Violent waves of magic power spilled out from Moen's body, resonating with the star chart in the sky. The constellation of Aries shone especially brightly, with starlight continuously falling down to supply that wall known as the Wall of Ishgar, which resembled the Wall of Lamentation itself.
The enormous Crystal Wall stood there. Though it was clearly an invisible wall, its outline could now already be seen. The magic power had grown so dense that the entire wall was glowing. This wall radiating starlight firmly blocked the beast tide of Nord Forest.
"How in the world was this done...?"
Yajima was so shocked at the side that he could barely speak, repeating this question again and again. He truly could not understand it at all. Was this wall really magic too?
What the monsters inside Nord Forest could understand even less was how they had been running forward, only to suddenly slam themselves to death.
Their tiny brains clearly could not comprehend such a thing. They normally could not understand much to begin with, let alone now in this berserk state. One after another, they still continued charging into it.
But after no one knew how many monsters had smashed themselves to death, the monsters behind them finally stopped advancing. At last, they no longer came this way.
"Have they learned their lesson?"
Watching the beast tide gradually retreat, Moen inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
Although Moen appeared calm and composed on the surface, this Wall of Lamentation actually consumed an enormous amount of him. The main issue was its scale. Maintaining such a long Crystal Wall required a tremendous amount of magic power.
These past days, Moen had been busy constructing this Wall of Lamentation piece by piece, creating sections of Crystal Wall one after another, then maintaining them with the least possible magic power. Only today, when it was finally needed, did he unleash full output. Normally, it had remained in standby mode.
Even when fighting monsters lately, Moen had nearly switched to pure hand-to-hand combat. His whole strategy was conserving magic power and using it all to maintain those constructed Crystal Walls.
Now it seemed the results had not betrayed Moen's efforts, though the pressure truly had been immense. It was only because these crazed monsters knew nothing except blindly crashing into it. Had they launched any other forms of attack, the pressure on Moen would only have been greater.
"Is it over?"
Hearing the noise gradually fade and seeing the distant Crystal Wall no longer emit magical fluctuations, with no monsters crashing into it anymore, Yajima finally came back to his senses. That child Moen had actually held them back.
"At least this time, yes."
Moen nodded. The monsters had stopped assaulting his Crystal Wall and had calmed down considerably, at least far more than before. The surges of a beast tide came in waves after all.
"There will be another time?"
Yajima froze for a moment, then asked a rather strange question.
"How would I know? Shouldn't you be the one telling me?"
Moen looked speechless. He had no experience dealing with this sort of thing. Wasn't this exactly when the older veterans were supposed to provide experience?
"Ahem... There really aren't any records about that."
Yajima's old face reddened. He did not know what came next either. The last time something like this happened had truly been a very long time ago. At that time, he had not even been qualified to be summoned here.
Moreover, none of the incidents recorded in books had involved what was happening now. The monsters of Nord Forest had been stopped by Moen before they could even leave the forest. There was absolutely no precedent for this.
"It's fine. Then I'll keep guarding here for a while longer. I feel alright. That last surge was still far from my limit."
Moen nodded and dispersed the magic power around his body. The Wall of Lamentation in the distance also lost its radiance and vanished once more, returning to its normal invisible state.
"This truly is..."
Watching the Crystal Wall disappear and revert to its usual state, Yajima could not help sighing in amazement. Everything felt like a dream to him—far too fantastical and outrageous, nothing that should happen in the real world.
Most outrageous of all was that Moen had accomplished all of this alone. This kid was only a newly promoted S-Class Mage in his teens!
Vaguely, Yajima felt as though he could already see the next Wizard Saint of Fairy Tail rising before his eyes.
A Wizard Saint was not judged by strength alone. Fame, contributions, and other factors were also considered. Once Moen completed this mission, his contribution would speak for itself. As for fame, Moen was already extremely well-known.
It was only because Moen was still somewhat young, and because Makarov was still one of the Wizard Saints, that Yajima could not yet bring up the matter.
As for now, even if he proposed it, the other Council members would absolutely never agree. They would surely react violently. Giving Fairy Tail yet another young genius seat among the Wizard Saints would be more painful to them than death.
"Well? I told you I could handle it myself."
