Chapter 486: Thank You for Providing Me with So Many Punching Bags
"It is over, Fairy Tail!" Precht's voice dropped to a grim, absolute register.
Noah didn't respond, his expression unreadable.
Precht continued, his voice echoing with fanatical conviction. "To step onto the true path of magic means plummeting into the absolute darkness of the abyss. But what lies waiting at the bottom of that abyss is the ultimate truth—the One Magic.
"For decades, I was so close. So agonizingly close to finally touching it. Yet, that final 'step' remained an impossibly vast chasm. The only thing capable of bridging that distance is the Ultimate Magic World—the world where Zeref truly resides! Today, with Zeref's awakening, this world shall be fundamentally rewritten. And I shall finally obtain the One Magic!"
As he preached, Precht's magic power surged violently. A maelstrom of dark purple magic erupted from his body, churning and boiling around him like a physical miasma.
"The One Magic, huh?" Noah muttered thoughtfully.
He had read theories regarding the 'One Magic' in various ancient texts, but none provided a concrete, definitive answer as to what it actually was. However, he recalled a much more credible theory that Layla Heartfilia had once shared.
According to her, the One Magic was something deceptively simple to obtain, yet paradoxically impossible for many to grasp. It was a power capable of shattering all logic, yet inherently fragile.
That power... was Love.
All magic was born from Love. Therefore, the One Magic was Love.
This theory perfectly aligned with the fundamental mechanics of their world. When a mage experienced intense, overwhelming emotions—especially love for their comrades or family—their magic power spiked dramatically, allowing them to perform impossible miracles and overcome absolute despair.
Compared to Precht's deranged plan of waking up an immortal, suicidal dark mage to summon an apocalyptic world just to find some mythical spell... Layla's theory made infinite times more sense.
"The reason you cannot reach the Ultimate Magic World is because you lack the resolve to plunge into the abyss!" Precht declared, raising both arms and moving them in slow, deliberate, opposing arcs.
With every movement, the dark magic swirling around him grew exponentially denser.
"Oh? Going to use a big spell, are we?" Noah watched with genuine curiosity.
A golden aura flared around Noah's body, and complex analytical magic circles materialized in front of his eyes, rapidly breaking down the structural composition of Precht's building spell.
"Book of Zeref, Chapter 4, Verse 12: Nemesis!"
The moment the incantation left Precht's lips, his massive reserve of dark magic surged outward, seeping violently into the surrounding bedrock and debris.
The rocks began to bubble with thick, viscous purple sludge. The sludge rapidly expanded, shifting and molding itself until dozens of towering, three-to-four-meter-tall demonic monstrosities materialized from the very earth itself.
In a matter of seconds, over a dozen grotesque, purple demons stood surrounding Precht.
ROAAAAAR!
The demons unleashed a chorus of bloodcurdling, guttural roars that shook the entire battlefield.
"By harnessing the magic of the true abyss, one can forge literal Demons from the very soil of the earth. They are the dancers of the abyss and the executioners of the heavens! This is the true power of dark magic!" Precht boasted, continuously pumping magic into the earth, causing more and more demons to sprout from the rubble.
"H-He just created actual monsters out of the dirt?!" Gray gasped in horror from the backline.
Wendy, Yukino, and Meredy huddled together in sheer terror, trembling at the sight of the towering demons. Ultear and Sorano quickly grabbed their hands, offering silent comfort.
The rest of the S-Class mages wore grim expressions. They had never seen or heard of a magic capable of instantly forging a demonic army from standard rock. While the demons didn't look particularly intelligent, the sheer density of the magic power radiating from them was enough to paralyze most normal mages.
"What terrifying magic power," Erza muttered, her grip tightening on her swords.
Every single one of those purple demons possessed a raw magical output that eclipsed her own. Erza was one of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail; the fact that Precht had just casually spawned an entire army of creatures stronger than her was deeply alarming. The combined oppressive aura radiating from the horde made the air feel thick and hard to breathe.
However, despite their grim expressions, none of the Fairy Tail mages felt true despair. Why? Because the vast majority of that terrifying magical pressure was being effortlessly blocked by the singular figure standing between them and the demon army. They simply watched, waiting for Noah to make his move.
"Oh? Magic straight from the Book of Zeref? This is the first time I've actually seen someone cast it. I have to admit, it's incredibly impressive," Noah praised genuinely, his analytical arrays spinning furiously as they processed the spell's mechanics.
