Chapter 295: Twin Dragons VS Twin Dragons
"Every year it's the same; no one has ever seen Kagura fight at full strength."
Yuka's body trembled slightly as he walked back through the corridors. He had gone all-out, utilizing every ounce of his anti-magic waves, yet he hadn't forced the Mermaid Heel mage to reveal her true power. That realization left him deeply frustrated, his pride bruised by the casual way she had dismissed his efforts.
"We'll finally see it in the finals," Lyon Vastia replied, his expression serious.
Lyon, too, had waited for Kagura to draw her famed blade, so he had held back a portion of his Ice-Make magic. He had been incredibly wary until the very end, preserving his energy—yet she never even unsheathed her sword.
"Little Kagura, are you all right?" Millianna asked anxiously as they returned to their guild's balcony.
"I'm fine," Kagura answered, her tone as composed and unreadable as ever. "That man named Lyon is very strong, and he didn't use his full strength either."
[The crowd's excitement hasn't dimmed in the slightest, and the next bout is already setting hearts racing!] Chapati Lola's voice boomed through the Domus Flau stadium, amplified by the massive lacrima screens. [Both guild crests now hover above the arena!]
The deafening roar of tens of thousands of spectators shook the very foundations of the grand colosseum.
[Seven years ago, the mightiest guild clashes with today's strongest—an epic grudge match!] the announcer screamed, whipping the audience into a state of absolute frenzy. [Fairy Tail's Natsu and Gajeel VS Sabertooth's Sting and Rogue!!]
The stadium erupted. The ground seemed to vibrate with the sheer volume of the cheers.
[And all four of them are Dragon Slayer Mages, each wielding the ancient, lost magic designed to fight Dragons!] Chapati Lola continued, practically breathless. [The moment of fierce battle is here at last!]
[Will victory go to the fairies or the tigers? The four dragons on this field have been fully unleashed!]
"I never imagined it would turn out like this!" Levy stared nervously at the four men standing in the center of the vast sand arena.
Dragon Slayer Mages were vanishingly rare, practitioners of a lost magic that defied the standard laws of Ethernano. Yet, against all odds, four of them now stood ready to clash in a two-on-two deathmatch.
"Natsu and the others will win, right?" Romeo swallowed hard, his small hands gripping the stone railing of the Fairy Tail balcony.
Mira smiled gently, resting a comforting hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Relax, they'll win. They've spent every single day chasing that man's back."
Her beautiful blue eyes drifted toward Ren, a profound sense of awe and affection swirling within them. "A goal close enough to see, yet distant enough to reach, lights a fiercer fire than wandering without one."
She knew it firsthand. Ren was her age, yet his power was an unfathomable abyss—he was undeniably the mightiest Mage in Ishgar. With a literal monster of the same generation standing beside you, even someone as proud as Laxus couldn't afford arrogance.
All you could do was desperately chase Ren's footsteps. For combat-obsessed maniacs like Natsu and Gajeel, constantly feeling the pressure of Ren's overwhelming magical presence drew out astonishing, explosive potential. Sparring with a god made fighting mere tigers look like child's play.
[A dreamlike duel between Dragon Slayer Mages has become reality!] Mato, the pumpkin-headed referee, skipped to the edge of the battlefield. [Let the match begin!]
"It will be an overwhelming victory. Behold the power of the strongest guild," Jiemma, the Master of Sabertooth, declared from his VIP balcony. His chin was lifted in absolute pride, his muscular arms crossed over his chest.
"Hmph! Go, brats! Show them the true strength of a Fairy Tail Mage!" Makarov yelled, his tiny body vibrating with intense fighting spirit.
Makarov utterly loathed Sabertooth. Their guild rules were tyrannical, treating their mages like disposable tools and expelling members over the slightest trifles. Furthermore, their malicious, underhanded tactics that had severely harmed Lucy earlier in the tournament had stoked Makarov's fury to a boiling point.
"The duel… begins!" Mato announced, striking the ceremonial gong.
"Here we go!" Natsu roared, a fiery grin splitting his face.
"Yeah!" Gajeel cracked his knuckles, his eyes gleaming with savage anticipation.
Sting and Rogue had barely twitched a muscle to assume their combat stances when Natsu and Gajeel completely vanished from their sight.
