Unusual Calm and an Ominous Premonition

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Phantom Lord only acted after Fairy Tail failed a mission?

Watching the more than thirty Phantom Lord mages before them wear looks of contempt after Moglia said those words, Noah, Erza, and Laxus understood at once.

Clearly, Phantom Lord did not believe that Fairy Tail could complete a mission that required dozens of mages working together!

So, while those words sounded as though they were giving Fairy Tail a chance, judging by the Phantom Lord mages' expressions, they merely wanted to watch Fairy Tail make fools of themselves!

"Well? What do you say, brats from Fairy Tail?" Moglia's lips slowly curved upward.

"We only came to clean up afterward. That doesn't count as interfering with your work, does it?"

Hearing that, no matter how unhappy Laxus was, he had no reason to make a move. Even Erza, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, began to lower her guard.

"Brother Laxus!" Noah suddenly spoke up from the side.

"I heard the reward for completing this mission is a full three million Jewel, but divided among dozens of people, that reward becomes rather small..."

Erza and Laxus immediately snapped awake.

That was right!

Although the mission to activate the Lake of Rituals offered three million Jewel, which was certainly not a small reward, it would become much less when split into dozens of shares. That was precisely why so many guilds looked down on this mission.

A mission so unpopular had already been accepted, so other guilds should have been happy to see it happen. Yet Phantom Lord had still organized a large force and come here after someone accepted it, claiming they would not interfere with Noah and the others' work?

Most likely, it was the exact opposite. They may have come specifically to prevent Fairy Tail from completing this job!

Just as Erza and Laxus realized this and their expressions began to darken, Noah, who had suddenly spoken up, smiled again.

"Still, Fairy Tail only sent three people this time, so the reward is quite substantial for us. We should make sure to finish the job properly..."

"Three people? And finish it properly?"

The mages from the Phantom Lord branch all snickered, and even Moglia looked at Noah with an amused, mocking smile.

"Then please, allow us to assist from the sidelines so we can learn a thing or two!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

All the mages from the Phantom Lord branch burst out laughing, their laughter filled with contempt, disdain, and ridicule.

Hearing their laughter, even Erza, whose heart was as cold as frost, could not help but feel a flicker of anger, let alone Laxus, whose temper had been growing more irritable by the day.

Only Noah remained exactly as he had been from the beginning. As though no one else existed, he ignored Phantom Lord's mocking laughter and spoke to the middle-aged man who had been unable to get a word in.

"Shouldn't you lead the way?"

"Oh... oh..." The middle-aged man seemed not to have fully recovered from Laxus's intimidation. His face was still pale as he nodded blankly and headed unsteadily in a direction ahead.

Noah shrugged and followed him directly. Erza fell silent for a moment before wordlessly stepping after them. Laxus stared at Noah's back for quite some time, then glanced at the Phantom Lord mages before walking forward with a cold expression.

The mages from the Phantom Lord branch exchanged looks, then followed with frivolous attitudes, their mocking laughter continuing.

No one noticed that, like Laxus, Moglia had been staring at Noah's small figure at the front all along. The relaxed look on his face gradually faded.

For some reason, Moglia could not shake a deeply ominous feeling.

Led by the middle-aged man, the group endured the city residents' pointing fingers and murmured discussions as they headed toward the city center.

Normally, the closer one got to the center of a city, the more densely populated it should become. But this city was the exact opposite: the closer they got to the center, the fewer people there were.

That was because the city center contained the Lake of Rituals, a sacred site in the eyes of the Council of Magi!

To the Council of Magi, this lake represented the faith in their hearts. Naturally, to everyone else, it was a forbidden area.

After all, the Council of Magi could not possibly allow people to enter their sacred ground whenever they pleased.

Perhaps arrangements had been made in advance, or perhaps it was because the middle-aged man was leading them. Along the way, quite a few patrols dressed as soldiers and carrying weapons saw the Fairy Tail members, clearly bearing their guild emblems, heading toward the Lake of Rituals, yet none stepped forward to stop them.

Under such circumstances, after crossing one street after another and passing building after building, roughly fifteen minutes later, the group heading toward the Lake of Rituals found their view opening up. The monotonous streets and buildings vanished, replaced by surroundings resembling some natural park, with flowers and plants appearing everywhere.

Before long, a crystal-clear lake over a hundred meters in diameter appeared before everyone.

Those with sharp eyes could see a stone bridge built across the surface of the crystal-clear lake. Its underside sank directly into the water, while its surface was almost level with it. One end connected to the shore, while the other stretched toward the center of the lake.

There stood a pavilion.

At the center of the pavilion was a platform holding a stone sphere the size of a crystal ball.

The middle-aged man led the Fairy Tail members directly onto the stone bridge, into the pavilion built in the middle of the lake, and before the platform holding the crystal-ball-sized stone sphere. He then faced the group.

His eyes first darted timidly over Laxus, then the middle-aged man lowered his head and spoke softly.

"This is the Ritual Platform of the Lake of Rituals. As long as enough magic power is poured into the Wish Stone on the Ritual Platform, the Lake of Rituals will be activated!"

At those words, everyone from Fairy Tail turned their gazes toward the platform holding the crystal-ball-sized stone sphere.

"In other words..." Noah asked.

"As long as magic power is poured into this stone sphere, if the power is enough to activate the Lake of Rituals, the lake will light up, and our mission will be complete. Right?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Then, members of Fairy Tail, it is time for you to act!" Though he felt inexplicably restless, Moglia chose to set it aside for now and spoke to Noah, Erza, and Laxus with a mocking tone.

"Let us see how Fairy Tail intends to use three brats to complete a major mission that requires dozens of mages to act together!"

"Yeah, yeah! Hurry up and do it!"

The other Phantom Lord mages also began egging them on.

Noah raised his head, and a glint of shrewdness flashed through his deep eyes.