"What kind of monsters are these two?!" Sorano shouted, her left hand holding onto Yukino as she shielded her with her body. Her right hand was raised in front of her forehead, her body half-crouched against the powerful, oncoming wind. Even so, she could barely keep her eyes open.

Wendy and Meredy were also hiding behind Erza and Ultear, peeking out from the side to watch the battle.

The four members of Ur's group, however, were watching the fight with intense concentration. A large part of the magic Noah was now using was derived from Shaping Magic. As researchers and students of that art, they could see better than anyone the incredible level of skill Noah was employing. To shape light, which has no physical form, was infinitely more difficult than shaping ice, which does. To mold light into such a colossal figure was already an incredibly difficult feat, to say nothing of precisely controlling a massive number of arms to attack.

They had noticed that the arms were attacking in a specific sequence, starting from the sides and slowly rotating to the ones at the top. And when an arm was destroyed, a new one would grow in its place, waiting for its turn to attack again. This cycle created an endless, unrelenting offensive.

"So... so strong!" Natsu said, holding Happy tightly as he stared at the battle, the brilliant scene searing itself into his mind. "I'm gonna get that strong too! One day, I'll beat both of them!!!" His expression was serious, his voice full of excitement. He couldn't help but shoot a plume of fire into the sky, though it was quickly scattered by the fierce wind.

The other guild members, who had been a little scared, regained their spirits after hearing Natsu's words. They watched the battle with great excitement. The endlessly falling golden fists and the continuously rising white beams of light were an incredible sight. They saw the beams shoot towards Noah's position several times, only to be blocked by other golden fists he had redirected.

Laxus watched the two of them with a grave expression. He tried to imagine himself in that fight. He figured he could handle the earlier parts; his own magic and his dragonizing body could support high-intensity combat. He could even handle the ice dragon. But the rate at which the battle's intensity had escalated after that was something he couldn't comprehend. What the hell were these two giants? One was bigger than the other. A single punch from the ice giant would have injured him badly. With his speed, he could have tried to wear it down. But this new, even taller and larger giant of light... the sight of those countless arms raining down was terrifying. Laxus thought about it. If he didn't dodge and just tried to block, he would probably need to be rescued after about ten hits.

And in the center of the field, the two of them were still fighting passionately. The more he thought, the more numb his expression became. Gildarts was one thing, but how the hell did that bastard Noah train to become like this? Am I still not working hard enough? I'll increase my training when I get back. The Thunder Legion behind him had similar expressions. They were once again witnessing the true power of Fairy Tail's S-Class wizards. No... they were witnessing the power of the two strongest.

"Is Noah's giant getting lighter in color?" Erza suddenly asked.

"Ah, that's right! And the power of Gildarts' attacks has also weakened," Makarov, Ur, Ultear, and Laxus—the strongest among the spectators—had already noticed that the giant's color was a bit paler than before. The light cannons Gildarts was firing were also a little smaller and weaker. Where they had once been able to annihilate all the fists in their path, now the last one or two were only being shattered, not completely destroyed. The other guild members, a moment later, also noticed the change.

All of this proved that both of them were starting to run low on magic power. The duel was approaching its end. This realization made everyone even more tense, and they focused all their attention on the end of the battle.

As the giant under Noah continued to punch, its golden body grew paler and paler. The light cannons that Gildarts was firing with his bare hands also began to shrink. Both of them were fighting with all their might, sweat constantly pouring from their faces.

Noah saw that his current move wasn't enough to defeat Gildarts, and his own magic power was running low. Although it was constantly recovering, the thought of trying to outlast Gildarts in a battle of attrition was immediately dismissed. His opponent was not an enemy; they deserved a head-on battle. This was a matter of respect. Moreover, what Gildarts needed was direct pressure. He needed to face immense pressure to break through his own limits. Although Noah didn't know if the pressure he was providing now was enough, he would do his best.

Just now, he had thought of another move. But after using it, he would truly have no magic left for anything else.

He kept his hands clasped in prayer, controlling the golden giant to continue its attack while simultaneously unfolding a magic circle in front of him. The ambient magic particles were drawn into it. Because of their battle, the air was filled with an extremely high concentration of residual magic—from the shattered fists of light and the dissipated beams of Crash magic. Now, these particles were being collected by Noah, gradually gathering on the magic circle and forming a sphere of light. The sphere grew rapidly, becoming a ball of light a meter in diameter.

After Gildarts had shattered the last of its arms, the giant's body dissolved into a stream of light and flowed into the sphere. In an instant, the ball of light on the magic circle swelled to four or five meters in diameter, but in the next second, Noah compressed it back down to one meter. It was the same size, but this new sphere was far more threatening than the last. Its color was deeper, its light more intense.

Gildarts was panting, looking at the sphere of light in front of Noah. His instincts were screaming at him; a direct hit from that would be fatal.

"Didn't you say that last one was your final move?! How is there another one?!"

"Haha... I just thought of this one," Noah laughed awkwardly. "After all, there are so many magic particles around. It would be a waste not to use them." He had genuinely forgotten about this. This was the magic he usually used as an opening gambit. If the opponent could take it, the fight would continue. If not, it was over. He had forgotten that the spell could gather ambient magic to increase its own power, which made it perfect for this situation.

~~~

Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!

https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn