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Before seeing him, his voice was heard.
In just an instant, Erigor made a judgment: whoever could sneak up behind him like that had to be way out of his league!
Not daring to look back, Erigor stirred his Magic Power, and instantly, powerful gusts of wind erupted around him, forming a swirling wall of wind for defense while also lifting him into the sky.
Flying—this dream seems to be deeply etched in human genes. There are always those who dream of soaring freely between heaven and earth.
Ever since Erigor learned Wind Magic, he often used the wind to fly into the sky. But he didn't yearn for the blue skies and white clouds above—Erigor enjoyed the sense of superiority that came from being high above.
With the mobility and flight ability brought by Wind Magic, Erigor felt that when it came to escaping, even his direct superior from Oración Seis couldn't catch him.
No way around it—being able to fly meant coming and going as he pleased.
Just as Erigor relaxed slightly, wanting to get a clear look at whoever had suddenly shown up in Cait Shelter, that playful voice drifted from behind him again like the wind.
"Don't bother looking. I'm over here."
Turns out there was more than one Mage who could fly.
Noah looked at the panicked Erigor spinning around and just found it amusing. A guy like this dared to use the intimidating title of "Shinigami"? Clearly in this line of work, people just made up their own titles.
Seeing the white-haired young man also riding the wind, Erigor was startled. Even though his proud flight advantage was gone, he still tried to sound fierce, "Who the hell are you! How dare you mess with Oración Seis's business!"
Oración Seis?
Noah remembered Erigor was Eisenwald's ace Mage. Looked like he'd ditched his old Guild and moved up in the world with Oración Seis.
Noah was pretty curious why a Mage from Oración Seis would show up at Cait Shelter, but he also knew Erigor wasn't about to spill the beans.
So, might as well just get down to business.
Erigor thought the same. An emerald Magic circle bloomed in front of him, and the sudden storm distorted and thinned the air.
But the swirling storm collapsed with a crash the moment it touched the white-haired young man, like hitting an invisible wall. And Erigor's sharp great scythe? Caught effortlessly between the guy's two fingers.
"That's impossible!"
Erigor watched in horror, yanking at his weapon as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge.
Noah sneered, and a Magic circle with ancient runes unfurled between his two fingers. An ominous black wind instantly solidified along the scythe, shattering Erigor's storm barrier like wet paper.
The white-haired young man became like the eye of a storm, drawing all the surrounding free Magic particles to form a spiraling whirlwind that trapped Erigor within it.
"Wind Magic... No! What the hell kind of Magic is this!"
Erigor's eyes went wide. As a Wind Mage, he could naturally sense that Noah's "wind" was nothing like his own.
No matter how he looked at it, that oppressive black whirlwind gave off this weird malevolent vibe and killing intent way beyond anything he'd ever felt before.
Noah couldn't be bothered with chitchat. Like he'd tell some Dark Mage he could use Devil Slayer Magic? Giving away your Magic info wasn't something smart Mages did—well, except for Fairy Tail, of course...
Changing his fingers into a claw, Noah's hardened finger strength, covered in Armament Haki, instantly crushed Erigor's precious scythe, leaving him holding nothing but half a stick.
With his beloved weapon destroyed, Erigor went ballistic. Knowing he couldn't get away from this annoying white-haired bastard without paying a price, he just unleashed everything he had.
"Storm Waltz!" Erigor became a machine, continuously blasting Magic, throwing out his strongest spell.
Noah raised his right hand, casually tapping his index finger in the air. Every gust of wind swirling around him turned into a sharp blade, cutting down the incoming Magic one by one.
"Pathetic."
That was Noah's assessment of Erigor.
The words barely left Noah's mouth before Erigor—who hadn't even had time to react—got swept up by the storm blades.
In an instant, clothes, skin, muscles, and even bones shattered piece by piece. Caught in the storm, Erigor felt like he was being put through the world's slowest, most painful death by a thousand cuts.
This was his favorite move when torturing weaklings, but now that it was happening to him, Erigor finally understood just how soul-crushing that pain really was.
He didn't even have the strength left to scream before passing out.
Landing with a gust of wind, Noah tossed the pathetic Erigor onto the ground and looked over at the black-robed man talking with the blue-haired little girl. Mystogan had finally taken off his mask—guess he really did care about this sister of his.
"Big bro, I'm done here. You gonna introduce me to our little sister or what?"
"Since when do you know Wind Magic? Don't bite off more than you can chew."
Mystogan knew his brother was crazy talented, but he shouldn't push himself too hard. Still, he only threw out a couple casual warnings before ruffling the little girl's head. "Wendy, this is Noah—my younger brother. You can call him big brother too."
"Hello, Big Brother Noah."
That soft, sweet voice made the little girl even more adorable.
But the equally cute white cat in Wendy's arms was NOT pleased, baring its claws at Mystogan and speaking with surprising attitude:
"You left Wendy alone here for six whole years! What kind of brother does that! Even for a foster sister, that's terrible!"
"Carla, don't say that. Big Brother Jellal had important stuff to do." Wendy gently tried to explain on behalf of the companion defending her.
Carla's ears twitched, and she huffed in classic tsundere fashion, "Hmph, men are all useless. Wendy, you better watch out."
"Oh? Little kitty's got quite the attitude."
Noah snatched the white cat, Carla, right out of Wendy's arms. Looking at the cat in her little dress all puffed up with indignation, Noah tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, why do you look so familiar? You look kinda like your Exceed Queen, Shagotte."
"Exceed? Is that what Carla is?"
Wendy took the white cat back from Noah and asked curiously. It'd be amazing if Carla had others like her out there.
Carla stared hard at Noah too. In her dreams, she kept seeing a noble white cat that looked just like her. Could that be the Exceed Queen Noah was talking about?
But this whole thing involved the parallel world of Edolas, which was way too complicated to explain. Luckily, Mystogan jumped in. "Don't read too much into it, Noah. Carla hatched from an egg Wendy found at Cait Shelter five years ago."
"Huh? How do you know what happened here five years ago?"
Carla caught that detail immediately, staring suspiciously at Mystogan. "Wait, have you been secretly watching Wendy this whole time? Gross! What a creepy loli stalker!"
Noah couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
This Magic cat, Carla—intelligence-wise, she could run circles around a hundred Happys!
Loli stalker. What an incredibly weird but accurate description. Sure, it was pretty over the top, but it honestly did fit Mystogan's behavior toward Wendy perfectly.
He'd sneak around checking on Wendy all the time when he could've just visited normally, acting like some wanted criminal who had to stay hidden.
Noah still couldn't wrap his head around his older brother's bizarre logic.
Then again, everyone who joined Fairy Tail had their own weird quirks.