Chapter 96: Confrontation With Jellal

When Natsu was heading upstairs he heard warnings throughout the entire island, informing them of the incoming disaster that is the 'Eterion Blast'. It looked like Jellal set up an emergency announcement to make everyone despair. He really wanted to make this into a death game.

"That damn sadist." Natsu cursed under his breath and increased his speed. He wanted to catch up to them fast.

When he finally saw the final door to the topmost floor he kicked it open and was greeted with the sight of Jellal smiling evilly while hugging Erza who was crying her eyes out. He had finished casting his bind magic forming a snake tattoo on Erza's back who was completely unaware of it.

"You bastard!! Get away from her." Natsu angrily shouted teleporting in front of him. Erza was surprised watching his angry entrance but before she could reach out to him the snake tattoo started tightening around her body, restraining her.

"W-What's happening!?... Why can't I move?" Erza asked in confusion but when she saw the evil smirk on Jellal's face she immediately understood she was duped by him. She thought Jellal was controlled by Zeref's evil spirit but it looked like that was not the case at all. Jellal was fully aware of his sins due to Ultear's manipulation.

"Jellal!! You tricked me…" Erza looked at his retreating figure angrily. She couldn't believe how easily he manipulated her to do his bidding. She wanted to trust her childhood friend but it looked like he was beyond saving.

Jellal immediately jumped back separating from Natsu and looked at the duo in amusement. Natsu stood between Jellal and Erza protecting her from any more sneak attacks.

"Haha, would you look at this? The mighty 'Titania' fell for such a cheap trick. If I knew it would be so easy to restrain you, I wouldn't have any need to prepare any backup plans." Jellal laughed out sadistically. Erza couldn't move her body due to the restraining spell, making any movement incredibly difficult. She couldn't even cast any magic due to the binding spell, making her all the more frustrated.

"Jellal!!!" Erza looked at him with a hateful expression. She felt hurt after getting betrayed so despicably. She wanted to believe in the kind friend he was in her childhood, but it looked like that was just a memory of the past.

"I told you to be careful of him. Now, let me handle him myself, Erza. You should back away from this place. You should at least be able to walk away. I'll make you regret making an enemy out of me, Jellal." Natsu told her while refocusing on Jellal. He knew the guy in front of him was not someone he should underestimate.

"Oh? Then please make sure to entertain me, Natsu Dragneel. Or, should I say the son of the mighty 'Fire Dragon King' Igneel. I want to see the infamous wrath of the dragon." Jellal looked at Natsu with an amused smirk. Natsu was surprised to hear him know about his dragon parents.

"Then get ready to be burned, Jellal!!" Natsu shouted angrily, releasing his breath attack. The flames glowed intensely, signifying his current raging emotions. Jellal easily avoided the attack by jumping to the side and countered it.

"Dark Grab!" Jellal muttered moving his hands toward Natsu's location while staying far away from him. A pair of strong, dark-colored arms appeared from the floor and tried to immobilize him, but Natsu easily sucked out the magic since it was of the darkness attribute.

"Hmm… so it looks like the intel was true. You do have a dual affinity. How intriguing!" Jellal said with intrigue. It looked like he was just testing the water with Natsu.

Natsu looked at Jellal's direction with dilated noses and instantly teleported in front of him making him surprised.

"Don't underestimate me. I want to pay you back for all the suffering Erza went through, Jellal!!" Natsu shouted angrily, kicking him a few feet away. Jellal defended with his arms, successfully minimizing the damage. Then, he jumped back after a while to regain his footing and dusted his clothes off.

"My my, what an impatient fellow. I was trying to understand your magic but you just had to interrupt me. It looks like I can't use my dark magic. Thankfully, it isn't my primary magic." Jellal muttered, looking at Natsu's direction coldly. It seemed like he was ready to face Natsu seriously. He previously used dark magic just to test things out. Now it looked like he needed to step up his game.

"Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor!" Jellal said lowly instantly disappearing from his position and appearing in front of Natsu. Natsu was well prepared to face him, but Erza had difficulty following his movements since it was too fast for untrained eyes. Jellal surrounded his body by a cloak of 'Heavenly Body Magic', allowing him to move through the air at incredible speeds. It was almost impossible to catch him while using this particular magic since his speed was faster than what the eyes could follow.

"Let me repay the favor, 'Salamander'!" Jellal coldly said before assaulting Natsu with quick and precise melee attacks. Natsu could only defend against the attacks while being unable to counter, but he had difficulty following the movements which led to him making a small mistake that Jellal wholeheartedly exploited. Getting forcefully kicked away, leading him to fly off and crash into the walls.

After a while, Natsu stood up from the debris with an annoyed expression. After dusting off his clothes, he glared at Jellal.

"It looks like I need to step up my game as well. Dragon Force, activate!" Natsu muttered, activating his dragon force. He started transforming into a humanoid dragon, gaining reptilian, slit-like eyes, and his skin started transforming into a scale-like shape. He released an intense magical pressure from his transformation putting Jellal on guard.

"This must be the famous dragon force that I read in a book depicting 'Dragon Slayers'. How intriguing? It looks like this transformation multiplies your strength by around a factor of ten." Jellal praised Natsu's transformation. He looked at it with great interest, making Natsu annoyed.

"Stop praising me. Hearing your praise makes me sick. If you know about my transformation then you should know that you stand no chance against me in this form." Natsu coldly said, getting into his fighting position, but Jellal just looked at him disinterestedly, making him confused.

"Why are you looking at me like that!? Don't think that I won't beat you up if you decided to surrender." Natsu said, making it clear that he wouldn't accept any surrender kindly. He wanted to beat the jackass in front of him for all the troubles he caused Erza.

(A/N: Sorry for not uploading yesterday. I kinda hurt my right arm due to a bad sleeping position. I couldn't type without my right arm aching. Anyway, thanks for reading as usual. Don't forget to vote for this novel using your power stones ;) It motivates me to continue writing.)