Magic Weapon and Demon Arm!

(A huge thank you to '夜月辰羽' for the 1888 reward! And also to '墨翎呓语', '亓官轩琦', '熊猫啊!', '吢魂落魄', '冰·月影', '流年成殇love', '在没有你的世界里徘徊', '小h宅', '二次元我们的梦', '龙天i', '方舟子的书库' for their rewards!)

(Seeking collections! Seeking recommendations! Seeking clicks! Seeking rewards! Seeking to push down... uh... please ignore the last one...)

"ROAR—!"

When Noah heard the massive roar again, the source of the roar finally came into view.

Rushing forward at an extreme speed, Noah clearly saw a giant, three-meter-tall bull-man with a bull's head and a human body, walking upright. It was gripping a thick tree trunk in one hand, and a screaming child tightly in the other, roaring with its head raised.

In front of the giant bull-man, a white-haired man and woman were present. One was sitting on the ground, face filled with terror, while the other stood there, confronting the giant bull-man, their face etched with anxiety.

The child being grabbed by the giant bull-man and screaming was Lisanna!

Sitting on the ground, filled with terror, was Elfman!

And confronting the giant bull-man, gnashing their teeth and looking anxious, was Mira!

As for the giant bull-man, it was a very familiar existence to Noah.

It was a well-known and ferocious Magical Beast, devoid of any reason.

In the forests of Magnolia, Noah had encountered this kind of brutal Magical Beast more than once, unintentionally, under the guidance of some Mages from Fairy Tail. It was a Magical Beast that even ordinary Mages greatly feared!

Why would a Magical Beast of this caliber appear in a forest that should only contain wild beasts?

Noah probably wouldn't be able to find the answer to that question, nor was it interested in seeking it.

"ROAR—!"

"Mira—!"

"Lisanna—!"

The giant bull-man's roar, Lisanna's scream, and Mira's wail rang out almost simultaneously, causing Noah's pair of star-like, deep pupils to slowly contract, and its speed to reach its limit.

However, even so, it would still take Noah some time to reach the location of the Strauss siblings and the giant bull-man.

During this time, if the giant bull-man slightly tightened its grip on Lisanna's hand, the cute little girl, still in her infancy, would be crushed to pieces and die a tragic death on the spot!

No time!

It's too late!

Noah's heartbeat had already begun to accelerate wildly. Without hesitation, it grabbed the bag slung over its shoulder and yanked it open.

In the next moment, the hilt of Noah's Knight Sword peeked out of the bag, and Noah gripped it tightly in its hand.

However, Noah didn't draw the sword immediately. Instead, it mobilized the vast amount of magic power within its body and continuously poured it into the Knight Sword through the hand gripping the hilt.

"Buzz—!"

The Knight Sword, still in its scabbard, vibrated throughout, emitting a dense light.

"Clang—!"

Mira, who was about to disregard her own life and rush forward to save Lisanna at all costs, hadn't even had time to act when the sound of a sword cry that resounded through the heavens instantly filled every corner of the scene, and echoed in the forest, constantly reverberating.

Then, whether it was Mira, who was confronting the giant bull-man, Lisanna, who was being grabbed by the giant bull-man, or Elfman, who had collapsed on the ground next to the giant bull-man, all three of them saw it.

A streak of light.

A streak of light that suddenly burst forth from a corner of the forest, like a comet, flashing with dazzling light.

The streak of light appeared so suddenly, flashing past with a speed that made people's eyes blur. Amidst the vibrations and sonic booms in the air, it crashed heavily into the giant bull-man like a shooting star falling from the sky.

"Puchi—!"

An extremely clear tearing sound echoed.

Accompanied by a rain of blood that fell like a downpour.

The giant bull-man didn't even have time to let out a scream. Its massive body, over three meters tall, had a huge wound opened up centered around its waist, completely separating the upper and lower halves of the giant bull-man.

