The guild members also told Natsu about what had happened recently, especially the matter of their new weapons.
Then Natsu immediately entered his daily challenge mode.
Today, he challenged Erza!
Tomorrow, he challenged Mira!
Leaving aside the fact that the bandages on his arm sealed the power Igneel had left him, Natsu in an internal guild fight simply could not bring out his full strength.
Without exception, every challenge ended in defeat.
After Ultear fought Natsu, she also helped him open his Second Origin while she was at it.
And today, it was finally the final boss's turn.
Raizel Bael.
...
East Forest—
Raizel looked at Natsu somewhat helplessly.
"You've been challenging people for several days in a row. Aren't you tired?"
"Not tired at all! I can even go a few more rounds!"
Natsu swung his right arm, looking extremely excited.
"Haah..."
Raizel raised his head and looked at the sky.
'Gildarts, I miss you... When are you coming back...? Come back already~~'
Somewhere in the forest, Gildarts, who was sitting there reading a photo book, suddenly sneezed.
"Which beauty is thinking about me this time...? Hehehe."
Looking at Natsu excitedly bouncing back and forth in front of him while throwing punches at the air, Raizel finally nodded helplessly.
"Fine."
"Are we going to the eastern plains?"
"No need. Here is fine."
[Take Over: Gankoomon X]
The X-Antibody assimilated with Hinukamuy.
Gankoomon, who had originally worn Digizoid armor, now had his upper body bare.
The Hinukamuy that once stood behind him had also fused into his body, and when fully activated, it could appear as wings.
The fight between Raizel and Natsu drew the attention of many people.
Natsu had disappeared without a word for nearly a year, after all.
That included Irene and Selene.
Selene had always been very curious about Natsu, since he was the child raised by Fire Dragon King Igneel.
They had also paid attention to his previous battles.
For no other reason than the fact that the power coming from Natsu's right arm had faintly surprised both Selene and Irene.
However, after observing Erza, Kagura, and the others fight Natsu, they knew that the power was sealed.
"Oh! I'm all fired up!"
The moment Natsu saw Raizel's form, he understood.
He slammed his fists together. His favorite kind of fight had always been fist against fist!
Natsu did not use anything like Fire Dragon's Roar.
Instead, he wrapped his right arm in flames and charged straight at Raizel, throwing a simple right straight.
It was only a straight punch, yet the flames on his right fist surged forward like a roaring jet of fire.
Ultear had been on standby the whole time.
Her magic crystal glowed, extinguishing the flames burning on the trees nearby. After all, she had already fought Natsu once before this.
Facing the straight punch, Raizel only turned his body sideways to dodge. Natsu immediately spun around and launched an uppercut at Raizel, sending another pillar of fire into the sky.
Raizel remained unhurried and even had time to comment.
"Still too direct, Natsu."
Seeing that his left-handed uppercut had missed, Natsu turned again and swept his right arm across, only for Raizel to duck down and avoid it once more.
A backward elbow strike.
A high hook kick.
A spinning kick with both hands planted on the ground.
Natsu's entire combination attack was dodged by Raizel, and Raizel even predicted the follow-up damage from the flames.
The only thing Natsu managed to land was when Raizel slapped away one of his kicks with his hand.
Kagura commented expressionlessly, "Natsu's first move was too straightforward. He left himself wide open. Raizel could have ended it in one move."
Natsu still refused to give up.
His rear-hand straight punch was caught by Raizel, who grabbed his right arm and threw him with an over-the-shoulder throw.
There was not the slightest bit of mercy in that throw. Natsu smashed into the ground and created a large crater.
Lucy and Levy, who were watching, sucked in a breath.
"Hiss... Just looking at that hurts."
After Natsu fell, Raizel stepped forward as if intending to finish him off.
Natsu flipped himself upright with a kip-up and charged at Raizel again.
Facing Natsu's straight punch, Raizel sidestepped, clapped his hands against Natsu's fist to knock it off course, then followed through by slamming his right fist directly into Natsu's face.
Natsu flew backward again.
Raizel had not used his full strength.
Besides, for someone like Natsu, who was as stubborn as an unkillable cockroach and only grew more excited the longer he fought, this kind of minor injury meant nothing.
"As expected! Other than Laxus, fighting you gets me the most fired up!!!"
Natsu slammed his fists together and excitedly charged toward Raizel again.
"But you have too many openings."
Raizel bent his arm to deflect Natsu's straight punch, stepped forward, and drove his left foot between Natsu's feet.
Using the force from his waist, he quickly struck Natsu's abdomen with a short-range punch.
Flames directly pierced through Natsu's body.
The instant force made Natsu's face twist fiercely.
Natsu flew backward, crashed through several large trees, spat out a mouthful of blood, and passed out.
Later, Natsu sat cross-legged on the ground with bandages wrapped around his abdomen and his arms folded, looking deeply wounded.
"I thought I'd improved a lot after a year of training, but everyone else improved so much too..."
"So this is the son of Igneel you mentioned? He seems pretty ordinary."
A spatial passage appeared beside Raizel, and Selene walked out from within, appearing by the lakeside where Raizel, Erza, and the others often trained.
Raizel shrugged.
"You don't understand. This guy is a classic case of holding back during internal fights and hitting like a monster in real battles. One day, when you see him fight an enemy, you'll understand. His emotions can give him a terrifying boost of power."
Selene looked at Natsu curiously, as though her eyes had been opened.
"Such a thing exists?"
Raizel nodded.
"Of course. Besides, he didn't use his Dragon Slayer Secret Arts either. A three-dragon combined Dragon Slayer Secret Art, especially after he received the power Igneel left him."
Natsu was startled by Selene's sudden appearance.
"Dragon??? Hm? You smell kind of like Kurnugi."
She smelled like Kurnugi because they were mother and son, but Natsu assumed it was because they were both dragons and did not think too deeply about it.
Raizel introduced her to Natsu.
"Mm. She is Moon Dragon God Selene. She has already joined our guild."
Natsu already knew Kurnugi was a dragon, but Kurnugi had never mentioned Selene to him.
"Ohhh."
Since there was already a dragon named Kurnugi, one more Selene did not surprise Natsu at all.
"Hello, Selene-nee!"
Natsu nodded with an adorably blank expression.
"What do you mean, 'nee'?!" Lucy retorted.
Selene, however, accepted the address quite happily.
Natsu propped his chin with one hand, wearing the expression of someone calmly thinking and analyzing things carefully.
"I feel like I missed a lot! I was only gone for less than a year!"
Then...
Natsu figured it out.
Mm.
He could not figure it out at all!
"That's not all. There's more..." Lucy originally wanted to mention that Irene was Erza's mother, but after realizing that it probably should not be said casually, she immediately covered her mouth.
In Lucy's eyes, the way Erza and Irene interacted was far too strange.
The two of them could sit at the same table and eat, yet neither of them paid any attention to the other, as though they had both caught some disease where whoever spoke first would die.
Irene rarely spoke to others in the first place, and when she did, she always had a cold, distant expression.
Otherwise, Lucy might really have thought Irene was deliberately targeting Erza.
"What else?"
"She is talking about me."
Irene also appeared beside Selene.
"???"
Natsu and Happy first looked at Erza, then at Irene, then back at Erza again.
The man and cat repeated this action nearly ten times.
"No need to keep checking. What you're thinking is correct," Erza said irritably.
"What?!"
Natsu and Happy moved in perfect sync, pressing both hands against their cheeks and screaming in horror.
"Erza, when did you get an older sister?!"
"..."