A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

The dragon's corpse was struck and slashed, then scattered around Dispel and fell to the ground, causing a continuous rumble and shaking the earth. The ones who suffered the most were undoubtedly Natsu and Gajeel.

Fortunately, they weren't helpless novices.

"The Roar of the Iron Dragon!!"

"Crimson Lotus Blazing Blade!!"

With two loud roars, the two simultaneously launched their attacks on the overwhelming meteorites. One was a roar to the sky, the other a Dragon-Slaying Secret Technique—their last act of defiance.

'Damn it! My magic is almost gone...' Gajeel thought bitterly.

He had already fought Natsu for a long time and even used his full-power ultimate move, which consumed too much magic power. Even though he recovered some while Kira and Despel were fighting, it was still not enough.

'That's how I am, that Fire Dragon guy must be...'

However, when he turned his head, Gajeel froze instantly.

"What are you doing, you bastard, fire dragon?!"

Amid Gajeel's roar, which reached eighty decibels, Natsu glanced at him with a look that was three parts cunning, three parts disdain, and four parts indifference. He even curled the corners of his mouth into a silent mockery before slowly turning around and taking a breath!

Whether the stones had fallen or not, the flames wrapped around them seemed to have encountered their master's servants, surging towards Natsu in a manner similar to rivers flowing into the sea, and finally disappearing into Natsu's mouth like falling into a bottomless pit.

This guy is eating fire! How can he eat fire at a time like this?! What gives him the right to eat fire?!

Gajeel was so angry that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and he was jumping up and down in a frantic manner, looking like a clown.

"Ah! After eating it, strength surged up from my body!"

After consuming the fire, Natsu's magic and stamina were restored. He easily smashed the boulder that had landed on his head into dust with two punches, then swung his fist at the air before shouting towards Kira in the sky, "Thanks for the treat, Kira! This fire tasted really good!!"

Is he showing off to me?! He's definitely showing off to me!!

"You are welcome!"

Gajeel looked toward Kira following the sound and found that Kira wasn't paying attention to Dispel, but was looking at him with a mixture of cunning, mockery, and smugness in his eyes.

That bastard... what kind of look is that?! It's so annoying!

Just then, Kira's unhurried voice came: "Natsu, it'll be sunset in about ten minutes. You know what to do now, right?"

Gajeel's heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling popped into his head.

"Of course!"

Natsu laughed loudly, turned around and walked towards Gajeel, clenching his hands together, and orange-red flames ignited on his body.

"Gajeel, let's continue with the assessment!"

Those two bastards!!

Chapter 599, Second Level Ended

Gajeel lost, and the defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Exhausted and facing Natsu who was almost at full strength, he had no chance to fight back and fell at his opponent's feet in less than ten minutes.

Natsu delivered a fairly decent answer to Kira.

"Well done, Natsu!" Killer landed beside Natsu, chuckling as he patted him on the shoulder.

From the very beginning, this development was something he had planned.

Kira knew that Dispel's strength was comparable to his own, and Natsu and Gajeel were also evenly matched. If they went head-to-head, neither side would be able to determine a winner before sunset. Therefore, their chance of winning lay in the ability of Dragon Slayers to recover magic power by consuming elemental substances, as well as the teamwork between them!

Needless to say, Dispel has no magic and cannot restore Gajeel's mana; as for the latter, his relationship with Gajeel is not as close as his relationship with Natsu.

So he chose to let Natsu and Gajeel fight a war of attrition, then he would distract and hold off Despel, and finally let Natsu eat the fire to regain his strength and defeat Gajeel.

Of course, this is just a strategy; the tactics were devised on the spot.

The moment the mountain collapsed from the aftershocks of his and Dispee's attack, he thought of the Skyfire Meteor method.

As Kira had predicted, he deliberately shaped the mountain into the form of a dragon. Lured by the romantic tale of 'slaying the dragon,' Dispel's attention was instantly drawn to the dragon above, and he subconsciously ignored the flames above and Gajeel below. To ensure his safety, Gajeel would inevitably have to squeeze out his last bit of magic power to resist the meteor shower.

As for whether the meteor shower will affect Natsu?

Please, to him, this should be a rain of candy!

……

At night, everyone gathered on the mountaintop for another bonfire party.

Tonight's meal is much more plentiful than yesterday's. Yesterday, there was only the meat of eleven monsters, some of which were things that some of the girls dared not eat. Today, however, due to the battle between Kira and Dispel, many monsters were trampled or accidentally injured while fleeing, resulting in their deaths from severe injuries and becoming food for everyone.

"You two, do you even realize how much negative impact that caused?! This isn't your assessment, can't you hold back a little during a fight?!"

Beside the campfire, Makarov, looking fierce and with his beard bristling and his head appearing three or four times the size of his body, roared madly at Kira and Dispel.

"If Brandish hadn't intervened and shrunk the fireball, who knows how long this mountain range would have burned! The council and the Fiore royal family wouldn't have let our guild off easily then..."

"Who do you think is handling all the complaints and punishments from the council every day? Can't you even consider the feelings of a ninety-year-old like me?!"

After a torrent of angry words, Makarov finally felt much better. But when he looked up, he saw the two men in front of him engrossed in eating and drinking, completely ignoring his words. He was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged: "You two, you'd better give yourselves a good talking-to tonight!!"

