Chapter 475: You Guys Don't Seem That Strong at All. Is This Really the Seven Kin?
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Natsu roared, his fists igniting with roaring flames as he charged straight at Zancrow.
"Hahahaha! Let's see what you Dragon Slayers can actually do!"
Zancrow laughed maniacally. Pitch-black flames erupted around his fists as he charged forward to meet the attack head-on.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Fists wrapped in crimson and black fire collided rapidly mid-air, producing a continuous series of deafening explosions.
"HRAAAH!"
Natsu exhaled sharply, pushing his physical strength to the limit. His fists moved so fast they left afterimages in the air.
Initially, Zancrow had worn an expression of absolute, mocking apathy. However, the moment he took Natsu's first punch, his face changed drastically.
While Natsu's flames were undeniably inferior in magical tier to his God Slayer flames, Natsu's raw physical strength and kinetic force were completely equal to—if not slightly greater than—his own. The sheer impact forced Zancrow to stumble backward several steps.
Instantly dropping his arrogant facade, Zancrow got serious, putting his entire weight behind his counterattacks.
"You don't seem that strong at all. You call yourself a God Slayer, but did a God actually teach you anything?" Natsu taunted, unleashing another relentless flurry of blazing punches.
"A mere Dragon Slayer dares to speak to me with such arrogance?! Master Hades is a God! And this Lost Magic was bestowed upon me directly by him!" Zancrow roared, parrying Natsu's strikes with a mix of fury and fierce pride.
"What a joke. So you just learned it from some guy. I was taught my Dragon Slayer Magic by a literal, actual Dragon!" Natsu declared proudly.
Their fists collided heavily one last time, the shockwave pushing both of them several meters apart.
Roaring, turbulent flames erupted around Natsu, rapidly raising the ambient temperature.
Seeing this, Zancrow didn't dare lower his guard. He also began condensing massive amounts of black fire around his body.
"Let me show you the true power of the magic taught to me by a Dragon! Uniting the flames of my right hand with the flames of my left! Dragon God's Brilliant Flame!"
Natsu gathered a massive sphere of crimson fire in his right hand and an equally massive sphere of golden fire in his left. He slammed his hands together, fusing the two distinct flames into a single, colossal fireball that radiated apocalyptic heat. He thrust his hands forward, hurling the blazing sun straight at Zancrow.
"Scorching the heavens, burning away all creation! Flame God's Kagutsuchi!"
Zancrow clapped his hands together, unleashing a colossal wave of pure, destructive black fire.
BOOM!
The two catastrophic flames collided mid-air. A deafening explosion shattered the silence, and the two opposing infernos deadlocked in a terrifying struggle for dominance.
"UWOOOOOHHH!"
Both mages roared, pouring every ounce of their magic into the clash. The ambient temperature spiked to unimaginable levels. The bedrock beneath them rapidly dried out, cracked, and instantly crumbled into fine ash that blew away in the blistering wind.
None of the surrounding mages dared to approach their battlefield. Even Ultear, who was currently casually swatting away Grimoire Heart grunts nearby, kept a cautious eye on their apocalyptic duel.
KABOOM!!!
Unable to maintain equilibrium, the intersecting point of the two infernos finally detonated. A blinding pillar of fire shot into the sky, and the catastrophic shockwave sent both Natsu and Zancrow flying backward.
Both mages flipped mid-air, adjusting their posture, and landed smoothly on their feet, glaring daggers at each other.
While Natsu had fought to a perfect standstill, he was panting heavily. Due to the inherent magical tier difference between Dragon and God flames, he had been forced to expend significantly more magic power and stamina to match Zancrow's output.
However, Zancrow's cocky smirk was completely gone. He had genuinely believed he could utterly crush this lowly Dragon Slayer with minimal effort. The reality of the situation felt like a violent slap to the face. He had only managed a draw. Forget overwhelming his opponent; he hadn't even secured the upper hand! For someone as fanatically arrogant as Zancrow, this was absolutely unacceptable.
"Round two!" Natsu inhaled deeply, re-igniting his fists, and charged straight back at Zancrow.
"You bastard!" Zancrow's face twisted in rage. Refusing to back down, he charged forward as well, and the two resumed their brutal, fiery brawl.
BZZZT!
Laxus raised his hand, casually firing a lethal bolt of lightning straight at Jellal.
Jellal immediately crouched down, slapping a hand against the dirt. A complex magic circle flared to life, and his body blurred with unnatural speed, effortlessly dodging the lightning strike.
BOOM!
The lightning bolt sailed past him and slammed directly into a group of Grimoire Heart grunts standing behind him, instantly electrocuting them and leaving them twitching on the ground.
Laxus rapidly fired several more lightning bolts, but Jellal's speed was simply too fast. He gracefully dodged every single strike.
Consequently, all the missed attacks struck the grunts behind Jellal, electrocuting several more dark mages.
Seizing an opening, Jellal fired several magical energy blasts back at Laxus. While the blasts looked flashy, they lacked significant speed or kinetic force. Laxus sidestepped them with minimal effort.
