Chapter 78

Thank you very much to 'Yun Qi Qing Gu', 'Qi Guan Xuan Qi', 'Er Ci Yuan Shi Wo Jia', 'Bing · Yue Ying', 'Yi Ta Liang Hu Tu', 'Er Ci Yuan Wo Men De Meng', 'Luo Shao Yu', 'Ru Zhen Qin Lin', and 'Wu Feng Hao Tian' for your generous donations!

"Whoa————!"

A shockwave of wind and waves spread out from the battlefield between the two opponents, sweeping over the members of 'Fairy Tail', causing many to exclaim in surprise.

"Roar————!"

Feeling the fierce power surging from Natsu's fist, Noah let out a low shout, and a thick surge of magic power erupted from within him, flowing through his body and into his arm.

With the support of this thick magic power, Noah's arm seemed to have grown slightly thicker than before.

In this situation, Noah suddenly shook his arm, and an explosive force surged from it, rushing into the sack, and finally, forcefully impacting Natsu's fist, which was colliding with the tip of the sack.

"Bang————!"

The sudden force collided with a loud impact.

Then, the scorching flames covering Natsu's fist were scattered by the impact, causing Natsu to be greatly alarmed.

"Slap————!"

On the other side, Noah did not hesitate for a moment, taking advantage of Natsu's surprise, and slapped the sack heavily.

"Whoosh————!"

The sack, enveloped in thick magic power, shot out like an arrow, rushing towards Natsu, who was just a few inches away.

Such a close-range attack, even with Natsu's reaction speed, almost caught him off guard. By the time he finally reacted, the tip of the sack, which contained the Magic Knight Sword, was already in his line of sight, gradually enlarging.

"Damn————!" Natsu let out another roar, turned his body, and flipped in the air, assuming a head-down, feet-up position, extending one foot.

Immediately, scorching flames ignited on Natsu's foot.

"Fire Dragon's Claw————!"

The flame-covered foot kicked the sack that was shooting towards him.

"Clang————!"

A crisp sound, like the clash of steel, echoed through the sky, and Natsu's figure, along with the sack that was shooting towards him, were both sent flying back at the same time.

"Thud!" Noah directly extended his hand and caught the sack that was flying back.

"Grunt————!" Natsu landed on his back, heavily hitting the ground, and then his figure shot up, kneeling on one knee, one hand on the ground, finally stabilizing himself.

The outcome of the confrontation was clear to all.

Moreover, Natsu had used all his skills, almost wasting his magic power, and had launched a frenzied attack, fully utilizing 120% of his strength.

As for Noah, not only did he not use any magic, but his usual weapon was still in the sack, and he had not even displayed his impressive sword skills. Throughout the fight, he had only used magic power to reinforce the sack's toughness, passively dealing with Natsu's attacks, without even starting to exert himself.

As a result, Natsu had used 120% of his strength, while Noah might not have even used 10% of his, and the confrontation ended with Natsu at a disadvantage.

Was there any suspense left in this duel?

"So strong..." Natsu, no matter how foolish, could not fail to realize the gap between himself and Noah. Clenching his fists, his eyes and expression wavered, and his body trembled.

Seeing this, the members of 'Fairy Tail' marveled at Noah's extraordinary strength while their gazes towards Natsu became filled with pity.

"Natsu..." Happy, with tears in his eyes, looked as if he was about to cry, unable to bear to watch any longer.

Mira, Erza, Lisanna, Gray, and the other friends watched everything silently, without a word.

Makarov, who had been silently observing the entire duel, glanced at the composed Noah and the wavering Natsu, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.

"Natsu, you should thank Noah for giving you the motivation to become stronger before he leaves..."

In the center of the field, Noah looked at Natsu, who was tightly clenching his fists, trembling all over, and with a wavering expression, his eyes gradually becoming serious.

"Natsu!"

The sudden call made Natsu, who was trembling, start in surprise, staring blankly.

"Get stronger!" Noah said coldly, meeting Natsu's dazed gaze.

"Then, challenge me again!"

Hearing this, Natsu's eyes trembled, but the trembling of his body inexplicably stopped, his expression gradually regaining vitality, and he broke into a big smile.

"Indeed, so strong!" Natsu lowered his hands, his eyes fixed on Noah with a burning intensity.

"Next time, let's decide the winner!"

Noah closed his eyes, but the smile on his face could not be hidden.

It was only then that the members of 'Fairy Tail' realized what had happened.

Clearly,

Natsu had conceded.

"This duel!" Makarov announced on the spot.

"The winner——Noah!"

"Yay————!"

All the mages of 'Fairy Tail' cheered, giving the spectacular duel their enthusiastic applause.

"Natsu!" Happy flew into Natsu's arms, who was walking over, his face full of worry.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah!" Natsu nodded heavily, hugging Happy, and looked at Noah, who was being surrounded by the crowd, his eyes blazing with fierce determination.

"Hey, Happy."

"Uh?" Happy looked up, staring at Natsu in surprise.

"I want to get stronger!" Natsu declared with a firm and cheerful voice.

"Stronger than anyone!"

"Love!" Happy called out loudly.

"Natsu will definitely make it!"

"Right?" Natsu laughed heartily.

Not far away, Noah, who was being surrounded by the crowd, looked in Natsu's direction, his heart surging with emotion.

Although Natsu was not as strong as Mira and Erza, and was far from Laxus, after the battle with Natsu, Noah felt an incredible sense of potential.

If anyone in 'Fairy Tail' could surpass Noah and catch up to his progress in the future,

that person would most likely be Natsu!

Noah saw almost limitless potential in Natsu!

Therefore, Noah deeply believed in this.

...

Just as the members of 'Fairy Tail' were cheering for the conclusion of the duel between Noah and Natsu, on a high point not far from 'Fairy Tail', several figures stood there.

Looking down at Noah, who was surrounded by the members of 'Fairy Tail', Laxus's expression did not change.

However, Fried, Bickslow, and Evergreen, who were standing beside Laxus, clearly saw that Laxus's hands, which were crossed in front of his chest, were tightly gripping his arms, almost breaking the skin.

"That Noah." Fried looked at Noah with a serious expression.

"He didn't use magic, didn't use weapons, and didn't take the initiative to attack. He just passively dealt with Natsu and suppressed him?"

"Speaking of which, Natsu's strength has improved a lot!" Bickslow seemed somewhat surprised.

"Looking at his current strength, even if we 'Thunder God Tribe' were to fight him one-on-one, we might not be able to beat him!"

"I have no interest in Natsu!" Evergreen said directly.

"I want to know what Noah's true strength is!"

With these words, Laxus immediately turned around and walked away in another direction without looking back.

"Laxus!"

The three members of the 'Thunder God Tribe' all called out urgently and followed him.

Laxus, ignoring the 'Thunder God Tribe', had a fierce look in his eyes and left these words behind.

"I will prove that I am the strongest when you return!"