Chapter 477: Hey, Don't You Have Any Shame? Attacking Grandpa While You're Fighting Me?
"I never expected Makarov to raise a brat like you. It seems he truly managed the guild well. Hahaha!"
Seeing Noah emerge completely unscathed, Precht wasn't angry. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed heartily, his expression radiating absolute confidence and genuine admiration.
"My, my. Looking at the sorry state you're in now, it's a blessing you didn't stay in Fairy Tail and passed the title of Master to Grandpa instead. If you had stayed, Fairy Tail definitely wouldn't be as amazing as it is today. If it had turned into the twisted freakshow that Grimoire Heart is, I absolutely never would have joined." Noah retorted without missing a beat, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"You think the current Fairy Tail is excellent, and my guild is a twisted freakshow? Brat, you might possess some impressive magical talent, but your judgment is utterly terrible.
"Aside from you, not a single one of Makarov's 'children' stands a chance against my Seven Kin of Purgatory. They are Great Mages whom I have personally cultivated over the years. They all wield magic that exists closest to the primordial root of the magical abyss: Lost Magic! Against such forbidden power, Makarov's children are entirely helpless!" Precht shook his head, looking at Noah with a mixture of pity and disappointment.
"Oh, really? Are you absolutely certain about that?" Noah's expression turned incredibly weird as he stared at Precht. "I'm guessing you were too focused on our fight to actually pay attention to the battlefield. How about I give you a free moment to take a look?"
Precht froze. Frowning slightly, he extended his sensory magic while simultaneously turning his head to look at the massive battlefield in the distance.
The two armies, having momentarily paused due to the shockwave of their previous explosion, were already locked in brutal combat once again.
However, as Precht took in the actual state of the battlefield, his face instantly darkened. The situation was absolutely nothing like he had predicted.
Every single member of the Seven Kin of Purgatory had been intercepted. Furthermore, they weren't dominating the fights at all. Many were locked in grueling stalemates, and some were actively losing ground.
"So these are the 'Great Mages' you spent years cultivating? They don't look like much to me. And you have the nerve to look down on us? To look down on the Fairy Tail that Grandpa spent the last 48 years building? Don't you think you're being just a tiny bit arrogant?" Noah tilted his head, his tone laced with mocking curiosity.
"You insolent brat!" Precht snarled, his face contorting into an ugly scowl.
Having just boasted about his ultimate elites, only for reality to immediately slap him in the face, he felt profoundly humiliated.
"It's just as I said. You're incredibly arrogant. I honestly don't know where you get your confidence," Noah shrugged.
"You will learn very soon, brat," Precht threatened, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Suddenly, Precht sensed something and his confident smirk returned. "My, my. Although I didn't want him to intervene so soon... it is over. Fairy Tail will be annihilated today."
"Oh? You mean the guy who just stepped off your airship? He does seem decently strong. But saying it's over and Fairy Tail will be annihilated? Isn't that taking it a bit too far?"
Noah had naturally sensed exactly what Precht had. A mage with a terrifyingly dense magical signature had just disembarked from the Grimoire Heart airship and was walking toward the main battlefield.
"Noah, I'll head over there and deal with him," Makarov's voice called out from the rear. He had also sensed the newcomer's immense power.
While Noah and Precht seemed evenly matched on the surface, Makarov knew his grandson intimately—Noah hadn't even begun to truly cut loose. Although he didn't know what hidden trump cards Precht might possess, he was confident Noah wouldn't lose easily. Since he didn't need to worry about Noah for now, his priority shifted to protecting the guild's children from this new, incredibly dangerous threat.
"I cannot allow you to do that, Makarov," Precht stated coldly.
Before Noah could say a word, Precht swiped two fingers through the air. Several dark purple magic circles instantly materialized around Makarov, locking onto him.
"Hey, don't you have any shame? Attacking Grandpa while you're fighting me?"
Noah didn't miss a beat. Both his hands blurred into motion, his fingers tracing complex runes in the air simultaneously.
Instantly, several golden magic circles materialized, surrounding Precht in retaliation. At the exact same moment, a brilliant, golden spherical barrier—shimmering with starlight and bearing the Fairy Tail emblem—enveloped Makarov completely.
Seeing the incoming attack, Makarov was about to cast a defensive spell when the starlight barrier materialized around him. Recognizing the spell instantly, he lowered his hands.