The missed energy blasts continued on their trajectory and struck several Grimoire Heart grunts who had been trying to flank Laxus, knocking them out cold.
Seeing this, Laxus extended his right hand. Dozens of highly compressed spheres of lightning materialized in front of him, shooting toward Jellal like a swarm of homing missiles.
Jellal's figure blurred again, perfectly weaving through the erratic barrage of lightning orbs.
The orbs sailed past him and violently detonated amidst the main Grimoire Heart army, blasting over a dozen dark mages high into the air.
Jellal retaliated with another volley of weak energy blasts. Laxus dodged them effortlessly, and the blasts conveniently struck another squad of approaching grunts, dropping them instantly.
Laxus frowned, feeling deeply perplexed. Jellal was supposed to be one of the elite Seven Kin of Purgatory. Zancrow was currently outputting massive firepower against Natsu, so Jellal should theoretically be on a similar tier. Yet, all this guy was doing was running away, and his counterattacks were pitifully weak.
Afraid that Jellal was setting up some elaborate, hidden trap, Laxus heightened his guard.
However, he wasn't exactly complaining about the current situation. Even if his attacks missed Jellal, they were actively decimating the Grimoire Heart army behind him, significantly easing the pressure on Gray, Gajeel, and the others.
Thus, Laxus and Jellal engaged in an incredibly tepid, almost choreographed dance of dodging and counter-attacking. The only true victims of their 'duel' were the Grimoire Heart grunts, who were being systematically wiped out by the 'stray' attacks from both mages.
"Come forth, my Guardian Beast! Thunderclap Belcusas!"
Rustyrose adjusted his glasses dramatically as he shouted his incantation. A colossal, ten-meter-tall, heavily armored humanoid monster materialized out of thin air beside him.
Cana didn't even blink at the giant monster. She smoothly drew a Magic Card, infused it with her magic, and whipped it toward Rustyrose. Several powerful bolts of lightning erupted from the card, shooting directly at him.
The metal monster instantly moved to intercept, using its massive, conductive body to harmlessly absorb the lightning strikes meant for its master.
Seeing this, Cana smoothly swapped her card. With a flick of her wrist, she activated a spatial trap card directly beneath the metal monster's feet. A massive, bottomless pit materialized instantly.
Having the ground literally vanish beneath them, both the colossal metal monster and Rustyrose plummeted into the darkness.
"The wings of Pegasus reside upon my feet!"
Rustyrose shouted mid-fall. A pair of elegant white wings materialized on his boots, halting his descent and allowing him to float gracefully back up to the surface.
The moment his head cleared the pit, he looked up—only to see Cana already whipping another card at him.
A volley of lightning bolts shot straight toward his face. He quickly raised his left arm.
"The Golden Shield that repels all resides upon my left arm!"
A massive, ornate golden shield materialized in his grasp, perfectly blocking the lightning strikes.
However, right as the lightning hit, a massive, solid boulder—summoned by another of Cana's trap cards—materialized directly above his head, plummeting downward with crushing force.
Rustyrose barely had time to angle his golden shield upward. The boulder slammed into the shield with a sickening crunch, driving Rustyrose straight back down into the pit.
SWISH!
Halfway down the pit, the massive boulder was cleanly cleaved in half from the inside, the two pieces tumbling harmlessly to the bottom.
Rustyrose leaped out of the pit, landing heavily on the edge, accompanied by his freshly re-summoned metal monster.
"You bastard!" Rustyrose cursed, glaring at Cana. He was covered in dirt and looked incredibly disheveled, completely ruining his dramatic aesthetic.
"You don't seem very strong at all. Is this really the level of the vaunted Seven Kin of Purgatory?" Cana asked, holding a fresh Magic Card between her fingers, looking utterly unimpressed.
She honestly didn't feel any significant pressure from him. His attacks were flashy but easily countered. She couldn't understand where Grimoire Heart got the confidence to assault Fairy Tail's holy ground with fighters like this.
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU FILTHY TRASH?!"
Hearing Cana's blatant disdain, Rustyrose's face contorted in absolute fury. He had never expected to be so thoroughly humiliated within seconds of a fight starting. And to be called weak?! He took immense pride in his Arc of Embodiment magic; having it mocked by someone he considered a lowly insect was unforgivable.
"Guardian Beast! Gale-Force Belfast! Tear her to shreds!"
A new, terrifyingly fast, razor-clawed monster materialized beside him and lunged straight at Cana with murderous intent.
Cana remained perfectly calm, drawing another card to intercept the beast.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!"
Erza swapped into her iconic armor, dual-wielding two swords, and glared fiercely at Kain Hikaru.
"G-G-Glaring at me won't do you any good! I-I am one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory! Kain Hikaru! I'm incredibly strong, you hear?!" Kain stammered, intimidated by Erza's murderous aura, taking several clumsy steps backward.
"I don't care if you're strong or not! You dared to attack our guild's holy ground! I will make sure you never forget the consequences of your actions! Furthermore... for what you did to Meredy, I will never forgive you!" Erza declared, her voice dropping to a terrifying, icy register as she pointed her sword at him.
