Chapter 282: The End of the War
The Magic Giant, finally unable to withstand the repeated structural damage, began to crumble completely. The last remnants of the main tower collapsed, large chunks falling into the sea.
Noah glanced at it briefly, then lost interest.
He had already copied all the useful data from Phantom Lord's archives while everyone else was fighting.
The Magic Giant seemed impressive, but neither he nor the guild needed such a thing. They could probably build something better in the future anyway.
Noah reappeared in front of the airborne Jose and kicked him again.
Jose was completely defenseless now, his aura incredibly weak.
To keep him from dying, Noah cast a healing spell on him even as he kicked him.
Whoosh!
Jose flew through the air at high speed, whistling as he went.
After he had flown a certain distance, Noah reappeared in front of him and kicked him back the other way.
Noah played aerial ping-pong with Jose for several minutes, delivering countless kicks.
With each kick, Noah healed him slightly, just enough to keep him conscious and alive.
Finally, Makarov shouted for him to stop via the Thought Projection, and Noah ceased his assault.
"You're lucky. Gramps said to spare your life. However, while you may avoid death, you cannot escape punishment. I still have a little something for you."
Noah held the swollen, battered Jose by the scruff of his neck, lifting him to eye level.
He raised his right hand, gathering powerful magic in his palm.
Noah slammed his palm directly into Jose's abdomen. Several magic circles appeared on Jose's body.
"GAAAAAHHH!!!"
Jose, who was already on the brink of death, screamed in agony, his body convulsing violently.
Noah used his left hand to cast a spell, holding Jose in place and healing his body just enough to ensure he didn't die before the process was complete.
After a short while, Noah finished his spell.
By this time, Jose had lost all strength. His limbs hung limply, his body swaying in the air as Noah held him by his clothes.
"Wh...at... did... you... do... to... me...? My... ma... gic..."
Jose asked in a weak, slurred voice, air leaking through his missing teeth.
"I recall one of your Element 4 used wind magic. I looked into his spells. One of them is called 'Drain.' It's a terrifying magic that drains an enemy's magic power, scattering it into the air until it disappears.
"For a wizard, magic is life. The stronger the wizard, the more painful the drain.
"You intended to have your Wind Element use that spell on Gramps, didn't you?
"At Gramps' age, if he were hit by that spell, he would likely die. Even if he survived, it would severely damage his life force and weaken his body permanently."
Noah looked at Jose expressionlessly, his voice cold and final. "And that is something I absolutely will not allow!
"Since you wanted to use that spell on Gramps, I thought I'd let you taste it yourself.
"Of course, just using that spell on you would be too light.
"After all, at your age, there's a good chance you could recover from it, isn't there?"
Hearing this, Jose's body, which had been devoid of strength, suddenly found the energy to tremble violently.
He looked at Noah with pleading eyes. Noah ignored him and continued. "So I added a little something to it. The effect will not only drain your magic into the air, but it will also ensure you can never regain it.
"How do you like it?"
Jose went rigid. Then, all strength left him, and his head dropped. He couldn't even lift it to look at Noah.
"You have to understand. You repeatedly threatened to kill us. I could feel your killing intent. Every attack you made was aimed at our vitals. If Gramps hadn't stopped me, I would have killed you outright.
"He probably stopped me because he was worried killing you would have a negative impact on me.
"But I had to make sure you never had the ability to retaliate against us. With luck, you can live as a normal human.
"Without luck... well, you might be targeted by people you've offended in the past and die a miserable death. But that's not something I need to worry about."
Hearing this, Jose found a scrap of strength and jerked his head up to look at Noah.
If he truly couldn't recover his magic... he wasn't even a wizard anymore, let alone a Wizard Saint.
Given his tyrannical, insidious, and cruel behavior in the past, he had offended countless people.
Once they learned he had no magic, there was a high probability—no, a certainty—that they would come for revenge. His life was forfeit.
He looked at Noah, his eyes filled with begging.
Noah ignored his gaze. If his side hadn't been strong enough, Jose would have succeeded.
Since he had done such things, he had to bear the consequences.
Fairy Tail wouldn't go out of its way to harm others, but they wouldn't just take a beating without hitting back.
