as he crossed the halfway point of the bridge.
"That idiot," Gray sighed, shaking his head.
"Wait for me, Natsu!" Happy yelled, flying after him.
The rest of the guild laughed and stepped out of the barrier, walking onto the bridge of starlight.
"Wow... it's so beautiful!" Wendy, Yukino, and Meredy gasped in sheer awe, looking around.
While on Tenrou Island, their vision had been obscured by the barrier and the island's terrain. Now, standing on the open bridge, they were entirely surrounded by the breathtaking, infinite expanse of glittering stars, nebulae, and floating celestial bodies. It felt like walking through a dream.
It wasn't just the younger girls; everyone was completely captivated by the ethereal beauty of the dimension, taking their time to admire the scenery as they crossed the bridge.
Led by Loke and Capricorn, the guild arrived at a massive, open-air plaza on the celestial planet.
The plaza was lined with dozens of long, ornate banquet tables, piled high with an absurd, mouth-watering variety of celestial delicacies and overflowing casks of wine. The tantalizing aroma of roasted meats and sweet pastries hung heavy in the air.
Natsu had already reached the tables and was practically vibrating with excitement, desperately trying to grab a massive hunk of meat, but Happy was forcefully pulling on his scarf. "You have to wait for everyone else, Natsu! It's polite!"
As Noah and the rest of the guild approached, the massive Celestial Spirit King stood up from his throne at the head of the plaza.
"Lucy! Noah! And your brave comrades! We have prepared this grand feast to celebrate your safe escape and your magnificent victory!" the King's booming voice echoed across the plaza. "Come! Drink until your bellies burst! Eat until you cannot move! Let us celebrate the reunion of old friends!"
"YEAAAAAH!"
The guild roared in unison. Natsu instantly dove into the food like a starving animal, while the others quickly grabbed plates and began piling them high with delicacies. Laughter, clinking glasses, and joyous shouting quickly filled the air.
During the feast, Noah sat with the Celestial Spirit King, Makarov, and the Zodiac Spirits, recounting the full details of his apocalyptic clash with Acnologia.
Hearing the detailed account, everyone grew incredibly solemn, gaining a profound understanding of the Black Dragon's true, terrifying power.
"Acnologia is truly a nightmare made flesh. To fight it to a standstill and actually manage to wound it... Old friend, your strength is truly extraordinary," the Celestial Spirit King praised genuinely.
Even residing in a different dimension, the King was well aware of the Black Dragon's legendary, apocalyptic reputation.
~~~
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