Chapter 484: Your Brain is Completely Broken, and You've Become an Absolute Idiot
"Brat! To think you have managed to delve so deeply into the abyss of magic... How truly rare!"
Precht's face was flushed with ecstatic excitement, though his hands never stopped moving. One devastating spell after another poured from his fingertips, hurtling endlessly toward Noah.
"Hehe. As expected of a century-old Great Mage, your strength truly is something else."
Noah chuckled softly. His hands danced through the air in a blur, effortlessly tracing complex runes that materialized into golden magic circles, perfectly intercepting every incoming attack.
With a swift clap of his hands, Noah channeled his magic into the earth. Instantly, an entire forest of massive, thick trees erupted from the ground directly beneath Precht, their thorny branches violently twisting together in an attempt to crush him.
Precht didn't panic. He threw his arms wide, unleashing a dense, suffocating torrent of pitch-black magic.
HISS! SIZZLE!
The moment the dark magic touched the wood, it violently corroded the massive trunks, melting the entire artificial forest into sickly black sludge within seconds.
Clapping his hands together, Precht forcefully redirected the corrosive black torrent straight at Noah.
Noah's hand seals shifted rapidly. He tapped into the surrounding ocean. Colossal geysers of seawater shot into the sky, instantly freezing into thousands of razor-sharp ice arrows that rained down on Precht like a localized storm.
Simultaneously, Noah stomped his foot. The bedrock in front of him surged upward, forming a massive, tidal wave of solid earth that crashed down heavily onto the incoming corrosive black sludge.
BOOM!
The earthen wave buried the black magic deep underground, instantly hardening to seal it away.
However, the surface of the earth rapidly began to turn black, and toxic black smoke began seeping through the cracks.
Noah snapped his fingers. A massive golden magic circle materialized directly over the corrupted earth. The entire section of ground began to glow with a brilliant, holy light. The black corruption was instantly purged, and the toxic smoke evaporated the moment it touched the golden radiance.
Meanwhile, Precht was dealing with the rain of seawater arrows. After nimbly dodging the first volley, he swiped his right hand through the air. Several purple magic circles flared to life behind him, unleashing a barrage of purple magical bolts that perfectly intercepted and shattered every incoming ice arrow.
The rapid-fire explosions filled the air with a dense, freezing mist that even the howling winds of the battlefield couldn't immediately disperse.
Noah clenched his right fist toward Precht. The dense mist instantly froze, transmuting into thousands of deadly ice spikes that shot toward Precht at blinding speeds.
Precht swung his right hand forward, deploying several more magic circles. Countless thick, clawed chains erupted from the arrays, whipping through the air like frenzied vipers, smashing every single ice spike to pieces before they could reach him.
On his end, Noah snapped his fingers again. A tiny spark of lightning danced across his fingertips.
Suddenly, the freezing mist surrounding Precht exploded with violent, crackling electricity.
RUMBLE! CRACK!
A localized, incredibly violent thunderstorm erupted inside the mist. Hundreds of lightning bolts converged simultaneously, striking directly at Precht's position.
KABOOM!!!
The thunderous roar echoed across the ocean. A massive plume of dust and smoke mushroomed into the sky, the resulting shockwave forcefully blowing away the remaining electrified mist.
Before the smoke could even clear, several thick, clawed chains shot out from the dust cloud, hurtling straight at Noah.
"Light Funnels!"
Eight golden orbs materialized around Noah, instantly firing a volley of surgical laser beams that perfectly intercepted and shattered the incoming chains.
As the smoke cleared, Precht was revealed, surrounded by a faint purple barrier. He was completely unharmed.
He formed a gun-shape with his right hand and began rapidly firing a barrage of highly condensed purple magical bullets at Noah.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Noah's Light Funnels tracked the incoming fire flawlessly, shooting down every single magical bullet mid-air.
Simultaneously, Noah thrust his left hand forward. The ground rumbled as a colossal wooden fist erupted from the earth, launching itself at Precht.
Precht raised his right hand, swiping two fingers through the air to summon a massive purple magic circle. A dark-purple sphere materialized within the array before violently erupting into a massive energy beam that completely vaporized the incoming wooden fist.
Not stopping there, Precht thrust his left hand downward, sending a powerful shockwave directly into the ground in front of Noah. The earth shattered violently, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that completely engulfed the younger mage.
Seizing the momentary loss of visibility, Precht's fingers blurred through the air, rapidly drawing several complex runes. Within seconds, multiple overlapping magic circles completely surrounded Noah's position.
"HRAAAH!"
Precht thrust his palm forward, detonating the trap.
