Amidst the burning black flames, a man with disheveled blonde hair and ring-shaped crimson eyes stepped forward heavily, his face full of arrogance and insolence.
"Thank goodness! It's Lord Zancrow! We're saved!"
"Be careful, Lord Zancrow! That fire-user over there is too strong!"
"And that strange woman with the twin blades. She looks easy to bully, but she's as terrifying as a monster!"
Recognizing the newcomer, the Grimoire Heart mages' faces lit up with joy as they cheered loudly.
However, before they could even revel in the relief of being saved, a sudden change occurred in the next instant.
Pitch-black flames appeared without warning, transforming into a sea of fire that reaped lives, mercilessly engulfing them all.
Screams rose and fell one after another.
"Strong? Grimoire Heart is the strongest! No guild is stronger than ours!" Zancrow spread his arms wide and laughed maniacally, looking at the now-empty, scorched earth. "Grimoire Heart has no need for useless weaklings! Ahahaha!!"
"You... you bastard! You just killed your own comrades?!" Natsu's eyes widened in disbelief.
The impact of the cruel scene unfolding before his eyes was so great that he even overlooked the man's unusual black flames.
Clearly, when Chase had previously explained the information about Grimoire Heart, this guy hadn't listened to a single word.
Lucy, who had landed steadily from Natsu's arms, also turned pale from the man's brutality and ruthlessness.
"Zancrow. One of the Seven Kin of Grimoire Heart. A Fire God Slayer who can use Lost Magic," Happy said, appearing comparatively much calmer. "This is how dark guilds operate..."
"You're Natsu Dragneel, aren't you?" Zancrow glanced at Natsu, whose body was already emitting flames, and said coldly, "You've made quite a name for yourself even within our Balam Alliance—the Magic Flute Lullaby, the demon Deliora, the R-System, and even Nirvana."
"Attacking Lucy, slaughtering your own comrades—villains like you don't deserve to have my autograph!"
Natsu roared and charged forward, throwing a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist straight at Zancrow's face.
"Is he misunderstanding something?" Lucy quietly stepped back to Happy's side.
Mentioning autographs, she inexplicably recalled her first encounter with Natsu and Happy, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
"Autograph? Who would want something so boring from you?!"
Zancrow didn't dodge. He swung his fist, wrapped in black flames, in return.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"God of Flame's Heavy Strike!"
Crimson fire and black flames clashed violently in midair. The scattered two-colored fire caused the surrounding temperature to rise rapidly.
BAM!
Natsu soon lost in the pure flame competition. He was pushed back several meters by Zancrow and sent crashing heavily into the castle wall.
In an instant, smoke and dust rose everywhere.
"How... how is this possible?! Damn! It hurts so much!!" Natsu flipped up from the pile of rubble, shook his right fist, which was slightly smoking, and his face was filled with shock.
"It hurts?" Lucy and Happy were both drenched in cold sweat.
Although they had obtained information about this man in advance, for Natsu, a Fire Dragon Slayer, to be at a disadvantage in a contest of flames?!
"Haha! Isn't this only natural?" Zancrow, having succeeded with his first strike, laughed arrogantly. "No matter how strong a dragon's flames are, they can never surpass the flames of a god!"
"God's flames? Did you learn them from a god?!"
Natsu clenched his fiery fist again and charged at Zancrow, engaging in close-quarters combat.
Crimson fire and black flames continuously erupted around the two, accompanied by a string of trash talk.
"If Master Hades is a god, then this is ancient Lost Magic learned from a god!"
"So what? He's still a human in the end. Igneel is a real, genuine dragon!"
"Dragon? You mean those flying lizards? They're nothing special either."
"Igneel is not a lizard! Fire Dragon's Talon!! "
BOOM!!
Natsu seized the opportunity to leap into the air, kicking his flame-covered leg at Zancrow in an overhead hook.
But the elemental advantage between their magics was simply too strong. This powerful kick couldn't budge Zancrow at all. He merely raised his arm to block and burst forth with his own magic power, forcing Natsu to use the momentum to retreat, avoiding the gushing black flames.
Through their exchanges, Natsu had a profound understanding of how terrifying this flame was: not only did it hurt like hell when it hit him, but he also couldn't eat it like ordinary flames!
