While Loke fought against his fellow celestial spirit, Caprico, Natsu and Happy, who had left Lily, Wendy, Carla, and Mest in search of Makarov, found him not long after, all thanks to his enhanced senses as a Dragon Slayer.
"Gramps!" Spotting the bloody Makarov leaning against a destroyed Tree, Natsu picked up pace, dashing towards Makarov, falling to his knees. "Gramps! You okay!?" Internally cursing, Natsu gently moved Makarov, lying him down before placing an ear over his chest, only to heave a sigh of relief when he heard his beating heart. "Is Master okay?" Floating above Makarov, Happy looked between the two, clearly concerned.
"Haa, he's alive." Wiping sweat, Natsu grinned, eyeing Makarov with a smirk as he raised his hand. "Wakey wakey, Gramps!" Without any concern for his grievous injuries, Natsu slapped Makarov, whose eyes promptly snapped open while a faint, red handprint remained on his face.
"Ugh, N-Natsu?" While the sting of being slapped slowly faded, Makarov glanced at Natsu, who smirked. "Yep! C'mon, we've got to get you out of here." Rising to his feet, Natsu hoisted Makarov onto his back. "N-No, forget about me, Natsu. G-Get the others and get them off the Island. Q-Quickly." "No can do, Gramps, I ain't leaven you."
Confidently smirking, Natsu shook his head, though he was barely able to take but a few steps before an explosion of blackish flames sent them flying. "Heh, finally found one." Standing on a nearby cliff, a wicked-looking man with long, blonde hair gazed down at the two mages who had been thrown back.
"Tch, bastard! Who the hell sneak attacks people!?" Furious, Natsu spat on the ground while rising to his feet, dusting off his clothes, glaring at their attacker. "Hehe, me!" Laughing manically, pillars of blackish flames sprouted from his hands as he leaped from the cliff, lunging at Natsu while thrusting his hands forward.
Natsu, reacting in kind, pushed his hands upward, spewing reddish flames; when the two flames collided, they combined, forming a two-color accretion disk around the impact. However, the struggle didn't last long. After several seconds, Natsu's flames were overpowered, and he rapidly lost ground before his enemy's flames reached him, sending him tumbling backwards.
"Hehe, don't tell me that's all you have? Don't tell me the Fire Dragon Slayer only amounts to this?" Landing softly, the man licked his lips, arrogantly eyeing Natsu, who once again stood up, already lightly injured from their two clashes. "Fucker. Who are you?" Cracking his knuckles, he clenched his fists.
"Hehe, Zancrow. One of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. And… The Fire God Slayer. So show me, Fire Dragon Slayer, which is stronger, a Dragon or a God?" Grinning, Zancro suddenly took a deep breath. "Fire God's Bellow!" Expelling a column of blackish flames from his mouth, Natsu, seeing the rapidly approaching, did the same. "Fire Dragons Roar!"
The two columns of flames collided, rapidly heating up the ground as the flames seeped into the earth, slowly melting it; however, Zancrow, simply being the stronger mage, won the clash for a second time, forcing back Natsu's roar.
Losing ground once more, Natsu leaped out of the way at the final moment, dodging the column of blackish flames that enveloped the forest behind him, burning leaves and setting trees aflame.
"Natsu! Are you okay?" As Happy flew close, Natsu nodded, his expression turning solemn. "Yeah. This bastard is just strong." Crossing his arms, preparing to block a lunging Zancrow, a massive fist suddenly slammed into him, forcing him back. "D-Don't touch my child." Sprawled on the ground, still grievously injured, Makarov glared at Zancrow, gasping for breath.
"Heh, thanks, Gramps! I'll take it from here!" Smirking, Natsu lunged at Zancrow, facing the mighty Fire God Slayer with the occasional assistance from Makarov.
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In a different area of Tenrou Island, the duo, Elfman and Evergreen, were currently facing down yet another dark mage of Grimoire Heart.
"Who are you?" Evergreen, standing beside Elfman, cautiously eyed the flashy-looking man with silver hair, causing him to slick his hair back while manifesting a beautiful purple flower. "Ah, I go by many names. 'The Dramatic One', 'Flamboyant Man', 'Demon'. However, you Fairies may call me Rustyrose, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
As Rustyrose introduced himself, performing unnecessary hand movements that earned a weird look from the duo, He dropped the flower, his expression shifting as he snapped his fingers. "Alas, may you Fairies meet a grim fate."
