The moment Sting heard Natsu declare that he would take on the Twin Dragons alone, his face turned red on the spot, like a crab boiled alive.
He charged forward in fury, roaring as he threw a punch.
"Don't look down on us! Release your Dragon Force!"
Flames danced at Natsu's fingertips.
The normally violent fire became flowing threads in his hands, precisely wrapping themselves around Sting.
Sting's dazzling white light was swallowed by crimson flames, and a flaming fist landed squarely on his face.
Then, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, Natsu abruptly turned and unleashed a Roar straight at the Shadow Dragon trying to ambush him.
The Twin Dragons' relentless assault was interrupted by Natsu's flames, which he controlled as naturally as his own limbs. Using their increasingly disordered attacks as footholds, he instead suppressed both of them in return.
The situation on the field changed once again.
Gajeel stood aside with his arms folded, while Natsu alone suppressed the Twin Dragons, who had seemed so heroic only moments earlier.
Makarov nodded in satisfaction and Ankh could not help sighing in admiration. "Natsu's gotten stronger again. Looks like we'll have to make the standard for S-Class Mages in the guild even stricter from now on."
"Everyone's growing quickly, after all…"
Compared to Fairy Tail's cheerful atmosphere, Sabertooth's side was silent and heavy, like they had just lost a horse.
Rufus and Orga's expressions were extremely ugly.
The two little Dragon Slayer cats were so tense they could barely breathe.
"What a trash!"
In the audience, Sabertooth's master, Jiemma, had hatred in his eyes as he cursed the Twin Dragons furiously in his heart.
...
The more Natsu fought, the more excited he became, and his condition grew better and better.
His punches, kicks, turns, and movements all became faster.
The Twin Dragons, meanwhile, had focused too much on developing their Drive modes and Dragon Force.
Because of that, they had neglected their own fundamentals, and once Natsu truly caught fire, he beat them down until they could barely raise their heads.
At last, Sting and Rogue looked at one another and made their final decision.
At the very least…
At the very least, they wanted to defeat one person.
Even if all they could do was force him to reveal his Dragon Force.
Their Magic Power began to merge.
The light sphere gathering in Sting's hand and the dark sphere gathering in Rogue's gradually fused together and expanded, forming a massive magical field behind them.
This was why they were called the "Twin Dragons."
Their strongest combined technique!
A Unison Raid between Dragon Slayers!
As Lost Magic, Dragon Slayer Magic was already difficult enough.
One could imagine how challenging it was to create a fusion technique from it.
Natsu frowned, then took his stance, his expression finally turning serious.
The Twin Dragons' sphere of light and darkness fully merged and compressed itself continuously into a tiny point of light.
Then Sting and Rogue glared at Natsu and, with the last of their strength, released their Magic Power forward with a roar.
"Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang!"
From that tiny point of light burst a torrent of Magic Power where black and white intertwined, surging unstoppably toward Natsu's face.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
Flames blazed across Natsu's entire body.
Facing the powerful Dragon Slayer Unison Raid, he did not choose to dodge.
Instead, he intended to crush it head-on!
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
A sharp storm of fire erupted around Natsu.
It drove back the black-and-white torrent rushing toward him like a raging river, tearing through the attack mercilessly like a fire dragon shredding its prey.
Sting stared in despair as his all-out attack was forced back at him.
His heart sank completely.
'Sorry, Lector… I really can't beat him…'
Rogue's face was illuminated by the red light closing in before him.
He gave a bitter, defeated smile, his eyes turning toward Gajeel, who still had not made a move behind Natsu.
'If Gajeel is strong enough to stand on equal footing with Natsu, then all our provocations until now… just how stupid are we?'
Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang was beaten back by Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade.
Sting and Rogue, whose proud spirits had been completely shattered, were swallowed by the Dragon Slayer Secret Art.
By the time the smoke and dust cleared, both of them were lying face-down on the ground, unconscious.
The arena was dead silent as everyone stared at the scene in shock.
Only when the gong rang did they clearly realize one thing.
Sabertooth's Twin Dragons had lost!
What Chapati and all the spectators had never expected was that the showdown they had anticipated between two powerful sides would end up so one-sided.
"The Twin Dragons were beaten so badly…"
"So in the end… are the veteran guilds still stronger?"
"How embarrassing!"
Doubts and whispers rose one after another from the stands.
In that instant, everyone's expectations for Sabertooth dropped to their lowest point.
In the hearts of every spectator who had watched the Grand Magic Games, even if Sabertooth somehow won in the end, they would probably no longer be able to prove themselves the strongest guild.
Their strongest mage, Minerva, had been defeated in an instant.
The nationally famous Twin Dragons had been crushed by just one member of another "Twin Dragons" pair, proving that Natsu and Gajeel had simply disdained fighting as partners, not that they were incapable of producing results like the Twin Dragons.
More than half of Sabertooth's strongest five had been suppressed in one blow or another.
Sabertooth's decline was now impossible to reverse.
On Sabertooth's platform, Rufus looked at the Twin Dragons lying face-down and motionless on the ground, and cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
"To think they were suppressed to this degree…" Orga murmured with a dark expression.
The two cats stood on the wall, their faces filled with helplessness and confusion.
Tears poured out uncontrollably.
Lector, the red cat who had been so arrogant only a few days ago, was now crying so hard he barely looked like a cat anymore, sobbing Sting's name.
Frosch's tail drooped low, and he looked at Rogue on the field with a face full of heartbreak and distress.
In the audience, Jiemma's violent Magic Power destroyed a large section of the stands, causing quite a commotion among the spectators.
At the same time, more and more spectators recognized Jiemma's identity and began quietly gossiping with the people around them.
That only made Jiemma feel even more humiliated!
He stared at the two people lying on the field, unable to get back up, and at his foolish daughter, who had given her opponent an opening and nearly been beaten to death.
The sinister rage in his heart burned even hotter.
'Get out!'
'All of you pieces of garbage can get out of Sabertooth!'
"The fourth day's battles have all concluded! Congratulations to Fairy Tail for firmly holding the throne of first place!"
"Looking back over these four days of battles, they have not suffered a single defeat!"
Chapati excitedly explained the rankings for the fourth day.
Clearly, after watching Fairy Tail fight over the past few days, this uncle had also become one of their fans.
"All right, everyone! Tomorrow will be a rest day, so please enjoy the festival in the city to your heart's content! After one day of adjustment, we will witness the final battle on the sixth day of the festival—the team battle where every member participates! Please look forward to it!"
"It's finally over…"
Ankh could not help stretching lazily.
Looking at Future Lucy, whose mood had become much better, he smiled and asked, "How about it? Feeling a bit better now?"
Future Lucy nodded, smiling through the tears in her eyes.
"When I'm with everyone, that future feels like it couldn't possibly happen."
"That's just how our guild is. No matter what situation we face, we can still make noise, mess around, and laugh."
"There's something else to be happy about too."
At that moment, Makarov held up a ticket, beaming with joy.
"A benefit from the tournament organizers. Contestants can go for free to one of the kingdom's finest summer resorts, located right here in the capital—Ryuzetsu Land~"
"Ryuzetsu?!"
"A swimming pool?"
"Swimsuits!"
"Hell yeah!"
As though they possessed endless energy, the members of Fairy Tail erupted into cheers and chaos all over again.
The victory they had been chasing all this time seemed to exist for the sake of simple moments like this.
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