Boom!
The air shattered. A dual shockwave erupted in the dead center of the arena, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Natsu and Gajeel had struck simultaneously, their fists burying themselves deep into their opponents' guts.
The raw, unadulterated physical force sent both Sting and Rogue skidding backward violently, their boots digging deep trenches into the sand.
"What the—?!" Sting gasped, the breath knocked entirely from his lungs.
He didn't even have time to recover. Natsu chased after him with the speed of a falling meteor. The Fire Dragon Slayer's leg was wreathed in roaring, crimson flames as he unleashed a devastating upward kick, launching Sting high into the air.
Simultaneously, Gajeel materialized right before Rogue. With a cruel smirk, he punched the Shadow Dragon Slayer straight down into the dirt, cratering the ground, before following up with a brutal soccer kick that sent Rogue flying across the arena like a ragdoll.
"White Dragon's Roar!!"
Sting flipped mid-air, steadying his orientation. He inhaled deeply, drawing in the surrounding light, and blasted a concentrated, blinding white laser of holy energy straight at Natsu.
Natsu didn't even flinch. He simply twisted his torso casually, letting the destructive beam scorch the air mere inches from his shoulder, completely unfazed by the attack.
"Shadow Dragon's Slash!!"
On the other side of the battlefield, black, ethereal shadows aggressively coiled around Rogue's arm. He lunged forward, his arm sweeping in a wide, deadly arc to decapitate the Iron Dragon Slayer.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!!"
Gajeel's arm instantly transformed into a massive, jagged blade of dense steel. He raised it with brutal efficiency, easily blocking the shadowy strike. A shower of sparks rained down as iron clashed against dark magic.
"Hah!" Gajeel barked out a laugh.
With a fierce, full-body swing, he overpowered Rogue's momentum and hurled him through the air.
Smack!
Natsu intercepted the flying Shadow Dragon Slayer. He grabbed Rogue roughly by the face, digging his fingers in, and brutally shoved him straight into the descending Sting. The two Sabertooth members crashed into each other in a painful tangle of limbs.
"Rogue!" Sting yelled, trying to reach out and catch his partner.
But Natsu was already there. He burst from behind them, his fists blazing with an inferno that distorted the very air around him.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!!"
Natsu swept his arms forward, unleashing twin arcs of torrential fire that slammed into Sting and Rogue. The explosive force blasted the pair away, tumbling them across the stone boundaries of the arena.
[What… what is this?!] Chapati Lola screamed into his microphone, completely losing his professional composure. [Sabertooth's mighty Twin Dragons of Fiore are being absolutely dominated!!]
The crowd was stunned into silence. This wasn't a battle; it was a one-sided beatdown.
Sting rose slowly from the rubble, his white clothes scorched and torn. He wiped a trail of blood from his mouth, his eyes narrowing. "They're strong, all right. Just like the rumors said."
Natsu stood casually, brushing some ash off his scarf. He scoffed, looking at Sting with a mixture of disappointment and irritation. "Is that really the power that slew a Dragon? Don't make me laugh."
"We didn't just slay it," Sting retorted, a dark, arrogant smirk returning to his bruised face. "We killed them with these very hands. Weisslogia and Skiadrum… we ended their lives."
Natsu's eyes widened slightly, the flames around his fists flickering in sheer disbelief. "Wasn't that your parent? The ones who raised you and taught you magic?"
"None of your business," Rogue stated coldly, stepping out from the shadows beside Sting. "Now feel the true strength that can kill Dragons!"
"White Drive!"
"Shadow Drive!"
The atmosphere in the arena underwent a terrifying shift. A brilliant, blinding white light burst from Sting's body, while an abyssal, light-consuming black shadow erupted from Rogue. Their physical capabilities and magical density skyrocketed instantly, the pressure cracking the ground beneath their feet.
[Akarin's Note: White/Shadow Drive is an amplification technique unique to the Third Generation Dragon Slayers, pushing their bodies closer to their draconic elements without fully entering Dragon Force.]
"Let's go!" Sting roared, his confidence completely restored.
Each Sabertooth mage charged at their respective rival, moving at speeds that left afterimages in their wake.
