Chapter 438: Even If I Have to Drag You, I Will Make You My Cat!
Noah looked up at the floating island continuously hurtling toward them in the distance, then whispered:
"Thanks to my efforts, the island's speed has decreased significantly. It will take about seven or eight more minutes before it crashes into this place."
"Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Sorano asked, puzzled.
"Because there was no opportunity," Noah shrugged, keeping his voice low.
"With everything that just happened, and the way we were treated, naturally I didn't have the chance to say it out loud. Furthermore, I realized that keeping quiet was actually the better option. Guided by their own lies, they had developed this incredibly arrogant, high-and-mighty mindset. Such a mindset is terribly detrimental, both for themselves and for anyone who interacts with them in the future. Facing a genuine survival crisis is the perfect way to shatter that arrogance. That is why I chose not to reveal that we were actively helping them, forcing them to confront the crisis of their own destruction head-on."
"Anyone who interacts with them in the future? The people down below have already launched a full-scale assault on them under the King's orders; the relationship between the two sides has already deteriorated beyond repair. Besides, they only managed to escape their past hardships through those lies. Now that the lie has been exposed, what are they going to do?" Sorano wondered aloud.
Hearing Sorano's words, Wendy and the others grew nervous, all turning to look at Noah and Sorano.
"They are Happy and Carla's people after all, and more importantly, Happy and Carla's parents are here too. Even if their attitude toward us was terrible earlier, I wouldn't just completely abandon them. Besides, the slight punishment earlier was enough payback for their offense. You don't need to worry, Mystogan and I have already discussed a place for them to go," Noah whispered to the group.
"That is good, then," Sorano nodded. Since Noah and Mystogan had already figured things out, she felt reassured.
Wendy and the others wore similar expressions of relief.
"Alright, let's head over as well. I need to observe that floating island up close. We absolutely cannot let it actually crash into Extalia," Noah said to everyone.
The group nodded. Noah raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, everyone's bodies lifted off the ground. Following closely behind Noah, they flew swiftly into the sky.
Due to Noah's terrifying display of power earlier, no cats dared to approach their vicinity, and since their conversation was kept quiet, no one had overheard them. Seeing the humans now flying toward the floating island alongside them, the Exceeds couldn't help but let out a collective sigh of relief.
"You mentioned earlier that Happy and Carla's parents were here. Did you already know that?" Sorano asked Noah as they flew.
"Yeah. Happy's parents are still alive and well. When there is a chance later, we can let Happy meet them. Though whether they acknowledge each other will depend on his parents. As for Carla... haven't you already figured it out?" Noah replied, looking at Sorano.
"Mhm," Sorano nodded.
Wendy, however, asked curiously: "Carla's parents? Who are they?"
"Take a guess, the hint was extremely obvious," Noah said with a smile.
"..." Wendy and the other two girls began to ponder deeply.
However, their thoughts were soon forcibly interrupted, as they had already arrived right in front of the island housing the giant Lacrima.
"Our own country will be protected by our own hands!"
"This is also for Her Majesty the Queen, who braved such danger to continuously protect this country and its people!"
"Lady Carla, we are so sorry about earlier—"
As they got closer, Noah and the group could hear the Exceeds cheering each other on, as well as apologizing to Carla.
These Exceeds, just like Happy and Carla, had pressed their hands against the edge of the floating island, pushing themselves to the absolute limit. They were pouring every ounce of their Aera magic to forcibly halt the island's advance.
"Hey, why the heck is something like this happening?!" Gajeel's voice rang out from the edge of the island as Noah led the group to land beside him.
"Because even we didn't expect the King of this world to have such an insane plan," Noah said, spreading his hands.
"So do I still need to destroy this Lacrima?" Gajeel asked, looking at Noah.
"Not for now. Since you haven't destroyed it yet, let's keep it intact. It just so happens I have a use for it," Noah replied.
"Whatever you say goes. Then how are we going to deal with this island?" Gajeel pointed at the massive floating landmass currently moving beneath their feet.
"I will stop it," Noah answered.
"Stop it? You are going to stop it? Stop this massive floating island connected to the Dragon Chain Cannon?! Stop wasting your breath! There is no future left for us! Nothing will remain!"
