A New Life in Fairy Tail

Chapter 345: Laxus!

The guild was a hive of activity as everyone threw themselves into the festival preparations. The air was filled with a cacophony of hammering, sawing, and shouting.Among the noise, the voices of Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Lyon, and Juvia were the loudest. Every so often, Lucy and Gray's exasperated yells would cut through the din, accompanied by Natsu's boisterous laughter.

The other guild members watched their antics with amusement as they worked.

Noah, however, had his own preparations to attend to.

Every year, the Fantasia Parade followed a fixed route. It started from the guild hall, crossed the main canal, passed by the grand Kardia Cathedral in the city center, proceeded down the main thoroughfare for a set distance, and then looped back around to return to the guild.

The core of the parade consisted of massive, magically animated floats, which was why the majority of the guild was currently focused on building them.

As for the individual magical performances, members usually formed small groups, decided on a theme, and practiced their routines. However, things rarely went exactly as planned. Unexpected magical interactions and sudden malfunctions were common, requiring the performers to improvise on the spot.

Regardless of what happened, everyone poured their hearts and souls into their performances, determined to give the massive crowds a spectacular visual feast.

Because the magical acts varied wildly from year to year, the parade was incredibly free-form and unpredictable. This unpredictability was precisely what made Fairy Tail's Fantasia Parade so famous, drawing massive crowds from all over the continent annually. It perfectly embodied the guild's chaotic, vibrant spirit.

Noah's task was to lay down a complex network of magical Runes along the entire parade route and throughout Magnolia. His planned performance for the festival required these Runes to achieve its maximum, awe-inspiring effect.

He walked out of the guild hall and began his work.

As he followed the parade route, he saw that the streets were already coming alive with festival cheer. Colorful balloons bobbed in the breeze, and vibrant ribbons and banners were strung between buildings. The citizens of Magnolia were clearly excited.

"Oh! If it isn't Noah! Are you getting ready for the Fantasia Parade?!" a local merchant called out, noticing the glowing magical runes falling from Noah's fingertips and sinking into the cobblestones.

"I am! I'm preparing a little something special so everyone can enjoy a truly spectacular show!" Noah replied with a warm smile, his hands never stopping their intricate movements.

"Ohhh! Then we'll definitely be looking forward to it! Do your best!"

"Mhm! I will!" Noah nodded.

Along the streets, Noah noticed numerous advertisements for festival-exclusive goods. One particular snack shop caught his eye, promoting a limited-edition festival candy.

When he walked out of that shop a few minutes later, his left arm was wrapped around a large paper bag overflowing with snacks.

He continued to weave his runic network with his right hand, occasionally dipping his left hand into the bag and tossing a candy into his mouth.

By the time he finished his second bag of snacks, he had completed the runic matrix for the entire parade route.

The next step was to set up the perimeter Runes around the rest of the city.

By the time he finished everything, evening had fallen.

Since his Thought Projection was still handling the paperwork at the guild, Noah headed straight back to rest.

The Harvest Festival was officially set for October 15th. There were only three days left.

Almost all the guild members who had been out on requests had returned. Cana, Team Shadow Gear, and the others were all back in the hall.

The construction of the floats was nearly complete. The members were now breaking off into small groups, practicing their respective magical performances.

"Ah! Lucy, you need to move a little faster there, or we'll lose our synchronization!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Let's take it from the top."

"Mhm!"

Lucy was currently practicing a coordinated magical dance routine with Levy, Bisca, Edolas Lisanna, and Kagura.

RUMBLE...

Suddenly, the faint, distant sound of thunder rolled through the air. Although muffled by distance, Lucy and the girls heard it clearly.

"Huh? Is it supposed to thunderstorm today?" Lucy asked, looking confused.

"It shouldn't." Edolas Lisanna glanced out the nearest window. The sky was crystal clear, a vibrant twilight blue without a single cloud in sight.

"It's not a thunderstorm, Lucy-chan. The weather forecast for today is 'Clear, with a chance of Laxus'," Levy giggled.

"'Chance of Laxus'? Levy-chan, I know Laxus is one of our S-Class mages; I've met him before. But what does that mean?" Lucy remained puzzled.

"Because Laxus uses various forms of Lightning Magic. Whenever he's around, you usually hear the crackle of lightning or the roar of thunder. That's why we say the weather is 'Clear, with a chance of Laxus'," Kagura explained.

"Oh, I see. So that means Laxus has returned to Magnolia," Lucy nodded in understanding.

"If I had to guess, yes, he's back," Bisca agreed.

Lucy mentally filed away this new piece of trivia about the elusive S-Class mage.

The group resumed their practice for a while longer. Lucy still didn't see Laxus walk through the doors, but she continued to hear the occasional rumble of thunder. The sounds were growing significantly louder, indicating he was getting much closer to the guild hall.

"Hey, if Laxus is back, why hasn't he come inside yet?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Haha... take a look over there, Lucy-chan," Levy laughed nervously, pointing a finger toward the bar counter.

