Chapter 216

Mard Geer: "Is this... the strongest demon, END?"

Irene: "I'm afraid that in this entire era, only Acnologia could go head-to-head with Black Natsu."

"I just feel... he's much stronger than when we faced Acnologia last time."

"I don't know if it's my imagination."

August: "Stronger than when we faced Acnologia last time..."

"I have that feeling too, but I'm not too sure."

"After all, until now, no one has been able to force out Black Natsu's limit!"

Hades: "No, who else in this era can force out Black Natsu's limit?"

"This guy is now so ridiculous that he handles everyone with a single slap."

"It's a true sense of the word; until now, whether it's the Ten Wizard Saints, demons, or whatever, it's all one slap."

Brain: "That's indeed the case; until now, no one has appeared who could make Black Natsu use a second move..."

Lucy: "That 143, I actually want to say, they still exist."

Mirajane: "Eh? Are you kidding?? Impossible!"

Gajeel: "Although I don't want to admit it, it's true; at least since Black Natsu came back from time travel, this guy has been invincible."

Panther Lily: "Lucy, so, who exactly is that person you're talking about?"

Lucy: "Don't you guys watch the screen?"

"It's Master Bob; didn't he withstand a punch and a slap from Black Natsu earlier?"

Lucy's words left everyone speechless for a moment.

Happy: "That doesn't count as a fight at all..."

Lucy: "Just tell me, did he take a hit or not?"

Charle: "You guys are off-topic, but looking at this screen, I just want to say, what should we do next?"

Huh? What do you mean what should we do?

The group looked at the screen in confusion.

Charle: "I mean, don't you think this is going too far?"

【On the screen.】

【Makarov, who was laughing wildly, also discovered this problem after being reminded by others.】

【Looking back, he was stunned in place.】

【A white soul slowly rose from the top of Makarov's head.】

【Over ten kilometers of forest were all incinerated.】

【Just how much wealth is that?】

【Just thinking about it, Makarov felt his life turn gray.】

【He rolled his eyes and fell straight to the ground.】

【"Master!! Master, pull yourself together!!!"】

【The members of the Fairy Tail guild all panicked.】

【Watching all of this, Bob and Goldmine exchanged glances.】

【They couldn't help but laugh.】

【"Fairy Tail... seems to have produced an amazing existence."】

【Goldmine sighed.】

【"Yeah, that's something to be proud of, isn't it?" Bob held his cheek with one hand and smiled.】

【Goldmine shook his head with a smile: "However, no matter how people change, it seems that the spirit of destroying everything wherever they go won't change."】

【"Who's to say? Perhaps... this is Fairy Tail!"】

【The black-bordered screen began to dim at this point.】

Without any hesitation, the white-bordered screen on the other side lit up.

People all over the world were stunned.

Hades: "So fast? It feels like it ended not long ago?"

Brain: "Maybe you were too engrossed in watching?"

"After all, when a person is more and more addicted, they won't notice the passage of time."

Hades: "That's true, but even now, Black Natsu's figure is still echoing in my mind."

"An existence that destroyed most of a forest with one blow."

"It's truly surprising!"

Jellal: "Hey... your reaction is not right; the more I watch, the more I find that a guy like you seems to have become a fan of Black Natsu?"

Ultear: "A fan?? No way, you are Hades."

"This kind of thing doesn't seem to fit you; at least... from what I know of you, this kind of ridiculous thing shouldn't happen, right?"

Mavis: "Precht?"

Makarov: "No way? That Precht... actually has a day where he becomes someone else's fan?"

Hades: "...What kind of joke are you guys making??"

"How could that kind of thing happen!"

"Phew... I just feel..."

"Black Natsu on the screen... is truly the existence closest to the abyss of magic!"

"Really, I've always had this feeling; as Black Natsu becomes more and more invincible, I feel more and more that he has infinitely approached that abyss I once glimpsed..."

"I don't know how to describe this feeling... so, I want to keep watching, to see just how far this guy will go!"

Ultear: "The... abyss of magic?"

Hades: "I don't know, but I have indeed glimpsed that kind of thing..."

Lucy: "I remember... I once asked my mother the same question; I might have an answer to this."

Hades: "You want to say... love?"

Lucy: "You know??"

Hades: "Hehe, no, that's not it at all!"

"It cannot be denied that love is the starting point of magic, but it is absolutely not the true abyss!"

"And it is absolutely not as simple as all of you imagine."

"On this point, even Mavis is wrong."

"The abyss of magic, that is true... endless darkness!"

"The things contained within it... forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"And, I don't know how to say it, or even, I don't know what it is at all."

"However, I have a premonition that Black Natsu is moving toward that abyss!"

Inside the Fairy Tail guild.

Mavis looked at Hades' statement on the screen in astonishment.

She fell into deep thought.

Love... is wrong.

Then, what exactly is the abyss Hades glimpsed?

Is the thing that forced him toward darkness really because of her?

Now it seems, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Hades... seems to have really seen something incredible.

That thing, even he himself cannot explain clearly.

"What... on earth is this~?"

Mavis frowned tightly, countless thoughts colliding in her mind.

And at this moment.

The screen showed new movement.

