Chapter 510: I Had the Exact Same Expression When I First Heard That
"You must understand, the annihilation of the Dragon race four hundred years ago was a monumental event that shook everyone who knew of it."
The Celestial Spirit King's booming voice resonated across the banquet.
"Before that era, Dragons ruled every corner of the Human World. The skies, the earth, the oceans—every domain fell under their absolute dominion. Even when civil war broke out between the Dragons who favored humans and those who despised them, resulting in countless casualties on both sides, their overall strength still eclipsed every other race combined.
"But then, in a terrifyingly short span of time, the entire Dragon race was slaughtered until only a handful remained."
Naturally, upon learning of such a catastrophic shift, the Celestial Spirit King had immediately investigated the cause. That was when he learned the name Acnologia.
After observing the Black Dragon from afar, the King quickly realized the beast's power was absolute; it was a monster he could never defeat in direct combat. However, he hadn't been overly concerned. Acnologia couldn't cross the dimensional boundary into the Celestial Spirit World, so the Spirits themselves were safe. Furthermore, if a Celestial Spirit was critically injured in the Human World, they would simply be forcefully unsummoned and returned to the Spirit World to heal, guaranteeing their ultimate safety.
But even if Acnologia didn't pose a direct threat to his realm, an entity of that magnitude demanded constant surveillance. It was a being of pure malice, leaving a trail of destroyed nations and shattered continents in its wake.
As the King of the Celestial Spirits, he maintained a vigilant, albeit indirect, watch over the Black Dragon. Direct observation of a creature with hyper-enhanced draconic senses—especially a human-turned-Dragon—would have alerted it.
Through his centuries of subtle observation, the King knew that Acnologia's power had actually waned over the last four hundred years due to the steadily decreasing Ethernano concentration in the Human World. But even in a weakened state, it remained the undisputed, absolute strongest entity on Earthland, completely eclipsing every other living being.
For Noah to actually injure that monster meant the young mage's power was already firmly seated at the absolute pinnacle of the Human World.
The King was profoundly amazed at how fast Noah had grown. After all, from the perspective of the Celestial Spirit World, Noah had only been studying here for a little over a month (since one day in the Spirit World equated to three months in the Human World).
"I'm still no match for it, though. We only survived today because of your help," Noah shook his head modestly before his expression turned fiercely determined. "However, I firmly believe that with just a little more time, I will defeat it."
"Yeah! Next time we meet, we're definitely gonna beat the crap out of Acnologia!" Natsu roared, his eyes blazing with excitement at Noah's declaration.
"Exactly. We can't just turn tail and run like this next time," Laxus agreed, his arms crossed.
The other mages nodded firmly. While retreating to save their lives was the only logical choice today, it still sat bitterly in their stomachs. They were Fairy Tail mages; they didn't like losing, and they fully intended to win the rematch.
"I believe in you, my old friends!" The Celestial Spirit King roared with laughter, raising his massive goblet in a toast.
"Naturally," Noah grinned, raising his own glass and downing the wine in one gulp. The others cheerfully followed suit.
"I... I really don't think I can do that," Lucy muttered weakly, staring at her empty glass. Having witnessed the apocalyptic, world-ending power of Acnologia firsthand, the idea of 'beating it up' sounded like complete lunacy to her. Leave the Dragon-slaying to Noah and Natsu!
"But Lucy, didn't you just say earlier that you were super strong? I believe in you!" Happy snickered, covering his mouth with his paws.
"No, please forget I ever said that! I'm not strong at all!" Lucy backpedaled instantly.
"I never knew Lucy was such a fickle woman," Happy sighed dramatically, shaking his head.
"I'm a girl! Being fickle is my right!" Lucy shot back irritably.
The Celestial Spirit King chuckled at their banter before looking down at Noah. "If you ever require assistance in the future, do not hesitate to call upon us. We will always do our utmost to help."
"I know. And the same goes for you—if the Spirit World ever needs a hand, you know where to find me," Noah smiled warmly.
