Chapter 9

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Noah, Erza, and Laxus only knew that the Lake of the Ritual was somewhere in this city, but they were not very clear about its exact location. If they wanted to go to the Lake of the Ritual, they would need the guidance of the middle-aged man from the Council.

Therefore, after spending a night at the inn, Noah, Erza, and Laxus stood at the door, not moving, waiting for the middle-aged man to arrive.

It had been agreed yesterday that they would meet at the inn's entrance at this time today and then head to the Lake of the Ritual together. Now, there wasn't much time left until the meeting time, so the middle-aged man should be arriving soon.

However, when the middle-aged man appeared in front of Noah, Erza, and Laxus, the three of them were stunned.

The reason was simple.

The middle-aged man was not alone.

Behind the middle-aged man, at least thirty people of different genders, ages, heights, and attire, but all with unfriendly expressions, followed him and appeared before the three of them.

On these people, in different positions, a guild emblem of different colors but the same shape was exposed to the air.

Clearly, these people were all from the same guild!

Looking at the emblems on these people, Laxus, who had a rebellious expression, narrowed his eyes.

"Phantom Lord!"

"Phantom Lord?!" Noah and Erza first froze in unison, then simultaneously showed surprised expressions.

Phantom Lord!

Even Noah and Erza, who had not been in the guild for long, had heard of this name!

Among the many official guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, Phantom Lord could be considered one of the top-tier guilds. At its peak, it was even called the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, truly gathering many powerful mages!

Even now, Phantom Lord is still one of the top-tier guilds among all the official guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, and its strength still carries the title of the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore!

However, in recent years, Fairy Tail has begun to stand out, surpassing others, and gradually catching up to Phantom Lord, making the title of the number one guild in the Kingdom of Fiore somewhat less fitting for Phantom Lord.

Because of this, in recent years, the relationship between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord has become tense, giving the impression that they might clash at any moment.

Given this, when Laxus saw the mages of Phantom Lord appear here and follow the middle-aged man from the Council, his expression darkened, and he glared at the middle-aged man with a cold look.

"What's going on here?"

Hearing Laxus's unmasked questioning, the middle-aged man's expression remained unchanged as he replied.

"Sorry, everyone. After reporting the situation to the Council yesterday, the higher-ups of the Council invited these mages from the Phantom Lord branch to come and help!"

The middle-aged man glanced at Laxus.

"After all, your guild only sent three people, and it seems they lack experience. It's quite normal for the higher-ups to feel a bit uneasy..."

Hearing this, how could Noah and the others not understand the middle-aged man's meaning?

It seemed that the middle-aged man did not believe that Fairy Tail could complete such a large-scale mission that required dozens of mages with just three people, all of whom were underage, so he invited people from Phantom Lord!

Thus, Laxus laughed, a laugh filled with unusual savagery.

"Are you underestimating me, regardless of these two kids?"

As he spoke, a somewhat violent magical power slowly rose from Laxus's body.

"Zzzzzz—!"

In the next moment, golden arcs of lightning flashed from Laxus's body, like golden snakes wriggling on his body, emitting intense electrical sounds, sweeping around.

Seeing this, not only did the middle-aged man and the people behind him change their expressions, but even Erza's eyes revealed a look of surprise.

The magical power rising from Laxus, though not as powerful as Noah's, was already several times stronger than that of an ordinary mage!

At just fifteen years old, to be several times stronger than an ordinary mage?

Whether in talent or strength, Laxus had the capital to be arrogant!

Only Noah, looking at Laxus, whose body was frequently flashing with golden arcs of lightning and powerful magical power, frowned slightly.

Even Makarov did not know that, besides being born with incomparably powerful magical power, Noah also possessed an extraordinary sensing ability.

Therefore, Noah could clearly sense that, in the magical power rising from Laxus, who specialized in lightning magic, besides the characteristic savagery of lightning magic, there was also a very suppressed force.

It was as if a fierce beast was hiding in Laxus's magical power!

Such unique magical power made Noah unable to look away, staring intently at Laxus.

Compared to Noah, the middle-aged man, who was directly facing Laxus's full wrath, turned pale in an instant.

Heaven help him, although he was from the Council, his status was not high, and he could only use some basic magic, barely qualifying as a mage. Facing Laxus's abnormally violent magical power was like facing a charging war chariot, the fear of which could not be described to outsiders.

"Enough!"

At this moment, a person who was clearly in a leading position among the mages from the Phantom Lord branch stepped forward, coldly looking at Laxus, whose body was brimming with lightning.

"Fairy Tail's brat, it's not wise to attack someone from the Council..."

"Is a mere branch member of Phantom Lord trying to stand up?" Laxus laughed wildly, his body glowing even more brilliantly with lightning.

"Perfect, I'll take care of you too!"

"I, Moggli, am not at the point where I need to quarrel with a brat!" The mage from Phantom Lord, who called himself Moggli, said this, but his gaze towards Laxus grew colder.

"Besides, do you want to openly conflict with another official guild in front of the Council?"

The Council had explicitly stipulated that official guilds must not fight each other, and any violator would have their guild forcibly dissolved!

If not for this rule, Moggli might not have really wanted to avoid a conflict with Laxus.

"Does the Council have a rule that two guilds can openly snatch jobs?" Laxus also laughed coldly.

"Since you want to snatch the job, it's necessary to determine the winner, and the Council can't say anything about it, right?"

"We won't snatch your job!" Moggli said in a sarcastic tone.

"We are just here as a precaution by the Council. We will only step in if you fail the mission. As long as you don't fail, we won't interfere!"

Laxus's body suddenly stiffened with lightning.