An agonized voice came from nearby. Everyone looked over and saw a black cat, roughly the same height and build as Gajeel, sitting there in despair.
"Hehe, this is the cat I have chosen. I couldn't destroy the Lacrima earlier exactly because he was standing guard here," Gajeel explained to Noah. Then, turning his head back to the black cat, he shouted loudly:
"Hey! After this is over, even if I have to drag you, I am taking you back to the guild and making you my cat! Hehe!"
Hearing Gajeel's words, the black cat froze entirely.
"Oho, this cat must be incredible if he managed to fight you for so long," Sorano's eyes lit up upon hearing Gajeel's claim.
Gajeel had been here for quite some time now, and according to him, he had been completely stalled by this cat. That meant Gajeel was unable to defeat this cat in a short amount of time. Gajeel was definitely not weak, which meant this cat was extraordinarily strong.
"Of course! This is the cat I have chosen!" Gajeel said with a massive grin upon hearing Sorano's praise.
"Wendy, Meredy, buff those Exceeds. Yukino, have Libra try to increase the gravity of this floating island. Sorano, you can improvise as you see fit," Noah instructed the girls.
"Got it!" Hearing Noah delegate their tasks, they answered in unison.
"What about me?" Gajeel asked hurriedly, seeing he hadn't been given a job.
"Does your magic have a way to stop this island from moving?" Noah countered.
"Uh..." Gajeel was left utterly speechless.
His Iron Dragon Slayer magic possessed incredible offensive and defensive power, but when it came to stopping a massive, moving floating island, he completely drew a blank.
"Open, Gate of the Scales! Libra, I am counting on you!"
"Understood!"
Wendy and the others sprang into action. Wendy and Meredy began casting enchantments on the Exceeds who were desperately pushing against the floating island in the air, enhancing their strength so they could output much greater force.
Meanwhile, Yukino summoned Libra, asking the Celestial Spirit to apply gravity magic to the entire island. However, Libra stated that Yukino's magical power was simply not strong enough to accomplish such a massive feat.
"Hey, why don't you have her apply gravity to my iron pillars?" Gajeel suggested, seeing Yukino in a tight spot.
"Can we really do that?" Yukino's eyes lit up, asking Gajeel a bit nervously.
"Of course you can," Gajeel quickly restrained his usual temper and spoke as gently as possible upon noticing Sorano's fierce glare locking onto him.
"Thank you so much!" Yukino said happily.
Gajeel then conjured a massive iron pillar and embedded it deep into the ground of the island. Yukino directed Libra to cast her gravity magic onto the pillar, drastically increasing its weight to drag the island down.
Seeing Gajeel behave, a smile appeared on Sorano's face as she turned back to directing her summoned Angels to push against the floating island.
Noah, on the other hand, sat down, opened his Archive, and began continuously collecting data from their side while simultaneously setting up his own countermeasures on the island. He also kept a close eye on the physical condition of everyone and every cat present, as well as the island's exact coordinates, to ensure absolutely nothing went wrong.
Not long after, he saw Queen Shagotte struggling to fly toward them using her single wing, closely followed by several elders who were desperately trying to persuade her.
"Shagotte! It is too much of a strain on your wing!"
"No, we must do whatever is within our power!"
But very quickly, she could hold on no longer. Her lone wing vanished, and she began to plummet rapidly towards the ground.
Noah was just about to intervene when a figure beside him shot out instantly.
It was the black cat. He spread his wings, dashed out, and caught Shagotte in mid-air.
Seeing the black cat's swift reaction, a smile appeared on Gajeel's face.
"Your Majesty... have you finally grown tired of lying?" the black cat said to Shagotte in his arms.
"Lily, I am so sorry... I..."
Looking at the black cat before her—who had been branded a 'Fallen', exiled from Extalia simply for saving a human child in the past—Shagotte found herself at a loss for words. Back then, she knew full well that his actions were entirely justified, yet bound by her and the elders' lie, she could only watch helplessly as Lily was banished. Her heart was overflowing with crushing guilt.
"Me too. No matter how much I may resent it... Extalia is still my country! But... it is no use... Even if this many Exceeds band together, we cannot stop it! I am sorry! This is all my fault! I could have stopped this! I could have stopped the humans!" the black cat said, tears welling in his eyes.
