We're Companions from the Same Guild!

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"Clang—!"

Amid an extraordinarily loud clash of steel, Erza's petite body was sent flying backward. Her feet carved a long trench into the ground before she finally stopped in front of Noah, pain appearing on her face.

A closer look revealed that the hand holding the Knight Sword hung limply as though broken, trembling nonstop. Blood flowed from her palm and dripped down the sharp blade of the Knight Sword.

"Erza!" Noah stepped forward and supported Erza's slender back, a trace of anxiety finally entering his voice.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Erza clenched her teeth and straightened up, her gaze still fixed tightly on Moglia's gloomy face. She took a deep breath, pointed the Knight Sword at Moglia from afar, and wore an expression full of determination.

"Come!"

As her cold shout rang out, magic power slowly began rising from Erza's body. Like visible, colored mist, it wrapped around her, and even the ordinary Knight Sword in her hand became shrouded in a faint glow.

Feeling the magic power continuously rising from Erza's body, Moglia's already gloomy expression became even uglier. Even Noah's face showed a hint of surprise.

The magic power rising from Erza was not particularly strong. At the very least, compared to Noah, it was weaker by an unimaginable margin, and it was also far inferior to Laxus's. But it was enough to rival an ordinary mature mage.

An eleven-year-old girl already possessed strength comparable to that of an ordinary mature mage?

One could imagine just how powerful Erza would become once she truly grew up!

"Good! Good! Good!" Moglia roared in fury.

"Today, I'd like to see just how far brats like you can go!"

"Ha—!" Erza answered Moglia's furious roar with only a sharp cry. Magic power surged from her body, and she turned into an afterimage as she shot forward!

Moglia sneered. As he clenched his fist, dense lightning flickered forth and flowed over his enormous fist like a gauntlet made of lightning, flashing with terrifying violence.

At the same time, the afterimage wielding the Knight Sword flashed toward him. The sword was raised high as magic power surged into it, then it slashed viciously down at Moglia's head.

Facing the suddenly descending Knight Sword, Moglia's lightning-wreathed fist shot out as well, creating fist shadows filled with lightning that flew everywhere and filled Erza's entire field of vision.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

In the blink of an eye, several fist shadows struck the descending Knight Sword. Each time one landed on the sword, an intense metallic clash rang through the air. The magic power coating the Knight Sword weakened with every blow, and its force diminished severalfold.

In just a few moments, nearly dozens of fist shadows smashed into the Knight Sword, scattering both the magic power and force flowing through it. Erza's full-force strike became limp and powerless, collapsing on its own without posing any threat.

"Let me show you the strength of a truly powerful mage, something a brat like you could never possess!" Moglia sneered, opening his clenched hand. His lightning-wreathed hand grabbed the Knight Sword again and yanked hard, dragging Erza's petite body toward him.

Before Erza could react, Moglia suddenly leaned forward. His other lightning-wreathed hand clenched into a fist and crashed toward Erza with savage force and a sonic boom powerful enough to distort the air.

Judging from the force behind that punch, if it landed solidly on Erza, then even with armor on, she would suffer severe injuries and lose consciousness!

"—!" Erza's pupils slowly widened as the shadow of death suddenly rose in her heart and engulfed it.

"Bang—!"

"Pfft—!"

A muffled impact and the sound of someone violently coughing up blood rang out at the same time.

The muffled impact echoed continuously through the air like an echo, accompanied by intense crackling electricity that lingered for a long time.

The sound of blood being spat out sent crimson blood spraying into the sky before it fell drop by drop onto the ground, forming a small pool of blood.

As for Moglia, the one responsible for all of this, his expression changed drastically as he looked at the small figure before him.

Erza held the Knight Sword and knelt on one knee, looking blankly ahead with turbulent emotions in her eyes.

A small figure had somehow stepped between Erza and Moglia, standing before Erza with his back to her.

Moglia's lightning-wreathed fist was still pressed against the figure's left shoulder, scorching the skin there black. Yet the figure's owner had also reached out and tightly gripped the fist on his shoulder, disregarding the lightning still flashing over it as he raised his head.

The next moment, a face with traces of blood at the corner of its mouth and deep black eyes like stars entered Moglia's sight.

It was Noah!

Noah had suddenly stepped forward and taken Moglia's attack for Erza!

"Brat!" Even Moglia could not help crying out at that moment.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Get killed?" Blood stained the corner of Noah's mouth. Despite having taken such a heavy blow, despite Moglia's fist still electrocuting his left shoulder and his hand gripping that fist until the smell of burning flesh rose from it, there was no pain on Noah's face. He stared at Moglia and grinned.

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Do you really want to die?!" Moglia was enraged by Noah's smile.

"What can a brat who can't use magic possibly do?!"

"I really can't use magic!" Noah's eyes sharpened as he suddenly raised his small fist.

"But I'm not so useless that I can't punch the face right in front of me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Noah tightened his grip on Moglia's arm resting on his left shoulder. Copying what Moglia had just done, he yanked hard and forcibly dragged the completely unprepared Moglia right in front of him.

"Bang—!"

Then a small but astonishingly powerful blow landed heavily on Moglia's face.

"Argh—!" Moglia screamed as he fell to the ground, clutching his face and rolling about without a shred of dignity.

"Slap!"

Noah's body went limp, and he dropped to one knee. Covering his scorched left shoulder and arm, pain finally appeared on his small face. Blood still dripped from the hand that had just punched Moglia, proving just how much force Noah had put into that strike.

"No... Noah!" Erza snapped back to her senses and hurried forward, supporting Noah as pain covered his face. For the first time, panic appeared on her beautiful features.

"Are... are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Noah forced a smile onto his pale face.

"It just hurts a little..."

"You..." Looking at Noah's pale face filled with pain, Erza's expression changed several times before she could not help asking.

"Why did you save me?"

"Why?" Noah looked at Erza.

"We're friends. Why would saving your life need a reason? Didn't you stand in front of me to protect me just now too? Did you have a reason?"

"I..."

"We're companions from the same guild!" Noah smiled slightly. Against the pallor of his face, that smile seemed especially dazzling.

"Grandpa said we have to cherish our companions!"

The one visible eye Erza had was filled with rippling emotion. In the end, she nodded heavily, and a thread of warmth finally appeared in her long-cold heart.

However, the danger had not yet passed.

"You damned brats—!"

Moglia struggled up from the ground while clutching his face. His features twisted as he let out a furious roar.

"I'll kill you both—!"

With that, Moglia transformed into lightning and darted toward Noah and Erza.