Chapter 473: It's Time to Come Out; Hiding Inside Won't Do
"Meredy!"
Sorano and the other girls shouted in unison, but Meredy didn't even register their voices. She bolted forward, sprinting furiously toward the Grimoire Heart forces.
Her eyes were bloodshot, completely fixated on two specific men standing at the front of the enemy formation. Her magic power boiled violently in response to her extreme emotional distress, engulfing her body in a radiant golden aura that propelled her forward at breakneck speeds.
Ultear snapped her head toward the enemy line. Given the distance, she could now clearly make out the faces of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.
The moment she recognized two of them, her pupils shrank to pinpricks. She instantly understood why Meredy had lost control.
Kicking off the ground with a massive burst of magic, Ultear blurred forward, effortlessly catching up to the enraged girl. She wrapped her arms tightly around Meredy, physically halting her desperate charge.
"It's okay, it's okay," Ultear soothed, gently stroking Meredy's hair as she struggled. "They aren't going anywhere. You'll get your chance for revenge today."
"Ultear-nee..."
Meredy thrashed weakly in Ultear's embrace before finally snapping out of her blind rage. The moment reality settled in, tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.
"Don't worry. They can't escape us. We will deal with them right here, right now," Ultear murmured, her heart breaking at the sight of Meredy's pain. She continued to rub the girl's back, slowly steadying her erratic breathing.
Seeing Meredy's breakdown, the rest of the Fairy Tail vanguard immediately halted their charge, turning to look at her with deep concern. The enemy could wait; their comrade's well-being came first.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked anxiously. She didn't understand why the normally cheerful and bubbly Meredy had suddenly snapped.
"Two of the men standing over there are the ones who attacked Meredy's hometown. Her family and her entire city were destroyed because of them," Erza explained, her voice dropping to a dangerous, icy register.
"I see." Laxus nodded grimly. The others who knew Meredy's past also wore expressions of sudden, furious realization.
Even those who hadn't known the specifics instantly grasped the severity of the situation after Erza's explanation. They were already marching to war, but now? Now it was deeply personal.
"Alright then! Watch me send every last one of those bastards flying!" Natsu roared, slamming his fists together.
"Uhihihihi! You? Send us flying? Uhaaaahahaha! That's the funniest thing I've heard all day!"
One of the men standing at the front of the Grimoire Heart formation—a blonde-haired mage—threw his head back and laughed uproariously, having easily overheard Natsu's shout.
The other four members of the Seven Kin standing beside him made no move to attack. They simply stared at the Fairy Tail mages with varying degrees of apathy or amusement. The massive horde of Grimoire Heart grunts standing behind them remained perfectly still, waiting for their commanders to give the order.
"You bastard!" Natsu snarled, glaring furiously at the blonde man.
The man stared right back, an overtly mocking, sadistic grin plastered across his face.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Infuriated by the man's expression, Natsu didn't hesitate. He inhaled deeply and unleashed a massive, concentrated pillar of roaring flames straight at the blonde mage.
The man didn't even flinch. He just smirked lazily.
"Did you know? It was the Gods who originally bestowed the gift of fire upon humanity. Fire doesn't belong to humans, nor does it belong to Dragons. It belongs to the Gods!"
With that, the man opened his mouth wide and inhaled sharply. The massive torrent of Natsu's flames was forcefully sucked right into the man's mouth.
"Eh?! Th-That's impossible... right...?" Natsu's jaw dropped in absolute shock.
"A truly delicious flame. Violent and coarse, yet entirely lacking the power to burn away all creation. Even if you possess the power to slay a Dragon, you cannot scratch a God.
"This is the supreme magic of Grimoire Heart! Flame God's Bellow!"
The man inhaled deeply, his chest expanding, before unleashing a colossal, roaring pillar of pitch-black flames directly at Natsu.
Natsu instinctively moved to step forward, preparing to tank the blast and eat the flames like he always did.
Ultear quickly shoved Meredy into Sorano's arms, lunged forward, and grabbed Natsu by the collar, yanking him back. Simultaneously, she swiped her right hand upward, raising a massive, thick wall of solid ice to intercept the black inferno.
BOOM!
The black pillar of fire slammed into the ice wall with a deafening roar.
To Ultear's shock, the black flames didn't just melt the ice—they completely eradicated it, burning the frozen construct into absolute nothingness. The two opposing forces clashed for several tense seconds before the black flames finally melted a massive hole straight through the ice wall. However, having expended its kinetic energy, the black fire dissipated into the air before reaching them.