It was Noah's ultimate defensive super-magic, Aegis of the Stars. Its defensive capabilities were vastly superior to anything Makarov could cast on short notice. Noah had naturally taught the spell to Makarov, but the old man couldn't cast it instantly without an incantation like Noah could. Since he was already protected by the ultimate shield, there was no need to waste his own magic.
KABOOM!!!
Massive explosions detonated simultaneously at Makarov and Precht's locations. The ground shattered violently, sending a hurricane of shrapnel and dust flying in all directions.
Caught right in the middle, Noah was naturally engulfed by the blast radius. He smoothly deployed a personal barrier to tank the shockwaves, his fingers never stopping their rapid, intricate movements through the air.
The moment the initial explosions began to fade and silhouettes became visible through the smoke, a fresh, highly complex golden array materialized directly beside Precht.
"You little brat!" Precht's eyes widened in genuine alarm.
He could sense a terrifying, lethal concentration of magic within the golden array. If he didn't defend immediately, he would suffer critical damage. He hastily threw his hands up, desperately casting his strongest defensive spell.
BOOM!
The golden array detonated the microsecond Precht's shield formed. The catastrophic explosion instantly ballooned into a blinding sphere of destructive light.
The bedrock beneath Precht ceased to exist. The massive, artificial landmass Noah had raised from the ocean floor quaked violently under the sheer force of the blast.
On the adjacent battlefield, numerous Grimoire Heart grunts lost their footing due to the sudden, violent tremors, allowing the Fairy Tail mages to swiftly strike them down. Yukino's celestial spirits, who were patrolling the edges of the battlefield, capitalized on the chaos, cleanly knocking out several grunts. Seeing her spirits perform so well, Yukino's face flushed with excitement.
While the explosion was still raging, Noah glanced back at Makarov. Protected by the Aegis of the Stars, the old man was completely unharmed.
"Grandpa, you don't need to worry. Gildarts and Aunt Ur are over there. It's about time Gildarts stretched his legs anyway. He can handle that guy without any problems," Noah reassured him.
Suddenly, Noah sensed a familiar magical signature moving toward the newcomer. He smiled. "See? Gildarts is already on his way to intercept him. You don't need to worry."
Hearing this, Makarov turned his head toward the battlefield. Sure enough, he spotted Gildarts casually strolling out from the backline, heading straight for the powerful newcomer. Makarov finally let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Good." Since the threat was being handled, Makarov decided to stay put and continue watching Noah's fight, ready to intervene if things took a sudden turn for the worst.
Noah turned his attention back to the raging explosion in front of him. As long as Makarov stayed out of the fight, everything was perfect. Fairy Tail currently possessed an overwhelming surplus of combat power; they simply didn't need the Master to risk his life on the front lines. Noah just had to keep him from charging in out of sheer worry.
The blinding sphere of destructive light gradually dissipated, revealing Precht at its epicenter.
However, Precht's appearance was no longer pristine. His sleek black armor was heavily scorched, his robes were tattered, and numerous shallow cuts marred his face and hands, slowly oozing blood.
"You damn, insolent brat!" Precht snarled, the last remnants of his amused smile completely vanishing, replaced by a look of terrifying, murderous intent.
He waved his hand, using a quick spell to instantly replace his ruined clothing with a pristine set of dark robes.
"That is enough for the warm-up. I will not hold back anymore."
A suffocating, pitch-black aura erupted from Precht, vastly denser and more malevolent than before. The sheer concentration of dark magic caused the earth around him to shudder violently. Loose rocks and debris lifted into the air before being instantly pulverized into fine dust by the oppressive magical gravity.
"Isn't that exactly what I wanted? Let's have a proper fight. They can handle the rest of the battlefield themselves."
A brilliant, overwhelming golden aura erupted from Noah, matching Precht's darkness pound for pound. The ground beneath Noah trembled fiercely as excess magic shattered the bedrock into fragments.
Both mages suddenly retracted their auras. Their fingers blurred into motion simultaneously, tracing highly complex runes in the air at impossible speeds.
Dozens of magic circles flickered into existence around them and vanished just as quickly. Noah and Precht engaged in a blindingly fast, hyper-lethal magical shootout. Deafening, overlapping explosions continuously rocked the battlefield as their spells collided and detonated in rapid succession.
"Gildarts, it's your turn. A new enemy has entered the field," Noah's Thought Projection instructed, turning to the orange-haired mage standing nearby.
"Aren't you here? You go deal with him," Gildarts grumbled lazily, crossing his arms. Seeing that Fairy Tail was dominating the battlefield, he really didn't feel like moving.
