Chapter 532 - 532: If I Hadn't Run Away from Fairy Tail Back Then, Would Things Have Been Different?

"First Master, do you feel any discomfort?" Noah asked Mavis, who was standing still in the center of the subterranean chamber.

"My muscles feel much better than they did a few minutes ago. I can actually move them now. Though, my coordination is still pretty awful; I can't move exactly how I want to just yet," Mavis replied.

Her voice was significantly louder and clearer than when she had first emerged, indicating that her physical strength was rapidly returning.

She took a few staggering, unsteady steps forward. Noah instinctively reached out to steady her, but Mavis waved him off. She wanted to do this herself.

She stopped, planting her feet firmly on the stone floor, and began slowly rotating her wrists and ankles, reacquainting her mind with the sensation of having a physical body.

By this point, the potent medicinal potion Noah had given her had fully metabolized. The severe, century-long muscle atrophy had essentially vanished, and the raw strength in her limbs was returning rapidly. She held up her hands, marveling at the way her physical fingers curled and uncurled at her command.

"Having a physical body again... it truly feels incredible," she murmured in sheer awe.

She took another few steps forward. This time, her gait was steady, lacking any of the previous staggering.

"I honestly never imagined I would ever have my body back," Mavis said, walking over to Noah and Makarov.

"Since the restorative potion has taken full effect, let's run a comprehensive diagnostic scan to ensure your internal physical condition is optimal," Noah suggested, seeing that her mobility had returned.

"Alright. I'm quite curious to see my current state as well," Mavis nodded.

Noah spent a few moments recalibrating the array of diagnostic equipment surrounding the shattered lacrima base. He directed Mavis to stand exactly where the crystal had previously rested.

Once she was in position, Noah powered up the machines, initiating a deep, microscopic scan of her physical vessel.

Noah and his clones worked frantically, processing the massive influx of telemetry data, while Makarov watched quietly from the side.

After several minutes, the scans concluded. Noah and his clones swiftly uploaded the raw data into the Archive network for detailed analysis. Mavis walked over to review the results alongside him.

"Your physical condition is excellent. The muscular atrophy has been completely reversed. Furthermore, the inherent magical pathways within your body have fully reactivated and are operating at peak efficiency. Fairy Heart remains perfectly stable; the anomaly hasn't experienced a single fluctuation," Noah concluded, reviewing the final data sets.

It seemed that forcefully reuniting her spirit with her flesh had perfectly synchronized and reactivated all of her body's natural physiological and magical functions.

"That's wonderful news," Makarov smiled warmly. Confirming that Mavis was healthy and that Fairy Heart hadn't destabilized was the best possible outcome.

Noah's clones systematically dismantled and stored the diagnostic equipment back into their spatial pockets before merging back into his true body.

"Alright. Next on the agenda: we need to travel to an isolated, unpopulated island in the ocean to conduct live-fire research on the Curse of Ankhseram," Noah announced, turning to Makarov and Mavis.

"Yes, let's do that immediately. I want to establish countermeasures for this curse as quickly as possible. Knowing it's active again terrifies me," Mavis agreed hastily.

She desperately wanted to neutralize the curse. The horrifying memory of her curse erupting and instantly eradicating all life around her was permanently burned into her mind. She was absolutely terrified that if she lost control for even a second, the Fairy Tail members upstairs could be wiped out.

Makarov naturally had no objections. Noah raised his hand, and the trio teleported out of the subterranean chamber, reappearing high above the open ocean, far off the coast of Ishgar.

Noah pointed his index finger down at the churning water.

BOOM!

A massive, localized geyser erupted from the ocean. A fraction of a second later, a colossal pillar of solid bedrock tore through the surface, rapidly expanding outward until it formed a perfectly flat, barren circular island roughly a hundred meters in diameter.

The trio descended onto the newly formed island. Noah immediately began unpacking a different set of highly advanced, heavily shielded diagnostic equipment, arranging it in a wide circle.

Crucially, Noah established powerful, localized defensive barriers around every single piece of equipment. When the Curse of Ankhseram erupted, it didn't just steal life force; the sheer, concentrated dark energy of the death wave could physically disintegrate matter. If the fragile, highly sensitive machines weren't shielded, the eruption would instantly vaporize them.

Once the equipment was secured, Noah manifested a Thought Projection. He ordered the clone to grab Makarov and fly him high into the sky, maintaining a massive distance from the island.

Noah had previously urged Makarov to sit this experiment out entirely. Given Makarov's advanced age, even a glancing exposure to the residual shockwaves of the death magic would inflict catastrophic, irreversible damage to his remaining lifespan. Noah absolutely refused to let Makarov get hurt.

However, Makarov had stubbornly refused to stay behind.

