A New Life in Fairy Tail

When the smoke cleared, the leader of the dark magic cult was still standing there. His clothes were torn everywhere, and he was panting for breath. His face was twisted in a vicious expression, and his eyes were fixed on Noah with a savage glare, as if he wanted to eat him alive.

The cult leader was clutching something in his hand. Noah looked closely and saw that it was a magic item. He finally understood. It wasn't that his attack lacked power; the leader had used a magic item to reduce the force of the explosion. That was why no one had died.

"Damn you! You made me waste my life-saving item! Everyone, get up! Attack that brat! Kill him for me!"

The leader's expression was murderous; he looked like he wanted to devour Noah raw. Seeing his fury, the subordinates who could still stand scrambled to their feet, terrified of becoming their leader's punching bag. They all began to cast their magic at Noah. In an instant, a variety of magic circles lit up, and a multi-colored storm of spells flew towards him.

Seeing this, Noah quickly dodged left and right. In his current state as a Thought Projection, taking a direct hit would mean a huge loss of magic power. He couldn't let himself be hit.

The leader, seeing how agile Noah was, shouted to his men, "Everyone, split into four teams! One team will follow me to kill that brat! The other two will flank him from the left and right and advance on the village! Hurry up and complete our mission! The last team will take the wounded back to the ships!"

The cultists divided as ordered. One team pursued Noah, two others began to circle around him towards the village, and the last team started carrying the injured away towards the shore. The leader didn't want to spare the manpower to deal with the wounded, but he knew that if they were captured, they could easily leak secrets. Killing them himself would destroy his subordinates' morale. He had no choice but to assign people to handle them, which left him with even fewer men.

The more the leader thought about it, the angrier he became. This was supposed to be a simple mission. Attacking a defenseless village should have been a piece of cake. How had he lost so many men before even reaching their destination? He had no idea how he would face the other cult leaders when he returned.

Filled with rage, he screamed at his men, "Faster, faster! Kill that brat now!"

Urged on by their leader, the cultists intensified their assault on Noah.

As Noah retreated, he would occasionally fire back with small, low-cost spells while using his magic to track the positions of the two flanking teams. When they reached the right spot, he activated his traps.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions erupted from both sides simultaneously. They were much weaker than the previous blast, as Noah hadn't had enough time to set up as many traps.

"You damn brat! You even had traps on the sides!"

The leader didn't know how many times he had blown his top today. His men were terrified by the explosions on their flanks and instinctively halted their advance.

Seeing them stop, Noah stopped as well. "Of course," he said to the leader. "I guessed you would divide your forces. Now, care to guess how many more traps you'll have to face?"

The leader's face twisted. He didn't really believe Noah could have set more traps ahead, but he was afraid it might be true. He continued to attack Noah while ordering some of his men to scout the path ahead, just in case. The two flanking teams were also spooked by the explosions and slowed down, advancing cautiously while checking for more traps.

Noah was naturally pleased to see them being so careful. The more cautious they were, the slower they would move, and the easier his job would be. Seeing how nimbly Noah dodged all their spells without getting hit once, the cultists also reduced the intensity of their attacks. Only a small group continued to attack Noah and scout the road, while the others focused on advancing and recovering their magic power. Noah also kept his distance, occasionally firing off a spell from afar to harass them and slow them down.

The battlefield suddenly became much quieter. Aside from the occasional explosion, no one spoke. Both sides knew they were in a temporary stalemate. But it was only a matter of time. One side had to attack, the other had to defend, and the final battleground would be Rosemary Village.

As they gradually approached the village, Noah's counterattacks began to increase in intensity, and the cult's assault grew fiercer in response. The battle was escalating.

The gates of Rosemary Village were now visible. Suddenly, Noah clapped his hands together. A golden magic circle appeared before him, and countless light bullets shot towards the dark cult. They were caught off guard by the sudden increase in attack power and were thrown into disarray. The leader bellowed, "What are you panicking for?! The brat is just having a final burst of energy! He'll be out of magic soon! We'll see how he dies then!"

The cultists calmed down and began to either dodge or block Noah's attacks with their own magic. And just as their leader predicted, Noah's assault soon stopped. He bent over, hands on his knees, looking completely exhausted.

"The brat is out of magic! Rush him and kill him! No, no, no, cripple him! I'll make him understand the consequences of offending me!" the leader roared. The cult members, already furious from being toyed with by Noah's traps, surged forward as one.

Noah dodged the two fastest attackers and casually knocked down three others. He saw the leader and the main group were almost upon him, and the two flanking teams were closing in from not far away.

He suddenly sighed. "What a pity. If only you were a little faster."

Seeing his expression, the leader was startled. A sense of foreboding washed over him. Before he could say anything, Noah raised two fingers and shouted, "Burst!"

The cult members in the flanking teams watched from a distance as a brilliant light erupted from beneath their leader's feet.

BOOM!

Everyone nearby was sent flying. Smoke instantly filled the location of the blast, obscuring everything. The other cultists panicked, pulling their injured comrades back and creating a wide distance between themselves and Noah.

When the wind blew the smoke away, the leader was still standing, his clothes in tatters and his body covered in blood. He was clearly badly injured, but the moment he spoke, it was clear his injuries weren't as severe as they looked.

"You damn brat! You still had another trap! My life-saving items!"

Noah looked at the leader with a genuinely surprised expression. "Just how much do you value your life? You have so many life-saving items. If you love your life that much, you really shouldn't have joined a dark magic cult, you know?"

"Hmph! To complete the R-System! To revive our great 'God'! To witness the most powerful dark wizard! Of course I must cherish my own life!"