On the cliff near the Tenrou Island camp.
The slanting sunlight stretched the shadows of Hope and Zeref long, the salty wind lifting the corners of their clothes, faintly carrying the sound of waves crashing against rocks from below.
Zeref looked at Hope with a rather interested gaze, able to sense the young man's peculiar magic, which could be described as a hodgepodge of attributes.
Only by mastering a large number of different magics would one's magical attributes change, but a Mage's energy is ultimately limited, so for the vast majority of Mages, magic is about depth rather than breadth.
Hope shook the E.N.D. book, "Stop staring at me, I'm not interested in men."
Zeref snapped back to reality, "Sorry, your special magic reminds me of someone, who also has magic as complex as yours."
"Oh? Who is he?"
Zeref's gaze drifted into the distance, "A child I adopted over eighty years ago, I named him 'August'. His magic and talent are the most exceptional I've seen in 400 years."
"August has now mastered almost all magics, the only ones left are those with extremely special requirements to learn, but for him, it's just a matter of whether he wants to or not."
There's another master?!
Hope had thought that his magic, cultivated through the system's cheat-like acquisition, was already a unique existence in this world.
He hadn't expected that he wasn't the only one on this path, and that person had gone even further than him.
"Let's end this topic here."
Hope looked directly at this legendary Black Wizard, "Zeref, you've been searching for someone who can kill you because you have... the curse of the god ankhseram, right?"
Zeref's pupils slightly contracted.
400 years ago, in order to find a way to revive Natsu, he, still a child himself, entered the Mildian Magic Academy to study, but for some reason, one day he suddenly contracted the 'Curse of Contradiction'.
This is an extremely vicious curse: the more one respects life, the more death energy is released; conversely, if one does not respect all life, no death energy is released.
But Zeref is someone who loves life.
Undoubtedly, his love triggered the curse, and the terrifying death energy took the lives of everyone in the academy at that time except him.
Zeref believed that the only way to end the curse was his own death, so he created various demons, trying to have them kill him, but all ended in failure.
E.N.D. might possess such power, but due to amnesia and the effects of time travel, Natsu's E.N.D. power has been dormant for a long time.
Over the years, countless lives have been lost because of Zeref. The immortality granted by the 'Curse of Contradiction' has worn down his inherently kind nature, both physically and mentally, and he gradually learned to suppress his love for life, becoming a cold person.
However, there are always a few days each year when Zeref cannot suppress his true feelings, so he finds a secluded place to hide, using sorrow to disturb his state of mind, temporarily losing his magic.
Isn't this just like the reason Mirajane lost her magic back then... truly a Black Wizard, even a god's curse can be exploited.
Hope muttered to himself, then continued, "Have you ever considered that the god ankhseram is actually using you as a tool to collect death?"
Hope told him what he had seen and heard in the parallel world, and Zeref looked up in surprise.
This world is not unaware of Edolas's existence; Zeref is one of the very few who knows. Three hundred years ago, he even personally went to the world of Edolas, but gained nothing.
He never expected that, hundreds of years later, he would hear about the schemes of the Edolas gods from Hope.
A God of Despair, dead but not gone, deceiving and driving people to collect despair for it, so it can descend upon the world of Edolas once more.
From this perspective, the energy corresponding to a god's authority is extremely important to the god itself, so important that it could be said to be fundamental to its existence.
And the authority of the god ankhseram is... "Life" and "Death"!
Hope's words made everything click for Zeref. No wonder the 'Curse of Contradiction' granted him immortality—it was all to harvest life and obtain death through him.
If that's really the case, then gods are truly vicious.
Zeref's face showed bitterness. He used demons as tools, but wasn't he himself a tool for a higher existence?
He sighed. Even if he understood, what could he do? Just the 'Curse of Contradiction' alone made him unable to love and unable to die, driving him almost to madness.
"You called me here, surely not just to say this?"
"Of course not."
Hope smiled slightly, "I can try to kill you."
Finally, they reached the main topic. A glimmer of Hope appeared in Zeref's eyes.
In fact, after seeing Natsu again at the Tenrou Island camp, he was already on the verge of losing control of the curse, and he had planned to leave immediately.
But Hope's arrival instantly calmed Zeref's heart. This young man, whom even he couldn't see through, possessed a power within him that made even the curse's death energy dare not show itself.
However, he still needed to confirm.
Zeref's attack came without warning.
This Black Wizard, who had lived for over 400 years, merely raised his right hand, and dozens of black Magic Circles condensed in the air, each radiating heart-palpitating magic.
"Dark Blaze Array."
With a casual utterance, dark purple magical flames erupted from the Magic Circles, tracing eerie arcs in the air, as if alive, and blasted toward Hope from all directions.
Hope didn't move, only slightly rotating his Magnetic Field Power. An invisible force field around him blocked the attack that seemed capable of burning everything.
The dark purple flames piled up layer upon layer but could never penetrate even a fraction.
"Interesting."
Zeref murmured softly, pressing his palm down, "Black Magic: Divine Punishment!"
The black flames suddenly converged, then gathered into a black hole no more than half a meter in diameter. Surrounding rubble floated up and was sucked in, leaving not even dust behind.
This ultimate move, kept as Hades's trump card, besides being able to create demons, is actually a thorough killing magic, but for Zeref, it's just an insignificant little skill.
"Much more powerful than that old man. As expected of the original user."
Hope's lips curled into a smile. He hadn't had enough fun beating up Hades earlier.
Although "Demon Heart" could provide Hades with a continuous supply of magic and life force, that so-called immortality was nothing compared to Zeref, a victim of the 'Curse of Contradiction'.
With a fanatical smile, Hope retracted his fist, then... "Zeref! Let's warm up first. Don't you dare disappoint me!"
"Argh! Magnetic Field Rotation! Fifty Thousand Horsepower!"
"Hell's Heart-Piercing Sword!"
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