(Thank you so much to "Bing Yue Ying," "Our Second-Dimension Dream," "Alone in the Spotlight," "Dark Dragon's Shattered Strike," "Wandering in a World Without You," "Fantasy Village Otaku," "No Wind Grass," "Cloud-Rising Clear Valley," "Sing Zai," "I Am Only Me," "Long Tiani," "Autumn Water, Autumn Cart," "Newbie Q&A," and "Little H House" for their rewards!)
(I've been rather busy lately, and in order to keep updating, Ru Qing's schedule has gradually become irregular again. I only hope everyone can give me a little support for working so hard. Ru Qing would be satisfied...)
"..."
As they watched Natsu get cleanly knocked to the ground by Noah in a single blow, the members of Fairy Tail around them fell silent for a moment before quickly erupting into commotion.
"Seriously?"
"This Dragon Slayer Mage is way too weak, isn't he?"
"No, no, Natsu's got some skills. His magic power is outstanding among people his age. Aside from Erza, Gray should be the only one in the guild who can compare to Natsu!"
"So Natsu isn't too weak. Little Noah is just too strong?"
"I knew it. The Guild Master's grandson couldn't possibly have only strong magic power going for him!"
The mages of Fairy Tail continued clamoring. As adults and fellow mages from the same guild, they could all tell just how capable Natsu was. Naturally, they could also see Noah's true strength.
But precisely because of that, the Dragon Slayer Mage they had been looking forward to had been knocked down in a single move the moment they met. The sudden turn of events left everyone present somewhat unable to react.
Below the stage, Gray stared at the fallen Natsu with the same disbelief written all over his face, his mouth hanging open in an O-shape.
"When did this guy get so strong?"
Makarov, standing slightly ahead of the crowd, widened his aged eyes. He looked at Noah in the arena, one hand resting on the hilt of the Knight Sword at his waist, his position barely changed and his expression somewhat absentminded. Then he glanced at Erza beside him, who looked completely unsurprised, and could not help but smile.
"He's grown..."
The surrounding clamor seemed to awaken the dazed Natsu. He flipped over, sprang to his feet, and glared fiercely at Noah.
"You actually tricked me?!"
"Huh?" Noah said blankly.
"When did I trick you?"
"You..." Natsu shouted in exasperation.
"You tricked me into thinking you couldn't use magic!"
"First of all, I never said that. Second, even if I had, I still wouldn't have tricked you!" Noah raised his hands helplessly and turned them over.
"What I just used was an ordinary strike. There wasn't even a trace of magic power in it. Don't tell me you think that was magic?"
Natsu choked, and a surge of anger immediately rose in his heart.
"Are you saying you can beat me even without magic?!"
Following Natsu's furious shout, scorching flames suddenly ignited around his body, enveloping him completely. The air around him warped slightly from the heat. The temperature was clearly anything but low, and the flames were countless times stronger than the fire fist Natsu had used earlier.
The change made everyone around them cry out in shock. Even Noah was surprised.
He could clearly sense that as anger appeared on Natsu's face, the magic power within him had increased to some extent. Even the flames around his body had grown fiercer, as though all the emotions in his heart had been directly transformed into fire.
Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic could actually change along with his emotions?
Was this ancient Lost Magic?
"Watch me knock you down!"
Like a crouching cheetah, Natsu suddenly sprang forward, stomping hard against the ground as his body shot ahead.
The flames around him trailed behind in a long fiery tail, making the charging Natsu resemble a flaming meteor. Stone chips and dust scattered everywhere in his wake, while the temperature in the air rose sharply. Even Noah felt his face grow warm.
Amid the gasps that had yet to fade, Natsu, transformed into a fiery meteor, pounced before Noah in an instant. The flames across his body gathered together as he slammed furiously toward Noah.
"Take this! Fire Dragon's Sword Horn—!"
The sudden explosive increase in Natsu's power caused this attack to carry a fierce, oppressive gale, making Noah's expression gradually turn serious.
