A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Oh dear~ Lucy's shy! Honestly, she's done all sorts of things with Natsu..."

Huh?! Don't talk nonsense!!

"What?! Is this real?! Natsu, I didn't realize you were so fast..."

The naive Natsu didn't understand the meaning behind their words and bluntly said, "What are you talking about?? I'm always fast! Especially in battle..."

The laughter behind them grew even louder.

Natsu, you idiot! Doesn't he even know what he's saying?!

Lucy blushed, but dared not turn around to explain, afraid that if she said another word, she would once again become the laughingstock of these lewd bastards.

A young girl's mind is so sensitive.

Ultimately, the two who didn't receive the lucky kiss had to begin the final test without any buffs.

"The final round of this S-level assessment is officially beginning!"

At Makarov's command, Natsu and Gray simultaneously sprang into action, charging towards each other.

The two grew up together, fought countless times, and battled side by side countless times. They knew each other inside and out. Not to mention the tacit understanding that familiar people can achieve with just a glance, they could sometimes communicate without looking, listening, or speaking.

This stems from the long-standing collision of souls and physical communication between the two; the former is an extension of will, and the latter is an extension of will.

Therefore, at this moment, in this battle, they quickly anticipated the opponent's first move.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!!"

"Ice-forged Shield!"

clang!!

The thick, solid shield blocked the scorching fist, hissing and releasing steam at the point of contact.

"It didn't break?!" Natsu was secretly surprised.

Without a doubt, the ice Gray created at this moment was colder, harder, and more stable in structure than his usual magic.

"Ice-forged Great Hammer Soldier!!"

Admittedly, Natsu's attack speed was as fast as he said, but Gray's Ice Form was clearly even faster!

Normally, the time it takes Natsu to use one move is enough for Gray to use two moves, but now...

"Ice-forged Lancer!!"

"Ice-Forged Ice Demon Sword!!"

With four consecutive attacks, each with a different method, angle, and force, Gray kept moving, intending to gain the upper hand from the start. But how could Natsu let Gray have his way?

"If one punch isn't enough, then two punches will do!!"

boom!!!

Fire mages are not a group of people who can calm down and think of solutions, and Natsu is no exception. Under his urging, his magic power surged rapidly and turned into flames that spread throughout his body.

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fist!!"

With a loud shout, Natsu's fist slammed heavily onto the ice shield once again. This time, the shield finally couldn't withstand the powerful force and was shattered into pieces. The scattered ice crystals flew in all directions, but the ice crystals that flew towards Natsu melted and evaporated in an instant, turning into wisps of white mist.

The explosion not only shattered the ice shield, but also created a high-temperature zone within a few feet of Natsu. Whether it was an ice hammer falling from the sky or an ice spear thrusting towards him, none of them could escape the fate of the ice shield and perished in the sea of ​​fire.

The only thing that wasn't melted by the flames was the greatsword that Gray was gripping tightly in his hand.

Whoosh!

The greatsword burst forth from the white steam and slashed down forcefully towards Natsu.

"Drink it!!!"

With a beast-like instinct, Natsu caught the trajectory of the greatsword. Without retreating or dodging, he lightly leaped forward and delivered a fierce and accurate fiery hook punch to the edge of the ice sword, instantly melting a nick in the blade.

Then Natsu gave a loud shout, and at the same time, he spun his body, using his waist and abdomen to kick his left leg towards Gray's head.

"Take this!!!"

At the critical moment, two thick ice pillars rose from the ground, one to Gray's right, blocking Natsu's kick, and the other beneath Natsu, thrusting towards his abdomen.

"it's useless!!"

"Ice-Forged War God Spear!!"

"Huh... Gray attacked Natsu there?! That's outrageous!"

At this moment, Natsu raised one leg high, making the towering ice pillar look as if it was attacking his crotch.

"That must have just been a coincidence..."

Although everyone knew exactly what was going on, the presence of a certain person meant that Gray's reputation would likely be damaged when they returned.

If he wins, he will be called a 'despicable mage who wins by using underhanded tricks'; if he loses, he will be called a 'despicable, failed mage who lost even after using underhanded tricks'.

Thinking of this, the group of mages couldn't help but cast pitying glances at Gray in the arena.

In the heat of battle, Gray suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding.

'What's with this sense of crisis?! Is it because of Natsu?'

Looking at the menacing Natsu before him, Gray was filled with doubt, but the situation at the moment did not allow him to think too much; the fist wrapped in flames was the most pressing problem at hand.

"Flame Mode: Fire Dragon King's Crushing Fist!!"

