A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Previously, after Gray's probing questions, Kira had told him most of what Natsu was about, but under Kira's alarmist rhetoric, he kept the secret.

If he could pretend he knew nothing and ignore it before today, the demonic power leaking from Natsu now forced him to take it seriously. After all, Natsu was an important companion and an indispensable member of Fairy Tail.

"Don't worry, it's only a small portion of the power; Natsu can handle it!"

Kira pondered for a moment, and based on his perception and experience, made a medical diagnosis: "I think it's probably because Larcade's magic entered Natsu's body. And because Larcade originated from Natsu, his magic was absorbed and digested by Natsu's body, which in turn slightly awakened the demon seed that was dormant in his body, which is why this change occurred."

This situation is similar to the scenario in the manga "Bleach" where Ichigo Kurosaki is trapped in a spiritual prison created by the Sternritter J. He tries to break the prison with Getsuga Tenshou but fails. Then, the Shinigami's spiritual pressure mixed with Quincy power returns to his body, thus awakening the Quincy power deep within his soul.

"What is lost on one front is gained on another. Although it is indeed a pity to lose the Thunder Flame Dragon Mode, Natsu might get an END Mode now?"

Moreover, since this power is his own, it is definitely more powerful and easier for him to control.

"what is going on?"

Ultear and Larcade noticed Natsu's changes. The former, unaware of the situation, simply assumed that Natsu had become stronger and didn't think much of it despite the strangeness of the situation. Larcade, however, had a more complicated expression.

"To break free from my magic so easily, he truly lives up to his reputation as 'that guy'..."

Having lived for over four hundred years, Larcade was even more naive and ignorant than Irene, a woman who had always stayed deep in the mountains. She had no idea that Natsu's transformation was caused by the magic she had just cast.

"Perfect timing! Let's take this opportunity to see who is Father's greatest masterpiece, you or me!"

Since gaining self-awareness and being able to learn and understand things from his surroundings, Larcade has had a deep-seated worry: he discovered that in his father's heart, there was someone more important than him, a being named END, a demon created by his father.

A mere demon? What is that? Can it compare to me? I am a member of the Dragoneel family!

Yes, Larkad always thought he was a human being!

Although he has identified himself as the 'son of Zeref' for hundreds of years, Larcade has never pondered why his father and he are different from those around them, even though they are all human. He simply assumes that it is because the Doraganiru family is special.

In other words, all along, in Larcade's heart, only his father and he himself were family. Those like END were no better than Maldor of the 'Gates of Tartaros'; they were just discarded trash!

Only I can fulfill my father's wish to defeat Acnologia!

This proud mindset unconsciously gave rise to a hint of arrogance in his words and actions, but this arrogance was shattered beyond recognition the moment his true identity was revealed a few months ago.

Only then did Larcade learn the truth: END was a member of the Dragneel clan, and he himself was the demon!

Family members, does anyone understand?!

Larcade cried his heart out, but he couldn't find anyone he could call family, because all the other Etrias besides him, whether it was Hades Maldo who had long been abandoned, or Bradman who had also served as a member of the Twelve Aegis, were all dead.

Larcade was in despair at that moment. Even though he was raised as a son by Mavis afterward, he could never get back the way he felt for END. He had lost his former pride and all that remained was hatred.

By the way, in Larcade's current 'Hated Characters Ranking', END only ranks second, the first being August, who stole his role as 'son'.

Intending to challenge END, the most notorious of the demons, Larcade didn't linger this time and launched an attack. He formed his palms into blades, and the pure white magic changed its nature, quickly condensing on the side of his blade-like hands. He then gently pushed forward, unleashing two flying slashes.

"Blade of Light!!"

"This is different from the magic we just saw?!"

As the saying goes, an outsider's perspective is clear. Without being attacked, Ultear immediately recognized that the magical nature of these two light blades was completely different from the previous tentacles, and their purpose and function were also different.

If those tentacles of desire before might have made outsiders think of Larcade as a third-rate monk with a holy and aloof exterior but a dirty and evil heart, then these two light blades that he casually unleashed now gave him the image of a powerful and lewd mage.

