Chapter 63: Natsu Vs. Gajeel

"Iron Dragon's Sword," Gajeel shouted while dashing toward Natsu. He transformed his arm into a large, jagged steel blade, similarly to 'Iron Dragon's Club'. It also functioned as a chainsaw. There were multiple jagged spikes along the blade's edge, which made its slashes more painful and dangerous. Gajeel elongated the sword and slashed it toward Natsu.

Natsu dodged the attack calmly and looked at him with a mocking light flashing in his eyes. He wanted to make this Iron-brain even angrier. He would show this jackass why he should never mess with his friends.

"C'mon Gajeel! Is that all you've got? Stop playing around and get serious already." Natsu taunted with a smug face, pissing Gajeel off even further. He jumped away from Natsu and looked at him hatefully.

"You bastard! How dare you mock me?! Take this!! Iron Dragon's Roar!" He roared, unleashing his breath attack. He didn't hold back in the slightest and released his full-on breath attack.

After gathering Magic Power in his mouth, Gajeel shaped it into a powerful tornado that he sent careening towards Natsu. The tornado possessed immense force, capable of generating powerful explosions and inflicting substantial blunt damage. It also contained sharp shards of metal in it which would shred anyone into pieces.

Natsu looked at the incoming attack in disdain. He knew such a low-level attack could never harm him so he didn't even bother to put up any defenses.

"Heh… Do you think that your pathetic breath attack can harm me? Let me show you what a real breath attack looks like. Fire Dragon's Roar!" He roared, unleashing his own breath attack.

He quickly gathered and released a large quantity of crimson-red flames from his mouth at the incoming attack. The flames were of such high intensity that they raised the temperature of the area by several degrees. The fireball quickly headed toward Gajeel.

Natsu's attack quickly broke through the tornado and headed straight toward the surprised 'Iron Dragon Slayer'. Gajeel looked at the incoming attack worriedly. He knew that the attack was terrible news for him.

"Damn it! Iron Dragon's Scales" He bellowed, covering his entire body in steel scales dramatically increasing his offensive and defensive abilities, but Natsu's attack was too strong for his defenses to bear.

*BOOOOM!*

The flames burst into a massive explosion, scattering a large amount of dust blocking the view of both Natsu and Gajeel. Natsu watched this calmly, he didn't think such a weak attack would knock out Gajeel.

And just as he thought, Gajeel came out of the explosion with a tired expression. He had injuries spanning all over his body. The scales that were covering his body had also cracked in many places. He stared at Natsu, his eyes burning with hatred.

"Cough, cough! Don't think that you've won," Gajeel coughed before spitting some blood. Then he took nearby metal utensils. He was almost out of energy after blocking that last attack. So he needed to replenish his strength quickly. Natsu didn't stop him from doing so since he wanted to fight Gajeel as well.

"Burp, that hit the spot. I won't give up so easily, salamander. Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs," Gajeel turned his arm into a large spearhead, from which a large number of iron spears were fired towards Natsu multiple times in rapid succession.

"Did you think projectiles would work now?" Natsu shook his head and calmly dodged the attacks. He quickly dashed toward Gajeel, making him cross his arms in defense.

"Fire Dragon's Claw," Natsu muttered, igniting his feet in flames and thereby increasing the power of his kicks. He aimed a kick toward Gajeel's chest.

"Argh!!!" Gajeel screamed in pain after failing to stop the attack. He flew back and crashed against a nearby wall, destroying it in the process.

After a while, he stood up groggily and looked at Natsu hatefully. He'd never been trounced like this before. He wanted to give some injuries to his opponent, at least. So, he dashed at Natsu and raising his fist.

"Take this, scum! Iron Dragon's Hard Fist," he shouted, punching Natsu while covered in Iron Dragon's Scales that greatly enhanced his punching power, but Natsu calmly countered each punch with his own, making Gajeel shocked. He couldn't believe how Natsu could counter each of his punches so easily.

"No way!! How could you stop my attack just like that? That's impossible!" Gajeel exclaimed in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the difference in strength between them was so enormous.

"Is that all? Honestly, I expected a lot more from the child of Metalicana. What a huge letdown. Sigh…" Natsu said before releasing a sigh. Gajeel was even weaker than he expected. Staying in 'Phantom Lord' must have caused his strength to stagnate. Gajeel became enraged after hearing his mocking words.

"Bastard! I'll show you not to underestimate me! Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel snarled at him with anger, unleashing another breath attack toward Natsu. Natsu looked at the incoming attack in annoyance and swatted it away with ease, making Gajeel wide-eyed.

"No way!! How could you be so strong?" He shouted in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the guy in front of him was so much stronger than him. They were both a 'Dragon Slayer' for god's sake. Why was there such a great disparity between their strengths?

"Heh... How am I so strong, you ask? While you were busy bullying weaklings, I was training hard as f*ck. So, I will obviously be a lot stronger than you. You're such a disappointment, Gajeel." He said, looking at him with a disappointed expression, making Gajeel royally pissed.

"Ugh, you bastard…" He tried to retort, but Natsu quickly stopped him by sending a powerful punch into his guts, making him fall unconscious. Then, Natsu carried him on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and headed toward the guild.

"And that's one down. With this, I'll be able to prove my speculation to gramps. Sigh… Next, I have a whole guild to take care of." He spoke, releasing a heavy sigh before quickly leaving the area. He didn't seem to have any time to sleep tonight.

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~Edited by Nyanodesu

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