A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Amidst a series of explosions, the two figures shifted continuously, their magic power gradually increased, and their attack speed grew faster and faster until only three or four afterimages remained, constantly flashing by.

Meanwhile, Kira and Dispel sat on the ground, each busy with their own things. Dispel was watching the drama unfold, while Kira took out his reconnaissance robot and infiltrated the nearby 'One-Eyed Serpent' tavern.

Because Kurnuki fights with a human body, Dispel can see his every move, expression, and demeanor more clearly.

He appeared calm, as if he were used to such battles; in contrast, the bearded man was filled with excitement, and no one knew what he was thinking, perhaps trembling at the thought of fighting the dragon.

The hand-to-hand combat didn't last long, as it wasn't their forte. After about three minutes, they unleashed their more proficient magic.

Kurnuki gripped his claws with both hands, using them as blades, and unleashed his signature Netherworld Style sword-drawing technique: "Netherworld Style: Netherworld Fall!"

On the other side, the bearded man also unleashed his magic, conjuring a large water ball in his hand: "Sea King Dragon's Iron Cannon!"

The water bullet was over a meter in diameter, and with the enhancement of magic, it was like an indestructible steel cannonball. Under normal circumstances, it would at least create a huge crater several tens of square meters, if not clear a football field. But when such a water bullet met the slash from the dragon, everything was different.

Kurnuki's slash seemed to open a gate to the underworld; the peculiar magic instantly shrouded the surroundings in darkness, yet tiny points of light flickered continuously, like dazzling stars in the night sky. The slash absorbed the mysterious power from the underworld, forming an invisible white sword beam that slashed towards the oncoming water cannon.

Two powerful, earth-shattering spells collided in mid-air, creating a powerful shockwave that was difficult for ordinary people to withstand. The water cannon was cleaved into several pieces by the slash, and after losing its power, it turned into the gentlest water and scattered all over the ground, while the slash was blasted into a gentle autumn breeze by the water cannon.

The result of this move was that the two sides were evenly matched.

"The magic of the Sea King Dragon?!" Kurnuki's expression immediately turned serious.

While not every dragon king can be compared to someone like Igneel, this one is indeed known as the 'Sea King Dragon,' making him far stronger than ordinary water dragons!

"Did you notice?" The bearded man chuckled, a smug smile on his face. "That's right! What I ate was the flesh of the Sea Dragon King, who was on par with the Thunder Dragon King."

"Then, soon, there will be a new dish on my menu—your meat!!"

This time, Kurnuki did not answer, but silently revealed his true form.

His magic power surged once more, and his entire body was instantly enveloped in a white light. The white light wriggled and expanded, growing to tens of meters high. When the white light completely dissipated, a giant white dragon appeared on the spot!

"Is this your true form? Quite imposing..." Seeing Kurnuki reveal his true form, the bearded man clicked his tongue in amazement, then changed the subject, "By the way, is this a dragon or a fox..."

It's no wonder he was puzzled; in fact, Kira had the same thought when he first saw Kurnuki.

Perhaps it was because the genes of the Moon Goddess Dragon Selene were too powerful, Kulnuki not only incorporated spatial power into his attributes, but also resembled her in appearance.

The Moon Dragon's dragon form is more like a nine-tailed fox than a dragon; while Kurnuki's most obvious genetic feature is his fox eyes and white fur, but he only has one, so he still looks like a "dragon".

Before the bearded man could think further, Kurnuki unleashed another powerful attack, his dragon form magic gaining even greater power: "Netherworld Flow - Netherworld Reincarnation!!"

"Well done!!" the bearded man shouted, stomping his feet and taking a deep breath.

Instantly, the moisture floating in the surrounding air was absorbed into his body as an energy source. As the moisture was absorbed, his magic power surged. When this magic power reached its limit, a powerful spell was unleashed, "Neptune's..."

"roar!!"

The Roar of the Sea Dragon devoured the Underworld Style Sword Drawing Technique with overwhelming force, and then continued its momentum, still carrying seemingly endless energy, like a tsunami, straight towards Kurnuki.

The seawater surged overwhelmingly, making even the towering white dragon, dozens of meters tall, appear like a tiny boat, adrift with the current. The successive collisions between the floodwaters and the dragon transformed the entire forest into a swamp, clearing the battlefield clean of broken trees, sand, and rubble.