A catastrophic explosion engulfed Noah's position. A towering pillar of roaring flames shot into the sky, sending shockwaves and massive boulders flying in all directions.
Precht kept his eyes locked on the center of the blast. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe that an attack of that caliber would actually take Noah down.
Suddenly, over a dozen overlapping, highly complex magic circles materialized out of thin air directly surrounding Precht. An absolutely terrifying concentration of magic power instantly gathered within the arrays.
When?!
Precht was genuinely shocked. He hadn't sensed Noah setting up a trap of this magnitude right on top of him.
He didn't have time to analyze it. Survival was the only priority. He instantly pumped massive amounts of dark magic out of his body. His hands moved in a blur, summoning multiple thick, dark-purple barriers that completely encased him in a spherical shield.
The exact microsecond his shield fully formed, the golden arrays surrounding him detonated.
However, constrained by the highly specific runic boundaries, the resulting explosion didn't immediately expand outward. Instead, a blinding sphere of pure, destructive light formed, compressing and intensifying for several agonizing seconds before finally erupting into a catastrophic pillar of golden fire that pierced the heavens.
A figure was violently ejected from the blazing inferno, tumbling through the air before crashing heavily into the dirt far away. It was Precht.
Simultaneously, the smoke and fire from Precht's earlier attack finally cleared. Noah stood perfectly still in the exact same spot, completely unharmed, a serene golden barrier shimmering around him.
Cough... cough...
Precht coughed violently as he stood back up. His sleek black robes had been shredded by the blast, and his body was smoking slightly from the intense heat.
"Truly an exceptional young man. Damn Makarov, to think he actually managed to cultivate such a terrifyingly interesting brat. I haven't been pushed to this extent in several decades," Precht chuckled, patting down his ruined clothes.
He stretched his arms wide, and a flash of magic instantly replaced his shredded robes with a pristine new set.
"Of course. Grandpa is amazing," Noah nodded naturally, accepting the compliment on Makarov's behalf. He then offered a mocking grin. "And the only reason you haven't been beaten like this in decades is because you've been hiding in the shadows like a coward. If you had shown your face earlier, you would have gotten your ass kicked years ago."
"Sharp-tongued brat," Precht's face darkened slightly.
"By the way," Noah's tone shifted, becoming slightly more serious. "According to the guild's historical archives, you were an excellent Guild Master. You guided Fairy Tail perfectly during your tenure. So... what exactly happened after you left? What could possibly twist you into the monster standing before me today?"
Noah already knew the answer, but he also knew that Makarov, who was watching from a distance, harbored deep, unresolved grief and confusion regarding his former Master's fall to darkness. Even though Makarov was fully prepared to fight Precht to protect the guild, he still desperately needed closure. Noah asked the question entirely for his grandfather's sake.
Hearing Noah's question, Makarov immediately perked up, straining his ears to catch every word.
"In the distant past, Magic was born from the darkness. That power was feared, persecuted, and shunned by the masses. Eventually, Magic became commonplace, integrating itself into human culture and becoming part of daily life.
"However... when I traced the primordial roots of Magic, when I followed the footsteps of Zeref into the deepest abyss... I saw it. I witnessed the ultimate, absolute pinnacle of the magical abyss!"
Noticing Makarov listening intently, Precht paused for a moment before deciding to share his grand vision.
"Oh? And then what? You saw the abyss, and then what happened?" Noah asked, his tone perfectly flat and unimpressed.
"The Ultimate Magic World! A world ruled entirely by chaos and darkness—the true, primordial state of Magic!
"In that world, all creation shall be bathed in magic and reborn. Those without magic will be physically unable to survive. It will be a utopia exclusively for Mages! In that world, the horrific side effects of Lost Magics will cease to exist. All magic shall be truly free!
"In that world, we shall finally be able to gaze upon and touch the One Magic! All our desires, all our wishes shall be granted! We will even be able to reclaim the happiness and the loved ones we have lost!" Precht's voice rose in pitch, his eyes burning with fanatical, zealous fervor. He completely ignored Noah's deadpan tone, lost in the grandeur of his own twisted dream.
"However... the absolute prerequisite for this utopia is finding Zeref and awakening him from his slumber!
"Only by rousing him will his true, dormant power awaken! By harnessing that absolute power and crowning Zeref as the King of the New World, the Ultimate Magic World will descend upon this earth! And all our dreams shall finally be realized within it!"
Precht shifted his gaze between Noah and Makarov.
"It is truly a shame. When we finally tracked Zeref's magical signature, we discovered he was hiding on Tenrou Island. Since the path of the Fairy and the path of the Demon cannot coexist, I simply decided to eradicate the Fairies while I was here."