The King nodded, raising his goblet again. "But enough talk of Acnologia! Tonight, we feast! Enjoy the delicacies of the Celestial Spirit World! Ah... if memory serves, the last time your true body visited our realm was nine years ago, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. I was eleven at the time. I was incredibly fortunate that you granted me an exception to leave a Thought Projection here to study. Thank you again for that. I wouldn't have reached my current level of strength without your support," Noah said, his voice brimming with genuine gratitude.
"Nonsense. Your strength is the result of your own relentless effort. I merely provided the opportunity," the King waved his massive hand dismissively.
Noah raised his glass to the King once more in silent thanks.
While the King was humble, Noah knew exactly how monumental that 'opportunity' had been. The Celestial Spirit World's grand library was an unparalleled treasure trove of magical knowledge.
In the Human World, countless ancient, priceless grimoires and texts had been lost, burned, or destroyed over centuries of war and chaos. However, Noah had discovered that many ancient Celestial Spirit Mages had copied these lost texts and brought them to the Spirit World for safekeeping. Over the millennia, the Spirit World had accumulated an unimaginably vast archive of 'lost' magical knowledge from Earthland.
Gaining access to those archives had allowed Noah to bypass decades of trial and error in his research. The wisdom of the ancients had been the ultimate catalyst for his explosive growth. He owed the Spirit King a massive debt, and he fully intended to repay it whenever the Spirits needed him.
But for now... enjoying the feast was the priority.
Noah reached for the celestial delicacies piled high on the table and began to eat.
"This is amazing! What is this stuff?!" Natsu mumbled through a mouthful of food, double-fisting plates while asking his question. The table in front of him was already cluttered with empty bowls.
"That is crab meat pasta topped with starry cheese, ebi," Cancer announced, snipping his scissors as he walked by.
"And the other dish is roasted lamb chops in a special sauce... I'm so sorry!" Aries squeaked, appearing beside him.
Natsu froze. The food fell from his hands.
Tears instantly began streaming down his face as he dropped to his knees, bowing furiously. "I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"
The rest of the guild, who were happily chewing on the same food, froze mid-bite. Their faces contorted in absolute horror as they slowly looked down at their plates. Were they eating... Celestial Spirits?!
"Bwahahaha!"
Noah, having overheard the exchange, burst into roaring laughter.
Wiping a tear from his eye, he quickly reassured Natsu and the horrified guild. "Relax, guys! I had the exact same expression when I first heard that too. Don't worry—they're just regular crabs and lambs from the Spirit World, not actual Celestial Spirits. The Spirits are an entirely different race, and they don't mind at all. Eat up!"
"Oh, thank god..."
Natsu and the rest of the guild let out a massive, collective sigh of relief, immediately diving back into their meals with renewed vigor.
Once everyone was thoroughly stuffed, they began to mingle, wandering around the plaza to chat with familiar Spirits or explore the immediate area. The Celestial Spirits were incredibly welcoming and hospitable.
Aside from the twelve Zodiacs, numerous other Silver Key Spirits had joined the banquet. While the Fairy Tail mages were mostly familiar with Lucy's Zodiacs, they eagerly struck up conversations with the other strange and wonderful denizens of the Spirit World.
Gray and Loke immediately gravitated toward each other, clinking glasses. Having been partnered up during the S-Class trials, they had plenty to talk about.
Levy excitedly sought out Crux, the Southern Cross, who happily offered to give her a tour of a small section of the Spirit World's archives.
"Wow! This is incredible! There are so many books here I've never even heard of!" Levy cheered, her eyes sparkling like stars as she gazed at the towering bookshelves.
"Hoho! Since you appreciate knowledge so deeply, please, take this volume as a souvenir," Crux offered kindly, handing her an ancient-looking tome.
Then, his head drooped, and he began snoring loudly. "Zzzzz..."
"Ah! He fell asleep?!" Levy panicked, holding the book nervously.
"Don't worry! He's just scanning his database for information!" Lucy laughed from nearby.
"Plue!" Happy cheered, spotting the familiar little Nikora waddling over.
