Ultra-Class Destruction Magic-"Smash"

(Heartfelt thanks to 'Ming Xue' for the 1888 reward! And to 'Bing Yue Ying,' 'Qinxun Luopo,' 'Qi Guanxuanqi,' 'Unmei no Kukou,' 'Long Qian Yue,' 'Youzi? Wandering Soul,' 'Gu Zi Qing,' 'pokémon,' '703's Rabbit,' 'Diying,' 'Yun Qi Qing Gu,' and 'Misaka Shang' for their rewards!)

Almost instantly, Noah held his breath and, like everyone around him, focused his gaze toward the guild entrance.

Even from inside the guild, Noah could clearly see what was happening outside.

If he had to use one word to describe how he felt right now, it would be—shock.

Because Magnolia had split apart!

Magnolia, once filled with countless buildings, had divided into two at the guild entrance. Thick walls had risen on both sides, protecting every building behind them.

As a result, a road now stretched from outside Magnolia all the way to the entrance of Fairy Tail!

Under those circumstances, a figure named Gildarts slowly approached from the far end of the road and stepped through the guild doors.

He was a middle-aged man, around forty years old.

He wore a travel-worn cloak, had rough stubble across his chin, and looked rather unkempt.

That scruffy middle-aged man entered from outside with a sack slung over his back, appearing before everyone.

Though he was merely a disheveled middle-aged man, Noah felt an incredibly powerful presence from him.

Of course, what Noah cared about was not that powerful presence itself, but what was causing it.

With his exceptional senses, Noah could clearly feel it.

Within the body of that rather scruffy middle-aged man lay a power strong enough to crush Noah in an instant!

"—!"

Instinctively, Noah clenched his fists. His body tensed as though he had entered combat, his eyes locked firmly onto the middle-aged man named Gildarts.

"Hm?" Gildarts had only just stepped into the guild and glanced around once when he suddenly tilted his head in confusion. His gaze settled on Noah and did not move again.

The guild members who had been about to greet Gildarts seemed to notice that something was off as well. They exchanged looks and actually forgot to speak.

Mira, Lisanna, Erza, Natsu, Gray, Kana, Elfman, and the other children around Noah's age felt their lips dry as if they were thirsty. Their mouths opened, yet no words came out.

A heavy atmosphere spread through the air.

Looking at Noah, who was staring at him without blinking, his body taut and posed as though ready to fight at any moment, Gildarts suddenly smiled, his expression calm and composed.

"Looks like someone interesting appeared while I was away from the guild. But I'm not your enemy, so there's no need to be so wary of me, is there?"

Gildarts' calm, casual words spread through the guild, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere.

Hearing Gildarts' words, Noah froze for a moment before realizing that his reaction had been a little excessive. He took a deep breath, slowly relaxed, and promptly bowed in apology.

"Sorry. I overreacted."

"Don't worry about it." Gildarts' composed expression turned into a somewhat frivolous, exaggerated grin as he curiously asked, "More importantly, why did you suddenly become so wary of me?"

"Because you're strong!" Noah answered without hiding anything.

"I can tell that you're strong. If you attacked me, you could probably defeat me in an instant, or even kill me!"

Hearing Noah's words, Mira, Lisanna, Erza, and the others his age all revealed stunned expressions, while the guild's wizards looked as though it was only natural.

"So that's why you suddenly became wary of me? Because you were afraid I might attack you?" Gildarts blanked for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"That's really interesting!"

"Hey!" At that moment, Natsu jumped out and arrogantly pointed at Gildarts.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" Gildarts pointed to himself and grinned.

"My name is Gildarts. I'm a wizard of Fairy Tail too!"

"A wizard of Fairy Tail?" Mira, Lisanna, Erza, Elfman, and the others exchanged confused looks.

"Kana." Noah turned his gaze toward Kana, who stood nearby, and asked the senior member among the children their age who had joined Fairy Tail the earliest, "Do you know him?"

However, Noah received no response.

Kana was simply staring blankly at Gildarts by the entrance, not saying a word and looking completely dazed.

Seeing that, Noah stared in surprise and nudged Kana's shoulder.

"Kana?"

"Ah..." Kana let out a small cry, snapping back to her senses. A forced smile appeared on her face.

"W-what is it?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Noah asked in puzzlement.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"N-no, I'm fine." Kana hurriedly brushed it off.

"What did you just say?"

"I wanted to ask who this person is." Noah could only suppress his doubts and ask again.

"Why did Magnolia suddenly change like that?"

"You mean Gildarts?" Kana looked at Gildarts again. Noah did not know whether it was his imagination, but Kana's gaze toward Gildarts seemed somewhat complicated and unusual.

"He's Fairy Tail's strongest wizard!"

"Fairy Tail's strongest wizard?" Noah was startled.

"You mean he's stronger than Grandpa?"

"I don't know about that." Kana scratched her head awkwardly.

"Ever since I joined Fairy Tail, Gildarts had already been called Fairy Tail's strongest wizard. As for whether he's stronger than the Guild Master, only the Guild Master would know."

"Then why did Magnolia become like that?" Noah turned his head and looked straight outside at Magnolia, which had split in two to create a road leading directly to Fairy Tail.

"Was it because of Gildarts?"

"Yeah!" Kana nodded heavily.

"Because the magic Gildarts uses is Ultra-Class Destruction Magic—'Smash'!"

Noah's expression immediately sharpened.

There were countless kinds of magic in the world of magic.

Some were ancient spells developed by predecessors and passed down since ancient times.

Some were Lost Magic that had been lost since ancient times, and only a fortunate few could learn.

Some were new forms of magic developed by outstanding wizards of the present day.

Others were rare magic found in documents, left behind by some unknown but powerful wizard.

Among all those spells, there were naturally some that were far more powerful than ordinary magic. Once mastered, their might was exceptionally outstanding.

Ultra-Class Destruction Magic!

Magic bearing that title meant that, in the field of destruction, it stood among the absolute best of all magic, far surpassing every other kind!

It might not be the strongest, but it was still countless times stronger than ordinary magic!

When it came to destruction alone, even Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic might not measure up to it!

"It seems Gildarts can't properly control his magic. One small mistake can cause tremendous destruction," Kana explained.

"That's why Magnolia switches into a mode that makes it easier for Gildarts to walk through whenever he comes back, so as to avoid needless losses."

Noah was somewhat speechless, but he quickly felt a surge of excitement.

Destructive power so immense that even an entire town had to make way for it?

Just how powerful was Ultra-Class Destruction Magic?