"I see. So, you genuinely believe Zeref is 'sleeping,' and you think that by 'waking him up,' this apocalyptic Ultimate Magic World will magically descend upon the earth. You believe this world will kill off normal humans, allow you to find the One Magic, and magically grant all your wishes. Is that the gist of it?" Noah summarized dryly.
"Exactly! I didn't expect you to comprehend the grand design so quickly. How about it? Will you join us? With your peerless mastery over magic, the Ultimate Magic World is the only place truly suited for someone of your caliber. The One Magic is the ultimate goal all true Mages must pursue!"
Precht's voice was thick with emotion. He extended his hand toward Noah, genuinely offering him a place by his side.
In the distance, Makarov heard the entire exchange. However, he didn't feel a single shred of worry that Noah might actually accept. Noah was a child of Fairy Tail, raised with the guild's core values. He would never side with a monster.
"Heh. A world where normal humans can't survive? A world exclusively for mages? Do you even listen to yourself?" Noah sneered, his voice dripping with pure disgust.
"The vast majority of mages in this world acquired their magic through rigorous study and training. Very, very few are born with innate, awakened magical talent. Yet, every single human being possesses a magical container. In other words, everyone has the potential to become a mage.
"The only reason the current mage population is so small is due to a lack of widespread magical education. Your 'Ultimate Magic World' would indiscriminately slaughter 99% of the human race!
"Our ancestors fought, bled, and died for centuries to overthrow the Dragons and secure humanity's place as the dominant species of this world! Your deranged utopia would literally regress the human race by centuries! You aren't just an enemy of Fairy Tail; you are a traitor to the entire human race!" Noah declared, his tone absolutely frigid.
Four hundred years ago, Dragons had ruled the world with absolute supremacy, treating humans as nothing more than livestock. If not for the Dragon King Festival and the sacrifices of countless humans and sympathetic Dragons, humanity would never have survived, let alone flourished into the massive civilization it was today.
Precht's plan to massacre the vast majority of humanity was an unforgivable betrayal of their species' entire history.
"Hmph! Such trivialities do not matter. In the Ultimate Magic World, humanity will still hold the dominant position. As for the sudden lack of population? That is entirely irrelevant!
"In the Ultimate Magic World, every single human born will inherently possess magic. Once we obtain the One Magic, we can easily use it to artificially accelerate human reproduction and rapidly restore the population to its current numbers," Precht dismissed Noah's concerns without a second thought.
"Hahaha! Are you actually senile?! Using magic to artificially mass-produce human lives?!" Noah stared at Precht in absolute, unadulterated shock. He hadn't expected the old man's solution to be this monumentally stupid. "Have you completely forgotten about the Curse of Ankhseram?! If you try to artificially generate human life on a massive scale, you will absolutely trigger the curse of the gods!"
"Once we reach the One Magic, the Curse of Ankhseram will no longer be a threat. None of your concerns hold any weight. So, I ask you again: will you join us?" Precht waved his hand, completely confident in his delusion.
"Listening to you talk just now... I've finally confirmed something," Noah said, staring deadpan at Precht.
Precht narrowed his eyes. "Confirmed what?"
"Your brain is completely broken, and you've become an absolute idiot," Noah stated bluntly.
Precht's face instantly turned pitch-black with rage.
"If your brain wasn't completely broken, you wouldn't be trying to summon an apocalypse that would genocide your own species!
"And if you weren't a complete idiot, you wouldn't honestly believe that Zeref is 'sleeping' and needs to be 'woken up' to use his power! You actually think that just waking him up will magically summon this 'Ultimate Magic World' and grant all your wishes like some kind of genie?!
"Furthermore, you honestly believe that this hypothetical world will just hand you the One Magic on a silver platter, and that it will somehow make you immune to the curse of a literal god?! You are genuinely, unfathomably stupid!" Noah mocked relentlessly.
If Zeref truly possessed the omnipotent, reality-warping power Precht believed he did, the Black Mage wouldn't be wandering the world as a depressed, suicidal wreck desperately begging someone to kill him.
"Hmph! Zeref is absolutely in a dormant state! I have spent decades analyzing countless ancient texts and forbidden archives to reach this irrefutable conclusion! There is no possibility of error!
"The moment Zeref awakens, the Ultimate Magic World will descend! You simply speak out of sheer ignorance regarding Zeref's true power!
"I originally believed that, given your displayed strength and magical mastery, you would understand the true depths of Zeref's power. It seems I was mistaken. I am incredibly disappointed in you, brat," Precht shook his head, his tone laced with heavy, condescending pity.
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