A New Life in Fairy Tail

Hearing this, Noah knew the man was thoroughly brainwashed and beyond saving. So, he changed the subject.

"Aren't you going to attack me now? I'm out of magic. You could come over here and capture me with ease."

Noah's tone was light, but his posture was one of exhaustion. He stood there, looking completely powerless, as if he could be caught effortlessly. But the surrounding cult members all took a step back, not daring to approach. Seeing this, Noah couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't be afraid. You're the dark magic cult. Your god is the most powerful dark wizard. You're supposed to be reviving your god, aren't you? Look at yourselves now. How can you even call yourselves a dark magic cult? How are you supposed to revive your god like this?"

The cultists' faces flushed red and pale with shame, but still, no one dared to step forward.

The leader took out a potion he carried on his person and swallowed it. After a moment, his body showed signs of recovery. The wounds on his skin began to close, and the bleeding stopped. Noah could only marvel at how much the man cherished his life; of course he would have healing potions on hand. Naturally, Noah had them too.

Once his injuries had recovered somewhat, the leader looked at Noah again, his voice cold and sinister. "You can't escape now. Just obediently wait for death!"

Noah tilted his head, his tone full of mock surprise. "So confident. Aren't you afraid there are more traps?"

"You're out of magic now, while I have plenty of magic and stamina. Dealing with you will be a piece of cake."

The leader's voice was full of confidence. From the very beginning of their encounter, Noah had barely engaged in any direct combat, relying only on traps to fight. His final burst of power at the village entrance hadn't been very strong either. This proved that Noah was only good at setting traps and was terrible at direct confrontation. Besides, Noah was so young; after fighting for so long, he must have been out of magic.

Noah smiled. "Right, right, right. Dealing with me is a piece of cake for you. So hurry up and come over here!"

"Hmph! I'll kill you right now! Let's see if you're still so cocky then!"

The leader snorted coldly and strode towards Noah.

Just then, Noah held up his palm towards him. The leader was startled, thinking Noah was about to cast another spell, and leaped backward. But all he heard was Noah's voice, full of amusement.

"Don't be so scared. I just have a question for you."

"What question?"

Seeing the leader had obediently stopped to answer him, Noah asked with a smile, "I've been stalling for this long waiting for my reinforcements. What were you waiting for?"

"What?!"

The leader was shocked. He suddenly noticed a magic circle appear on the ground next to Noah, and a figure began to materialize from it.

Far away, the faint sound of an explosion echoed. Erza turned to Simon, worried. "The explosions over there are so intense. Do you think Big Brother Noah will be in danger?"

Simon was also a little worried. "He should be fine. Right, remember what Noah said before? He's a Thought Projection right now, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Nearby, Kagura had woken up from her sleepy daze. She held Simon's hand tightly, following closely behind him. "Brother, where are we going? How much longer do we have to walk?"

"We have to leave the village for now. We can only go back after all the bad guys have been driven away."

"When will they be driven away?"

"Noah is fighting the bad guys right now. He'll drive them away soon."

"Will Big Brother Noah be in danger?"

"No, he won't. Your Big Brother Noah is very strong. He won't be in any danger. It's the bad guys who are in danger."

The three of them talked while worrying about Noah's situation. They had only ever seen Noah fight when he was teaching them magic, and since he was just teaching, he had never shown his true strength. That was why they were so worried now.

Another explosion, even louder than the last, rumbled from the distance. The crowd of villagers fell into a panic. The chief quickly tried to maintain order, urging everyone to speed up. But with a large group, especially with the elderly and children, their pace was slow. The chief could only watch with a heart full of anxiety, constantly telling everyone to walk faster.

By now, the chief had no doubt that someone was attacking the village. He was only worried that Noah wouldn't be able to hold them off, or that he couldn't delay them long enough for reinforcements to arrive. If the dark cult caught up to them, what would they do? Sweat covered the chief's face. All he could do was hope that Noah was truly as strong as he claimed, that his title as a Fairy Tail S-Class wizard was genuine. Otherwise, his life and the lives of all his villagers would be forfeit.

They walked for some time, everyone feeling tense and uneasy. Suddenly, two more explosions sounded from behind them, at almost the same time. The crowd descended into chaos again, and it took the chief a great deal of effort to calm everyone down. Many people still looked back worriedly in the direction of Rosemary Village. The chief could only keep urging them forward.

After that, there was a continuous stream of faint, muffled explosions from the distance. A tense atmosphere hung over the crowd as they followed the chief's lead, pressing onward. Many of the elderly and children were running out of stamina from the fast pace. Thankfully, the able-bodied adults were helping them so that no one was left behind.

Erza, Simon, and Kagura had been personally trained by Noah for some time. Because of this, even after walking quickly for so long, the three of them were still keeping up in the middle of the group. No one in the entire procession was talking; everyone was saving their energy to keep moving.

As they walked, a massive explosion suddenly roared from the distance. The three children, already on edge, were badly startled by the sound. Kagura immediately hugged her brother Simon, and Erza's body trembled with fear.

"Wah, Brother, I'm so scared!"

Simon's own heart was pounding, but seeing his sister, he forced himself to be brave. "D-don't be scared. Big Brother is here, you don't have to be afraid. Everything will be over soon."

The rest of the villagers were also thrown into a panic by the sound of the explosion. The chief was busy trying to calm them down, and the entire group came to an involuntary halt.

Amidst the noise and chaos, a magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground right next to Erza, Simon, and Kagagura. A figure emerged from within.

The three children looked and saw that it was Noah. They immediately rushed towards him.

"Big Brother Noah, you're back! Did you beat the bad guys?"