After leaving the palace, Raizel was not discouraged.
If negotiations could succeed that easily, then Zeref, who had been tormented by the curse of Ankhseram for four hundred years until his mind had grown somewhat twisted, would be far too unimpressive.
And Raizel had also confirmed something.
Although Zeref currently looked normal on the surface, his way of thinking was already different from that of ordinary people.
The current Zeref might be even more terrifying than Acnologia in some ways.
Acnologia purely wanted to kill dragons and Dragon Slayer Mages. He would not think of destroying the world.
Zeref would.
And he would put it into practice.
Of course, Raizel still had a trump card.
August and Mavis.
However, Raizel was not the right person to speak to Zeref about that matter. That was something Mavis and August had to do themselves.
In the palace hall, Raizel had not mentioned anything about Mavis and August.
After all, this could be considered Mavis's family matter and privacy. Even if it needed to be said, Mavis should be the one to say it personally.
After the group arrived at the outskirts of the capital, they encountered someone chasing after them.
Desert King Ajeel.
And he had come on his own.
Raizel suspected he had grown tired of living.
Kurnugi had already transformed back into a dragon earlier, yet this guy still dared to chase after them.
Natsu frowned.
"How did you even catch up?"
"Sand! The sand tells me everything."
Ajeel's fingers turned into sand, grains constantly falling from his fingertips.
"Natsu, you go."
Raizel nodded toward Natsu, signaling for him to step forward.
This was also a good chance for Raizel to see how strong the current Natsu was compared to Ajeel.
"Oh! Leave it to me!"
After being called out, Natsu grew extremely excited.
Flames wrapped around both his fists, and after smashing them together, he charged forward.
"Death Sand!"
With a wave of Ajeel's hand, countless grains of yellow sand rose from the ground.
The sand rolled up into a sea of sand, carrying a force like mountains collapsing and seas overturning as it surged toward Natsu.
Natsu stomped heavily on the ground with his right foot and leaped high into the air. His left and right hands were wrapped in raging flames.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
The flames gathered and compressed in Natsu's hands, then erupted the instant he threw them out.
A sea of fire reaching toward the sky completely covered the sea of sand, and the grains fell back down while giving off white smoke.
"How is that possible? His flames directly burned through the sand..."
Ajeel's expression shifted uncertainly, cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Antlion!"
Shock was shock, but Ajeel did not stop moving.
A huge sand vortex instantly appeared beneath Natsu's feet and began continuously flowing toward the center.
The suction of the vortex grabbed Natsu's legs.
"Natsu!"
Happy had already used his Wing Magic and was preparing to fly over and pull Natsu out.
"No need!"
Natsu bent down, raised his head, and sucked in a fierce breath. After his stomach swelled, he blasted downward.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The thrust from the extremely powerful, high-temperature jet of flame pushed Natsu straight into the sky and broke Ajeel's killing move, Antlion.
"Sand Golem!"
Ajeel waved his hand and created a giant monster made of sand.
It was more than ten meters tall, could move freely, and possessed tremendous destructive power.
Ajeel stood on top of the Sand Golem's head, looking down at Natsu with his arms folded.
Under Ajeel's command, the Sand Golem clenched its huge fist and swung it toward Natsu.
Natsu stared closely at that giant fist.
Just as the fist was about to strike him, he seized the timing and leaped high, landing on top of the Sand Golem's fist before running along its arm toward Ajeel.
However, Ajeel's reaction was also very quick. He directly dispelled the Sand Golem.
"Eh?!"
Natsu, who had been running excitedly, immediately fell from midair.
"Sandstorm!"
Ajeel spread both hands and used sand to create a tornado, intending to trap Natsu inside the sandstorm while he was falling.
Lucy looked slightly worried.
"Natsu!"
Kagura reached out and stopped her.
"He is still far from done."
"Kihi!"
In midair, Natsu bared his teeth in a grin.
With powerful core strength, flames wrapped around his arms and legs, and using the thrust of Fire Dragon's Roar, he formed a fire tornado centered around himself and collided with the sandstorm.
Gajeel clenched his fists and protested,
"How is there another guy copying me?! I'm charging copyright fees!!!"
Raizel raised an eyebrow.
"This can be considered another use of Atlas Flame's Flame Rotation."
The fire tornado and sand tornado crashed into each other, kicking up smoke and dust that filled the sky.
Ajeel stood where he was.
Just as the smoke and dust were about to settle, a figure pierced through the flames and smoke, appearing in Ajeel's eyes.
"When did he—?!"
Ajeel's pupils shrank sharply.
Natsu's right fist was wrapped in flames as he threw a straight punch toward the side of Ajeel's face.
Caught off guard, Ajeel was sent flying by the heavy blow.
Natsu still had a follow-up.
The current Natsu had long since learned the importance of finishing the job.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
While Ajeel was still flying backward, Natsu wrapped his entire body in flames.
The fire around him seemed to condense into the shape of a fire dragon as he slammed directly into Ajeel's abdomen.
The destructive power of Dragon Slayer Magic, Natsu's iron head, and the high-temperature flames blackened Ajeel's abdomen.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, crashed through more than ten trees in a row, and finally fell to the ground.
However, Ajeel had not lost his ability to fight.
After standing up, he patted his abdomen. The charred layer cracked and fell to the ground.
At the crucial moment, he had formed a sand shield in front of his abdomen.
The blackened mark on his belly was actually the sand shield being burned black by the intense heat.
"Sand Sword!"
Ajeel clasped both hands together and raised them over his head. A giant sword made of sand continuously rose higher and higher.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Fifty meters.
Then it swung down with the momentum.
Facing the giant sword, Natsu showed not the slightest fear. He raised his head to look at it and even had the spare attention to compare it.
"Hmm? your sword is not as big as Raizel's."
Everyone's gazes turned toward Raizel in unison.
"..."
Raizel remained expressionless.
Please do not say things with such massive room for misunderstanding, all right?!
Natsu bent his knees slightly and gathered strength.
Flames wrapped around both his arms, taking the shape of giant dragon wings.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
The current Natsu, when using Fire Dragon's Wing Attack, made it seem as though Igneel had truly appeared in the sky.
A phantom image of Igneel emerged behind Natsu.
Both wings struck the massive sword heavily, cutting the Sand Sword in half at the waist.
The battle between the two continued.
This time, it shifted into close combat.
Natsu's flaming fists were blocked by Ajeel, but Ajeel was also unable to break through Natsu's attacks to counter him.
...
Ajeel wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
'Looks like I'll have to use Sand World...'
Inside Sand World, Ajeel's strength would receive a tremendous boost.
Just as Ajeel was about to use Sand World, a voice stopped him.
"Stop, Ajeel."
August appeared between the two, leaning on his magic staff.
He struck the ground once with the staff, and his Magic Power became almost tangible, forming a purple semicircular barrier that separated Natsu and Ajeel.
"Natsu, come back."
Natsu muttered, "I wasn't done yet..."
Erza shouted sharply, "Come back!"
"Aye!"
Natsu immediately saluted on the spot, then ran back.
As for Ajeel, his eyes narrowed, and he still glared viciously at Natsu.
He had long since become genuinely angry and still wanted to continue fighting, but the instant that intention appeared, August suppressed him with Magic Power.
A trace of anger appeared on August's calm face as he spoke in a low voice.
"I said stop. This is the last time. I will not repeat myself again."
"Return immediately."
"Yes!"
Ajeel clenched his right fist and took a deep breath.
After answering in an extremely unwilling tone, he turned into sand and left the area.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator