The first stage of Nirvana activated after Jellal failed to take his own life.
Charles glanced at Zero's face—completely unchanged, not even a flicker of emotion.
The first stage of Nirvana reversed the polarity of light and darkness—suppressing one's evil or good intent and unleashing the opposite. But this guy… this guy was pure madness. Of course he wouldn't change. In other words, he was a hopeless villain beyond redemption.
Charles had long known this, so there was no hesitation in his resolve to defeat him.
And Zero felt the same. He only wanted to eliminate the nuisance in front of him as quickly as possible and seize Nirvana for himself.
With Nirvana's activation, the tension between the two snapped, and they simultaneously charged at each other.
Zero's combat ability was leagues beyond Brian's, but still fell short compared to Charles.
Because true battle capability wasn't just about magic power and spells—it included mindset, experience, technique, and more.
Zero had assumed Charles, still a teenager, couldn't possibly surpass him in technique or experience. As long as he got serious, he thought, the fight would be over quickly.
But what he didn't know was that Charles had crossed multiple worlds and fought enemies of all kinds and calibers.
So even when Zero went all out, he couldn't break Charles's pressure.
Dragging a blazing tail of fire, Charles and Zero fought fiercely as they dashed across the ruined mountaintop at high speed.
At one point, Zero released a swarm of wailing specters from midair.
Charles spread his arms, conjuring a roaring flame that gathered before him and shot toward the oncoming ghosts under his precise control.
If Laxus could develop new techniques, how could Charles not?
The essence of Dragon Slayer magic lay in the power of the dragon. Moves like the Fire Dragon's Iron Fist were simply applications of that power.
As long as one could master the dragon's power, any number of techniques could be created freely.
This particular move was one Charles had developed after drawing inspiration from a certain taijutsu ninja. Its name—
"Morning Peacock!"
Brilliant fireballs, fanning out like the feathers of a peacock, collided with the ghostly swarm and exploded into a sky full of fireworks.
As the fireballs burst against the wailing spirits, Charles and Zero once again clashed in close combat.
Charles sidestepped Zero's knife-hand strike and landed a solid punch to his gut.
Zero gritted his teeth against the pain and the urge to vomit, and countered with a fist cloaked in dark magic that slammed into Charles's face.
Charles stepped back half a pace before returning the favor with another punch that sent Zero flying.
Zero could no longer suppress it—a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.
"You can't stop it. The world of Zero will descend!"
With that, Zero gathered a tremendous mass of visible magic between his hands. As his arms moved, they drew a glowing arc of energy in front of him.
"I shall end this era… and begin the Age of Nothingness!"
As Zero declared this, a blinding light robbed Charles of his vision. Then, in his sight, wave after wave of wailing ghosts appeared.
"Open the gate of the wailing dead—!"
"Genesis of Zero!"
With Zero's incantation, it was as if the gates of Hell themselves had opened. An uncountable number of specters clawed their way into the world.
This magic was unlike anything Zero had used before. Charles's vision was now flooded with ghosts, as though he had been transported to another realm.
Zero grinned triumphantly.
"Travelers of Nothingness! Devour his soul, his memories, his very existence!"
…
Far away, Natsu and the others had regrouped with Erza. All of them were powerful mages, and they could clearly sense the terrifying magic Zero had unleashed.
Jura clenched his fists. "That magic… Brian—or whoever he is now—definitely has power above the Ten Wizard Saints. We must assist Charles immediately!"
But unlike him, the members of Fairy Tail were surprisingly calm.
Natsu spoke first, "He might be strong, but Charles isn't going to lose!"
Erza nodded. "Exactly. We believe in him. No matter who the enemy is, if Charles said to leave it to him, then he will not lose."
Charle gaped. "Have you all lost your minds?"
Happy puffed out his chest. "That's just Fairy Tail for you!"
…
Facing the vision of hell before him, Charles instead smiled.
"Now this is getting interesting."
As he spoke, he summoned Faal and began Spirit Fusion!
Once he assumed the form of the Blazing Flame Dragon King, Charles burst into a towering blaze, incinerating the ghosts surrounding him in an instant.
Zero's confident smile vanished. He could feel it—his magic was actually being ignited and consumed by Charles's flames.
And then, within the ghostly torrent, a streak of crimson light appeared!
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!"
If Zero was using his ultimate technique, Charles wasn't going to hold back anymore either.
Like divine judgment, Charles's fire tore through the ghostly world, vaporizing Zero's dark magic into nothing and exposing the caster behind it.
Charles closed the gap and drove his fist into Zero's chest.
"Take your delusional, arrogant dreams—and disappear!"
With that, his fist erupted in an overwhelming blaze. Zero was swallowed in fire and blasted away by its shockwave.
Charles looked at the scorched humanoid figure lying on the ground. Once he could no longer sense any life force, he deactivated Spirit Fusion and Dragonblood Mode.
The fire of Zero's life had been extinguished. Let the man who bore the sins of so many end here.
Charles stood atop the now-enlarged Faal's back and flew toward the column of light in the distance.
As he neared it, the ground suddenly shifted. From midair, Charles saw a ruined city emerge from beneath the earth.
This was the ancient city of the Nirbitt tribe—the physical body of the forbidden magic Nirvana.
Charles spotted several figures below and jumped from Faal's back.
He landed before the Allied Forces, with the now-miniature Faal perched on his shoulder.
Erza spoke up, "Thank you for everything. I assume the Oración Seis's leader has been dealt with?"
Charles waved dismissively. "It took a little effort, but yeah, he's done. Now we just have to deal with this, and the mission will be complete."
Hibiki chimed in, "According to the records, the six tentacle-like roots beneath Nirvana absorb magic from the earth—those are its main power sources. If we destroy them, the magic will collapse.
But there's a catch—destroying just one won't work. The others will draw magic to repair it. All six have to be destroyed simultaneously."
If Nirvana were still under someone's control, they might hesitate due to its destructive power. But right now, it was free for the taking.
The group divided up responsibilities and, with Hibiki's magical support, simultaneously destroyed the core magic crystals on each of the six tentacles.
Nirvana began to crumble. The joint mission of the four guilds was finally a complete success.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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