Not to be outdone, Gray also pushed his magic to its limit.

"Evil Extermination Mode: Ice Demon's Forearm Gauntlet!!"

The fruits of years of cultivation were displayed at this moment as endless flames and cold air, all delivered with a single punch.

On the left is a gauntlet made of ice. The gauntlet covers the elbow and fingertips. It has a heavy texture and a unique shape. The scale-like decorations and fine textures reduce resistance while increasing the power when the fist is thrown. It looks majestic and is exactly the same as the gauntlet of the legendary demon king.

On the right is a simple and brutal bare fist, with only a layer of dazzling golden flames wrapped around it. Even just by looking at it, you can feel its unparalleled temperature and destructive power.

The two fists collided, ice and fire were locked in a stalemate in mid-air for a moment, and then both began to vibrate.

boom!!!

The flames were frozen by the cold air, the ice was vaporized by the high temperature, and the burst of magic power turned into explosive energy that collided with each other, creating a huge red and white mushroom cloud. The storm surged in all directions, and flames, ice shards, dust and ash were all swept up into the sky and scattered throughout the entire Darus Mountains after several ups and downs.

"The Roar of the Fire Dragon!!"

"The Ice Demon's Fervor!!"

With a loud shout, a storm howled, and two completely opposite energies, fire and ice, spewed from their mouths, leaving two thick scars, one black and one white, on the ground as they advanced.

It's another seemingly evenly matched magical clash!

Reflected by the ice, the flames made the faces of the mages turn red.

"Oh dear! Gray's current position looks really bad..."

The group was taken aback and asked, "Positioning? What's wrong?"

Kira answered matter-of-factly, "The left side always loses when magic clashes! Generally speaking, when both sides use this type of magic to bombard each other, the person on the right side will win, so Natsu has a high probability of winning."

Happy asked curiously, "But how do you determine left and right in this situation?"

"Look at our perspective!"

Everyone: "..."

This method of judgment is far too arbitrary! Is there really such a thing as 'losing on the left side of the ball'?

"Then Juvia should go watch the game from the other side right away!!"

"You've completely fooled that young girl!"

"No, it wasn't me! Don't talk nonsense!! Girls in love all have this level of intelligence!!!"

The momentum of the attack began to weaken, Natsu and Gray's burst of power was coming to an end, and the power of the flames and ice was also much weaker than at the beginning.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the scales of victory began to tip in Natsu's favor. The ice and fire, which were originally of similar length, ended with the retreat of the ice. The heart-chilling ice was visibly devoured by the flames!

"It looks like Gray is really going to lose!"

"Waaaaah... Lord Gray!! It must be because Juvia didn't give me the 'Kiss of Victory'!!"

Everyone was speechless and sweating: No... it shouldn't be...

Seeing that he was losing the battle, Gray was horrified: "Natsu...when did he become so strong?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

However, the hot wind that rushed in made Grege sweat profusely, as if ruthlessly telling him that "all of this is entirely possible!"

No! This can't go on! I've been evenly matched with Natsu for years, how can I fall here?!

Gray began to consider which move to use next, but as a mage of Fairy Tail, his hands were always faster than his brain. He held one hand in front of him, focused his mind, and when he opened his eyes again, his magic power immediately turned into endless ice, instantly covering half of the Darus Mountains.

"Silver World!!!"

In the blink of an eye, snowstorm swept across the land.

The vegetation, rocks, and rivers within a radius of several hundred meters were turned into cold, hard lumps by this move.

"Amazing!!"

"In that case, Gray should win, right?"

"No... he's still far from it..."

Upon hearing the sound, everyone recovered from their shock at the iceberg and turned their attention to the other side.

Between Gray and Natsu, a line of ice and fire clearly separates their positions and the mountains behind them into two worlds—the left side is covered in frost, while the right side is full of flames. Behind Natsu, there is no chill at all, only a dazzling golden-red landscape.

Compared to the vast expanse of ice that Gray created, the area of ​​fire Natsu created was much smaller, but the temperature was much higher. This was the result of concentrating magical power to maximize the temperature of the fire.

“Gray’s ‘Silver World’ has a great impact, but his magic power is scattered. Natsu, on the other hand, has concentrated his power and avoided unnecessary consumption. In this battle that was originally evenly matched, he will gain the upper hand from now on.”

"Huh... Natsu actually has this kind of intelligence?"

Half an hour later...

"The Fire Dragon King's Blazing Flame!!"

"Ice Demon Zero Katana!!"

"Didn't they say Natsu had an advantage? I can't see it."

after an hour……