"Okay, okay..."

"Next time definitely!"

Kira and Dispel were extremely dismissive.

"..."

Forget it! Continuing to curse will only hurt my health; it's not worth it.

At this moment, Makarov felt that Brandish was the most perfect woman present. Even Erza, who was serious about her work, Mira, who was sweet and gentle, her sister Lisanna, Wendy, who was cute, Timalia, who was wild, and Ultear, who was sexy... none of them could compare to even a toe of Brandish!

She's well-behaved and sensible, beautiful and sexy, with big breasts and fair skin, and most importantly, she wears very little clothing, she's simply... *slurp*

I can't think about it anymore! If I keep thinking about it, I'll lose all face!

After a few rounds of drinks, Precito stepped forward and announced the results of the assessment.

Eight people participated in the second stage. Freed, Abrams, and Wendy were eliminated by Erza, Jellal, and Ultear respectively, while Gajeel was eliminated by Natsu. Therefore, only half of them successfully entered the third stage, namely Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Juvia.

Of the four who were defeated, Wendy was undoubtedly the strongest.

"I lost again this year. I thought I could hold on a little longer..."

Ultear was beside her, patting her head to comfort her, "Don't be discouraged, Wendy! You've already done a great job at your age. Maybe next year I won't be your match!"

"That's right, Wendy, have more confidence in yourself!"

"Thank you! Ultearsan, Charuru! I will continue to grow stronger!"

Some who lost received consolation, while others who advanced were harshly criticized.

Unlike Wendy, Lucy was met with disdain and ridicule from Brandish: "You actually managed to get through the second round by hiding? How shameful!"

Lucy felt a pang of shame, but she still stubbornly insisted, "This is within the rules of the assessment!"

Meanwhile, her opponent, Juvia, who was supposed to go find Lucy, also received criticism from others: "Instead of going to find Lucy, she's just hanging around Gray, which is a blatant disregard for the rules of the test..."

"But that's Lord Grey!"

Beside the rock, Gajeel, his body wrapped in bandages, looked grief-stricken and indignant: "I lost to the fire dragon again... Damn it!!"

"If it weren't for that final Fire Meteor match, I definitely wouldn't have lost!"

Levy and Lily comforted him, offering the defeated man a rare moment of solace: "Don't be discouraged, Gajeel! Try again next year..."

"Next year? Hahaha... You're all so naive!" Natsu jumped out from behind the rock, laughing loudly. "I'll become an S-class mage this year! Next year you can compete with everyone else..."

"Don't be so smug, Fire Dragon! You only won because of Kira. If you're so capable, fight me again!!"

"Why should I agree? I've already won!" Natsu grinned smugly. "Besides, Kira helping out was already within the rules!"

"I'm definitely going to be an S-class student this year!"

"Huh?! I should be the S-rank this year!!"

Gray, shirtless, approached Natsu, seemingly unconvinced by Natsu's statement, and confidently and proudly declared, "Natsu, Gajeel is right, you were able to beat him because Killer helped you, but I'm different from you!"

"I was able to get through this round entirely because of my own strength! I am the strongest of the remaining four, so I will definitely be the final winner!!"

Natsu glared back with his slanted eyes: "On your own? That can't be right! I heard that you were only able to fight her because Ultear and Killer sealed Demaria's time magic. If it weren't for them, you would have been killed the moment the fight started!"

"Nonsense!!" Gray's expression froze, and he instinctively began to retort, "If you doubt my strength, we can settle this now!"

"I couldn't ask for more!!"

"Count me in!!"

"And me!! In the end, eliminating people based on the size of the monsters they hunt is just too childish! A real man should settle things with his fists!!"

"I'm not convinced! Today's defeat was all because of Gerald's attitude of slacking off the whole time, I protest!"

"Those who have been eliminated should shut up!!" ×2

More and more people joined the argument, protesting in various ways, with no one willing to back down. Finally, someone shouted, "If you're not convinced, then fight!" and the scene descended into chaos.

"Lord Gray~ Juvia will help you become an S-class mage!!"

Juvia suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wrapping her arms around Gray from behind and twisting her body against his bare torso. "Let's team up with Juvia for the next test!"

"Hmph! What are you doing?! Let go! And besides, I don't need your help!"

"Ahhh!! Lord Gray is so handsome, even with his confidence!!"

Seeing this, Natsu was indignant and pulled Lucy, who was watching the show, over: "If you and Juvia team up, then I'll team up with Lucy! We won't lose to you!"

Lucy was still holding a glass of ale, her big eyes filled with utter bewilderment: "Hey, hey, hey... why did you suddenly drag me into this?!"

"Oh my?! Is tomorrow going to be a couple's day?" Mira came over and started pairing people up for the fun.

"No...no! Mira, don't talk nonsense!! We're not..."

Lucy hurriedly tried to explain, but no matter how she tried to explain, it was all in vain, especially with Juvia adding fuel to the fire.

"That's right, that's right! Juvia and Lord Gray are a couple! Lucy, you fickle woman, you should just go and play somewhere else with Natsu, don't even think about taking Lord Gray's affections away from Juvia!"

"Who wants that kind of thing?! Besides, I'm not a fickle woman!"

"Hmph... You think you can let Juvia underestimate you and steal her away? Juvia won't give you that chance!!"