"No, we definitely can stop it," Shagotte patted the black cat's arm, comforting him.
She looked over at Noah sitting at the edge of the island, and Sorano directing her Angels nearby. These two were also fighting hard to stop the island, yet unlike everyone else, there was absolutely no panic on their faces—they clearly had a well-thought-out plan. Since they had come all this way to help, it meant they had full confidence in bringing the island to a halt.
Though Shagotte trusted her judgment, her heart was still inevitably anxious. All she could do was reassure the black cat.
More and more Exceeds rushed over, joining the ranks trying to halt the floating island, while Sorano and the others also continued their relentless efforts. Those in the thick of it might not have felt the difference, but Noah, monitoring the data, clearly saw that the floating island's speed had dropped even further. Their efforts were genuinely paying off.
This bought Noah considerably more time to decrypt the Dragon Chain Cannon on the ground.
Back in front of the Dragon Chain Cannon console, Noah's main body was still working feverishly on the decryption.
This was a device created by a magical superpower capable of tearing open interdimensional portals; cracking its systems was incredibly difficult.
Noah focused every ounce of his being on the task, his fingers flying across the Archive keyboards so fast they left afterimages. Magic circle after magic circle continuously materialized and rotated rapidly around him.
The others saw Noah working so intensely and wanted to help, but having absolutely no idea how to assist with magical decryption, they could only wander away from the console to avoid getting in his way.
"Who are you? Your legs are badly injured."
While exploring a side room, Erza stumbled upon a person with severely wounded legs, slumped over a chair.
"Waaaah... I don't want Lily to die!"
The person sobbed quietly, then raised her head to look at Erza. It turned out to be a young girl.
Hearing the commotion, the others quickly rushed over to the room.
"Those injuries are severe. Let's bandage them up first," Lucy couldn't help but say upon seeing the deep wounds on the girl's legs.
Together with Ultear, they carefully bandaged the young girl's injuries.
Under Ultear's gentle questioning, the girl recounted her story.
Her name was Coco, and she was a member of the Royal Army. Though she held no vital position, she was allowed to run errands closely alongside the King. When she learned that the Kingdom was preparing to fire the Dragon Chain Cannon, she couldn't stop herself from rushing over to intervene.
This was because Panther Lily—the black cat—was currently stationed on the island housing the giant Lacrima. If the Dragon Chain Cannon fired, it would annihilate Panther Lily along with the island. She absolutely did not want that to happen. He was her comrade, and she refused to let him be sacrificed over a bunch of irrelevant Exceeds.
Thus, she had attempted to steal the activation key to halt the cannon's launch. Unfortunately, the King was fully prepared and prevented her from succeeding.
To punish her defiance, the King violently attacked her legs, crippling her mobility. Afterward, she had been tossed into this room to rest, remaining there until Erza found her.
"It won't crash. We are currently decrypting the Dragon Chain Cannon's console. We will be able to shut it down very soon, so the two islands won't collide," Lucy assured Coco.
"Really?!" Coco broke into a joyful smile, but then she asked with a conflicted expression: "Could you take me over there? I want to see it with my own eyes..."
Lucy glanced at her Fairy Tail comrades. Ultear thought for a moment and nodded, and no one else voiced any objections.
So Lucy turned back to Coco and said, "Sure, we can take you there."
"Thank you! Thank you all so much!" Coco said, overjoyed.
Using what was available, the group quickly dismantled a nearby table to craft a makeshift stretcher. Under Erza's direction, Natsu and Gray carried Coco as they walked back to the Dragon Chain Cannon console.
Having given the surrounding rooms a cursory check, the rest of the group returned with them.
Seeing that Noah was still working diligently, they quietly stood off to the side, not daring to make a sound that might disturb him.
"Just a little bit more and it will be done," Noah suddenly announced.
"Really?!" Coco gasped in surprise.
"That's fantastic," smiles of relief blossomed on the faces of Ultear and the rest.
"Who is this?" Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Noah looked up and spotted someone he didn't recognize, so he asked.
Ultear quickly explained Coco's situation to Noah.
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