Watching Raizel and Makarov leisurely sitting cross-legged in the sand, happily eating grilled skewers while viewing the hovering Lacrima screen, Lucy couldn't hold back her urge to complain.
"We are out here fighting for our lives to pass an exam, and you guys are having a beach barbecue?!" Lucy yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"Join us," Raizel offered casually, holding out a fresh skewer of meat.
"Don't mind if I do!" Lucy promptly found a comfortable spot on a log and sat down to eat.
"Natsu and Gildarts... Natsu's luck is really terrible," Lucy couldn't help but remark upon seeing who Natsu's opponent was.
Since she was participating as a partner, she had prepared in advance.
Kagura had explicitly mentioned to her that Gildarts was the absolute most troublesome opponent to face in the entire guild.
"He chose that route himself," Makarov chuckled, taking a bite of his food.
"Or rather, they mutually selected each other," Raizel and Cana chimed in, almost perfectly in sync.
Lucy and Kagura looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Natsu was aiming straight for Gildarts from the very start. And Gildarts purposely left a torn corner of his cloak at the tunnel entrance, terrified that Natsu wouldn't be able to catch his scent," Cana explained with a smirk.
Raizel hadn't actually known about the cloak detail either, Cana was the one who had just told him.
...
Meanwhile, inside the cavern—
"Hey, Happy, what are you doing?" Natsu asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"I'm preparing to head back to the boat!" Happy cried, struggling to drag Natsu's heavy luggage backward toward the exit.
"There is no need for that! I do not care if my opponent is Gildarts or anyone else—I will beat him up good! I will make him yell, 'It hurts, it hurts!'" Natsu grinned, punching his palms together.
"It hurts..." Gildarts groaned lazily, playing along perfectly without moving an inch.
"That was way too fast! And I haven't even thrown a punch yet!" Natsu couldn't resist retorting.
"Here I come, Gildarts!"
Flames violently ignited around Natsu's fists, and his white scaled scarf billowed wildly from the massive surge of magical power.
"I will show you exactly how much stronger I have become over these past three years!"
"Hold on a second." Gildarts raised a large hand to signal a pause. "Calm down first, Natsu. I am not mentally prepared for this yet."
Natsu paid absolutely no attention to Gildarts' words, charging forward with a fierce battle cry.
"Do not rush in recklessly, Natsu! Gildarts will crush you to—!" Happy screamed.
Natsu's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist met Gildarts' open palm.
BOOM—!
Instantly, scorching flames exploded outward, completely filling the entire cavern.
As the blinding blaze gradually subsided, Gildarts stood firmly in place, not having retreated a single inch.
Meanwhile, Natsu remained completely frozen in his punching stance against the older man's hand.
Boom!
Suddenly, a terrifying white shockwave erupted directly from Gildarts' palm.
"Crash..." Gildarts murmured. "See, I told you—I really do not like going easy on people."
As the dust slowly cleared, a massive, shattered crater appeared in the rocky floor right in front of Gildarts.
But Natsu was nowhere to be seen.
"Natsu... He has been shattered to pieces..." Happy wept, anime tears streaming down his furry face.
"Like hell I am!" Natsu roared.
He suddenly descended from the ceiling, delivering a brutal Fire Dragon's Iron Fist straight down from overhead.
A perfectly circular pit formed neatly beneath Gildarts' boots as the earth caved in.
"He shattered the ground with his magic to safely cushion the impact, huh? That brings back memories..." Raizel muttered at the beach.
He recalled when he had fought Gildarts in the past—the crash mage had done the exact same tactical maneuver back then.
"It is not over yet!" Natsu pressed on relentlessly in the cave, his fists wreathed in roaring flames as he continued his rapid assault.
Natsu was extremely aggressive, but unfortunately, Gildarts could easily defend against the barrage with just one hand, effortlessly seizing Natsu's wide openings to counterattack.
After throwing just over a dozen punches, Natsu had already been hit solidly three times by Gildarts.
"Ouch... that looks so painful..." Lucy winced sympathetically at the screen as she watched Natsu get casually beaten up.
Gildarts' final chop landed squarely on top of Natsu's head, sending the boy face-first into the stone ground and creating yet another large crater.