The magics detailed within the Book of Zeref were notoriously overpowered, but they demanded a truly astronomical amount of magic power to cast—especially a mass-creation spell like Nemesis.
Through decades of relentless research and training, Precht had expanded his magical reserves to meet that absurd requirement. And he likely had an arsenal of similarly devastating—or even stronger—spells at his disposal. The fact that he was continuously spawning these demons without showing any signs of magical fatigue was proof of his monstrous power.
No wonder he was so arrogant. No wonder he had treated all their previous clashes like a child's game.
"It truly is a shame, though. A shame that you had to run into me," Noah chuckled softly, shaking his head.
His magic power spiked dramatically.
BOOM!
An unimaginably massive surge of pure, blinding golden magic erupted from Noah's body. The sheer density of his aura generated physical, golden shockwaves that ripped outward, instantly vaporizing the oppressive, suffocating dark miasma Precht had blanketed over the battlefield.
Behind Noah, the Fairy Tail mages simultaneously let out deep breaths, feeling as though a literal mountain had been lifted off their chests. Noah's golden aura washed over them, radiating a soothing, incredibly warm energy that rapidly accelerated the recovery of their exhausted stamina and lingering injuries.
Meanwhile, the clash between Noah's golden aura and Precht's dark purple aura intensified.
Precht's arrogant, victorious smirk quickly vanished, his expression darkening into a scowl. In the pure clash of magical pressure, he was actively losing ground. The golden shockwaves were slowly, but relentlessly, pushing his darkness back.
Precht could feel the sheer, overwhelming mass of Noah's magic. In terms of both raw volume and purity, Noah's magic was entirely equal to his own true power.
No, that wasn't right. Noah's magical output was still rising, slowly eclipsing his own.
Precht's eyes widened in profound shock. It had taken him nearly a century of grueling research, forbidden experiments, and relentless training to achieve this level of power. Yet this brat—who his intel confirmed was only twenty years old—somehow possessed a magical reserve that rivaled, and perhaps exceeded, his own?!
"This is much better. I can actually see what I'm doing now. Here I come!" Having fully purged Precht's darkness from his immediate vicinity, Noah smiled brightly and dropped into a combat stance.
"Dance! Demons of the Earth!" Precht roared, his shock rapidly morphing into panic. He immediately commanded the purple demons to launch a massive volley of magical blasts at Noah, while simultaneously ordering the vanguard demons to form a physical meat shield in front of him.
He then doubled his magical output, frantically spawning even more demons from the earth.
Seeing the incoming barrage of magical artillery, Noah did the exact opposite of what everyone expected. He didn't summon a barrier. He didn't cast a counter-spell. In fact, he completely retracted his golden aura, suppressing his magic power entirely.
Huuu...
Noah took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. A wild, unbridled, ecstatic grin spread across his face.
"Thank you, Precht. Thank you so much for providing me with so many punching bags."
Noah pulled his right hand back, his fingers tightly curled into a fist, and delivered a devastating, high-speed punch directly at the empty air in front of him.
The sheer, raw kinetic force of the punch generated a localized hurricane. The compressed air pressure shot forward like a cannonball, slamming into the incoming magical blasts and detonating them harmlessly mid-air.
BOOM!
Noah stomped his foot, shattering the bedrock in a several-meter radius into powder, and vanished from his spot.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Before Precht could even blink, the three massive purple demons acting as his meat shield exploded into chunks of purple gore.
Noah materialized right where the demons had been standing, his fist fully extended from the devastating blow.
"That's some excellent feedback," Noah smiled, genuinely enjoying the physical sensation.
Without giving Precht a microsecond to react, Noah smoothly rotated his hips and delivered a brutal left hook to the massive demon standing beside him.
KABOOM!
The sheer physical force of the punch blew a massive hole straight through the demon's torso. Destabilized by the catastrophic physical trauma, the demon's magical structure collapsed, causing the rest of its body to violently explode.
"Y-You...!"
Precht finally processed what was happening, his face paling in sheer terror. He frantically commanded the remaining demons to swarm Noah.
Seeing the towering demons rush him, Noah's grin only widened. He didn't use a single ounce of magic. He simply stepped forward, throwing punch after devastating punch.
With every single strike, a massive, magically-dense demon exploded into chunks. He didn't even slow down, casually strolling through the demonic horde, systematically annihilating them with pure, unadulterated physical violence as he walked purposefully toward Precht.