With that, she prepared to lunge forward and slice him to ribbons.
"W-W-Wait a minute!" Kain threw both hands up in a desperate halting gesture.
Wary of a hidden trap, Erza stopped her charge, holding her swords defensively across her chest as she watched him with narrowed eyes.
"Somehow... this area feels really stiff," Kain muttered, scratching his head awkwardly.
Erza blinked, completely baffled by the bizarre statement.
"Alright, let's fight! I'll show you the terrifying power of my magic! Ushi no Koku Mairi!" Kain's expression suddenly turned dead serious as he pulled a crude, ugly voodoo doll from his pocket and pointed it at Erza.
Erza maintained her defensive stance, refusing to relax. She had no idea what that doll did, so caution was paramount.
"G-G-Give me a strand of your hair!" Kain demanded.
"Huh?" Erza stared at him, utterly bewildered by the absurd request.
"S-S-So... to activate Ushi no Koku Mairi, I need a strand of your hair! As long as I attach your hair to this doll, I can control your body completely and use incredibly powerful cursing magic on you!" Kain explained, proudly holding the doll up for her to see.
"I see. Then I simply have to ensure you never get a strand of my hair," Erza nodded in understanding.
Kain froze, his jaw dropping in sheer disbelief as he realized he had just explicitly explained the sole weakness of his own ultimate magic to his enemy.
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"
Since the idiot had literally explained exactly how his magic worked, Erza had nothing left to fear. She swung her swords, summoning a massive barrage of phantom blades that shot toward Kain like a swarm of deadly hornets.
"Self-Enhancement: Iron!"
Kain panicked. His skin instantly turned a metallic, silver-gray hue. Erza's phantom swords struck his body, producing a loud series of metallic clangs, but completely failed to pierce his skin or cause any damage.
Erza's sharp eyes instantly caught the reason. A single strand of hair had been hastily shoved into the top of the voodoo doll's head. The moment it was inserted, both the doll and Kain's skin had turned silver-gray.
That strand of hair obviously belonged to Kain himself. Based on the metallic sounds of her swords deflecting off him, his body—or at least his outer skin—had taken on the exact properties of solid iron.
So, the doll isn't just for controlling enemies. By inserting his own hair, he can change the properties of the doll, which in turn alters his own physical composition to enhance himself, Erza rapidly analyzed.
Just as she reached that conclusion, Kain lunged forward, thrusting his iron-clad palm toward her chest.
CLANG! CLANG!
Erza didn't retreat. She swung her dual swords in a rapid cross-slash directly at his incoming palm. Two sharp metallic rings echoed as the blades collided with his iron skin.
Erza's expression shifted. While her strike had managed to leave a shallow white scratch on Kain's palm, he completely ignored it. His palm continued its brutal trajectory, carrying immense kinetic force straight toward her.
Realizing she couldn't block it with her current armor, Erza instantly kicked off the ground, backflipping away to dodge the strike, while simultaneously initiating a Requip mid-air.
"Requip: Purgatory Armor!"
Landing heavily in her intimidating, spiked black armor, Erza didn't hesitate. Facing Kain—who was still charging at her with his palm thrust forward—she swung her massive, serrated greatsword with devastating force.
Seeing the incoming blade, Kain aggressively thrust his iron palm straight into the serrated edge.
BOOM!
The greatsword and the iron palm collided with a deafening crash.
However, amplified by the immense physical power of the Purgatory Armor, Erza's strike was far too heavy. The serrated blade violently cracked the iron skin on Kain's hand, entirely shattering his defense and launching him flying backward.
Erza immediately kicked off the ground, blitzing after the airborne Kain, raising her greatsword for a finishing blow.
"Self-Enhancement: Mist!"
Kain panicked. His body instantly dissolved into a thick cloud of white smoke. Erza's devastating slash passed harmlessly through the mist, dealing absolutely no damage.
Having evaded the lethal strike, Kain quickly retreated several meters before reforming his physical body, staring at Erza with extreme caution.
Erza had actually managed to shatter his Iron form. Though the wound had healed when he transitioned into mist, he couldn't afford to be careless. If she could break his defense once, she could easily do it again.
"HRAAAH!" Erza didn't give him a second to breathe, charging forward with her greatsword raised high.
"Self-Enhancement: Cotton!"
Kain's body instantly puffed up, transforming into an incredibly light, fluffy mass of cotton. He floated effortlessly into the air, completely avoiding Erza's ground-based assault.
"Requip: Black Wing Armor!"
Missing her strike, Erza instantly swapped armors. She stomped the ground, and the bat-like wings on her back propelled her violently into the sky, rocketing straight toward the floating Kain.
Kain hastily bobbed and weaved through the air, narrowly dodging several rapid-fire aerial slashes from Erza.
"Requip: Flight Armor!"
Erza swapped armors again. Her speed spiked to an absurd degree. She blurred through the air, appearing directly above Kain, and delivered a devastating downward kick that sent him crashing violently back down to the earth.
~~~
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