The initiative in war was a crucial thing. For Fairy Tail, passively responding to the enemy would never allow them to gain the upper hand like they had now.
This was not only because they could make full preparations in advance, but there was also an absolute difference in morale. This would be affected even if Fairy Tail had strong morale at all times.
Drake and Mard looked at each other, and everyone in the battle couldn't help but make way for the two who were facing off.
Drake's eyebrows twitched, and then the aura he emitted became even more terrifying, and a phantom of a fire dragon formed behind him, roaring with its teeth and claws bared.
It was clearly a mental aura shock, but it stirred up a gale in reality, blowing Mard's hair up.
The faint smile that had always been on Mard's face disappeared. Although he looked down on humans, he wasn't a fool who couldn't see the facts.
The fact was that the human in front of him, whom he had always thought was insignificant, possessed a power that even he found terrifying.
Drake said, "My intended opponent in this war isn't you, but I can warm up a bit before the real opponent appears.
But if you're willing to hand over that book, I can let you go!"
Such an important thing as the Book of E.N.D. should of course be held in his own hands to be at ease, but thinking about it, there was no way Mard would hand it over so easily.
"You're really arrogant. I'm a demon from the Books of Zeref. A mere human...!"
Before he could finish speaking, Drake, who had appeared in front of him like a teleport, had already punched him in the face.
As Drake's arm fully extended, Mard flew out directly. But even so, Mard still held on tightly to the book in his arms, not letting go.
What Drake had said wasn't actually to belittle Mard. He was, in a sense, the strongest of Zeref's demons, and Drake also thought that he might be a good opponent.
But in this war, on the one hand, Fairy Tail's available combat power and pre-war preparations were quite sufficient. Even if Drake didn't take action, winning the war wouldn't be a problem.
In Drake's prediction, his opponent was Zeref, who had also appeared on the battlefield in the original plot but hadn't taken action, and had only taken the Book of E.N.D. away in the end.
As well as Acnologia, who had suddenly appeared in the later stages of the war.
He couldn't be sure if the former would take action this time, but no matter how cautious he was when dealing with the Black Wizard, it wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Acnologia was even more so. He had completely lost his mind, and the Wings of Despair, who only had destruction in his mind, couldn't be communicated with at all.
The only way to communicate with him was with fists and magic power! And this battle was one that Drake absolutely had to win.
With a bang, a large number of vines with sharp thorns drilled out of the rubble, and Mard also walked out, surrounded by vines, but his appearance had completely changed now.
Demons from the Books of Zeref was just what others called them. Although this was also an accurate description of their identity.
But the name that Zeref had given them was Etherious, meaning ether attribute that was independent of all the great magic attributes, which was in line with their essence.
And their Etherious Form was the true form that was revealed when they released all their power.
His entire body was covered in a dark, grayish-black exoskeleton, as if he had put on armor. His head was also covered under a demon mask, and a pair of wide demon wings had spread out behind him.
Mard, whose words had been physically interrupted by Drake, no longer had any intention of communicating, and stretched out his finger at Drake.
"Let me show you the insurmountable gap between humans and us demons from the Books of Zeref!"
A large number of vines drilled out from under Drake's feet. Because the speed at which these vines extended was too fast, and the sharp thorns on them, which were even harder than steel, made them cut at Drake's body like chainsaws.
In the blink of an eye, Drake was firmly bound in a cage made of vines, and a drop of blood slowly flowed down from the vines that were resting against Drake's ribs.
The eyes on Mard's demon mask narrowed, because even though the clothes on Drake's body had been torn with several openings, there were only a few red marks on the skin underneath.
Drake looked at the only shallow wound on his ribs, and said casually, "Not bad, you were actually able to make me bleed."
Then Drake grabbed the vines with his backhand, and flames spread out from the position of his palms.
After only two seconds, all the vines were ignited, and then instantly turned to ashes. And Drake also chased after Mard, who had flown up.
Mard flapped his demon wings, and opened his palm at Drake. A black vortex appeared, and tangled tree roots grew out of it and smashed towards Drake.
"Plutogrim Tree!"
Drake punched up, and a large number of cracks instantly appeared in the Plutogrim Tree that Mard had released, and firelight shone through from within.
The Plutogrim Tree only lasted for a brief moment of one breath before turning into burning fragments, and then it was thrown out by the impact produced by the collision between the two.
Mard reached out to grab Drake's throat, but Drake grabbed his wrist in advance, pulled him in front of himself, and punched him in the chest several times in a row!
The exoskeleton on Mard's chest caved in, and blood spurted out of his mouth.
Drake directly spun Mard around several times in midair, and then threw him hard to the ground.
Mard's body directly sank into the ground, and then a large number of cracks spread out. The entire ground was shattered by the huge force.
Drake inhaled, and lowered his head to release the Fire Dragon's Roar!
The flames raged, and traces of vitrification visibly appeared on the ground. But soon the flames began to shrink, revealing Mard, who was hugging his hands in front of him.
A small magic power vortex appeared between Mard's hands, and the flames were sucked into it.
Even though he had swallowed Drake's flames with the Absorption Curse in the end, a large number of scorched marks had appeared on his body.
Mard waved his hand to disperse the magic power vortex, and then a large number of Plutogrim vines drilled out of the ground and extended towards Drake.
Drake raised both hands to form the Flame Dragon's Brilliant Flame, and directly threw it at the Plutogrim vines that were growing over from below.
The tips of those vines were instantly carbonized and then turned to ashes, but they continued to extend and fight against the flames.
But Mard, who was below, said, "Curses are powers that originate from curses. All negative emotions such as hatred, jealousy, and resentment can be transformed into their power, a power based on the essence of life.
Curses are a power that transcends magic, and all things. Don't underestimate the plants from the underworld!"
The speed at which the vines, which were constantly growing and then turning to ashes, grew suddenly increased. Then they tore through the flames and wrapped around Drake.
Drake raised his hand and broke a few vines, but more vines wrapped around him, completely enveloping him.
Mard gasped for breath. Don't think that demons could use curses without a price. Curses were just a branch that had been extended from magic, and he had spent a lot of magic power to be able to make the Plutogrim vines suppress Drake's Flame Dragon's Brilliant Flame head-on.
But Mard didn't think that this would solve Drake. Sure enough, after a few seconds, wisps of flame drilled out from the gaps in the vines.
With a whoosh, the tangled vines turned into a large fireball. As the broken vines continued to fall, Drake also reappeared in midair.
However, at this time, Drake didn't launch a counterattack against Mard, but instead looked up at the distant horizon, and his expression became serious.
"The real opponent has finally appeared!"
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