Standing beside the Crystal Wall, Moen smiled and spoke to Yajima. After witnessing everything that had just happened, Yajima would surely take back those doubts he had voiced earlier.
"I apologize to you, little Moen. I should not have doubted your strength."
Yajima was straightforward and did not stubbornly persist. Instead, he directly apologized and admitted that he had been in the wrong before.
"It's alright, Councilor Yajima. I understand your thinking. Yours was the cautious and prudent approach. You were worried I wouldn't be able to hold on and would cause trouble. So now, do you still need to summon the others?"
Since Yajima was being so direct, Moen naturally would not embarrass him. No matter what, this man was a senior of Fairy Tail and a close friend of Grandpa Makarov. Logically speaking, Moen should also call him Grandpa.
"We still have to. Since a beast uprising has already occurred, everyone must know. This is also a chance to make your name known and let everyone witness your strength."
Yajima thought for a moment, then still decided to follow the normal procedures. Under normal circumstances, once a beast uprising occurred, the Magic Council should organize a coalition of mages to resist them together, killing or driving the monsters back.
"Alright. Then we'll wait for them."
Moen nodded. Though he did not particularly need this sort of fame, if Yajima wanted to follow procedure, then so be it. It would also save some trouble.
If someone later tried to dig up old matters and question Yajima for not following proper procedures, that would be troublesome. Sometimes procedure really was important.
Yajima often spoke up for Fairy Tail within the Magic Council. Moen should cooperate in matters like this as well.
"Good. Then I'll go notify them at once."
Yajima said no more and immediately went to prepare communication with headquarters.
Moen did not leave. He continued guarding the forest's edge and observing the situation. Since people were being called here, he had to ensure absolutely nothing went wrong. Otherwise, wouldn't he just be inviting people over to laugh at him?
At Magic Council Headquarters, an emergency meeting was convened.
"What?! A beast uprising really happened?! The monsters broke out of the forest?!"
When Yajima's message arrived, even the usually composed Chairman Crawford Seam nearly lost his calm. His face was full of shock. After several decades, such a thing had truly happened again. This was a disaster.
"It did happen, but they did not break out of the forest."
Yajima's figure appeared within the magic crystal ball as he explained. His words left everyone in the Magic Council utterly confused. What did he mean by saying an uprising had happened, yet they had not broken out of the forest? Were those two things not inevitably linked together?
"Yajima, are you making fun of us? Haven't you gotten rid of those Fairy Tail habits of yours yet?"
Oug's expression darkened as he spoke angrily. He felt genuinely irritated. This was such a serious matter, yet Yajima was fooling around here. Was this something to joke about?
"I'm not joking. The monster uprising was stopped by Moen. Without him, the monsters would probably already be rampaging everywhere."
Yajima was not angered by everyone's doubts. He continued explaining seriously. The reason he could remain so calm was naturally because he had also been one of those who completely refused to believe it at first.
Even now, after seeing it with his own eyes, he was still deeply shocked, let alone those who had not witnessed it themselves.
"..."
Yajima's words caused everyone to fall into silence.
A strange silence, as though they had all been stunned by what he said.
"Yajima, have you truly... gone mad?"
In the end, it was still Oug who spoke first, his face full of disbelief. Looking at Yajima, he felt that this man had completely lost his mind.
"Of course I haven't."
Yajima calmly shook his head.
"You haven't gone mad?! Listen to what you're saying! Are these words a sane person could say? Moen? That kid? Blocked the monster tide of Nord Forest?!"
Oug shouted his questions. This time, everyone resonated with his reaction, because what Yajima was saying was simply too outrageous.
"You only need to come and see it yourselves to understand. Why would I joke about something like this? Besides, Moen himself believes he can handle it alone and doesn't need your support at all. I only decided to report it because if he failed, the consequences could be severe."
Yajima remained calm and not the least bit emotional. His words were serious and well-reasoned, causing the other Council members to gradually realize that Yajima was serious.
Actually, at the beginning, none of them had really thought Yajima was joking, because among the Council members, Yajima was considered one of the more proper ones.
Even Oug, who often opposed Yajima, could not deny that. Aside from frequently speaking in defense of Fairy Tail, Yajima was absolutely a very qualified Council member. In many other aspects, the two of them actually got along fairly well.
