The man's gaze was sharp, his muscles well-defined, his posture upright. The Fairy Tail emblems on his chest and right arm were clearly visible.
He bore many traces of both Natsu and Gray.
The most striking feature was his gradient hair, shifting from black to cherry pink.
A single lock fell across his forehead, sweeping past half his face, swaying gently with the dragon-scale scarf around his neck in the breeze. Strangely handsome.
"Hey, what the hell is this…"
"He looks like both Natsu and Gray. Did they really fuse?"
"Hot and cold at the same time. That definitely feels like those two together."
"Doesn't anyone else think he's got that pink-summer-girls-crush vibe~" Laki commented out of nowhere.
Everyone: "Pink-summer-girls-crush vibe?! What is that?!"
"Aye! I saw it happen yesterday."
Happy flew up and acted as commentator. "This is Chase's new Spell Card, Polymerization. It can fuse two people into one. Their magic power is far stronger than individually, and they can use all the magic both people know!"
"By the way, even fusing me—the mighty me—with Natsu was useless, so don't get your hopes up."
Fusion magic?
Everyone listened, dumbfounded, constantly sizing up the strange yet familiar man before them.
"My, my. As expected of Chase. Things just got interesting."
In contrast, the well-traveled Mira was much calmer, smiling as she clasped her hands together.
In a way, Take Over magic could be considered a form of fusion. The user's personality was more or less influenced by what they took over.
For instance, when she took over Satan Soul, she was much more feral than usual.
And that wasn't even mentioning things like Demon Mira or Alveus—one wrong move and it could lead to terrible destruction!
"With Happy and Natsu being the way they are, I can't even imagine what fusing a monster and a pervert would be like…"
Lucy hid behind Mira, poking her head out to comment. "It's bound to be absolutely terrible!"
Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous dark corner…
Juvia, having regained consciousness from her lovesick stupor, stared obsessively at the Polymerization card in Chase's hand, her imagination running wild with unspeakable scenes.
"Hey! You over there, posing—who are you now?"
Macao shouted from the crowd toward the fused Natsu-Gray.
"Heh. I am neither Natsu nor Gray. I am the current strongest mage of Fairy Tail—"
"Ice-Flame Dragon Nalegray! "
Finally asked, Nalegray smirked arrogantly, his voice carrying a strong echo effect.
Everyone: So cocky! I wanna punch him!!
"Nalegray, your clothes," Mira said.
At this, Nalegray looked down to find himself clad only in a pair of boxer briefs.
"Nani? When did?!" he cried out in disbelief.
Yep. Mira was Mira. In one incredibly short sentence, she'd sent his carefully built cool factor plummeting to the abyss.
"His stripping habit was perfectly inherited!" Lucy commented loudly.
"Whatever. Who cares about such a small thing?"
Nalegray quickly got used to the sensation of being half-naked. He raised his hand and pointed dramatically at Chase across from him. "Ahahaha! Regret your foolish actions now, Chase!"
"Right now, I am above you!"
With that, battle intent blazed deep in Nalegray's sharp eyes. He crouched slightly, gathered power, then kicked off, shattering the ground beneath him as he charged straight at Chase.
Hum!
His clenched right fist burst into roaring flames.
"There it is! Inheriting Gray's stripping habit, and now Natsu's recklessness!"
As Lucy's unsurprised commentary rang out, Chase took a deep breath and unleashed his dark gold magical aura.
Rooting himself firmly, he sidestepped to easily evade Nalegray's flaming fist while simultaneously grabbing the man's other arm.
"No need to rush. Since this is an official challenge, we should—"
Chase's arms flexed. He spun Nalegray around three hundred and sixty degrees and hurled him toward the inland lake behind the guild. "—move to a stage where we can really cut loose!"
Whoosh!
A streak of pink light shot out from the card, chasing after Nalegray and appearing before him in the blink of an eye.
"Nice to meet you, Nalegray!"
Dark Magician Girl smiled and waved, but her pink staff was raised without mercy. "Super Magic Wave! "
Nalegray's arc was interrupted by a heavy blow to the head, sending him plummeting toward the lake below.
Kersplash!
The calm lake surface shattered like a giant mirror, erupting in a towering pillar of water.
Pulled by gravity, the pillar soon dissolved into countless droplets, raining back onto the lake.
"Yay! Perfect home run!"
Dark Magician Girl hovered in midair, playfully flashing a peace sign toward the shore.
Macao, Wakaba, and the other older perverts crowded around, hearts in their eyes, crying out about how cute she was.
And in that instant, the now-calm lake surface grew wreathed in cold air.
Centered on Nalegray's point of impact, ice spread visibly in all directions, freezing the entire lake solid in moments!
"That hurt, you bastard!"
Deep within the cold air, Nalegray walked out slowly, reached up, and pressed the lump on his head back down. His condition didn't seem significantly impaired.
Standing on the shore, Chase's eyes narrowed.
Dark Magician Girl's attack hadn't been weak, even if she wasn't going all out.
Under normal circumstances, either Natsu or Gray would have taken damage—Natsu, with his poor internal-combat record, might have even gone down outright.
But now, Nalegray was clearly performing much better!
On the frozen lake, Nalegray shook his head and brought his hands together at his waist.
That was Gray's magic starting stance.
"Ice-Make: Ice Geyser! "
A light blue magic circle lit up. Nalegray slammed his hands onto the ice, and a massive ice pillar shot upward, aimed directly at Dark Magician Girl, who was still striking a pose midair.
A cold wind swept by. Caught off guard, Dark Magician Girl was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.
Crack, crack, crack.
But the ice pillar held for less than two seconds before cracks began spreading across its surface.
From deep within, a pink light grew brighter and brighter until it burst the pillar apart from the middle, sending glittering ice crystals flying through the air.
"Idiot! That's Gray's move, right? I was on guard for it!" Dark Magician Girl waved her staff triumphantly.
She'd put up a magic barrier the moment the Ice Geyser hit.
"Heh heh." Nalegray grinned.
The next second, the ice shards drifting in the air suddenly glowed crimson, like miniature grenades with their pins pulled.
"How about this one?"
Nalegray clenched his right fist. "Ice-Flame Dragon's Frostfire Bullets! "
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The ice shards, their fire energy fully charged, detonated. Explosions rang out one after another, shaking the very sky.
Flames and smoke mingled, spreading rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they covered half the heavens!
***
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