When Mavis was an ethereal projection, her curse was dormant because she wasn't technically "alive," and she lacked her physical vessel. Makarov hadn't worried about it then.

But now? Mavis was physically alive. Her spirit and flesh were perfectly synchronized. The foundation for the Curse of Ankhseram to erupt was fully re-established.

If he didn't witness Noah successfully formulate a concrete, absolute countermeasure against the curse with his own eyes, Makarov would never have a moment's peace. He would live in constant, agonizing terror for the safety of his guild.

Understanding the old man's anxiety, Noah hadn't forced the issue. Instead, he assigned a dedicated clone to act as Makarov's personal bodyguard. The clone was instructed to instantaneously teleport Makarov away at the first sign of danger.

With the preparations complete, Mavis bravely stepped into the exact center of the island, surrounded by the ring of shielded diagnostic machines.

Noah manifested several more clones to man the equipment.

"We are ready, First Master. You may begin whenever you are ready," Noah called out from the edge of the island.

Mavis nodded. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to forcefully dredge up the deepest, most profound feelings of love, compassion, and appreciation for life she possessed.

Noah remotely activated the diagnostic arrays. The machines immediately began scanning Mavis's bio-magical state, simultaneously transmitting the raw data directly into Noah's Archive network. He was terrified that the curse's eruption might overpower the equipment's localized shields; if the machines were destroyed, he could easily replace them, but losing the live-fire data would be a catastrophic setback.

Noah and his clones watched Mavis intently, waiting for her emotional state to trigger the curse.

A few minutes passed. Suddenly, Mavis's brow furrowed deeply. The atmosphere around the island instantly dropped several degrees.

"Nngh!"

Mavis cried out in sudden, agonizing pain, clutching her head with both hands.

Simultaneously, a thick, suffocatingly dense miasma of pure black magic materialized, swirling violently around her body.

"Here it comes!" Mavis screamed as a warning.

A split second later, the black miasma exploded outward in a terrifying, omnidirectional shockwave. The wave of death slammed violently into the localized barriers protecting the diagnostic equipment.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

A deafening barrage of impacts echoed across the island as the black miasma furiously battered the golden barriers, relentlessly attempting to strip away the magical life force woven into the shields.

A massive volume of the black mist surged past the equipment, expanding rapidly toward the edges of the island.

The moment the death wave approached, Noah's clones instantly took to the sky to avoid contact.

Noah's true body was already standing at the absolute edge of the island. He slammed his foot into the bedrock, continuously pumping a massive surge of magic into the earth to sustain the localized barriers protecting the equipment against the relentless, corrosive assault.

High above, Noah's clone quickly grabbed Makarov and flew even higher, putting as much distance between them and the death wave as possible.

The black miasma expanded outward until it reached a radius of roughly thirty meters from Mavis, forming a colossal, sixty-meter-wide dome of absolute darkness that completely enveloped the center of the island.

The miasma violently churned within the dome, continuously battering the equipment's barriers. Fortunately, Noah's immense magical output held the shields steady, preventing the machines from being vaporized.

After raging for nearly a minute, the black miasma gradually thinned and dissipated into the ocean breeze.

When the darkness cleared, Mavis was left panting heavily, half-crouched on the ground, one hand clutching her forehead and the other bracing against her knee.

Noah and his clones immediately landed beside the surviving diagnostic equipment, their hands flying across the keyboards as they frantically analyzed the telemetry data captured during the eruption.

Once he confirmed the immediate environment was completely clear of residual dark magic, Noah sent his clones to manually inspect the hardware for structural damage. He then walked over to Mavis, pulling a small vial from his spatial pocket.

"Drink this. It will help," Noah said softly, handing it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice weak.

"A highly concentrated stamina and mental restoration potion. It should alleviate the immediate physical toll," Noah explained.

Mavis didn't hesitate. She uncorked the vial and downed it in a single gulp.

Almost instantly, a comforting, intense warmth blossomed in her stomach, rapidly spreading through her aching limbs. The agonizing, bone-deep exhaustion caused by the curse's eruption faded significantly, and the sickly pallor of her skin regained a healthy, rosy tint.

"How do you feel now?" Noah asked.

"Much better. The agonizing nausea from the eruption has faded," Mavis replied, standing up straight.

"Good. Now, I need you to describe exactly what you felt the moment the curse triggered," Noah requested, pulling up a digital notepad.

Simultaneously, he covertly primed a spatial teleportation array beneath his feet. If Mavis accidentally triggered the curse again while recalling the sensation, he was prepared to warp them both out instantly.

