"Well, that should be all the Dark Guild members. The rest have been captured. Let the Magic Council handle the cleanup."
Noah scanned the castle one last time with his senses. Anyone emitting dark magic had been eliminated. Most of the remaining people had no magic at all, and those who did carried magic that felt relatively pure.
In this world, magic reflects the heart. If someone is malicious, cruel, or does evil deeds, their magic becomes twisted overwhelming, repulsive, and unmistakably sinister.
On the other hand, when one's heart is sincere and their actions just, their magic shines bright and clean.
Noah had wiped out the dark guild members with a devastating blast of super magic. Now, he dashed straight into the castle interior. He had just detected the treasure vault's location and wasn't about to waste a second.
He skidded to a halt at the thick, sealed doors of the treasure room and yanked them open.
A burst of golden light flooded out, so bright it forced Noah to squint.
"Oh-ho! Knew it. These dark guild creeps always hoard a mountain of treasure. Jackpot. This is exactly the kind of bonus I deserve after all that effort."
He raised his right arm to shield his eyes and peeked into the glowing chamber. Gold coins, silver bars, glittering gemstones piles of treasure spilled across the floor. Tables were stacked with magic items, some of which Noah instantly recognized as extremely rare and high-priced in the market.
"I really hit the motherlode this time. This haul's worth more than a few S-Class rewards. Not bad, Noah. Not bad at all."
Without hesitation, Noah began gathering the treasure. He didn't even spare the dark guild members' pockets they were looted too. After that, he sent a message to the Magic Council, informing them that the castle was secure and ready for cleanup.
He also saw to it that all the captives were freed and given medical care.
The Council's enforcement unit arrived swiftly. When Noah saw them enter, he waved them over and handed everything off.
"All the Dark Guild members in the castle have been taken down. There might be one or two rats hiding in the cracks, but I doubt it. These people here were rescued from inside. You can sort them out and verify their identities. I've got other places to be."
"The Crimson Rose guild had some serious firepower. To think you took them down on your own… Truly impressive. The Magic Council is in your debt. Your guild will be formally recognized for this contribution."
The senior official from the Council stepped forward, clearly awed. Crimson Rose had been a thorn in their side for ages. Now that the guild was finally crushed, the relief was palpable.
Better yet, since he was leading the team, he'd get credit too even if all he'd done was show up late. He kept offering Noah endless praise, clearly riding the victory coattails.
Just then, a squad member emerged from deeper in the castle and gave a report:
"There's no one else inside. We've rounded up everyone. But… here's the weird part: the vault's been completely cleaned out. Even the Dark Guild members are dirt poor."
The man scratched his head, confused. The commanding officer frowned and turned toward Noah with a puzzled look.
"Sir Noah, do you… have any idea what happened?"
"Ah, it's obvious, isn't it?" Noah replied without missing a beat. "Those Dark Guild types they're all about living in the moment. Probably spent everything they had partying. Not a coin left. Honestly, disgraceful."
He nodded solemnly, as if mourning their poor financial decisions. Then, as if struck by sudden realization, his expression changed.
"Oh no I just remembered something urgent I have to take care of. I'll leave the rest to you. Good luck!"
"Wait Wait just a minute!"
But Noah was already gone, vanishing in a flash, leaving the officer frozen mid-reach, hand stretched toward the empty air, eyes wide in disbelief.
Once outside, Noah headed to the next rumored hideout of a Dark Guild. This time, though, it was a bust nothing there but silence.
While traveling back, Noah suddenly remembered something. He had seen a few old documents tucked among the treasure earlier. He quickly dug through his pack, pulled them out, and started flipping through them.
Sure enough jackpot.
They contained tons of intel on other Dark Guilds. Names, hideouts, operation patterns everything.
"Oh-ho-ho! Now that's what I call a thoughtful farewell gift. The Crimson Rose guys really went all out. So generous!"
Noah compared the information he'd just uncovered with what he'd received from Master Makarov. Several locations appeared on both lists the overlap strongly suggested active Dark Guilds.
Without wasting time, Noah set off for one of those hotspots. Sure enough, as expected, there was a Dark Guild operating there.
No chit-chat. No theatrics. He immediately activated his detection magic and followed it up with Fairy Law, the powerful super-magic that obliterates anyone with evil in their heart. Anyone radiating dark magic was vaporized on the spot. At the same time, his detection magic scanned the building for the treasure vault.
After swiftly looting the valuables, Noah called the Magic Council, reported the situation, and made sure to rescue any innocent captives still inside.
Once the Council's enforcers arrived, he turned everyone over without a fuss… and was already off to the next target.
This became his new routine destroying Dark Guilds one after another using the same efficient process.
Noah was practically glowing with joy as he strolled toward the next suspected hideout. The treasure he had stashed away so far was worth more than the rewards of all his recent S-Class missions combined.
It truly was a wave of fat a rare windfall, and it probably wouldn't come again anytime soon. Still, there were surely other Dark Guilds out there just waiting to be… "blessed" by his presence.
Time was of the essence. He had to pick up the pace and make sure none of them had the chance to vanish.
The earlier Dark Guilds had been easy to find. They were infamous and powerful, which made them obvious targets and also yielded the most treasure. But as he worked down the list, they became harder to track, more elusive.
Fortunately, every guild left behind traces. Documents, messages, or maps that mentioned others. Noah carefully combed through every scrap of intel. Thanks to that, he was able to locate several smaller Dark Guilds.
But news spread quickly.
Rumors flew across the underworld: someone was wiping out Dark Guilds left and right. Even some of the most notorious guilds had vanished.
At first, some scoffed at the idea. They believed their own guilds were stronger than the ones that had fallen, and refused to run.
They were wiped out within two days.
The message was clear. The rest panicked, fleeing their hideouts and going completely underground.
After destroying more than a dozen Dark Guilds, Noah's luck dried up. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't locate any more.
He wandered for over ten days, trying to pick up any trail but found nothing.
Eventually, he gave up and used the time to shop for equipment and medicinal herbs. Then, he returned to Fairy Tail.
Waiting for him at the guild hall was Makarov, arms crossed, scowling hard enough to crack the floor.
"Noah," the old master growled, "where's the treasure from those Dark Guilds? The Magic Council says they didn't find a single coin at any of the strongholds you destroyed. Not even on the guild members themselves."
Noah raised his hands, looking entirely too innocent.
"They were all just carefree types who lived for the moment. Didn't save a cent. I mean, really irresponsible, huh?"
Makarov didn't blink. He stared at him with growing suspicion and went straight to the point:
"What did you do with the money?"
"I used the reward from that last S-Class job. Bought some equipment and medicinal herbs for my research. That wiped out everything."
Makarov finally relaxed, his scowl fading.
As long as it had been used for research and not for something reckless, he could let it slide. He was well aware of Noah's ongoing experiments and had even offered advice from time to time.
Raiding and dismantling Dark Guilds was one thing. Makarov's real concern was that Noah might blow all that cash on something shady.
Now that he knew otherwise, he gave a small sigh of relief.