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In front of the completely ruined Sabertooth building.
Two figures knelt on the ground, suppressed by magical chains and unable to move. One was filled with unwillingness and venomous resentment, while the other displayed complete fawning.
The white-haired youth yawned. He hadn't even made a move, yet the targets Natsu's Wish request aimed to defeat had already fallen—first to Gajeel and then to Mira.
Not in a hurry to collect his reward, Noah picked up an alarm clock from the ruins and leisurely sat on a large stone in front of Jiemma and Jose.
Glancing at the alarm clock, which was still intact and functioning, Noah wound the spring on its back twice and placed it in front of the two captives.
"So, what're you two plotting? Start talking."
"You've got two minutes. If you don't talk, your heads'll be rolling."
The white-haired youth sat with his legs crossed, and though his tone was calm, Jose and Jiemma had a feeling that if they didn't give the answers he wanted, he'd genuinely kill them.
Jiemma, however, was indifferent, displaying an arrogant expression that dared him to try.
Oh really? Getting cocky now, are we?
Noah would never allow such a cocky person in his town, so he immediately gave Jiemma a beating.
Listening to the sounds of punches landing and screams coming from beside him, Jose's greasy face broke out in a sweat, and he nervously swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
The ticking second hand of the alarm clock seemed like a heavy hammer in Jose's pupils, striking his heart like dense rain.
With his heartbeat accelerating, Jose's mind was suddenly overwhelmed by the invisible immense pressure, and without a shred of a strong person's dignity, he screamed out in fear, disregarding his image.
"Ah!!!"
Noah dug in his ears, tossed aside Jiemma, who he'd just beaten with a combo, and then backhanded Jose, who was hitting high notes, in annoyance.
"Screaming counts as time too, you know."
Jose nodded vigorously. He'd completely lost the mindset a strong person should have after two consecutive failures, and with his mental state shattered, he was as mentally fragile as an ordinary person.
Just as he was about to spill everything, the alarm clock rang at that precise moment, like a death knell, terrifying Jose, who cried out in panic.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Please don't kill me!"
Just a scare and his mental state's this bad... Noah inwardly scoffed at the former Phantom Lord Guild Master. He wouldn't actually kill them before getting his answers.
He stopped the alarm clock, wound the spring twice again, and placed it in front of Jose. Noah didn't speak, but his attitude was conveyed through his actions.
Jose, scared out of his wits, didn't dare delay this time and quickly spilled all their plans, one by one.
It turned out Jiemma and Jose were old acquaintances.
Jiemma was a secret priest of the Black Magic Cult, and he'd received a high-level mission to establish a powerful Legal Guild, using this identity later to cover the Black Magic Cult's operations.
However, Jiemma chose not to build a Guild from scratch, but instead usurped the inconspicuous small guild, Sabertooth, and secretly killed the troublesome former Guild Master.
Just as Jiemma was controlling the children the former Guild Master had taken in, planning to use the next few years for stable guild development, he received a desperate plea from his old friend Jose, who'd exhausted his last bit of connections.
There were people in the Black Magic Cult skilled in healing Magic, and if Jose was rescued, the Cult would gain a Ten Wizard Saints-level combatant.
So Jiemma unhesitatingly ordered his daughter, Minerva, giving her one day to infiltrate the Magic Council's prison and rescue Jose. But the Council's prison was heavily guarded, and Minerva took three days to figure out the routes and bring Jose out.
Because she exceeded Jiemma's allotted time, even though she rescued Jose, Minerva was cruelly punished by Jiemma.
Jose noticed Noah's calm expression finally change and immediately added fuel to the fire. "Master Noah, you wouldn't believe what Jiemma's like—the guy's inhuman. He was pissed that Minerva took three days to save me instead of one, so he stripped his daughter naked and threw her into an ice cellar as punishment."
"That little girl was only twelve years old. Even I couldn't stand watching it, but I was still a cripple back then, couldn't do anything..."
Noah narrowed his eyes. He knew Jiemma was a scumbag, but he hadn't expected Jiemma to be like this even to his own daughter.
Meeting such a father, if the misfortune of her childhood continued, that child named Minerva's personality would likely be twisted.
However, such misfortune ends today.
The alarm clock rang, and a look of relief after escaping disaster quickly flashed across Jose's face. He'd confessed everything he knew, and he understood Fairy Tail too well, so he wasn't worried that Noah would go back on his word.
Noah smiled slightly. He indeed didn't plan to kill Jiemma and Jose, but not because he kept his promise—rather because he'd never intended to kill them from the start.
He'd already prepared their punishment.
After all, sometimes, living is more terrifying than death.
The magical chains binding Jose and Jiemma rapidly transformed into ice-attribute Magic under Noah's magic manipulation.
Bone-chilling ice instantly froze their bodies, spreading from their mouths to their earlobes. Slender ice spikes pierced into their skin inch by inch, freezing Jiemma's and Jose's terrified expressions into comical ice sculptures.
The previously hidden Shadow Eater soldiers emerged from the shadows. Under Noah's command, these Shadow Eater soldiers, which had grown to the size of apples, frantically pounced on the shadows of the two "ice sculptures," devouring them with large bites.
The shadows of the two powerful Mages were excellent nourishment for the Shadow Eaters, far exceeding the shadows of ordinary creatures.
Even though their entire bodies were encased in ice, Jiemma's and Jose's fear was invisibly conveyed.
Watching their shadows being eaten by those monsters, the pain of a thousand needles, and the sense of weakness emanating from their souls, felt like death by a thousand cuts.
This was the punishment Noah had prepared for the two pieces of trash.
Creatures whose shadows are eaten by Shadow Eaters will fall into a complete coma, and unless Noah, the commander of the shadow soldiers, is defeated, they'll never wake up again.
"Oh, right. Sweet dreams, you two."
Amidst the crunching sounds, Noah remembered something, pointed a finger, and two points of light fell directly into Jiemma's and Jose's brows, activating when they fell into a coma.
Those were two dream spells.
Two never-ending nightmares of despair.