"It was... nauseating. Suffocating. It felt like something foul and incredibly dark was violently trying to tear its way out of my body, and I was completely powerless to stop it. The physical pain during the eruption was intense, but the psychological agony of knowing exactly what that black mist does... that was far worse," Mavis recalled, her face paling slightly at the memory, but she forced herself to articulate the experience.

Noah meticulously recorded every single detail she provided, prompting her for more specific physiological sensations.

Once she finished her incredibly detailed breakdown, Noah let out a quiet sigh of relief. The curse hadn't re-triggered.

"One or two live-fire tests won't give me enough data to synthesize a perfect countermeasure. I'm going to need more. However, if you feel any lingering physical or psychological distress, you must tell me immediately," Noah said seriously, looking her in the eye.

"Furthermore, we cannot run these tests in rapid succession. While your immortal body can easily survive the physical toll, the psychological trauma of repeatedly triggering the curse will eventually break your mind. I will schedule the subsequent trials based on the data we just collected, ensuring you have ample time to rest and recover between eruptions."

"I understand. I will follow your schedule," Mavis agreed without hesitation.

When it came to magical research and safety protocols, Noah was infinitely more qualified than she was. She trusted his judgment completely.

Noah nodded, turning back to his equipment to begin cross-referencing her subjective experience with the hard telemetry data.

Mavis sat down cross-legged on the stone floor to rest. Triggering the Curse of Ankhseram was incredibly draining, but she was determined to endure it. For the sake of the guild's safety, and for her own desperate desire to finally live a normal life, she had to help Noah formulate a countermeasure. If they failed, she would have no choice but to exile herself to the wilderness again to protect her family.

But as she sat there, watching Noah and his clones work tirelessly around her, a soft, genuine smile touched her lips.

Over a century ago, when the curse had first erupted and killed Rita, Mavis had fled the guild in absolute, blind terror. Wracked with unimaginable guilt, she had wandered the wilderness alone, desperately trying to find a way to kill herself. But her cursed immortality had denied her even the mercy of death.

Then she had encountered Zeref, the resulting tragedy had "killed" her, Precht had sealed her away, and she had spent a century trapped in a crystal until she recently awoke as a ghost.

This was the very first time she was actively, scientifically researching the curse that ruined her life. And having an unparalleled magical genius like Noah working alongside her... even if he couldn't completely cure the curse, she firmly believed he could devise a foolproof containment system.

If he succeeded, she could finally return to Fairy Tail. She could live in her own body, surrounded by the chaotic warmth of her guild. The mere thought of it filled her with overwhelming joy.

More than that, having comrades actively fighting alongside her felt incredibly validating. It reinforced her absolute belief that the bonds between people could be thicker and stronger than blood.

If I hadn't run away from Fairy Tail back then... if I had stayed and begged Precht for help, with his peerless genius... would things have been different? she wondered softly.

If she had stayed, Precht might never have fallen into darkness trying to revive her. She wouldn't have met Zeref again in the forest. They wouldn't have fallen in love, the tragic paradox wouldn't have triggered, she wouldn't have died, and Fairy Heart would never have been created.

Mavis shook her head violently, discarding the pointless 'what-ifs.'

The past was written. What mattered now was the future. Once Noah finalized the countermeasures, she was going to return to Fairy Tail and thoroughly enjoy the vibrant, chaotic life she had been denied for a century.

"First Master, come here for a second. I have a few questions regarding the telemetry data," Noah called out, breaking her train of thought.

Mavis quickly stood up and walked over. Noah needed her to clarify a few physiological anomalies recorded during the eruption. She answered his questions to the best of her ability, providing as much detail as possible.

Hovering high above, Makarov watched the exchange. He considered flying down to listen in, but Noah's clone firmly held him back. Noah refused to let Makarov anywhere near ground zero. If Mavis accidentally triggered the curse while discussing her emotions, Makarov would be killed instantly. Noah and his clones on the ground were fully prepped to teleport away, but adding Makarov to the mix was an unnecessary risk.

After meticulously compiling the first round of data and confirming Mavis had fully recovered her stamina, Noah initiated the second trial.

Mavis returned to the center of the island, marshaled her emotions, and triggered the curse again.

The black miasma of death erupted, violently scouring the island before dissipating.

Noah repeated the exact same process: analyzing the new data, recording Mavis's subjective sensations, and cross-referencing the results to identify the microscopic physiological precursors that occurred milliseconds before the curse physically erupted.

His goal was to develop an autonomous detection array capable of identifying those precursors and instantly triggering the life-force-conversion spell and the emergency spatial displacement before the death wave could breach her body. Furthermore, he needed to analyze exactly how the black miasma stripped life force, allowing him to heavily specialize the conversion spell to perfectly counteract Ankhseram's unique necrotic signature.

~~~

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