Seeing Noah completely disregard him, the light in Jose's eyes faded completely. His head dropped again, and he passed out cold.
His magic had left his body. Without that massive reservoir of power, his body became incredibly frail, especially with his injuries.
It was only Noah's healing magic keeping him alive, dangling by a thread.
Noah held him, glanced at the shattered remains of the Magic Giant, and then flew toward the shore.
"We won!"
"We beat Phantom Lord!"
"Alright!"
"YES!"
Seeing Noah return with Jose, the guild cheered, releasing their pent-up emotions.
Makarov walked to the front, looking at Noah. "You did well. Thank you for your hard work."
"It was nothing. Fighting Jose was actually pretty easy. The setup beforehand was the troublesome part.
"What do we do with the Phantom Master?"
Noah lifted the swollen lump that was Jose. Makarov looked at him with a headache. "Since this incident has become so big, the Council will definitely send people to investigate, both Phantom and us. How is his condition?"
"I'll give you the details later. Basically, I've stabilized his injuries, so he's out of immediate danger. But if he doesn't get follow-up treatment, he'll still be in trouble."
"Then let the Phantom members take him back. We won't keep them here."
Makarov made the decision. Noah nodded.
After stabilizing Jose's condition once more, Noah walked toward the pile of Phantom members he had teleported to the beach.
Seeing Noah had work to do, Ultear and the others walked over. "Need any help?"
"Yes. I'm handing Jose back to the Phantom members and telling them to leave immediately. You guys supervise them."
"Sure."
Ultear and the others followed Noah. Gray and the rest joined in, and a large group marched toward the gathered Phantom members.
"Where did Natsu go?" Erza asked, looking around.
"He said he had something to do," Happy said, hovering in the air.
"Something to do?"
"What is it?"
Gray and the others were confused.
"It's nothing big!" Happy raised his paw.
With his enhanced senses, Noah could already see and hear Natsu talking to Gajeel near the group of Phantom members.
"Gajeel, let me ask you something. Where did you learn your Dragon Slayer Magic?"
Natsu sat down next to Gajeel, who was also sitting on the ground. Gajeel didn't answer.
"Hey! Aside from Wendy, you're the first person I've met who uses the same magic! So at least tell me that much—"
"Shut up..." Gajeel grumbled. He paused, then said, "Metalicana."
"Huh?"
"The Iron Dragon Metalicana taught me."
"So it was a dragon?!"
Natsu jumped up in excitement, getting right in Gajeel's face.
"You too?" Gajeel looked at Natsu with surprise.
"What is he doing now?" Natsu asked eagerly.
"Who knows!" Gajeel turned his head away.
"What. Is. He. Doing. Now?" Natsu enunciated each word, leaning in until his forehead bumped Gajeel's.
"I said I don't know, trash!" Gajeel shouted back.
Then they both reacted, turning away and clutching their heads. "Ow..."
"Whenever I talk to you, I feel like my brain is going to turn to ash," Gajeel muttered.
"What did you say?!" Natsu turned back, glaring at Gajeel's back.
"He disappeared."
Gajeel's words shocked Natsu into silence. Gajeel continued, "Metalicana... one day, he just vanished right in front of my eyes... didn't say a word... What a selfish bastard..."
Natsu stared in shock. He asked, "Hey... hey... was that day... July 7th, seven years ago?"
Hearing this, Gajeel spun around to face Natsu, urgency in his voice. "Do you know where Metalicana is?!"
"Don't be stupid! I'm looking for Igneel too! He's a Fire Dragon." Natsu yelled back.
"Seven years ago... July 7th, X777... Two dragons disappeared?" Gajeel muttered.
"Why is there a bunch of sevens?" Natsu asked bluntly.
"Who knows!" Gajeel snapped, annoyed.
"But you got one thing wrong. It wasn't two dragons. It was three. Grandeeney, who taught Wendy her Dragon Slayer Magic, also disappeared on July 7th, X777."
"Not just two, but three dragons disappeared on that day?" Gajeel stared at Natsu in disbelief.
After a moment, he turned his head away again. "Hmph... it doesn't matter to me anyway..."
~~~
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