"I have to constantly log the combat data of every Grimoire Heart member. Many of their spells are completely unknown to me, especially the Lost Magics used by the Seven Kin. That data is incredibly valuable for my research. Very few people use magic with such catastrophic side effects and immense destructive power. Even if someone wanted to learn them, they're notoriously difficult to master. I can't leave this post. Hurry up and deal with him. Treat it as a light stretch," Noah's projection retorted, rapidly typing on a holographic keyboard.
Gildarts sighed and looked at Ur.
"Aunt Ur has to stay here and monitor the entire battlefield to ensure the kids don't get hurt. You are the only one with the free time and the power to deal with that guy. Go," Noah's voice chimed in before Gildarts could even ask.
"Maybe I should..." Ur hesitated, looking between the two.
"No, I'll go. Like Noah said, I need a light stretch anyway," Gildarts shook his head, stopping Ur. He just didn't want to move, but if it came down to him or Ur, it was better if he took the heavy hitter.
With a lazy stretch, Gildarts began walking toward the man who had just disembarked from the airship.
Ur smiled, watching him leave, before returning her full attention to the battlefield.
"Do you know who that new guy is?" Ur asked Noah curiously.
"Let me check." Noah opened a new Archive window and ran a rapid facial recognition search through the Magic Council's database.
"Bluenote Stinger. During the Cabria War, he single-handedly annihilated the entire Azure Dragon Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel Goro. It's said that wherever he walks, not even a single blade of grass is left standing," Noah read the grim file aloud.
"Sounds pretty tough," Ur noted.
"Isn't Gildarts tougher?" Noah smirked.
"Fair point," Ur chuckled, instantly dismissing any worry and focusing back on the kids.
Before Bluenote could even step onto the main battlefield, Gildarts intercepted him.
"Can you fly?" Bluenote asked, stopping to look at the man blocking his path.
He was a massive, incredibly muscular man with long dark hair tied into a ponytail that reached his waist. He wore dark clothes with a white coat draped over his shoulders like a cape.
Before Gildarts could even answer, Bluenote answered his own question.
"No... you can't fly yet! FALL!"
Bluenote raised both hands and slammed them downward.
A massive, localized gravitational field instantly crashed down on Gildarts. The sheer weight caused the ground beneath Gildarts to instantly cave in, forming a massive crater. Gildarts's posture buckled slightly, his knees bending under the sudden, immense pressure.
"Gravity Magic? Hmm... still significantly weaker than Noah's, though."
Gildarts exhaled sharply, pushing his magic power through his muscles. Ignoring the crushing gravity, he slowly straightened his posture until he was standing perfectly tall.
Bluenote's eyes widened. Just as he attempted to multiply the gravitational force, Gildarts was already charging straight at him, shrugging off the gravity field like a light breeze. Gildarts pulled his fist back and threw a devastating punch.
Realizing he didn't have time to cast another spell, Bluenote abandoned his magic, reared his own fist back, and met the attack head-on.
KABOOM!
The two fists collided. A thunderous shockwave erupted from the point of impact, tearing through the air and violently knocking several mages on the periphery of the battlefield off their feet, sending them tumbling across the dirt.
"Gildarts!" "Deputy Commander Bluenote!"
The knocked-down mages scrambled back to their feet, staring in shock at the two titans clashing in the distance.
"So you're the famous Gildarts? And I actually lost out in a contest of pure physical strength?"
Bluenote had been violently pushed back several dozen meters from the clash before finally digging his heels in to stop. He stared at Gildarts in absolute, unadulterated disbelief.
"I can't let a guy like you wander onto the main battlefield. Aside from a select few, the brats in our guild can't handle you yet. You're going to have to exit the stage right here," Gildarts stated calmly.
Without waiting for a response, Gildarts charged forward again, throwing another monstrous right hook.
Bluenote didn't back down. He roared and threw a punch to counter.
The moment their fists collided, the bedrock beneath them completely disintegrated into dust, the sheer kinetic force blowing a massive crater into the earth.
Gildarts smoothly retracted his right fist and immediately followed up with a devastating left hook. Bluenote hastily raised his arms to block, but the impact sent him skidding backward across the dirt.
"You bastard! It seems you might actually be able to fly!" Bluenote laughed, a manic, ecstatic grin spreading across his face as he stabilized himself.
He instantly charged at Gildarts, who met him head-on with a fierce grin of his own. The two titans clashed, their blows shaking the very foundation of the island.
~~~
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