The water cut through his fur like sharp blades. Unable to bear the pain, Kurnuki suddenly flipped over in mid-air, then swung his claws and unleashed a powerful downward slash using a sword-drawing technique: "Netherworld Style - Netherworld Purgatory Slash!!"

Boom!!

Several loud explosions rang out as the slash cleaved through the water and penetrated deep into the ground, carving out more than a dozen huge gashes in the vast, empty marshland. The seawater, unable to sustain its momentum, flowed straight down along the sword marks that had been breached.

With a thud, the giant dragon crashed to the ground.

Kurnuki directly smashed out an underground base, which is the basement of the 'One-Eyed Serpent' tavern.

Kira only slowly flew down from the sky and entered the underground world after discovering that there was another world there. There he met Erza and the others who had been captured.

……

"That's the whole story. I don't know if this 'Sea Dragon King' can defeat Kurnuki."

Kira calmly knocked the members of 'One-Eyed Serpent' to the ground while explaining what had just happened to Erza and the others. He was completely unperturbed throughout the process, as if he hadn't noticed their situation at all. Even Dispel was pacing back and forth in the basement, plundering the guild's accumulated treasure.

After listening to Kira's explanation and seeing the mages around them fall one by one, everyone realized they were safe now and nodded with relief: "Hmm... we roughly understand how things unfolded, but..."

"Can't you at least unlock our chains first?!"

Chapter 425 The differences between people are greater than the differences between people and hair follicles.

"It feels a bit too little..."

"Yes, a guild like this shouldn't have so few members..."

In the basement of the 'One-Eyed Serpent' guild, the gold and silver treasures looted from the guild headquarters filled an entire table with room to spare. Kira and Dispel sat on either side of the treasures and simply and crudely divided them equally by weight.

"Hey! I said, is this all your guild has?! Didn't you say this guild was very famous?"

Dispel grabbed the head of the 'One-Eyed Serpent' guild leader, who had a bruised and swollen face—the arrogant man—and questioned him loudly.

"It's...it's all gone. All the valuables here are here."

The man was now stripped down to only his leggings. He trembled and snot and tears streamed down his face as he begged for mercy, “The rest of our belongings are in the various branches, but a few days ago someone ransacked everything, and even my companions were arrested by the council…”

Left at the branch? Ripped off by unknown individuals? It looks so familiar... Kira and Dispel exchanged a glance, then looked up in unison.

"If my hunch is right, it must have been that guy up there who did it..."

"It must be him! How dare he steal my things! He's incredibly audacious! I'll teach him a lesson!" After saying that, Dispel bent his knees and jumped out of the broken cave.

Kira watched his figure disappear from sight, remained silent for a few seconds, and then silently stored all the treasure into his personal space.

The 'One-Eyed Serpent's' men were all defeated, and an opening appeared in the iron cage. Erza and the others, by wriggling, finally found the key to open the chains in the hands of a minor character, and also freed the other prisoners along the way.

The group followed the passage back to the ground and were shocked to find that the landscape was no longer what it used to be.

Everywhere you look is damp earth and rocks, murky puddles, and several pools of water due to the low-lying terrain. Familiar sword marks have cleaved the ground in pieces, leaving only the word 'mess'.

Erza and the others were very familiar with this appearance, because they had been looking at it for more than a week. If there was anything different, it was that there wasn't as much water in that mountain range.

"Where did that huge forest go? This place used to be such a large forest!"

"They actually turned the entire forest into a swamp. These dragon-hunting mages certainly live up to their reputation..."

Some were shocked, some sighed, but Natsu shouted defiantly, "We, the first generation, are the strongest!! So what if he's the Sea Dragon King? Igneel is the Fire Dragon King!! I can do that kind of destruction too!!"

Erza lowered her head in thought, analyzing the situation: "A Dragon Slayer Mage who devoured the Sea Dragon King? He seems like a very troublesome opponent. It won't be easy to determine a winner..."

Noticing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, Erza turned around and saw...

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

"Tell me! Where did you put all that treasure?!" Dispel slapped the bearded man lying on the ground repeatedly, demanding to know the whereabouts of the treasure.

