After the allied forces from the major mage guilds across Ishgar arrived, they all began setting up camps outside Nord Forest. It truly could be called a grand spectacle, the elite mages of the entire continent had gathered together in one place.
Fairy Tail arrived comparatively late, after all the distance was not close, and the moment they arrived here, they went straight to find Moen.
"Moen! Are you alright?!"
Upon seeing Moen, Erza and Mirajane were both very emotional. They had been worried the entire journey, afraid that before reinforcements like them could arrive, something might already have happened on Moen's side.
But that was clearly unnecessary worry. Even if they had not arrived, the guilds that were closer had already reached the area and could have helped somewhat.
"Erza, Mira? You two actually came as well?"
Seeing the two girls approach, Moen was a little surprised. He had thought Grandpa Makarov would keep all the younger generation at home, yet unexpectedly he had brought Erza and Mirajane with him.
Moen turned his head and looked around, but did not see any other children. Clearly, among the younger generation, only Erza and Mirajane had come along.
"We can definitely help, and we don't need anyone to look after us. Even if something happens, both of us can fly away."
Erza explained.
It was precisely because of that reason that Master Makarov had agreed to let the two of them come together. At first, he had indeed not intended to bring either of them.
Moreover, helping suppress the uproar caused by Natsu and the others was also one of the conditions for bringing the two of them.
"That's true enough. You two can both fly."
Moen nodded.
Being able to fly meant having one more means of escape than others.
"How is the situation?"
Makarov came closer and asked with a serious expression.
"Soon. The second wave will probably come soon."
Moen answered.
He had already answered this question many times. Every time another group arrived, they would come ask him again. He could not simply ignore them, so naturally he could only explain it over and over again.
"It's been about the same amount of time since the last uprising. Those monsters have become increasingly agitated. It should be within these next two days."
Moen spoke of his observations.
After the last uprising, he had gone back into the forest again, because those corpses absolutely had to be dealt with.
Although it was no longer midsummer now, the weather had still not turned cold. If they were left there for several days, one could imagine what condition those corpses would be in.
With no other choice, Moen had entered the forest to think of a way to handle them.
Burning them was one option, but it was dangerous and very hard to control.
If one fire burned away half of Nord Forest, then things would become truly troublesome. The monsters inside would probably go mad and charge outward, directly turning it into a "man-made beast tide."
Therefore, Moen could only use the Diamond Dust Fist to freeze those corpses and chunks of flesh in large swathes first.
This also counted as adding another defensive line to the Crystal Wall.
When the time came, the monsters would first have to smash through the "ice wall" formed from those frozen corpses before they could crash into the Crystal Wall behind it.
"Truly unbelievable..."
Looking at those monster corpses frozen in massive stretches, Makarov could not help smacking his tongue in amazement.
Inside that thick ice wall was all flesh and shattered body parts. It was enough to show how brutal the situation had been at the time.
It was hard to imagine that all of it had been held back by Moen alone.
Even for people like them, who had already seen Moen's Crystal Wall, it was difficult to imagine.
Much less for those who had never seen it at all.
"You brat, you've made quite the splash again."
Laxus spoke somewhat sourly.
Seeing that Moen was fine, he had finally put his mind at ease and now had the leisure to care about other matters.
For example, Moen's current fame.
This time, Moen had absolutely stolen the spotlight.
The entire magical world of Ishgar had truly witnessed his strength.
In the past, people had only heard his name but never seen him in person. They only knew he was a young prodigy who had defeated one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jose Porla, twice.
But they had never seen the real person.
Now that they had truly seen him and witnessed Moen's Crystal Wall, they finally understood the weight carried by the title "young prodigy."
"Once they truly witness the effect of my Crystal Wall for themselves, they'll have an even more accurate understanding of my power."
Moen said with a smile.
These past few days, he had truly encountered all kinds of people.
Some had even come with the intention of picking a fight from the start, but after seeing the corpses outside the wall, very few still dared question his strength.
Facts spoke louder than words.
Anyone daring to question Moen's strength first had to consider whether they themselves had the strength to achieve all this—whether they had the ability to stop a beast tide by their own power alone.
Forget those mages who came looking for trouble.
Even Councilor Org, who had always held enormous prejudice against Fairy Tail, could only obediently praise Moen after witnessing everything in person, and could only acknowledge Moen's strength.
"Seeing that guy get humbled is truly satisfying!"
After hearing Moen's account, Makarov was delighted.
Even his worries about the situation were eased somewhat.
That fellow Org was one of the main forces constantly causing trouble for Fairy Tail, always nitpicking them inside the Magic Council.
Naturally, Makarov did not like him in the slightest, so hearing that he had been put in his place made him happy.
"Moen! Are you still going into the forest today?"
While everyone from Fairy Tail was chatting, several mages came over. Leading them was a man with his hair tied in a topknot, it was Bacchus Groh of Quatro Cerberus. Beside him were several odd-looking fellows, all members of Quatro Cerberus, who had followed Bacchus over to join the excitement.
"Master Makarov, you came as well."
After seeing Makarov, Bacchus and the others seriously bowed and greeted him, and Makarov also nodded in response.
"Not today, I think. Seems like there'll be a meeting later."
Moen waved his hand and refused Bacchus's invitation to go into the forest together to fight monsters. Bacchus was also a battle maniac, and ever since arriving, he had often followed Moen into the forest.
The mages of Quatro Cerberus were each fairly strong, and their personalities were straightforward as well. Moen got along with them quite well, at least better than with the people of Blue Pegasus.
It was not that the mages of Blue Pegasus were bad. Actually, they were all pretty decent people. It was just that Moen felt their temperaments did not match.
On top of that, there was Karen Lilica there, along with Master Bob who was always trying to poach him, so Moen usually avoided them.
"Master Makarov! Master Bob invites you over for a talk."
Moen had just been inwardly complaining about that group of "eccentric geniuses" from Blue Pegasus when someone from Blue Pegasus came over.
He was a short, somewhat overweight man with reddish-brown hair, and rather... apologetic looks. He was Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki.
"So it's Ichiya."
Makarov looked toward the man dressed in an all-white suit, appearing rather mismatched. He was clearly familiar with Ichiya.
That was only natural. Ichiya was one of the pillars of Blue Pegasus. His position within Blue Pegasus was roughly equivalent to Gildarts in Fairy Tail.
His title was "Blue Pegasus's Strongest Mage."
Ichiya had also been in Blue Pegasus for many years. In previous routine guild masters' meetings, he usually accompanied Bob, so naturally Makarov would know him.
"Have Bob and Goldmine already arrived?"
Makarov asked Ichiya.
"Yes, Master Makarov. Master Bob and Master Goldmine have both already arrived and are waiting for you to come speak with them."
Ichiya politely bowed as he answered, carrying himself like a gentleman.
White suit, yellow inner lining, red bow tie, blue rose on the left chest—purely in terms of attire, he was indeed very formal and gentlemanly.
Only, his height and appearance were a bit unfortunate.
It could not be said he was ugly, but rather that he seemed to belong to a completely different art style than everyone else.
"Good, I'll head over right away."
Makarov did not hesitate and immediately prepared to go meet his old friends.
But at this moment, Ichiya shifted his gaze to Moen's side.
He saw Erza.
And his eyes instantly lit up.
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