"Is... is he serious?! Noah is literally blowing those monsters to pieces with his bare hands! He isn't using a single drop of magic!" Lucy gasped, rubbing her eyes in utter disbelief.
"Yep. Pure physical strength," Gray nodded numbly, completely validating her shock.
"Don't let his constant use of high-tier magic fool you. His base physical constitution is absolutely monstrous. The only reason we don't notice it is because he constantly layers highly concentrated gravity magic over his own body to train 24/7," Laxus explained from the side.
He suddenly recalled the numerous times Noah had dragged him into "pure physical sparring matches"—where magic was strictly forbidden—and the sheer number of bruises he had walked away with.
"That bastard," Laxus muttered, rubbing a phantom ache on his head.
"According to Noah, the physical body is the ultimate foundation of a mage, so he never slacks on his physical training. That's why he uses the constant gravity modifier. But he usually resolves actual fights with magic simply because, in his own words: 'Magic is flashy and looks much cooler,'" Sorano giggled, recalling one of his more ridiculous lectures.
"It looks like he really just wanted to stretch his legs. That's why he's using them as punching bags," Erza deduced, watching Noah systematically dismantle the demon army.
"Exactly. When we spar at the guild, he almost exclusively uses magic to train us. He rarely ever engages in pure physical brawls because our bodies simply can't handle his raw strength. He definitely holds back a lot of frustration. Now that he has targets he can break without worrying about medical bills or collateral damage, he's naturally going to cut loose," Ultear smiled warmly, watching Noah enjoy himself.
"Forget fighting without magic. Even if I used my strongest Satan Soul and went all out with magic, he could still effortlessly beat me to a pulp using only his bare hands," Mirajane shook her head, a soft smile on her face.
Laxus remained silent, his mouth twitching violently. Even if he used his Dragon Slayer Magic and went all out, he couldn't beat Noah in a pure physical brawl either. It was a depressing reality check.
"S-So strong..." Lucy murmured in awe.
"Of course he is. Noah is strong in every conceivable aspect," Mirajane beamed with absolute pride.
"He's almost reached that bastard! Noah, hit him a few extra times for us!" Sorano suddenly cheered, pointing at the battlefield.
Everyone looked over and saw that Noah had practically decimated the demon horde and was only a few steps away from Precht.
None of them were surprised by Sorano's bloodthirsty cheer. Aside from Laxus, the rest of the group had clearly noticed Makarov's deeply depressed emotional state. While they naturally held a baseline level of respect for the Second Master of Fairy Tail, it was incredibly thin. The fact that Precht was currently trying to slaughter them, and was the sole reason Makarov looked so utterly broken, completely vaporized whatever shred of respect they had left.
If Noah wasn't already fighting him, they would have likely swarmed Precht themselves.
"Noah! Beat the absolute crap out of that guy!" Natsu roared, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Hearing Natsu's shout, Noah casually blew the head off an approaching demon with a backhand, then raised his right hand, giving a lazy wave to acknowledge the cheer.
Seeing the wave, a massive grin spread across Natsu's face.
Punch after punch, shockwave after shockwave. Whether it was magical artillery or a towering purple demon, Noah didn't care. He just punched it, and it exploded. The sheer kinetic force of his strikes generated gale-force winds that continuously cleared the battlefield of smoke and debris.
Cold sweat poured down Precht's forehead. He was frantically pumping every ounce of magic he had into the earth, desperately trying to spawn more demons to halt Noah's advance.
But to his absolute horror, he realized his creation speed couldn't even remotely keep up with Noah's destruction speed. Noah was killing them instantly, and the demonic meat shield was rapidly thinning out.
"Dammit!"
Precht's arrogant facade was completely gone, replaced by genuine panic. His hands blurred through the air, rapidly drawing dozens of complex runic arrays that instantly materialized in a tight sphere around Noah.
Before Precht could even detonate the trap, Noah stomped the ground. His figure blurred, instantly escaping the encirclement. As he moved, he casually grabbed two massive purple demons by their horns and hurled them violently at Precht like massive cannonballs.
Hearing the howling wind of the incoming projectiles, Precht was forced to abort his detonation sequence and dive desperately to the side. The two demons crashed into the dirt where he had just been standing, exploding into purple sludge.
When Precht looked up, Noah was already standing directly in front of him, a blindingly bright, utterly terrifying smile plastered across his face.
~~~
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