【The beginning of the scene is in the guild's backyard.】

【The crowd in the guild gathered here, surrounding the two people in the middle in a circle.】

【Those two are Erza and Natsu.】

【Clearly, this is another challenge from Natsu to Erza.】

【This all stems from the Lullaby incident, when Natsu proposed that after things were over, he would have a fight with Erza to let her see his progress over the years.】

【To this, Erza agreed without hesitation.】

【Thus, today's battle took place.】

【On the scene, people were bustling, and discussions and shouts were constantly ringing out.】

【Some even started a betting pool, but clearly, almost ninety-nine percent of people chose to bet on Erza winning.】

【There was also Lucy, who didn't know the situation and didn't place a bet.】

【Soon, the battle began under everyone's gaze.】

【This battle successfully allowed everyone to see Natsu's growth.】

【This guy could even trade a few moves with Erza, which was truly surprising.】

【But, just as the outcome was about to be decided.】

【A frog-man from the Council suddenly intruded and interrupted the battle.】

【And arrested Erza on charges of damaging the station, traffic roads, and causing large-scale destruction.】

【Natsu was not happy when he heard this.】

【He tried his best to stop the frog-man, but in the end, he was stopped by his own guild members, watching helplessly as Erza was taken away.】

【The atmosphere in the entire guild plummeted.】

【To prevent Natsu from doing anything brainless, Makarov ordered Natsu to be locked up.】

【However, halfway through, it was discovered that the Natsu who had been locked up was actually Macao in disguise, and the real Natsu had already gone to the Council alone.】

【And at this moment, inside the Magic Council, a trial regarding Erza's face was beginning.】

【Erza didn't care about those so-called charges, but kept her gaze on a figure in the councilor's seat.】

【Jellal!】

【Just now, she had interacted with this guy outside, and based on a woman's intuition, Erza always felt that this Jellal was not right.】

【Not only did he have the exact same face as the evil person in her memory, but also... his stance, code of conduct, etc., all made Erza extremely suspicious.】

【However, these were just guesses, so she couldn't draw a conclusion.】

【The trial was proceeding normally.】

【According to the process, after the trial was over, she could return to the guild safely.】

【This was almost universally recognized; anyone could see it.】

【After all, the Magic Council couldn't really arrest a member of Fairy Tail.】

【At least, at this juncture, it was absolutely impossible.】

【The purpose of doing this now, to put it bluntly, was to divert the public's attention from their failure to guard Lullaby, which led to its loss.】

【To the case of Fairy Tail's daily destruction of public property.】

【This way, they could cover up the fact of their own incompetence.】

【However, just at this moment.】

【Natsu brazenly broke into the Council.】

【And shouted loudly that he was Erza or something.】

【This guy even wore a wig and a suit of ill-fitting armor to appear in the courtroom for the sake of realism.】

【After this commotion, everyone present was left in an awkward position.】

【In the end, Chairman Crawford had no choice but to order her to be detained for one day, which at least counted as making a show for the public.】

【Thus... Erza, who could have returned to the guild today, was dragged down and had to spend a night in the prison inside the Magic Council.】

【However, regardless of anything else, at least the intention was good.】

【Although good intentions led to bad results...】

【The matter ended perfectly the next day.】

【Natsu, who had recovered his energy, went to challenge Erza to a duel again.】

【However, Erza was enjoying her long-awaited strawberry cake and clearly had no intention of dealing with Natsu, so she punched him down directly.】

Seeing this, Igneel couldn't bear to watch any longer.

Throughout the whole thing, only one trait was shown.

He definitely raised a stupid son, he's truly stupid...

【The scene continued.】

【This day, a new face that Lucy had never seen before returned to the guild.】

【Uh... or rather, this is someone few people in the entire guild have seen.】

【Myster, who every time he appears, uses sleep magic to knock out the entire guild before appearing alone.】

【Myster's mysteriousness also sparked discussion among everyone.】

【When talking about who knows Myster's face, Gray said that I'm afraid only the Master knows.】

【And this matter immediately drew opposition from another person staying on the second floor.】

【Laxus, he had also seen Myster's face.】

【However, Laxus clearly didn't want to talk too much with everyone.】

【Laxus's appearance also instantly sparked Natsu's desire to challenge.】

【Without a word, he intended to rush to the second floor to challenge Laxus to a duel.】

【However, Natsu was stopped halfway.】

【"The second floor is a place only S-class can step into; you're not there yet! Absolutely not!"】

【Looking at Natsu, who was pinned to the ground, Laxus mocked him mercilessly.】

【After all, if you can't even reach S-class, how can you dare to challenge me?】

【This incident also made Natsu completely conceive the idea of becoming S-class.】

【That is to secretly complete an S-class mission; this way, even Makarov couldn't say anything, right?】

【Thinking and doing, that night, with Happy's cooperation, one man and one cat snuck to the second floor and stole an S-class mission request form.】

【And found Lucy.】

【At first, Lucy refused, because during her conversation with Mirajane today, she also understood what S-class represented and how dangerous S-class missions were.】

【However, the moment she saw that the reward for the mission included the keys to the Zodiac.】

【Lucy agreed without hesitation.】

【That's the Zodiac!】

【There are only twelve in the entire world; being able to have a chance to touch them, for a Celestial Spirit Black Mage, there is nothing that cannot be challenged.】

【Thus, the group set off overnight.】

【Until the next day, when Mirajane discovered this, Makarov angrily sent Gray to bring Natsu and the others back.】

【But, he didn't calculate that Gray would be unexpectedly tricked by Natsu.】

【He was knocked unconscious and taken along with the bags to the mission location, Galuna Island!】

【On the other side, Makarov, who had been waiting for a long time without news, waited for Erza's mission return.】

【Immediately, Makarov informed Erza of this matter.】

【Thus, Erza, who was also angry about this, immediately put down her bag and rushed out of the guild.】

【Intending to go directly to Galuna Island to sacrifice those guys who broke the guild rules on the spot!】

【And at this moment, Natsu and the others, who had already arrived at Galuna Island, were completely unaware.】

【The angry female knight was already closing in on them!】