Following the snap of his fingers, a large, heavily armored, and powerful creature created purely from Rustyrose's imagination by using his ancient magic, Arc of Embodiment. Seeing the creature suddenly appear, the two quickly prepared for combat, Elfman transforming into a werelion while wings of light emerged from Evergreen's back as she took to the sky.
"Kill them Belcusas." Pointing at the two, Belcusas followed Rustyrose's command with a mighty roar before charging at them. "Careful, Evergreen!" "Tch, I know you, doofus!" Clicking her tongue, Evergreen flew above, launching numerous attacks, yet they merely bounced off Belcusas' armor.
Elfman, meeting Belcusas' charge, was forced several steps back, losing in overall strength, though not one to be deterred, swiped his claws at Belcusas, who had briefly shifted his focus to Evergreen from her constant attacks. Yet, Elfman was met with the sound of metal hitting metal as he struck Belcusas, his claws leaving only faint marks on the armored body.
Before he could put some distance between himself and Belcusas, the creature lashed its arm out, hitting Elfman and sending him skipping across the ground like a stone. "Tch, don't die on me!" Cursing, Evergreen flew just above Belcusas, spreading fairy dust that exploded when touching him, giving Elfman a moment to stand.
"I-I'm not. Oi, let me take care of him, you try and attack the caster." Rising to his feet, Elfman wiped the blood from his mouth, charging at Belcusas, who had received seemingly no damage from Evergreen's attack.
"You'd better hold that thing off then!" Flying fast, Evergreen left Elfman to face Belcusas while she targeted Rustyrose, assuming he'd be more susceptible to close combat. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't the case.
As she got close, she gathered a significant amount of magic within her hands, intending to finish the fight with one attack, yet, just when she closed the distance, Rustyrose lashed, his arm having transformed into a black claw, taking Evergreen by surprise and hitting her, knocking her to the ground.
Elfman, unable to face Belcusas alone, was also forced to his knees not long after. "Haa, weak." Softly sighing, Rustyrose shook his head while glancing between the two defeated mages.
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"Lisanna, regroup with the others." Mirajane, standing beside Lisanna, stared down Azuma, who stood a few meters away. Lisanna, although hesitant to leave her elder sister alone, nodded nonetheless, following her elder sister's words like always. "B-Be careful, Mira."
Turning around, Lisanna partially transformed into a cat, increasing her speed as she jogged away, though as she did so, Azuma commanded a tree root to lunge at her. However, that same tree root was cut into pieces before exploding, causing him to raise an eyebrow, shifting his full attention to Mira, who had morphed her arm.
"You seem like a promising opponent." Sensing the bubbling magic power from Mirajane, Azuma unfolded his arms, carefully observing her as she sported a wicked, almost evil smile, entirely at odds with her beautiful, charming, and somewhat innocent appearance. "Did you just try to attack my sister while I was standing here, fucker? Who the fuck do you think you are bitch? I'll fucking kill you and feed you to the pigs fucking bastard."
Taken aback by her unusually potent foul language compared to her appearance, Azuma blinked his eyes several times, only to narrowly dodge Mirajane, who had lunged at him and swiped her arm, sending a sharp gust of wind that destroyed the stone and trees behind where he previously stood.
"I'm Azuma–" Azuma was interrupted mid-introduction as he crossed his arms, feet skidding several feet as he was forced to block Mirajane's attack. "Do you think I fucking care who the hell you are, shit-stain? You can kiss my ass for all I care. No, that would probably be rewarding for a dick-sucker like you." Spitting on the ground, Mirajane arrogantly raised her chin, glaring at Azuma, whose expression twitched as anger began to course through him.
"Alright, you bitch." Frowning, Azuma raised his arms, the ground shaking as the surrounding trees twisted under his command, causing Mirajane to snort. A moment later, a large amount of magic power exploded from her as she fully transformed into her Satan Soul: Halphas variant.
"Survive for as long as possible. I won't be satisfied if I kill you too quickly." Clenching her fist, Mirajane swiftly lunged at Azuma, who did the same; the two met in the middle, clashing with a kick, which forced Azuma back, though Mirajane was promptly required to deal with the numerous trees that attacked her according to his will.