Coming to Help? Another Guild?

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Noah, Erza, and Laxus only knew that Lake of Rituals was somewhere in this city. They did not know its exact location.

If they wanted to go there, they would need the middle-aged man from the Council of Magi to lead the way.

Thus, the moment Noah, Erza, and Laxus stepped out of the inn where they had rested for the night, they stopped at the entrance and waited for the middle-aged man to arrive.

They had agreed yesterday to meet at the inn entrance at this time and head to Lake of Rituals together. There was not much time left until their meeting, so the middle-aged man should have been arriving soon.

However, when the middle-aged man appeared before Noah, Erza, and Laxus, the three of them froze.

The reason was simple.

The middle-aged man had not come alone.

Behind him followed a group of at least thirty people—men and women of varying ages, heights, and attire, all wearing equally unfriendly expressions.

They appeared before the trio at the middle-aged man's back.

On different parts of their bodies, guild emblems of different colors but identical shapes were exposed to the air.

Clearly, every one of them belonged to the same guild!

Seeing the emblems on those people, Laxus's originally arrogant expression sharpened.

"Phantom Lord!"

"Phantom Lord?!" Noah and Erza were both startled at first, then revealed astonished expressions in unison.

Phantom Lord!

Even Noah and Erza, who had not joined a guild for very long, had heard that name!

Among the many official guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, Phantom Lord could be considered one of the most outstanding. At its peak, it had even been called the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore.

It was truly a guild that had gathered many powerful wizards!

Even now, Phantom Lord remained among the most outstanding of all official guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, and it still faintly bore the title of the kingdom's number one guild!

However, in recent years, Fairy Tail's title as the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore had gradually become somewhat undeserved.

Because of that, in recent years, the relationship between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had grown tense from their former state of never having anything to do with each other, giving people the feeling that they might clash at any moment.

With that in mind, when he saw Phantom Lord wizards appearing here and following behind the middle-aged man from the Council of Magi, Laxus's expression darkened as he coldly looked at the calm-faced man.

"What is going on?"

Hearing Laxus's utterly undisguised question, the middle-aged man answered without changing his expression.

"My apologies, everyone. After reporting the situation to the Council of Magi yesterday, the higher-ups invited these wizards from Phantom Lord's branch to come and help!"

The middle-aged man glanced at Laxus.

"After all, your guild only sent three people, and you seem somewhat lacking in experience. It is only natural for those above to feel a little uneasy..."

By this point, how could Noah and the others fail to understand what the middle-aged man meant?

Apparently, the middle-aged man simply did not believe Fairy Tail could complete such a large-scale mission, one that required dozens of wizards, with only three people—and all of them underage children.

So, he had invited people from Phantom Lord as well!

Laxus smiled.

His smile was exceptionally savage.

"So, putting these two brats aside, are you looking down on me?"

As he spoke, a somewhat violent magical power slowly rose from Laxus's body.

"Crackle, crackle—!"

In the next instant, golden arcs of lightning flashed over Laxus's body, like golden little snakes darting across him, sweeping through the surroundings with an intense crackling sound.

Seeing this, not only did the middle-aged man and the group behind him change expressions, even Erza's eyes revealed a trace of shock.

The magical power rising from Laxus's body might not have been as formidable as Noah's, but it was still several times stronger than that of an ordinary wizard!

At only fifteen years old, he was already several times stronger than an ordinary wizard?

Whether in talent or strength, Laxus had every right to be arrogant!

Only Noah, standing to the side and watching the golden lightning repeatedly flash around Laxus along with his powerful magical power, frowned slightly.

Not even Makarov knew that, besides being born with unmatched magical power, Noah possessed a sensory ability beyond the reach of others.

Therefore, Noah could clearly sense that, aside from the distinctive violent nature of lightning magic, the magical power rising from Laxus, who specialized in lightning magic, contained an extremely suppressed force.

It was as though a ferocious beast were hidden within Laxus's magical power!

Such unusual magical power made Noah unable to look away for a time. He stared fixedly at Laxus.

Compared to Noah, the middle-aged man, who was directly facing Laxus's furious hostility, had turned pale in an instant.

He truly had it rough. Although he was from the Council of Magi, his status was low, and he only knew a few superficial spells. It was difficult even to call him a wizard.

Facing Laxus's unusually violent magical power head-on was no different from facing a charging chariot. The terror involved was beyond words.

"Enough!"

At that moment, among the wizards from Phantom Lord's branch, someone who was clearly in a leading position stepped forward and coldly looked at Laxus, whose body was blazing with lightning.

"Fairy Tail brat, attacking someone from the Council of Magi is not a wise thing to do..."

"A mere Phantom Lord branch member wants to stick his head out?" Laxus laughed wildly, and the lightning around him grew even more dazzling.

"Perfect. I'll deal with you too!"

"I, Moglia, have not fallen so low as to bicker with a brat!" Although the Phantom Lord wizard calling himself Moglia said that, his gaze toward Laxus grew colder and colder.

"Besides, in front of someone from the Council of Magi, do you intend to openly clash with a member of another official guild?"

The Council of Magi had clearly stipulated that official guilds were not allowed to fight one another. Any guild that violated this rule would be forcibly disbanded!

If not for that rule, Moglia might not truly have been unwilling to settle things with Laxus.

"Then has the Council of Magi ruled that two guilds can openly steal each other's work?" Laxus sneered as well.

"Since you want to steal our work, then it is necessary to determine a winner. Even the Council of Magi would have nothing to say about that, right?"

"We are not going to steal your work!" Moglia said in a strange, mocking tone.

"We were only brought in by the Council of Magi as a precaution. We will only act if your mission fails. Before your mission fails, we will not interfere!"

The lightning arcs around Laxus suddenly stilled.