The giant bull-man was cut in half!

"Splash—!"

Scarlet blood rained down from the sky, completely turning the scene into a land of blood.

"Boom—!"

The upper and lower halves of the giant bull-man crashed heavily onto the ground, not only stirring up a large cloud of blood, but also making a huge noise that caused the ground to tremble slightly.

Mira and Elfman were both stunned. The terror on Elfman's face completely turned into fear, and he screamed miserably.

There was no way around it, the scene before them was simply too bloody.

Looking at the blood-red ground and the giant bull-man lying on the ground with its eyes wide open, cut in half, Elfman was still screaming, while Mira was the first to react.

"Lisanna!"

The voice had just fallen when another, extremely calm voice sounded from the other side.

"Here."

Hearing the voice, Mira quickly looked to the side.

On the other side of the giant bull-man, which had been cut in two, Noah was holding the unconscious Lisanna in one arm, and gripping a Knight Sword that was as bright as ice, flowing with a dazzling magic light, looking at the bull-man that had been cut in half, its face somewhat unsightly.

"Did I use too much force?"

Mira finally understood.

The one who had cleaved the Minotaur in two with a single blow was none other than the young boy before her, the same age as her, and whom she had looked down upon!

And he did it with that Knight Sword, which gave off more of an impression of being ornate than powerful!

Though she had never owned one, it didn't mean Mira hadn't heard of them.

In this world, there were many weapons possessing all sorts of strange abilities and effects, even abilities and effects that were equivalent to magic itself.

Some called them Magic Weapons, others called them enchanted weapons; they were truly precious items.

And the common trait of these Magic Weapons was that they required the user to provide magical power in order to successfully activate their abilities and effects.

The Knight Sword in Noah's hand, which was currently flowing with a dazzling magical light, was undoubtedly a Magic Weapon!

The scene of the massive Minotaur being sliced in half with a single strike was still replaying in Mira and Elfman's minds, leaving the Strauss siblings frozen in place, unable to utter a word for a long time.

On the other side, Noah was displaying a similar reaction.

Of course, Noah wasn't like this because he had used too much magic power in a moment of desperation, causing him to cleave the massive Minotaur in two. It was because he had noticed Mira that he was acting this way.

His gaze fixed on one of Mira's hands, a grave expression gradually appearing on Noah's face.

There was a reason for it.

It was simply because Mira's hand didn't look like a human arm should. Instead, it resembled the hand of a ferocious beast or Magical Beast, both grotesque and terrifying, and it pulsed with a dark aura that made Noah's heart palpitate!

It was like a Demon Arm!

Noticing Noah's gaze, Mira's expression changed. She seemed to remember her current appearance and involuntarily hid her demonic arm behind her, a look of distress on her delicate face.

The entire place was silent.

This was the cave where Noah, Wendy, and Jellal had been three days ago.

Now, Wendy was gone, and Jellal was gone, but the number of people in this cave had increased instead of decreased.

Lisanna had woken up and was with Elfman near the bonfire that Noah had lit, watching Noah and Mira's direction with worried and somber expressions.

Along the walls on either side of the cave, Noah and Mira were keeping their distance as if they had deliberately separated, facing each other from the farthest possible points, leaning against the walls in silence.

Noah's Knight Sword had been returned to its sheath and placed back in its cloth bag, leaning against the wall next to him. He himself was still staring at Mira, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Mira, however, was displaying a different demeanor.

Unlike the haughty and aggressive attitude she had when they first met three or four days ago, Mira was now wearing a cloak. She didn't seem to care about exposing the rest of her body to the air, but she kept her demonic arm hidden behind the cloak, refusing to take it out, and her face was gloomy.

As this scene continued, the atmosphere inside the cave became increasingly oppressive, so oppressive that Lisanna and Elfman were almost unable to breathe.

Therefore, Noah took the initiative to break the oppressive atmosphere.

"It's about time you told me what's going on, right?"