"They're really going all out up there, huh? Igneel... and Raizel too."
Natsu did not even need to look back to feel the clash of the six dragons high above.
Mard Geer glanced upward briefly, then said indifferently, "How long do they intend to keep fighting?"
Natsu was seriously irritated by the way Mard Geer Tartaros acted as though none of this had anything to do with him.
And honestly, the two of them had a terrible impression of each other.
Mard Geer was just as displeased by how carried away Natsu had become.
As Natsu charged forward, Mard Geer moved two fingers through the air. A sphere of white light exploded between them.
"The enemies I, Mard Geer, consider a nuisance are the dragons. Not you."
Wrapped in flames, Natsu burst straight out of the white light.
Fire Dragon's Claw!
But Mard Geer, in his Etherious Form, caught the kick casually with one hand.
A white sphere of light appeared in his hand and slammed downward, smashing Natsu straight into a deep pit in the ground.
Mard Geer's killing move followed immediately.
Dozens of thick thorns erupted inside the pit, attacking Natsu from every direction.
Natsu wanted to dodge, but the pit left him almost no room to move.
Just as the thorns were about to strike Natsu, who had raised his arms to guard his head, they suddenly shattered before his stunned eyes.
Ultear held a glowing crystal ball in one hand.
Mard Geer's thorns had all been broken down by her Arc of Time.
"Thanks, Ultear!"
After landing safely, Natsu charged forward again.
Erza and Kagura were both still injured, so they did not move for the moment.
Ultear and Mira decided to support Natsu.
"Buy me some time," Mira said.
After taking on Satan Soul: Sitri, she immediately activated the Curse she had just taken from Kyouka—Enhancement.
From the moment the battle began, every second could strengthen her body further.
Natsu focused on close combat, while Ultear supported him with Arc of Time.
Natsu's straight punch was avoided by Mard Geer with a casual step backward, as if he were strolling through a garden.
But the moment Mard Geer stepped back, a loop of grass suddenly appeared around his heel, catching him off guard. His body tilted backward, out of control.
Natsu seized the opening.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
The kick landed squarely on Mard Geer's chin.
Mira closed in as well, her metallic claws aiming straight for Mard Geer's face.
Forced backward, Mard Geer suddenly found dozens of crystal spheres appearing all around him, each one on the verge of exploding.
"Arc of Time — Radiance of All Gods!"
Natsu and Mira accelerated, forcibly charging into the explosion.
From left and right, they landed whip kicks against Mard Geer's chest and abdomen.
Mard Geer's body flew backward, smashing through several ruined castle walls.
Yet the Etherious Mard Geer slowly walked out from the dust completely unharmed.
"You pests... flying around inside my castle as you please... have forced me, Mard Geer, to remember an emotion I sealed away long ago."
"Rage."
Mard Geer stared coldly at Natsu, Ultear, and Mira.
Ultear and Mira frowned slightly and prepared themselves.
The Underworld King was much stronger than they had imagined.
Natsu, however, bared his teeth in a grin.
"Congrats. You finally caught up to humans."
...
Acnologia fired a Black Dragon's Roar at Igneel.
Igneel flapped his wings and dodged it, and in the far distance, the night suddenly flashed as bright as day.
Acnologia looked at Igneel and spoke.
"I didn't think there were still dragons alive. How irritating."
Igneel answered as well.
"Oh? You finally decided to speak, Acnologia."
"I have deemed you my enemy. Therefore, I will slay the dragon."
"I've waited a long time for this moment, Acnologia."
Four hundred years ago, Acnologia had brought unimaginable disaster upon the dragons.
As one of the Dragon Kings, Igneel could not possibly ignore that.
Four hundred years ago, they had not had the conditions necessary to kill Acnologia.
Igneel and the other four dragons had come here precisely for that purpose.
"There is only one thing I will carry out—destroying every last dragon!"
Raizel swung his left arm downward, and the Grey Sword extended.
He accelerated into the sky, dodging Acnologia's roar before arriving beside Igneel.
After speaking, Acnologia roared and charged at Igneel.
Both sides were truly heated now, flying higher and higher into the sky.
"I won't let you escape," Acnologia said, following tightly behind Igneel.
"I'm not planning to run. And I won't let you run either. Up here, we can fight freely!"
Biting.
Clawing.
Tearing with their talons.
The battle of the six dragons was incredibly primal, and the scene was violently intense.
Yet Acnologia handled it all with frightening composure.
In reality, the only ones who could truly injure Acnologia were Igneel, and Raizel with the Grey Sword, who could leave sword wounds across the Black Dragon's body.
But for now, that was all.
Acnologia's scales had been bathed in the blood of countless dragons. His defense was simply too terrifying.
...
Mard Geer sat on his throne, one hand resting on the armrest.
A nauseating wave of Curse Power spread from him, causing both Ultear and Mira to frown.
Hundreds of thorns burst from the ground in an instant, surrounding the three of them like a thorn garden.
Natsu, his body wrapped in flames, slipped out through the gaps between the thorns.
Ultear pressed her right fist into her left palm.
The surrounding thorns were immediately covered in a layer of ice.
A chilling surge of Ice-Make Magic lifted her hair.
"Ice-Make: White Rose Garden!"
White roses bloomed instantly, covering all the thorns, binding them, and then—
crushing them.
Natsu kicked off the White Rose Garden and used it as a foothold, his entire body blazing with flames.
Combining Fire Dragon's Sword Horn and Fire Dragon's Roar, he launched Mard Geer, throne and all, into the air.
While flying upward, Natsu shouted,
"Ultear! Mira!"
"Radiance of All Gods!"
"Soul Extinction!"
One white and one black shockwave merged together, forming a terrifying blast that surged toward Mard Geer in midair.
But Mard Geer remained completely calm.
He brought his palms together, forming a small blue-glowing sphere between them.
Ultear and Mira's attacks were absorbed with ease.
But the three of them were not finished.
In the air, Natsu struck the back of Mard Geer's head with Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer.
After taking the attack head-on, Mard Geer merely let out a cold laugh.
He looked at Natsu with disdain, then used his White Light Curse to knock him away.
His throne landed steadily on the ground.
Mard Geer sat back down, resting his chin on one hand and crossing his legs once more.
"He absorbed it..." Mira's tightly furrowed brows did not relax.
"This is bad. Our Magic doesn't seem to have much effect on him," Ultear said, a trace of helplessness appearing between her brows.
This was the first time Ultear had ever seen someone take Natsu's Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer head-on and come out completely fine.
She had to admit it.
The Underworld King's defense in his Etherious Form was absurd!
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