The two are worlds apart... well, essentially there's no difference.

After silently cursing to herself, Ultear immediately refocused on the battle. She glanced at Natsu, knowing that he was in no condition to continue fighting, and decided to go and help him, but the battle...

"Ice Creation: The Burial of Chrysanthemums!!"

As the cold current surged, countless ice chrysanthemums shot out, transforming the arena, which was already 40% covered in ice and snow, into a scene resembling a tomb.

The white chrysanthemum symbolizes death. The chrysanthemum, made of ice, in Ultear's hand, unleashed a destructive power far exceeding Lyon's Dynamic Form and Gray's Still Form, as if it truly possessed the power to kill those within it.

"Stop getting in my way!!"

Rakede spoke coldly, without turning his head, and quickly walked towards Natsu, simply moving his left hand to create a purple-white magical field under Ultear's feet.

"What?! Oh no..."

Before Ultear could fully recover from her shock, dozens of magic ropes shot out from the dark white magic field, but the attack method was the same as before, only binding.

"Damn it!! If I get hit, I'll end up like those people!!"

Ultear was horrified. She could lose this battle, even be completely overwhelmed, but she absolutely couldn't lose so humiliatingly, or Kira would laugh at her! She had just seen it all; that bastard was taking pictures with his camera!

"I'd rather have my IQ halved and my debt doubled than be photographed in such an embarrassing way and die a horrible death!!"

"Ice-made... Ugh—!"

Before Ultear could even make a move, dark white shackles had already tightly bound her body!

Ultear's high-pitched, short scream echoed through the arena. Her once delicate face, full of collagen, was now deathly pale, covered in cold sweat, and ashen-faced.

Ahhhhh!! Oh no, oh no, oh no!! My body is about to become immersed in desire...

"Huh?? There's nothing there..."

Before she could exert her extraordinary willpower and desire to resist, she unexpectedly discovered that the magic that struck her seemed to be of a different type than the previous ones.

Chapter 742 The Power of Awakening

"What...what's going on?! I'm so sleepy!!"

Both are physical desires, and both are difficult to suppress, but Ultear can clearly feel that the magic she experiences is different from what others experience; it's not the kind of desire that can become addictive.

"Right, that guy said before that his magic is desire, which means it includes more than just the desire to reproduce, so what I'm experiencing must be other forms of desire! This drowsiness... the urge to sleep?!"

In a mere instant, Ultear guessed the reason for her physical changes and also thought of a solution: 'Since this is just awakening my drowsiness, all I need to do to resist is stay awake! That's easy for me; I can do it effortlessly with willpower!'

If Kira knew what Ultear was thinking at that moment, he would surely marvel at how Versailles this woman was, uttering words so casually that they could move countless students to tears.

Can you really stay alert and study diligently just by willpower? What a joke! If that were true, there would be no such thing as dozing off in class!

Ultear barely kept her eyes open, her gaze fixed on the beautiful ice petal in her hand, but she hesitated to make any further moves—when her willpower was insufficient to maintain consciousness, a certain degree of pain could achieve the same effect—Ultear still had another problem.

"Should we really continue fighting? I can sense that this is no longer a battle I can intervene in. If I were sober, I would definitely get beaten badly!"

"Besides, that guy named Larcade just used Sleep Desire on me, which was already quite lenient. If I anger him later and he really uses the Reproduction Desire magic on me, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"Why don't we just lie down and take a nap?"

Do it when you think of it!

Ultear immediately sat down on the ground, using her acting skills honed over two and a half years of training. She naturally and diligently controlled her facial muscles and body language, pretending to be affected by the Sleep Desire Magic, appearing physically exhausted and mentally drained, before lying down with a 'thud'.

'Perfect acting!' Urudia thought to herself with secret delight.

"Does she think her acting is perfect?" Kira pointed at Ultear lying on the ground and said to Gray beside him with a speechless expression.

"Well..."

Gray glanced around nervously, and finding that no one was paying attention, he whispered in agreement, "Probably only Erza can rival her in being bad..."

Kira raised an eyebrow, his face full of surprise: "Wow! You've gotten so cocky lately? You even dare to criticize Erza's acting? Aren't you afraid of dying...?"