"Could it all be true?"
The Council members looked at one another, each of them dumbfounded. But now that it had come to this, they could only cooperate with Yajima.
"Yajima, have you prepared yourself to bear the consequences of this matter?"
Seeing that everyone had been convinced, Chairman Crawford Seam finally spoke, immediately moving to assign responsibility first.
If things were not as Yajima described, if this were all some joke, then the blame for summoning mages from everywhere to make a wasted trip would naturally fall entirely on Yajima. They themselves would merely have been dutifully carrying out their responsibilities.
"I will bear it all myself."
Yajima spoke decisively.
He was already used to it. Chairman Crawford Seam's entire style was to avoid fault at all costs. The man was like a non-stick pan, only wanting to firmly remain in the Chairman's seat. For that reason, he always favored conservative and appeasing policies.
"Good. Then let us begin."
Hearing Yajima say that, Crawford Seam was relieved and immediately began making arrangements. In truth, he was willing to believe Yajima. He believed this former Fairy Tail member was important. Yajima's existence greatly eased relations between the Magic Council and Fairy Tail.
With Yajima present, and with Yajima arguing on Fairy Tail's behalf every time, Crawford Seam could repeatedly show leniency and go lightly on Fairy Tail. Otherwise, what was he supposed to do—actually disband Fairy Tail?
Once the Magic Council made its decision, the news immediately spread across the entire continent of Ishgar. Every mage guild received the message and prepared to head north to reinforce Nord Forest. Fairy Tail, naturally, also received the news.
"It actually really happened..."
After receiving the message, Makarov stood there blankly. He truly had not expected that the moment Moen went there, trouble would break out in Nord Forest. Nothing had happened there for decades.
"Is Moen alright?!"
Laxus rushed over at top speed after seeing the summons signal and immediately asked, looking extremely anxious. He was the first to arrive. The others still did not know what had happened.
"He's fine. Yajima said Moen stopped the first wave of the assault."
Makarov's expression was complicated, but what filled it most was pride and relief at how outstanding his grandson was.
He had been deeply shocked by the result. At first he had felt fear, thinking Moen had gotten into trouble, but that quickly transformed into shock and pride. He did not believe Yajima would deceive him or joke about such a matter. Moreover, Yajima was on the front line, so naturally his report reflected the real situation.
Makarov knew his old friend Yajima's strength very well. If Moen had failed, then that old friend of his would never have survived. He could not possibly have escaped unharmed from a beast tide.
"That brat!"
Hearing that Moen was safe and had even stopped the first wave, Laxus also relaxed. But inwardly he grumbled, how was it that nothing happened when others went there, yet the moment Moen went, disaster struck immediately, and apparently on an especially severe scale?
Very soon, everyone who was not away on missions and was near Magnolia Town came to the guild after seeing the summons signal.
Makarov wasted no words and immediately announced that they would go reinforce Moen. Instantly, everyone began discussing it.
"Moen hold on!"
Many wore worried expressions, all concerned for Moen's safety. No one was afraid. No one thought they should not go.
"Hurry and depart, Master Makarov!"
Erza shouted emotionally, wishing she could fly north at once.
"Yeah! Let's leave now!"
This time Mirajane did not oppose Erza and loudly supported the idea as well. The other guild members were also extremely anxious.
"Good! Then we depart immediately! But not everyone is going!"
Makarov was very satisfied with everyone's reaction, but he would not allow everyone to go. Those lacking strength would not be able to help much. This incident was still very dangerous. They would be facing a beast tide, so a certain level of strength was necessary.
Very quickly, several younger members were cut from the list. This caused dissatisfaction. The moment Juvia was rejected, her mood instantly sank, and heavy rain began pouring over Magnolia Town.
"Why won't you let me go?! I want to help Brother Moen too!"
Natsu directly began causing a fuss. He had not expected even he would be removed from the list. His current strength was already impressive even among A-Class mages. How could he possibly be unqualified to help?!
Not only him—Gray, Gajeel, Cana, and the others were also removed. Only Erza and Mirajane earned the right to go.
"Because you are the future of the guild. You are the flames that must remain."
Makarov's expression was solemn. He could not allow all of these children to risk their lives with him.
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