Sting closed the distance to Natsu in a heartbeat. His fists became a blur of holy light, unleashing a flurry of devastating strikes aimed at Natsu's vitals.
Yet, Natsu's expression didn't change. His battle instincts, honed by countless life-or-death struggles and sparring sessions against Ren's monstrous spatial magic, were beyond elite. Natsu lazily shifted his weight, blocking, parrying, and deflecting every single one of Sting's light-speed blows with infuriating ease.
"I've admired you!" Sting yelled, frustration bleeding into his voice as punch after punch was casually swatted away. "I aimed to surpass you—and now I will!"
Sting suddenly dropped his stance, thrusting his glowing palm forward. "Take this—White Dragon's Holy Mark!"
Sizzle!
A blinding white laser struck Natsu directly in the stomach at point-blank range. The intense holy magic seared into his flesh, branding him with a complex, glowing sacred sigil.
"The White Dragon's holy claw steals freedom from the body it scars!" Sting shouted triumphantly, leaping back to gain distance. "You can't move anymore! It's over!"
Natsu stood perfectly still, looking down at the glowing brand on his abdomen.
"Now I've surpassed you!" Sting declared, an immense, swirling sphere of concentrated white Ethernano gathering in his right hand. He prepared to deliver the finishing blow to his paralyzed idol.
But as Sting lunged forward, Natsu's fist met his face in a bone-crunching impact.
CRACK!
Sting's head snapped back, his eyes rolling into his skull as he was launched across the sand. He hit the ground hard, tumbling head over heels.
"Wh-why can you move?!" Sting stared in absolute shock, holding his broken nose.
He looked closely at Natsu's stomach. The holy sigil that was supposed to bind him had completely vanished, burned away by the sheer, terrifying density of Natsu's raw magical power.
"Not bad," Natsu grinned, popping his neck. "But you're still completely green!"
"Don't underestimate Fairy Tail!" Gajeel's voice roared across the arena, followed by the sound of Rogue being slammed headfirst into a stone pillar.
Sting and Rogue were pummeled once again, their new "Drive" forms proving completely ineffective against the overwhelming base power of the Fairy Tail mages.
"Amazing! Then we'll go all-out too!" Sting screamed, desperation finally clawing at his mind. He couldn't accept this. He was the White Dragon. He was supreme.
He planted his feet, drawing upon every last drop of his magic. The air hummed with a dangerous, unstable vibration.
"The White Dragon's fist turns even flame to ash!" Sting roared, lunging at Natsu with his entire being focused into his right arm. "Dragon-Slayer Secret Art: Holy Nova!!"
A brilliant, sun-like white light exploded in the center of the arena. The resulting shockwave was catastrophic, blinding the crowd and threatening to blow the very roof off the Domus Flau. The sheer volume of holy magic scoured the arena, erasing the sand and stone alike.
When the blinding smoke finally cleared, the entire stadium held its breath.
Natsu stood there, perfectly calm, his posture completely relaxed. He hadn't used a spell. He hadn't even taken a defensive stance.
He simply held one hand out, tightly gripping Sting's fist. The ultimate, all-out Secret Art of the White Dragon had been caught and neutralized with a single, bare hand.
"No way…" Lector the cat gaped from the Sabertooth balcony, his small paws trembling. He was unable to process the reality that Natsu had caught his hero's strongest blow so effortlessly.
"You've got to be kidding…" Orga paled, a drop of cold sweat rolling down his cheek.
Rufus Lore, the Memory Make mage, took a step back, his eyes wide in absolute horror. He muttered, "I have no memory of anyone ever stopping that spell like that."
"Gajeel!" Rogue screamed, refusing to give up. He attacked again, launching himself from the shadows in a desperate, final assault.
Only to be instantly grabbed by the face and flattened completely into the bedrock by Gajeel's unyielding iron grip.
No matter how fiercely the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth fought, they were driven back and overwhelmed at every single turn. This wasn't a contest of equals. It wasn't even a fight. It was a humiliating rout.
"Master Yajima, what is…?" Chapati Lola stuttered, his microphone trembling in his hands.
"Mm…" Yajima stroked his mustache, his experienced eyes reading the absolute truth of the battlefield. "The gap in skill is simply too vast."
[Akarin Note:
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