A New Life in Fairy Tail

”It looks like I’ve pretty much destroyed this tower. Just a few loose ends to tie up. Can you stand?”

Noah asked Jellal, who was embedded in the crystal wall.

”I... I can...”

Jellal struggled for a moment before finally freeing himself from the Lacrima. He leaned on the crystal wall for support as he stood up.

”This is a common healing potion you can find on the market. Here, see if you need it.”

Noah handed Jellal a vial of standard healing potion. Jellal took it and drank it in one gulp.

”Send me to a nearby island. I’ll leave the rest of the tower to you.”

After drinking the potion, Jellal’s pale complexion improved slightly. He addressed Noah.

They had discussed how to handle the tower beforehand. Even if completed, it had to be destroyed.

The massive amount of Etherion energy stored within the Lacrima was the main problem. If handled poorly, the resulting explosion would obliterate the nearby islands.

Worse, the tsunami generated by the blast would devastatingly impact the coastal regions. This had to be avoided at all costs.

Noah had promised to handle this issue.

At the time, Jellal had been skeptical. But after witnessing Noah’s power firsthand, he believed Noah could do it.

”Sure. Which direction do you want to go?”

”That way.”

Jellal pointed. Noah placed a hand on his shoulder, and they vanished, reappearing on a distant island in the blink of an eye. Noah then returned to the tower just as quickly.

”This tower is about to blow.”

Noah looked around at the shattering and falling Lacrima. The blue light emitted by the crystals was growing blindingly bright.

The entire island was shaking violently due to the leaking magic power, and the surrounding sea was churning with massive waves.

First, Noah collected a large amount of unexploded, Etherion-charged Lacrima and sealed it away in his pocket dimension as research material. Then, he erected a protective barrier around himself and his Thought Projection.

Next, a magic circle expanded beneath Noah’s feet. His magic power surged, compressing the atmosphere to create a powerful shockwave that shattered all the remaining Lacrima and blew the fragments far away.

The already trembling island shook even harder under the force of Noah’s magic.

A pillar of light formed by Noah’s magic shot straight into the sky, joining the beams of magic leaking from the Lacrima to scatter the clouds above, leaving the sky perfectly clear.

”The tower is glowing!”

Lucy shouted.

Ultear and the others rushed over to look.

The captives they had rescued from the tower who had started to wake up were promptly knocked unconscious again by Ultear’s group.

They watched as the blue light from the Tower of Heaven grew increasingly intense, with blinding beams of blue energy shooting into the sky.

”I can feel an incredibly powerful magic within those blue beams,” Ultear said grimly.

”Hey, does that mean... did Etherion go out of control?” Gray asked nervously, cold sweat running down his face.

”Out of control? How could it?!” Lucy cried.

”Concentrating that much magic power in one place is inherently unstable,” Mirajane explained.

”With the Lacrima shattering, the vortex of magic with nowhere to go will burst open, causing a massive explosion,” Erza said solemnly, watching the increasingly dazzling tower.

”What about Brother Noah?” Meredy-kun asked in panic.

”We have to see if he can handle the explosion. If he can’t, we’ll be caught in the blast too, and we’ll all be wiped out,” Sorano said bluntly.

”Ah!” Lucy screamed.

Everyone stared fixedly as more blue beams shot out from the crystal tower. The magical pressure in the air grew heavier, making it hard to breathe and increasing the tension.

Suddenly, a golden pillar of magic shot up from within the tower toward the sky. The magic in the atmosphere intensified even further, but smiles appeared on Ultear and the others’ faces.

”It’s Noah.”

”He’s started.”

”That’s good.”

”We should be safe now.”

They all breathed a sigh of relief, the tension dissipating significantly.

Then, they saw solidified light begin to materialize around the island where the tower stood.

This light formed a ring around the island and rapidly extended upward.

Finally, the entire island and the Tower of Heaven were encased in a massive cylinder of solid light.

