In Erigor's original plan, all the guild members were meant to be pawns to stall the Light Guilds.
However!
With just one of Natsu's spells, they hadn't even fulfilled their purpose before being completely annihilated.
Plan A was clearly impossible to implement now. He had to settle for the next best thing: playing Lullaby in the center of the city. By hijacking the city's broadcasting system, the sound would reach every corner of the town. He would kill everyone in the city, find a way to retreat, and then deal with the Light Guilds later.
Wrapped in fierce winds, Erigor stared down at Natsu, his hatred stronger than ever before.
"You dare ruin my plans? I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
With a wave of his right hand, countless sharp wind blades surged toward Natsu.
Recognizing Erigor's signature magic, Erza shouted urgently: "Natsu! Get out of the way! Even I wouldn't dare take Erigor's magic head-on!"
As the master of a Dark Guild, Erigor's magic power was undeniable—he was roughly at the level of a Fairy Tail S-Class mage. Even if there was a gap, it wasn't massive. Erza had studied his magic in detail; even in full armor, she wouldn't risk tanking it directly.
Gray rushed forward, his hands radiating a chilling aura as he prepared his magic.
Natsu merely waved his right hand. Scales appeared around his eyes and covered his hands.
"Go after Lullaby! Don't let them play it in the city!"
"This guy..."
"I'll finish him!"
Flames erupted from Natsu's feet. He didn't show the slightest intention of dodging; instead, he charged straight into Erigor's magic.
Gray realized he couldn't keep up and stopped, watching Natsu charge: "Hey, hey! Does he have to be so reckless? Starting the fight with a damage trade already?"
"The problem is, he might not even hurt Erigor!"
"That man is known as the Shinigami!"
Erza stared intently at Natsu. In her perception, the moment the scales appeared around Natsu's eyes, his magic power spiked by more than a single grade!
"I don't know why Natsu gets hungry so easily now, but his magic power has increased tremendously. At this level, he's almost catching up to me."
She extended her hands, and two swords appeared in her grip. "I'll leave this to Natsu. I'm going after the others; we can't let them play Lullaby!"
"Natsu!!" Lucy watched with a face full of worry as Natsu was about to collide with the wind blades.
Seeing that Natsu wasn't backing down, Erigor concentrated on controlling the blades, making them all swarm toward him. He growled low: "You dare look down on me! I'll shred you to pieces!"
The countless wind blades struck Natsu, but not only did they fail to wound him in the slightest, they couldn't even slow him down.
"Wh—What?! Impossible!" Erigor trembled with shock.
Mages beyond count had died to his signature magic, yet he couldn't even scratch a single hair on this man's body!
"A monster?!" Erigor roared in panic.
A Dragon Slayer's physical defense is naturally higher than a normal mage's. With Dragon Force activated, magic of Erigor's caliber was only enough to tickle Natsu!
Most importantly!!
The fire Erigor had caused at the station had allowed Natsu to eat his fill of flames. He could now exert roughly 60% of his Dragon Force power.
Dragon fire erupted. Natsu suddenly stopped in mid-air at the perfect distance.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!!"
The violent flames shot straight into the sky, painting the entire town a brilliant, scorching red.
Erza, who was in full pursuit of Erigor's subordinates, felt the shift in the atmosphere and stopped to look back. The dragon fire, blooming in the sky like a sun, left her jaw dropping in shock.
"Natsu... when did he become this strong?"
She had always known Natsu was powerful, but she never imagined he was this strong. One couldn't even tell how long that pillar of fire was, shooting from dozens of meters above the ground straight into the clouds!
If that spell hadn't been aimed at the sky, the entire city would have been leveled.
A smile appeared on Erza's face. "Natsu has become so strong; I guess I need to work harder too!"
Enveloped in the flames, Erigor desperately maintained his wind magic, relying on his S-Class magic power to survive. Sweat—either cold or hot—covered his entire face.
"Impossible! It's impossible!"
"My wind magic can't push back the fire!"
"What kind of monster is he?!"
"What kind of rotten luck did I have to run into a monster like this!!"
His magic power was draining rapidly, and his defense was failing. The temperature he felt was rising higher and higher. Even with the endless winds surrounding him, his clothes began to ignite.
"NO!!" With a tragic roar, his magic completely collapsed, and the flames swallowed him whole.
The searing high temperature gave Erigor no chance to resist; he was turned to ash within the violent torrent of fire.
Feeling that Erigor was dead, Natsu dropped back to the ground. "If I say I'll wipe you out, I'll wipe you out!"
"You dared to target Happy... I'm leaving no one alive from Eisenwald!!"