"He got flattened!!!" Happy shrieked, pressing his paws against his pale cheeks in terror.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu yelled.
He pushed off the ground with both hands, spinning like a fiery windmill as he kicked at Gildarts with flame-covered feet.
But Gildarts swiftly caught his leg mid-air and began effortlessly swinging the boy around with one hand.
Natsu barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the wall by digging his bare hands deep into the rocky floor, halting his momentum.
Yet, despite the beating, a wide, thrilled smile spread across his bruised face.
"Despite looking so battered, Natsu is actually smiling..." Kagura noted softly.
"That is our Natsu," Raizel and the others nodded approvingly.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu stabilized himself mid-air and launched a massive, swirling vortex of fire directly at the older mage.
A fond smile appeared on Gildarts' stubbled face. "You have indeed grown much stronger, Natsu... Child of the Dragon."
Facing the inferno rushing toward him, Gildarts casually extended a single hand and completely disintegrated the fiery roar using his Crash Magic.
The flames shattered into tiny, harmless glowing cubes.
"Huh?" Natsu stared blankly at the glowing, net-like magical pattern that was suddenly rushing right at him.
Flash!
Natsu suddenly vanished completely from his spot.
"Oh no..." Makarov gasped.
"Natsu..." Happy's tail drooped unconsciously, his eyes wide with horror.
"Oops. I unconsciously used a bit too much force..." Even Gildarts was startled, looking at his hand.
"How could this happen?! This is too much... No matter what, this is going way too far!" Happy trembled, his voice choked with genuine tears.
"Natsu, he... he's gone!"
"How could this be?" Lucy covered her mouth back at the beach, unable to believe her eyes.
"No, he shouldn't be dead. This isn't a lethal spell," Gildarts frowned.
Though he had genuinely been frightened for a split second the moment Natsu disappeared, he quickly realized what had actually happened.
Natsu had simply been blown up to the cave's high ceiling by the spell's powerful wind...
"Look up," Gildarts chuckled.
Following Gildarts' pointing finger, Happy looked up and saw countless, tiny, chibi-sized Natsus falling vertically from the ceiling like a weird rainstorm.
"The specific spell I just used safely disintegrates the target into smaller versions of themselves," Gildarts explained.
"So many Natsus came out!!!" Happy's eyes nearly popped completely out of his head.
Countless small, squeaky Natsus began falling to the ground, some of them even piling up in a heap right around Happy's feet.
"They will safely return to normal after a little while, but unfortunately, it seems this is the end of the line. Natsu, you failed to pass my—"
"Wait a moment! I haven't given up yet!"
"That's right, that's right!"
"I'm still fighting!"
The countless tiny Natsus all spoke in perfect, squeaky unison.
Within seconds, the dark cave became as incredibly noisy as a bustling marketplace.
One Natsu was loud enough to perform a dramatic monologue; two could easily bicker all day; three could put on a full theatrical play... but a whole army of Natsus?
It was a hopeless, chaotic nightmare that would just destroy everything in its path.
"Do not look down on me just because I am small!"
"I'm all fired up! I am Natsu!"
"No, I am Natsu!"
"I've got a great idea!"
"This is what you call making a fortune from misfortune! With so many of me, I can definitely defeat Gildarts!"
"Hahaha! You miscalculated, Gildarts! I am definitely winning this fight!"
The massive Natsu army began aggressively marching toward Gildarts on their short, stubby little legs, swinging their tiny, flaming fists.
"Hahaha! This is the very first time I have ever encountered someone who actually tried to challenge me in this state!" Gildarts couldn't help but laugh out loud, his booming voice echoing in the cavern.
Looking at the swarm of tiny Natsus, Gildarts found himself fondly reminiscing about Natsu's childhood days, back when they had first met.
Every single time Gildarts returned to the guild after completing a long mission, Natsu would always emerge from some bizarre, hidden corner to launch a fiery surprise attack on him.
From the high rooftop, from the second-floor railing—wherever there was a shadow, there was Natsu, waiting to strike.
Happy was still just a very small kitten back then.
Sometimes, even when Gildarts was just trying to peacefully drink a beer, Natsu would come flying in to challenge him...
And every single time, without fail, Natsu would be sent flying into a wall with a single, gentle punch from the older mage.