The bearded man, who should have been fighting, now had a bruised and swollen face, seeing stars from Dispel's blows. He tried to answer, but his words were incoherent. As for Kurnuki, who was in dragon form just a few minutes ago, he was now standing elegantly to the side, quietly watching the interrogation, and he didn't look a bit disheveled at all!

Erza blurted out in shock, "That ended so quickly?!?!"

"What's going on? Dispel, did you get involved in the fight?"

"No way! The battle was already over when I came up!"

This answer stunned everyone: The battle was already over when you came up? You were only down there for about ten minutes, right? So, Culnuki defeated this guy in such a short time?! No way?! Isn't he a Dragon Slayer Mage? How could he lose so quickly?

The shock in everyone's hearts was written all over their faces. Noticing this, Kurnuki said calmly, "You don't really think that humans can defeat dragons, do you?"

These extremely pretentious words filled Erza and the others with awe, as if all their previous understanding had been completely overturned.

Kira had always unconsciously categorized dragons into different classes when imparting information about them, leading them to believe that it was normal for them to be unable to defeat Acnologia, but that defeating other dragons would be no problem. Only now did they realize the truth: before encountering Knuki, they had only ever fought Acnologia!

"Tch! Acnologia killed a dragon while in human form, didn't he?"

Kira's witty remark silenced Kournuki once again.

So he pretended not to hear that and continued, "This guy didn't inherit the strength that the Sea Dragon King should have! Perhaps it's because the power to slay dragons obtained through predation would incur the resentment of the dead..."

After he explained it, the others understood why their opponent had been defeated so quickly.

"I see... I told you before, eating random things is bad for your health!"

During their conversation, Dispel stopped the interrogation and learned from the bearded man that most of the wealth he had gained from eliminating the 'One-Eyed Serpent' had been handed over to the guild, and after spending it over the past few days, he now had less than 10% left.

"You've handed over so much stolen goods to the guild, you really are a role model in the industry... I see you're not young anymore, shouldn't you be saving up for a wife or retirement?"

"I...I'm only 20 years old this year..."

So Dispel fell silent, suddenly realizing he had been too harsh on his younger brother.

In contrast, everyone else was utterly shocked: "You're only 20?! But that beard, those hair follicles... I bet you could say you're 40!"

"Well... compared to others, I did develop a little faster..."

"You call this a little bit?!" ×N

……

Half a day later, the group parted ways.

As a mage of the Dragon Hunter Guild, the bearded boy was ashamed to be defeated by a dragon and naturally had no face to follow Kira and the others. So he continued with his original quest, which was to "exterminate the 'One-Eyed Serpent' and rescue the kidnapped citizens" and send those who had been captured here back home one by one.

After his clumsy handling of the situation, everyone finally believed that he was really only 20 years old, and couldn't help but marvel at the differences between people, which were even greater than the differences between hair follicles.

After that, Kira and the others continued toward the headquarters of the Magical Council of the United States (MNP), intending to finally settle the SS-rank mission that had been going on for half a month.

On the airship, everyone except Kira was sullen.

"I feel like something's missing..."

"Yes, an SS-rank mission... it's far from what I expected."

Natsu and Gray, the two belligerents, were the biggest spoilers of the atmosphere, while Erza, Lucy, and Wendy seemed much calmer, passing the time with Kira in a 'Fairy Tail Kill' fight.

"Hey, aren't you really going to play a round, Dispel? These cards are really fun!" Kira's voice was languid, clearly exhausted from playing cards.

But soon, Dispel's roar invigorated him: "Stop talking nonsense and give me back my share of the treasure!"

“Just say I didn’t see it!” Kira replied casually, continuing to play his cards, “[Giant’s Fist].”

"Who would believe your nonsense?! You bastard... you bastard Hopelette!!"

"Who told you not to take better care of your belongings? With so much stuff, it's not surprising that some random handsome guy passing by would pick it up, right?"

"No way! You'd be the only one who would do something like that!"

"Since you knew this would happen, why did you leave so easily? Doesn't that mean you didn't seize the opportunity to get rich?"

Dispel was furious, but he couldn't make a move, because if he did, those things would never come back. So he could only take Nazgre and the other man and vent their anger by touching and fiddling around on the airship.