Chapter 540 - 540: The Underworld King’s Ambition

Bluenote's current appearance looked disturbingly similar to the members of Tartaros that Natsu had fought before.

This was exactly what those demons looked like when they completely released their true forms.

Bluenote's body had swollen several times larger, tearing apart most of his clothes.

His skin had turned dark and unnaturally tough, while his eyes glowed with a bloody red light.

Sharp fangs filled his mouth, saliva dripping between them, and both of his arms had thickened into something resembling enormous war hammers, as though a casual swing could smash through a fortress wall.

A pair of malformed demon wings had also grown from his back.

They looked far too incomplete to actually support flight, but even as useless decorations they made him monstrous enough to frighten any ordinary person senseless.

"You!"

Natsu pointed at him, his voice dropping.

"How the hell did you turn into a demon?!"

Bluenote barely seemed to hear him.

He was too absorbed in the sensation of his new body.

"This feeling…"

A bizarre laugh escaped him.

"I almost feel like I could fly…"

Then his expression abruptly twisted into violent excitement.

"That person's power is working again!"

"Now I can tear you apart!"

Bluenote lunged.

His massive fist came down like a meteor.

Natsu didn't retreat an inch.

Dragon flames erupted around his own fist as he met the attack head-on.

The Fire Dragon King's flames exploded with enough heat to melt buildings.

Nearby walls began to soften, and the armor worn by Stella's soldiers rapidly grew scorching hot.

The ordinary troops, lacking the monstrous constitutions of the two fighters, were forced to retreat far from the battlefield.

Then Natsu's eyes widened.

His punch had been stopped.

The same crushing fist that had been overwhelming Bluenote earlier had now been blocked head-on.

Bluenote hadn't dodged.

Hadn't redirected it.

He had simply matched Natsu's strength.

Natsu poured more Magic Power into his fist, causing the flames to surge hotter, but then he noticed something else.

An invisible layer of repulsive force surrounded Bluenote's arm, constantly pushing the Fire Dragon King's flames away.

'His Gravity Magic got stronger?'

The instant Natsu realized it, he changed tactics.

He abruptly withdrew his fist, releasing the clash rather than stubbornly forcing it, then attacked with a rapid series of punches from different angles.

Bluenote kept up effortlessly.

Before transforming, he had barely been able to withstand Natsu's attacks.

Now his physical ability and overall power had increased dramatically.

Even his control over gravity had become far more flexible.

Sometimes he compressed enormous gravitational force into an area no larger than the point of a needle, yet the resulting pressure felt as heavy as a mountain.

Other times, his magic spread across a huge area with overwhelming spectacle, only to become almost weightless at the last moment, suddenly robbing Natsu of gravity and throwing his body helplessly through the air.

Natsu excelled at reading an opponent's rhythm during battle.

Once he understood how someone moved and fought, he would usually smash apart that rhythm in one burst and seize control of the fight.

But Bluenote's transformation had changed everything.

His stamina and Magic Power disadvantages had disappeared instantly, and even the way his abilities worked had changed.

It was like fighting a game boss that revived at full health in the middle of the battle and came back with an entirely different skill set.

"Hahahaha! How does it feel, brat?!"

Bluenote laughed wildly.

"My magic has evolved into a Gravity Curse!"

He manipulated the stronger force around him with obvious delight.

"This feeling… this freedom!"

"Curses are far superior to magic!"

Natsu frowned.

"Your magic… turned into a Curse?"

"That's even possible?"

He focused more carefully on Bluenote.

There really was no Magic Power coming from him anymore.

Curses were powers innate to demons.

Unlike magic, which humans had to study and refine through years of practice, a Curse was essentially part of a demon's existence.

Naturally, a demon could manipulate it with far greater instinct and freedom.

Bluenote only became more arrogant as Natsu stared at him.

Natsu clicked his tongue irritably.

Happy, still clinging to his shoulder, immediately began tugging on him.

"Natsu, let's go! Everyone else should already be outside the city! There's no reason to keep fighting this guy!"

"RUN?!"

Bluenote raised both fists overhead.

