A low voice whispered into Jerome's ear from behind, and a chill ran up his spine. His concealment skills were so good he hadn't even realized someone was at his back.
Who can so easily see through the flaws in my magic?
Jerome leaned to the side and pushed back, trying to draw his sword by force, but there was no one behind him and he missed.
By the time he reacted, a fist had already struck his face.
Jerome, already off balance, cried out and fell backward.
"Your swordsmanship is mediocre, your physical skills are terrible — what else do you have besides that sword?"
"Oh, you're fairly handsome, but you're still far below me."
Noah kicked the dark sword out of Jerome's hand, then delivered a hard kick to his nose, sending him reeling.
Just as Noah was about to let Jerome sleep it off, a sudden sense of danger made him dodge.
A long barbed spear embedded itself where he had just stood.
Jerome was not alone after all. With the rich man at his side, he rolled away from Noah, caring little for appearances, and retrieved his dark sword.
Seeing the long sword shrouded in black magic, Noah felt a moment of helplessness. He had watched Jerome use that blade to corrode rock. Such terrifying destructive power belonged to the Black Magic Cult — how powerful must their high priests be?
Noah didn't yet know the two before him were Black Magic priests. He only knew he had been exposed and could not defeat them with physical skill alone.
"How dare you sneak-attack me, you despicable bastard!" Jerome snarled. When he was struck, he noticed the guild emblem on Noah's arm — the emblem of the notorious Fairy Tail.
"Even if I'm from the Dark Cult, as a member of the Light Guild, do you think you can treat me like this?! You bastard!"
Both Noah and the rich man froze at Jerome's words.
Not buddy!
Do I need to follow some villain code when dealing with criminals?
Are you here to mock me?
Noah couldn't help laughing; his companion Haomen struggled to suppress a grin. At least Jerome and Haomen shared the same self-image as villains.
"Jerome, the priority is to capture this Fairy Tail wizard and torture him to our hearts' content."
Haomen, a psychopath with a taste for cruelty, delighted in the idea of torturing anyone beautiful or handsome.
"Torture carnival!"
Magic circles spread around Haomen as he gestured; various terrifying torture instruments materialized.
Seeing a device called "blasting pliers," Jerome instinctively backed away from his perverted colleague.
Even Noah, who had seemed calm, broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of the implements. He feared what would happen if he were captured.
If I'd known, I should've bought some of Dolan's defective items and used them first, he thought.
Noah knew well that, however agile he was, he couldn't evade attacks from so many torture devices, especially with Jerome coveting him.
This is a magical world after all.
"Oh, I've really overestimated myself."
Noah sighed, then looked at Jerome and Haomen. "Do either of you know 'Dragon Slayer' magic?"
"Humph, you're still spouting nonsense at this moment!"
"Sweetheart, when I catch you, I'll make a hundred wretches serve you!"
Jerome and Haomen attacked.
"Then I'll assume you don't know 'Dragon Slayer' magic."
As the torture devices and black sword strikes came at him, Noah smiled faintly and produced an exquisite dragon-shaped figurine the size of his palm.
To protect his dignity, he finally played his trump card.
In the world of Edras, humans spent centuries perfecting a forbidden war magitech — the autonomous weapon "Dragoon."
This weapon was created by King Edlas 400 years ago as a device of absolute destruction. Except against "Dragon Slayer" magic, other magics' damage against the Dragoon is greatly reduced. However, Dragon Slayers deal double damage to the Dragoon — they are its natural enemy.
During Faust's extreme era, he feared encountering Dragon Slayers and thus used Anima to siphon magic power from Ascalante instead of invading.
At present, Noah could confirm that the two men before him were not Dragon Slayers.
"Dragoon, activate Annihilation Mode."
A black magic circle spread under Noah's feet, blocking the incoming attacks.
The palm-sized figure began to rotate and assemble at frantic speed, expanding a thousandfold into a humanoid dragon mecha with a silver-black metallic sheen.
A huge shadow enveloped Jerome and Haomen, swallowing the light around them.
Two red eyes fixed on the ants below without emotion, and a cold mechanical voice intoned:
"Identity confirmed: His Royal Highness, Second Prince Noah."
"Annihilation Mode: Activated."
The Dragoon drew in ambient magic above Iron Furnace Ridge, converting it into a black-particle magic beam fired from the dragon's maw.
The ground trembled; the air vibrated. A pale white beam illuminated the valley.
Under the earth-shattering force, Jerome and Haomen could neither resist nor flee. They felt themselves drowning, swallowed by an abyss of power and despair.
Silently, the annihilation beam gouged a massive hole in the valley floor; Jerome and Haomen were reduced to ash by the horrific attack.
Noah noticed Jerome's dark sword remained, though broken — black magic proved tenacious, but the blade looked ruined.
After several contractions, the Dragoon folded back to figurine size; its movements could not be restored.
Noah knew the annihilation beam would surely attract nearby attention, and he did not want to reveal the Dragoon's existence just yet. The valley's devastation would be hard to explain.
He tried to slip away but failed. From a distance, Kana flew toward him, standing on a card.
Kana waved vigorously and called, "Noah! Are you okay?"