Natsu had just finished settling Gray down when he could no longer hold back his restless energy. Bursting out of the room, he swung his fists excitedly, as if announcing to the world, "I'm ready to fight!"
"There's bound to be another tough battle coming up," Noel said after laying out his plan. "You all focus on recovering your strength. I'll go check on Lucy's situation first, and then I'll head over there."
With that, his figure vanished—floating and accelerating at full speed as he raced through the forest.
From the direction the giant rat had fallen earlier, the location should be northeast of the forest. If nothing had gone wrong, Lucy was probably engaged in battle there by now.
And with Happy already gone to back her up, the fight likely wasn't too intense. Lucy's Celestial Spirits were powerful; even if it was a hard-fought battle, she would at least be holding her ground.
Up in the skies above, another chase was unfolding—a massive rat was pursuing from behind, while Happy carried Lucy in his arms, flying ahead as fast as he could.
"Lucy, could you maybe… lose a little weight? You're really heavy," Happy puffed between wingbeats, grumbling as he struggled to stay aloft.
"You dare call me heavy?!" Lucy snapped, ready to explode at him.
Happy's flying grew shaky, and Lucy felt them wobbling in the air.
"Lucy, stop moving! You're heavy enough already…" Happy complained again.
"What are we going to do about that rat?" Lucy asked, turning her mind to a strategy.
It was a good thing they hadn't run straight to where the rat had crashed earlier—otherwise they would've gone too far off course.
Happy spotted Noel approaching from the distance and his eyes lit up. "Yes! We're saved!"
He started angling toward Noel, but the massive rat behind them suddenly sped up.
Then, without warning, the wings on Happy's back vanished. "My magic's out…"
"Ahhh!" Cat and girl plummeted from the sky—thankfully, into a river below. Still, Lucy emerged soaked from head to toe.
"Your opponent is me," Noel said coldly.
Angelica—the giant rat—recognized him. He was the one whose mere presence had rendered the poison Giselle worked so hard to create completely useless.
She instantly changed targets, abandoning Lucy and charging toward Noel.
"Where's this rat's master?" Noel asked, knowing Lucy should have been fighting a mage along with it.
"Defeated," Lucy said breezily, though her bedraggled state told a story of a hard battle.
Feeling ignored, Angelica lunged at Noel.
"Didn't your master ever teach you not to interrupt people when they're talking?" Noel said irritably. He and Lucy were in the middle of exchanging information—was it really too much to ask for the rat to keep its distance?
"Overclock—Storm Cannon."
"Lock target."
"Fire."
A massive blast of wind ripped through the air, tearing apart the space before it. Angelica could feel the terrifying pressure in that magic and tried to flee—
—but the Storm Cannon's speed was far too fast. There was no escape.
The energy struck like an artillery shell, slamming into her body and detonating in a thunderous explosion.
Boom!
Angelica became a shooting star, vanishing into the distance—who knew where on the island she landed?
"So this is Noel's true strength…" Lucy murmured, a little dazed.
"Sigh… Lucy, if you were just a little stronger, we wouldn't have been chased around by a rat," Happy teased.
"You're a cat. Why are you afraid of a mouse?!" Lucy shot back.
"Achoo!" Lucy sneezed, shivering as she climbed out of the river, her clothes still dripping. It was miserable.
"Let's get you back to the village to dry off. If you catch a cold here, it could be trouble," Noel said as he descended slowly from above, his voice carrying genuine concern.
And it was true—getting sick on this island was no joke. There were no suitable medicinal herbs, and while there were doctors, they mostly used local folk remedies of questionable effectiveness.
Fortunately, the village wasn't far. The three of them made it back quickly.
Once there, Lucy settled by the fire, hanging her wet clothes to dry. She borrowed a set of local traditional clothing from the villagers—it fit, though a bit snug.
"This outfit feels so tight…" she grumbled.
"Take care of your health," Noel reminded her.
"Mm," Lucy replied softly.
"You should go tend to Gray. He's the real injured one," Noel said coolly.
He wanted to show concern for Gray, but this was not the time for sentiment. He had to keep a clear head and see the whole situation objectively.
"Since you're so strong, Noel… why did you leave Gray behind?" Lucy finally asked, a question she had been holding in for a long time.
"This is Gray's fight," Noel said seriously. "No one else needed to get involved. He gave me his word—he would resolve it himself."
"S-Class missions aren't something you take on lightly. If you choose to take one, you have to be prepared for what comes with it."
"But even so, you can't just let him fight alone…" Lucy protested, unable to forget the sight of Gray's terrible wounds.
"This is the world of mages—it's not child's play."
"You're back! I was about ready to go pound those guys into the ground," Natsu said, unable to hide the excitement blazing in his eyes.
You couldn't really blame him—fire mages tended to have fiery tempers, perhaps because of their magic itself. And considering the one who taught Natsu his common sense was a dragon, a little extra volatility wasn't surprising. Still… he was unexpectedly reliable.
"Don't rush in. We move tonight. If we wait until tomorrow, it'll be too late."
"So we do get to beat those guys up tonight?" Natsu pumped his fists.
"But don't lose control. We were doing fine in hiding until you blew our cover last night," Noel sighed. This was just Natsu's nature—hard to change. But that was also what made him Natsu.
"This time I'll keep it together," Natsu promised.
"Lucy, you're coming too."
"I will," she agreed.
In her own way, Lucy trusted Noel's plans—his judgment was sharp, and even in the worst situations he could find the best option.
"What about Gray?" Natsu asked.
"He's in no shape for a fight with those injuries. He'll rest here in the village," Noel replied.
It was the only choice. Still, it left a bitter taste.
Pls drop some power stones supper me at my
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