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As they entered the palace, George imdiately spotted Zeref, seated high upon the throne, dressed in a black magical robe and wearing an expressionless face.
Below him stood two rows of mages—eleven in total.
Each of these eleven individuals possessed magical power exceeding the level of the Ten Wizard Saints.
As they looked at George and the others entering the hall, their expressions ranged from indifference to disdain, hostility, and outright murderous intent. Not a single one looked friendly.
They made George feel that even August had been more cordial—at least outwardly.
"Your Majesty, everyone has been brought here."
Magic King August respectfully bowed to Zeref before taking his place beside him.
Zeref first turned his gaze toward the position of the Ghost Guild's founder, pausing for a second, then looked at Anna.
"It's been a long ti, Anna."
"It has indeed, Zeref. I found a ti rift. It might be possible to seal the Black Dragon."
Upon seeing Zeref, Anna imdiately tried to explain her discovery of the ti rift and her plan, but Zeref interrupted her without hesitation.
"It's useless, Anna. I know about that ti rift. It can't trap Acnologia—it'll only make him stronger.
He can devour the power of ti itself."
Zeref had created the Eclipse Gate and proposed the plan himself. After four hundred years, it was no surprise that he could detect any temporal rift caused by ti travel the mont Anna appeared.
But after thorough research, he realized the ti rift couldn't trap the Black Dragon at all.
No one understood Acnologia's strength better than he did. Before turning into a dragon, Acnologia had even studied black magic under him.
"Is it useless...?"
Hearing Zeref's words, Anna's body stiffened. She hadn't expected that the plan she had prepared for so long would turn out to be in vain.
"It's just a Black Dragon. I'll handle it myself. Perfect opportunity to forge my ninth Dragon Slayer Crystal. All dragons shall decay before !"
At that mont, an orange-haired male mage with a sword wheel on his back stepped forward arrogantly.
His body radiated powerful magic and the aura of eight distinct types of magic.
To George, he ca off as a bit too edgy.
"Serena, the head of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar, the strongest Dragon Slayer mage who possesses eight Dragon Slayer Crystals."
Despite the bravado, George could still recognize who the orange-haired man was—he was also a Dragon Slayer.
"Arrogant fool."
George shook his head. Serena's magic power was indeed imnse—far beyond Makarov's level as a Saint Wizard.
He was likely far stronger than even Gildarts or Jellal.
But killing the Black Dragon? That was pure fantasy. No matter how powerful Serena's eight types of Dragon Slayer Magic were, they would be useless against Acnologia—completely ineffective.
George had witnessed the Black Dragon's power with his own eyes—they weren't even on the sa level.
"Natsu, we et again. You ca out much earlier than I anticipated… but you're still so weak.
With your current strength, how could you possibly fulfill your destined role? It seems I'll have to give you a little push—to accelerate your growth."
Clearly, Zeref didn't believe Serena could defeat Acnologia. He didn't even respond to him and instead turned his gaze to Natsu.
However, just monts later, Zeref's expression turned to one of deep disappointnt.
When he was young, his parents and younger brother were slain by dragons. To revive his brother, he began studying the forbidden magics of life and death after becoming a mage.
Ultimately, he used his brother's corpse to create the most powerful Fire Demon—E.N.D.—which incurred the wrath of the god Ankhseram, who cursed him.
At first, he didn't care. The curse granted him immortality, allowing him ample ti to study his beloved magic.
But later, he realized how horrifying the curse truly was. Everything and everyone he cared about would be taken by death. His life had beco a tornt.
So, he began creating powerful demons, hoping one of them might kill him and grant him peace.
But in the end, not a single demon could do it.
Thus, he pinned all his hopes on the very first demon he created—his strongest—now residing in Natsu.
Zeref believed in Natsu's potential. If Natsu could grow strong enough, perhaps he could end Zeref's life and release him from his tornt.
If even Natsu failed, then his only remaining option would be to fuse with the Fairy Heart, return to the past, and rewrite all of history.
Originally, with Natsu sealed inside the Fairy Sphere, all Zeref could do was wait.
But now that Natsu was unsealed, Zeref decided to make him feel despair—to help him grow faster.
Because only such intense emotions could push Natsu to his limits—driven by revenge, to ultimately kill Zeref.
"Hate , brother!"
And to achieve that… was simple. All Zeref had to do was kill Natsu's friends.
"What's with this guy?"
George frowned as Zeref suddenly released a wave of killing intent after muttering those cryptic words.
According to the intel George had gathered, even if Zeref wanted the Fairy Heart, there was no reason for him to be so hostile.
Unless… there was information George didn't yet know.
"Emperor Spriggan, we're here to discuss an alliance. The East and West Continents could join forces against the Black Dragon. There's no need for war."
"Join forces with your East Continent? Based on what—your pitiful strength?
If His Majesty hadn't stopped , I could've crushed your continent with my elite forces four years ago."
Before Zeref could speak, one of the Spriggan 12, the shirtless, dark-skinned Desert King Ajeel Raml, sneered and shot back aggressively.
He wasn't boasting—on the Western Continent, he had already led forces to annihilate multiple nations.
From what he had gathered, the countries of the East were even weaker than those of the West. Conquering them would be no challenge.
"Don't forget, the Magic Council still controls the Etherion Bomb—Face. Four years ago, your invasion stopped because of it, didn't it?"
Jellal imdiately retorted.
As a forr mber of the Magic Council—though through his projection—he knew exactly what had happened back then.
At that mont, Zeref, who had remained silent on the throne, finally spoke again:
"Face, huh? That magic was my invention. Why would I fear it? I stopped the war four years ago because Natsu hadn't matured yet."
Fusing with the Fairy Heart and rewriting the past was just a fallback. If Natsu could kill him, Zeref wouldn't need to take that path.
"You keep saying I have to grow and fulfill my destiny—what destiny?
And Igneel said I'm a demon you created. What does that even an? You owe so answers!"
Unable to bear it anymore, Natsu finally burst out, pointing straight at Zeref and shouting furiously.
(End of Chapter)
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