One Person? Miscalculation?

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Under the mocking, disdainful, and various other gazes of all the mages from Phantom Lord, Noah stepped forward, passed everyone present, and stood before the ritual platform. There was not the slightest ripple on his face, only a chilling calm.

Perhaps because of that calmness, every sound around them vanished at that moment, including Phantom Lord's (

Looking at the small figure standing before them and sensing the oppressive calm that had suddenly descended around them, Moglia's inexplicable irritation grew increasingly intense. He could not help but sneer as he asked Laxus beside him.

"You're only sending him up alone? Has Fairy Tail already decided to give up on this mission?"

Fairy Tail dispatching only three people—all underage brats—to handle such a large-scale mission had already made Moglia sneer inwardly and curse their stupidity countless times. Let alone the fact that only Noah was going up now.

Laxus cast Moglia a sidelong glance. The gloom on his face had completely vanished, and he could not even be bothered to reply. He stared intently at Noah's back as his fist slowly clenched.

"Let me see just how powerful the magic power that even that old man fears truly is..."

Erza was also staring intently at Noah's back, just like Laxus.

But unlike Laxus, Erza had already witnessed the might of Noah's magic power. Moreover, this mission was basically centered on Noah. Rather than companions carrying out the mission together, Erza and Laxus were more like bodyguards. Therefore, Erza had no doubt whatsoever that Noah was capable of completing this mission.

Erza was only curious whether the magic power Noah had displayed by the riverbank yesterday was truly his limit!

With everyone present harboring their own thoughts, yet strangely not a single person making a sound, Noah, standing before the ritual platform, took a deep breath. He buried the faint tension of formally carrying out a mission for the first time deep within his heart, then reached out.

His pair of hands, much smaller than an adult's, slowly extended over the stone sphere the size of a crystal ball on the ritual platform, as though pressing down on it from the air. The next moment, Noah closed his eyes, his mind instantly sinking into his body as he stirred the ocean-like magic power within him.

"Buzzz—!"

As the surrounding air trembled, vast, ocean-like magic power erupted from Noah's small body, surging skyward like a torrent of light.

"What—?!" Feeling the overwhelming magic power rising abruptly from Noah's body, powerful enough to make even space tremble, all the Phantom Lord mages were horrified. Moglia's pupils contracted, while even Erza, who had known already, and Laxus, who had prepared himself mentally, turned solemn, their eyes filled with shock.

Strong!

Far too strong!

In terms of magic power alone, Noah was absolutely qualified to look down upon everyone on the entire continent!

At the very least, Laxus, who had felt Makarov's terrifyingly powerful magic power more than once, could be certain that Noah's magic power had already surpassed Makarov's!

And Makarov's strength was enough to place him among the top ten superpowers on the entire continent!

Although it was only magic power, the fact that Noah had surpassed Makarov in that aspect—and had reached such a level at merely eleven years old—made the shock Laxus felt easy to imagine.

As for the Phantom Lord mages and the middle-aged man from the Council of Magi, they had long since gone completely blank, unable to react for a time.

Ignoring everyone around him, Noah controlled the immense magic power erupting from within his body. He slowly guided that power, which had shocked countless people including Makarov, as though holding it firmly in his hand, and poured it into the stone sphere the size of a crystal ball.

"Buzzz—!"

The stone sphere, which had seemed as heavy as a boulder, suddenly burst forth with an intense radiance, suffused with rich colors that illuminated every corner of the area.

"—!"

Erza, Laxus, Moglia, and the others all felt pain shoot through their eyes from the sudden glare. Greatly alarmed, they hurriedly raised their hands to shield their faces.

Quite a few Phantom Lord mages even cried out, throwing the scene into chaos.

No one knew how much time had passed before the blinding light gradually faded, allowing everyone's whitewashed vision to recover.

When everyone finally opened their eyes with lingering fear, the scene before them had changed.

First, the fading light had not vanished completely. Instead, after dimming to a certain extent, it stopped, shining over everyone like the gentle glow of some magical lamp.

The light was blooming from the once crystal-clear Lake of Rituals.

As for the stone sphere resting on the ritual platform in the middle of the pavilion, it had transformed into a genuine crystal ball, releasing wisps of multicolored light from its entire surface. Like a flash lamp, it was dazzling beyond compare.

Watching this unfold, not a single person at the scene made a sound. They stared at everything in a daze, unable to recover for a long while.

Of course, it was not because the sight before them was so beautiful, but because the way things had developed had left everyone's minds blank for a moment, unable to function properly.

"Haa..." Noah opened his eyes and let out a breath. After noticing the changes before him, the tension he had buried deep within his heart over his first mission transformed entirely into joy. One of his fists clenched slightly.

Thank goodness, nothing went wrong at the crucial moment.

Only Noah knew how dangerous the task just now had truly been.

After all, Noah still could not completely control the magic power within his body.

Using such a large amount of magic power as he had just done, one small mistake that pushed him beyond his limits of control would have resulted in another magic power rampage at the very least.

At that point, leaving aside the safety of the people present, Lake of Rituals—the holy ground in the eyes of the Council of Magi—would probably have vanished from history.

That would have been a huge problem.

Fortunately, just as the amount of magic power Noah was using had nearly reached the limit of his control, Lake of Rituals was successfully activated. It had been a close call, but no disaster came of it.

What no one knew was that after using such a tremendous amount of magic power, Noah not only showed no signs of exhaustion, but wore a face full of joy. That sight made everyone's brains short-circuit for another moment.

"Hey..." After his joy subsided, Noah looked at the still-dazed middle-aged man and smiled faintly.

"So, does that mean our mission is complete?"

"Ah... ah!" The middle-aged man came back to his senses, sweat streaming down his face as he forced out a laugh.

"Y-yes... It's complete..."

"Then, our reward..."

"Y-yes!" the middle-aged man answered submissively.

"It will be delivered as soon as possible! As soon as possible!"

Only then did Noah nod in satisfaction. His gaze swept toward the Phantom Lord mages, who were still in shock, and he smiled.

"I thought it would take three people to do it, but one person actually finished it. My Guild Master makes mistakes in his estimates sometimes too..."

Leaving those words behind, Noah walked out of the pavilion without looking back.

"Hahahaha!" Laxus burst into laughter. With Erza, whose lips had likewise curled upward slightly, he followed after Noah.

The Phantom Lord mages looked utterly bewildered. Only Moglia stared fixedly at Noah's retreating figure, a trace of savagery appearing on his face.