"Natsu, calm down. Do not underestimate these guys. Those flames are fundamentally different from normal fire; you cannot eat them," Ultear warned Natsu sharply. She then turned her attention to the blonde man. "That is Zancrow, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
"Uhihihihi! My magic exists on a completely different plane of reality than yours! I am a God Slayer! I possess the power to slaughter the divine! Don't you dare compare me to a mere Dragon Slayer!
"For a lowly Dragon Slayer to think they could consume the divine flames of a God... how utterly pathetic! Uhaahahaha!" Zancrow laughed maniacally.
"A God Slayer...?" Natsu murmured, still trying to process the concept.
Zancrow's gaze shifted from Ultear to Erza, his arrogant grin twisting into a scowl of pure hatred. "I remember you. You and that red-haired bastard completely ruined my mission years ago! How utterly infuriating!"
"You bastard!" Erza glared at him. Her magic power boiled violently in response to her rising anger, projecting an aura so dense it felt like a physical boulder pressing down on everyone's chest.
"Uhihihihi!" Zancrow merely laughed louder at her fury.
"Is that the Edolas Jellal? I didn't expect him to join a Dark Guild," Laxus noted, spotting a familiar blue-haired man standing among the Seven Kin.
The others who knew of Mystogan's true identity nodded in agreement, staring at the Jellal standing with the enemy. Jellal, however, remained entirely expressionless, staring blankly ahead without uttering a word.
"We need to divide our forces and focus on their commanders," Laxus commanded, taking charge of the tactical layout.
"I'm gonna beat the crap out of that blonde bastard!" Natsu roared, snapping out of his daze and pointing furiously at Zancrow.
"Uhihihihi!" Zancrow laughed dismissively, clearly not taking Natsu seriously in the slightest.
"I'm fighting too!" Meredy struggled to free herself from Sorano's grasp, desperate to attack Zancrow.
Sorano held her tight, speaking softly but firmly. "You need to stay in the backline and support everyone. With your sensory links and buffs, we can crush them much faster. Besides... you have two enemies here, right? If you support the vanguard, you get to participate in beating the life out of both of them simultaneously."
Hearing Sorano's logical argument, Meredy finally stopped struggling, forcing herself to calm down.
"I'll take the blonde guy. I'll make sure he pays for what he did to Meredy's home," Ultear volunteered, stepping forward.
"No way! I'm taking him down myself! How dare he say Igneel's magic is inferior?!" Natsu glared at Zancrow with pure, unadulterated fury.
Zancrow offered a mocking, provocative smirk, fanning the flames of Natsu's rage even higher.
"Alright. But I'll be watching closely. If you start losing, I'm stepping in," Ultear agreed, seeing Natsu's absolute determination.
"Got it," Natsu nodded. He knew the stakes of this battle. He wanted to settle the score personally, but he absolutely refused to let Fairy Tail lose.
"The fat one is Kain Hikaru. The goat is Capricorn. The one with glasses is Rustyrose.
"We have zero intel on the specific mechanics of their respective magics. Anyone who has ever seen the Seven Kin fight has been killed," Ultear briefed the group on the remaining commanders.
Ever since she learned that Grimoire Heart possessed mages strong enough to pose a theoretical threat to Noah, Ultear had actively gathered as much intel on the dark guild as possible. However, information was terrifyingly scarce. The Seven Kin never left survivors, and their Guild Master was a complete enigma. The most she had managed to uncover were their names.
"Everyone, stay highly vigilant. Prioritize your own safety," Laxus ordered. The group nodded in grim understanding.
With Laxus leading the charge, the S-Class mages stepped to the absolute front of the formation, each locking eyes with one of the Seven Kin.
Erza focused on Kain Hikaru. Laxus stared down Jellal. Cana locked onto Rustyrose. Sorano set her sights on Capricorn.
Wiping away her tears, Meredy obediently retreated to the backline alongside Wendy and Yukino, preparing to cast her support magic.
Happy and Carla remained with them. Panther Lily drew his massive sword, his eyes scanning the battlefield for any sudden ambushes.
The rest of the Fairy Tail candidates fanned out behind the S-Class vanguard, ready to clash with the massive horde of Grimoire Heart grunts.
"In the vast expanse of the endless ocean, Demons and Fairies cross paths. This shall be the grand theater of our war," Rustyrose spread his arms wide, looking around dramatically as if reciting poetry.
The Fairy Tail mages stared at him blankly. They all collectively decided the man was completely insane and entirely ignored his dramatic monologue.
