Chapter 16

[Overwhelming malice swept across this world, as if it wanted to drown people.]

["That is... a dragon?!"]

[The steel giant dragon flapped its wings and descended from the sky.]

[Boom————!!]

[The moment the massive body made contact with the earth, the entire ground seemed to tremble at this moment.]

[Countless dust flew up, but it could not cover the ferocious face of the steel giant dragon.]

Gajeel: "Metalicana..."

Gajeel, watching this scene, couldn't help but lose his focus.

Although Gajeel wouldn't normally show that he was concerned about news of his father Igneel at all times like Natsu,

or even go crazy for it,

this did not mean that Gajeel had no feelings for his father Metalicana.

On the contrary, Gajeel cared very much about Metalicana.

But, mostly because of his own strong personality, Gajeel would not reveal this emotion of his.

In the end, he was just a child who missed his father.

In the scene.

[The appearance of the steel giant dragon seemed to make the young Natsu freeze in place.]

[He was no stranger to dragons.]

[But he had never felt that kind of naked malice coming from a dragon.]

[His first instinct told Natsu that this was not a dragon like Igneel who loved humans deeply, but... those that only existed in the stories Igneel told.]

[Evil giant dragons that regarded humans as ants and used humans as food!]

[From those fierce eyes shining with white light, one could tell.]

[It really wanted to kill!]

[He would really die!]

[Tears were already welling up in Natsu’s eyes.]

[The biological instinct urged Natsu to escape, but under the overwhelming pressure of the giant dragon, he couldn't move his legs at all.]

[He just stood there, trembling all over!]

Perhaps because of the Sky Screen,

almost all the viewers watching the live broadcast seemed to be able to personally experience the despair Natsu was facing at this moment!

That feeling was like an ant facing a high-level creature like a human.

Unable to resist, unable to move,

even his life was held in its hands.

When watching Igneel before, everyone didn't have this feeling.

It was more of novelty and surprise.

Now, thinking back carefully, they realized it might be because of the kind side Igneel showed.

That made people think dragons were nothing more than that.

However, the moment the dragon appeared as an enemy,

the viewers all over the world finally understood clearly.

Facing a dragon, how desperate a person would be!

Happy: "Is... this a dragon? Why are my legs starting to feel weak even through the Sky Screen?"

Gray: "The pressure is countless times stronger than Deliora back then... Damn it!"

Ur: "A dragon... the ruler of the world in the previous era, is it really that exaggerated?"

Brain: "I really didn't expect that there would be such a terrifying existence in this era."

"My hands are starting to sweat..."

Midnight: "Father? Aren't you a ghost? Do ghosts sweat too?"

Mavis: "Who says they don't? Hmm... at least I do, and I’m already sweating now. This dragon is really scary, wuwuwu~"

Makarov: "The First Master is scared to tears! Laxus, hurry up and comfort her!!!"

Laxus: "Me? Are you kidding? I’d rather dig up Hades’ grave than comfort a child."

Hades: "???"

Zeref: "Mavis..."

An inconspicuous call was quickly drowned out by the voices of countless people and did not attract anyone’s attention.

And at this moment, in the Sky Screen scene.

[The steel giant dragon spread its wings again, almost covering this sky!]

[Immediately after...]

[Roar————!!!]

[Boom————!!!]

[A deafening roar exploded!]

[Violent winds rose because of this, and with Metalicana as the center, the surrounding trees were uprooted.]

[The solid ground was directly flipped over.]

[The terrifying sound waves, mixed with unimaginable violent winds, swept crazily toward the surroundings.]

[In just an instant, it destroyed everything within a range of hundreds of meters.]

[The young Natsu was like a falling leaf in the wind, his small body blown away by dozens of meters.]

Silence!

Dead silence!

The noisy world channel seemed to fall into a strange stillness at this moment.

No one was speaking.

Most people kept their mouths open, staring blankly at the scene on the Sky Screen.

Hades: "Just... just a roar?"

August: "Strictly speaking... this isn't even a roar, at most, just a shout."

Brandish: "A shout? Is this a dragon?"

Ajeel: "Are you kidding? Is there really anyone who can defeat such an existence?"

Irene: "There is, but... what you must know is that the dragon in the video is not some ordinary dragon."

At this moment, even the usually arrogant Spriggan 12 could not maintain their composure and spoke up one after another.

Makarov: "Fortunately, all of this should just be a test for Natsu. Otherwise, facing such a terrifying dragon, I can't imagine how Natsu could survive."

Gajeel: "I remember now!"

Natsu: "What did you remember?"

Gajeel: "It’s this incident! When I was a kid, I was really scared by a giant dragon. That dragon..."

"It seems to be Igneel!"

Natsu: "So that means this time it was just to scare us?"

"Damn Igneel, when did he become so mischievous!"

[The challenge ended.]

[It ended with Natsu’s nerves completely collapsing and him crying loudly.]

[After all, no matter what, the current Natsu was still just a child under ten years old, and he had just learned Dragon Slayer Magic. Being able to hold on until now was already quite good.]

[At the end of the event, Metalicana withdrew his released aura and pressure.]

[At that moment, it was as if the giant rock pressing on Natsu’s head had been shattered, and he came back to life.]

[And under Metalicana’s explanation, he finally understood the ins and outs of this incident.]

[According to Igneel, it was that as Dragon Slayers, how could these brats not see what a real hostile dragon was like?]

[As Dragon Slayers, they should understand that their mission is to fight evil dragons, so seeing one early would give them a bottom line in their hearts.]

[In the future, if there is really a chance to face a dragon, they won't be running away in a panic.]

[Thus, this test was born.]

[Not long after, on the other side, Igneel, who went to scare Gajeel, brought the still-young Gajeel here and met with Natsu.]

[This wasn't over. Immediately after, the Sky Dragon Grandeeney also brought the even smaller Wendy here.]

[The three giant dragons seemed to be discussing the harvest of this test, or rather, the performance of Natsu and Gajeel.]

At this point, the large screen with the white border gradually dimmed.

Makarov: "So that means this video is finished, right?"

Mirajane: "After this, it should be the parallel world story on the black border side, which should be the same thing."

Erza: "Then, how will the Natsu of the other parallel world perform in this test? I’m already starting to look forward to it."

Sting: "What kind of performance can there be? At such a young age, facing that kind of hostile dragon, being able to keep from crying is already very impressive."

Gajeel: "I didn't cry back then!"

Natsu: "Tch, the screen didn't show your side, who knows if you cried or not?"

Gajeel: "Do you think it’s possible for me to cry?"

Natsu: "Not necessarily. But come to think of it... I actually met you when I was a kid?"

Gajeel: "I’m also very strange. I don't remember someone like you?"

Wendy: "Um... looking at the Sky Screen, it seems I was there too?"

Irene: "Ho, could it be that you little brats all collectively lost your memories?"

Collective amnesia?

Inside the Fairy Tail guild, the three Dragon Slayers looked at each other.

Lucy: "Right, I also remember that during the subjugation of the Oración Seis, when Natsu first met Wendy, he said he had a very familiar feeling."

Wendy: "Yes, yes. Before I met Brother Natsu, I had heard Brother Natsu’s name. At that time, I felt this name was very familiar, and there was a natural sense of closeness."

Gajeel: "I’m different. When I first saw Natsu, I was very annoyed!"

"Yeah, very annoyed!"

Natsu: "Heh, likewise. Me too. As soon as I saw you, I especially wanted to beat you up."

Erza: "You guys better stop arguing. Look, the second black-bordered screen has movement."

Just as Erza said.

Not long after the white-bordered screen dimmed.

The black-bordered screen also gradually began to have color.

Soon, the image appeared.

[One month after the previous roar teaching.]

[During this time, Natsu’s daily routine was very self-disciplined.]

[He was either fighting or eating.]

[All day long, as soon as he woke up in the morning, he would go to fight his friend, a monkey of unknown species.]

[All kinds of Dragon Slayer Magic, like Iron Fist, Wing Attack, etc., were used on the monkey, having already treated it as a hypothetical enemy dragon.]

[When his strength improved further, he would go into the magical beast forest to meet other friends.]

[Of course, Natsu wouldn't care whether the other party was willing or not.]

[On this day, Igneel stopped Natsu who was preparing to go out.]

[Igneel had been very confused recently.]

[This brat Natsu was a bit too active in his cultivation.]

[Even, he was a bit mysterious, so much so that Igneel himself didn't know to what extent Natsu’s Dragon Slayer Magic had been cultivated.]

[So he decided to join forces with the iron bastard next door to give these little guys a different kind of test.]

[Just like that, with different motivations, the Igneels of the two worlds made the same choice.]

[And led Natsu to that magical beast forest.]

["Natsu, you have been learning magic for several months now. Next is the time to test the results of your learning during this period."]

["This is the Magical Beast Forest, which harbors many powerful magical beasts. Your task is to spend a day and a night safely in this forest. Note, it’s a day and a night!"]

[Just as Igneel looked at Natsu, preparing to say that invincible provocative line, 'What, are you afraid?']

[Natsu smiled unusually and glanced sideways at the unpredictable primeval forest.]

["Just one day?"]