On the other side, Gerald's face was also as ugly as if he had eaten something awful.

Of course, this wasn't out of anger, but rather out of shame, because Urutia's behavior was, frankly, a direct surrender and admission of defeat, which could also be described as blatant match-fixing.

Although there is no rule against admitting defeat in the Grand Magic Games, they are entrusted by the Fiore royal family to make a name for themselves in this competition, so they certainly cannot admit defeat!

Fortunately, since the Sleep Desire Magic is real, only a mage with sufficient strength, sharp eyes, good acting skills, familiarity with her personality, and who happens to witness the scene could see through Ultear's pretense of being affected. As for the Fiore royal family's scoundrels, they certainly wouldn't be able to spot the flaw!

"This guy... he's really a handful..."

"However, this should be enough!"

Gerald couldn't help but recall what the Emerald Princess had said when she came to them after they participated in the tournament, asking them to join the competition—

"If possible, please try to achieve a higher ranking! Getting first place might be a bit difficult, but if you play well enough and show how you're different from before, it should make it easier for the council members and the residents of the Kingdom of Fiore to accept your pardon, right?"

To put it another way, this means: You don't want to be controlled by the royal family forever, do you? You don't want to live your lives bearing the scorn of the people and the scrutiny of the council, do you? If you've thought it through, then give it your all in the competition. Even if you can't beat Fairy Tail, try your best to get second place!

If Gerald still pretends not to understand, or genuinely doesn't understand, after the other party has already said so much, he would truly be letting down the years he spent infiltrating the council.

With Ultear's departure, the three-way battle ended up leaving only Larcade and Natsu to fight each other.

However, Natsu's current state is not very stable. Those dark red flames, which belong to END and are created by demonic power, are obviously more violent and harder to control than Natsu's original flames, which has led to Natsu being in a state of mental confusion.

Dark red flames enveloped the figure of the cherry-haired boy on the field. His white dragon scale scarf was also stained with a faint black aura due to the flames. The black aura continued to spread, eroding his eyes and covering his hands and feet. He looked like a fire demon that had walked out of hell.

"Drink... Ha..."

Natsu seemed to be struggling against some kind of consciousness, clearly showing signs of discomfort. He was panting heavily, and the violent and turbulent energy of the dark red flames became extremely dangerous under his control. It not only burned away the white magical tentacles wrapped around him, but also melted and evaporated the shards of ice at his feet, turning the arena into a sea of ​​fire once again.

Dark flames filled the air, melting the ground from the intense heat. Even the magical particles that Larcade himself unconsciously released and floated in the air were completely burned away, forcing Larcade to be wary of Natsu's current power.

“END…”

Before Larcade could even finish greeting him, Natsu suddenly made his move!

He remained silent throughout, his movements as concise and direct as ever, but his silence made him appear much colder.

With lightning-fast movement and a forward straight punch weighing over a thousand pounds, it landed heavily in Larkad's palm!

"So heavy..."

Feeling a completely different sensation than before, Larkad was moved and couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice. Then his body trembled slightly and he staggered back half a step.

This punch looked powerful and heavy, but to Natsu it was just an ordinary punch. The real killing move was the second attack launched after it was blocked!

boom!!

The raging flames exploded instantly, and dark red flames quickly erupted from Natsu's entire body, but most of them appeared on his right arm, making him look like a car starting its engine. The roar came one after another, and the flames surged out, maximizing the power of Natsu's ordinary punch!

"Drink it all!!"

With a muffled roar from Natsu, Larcade, who had been handling things with ease until now, finally suffered a setback. Natsu punched him, sending him flying. The powerful force dragged him across the ground several times until the metal cross on his back left a long drag mark on the ground before he finally came to a stop.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that Larcade's palms were burned and torn open by Natsu's flames, leaving them a blurry mess.

Chapter 743 Narrow Defeat

"He actually sent Larcade flying with just one punch?!"

Zeref was very surprised. Although he created END, Natsu had never shown the corresponding power since it was created, so this was the first time he had witnessed END's strength.