Chapter 242: Life-Bestowal Magic
Just as Noah and Makarov returned, Erza's team and Natsu's team also arrived.
"What did you find?" Noah asked.
"Not a single person," Erza reported. "It looks like a ghost town."
"But," Mirajane added, "all the houses show clear signs of recent life. It's too strange."
"Same on our side," Gray said. "Not a soul."
Noah nodded. It was the same all around.
"And there's something else," Erza said, pointing to a perfectly straight line etched into the ground near them. "The ground is covered in these gaps. They run all the way to the edge of the village, and no houses or bricks are built on them."
"They're not natural," Mirajane said, leading them along the line. "They were definitely carved here. Look." They followed it until it intersected with another, identical line.
"Ooo...ooon..."
A low, haunting sound suddenly echoed from the ground. Lucy and Happy jumped. "What was that?!"
Noah's eyes narrowed on the cracks. Suddenly, they began to glow with a faint red light. Everyone tensed. A moment later, the ground itself pulsed red.
"Be careful, Happy!" Natsu warned.
The red light spread, and the houses around them also began to glow and... twist.
"What is this?" Natsu asked, backing away as the buildings warped.
"Wh-What's happening?!" Lucy stammered.
"This is the first time I've ever seen a house move," Happy said, flying up.
"Why is that what you're focused on?!" Lucy shrieked.
The ground itself began to ripple like water.
"Let's get 'em, Master," Gray said, having already shed his shirt.
"Not yet," Noah said, putting a hand out to stop him.
"Why not?"
"I have a theory. Let's get to high ground," Noah said, turning and heading for a nearby hill. Makarov followed.
"Everyone, follow him! Don't get separated!" Erza commanded.
From the top of the hill, they watched as the "houses" finished their transformation, becoming giant, grotesque, snake-like monsters, writhing and pulsing with red light.
"Whoa! What the heck is going on?!" Natsu yelled.
"Noah, that's a magic circle, isn't it?" Mirajane asked, pointing at the glowing lines on the ground.
"Yes. Those gaps were the lines of the circle," Noah confirmed. "And this is a forbidden sealing magic, one I've only read about. It's the setup for... Life-Bestowal Magic."
"Life-Bestowal?" Lucy asked.
Noah pointed. "That's what it does. It's a magic that gives 'life' to inanimate objects. The villagers here must have activated this forbidden magic... and ended up becoming feed for it. But it's not true life. It's just an animation. The magic only gives dead things a new form and lets them move within the confines of the circle."
He shook his head. "True life-bestowal... is not something like this."
"But why would they do something so dangerous?"
"Because this was a Dark Guild's village," Erza answered.
"When we were searching," Mirajane added, "we found a warehouse full of dark magic items. Not a single one was legal."
"A Dark Guild, no doubt," Makarov said grimly. "They were plotting something evil and it blew up in their faces."
"So... what now? Do we get to fight 'em?" Natsu asked, cracking his knuckles, a wide grin on his face.
Noah glanced at Makarov, who gave a subtle shake of his head. "No," Noah said, turning back to Natsu. "We're not fighting them. I'm just going to dispel the magic circle."
"Dispel it?" they all repeated, confused.
"Yes. These things only exist because of the circle. Break the circle, and they'll cease to exist. Leaving a forbidden magic circle like this lying around is too dangerous. It's better to destroy it completely."
"What do we need to do?" Mira asked.
"Just stand back."
They all retreated a few meters. Noah raised his right hand and drew a complex series of runes in the air. A massive, golden magic circle appeared in the sky, covering the entire village. A brilliant light rained down, and as it touched the monsters, they began to dissolve.
Soon, every monster had vanished. The village was gone. All that remained was an empty, dusty canyon floor... and a large pile of people in colorful clothes, lying unconscious on the ground.
"The people... they were inside the monsters!" Erza said, shocked.
One by one, the people began to stir. They looked at their hands, at each other... and then they exploded into a wild celebration of singing, dancing, and crying.