Yet Noah had no intention of retreating.
His right hand lightly settled on the hilt of the Knight Sword at his waist. Noah bent his body like a lion poised to strike. After a brief moment of stillness, he shot forward like an arrow leaving the string. Rather than retreating, he advanced to meet the charging flaming meteor.
"Ha—!"
With that cold shout, a dazzling sword flash abruptly appeared in the arena before the astonished, shocked, and admiring gazes of everyone around them. Like a waning moon in the night sky, it seemed capable of cutting through space itself. Accompanied by a clear ring of steel, it collided fiercely with the flaming meteor.
"Shhk—!"
The fierce clash everyone had imagined never came.
The crescent-shaped sword flash passed directly through the flaming meteor like an illusory image, as though slicing through water. It flashed past in an instant and finally emerged from the end of the meteor's fiery tail.
After the crescent-shaped sword flash emerged from the end of the flaming meteor, both the sword light and the flaming meteor vanished at the same time, disappearing without a trace as though they had never existed.
At the center of the arena, Noah still maintained the posture of one hand resting on the hilt of the Knight Sword at his waist. Natsu likewise remained in the posture of a crouching cheetah about to spring forward. Both had lowered their heads, their expressions hidden, as though nothing had happened.
Yet no one believed what they had just witnessed was an illusion.
The heat still lingered in the air, and the stone fragments and dust in the arena had yet to settle.
Noah and Natsu had even switched positions, their backs facing each other, completely opposite from where they had stood at the start of their confrontation.
Everyone from Fairy Tail around them unconsciously held their breath, not daring to make another sound.
Makarov, Erza, and Gray all stared intently at the two figures in the arena, their expressions tense as they watched in silence.
Before long, the silence in the arena was broken.
"Urgh..." Natsu, with his back to Noah, let out a muffled groan. His eyes spun in circles, and like someone drunk, he swayed unsteadily for a moment before collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Only then did Noah raise his head and release the hilt of the Knight Sword at his waist. Turning sideways to look at the fallen Natsu, he made a V-sign toward Makarov, Erza, and Gray.
"Clap clap clap clap—!"
Only then did everyone present snap out of it. They laughed loudly as they applauded with all their strength.
"Well done, Little Noah!"
"You've gotten stronger! What an amazing sword strike!"
"As expected of the Guild Master's grandson. He really is different!"
Everyone here was a mage of Fairy Tail. Even the weakest among them was considerably stronger than Gray. Although not all of them understood what had just happened, most of them did.
Just as Natsu's sudden burst of power pushed him to unleash an attack beyond his full strength and it was about to land on Noah, Noah drew his sword at a speed so fierce that most people present could only see a flash of sword light. Rather than retreating, he charged forward. As he brushed past the flaming meteor Natsu had become, he struck Natsu in the abdomen with a single slash, knocking him unconscious.
And judging from how Noah still maintained the stance of drawing his sword after the strike, it was clear that after hitting Natsu, he had sheathed the sword again at an equally imperceptible speed.
All those factors combined to create the scene of the two exchanging positions and standing back-to-back.
Of course, judging by the fact that Natsu had merely lost consciousness, Noah had definitely held back. He had not truly struck with the blade, or Natsu would at least have been bleeding.
"This guy..." Gray did not hide his shock at all.
"He secretly got so much stronger by himself. That's just too sneaky!"
Hearing Gray's mutter, Makarov laughed heartily, then turned to Erza.
"Sorry for the trouble Noah caused you."
"Being able to possess such outstanding swordsmanship is entirely the result of Noah's own hard work!" Erza shook her head. Looking at Noah in the arena, now surrounded by everyone, she smiled as well.
"Besides, I received quite a lot of care too..."
Makarov nodded with a smile, turning his gaze toward Noah as the look in his eyes gradually softened.
"Keep it up... my grandson..."
Before you continue