Natsu and Zancrow, both with roaring flames wrapped tightly around their hands, were engaged in brutal close combat.
"Your close combat are decent, but your flames are severely lacking! Is this all the power a Dragon Slayer has? Fight me seriously!" Zancrow cackled, blocking a fiery hook.
Natsu's martial arts had improved significantly over his years of training.
Natsu's fists could consistently hit Zancrow, in terms of pure hand-to-hand combat, Natsu was clearly superior to the dark mage.
The problem was that the flames of Dragon Slayer Magic seemed to have absolutely no effect on Zancrow's body.
"Shut up! I was just warming up! Now I'm going all out!" Natsu roared, kicking Zancrow back.
"Natsu's attacks really are completely ineffective... Is it because of his God Slayer Magic?" Carla asked from the sidelines, looking very worried.
"Don't worry, Carla! Natsu is definitely not just being stubborn!" Happy insisted, firmly believing his partner could win.
"Are there really this many terrifying people here in Earthland?" Panther Lily muttered, his arms crossed.
In Lily's view, Natsu was already very strong, but he didn't expect there to be so many monsters in Earthland who could easily shrug off Natsu's ultimate attacks.
"Ah, right! I almost forgot to officially introduce myself!" Zancrow laughed, wiping soot from his cheek.
"I am Zancrow! One of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, and a God Slayer Mage!"
"I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail! A Dragon Slayer Mage!" Natsu yelled back, cracking his knuckles.
"Hahaha! I know! I've heard all about you!" Zancrow smirked. "Your violent exploits are already quite famous within the Balam Alliance."
"Nani?" Natsu blinked, genuinely surprised he was that famous among dark guilds.
"You not only destroyed the Lullaby demon, fought the fire element of Phantom Lord, and battled the Iron Dragon, but you were even heavily involved in the Tower of Heaven and Nirvana incidents, causing the Alliance a lot of trouble," Zancrow listed off.
"But really... defeating such pathetic weaklings actually made you so proud?"
"What did you say? Say that again if you dare!" Natsu growled, his eyes narrowing.
"I said, don't get too cocky, Dragon Slayer," Zancrow sneered.
Natsu clenched his fists, glaring fiercely at Zancrow. "What is this nonsense about a God Slayer Mage? Did an actual god come down and teach you all this?"
"If you consider our Master Hades to be a god, then yes. I inherited this glorious Lost Magic directly from a god."
"What?! So it was just a human who taught you after all..." Natsu scoffed in disappointment. "A real dragon taught me my magic! Dragon Slayer Magic!"
The orange flames on Natsu's body blazed fiercely.
The ambient temperature in the clearing rose higher and higher, the bright color of his flames gradually deepening with his rage.
"You mean that winged thing? A giant lizard that can fly in the sky? I guess that just makes your teacher a relative of this little guy here," Zancrow mocked.
He pointed to a small, terrified lizard he was casually holding by the tail in his hand.
"Igneel is no lizard!" Natsu roared. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
"Flame God's Explosive Flame!" Zancrow countered instantly.
Massive spheres of black flames and orange flames violently collided in mid-air, the suffocating heat of the fire continuously escalating.
Slowly, Natsu began to be forced back uncontrollably by the sheer density of the black fire.
Eventually, he was sent flying backward, completely overpowered by the force of Zancrow's flames.
"You bastard! Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu recovered mid-air.
His abdomen swelled, and a massive, thick pillar of orange fire erupted from his mouth.
Zancrow didn't even try to dodge or avoid the incoming roar.
Instead, he just stood there, casually explaining things to Natsu as the flames hit him.
"Do you know that it was the gods who originally bestowed upon humanity the precious wisdom of fire? Neither humans nor dragons gave birth to flames—it was the gods!"
Whether this mythological claim was actually true or not remained unknown.
The Fire Dragon's Roar struck its target completely, but Natsu's joy was incredibly short-lived.
The orange flames began diminishing at an astonishing rate.
Soon, the sight of Zancrow's figure actively devouring the fire made Natsu's eyes widen involuntarily.
"How is this possible...? He can actually eat Natsu's flames..." Happy watched in absolute disbelief from the sidelines.