From their perspective, Ultear and the others could only see a giant golden cylinder, taller even than the original tower.

The cylinder emitted a soft golden glow, illuminating their faces.

From the top of the cylinder, blinding blue beams continued to shoot into the sky.

The ground tremors weakened significantly with the appearance of the cylinder. The waves calmed down, and the oppressive magical pressure in the air lightened.

BOOM!!!

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the direction of the tower.

The golden cylinder became blindingly bright. The ground shook violently again, and the sea turned turbulent once more.

From the top of the cylinder, a colossal, blindingly blue beam of light shot into the heavens.

The immense magic power radiating from the beam compressed the surrounding air, creating a powerful shockwave that blasted outward in all directions.

This shockwave churned the sea into massive waves that rushed toward the island where Ultear’s group was stationed.

”Ice-Make: Rampart!”

Ultear conjured another massive ice wall to block the incoming tsunami.

The blue beam continued to pierce the sky for over ten seconds before slowly fading.

The blinding light of the golden cylinder also dimmed gradually.

Then, the cylinder began to dissipate from the top down, eventually vanishing completely.

Where the island and the Tower of Heaven once stood, there was now only a massive void in the ocean.

Seawater rushed into the empty space with a roar, colliding in the center to form a giant whirlpool.

On another island, Jellal watched the scene from afar and couldn’t help but remark, ”His strength is far greater than I imagined. I really want to know just how strong he actually is. But for now, I need to figure out what to tell Hades.”

Talking to himself, he walked away into the distance.

Back with the group, Ultear and the others watched as the blue beam and golden cylinder vanished.

The sea began to calm.

”Where’s Noah?” Lucy asked curiously.

”I don’t know. It’s all over, he should be back soon,” Sorano said, her expression becoming anxious.

”Don’t worry. He probably has some cleanup to do, so he’s a bit late,” Ultear said, though a hint of nervousness showed in her eyes too.

They didn’t have to wait long. Noah appeared in front of them.

”You’re back!” Erza smiled.

”Welcome back!” Mirajane added.

”Good to have you back,” Ultear smiled.

”Let me see.” Sorano rushed to Noah, checking him over, even patting him down.

Noah grabbed her wandering hands. Sorano pulled back, smiling. ”Good. No problems.”

”Are you okay, Brother Noah?” Wendy-kun and the others asked.

”I’m fine. Everything was within my calculations. No accidents,” Noah smiled at them.

Everyone’s worries vanished, replaced by happy smiles.

”By the way, what about these people?” Ultear pointed to the unconscious cult members on the ground.

”Well, I’ll ask Grandpa Yajima. Oh right, I need to tell Gramps we’re safe first. Did you notify him?”

Everyone shook their heads. Since arriving on the island, they had been busy exploring and managing the captives. Then the explosion happened, and everyone was too tense. Without seeing Noah safe, no one had thought to call Makarov.

Seeing this, Noah pulled out his Communication Lacrima and called Makarov.

Makarov picked up immediately. ”How is it over there? Are you all alright?”

”No problems. Everything went smoothly. The Tower of Heaven is gone. However, the enemy leader managed to escape.”

”As long as you’re safe, that doesn’t matter.”

Makarov let out a long sigh of relief.

He had just heard from Yajima that Etherion failed to destroy the tower and was absorbed instead. Then the Council building collapsed, throwing everything into chaos. naturally, he had been extremely worried.

”Look, Gramps. That direction was where the Tower of Heaven was. Now there’s nothing left.”

Noah showed the empty spot in the ocean to Makarov through the lacrima.

”Hm? I heard from Yajima that it turned into a giant Lacrima crystal and absorbed Etherion. What happened to the Etherion energy? If the crystal disappeared, wouldn’t there be an explosion?”

Makarov immediately spotted the inconsistency. His vast magical knowledge told him that such massive, contained energy would inevitably explode if the containment failed.

~~~

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