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Under Natsu's vigorous shaking, Lucy regained her senses.
Looking at her companions around her, all showing concern, Lucy's tense body relaxed. She subconsciously reached out to grasp something, but her hand met only air.
"Huh? Where's that book?!"
Seeing Lucy's anxious expression, Mira squeezed her shoulder. "Relax a little. Look over there—the book you were holding earlier was taken by Noah."
Following the direction Mira pointed, Lucy saw the white-haired young man sitting on the low wall. With the strongest mage from their side present, Lucy finally felt at ease.
However, while Lucy relaxed, Noah's expression grew increasingly solemn.
Using his Library magic to decipher it, Noah quickly finished reading the Book of Necromancy. Besides the core necromancy spell, all other content was the life story of the Necromancer Devil, Keyes.
Noah closed the book, his fingers tracing the cover. He could feel Keyes's power within the book, but there was no trace of his consciousness.
What exactly happened? Not only did the Necromancer Devil suddenly revert to its original form, but its consciousness was also erased?
Noah looked at the only person who knew the truth. Lucy's expression earlier clearly indicated she had experienced something terrifying. "Lucy, this book..."
"It's Spriggan!"
Lucy was a smart person and immediately blurted out the name of the young man brought back by the troupe members.
Hearing the name of the melancholic black-robed young man, Noah and Erza's eyes widened simultaneously. Both of them had personally confirmed that Spriggan was just an ordinary person with nothing special about him.
But now, it seemed this Spriggan was peculiar in every way.
Appearing alone in a deserted area as an ordinary person, being quite resistant to communicating with others, and when pressed, he would only say that he would bring disaster to people...
Seeing Noah lost in thought, Erza knew he could multitask, so she asked Lucy to describe what had just happened in detail.
Lucy paused, organized her words, and then said, "I saw that Spriggan hadn't hidden in the pre-arranged safe spot like the other troupe members, so I wanted to persuade him not to linger."
"But he didn't leave. Instead, he asked me if my mother was doing well."
"Wait a minute, you mean Spriggan knows your mother, Lady Layla?"
It wasn't surprising that Noah suddenly interrupted. Lucy had been just as stunned at the time. Only after Spriggan indicated that he and Layla were old friends did Lucy truthfully inform him that her mother had passed away nearly six years ago.
Lucy saw clearly that at that moment, Spriggan's eyes were filled with sadness.
And along with the sadness, a "fatal sensation" also appeared around Spriggan, making Lucy's hair stand on end and filling her with immense fear.
It was the closest Lucy had ever come to death in her entire life.
Fortunately, Natsu's battle with the Bone Dragon attracted Spriggan's attention, and that deadly feeling receded slightly, but the pressure remained.
Lucy dared not stay near Spriggan any longer, but just as she was about to make her escape, Spriggan suddenly spread his five fingers and aimed them at the Necromancer Devil within the barrier.
Immediately, something strange and astonishing happened.
Spriggan forcefully grabbed at the air with his five fingers, and a phantom skeletal shadow instantly flew from the massive battlefield into his hand, transforming into a very ancient-looking book.
Spriggan ran his finger over the book, erasing something, then he thrust the book into Lucy's hand, and he himself vanished without a trace.
"His last words were, 'If I don't leave now, everyone will die because of me.'"
The whole story was now clear.
When the Necromancer Devil, Keyes, was summoning his corpse army, he accidentally saw Spriggan in the village. The black-robed young man, whose power was deeply hidden, used unknown means to revert him to his original form, erase his consciousness, yet preserve his power.
The corpse army could be easily dealt with by everyone, likely because of this.
"Regardless of whether he's friend or foe, at least Gray's father is free now."
Freed spoke. He wasn't entirely swayed by Laxus's embarrassing video, but also by the reason of rescuing a guildmate's father.
Gray looked at Silver, who was no longer frozen, then gazed at Noah sitting on the wall. "Noah, is that true? My dad, he..."
"Yes, Uncle Silver is free."
Noah gave an affirmative reply and handed the Book of Necromancy to Gray.
Keyes's consciousness no longer existed, but all his power was preserved in the Book of Necromancy, thus it could still maintain Silver's existence.
However, Noah couldn't change Silver's state as a living corpse.
At least, he couldn't do it now.
"It's fine. It's already great that Dad can maintain his current state." Gray looked at Noah gratefully, then hugged the Book of Necromancy and went to find Silver. Of course, Juvia, ever the devoted follower, went with him.
Silver's matter was concluded, but the mystery of Spriggan left everyone except Natsu feeling bewildered.
Spriggan's actions could be described as an instant kill of the Necromancer Devil. How could such a powerful person have no Magic Power fluctuations at all, just like an ordinary person?
Recalling Lucy's words about the fatal feeling Spriggan gave her when he was sad, Noah suddenly understood.
Noah had read in a book that when a mage has severe psychological trauma, or when their will and actions contradict each other, they might temporarily lose the ability to use magic.
In extremely severe cases, it could even cause the Magic Power within them to become dormant, making them no different from ordinary people.
"So, according to your theory, Spriggan lost his mage powers due to some severe psychological reasons."
Erza rested her chin on the back of her hand and continued to analyze. "Hearing the news of his old friend—Lucy's mother—having passed away years ago, his emotional fluctuation restored Spriggan's Magic Power."
"I agree."
Mira agreed with Erza. She herself had almost become such a powerless person.
If Noah hadn't appeared in time during the Beast incident, she would have been powerless and could only watch her sister Lisanna get hurt. Then she would likely have been unable to use magic due to psychological trauma.
So Noah was the one sent by heaven to save her.
Mira leaned closer to Noah, but an armored figure, devoid of romance, unceremoniously blocked her way.
Meeting Mira's irritated gaze, Erza's eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint smile played on her lips.
Oh, I know you too well.
While the two female mages were secretly competing, Noah's heart was also far from calm.
To revert the Necromancer Devil to its original form with one hand, erase its consciousness, yet preserve its power—such a method was exquisitely brilliant. A mage capable of such a feat would require extremely high magic control and extraordinary strength.
Such mages were truly rare.
In any case, on the continent of Ishgar, Noah had never heard of such a person.
Wait, there was one person who could do it.
Noah's breathing quickened. He thought of one person, the only one who could manipulate demons at will.
The creator of the Demons from the Books of Zeref.
The Black Wizard Zeref.
After understanding everything, Noah didn't know what expression to make. Spriggan was the Black Wizard, and he had actually wanted to befriend him earlier.
This was truly... a pity.
If he had known Spriggan's true identity earlier, Noah would have definitely kept that guy around to see what was so special about his immortal body.