The fight began in a very tense mood.
Boom
Flames covered Natsu who is now crouching like a beast.
Natsu opened his mouth wide as he sucked in the flames around him into his mouth.
"Karyu no-!"
And then he opened his mouth in Noah's direction.
"Houkou-!!"
A stream of flames came out his mouth, it was immediately apparent to anyone that this fire breath had a wide span the further along its trajectory it travels. The flames were so hot it looked like it could evaporate the ozone and shatter the earth. The stream of flames drew up dust along its path towards Noah.
Even as the wall of flames encroached upon him, he kept that steady smile on his face. Not even the fact that his cheeks are steadily heating up was enough to stir him up.
Without even trying to dodge, he decided not to use his magic as he grabbed the cloth sack containing his magic arming sword. He raised it up horizontally in front of his chest. When the sea of flames reached him, he swung his sword in a mighty manner.
Fwoosh
A strong torrent of wind appeared just like that, the flames couldn't overcome the immense flow of air and got dispersed with just a mighty swing of his magic arming sword.
Each of the spectators held their breath.
The guy didn't even use magic, he also didn't unsheath his sword, it was still safely tucked away in his cloth sack.
A swing from him is actually enough to negate his fire breath.
"As expected…"
Erza and Mira focused their attention on Noah.
"He had grown much stronger than we had imagined…"
"Noah-niisan…"
Lisanna seemed to be riled up, she looked like she's the one fighting on the battlefield as well.
"Hey now."
He lowered his cloth sack and continued.
"You can't defeat me with this level of magic, Natsu."
"That's just a greeting!"
Natsu didn't seem down, quite the opposite, he laughed in an excited manner.
"Here comes the real deal!"
Flames appeared on Natsu again, this time, with stronger and more vigorous flames than before.
This magic power, it's far stronger than just an average magician.
Some of the old magicians in the guild probably couldn't keep up with this amount of magic power.
The surge of power is enough to silence the rowdy spectators. They looked at him with astonished expressions.
"Natsu, when did he become so strong?"
Whether it be the old veterans or the kids who grew up with Natsu, they were all filled with shock.
Natsu might be running around picking a fight with whoever he deems strong, nobody had really seen him go all out, not even Gray who sparred with him almost every other day.
Not one of the many guild members in Fairy Tail knew just how strong Natsu had grown.
Excluding the S-class magicians, there are probably not more than 5 in Fairy Tail who could best Natsu.
"This fellow, to think he would grow so strong when we are not looking."
Mira and Erza exchanged looks and then they smiled.
"Tsk."
Gray clicked his tongue while he focused on Natsu.
Gray who is like Natsu's ultimate frienemy got motivated by his display of strength.
"How about it?"
Clad in roaring fflames, Natsu revealed a smug grin.
"I have grown stronger hadn't I?"
"True, to the extent that there aren't many who could win against you in this guild, that much I concede."
Noah laughed the next second.
"But, if that's it then I'm afraid…"
Before he finished, Noah's figure blurred.
"—!"
Although Noah seemed like he is still stationary, Natsu's expression changed gravely and he retreated backward.
Fwip
A black figure emerged where Natsu once stood, his cloth sack emitted a scary noise as it slashed at where Natsu was.
Noah's figure started dissipating and the real one emerged with his cloth sack still in hand.
"That was an afterimage?!"
Mira and Erza yelped.
"So fast!"
Lisanna and the others yelled in surprise while covering their mouths with their hands.
"Karyuu no-!"
Having dodged the attack, Natsu stopped himself and jumped towards him with an arm raised. Flames started gathering on that arm, whipping up a hot jet of air before he punched at Noah's chest.
"Tekken!"
The hot flames greeted Noah's face and he can feel the temperature around him soaring up.
Yet, he remained calm even against this strong attack. He gripped the cloth sack with a backhanded grip and he got into a defensive stance.
Dwang
Natsu's fist fell heavily upon the cloth sack. Large waves of wind and sparks flew but he couldn't damage the cloth sack.
The reason is simple.
He had covered the cloth sack with his magic power.
Natsu needs to overpower him in magic power or he won't be able to do anything against the cloth sack, not even if he uses Dragon Slayer magic on him.
Natsu's brain might not be the brightest of them all but during a battle he instinctively knew his way around the flow.
Natsu bellowed.
"I am not finished just yet-!"
After he let out a mighty roar, Natsu unleashed a flurry of flaming fists against Noah, raining down on his body like a tempest.
"Guren Karyuuken!"
His successive series of flame punches were aimed at every part of Noah, if it landed, he would get hit all over.
Against this flaming hot series of attacks, Noah raised an eyebrow as a glint of seriousness flashed in his eyes. He prepared his footwork and started flashing left and right.
Swish Fwish Swoosh Phew Fwip Shoosh
Every attack missed Noah with little margin to spare. Noah had used just enough energy to dodge and he didn't waste any on superfluous movements.
Once in a while, he would guard against his flames with his cloth sack. The ensuing sparks lit up his youthful countenance.
Anyone who paid close attention could see that Noah focused on one thing amidst that rain of fire.
Stopping all of a sudden, he widened his eyes and thrust out his cloth sack at a point within the tempest.
Thud
The storm of fire stopped as soon as he tapped a point in it.
When the flames dispersed, eveyrone could see Natsu's right hook got stopped with his thrust. The clash between the two had whipped up dust around them.