"Ugh... ugh... I... I... um..." Kain Hikaru stammered for several long seconds, completely failing to formulate a coherent sentence.
Jellal remained perfectly still, refusing to speak.
"Preparing to execute the mission," Capricorn stated coldly.
Both sides stared each other down, the tension rising to a fever pitch. A massive, chaotic brawl was merely seconds away.
High above the ocean.
"Is his magic capable of transporting mass quantities of living beings? No, that's just a secondary effect. The core of his magic is something else entirely..."
Noah hovered in the air, his eyes locked on Capricorn. He was genuinely fascinated by the fact that the goat-man had seemingly summoned the entire Grimoire Heart vanguard out of thin air.
However, when he saw Meredy break rank and charge blindly at Zancrow and Kain Hikaru, he let out a heavy sigh.
He hadn't forgotten that those two were the ones responsible for destroying Meredy's hometown. He had actively searched for them in the past, but since Grimoire Heart's headquarters was a stealth airship constantly roaming the skies, he had never been able to track them down.
Now that the perpetrators had literally dropped right in front of her, it was only natural that Meredy would lose her mind.
Thankfully, Ultear had intercepted her. While Meredy had undergone years of brutal training, the gap in combat experience and raw power between her and the Seven Kin was still too vast. Charging in blindly would have been suicide.
Noah could sense Makarov watching the chaotic standoff below with deep concern. Without turning around, Noah offered reassurance.
"Don't worry about them, Grandpa. Gildarts and Aunt Ur are down there watching the entire field, and my Thought Projection is with them. They won't let anything happen."
Makarov nodded, forcing himself to look away from the children and refocus his attention on the massive airship hovering ominously in front of them. Their primary target was the ship itself, and the elusive Guild Master hiding within it.
"Yeah, it's about time their Master showed his face. I can't let him just hide in there," Noah smirked, locking his gaze on the airship. "Does he really think so little of us?"
Noah brought his palms together, angling them slightly across his chest. A brilliant, golden sphere of blinding light materialized between his hands.
"I haven't used this spell in a while. Quite nostalgic, actually," Noah chuckled softly. He then raised his voice, projecting it clearly toward the airship.
"Ahem. In accordance with the absolute judgment of Fairy Tail, I will grant you exactly three seconds to surrender!"
Without missing a beat, Noah forcefully slammed his palms together. Blinding rays of golden light instantly erupted through the cracks between his fingers, illuminating the entire sky.
"THREE! Time's up! Fairy Law—"
"Hold your hand."
A calm, aged voice echoed through the air as a figure suddenly materialized on the bow of the airship, interrupting Noah's cast.
Seeing the man finally reveal himself, Noah smiled and gracefully extinguished the golden light between his hands.
Though the man's tone was perfectly composed, the fact that he had rushed out onto the deck proved Noah's lack of an actual countdown had caught him entirely off guard.
The man stood at the bow, raising his own hands. A sphere of dense, pulsing dark-purple energy materialized between his palms. The posture and the magical signature were eerily similar to the spell Noah had just aborted.
"Grimoire Law!"
With the dark sphere pulsing ominously, the man looked past Noah and addressed Makarov.
"To think a mere brat has managed to master Fairy Law. You have managed the guild quite well, Makarov."
The man then shifted his gaze back to Noah.
"Since you have mastered Fairy Law, you naturally understand the spell currently resting in my hands. I cast this solely to deter you from unleashing yours. If neither of us yields, the resulting clash will result in the absolute worst-case scenario for both sides."
"Heh." Noah chuckled lightly, officially dispelling his magic.
If he had truly wanted to cast Fairy Law, the man wouldn't have even had the chance to step outside and speak. However, given the man's true identity and Makarov's presence behind him, Noah had intentionally aborted the spell.
Besides, he genuinely wanted a good sparring partner. The man standing before him—both in terms of raw power and encyclopedic magical knowledge—was the perfect opponent.
"H-How... How can this be... Don't tell me..."
Behind Noah, Makarov was staring at the man with wide, terrified eyes. His jaw flapped soundlessly, entirely incapable of forming a coherent sentence.
"It has been a long time, brat," the man greeted Makarov calmly.
"Precht... Master..." Makarov gasped, utterly shell-shocked.
Noah took a moment to properly examine the man standing before them.
He was clad in sleek, jet-black armor and wore an intimidating, twin-horned helmet. A long, stark white beard fell from his chin. His eyes were fierce and cold, and his arms were crossed comfortably over his chest. He exuded an aura of absolute, terrifying calm.
~~~
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