If that's the case... Natsu's gaze sharpened. He redirected his magic power toward his arms, condensing deeper, more intense dragon flames. "Merge the flames of my left hand with the flames of my right hand... Fire Dragon's— "
"About to use a slightly stronger move?" Zancrow taunted, then took a stance in the same posture, black flames swirling around his palms. "From the western end to the eastern end, burn everything to ash... God of Flame's— "
"—Blazing Flame!!!"
"—Howl!!!"
The fiery flames of dragon and god clashed violently once again. But the result remained the same.
Even with Natsu straining with all his might, he was still violently pushed back by Zancrow, who barely looked fazed, crashing through several walls in a row!
"Don't you get it yet? The gap between the magic of a god and a dragon is just too vast! Ahahaha!"
Zancrow stood in place, laughing heartily, showing no intention of pressing his advantage.
"Still, your flames are quite tasty," he said pervertedly, extending his long tongue to lick the corner of his mouth.
As if to boast that the magic taught to him by Master Hades was the strongest, during their clash, he had openly eaten most of the energy of Natsu's Blazing Flame right in front of him.
"Natsu, let me handle this guy!" Lucy couldn't bear to watch any longer.
She switched to her Aquarius Celestial Spirit Dress, which could counter flames, and pulled the whip Star's Great River from her waist, stepping in front of Natsu to take over this inherently uneven battle.
In the past, faced with an opponent that even Natsu couldn't handle, she probably wouldn't have had the courage to confront them head-on.
But now, Lucy was grateful that she had grown a little stronger during her time following Chase-nii, strong enough to step up when it mattered.
"Step aside, Lucy. I have to be the one to defeat this bastard!" Despite looking quite battered, Natsu raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and stubbornly stepped forward, walking slowly to stand in front of Lucy on his burning flames.
"Hey, Natsu, I think we should let Lucy handle this situation," Happy advised, his tone laced with concern.
"Are you kidding?! If that idiot ice cube and that stupid hunk of iron find out I needed Lucy to protect me, I'll never be able to hold my head up in the guild again!"
"...So that's the kind of boring thing you're worried about?!" Lucy shouted in anger.
She had barely mustered the courage to stand here!
"You're really scary sometimes, but whether it was the old Lucy or the current Lucy, you've always felt really safe to be around..."
Natsu's unexpected words made the fuming Lucy suddenly shy. "What's with that... saying something strange like that all of a sudden..."
BOOM!!
Just then, black flames erupted like a volcano, spewing out an intensely hot wave of air.
"Discussing this so casually right in front of me..." Having been forcibly fed dog food, Zancrow completely lost his composure. Now raging uncontrollably, he exploded with magic power, condensing a black flame scythe in his palm. "God of Flame's Demon Might!!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The black flame scythe rapidly expanded with Zancrow's powerful swing. Everything in its path—whether solid walls or load-bearing stone pillars—was cleanly sliced in half, revealing extremely smooth cut surfaces.
The momentum was truly terrifying!
Zancrow's sudden attack was so fast that Lucy had barely snapped out of her shy state when the black flame scythe, radiating an aura of destruction, was already beside her, sealing off all avenues of escape!
At the critical moment, a strong arm, covered in dragon scales, reached out and precisely pinched the incoming black flame blade, preventing it from advancing another inch.
"This guy's God Slayer Magic is indeed very powerful, but..." Natsu's eyes flickered with crimson light. A raging aura surged from him as if ready to destroy everything around him. "...compared to that monster Chase, he's not scary at all!"
With that, his five fingers slightly curled and lightly squeezed. The black flame scythe, which had an absolute elemental advantage, was instantly burned to nothing by the surging crimson dragon flames and exploded on the spot!
"How... how is this possible?! My divine flames... were devoured and destroyed?!" Zancrow's face drained of color.
"Like I said... don't underestimate the power of a Great Dragon, you bastard!!"
Natsu stepped forward heavily. Blazing flames burned fiercely, coalescing behind him into a phantom dragon shadow that looked like a cross between Igneel and Gandora, its momentum reaching the heavens.
"Destruction Flame Dragon Mode... ENGAGE!"
***
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