"What's...?" Lucy started to ask.
"Just let them have this," Noah said, watching them. "They've earned it."
After a few minutes, the villagers finally noticed Noah's team and rushed over.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" they cried, bowing.
"What exactly happened to you guys?" Natsu asked.
"We... we built the magic circle," one of them explained. "But when it activated, the monsters appeared... and they absorbed us. We became... part of them."
"So you were the monsters..." Erza said, horrified.
"When you entered the village, you must have re-activated the circle," another villager added.
"The circle is gone," Noah stated. "I've erased it completely."
"What?!" They stared at him, stunned. It had taken all of them months to create that magic, and he had destroyed it in seconds. Erza and the others, however, just accepted it. At this point, nothing Noah did surprised them.
"You should all be grateful you were separated from the magic at all," Makarov said, stepping forward. "As punishment... I will not report this to the Magic Council, if you all swear to never attempt such forbidden magic again. What do you say?"
"Yes! Of course!" the leader cried, his face pale with terror. "We never want to go through that again! We swear!"
Makarov nodded, satisfied. The matter was closed.
After finally finding their way out of the canyon (Natsu's nose saved the day), the group arrived at the nearest town. They were all tired of walking. They unanimously decided to take a train the rest of the way home.
When Noah and Erza got back to their house, Sorano and the others were already back from their own missions and asleep.
The next morning, Noah came downstairs to find Erza, Sorano, and the younger girls already eating breakfast. Erza was recounting their adventure.
"Dammit!" Sorano pouted. "Why did I have to be on a job? I missed all the fun!"
"Sorano, I don't think it really counts as 'fun'..." Wendy said timidly.
"Exactly," Yukino added, with Meredy nodding beside her.
"Any trip with Noah is fun!" Sorano insisted. "No fair! Next time, I'm going!"
"If there's a chance, we'll go together next time," Noah said, having just walked in.
"You promise?! No take-backs!" Sorano's eyes lit up. Noah nodded, and she immediately started planning what she'd pack.
Noah just smiled and went to get his own breakfast. After they ate, they all headed to the guild.
The moment they walked in, they were hit by a wall of sound. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were already there, surrounded by guild members.
"I heard you destroyed Kunugi Station!"
"Never mind that, you took on the entire Eisenwald guild?"
"No, no, they tried to assassinate the Guild Masters! That's a huge incident!"
"Yeah, if they'd succeeded..."
"It's all over the newspapers! Tell us what happened!"
Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were all talking over each other, telling the story.
"...but Natsu was way too slow with Erigor," Gray was saying. "He needed Noah to wind him up just to land a hit. If it were me, I would've finished him ages ago."
"WHAT?! I beat him all by myself, you icicle-brain! You wanna go?! I'll show you who's stronger!"
"Anytime, charcoal-breath!"
Gray instantly stripped, and the two were about to fight. But this time, the guild members didn't cheer. They split into two groups and physically held them back.
"Not yet! Finish the story first, then you can fight!"
"Yeah, we want to hear the rest!"
Grumbling, Natsu and Gray were forced to continue. When they got to the part about Lullaby turning into a Zeref demon, the whole guild gasped. The name "Zeref" cast a chill over the room. Everyone knew the legends. They were terrified, realizing their own Master had been right there.
"So, what happened? You guys beat it?" someone asked.
"Of course we did!" Natsu said proudly.
"How strong was it?"
"Eh, not that strong," Gray said. "But not weak, either. But there were a bunch of us, and three S-Class wizards. If it was just me, it would have been a tougher fight."
"Yeah, I agree, it wasn't that strong," Natsu nodded. "Probably a bit stronger than you, though, stripper."
"What did you say?! It was weaker than me, but definitely stronger than you, squinty-eyes!"
"Say that again, droopy-eyes!"
THWACK.
Their foreheads slammed together.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Now that they had the full story, the guild members were happy to let the brawl begin. Lucy and Happy scrambled to the side for safety.
~~~
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