Lucy followed her gaze.

Noah was standing behind the counter. His expression was incredibly dark, and his fingers were drumming a rapid, ominous staccato rhythm against the wooden surface.

A suffocating, terrifying pressure radiated from him in waves.

The area immediately surrounding the counter was completely deserted. Several guild members who had clearly wanted to submit mission reports or take new requests were standing a safe distance away, clutching their flyers tightly and refusing to step into Noah's 'death zone'.

Even the overall noise level in the guild hall had dropped noticeably.

"What's wrong with Noah? He looks incredibly pissed off," Lucy whispered to Levy, intuitively lowering her voice so as not to draw his ire.

"I'm actually not sure," Levy shook her head.

"Oh my, I know exactly what's going on," Mirajane's voice sounded from behind them. Lucy and Levy turned to see the white-haired barmaid walking over with a tray of drinks.

"It's because Laxus was actually scheduled to take over the guild's administrative duties a while ago. But he skipped out on it, forcing Noah to cover his shifts. So, Noah is very, very angry," Mirajane explained with an amused smile.

"I can definitely tell he's angry," Lucy nodded sympathetically, glancing at the terrified guild members keeping their distance.

"Is Laxus too scared to come back inside?" Lucy asked.

"He can't avoid it forever. The festival is almost here; he has to come back to prepare his own float and performance. He's probably just stalling outside, trying to gather his courage. But he knows there's no escaping his punishment. That's what he gets for shirking his responsibilities just to slack off," Mirajane giggled softly.

"Punishment? What punishment?" Lucy tilted her head.

Mirajane just shook her head and smiled mysteriously, refusing to elaborate.

Levy and Kagura, however, suddenly seemed to understand. Looks of realization dawned on their faces, quickly replaced by eager, highly anticipatory grins.

"What is it?! Tell me! I hate it when everyone knows an inside joke but me! I feel left out!" Lucy pouted, hugging Levy from behind.

"You'll see very soon, Lucy-chan," Levy promised, patting Lucy's arm.

Seeing she wasn't going to get an answer, Lucy swallowed her curiosity for the moment.

Since everyone was distracted, they decided to take a break from practice. They sat down, fully intending to watch the upcoming show.

Lucy noticed that many of the veteran guild members were also in on the joke. They had stopped working, taken seats, and were staring expectantly at the guild doors with eager grins.

Just as Mirajane had predicted, it didn't take long.

The loud, aggressive crackle of electricity echoed from just outside the entrance.

A tall, muscular man with spiky blond hair stepped through the doors, followed closely by three individuals in highly eccentric outfits.

Lucy stared. Laxus looked like he was walking into a warzone. Golden lightning arched and crackled wildly around his body. His muscles were visibly tensed, and his eyes darted around the hall with extreme caution. He didn't look like a man returning to his guild; he looked like a soldier infiltrating enemy territory.

"It's starting," Mirajane whispered.

Before Lucy could even ask what was starting, a voice boomed across the hall.

"LAXUS!"

The moment Laxus heard his name, he tried to react. He gathered lightning around his legs to dodge, but it was utterly useless.

Noah crossed the entire guild hall instantly, materializing right in front of the Lightning Dragon Slayer. His speed rendered Laxus's extreme caution entirely moot.

Without a word, Noah threw a devastating front kick, burying his foot deep into Laxus's abdomen.

BOOM!

A massive shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact.

"WAH!"

The guild members unfortunate enough to be sitting near the entrance were blasted backward, tumbling end over end along with their tables and chairs.

"Gah!"

Laxus folded over Noah's foot, all the air violently expelled from his lungs. In the next fraction of a second, the kinetic energy fully transferred, and Laxus was launched backward like a cannonball. He flew over the heads of his three companions and blasted straight out the guild doors, soaring into the sky.

Noah stomped his foot hard against the floorboards, shattering the wood. Using the recoil, he launched himself after Laxus, disappearing through the doors in a blur of motion.

"Laxus!"

The green-haired man among Laxus's three companions yelled in panic upon seeing his boss get launched into orbit.

He moved to chase after them, but the man wearing a mask that covered the upper half of his face grabbed his arm. "What do you think you're doing? This is between Laxus and Noah. Laxus ditched his assigned guild duties, and Noah is understandably furious. If you go out there now, you're just going to get your ass kicked too."

"Kicked! Kicked!" the five small, tribal-looking wooden dolls hovering around the masked man chanted in unison.

"Just let them fight it out. Let Noah vent his anger. It'll be much better for Laxus in the long run," the masked man advised calmly.

"But Laxus..." The green-haired man looked nervously out the doors.

Even from a distance, he could see massive, blinding flashes of golden lightning illuminating the clear twilight sky. The deafening roar of thunder shook the ground.

Simultaneously, colossal pillars of pure, searing white light erupted from the earth, piercing the heavens and violently scattering what few clouds remained in the sky.

~~~

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