Having known Natsu for so many years, Happy had only ever seen Natsu consume others' flames.
This was the very first time he had ever witnessed Natsu's flames being eaten by someone else—and the crucial, terrifying point was that Natsu couldn't consume the black flames in return.
"This flame tastes quite good," Zancrow remarked, playfully patting his stomach. "Not only is it violent, but it's also an eternally burning flame. However, even if you possess so-called dragon-slaying abilities, you completely lack the power to kill gods."
"This is the ultimate magic possessed by Grimoire Heart—Flame God's Bellow!" Zancrow unleashed a massive, roaring tornado of black fire from his mouth, charging straight toward Natsu.
Natsu was violently blown clean off the edge of the cliff by the dark roar.
Happy was caught in the residual shockwaves, tumbling through the air, though fortunately, he could fly to safety.
"The mighty Dragon Slayer has fallen! Hahaha!" Zancrow stood at the very edge of the rocky cliff, looking down into the forest below with arrogant laughter.
...
"This pisses me off! That bastard!" Natsu groaned, pulling himself out of the dirt at the bottom of the cliff.
"It has been a very long time since I've felt this way... fire actually being this scorching hot."
"By the way, where is this place, anyway?" Natsu muttered, rubbing his bruised head as he wandered aimlessly through the thick forest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of massive, earth-shaking explosions suddenly reached Natsu's ears.
He sniffed hard twice, trying to identify whose magical signatures were clashing.
Unfortunately, the scents in the air were far too mixed with smoke and ozone, and Natsu couldn't pinpoint it.
Following the deafening sound of the explosions, Natsu pushed through the brush and discovered Makarov and Laxus engaged in a brutal high-speed battle against a one-eyed man wearing a horned helmet and a long white beard.
And it appeared that Makarov and Laxus were actually struggling in the fight.
"Natsu! Don't come any closer! Get away from here!" Makarov yelled.
He had caught a brief glimpse of Natsu peeking through the trees during the battle.
It was far too dangerous for Natsu to be here.
If Precht targeted Natsu as a hostage, both he and Laxus would be at a massive tactical disadvantage trying to protect him.
Moreover, Makarov immediately noticed that Natsu was injured, and quite severely at that.
Suddenly, a massive pillar of black flame descended from the sky like a meteor, causing significant tremors as it struck the earth.
As the black flame gradually extinguished, Zancrow's psychotic figure appeared right beside Natsu.
"Hehehe! Battling against Master Hades, are you, Makarov?" Zancrow grinned cheekily at the giant Guild Master.
"Master Hades?! That old man with the horns?!" Natsu gasped.
"Zancrow. Well done," Precht praised his subordinate as both sides briefly paused their fight.
Makarov and Laxus quickly moved to Natsu's side to protect him.
It was then that Makarov noticed Natsu's clenched fists were trembling uncontrollably, his forehead completely drenched in cold sweat.
'Fear? Natsu is actually feeling... fear?' Makarov thought, his eyes widening.
"What's wrong, Dragon Slayer Mage? Why are you suddenly covered in cold sweat?" Zancrow taunted.
Natsu involuntarily recalled the suffocating fear and crushing pressure he had felt not long ago when facing Gildarts in the cavern.
Gritting his teeth tightly, Natsu looked down at his own hands, which were shaking entirely beyond his control.
"This is... fear..." Natsu whispered.
"Hahaha! Exactly! This is true fear!" Zancrow grew incredibly excited seeing the famously reckless Natsu in this broken state.
"When faced with someone unbeatable, people can only cower in fear, with no choice but to halt their steps and accept death!"
Makarov and Laxus simply watched Natsu quietly, offering absolutely no words of comfort.
They knew he had to overcome this himself.
"No. I admit I am indeed afraid," Natsu said softly.
Suddenly, brilliant orange flames erupted across Natsu's entire battered body, the ambient temperature of the clearing skyrocketing.
"But this isn't the kind of fear Gildarts spoke of!" Natsu roared, looking up with fierce, unyielding eyes.
"The reason I tremble like this is because I fear others will defeat those who harm Fairy Tail before I get the chance to do it myself! That is my fear!"
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