Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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"Makeup artist, more blood."
"Lower that hand over there a bit."
"Lower your breathing. Remember, you're playing a corpse."
"Yes, yes, yes, maintain the emotion."
"How did that pink-haired kid get in again? Security! Security!"
"..."
This was a small, abandoned village that had been deserted for many years, located in a lawless zone outside the border. The villagers had all moved to the peaceful Kingdom of Fiore over twenty years ago.
But now, the overgrown roads were cleared, the dilapidated houses were repaired, and the long-lost hustle and bustle had returned to this village that had been abandoned for years.
"It's good to have money."
Noah couldn't help but marvel at the financial power of the Heartfilia Conglomerate.
In just one day, a deserted village was transformed as if people had always lived there.
Natsu, who had been kicked out of the film crew for the third time, obediently didn't go back to cause more trouble under Erza's disapproving gaze. Instead, he watched a worker painting red on a house wall, exclaiming in wonder.
"Lucy, your family's theater troupe actors are really versatile. They can even paint walls!"
"He's a prop master... The troupe doesn't just have actors."
Although Lucy had anticipated it, she still couldn't help but rub her forehead at the overly curious Natsu. However, she also hadn't expected the theater troupe under her family's conglomerate to be so efficient.
"Oh, Noah, this time when I went home to ask my father for help, I also looked through our ancestral magic books."
"Just as you expected, the Heartfilia family does indeed possess a Super Magic unique to Celestial Spirit Mages. I've already gained a preliminary grasp of it."
Lucy smiled as she touched her key pouch, her face filled with longing. She had gathered all twelve Zodiac spirits and obtained a Super Magic that only Celestial Spirit Mages could use.
She was already thinking about what title she would use in the future.
Noah didn't feel particularly excited about the Celestial Spirit Super Magic, since Lucy's Magic Power was currently insufficient to unleash its true potential.
However, with Gemini's assistance, she might be able to use it.
Hearing that Lucy had learned a Super Magic, Natsu immediately became interested. "Super Magic, huh? That must be amazing! So, Lucy, let's fight..."
"No!" Lucy crossed her arms, unhesitatingly rejecting Natsu's invitation to fight.
Ever since the Purgatory Dragon—no, the Hellfire Dragon—entered his body, Natsu could use his adopted uncle's flames. The black and red fire that wouldn't naturally extinguish had increased the power of his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic by twenty percent.
She wouldn't be foolish enough to fight Natsu, who had grown even stronger.
Natsu, rejected, scratched his head. With nothing to do and unable to sit still, his hands were itching for action.
However, Lucy disagreed, Gray and Juvia were helping with the troupe's props, Noah couldn't beat him, and Mira would only tell him to challenge Erza.
As for Erza... Natsu felt that if he were truly foolish enough to challenge her here, he would most likely get a beating.
Is there nothing for me, Natsu, to do in this huge village?
Bored, Natsu's gaze wandered. Suddenly, he saw a handsome man outside the village with medium-length, grass-green hair, dressed like a Western swordsman. His eyes lit up, and he reached the edge of the village in a few leaps.
"Freed! Do you need my help?"
The captain of the Thunder God Tribe, who was concentrating on carving a Magic Circle, startled as Natsu's sudden appearance made his hand tremble, almost ruining the formation beneath his feet.
Watching the usually calm Freed show a helpless expression, the tall man next to him—wearing a distinctive helmet with five protruding "babies"—patted Natsu's shoulder and laughed heartily.
"Natsu, you always have endless energy! But Freed is setting up a Magic Circle, so don't disturb him."
As a member of the Thunder God Tribe, Bickslow's personality was completely opposite to Freed's. He was a slightly flamboyant and humorous man, but he was also quite reliable in his work.
Bickslow immediately saw that Natsu had nothing to do, so he pulled him aside. "Natsu, I heard you saw a Dragon. Is that true or false?"
"Of course it's true. Atlas Flame is inside my body right now." Natsu thumped his chest proudly.
Hearing this, Bickslow, who had originally intended to simply distract Natsu, became genuinely interested. "Oh! So Dragons really exist? Can you call him out to show me?"
"Hmph, Bickslow, you would believe such a thing."
A cold voice rang out, and a haughty woman wearing glasses walked out of the village.
Evergreen, the last member of the Thunder God Tribe and the only female mage in the squad, elegantly pulled out her fan to cover the lower half of her face and chuckled softly.
"Dragons have long been extinct. I thought only Natsu, that idiot, would believe Dragons still exist."
These words directly struck Natsu's nerve. Natsu could accept being called stupid, but he would never allow anyone to openly deny the existence of living Dragons.
Enraged, Natsu yelled at the approaching woman. "Evergreen! Atlas Flame really exists! Igneel does too!"
"Who can prove it?"
"Of course there are witnesses. Erza, Lucy, Gray—they can all testify. Noah even personally placed the weakened Atlas Flame into my body."
Upon hearing Natsu mention Erza's name, Evergreen's gaze sharpened.
Evergreen had been fascinated by "fairies" since childhood, taught herself Fairy Magic, and joined Fairy Tail because of the guild's name.
She had originally been determined to claim the title of "Fairy Queen," but who knew that title had been bestowed upon Erza by the magic community.
This had always made Evergreen resent Erza.
The Thunder God Tribe always moved together. Freed was invited by Noah to help, so Bickslow and Evergreen came along to join in.
Although he didn't know what conditions Noah used to convince Freed, Bickslow knew that since their captain agreed, they were all on the same team for now.
They were all on the same side, so internal conflicts should be avoided as much as possible.
Bickslow, who always valued teamwork, immediately stepped between the tense Natsu and Evergreen. "Don't be like that. We're all family."
Evergreen snapped her folding fan shut. "Hmph, who's family with this idiot who doesn't even have the qualifications to challenge Laxus!"
Natsu immediately retorted, unwilling to be outdone. "Tch, a mere candidate for the Fairy Queen title dares to be so arrogant in front of me!"
Stung by the remark, Evergreen's breathing quickened. She pointed at Natsu, too angry to utter a single word of rebuttal, because it was true.
"Damn Natsu, I'll make you pay!"
"Who's afraid of whom? I've wanted to fight you Thunder God Tribe members for a long time!"
Bickslow sighed, knowing he couldn't stop his two companions. Just as he was about to summon the guild's strongest "conflict resolver," Erza—
Dense runic script suddenly appeared in the air in front of Natsu, like an incredibly hard, invisible wall, making Natsu dizzy from the impact.
Freed, who had just finished the Magic Circle, saw this scene, his expression slightly awkward. He had clearly set up the rule of Demons from the Books of Zeref cannot leave.
But he hadn't expected to block Natsu within the barrier.
It had been a long time since he set up such a complex, high-difficulty Magic Circle, and his skills were a bit rusty, causing problems. It seemed he must intensify his training in the future. Otherwise, how could he keep up with Laxus's pace?
Thinking of Laxus, Freed felt an endless surge of motivation. For Laxus, I will definitely retrieve that footage from Noah, even if it costs me everything!
Noah watched the four people outside the village from afar. He had already known about all the commotion through his wind magic.
Bickslow and Evergreen were fine.
It was Freed's determined gaze at the end that gave off a feeling of someone willing to sacrifice everything.
Thinking of Freed's unreasonably enthusiastic attitude toward Laxus, a startling thought uncontrollably popped into Noah's mind.
That guy... couldn't possibly be interested in Laxus romantically, could he?