"Did I say you could leave?!"

The buildings and broken stone around them began to rise.

Walls, rubble, chunks of pavement, and enormous slabs of rock flew into the air, gathering together above Bluenote's head.

More and more debris compressed into a gigantic sphere.

Before long, it looked almost like a miniature meteor.

"DIE!"

Bluenote slammed his arms downward.

The enormous stone mass came crashing toward Natsu.

Natsu's eyes flicked toward the large residential district behind him.

He gritted his teeth.

Running now would mean letting that thing crush half the neighborhood.

"Damn it!"

He turned back and punched.

Fire Dragon King flames erupted at full force.

The miniature meteor rapidly glowed red beneath the extreme heat before melting into molten stone.

The liquefied mass broke apart and rained harmlessly across a nearby empty area.

Bluenote charged through the spectacular shower of molten rock, fully expecting to continue the fight.

Natsu and Happy were gone.

"Damn bastard…"

Bluenote slammed one fist into the wall of a nearby house.

The building collapsed under the impact.

Only after destroying yet another structure to vent his anger did he finally leave the area, visibly unwilling to accept that his opponent had escaped.

...

After an entire day of chaos, Altair finally began settling down once Natsu and Happy successfully withdrew.

The city's army moved through the streets restoring order, though after everything that had happened, it would probably take quite some time before the residents truly calmed down.

Meanwhile, deep inside Altair's royal palace, an entirely different conversation was taking place.

A dimly lit hall sat far from the public areas of the palace.

A figure dressed in ancient-looking golden robes stood silently before a crystal orb.

Inside the orb, the entire battle between Natsu and demonized Bluenote played out from beginning to end.

The golden-robed figure watched until the image finally faded.

Then he turned toward the man sitting leisurely nearby, sipping red wine.

"Your subordinate was unable to deal with the intruder either."

The seated man slowly swirled the wine in his glass.

He seemed more amused than concerned.

"He rarely gets the opportunity to use the power I gave him."

"He simply became overexcited."

"I'm not worried."

The figure in gold snorted and pointed toward the image of Natsu still lingering within the crystal.

"Dragon Cry has already been stolen."

"Zash has disappeared as well."

"If those people captured him and extract anything useful, even as the King of Stella, I won't be able to avoid a purge from the Magic Council!"

"Don't be so impatient…"

The man took another slow sip.

"Your Majesty."

"We are partners."

"Of course I'll help you."

Something seemed to occur to him.

A cruel smile appeared beneath the shadows covering his face.

"As for Zash…"

"He played his part in the plan, but after making this much of a mess…"

The man shrugged.

"Let him die."

Then his smile faded.

"And Dragon Cry…"

His eyes narrowed.

"My companions will retrieve it."

A cold, poisonous edge entered his voice.

"When it comes to stealing things…"

"They have no equal."

"That had better be true."

The King of Stella left those words behind before rising and walking out of the chamber.

The seated man watched him go.

Once the king disappeared through the doorway, the corner of his mouth curled into a pitying smile filled with contempt.

"Pathetic little insect."

Dusk had fully faded.

The moon slowly rose above the horizon.

The man stood and walked onto the balcony, lifting his eyes toward the bright moon hanging above Altair.

If Ankh and the others had been there to see the face that finally emerged from the shadows, they would have recognized him instantly.

And they would have been stunned.

He was the one member of Tartaros whose survival had been confirmed after the guild's destruction.

The demon who had escaped death, joined the Alvarez Empire, and eventually risen into the ranks of the Spriggan 12.

The Underworld King—Mard Geer.

Compared with six months ago, the pressure radiating from him had become considerably more oppressive.

Mard Geer stared coldly at the moon.

His hand slowly clenched into a fist.

"Zeref-sama…"

His voice was quiet, but the ambition behind it was impossible to miss.

"I will prove it to you."

"I am the strongest demon."

His eyes narrowed.

"And I will become the most valuable of all the Spriggan 12."

Beneath the lonely moonlight, Mard Geer's words lingered in the night, carrying an unmistakable hunger for power and recognition.

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