"Oh right, he's a Celestial Spirit too," Carla noted in realization.
"Pu~un!" Plue squeaked happily, waving its little arms.
"Whoa! There's so many of them!"
"They're everywhere!"
Wendy and Meredy gasped as a massive horde of Nikoras—all identical to Plue but in dozens of different colors—waddled enthusiastically toward them.
"Pu~un!" "Pu~un!" "Pu~un!"
In seconds, the two girls were completely buried under a cheerful, squeaking avalanche of colorful Plues.
Nearby, Yukino was deep in conversation with Pisces.
Since Noah had formally offered her the Pisces key, he had already spoken with the twin fish Spirits to ensure their approval. Now, Yukino was getting to know them, preparing to formalize their contract and build a bond. Libra stood quietly by her side, offering her silent support.
Gildarts, naturally, was casually strolling around the plaza, his eyes shamelessly scanning the more scantily clad female Celestial Spirits.
Cana immediately noticed his creeping. With a heavy sigh, she marched over, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him away before he could embarrass the guild any further.
At the head table, Makarov was happily drinking with the Celestial Spirit King.
Makarov thanked the King profusely for granting them sanctuary. The King simply laughed and raised his goblet. Not wanting to be outdone in a toast, Makarov activated his Giant Magic, expanding his body until he was the exact same size as the towering Spirit King. He summoned a proportionally massive barrel of wine, clinking it against the King's goblet as the two giant old men laughed and drank the night away.
"Is the old man gonna be okay drinking like that?" Laxus asked, standing beside Noah and watching Makarov chug the massive barrel.
"He'll be fine. Letting loose like this once in a while is good for him," Noah smiled. "He needs a way to vent. The stress of facing Acnologia and worrying about all of you definitely took a toll on him. This is his way of winding down."
Going from absolute, heart-stopping terror to complete relief was an emotional rollercoaster. Getting completely hammered with the Spirit King was probably the healthiest way for Makarov to process it. Plus, since he was using Giant Magic, the alcohol was proportional to his size; he wouldn't get alcohol poisoning.
"Did you really come here when you were a kid and leave a clone behind to study?" Laxus asked, turning the topic back to Noah.
"Yeah! You never told us that!" Sorano pouted, walking over with Erza and the others.
"Well, it was all thanks to Sister Layla pulling some major strings to get me in. And since the Spirit King explicitly made a rare exception for me, it wasn't exactly something I could go around bragging about," Noah explained apologetically.
"It's fine. We all ended up here eventually anyway!" Laxus waved it off with a smirk.
"Still... what a truly magical place," Ultear murmured, gazing out at the breathtaking expanse of stars and nebulae stretching infinitely across the void.
"It's gorgeous," Mirajane agreed softly.
"Indeed. It's a wonderful realm," Erza nodded, a rare, relaxed smile on her face.
"Gahahaha! I am overjoyed that you all find my realm so pleasing!" the Celestial Spirit King boomed from the head table, having overheard them.
Suddenly, the melodic strumming of a harp filled the air. Lyra had taken the stage, her sweet, enchanting voice weaving a beautiful, upbeat melody that echoed across the plaza.
Hearing the music, the Fairy Tail mages couldn't help themselves. They leaped up from the tables and began dancing to the rhythm.
There was no choreography or grace—it was just pure, unadulterated chaotic flailing. They stomped, spun, and wiggled to the beat, looking like an absolute mob of lunatics. But the joyous, carefree smiles plastered across every single face were undeniably infectious.
Noah and the girls quickly joined the fray, laughing and dancing wildly under the starry sky.
Standing by the tables, Lucy watched the chaotic, beautiful scene unfold. Seeing her two absolute favorite families—the Celestial Spirits and the Fairy Tail guild—laughing, dancing, and celebrating together, a bright, tearful smile bloomed across her face.
The banquet raged on for hours, filled with endless laughter, drinking, and chaotic dancing. Eventually, as the excitement naturally began to wind down, the exhausted mages drifted away from the dance floor, sitting in small clusters on the grass to rest.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn