The young man had black hair and wore a black robe on his upper body, with a long strip of white cloth wrapped around the outside like a cloak.
The robe's collar stood high, and with his head lowered, his face was hidden, making him look as if he were sleeping quite soundly.
"Hey, who are you?"
Marco walked straight over and stopped not far in front of the man before asking.
He chose courtesy before force, as for how he would deal with things afterward, that depended on the other person's attitude.
The guy looked like he was sleeping so peacefully that he didn't seem like he had come here looking for trouble.
But he also didn't seem lost, because he wasn't anxious at all.
The figure moved slightly but didn't speak. In truth, he hadn't really been asleep.
The moment Marco appeared, he had already noticed him. He just hadn't moved because he couldn't be bothered to.
A question mark practically appeared over Marco's head.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Looking at the guy who moved once and then went still again, Marco couldn't help but laugh.
When people are truly speechless, they really do laugh.
This guy was actually ignoring him and pretending not to hear him!
"Intruder, explain why you're here. Otherwise, I won't be polite."
Marco smiled helplessly and delivered his final warning.
If this guy still refused to cooperate, then he really would have to act.
No matter how patient he was, he had no time to fool around right now.
Any dangerous factor had to be eliminated.
This time, the man moved more noticeably.
Perhaps he had sensed the emotion in Marco's voice, because he finally raised his head.
"Who are you?" the man asked.
His eyes looked at Marco as though he weren't looking at a living being at all. There wasn't a trace of emotion in them.
"You trespassed onto Tenrou Island, Fairy Tail's sacred ground, and then you ask me who I am? You really are something."
Marco was annoyed enough to laugh again.
The man's tone sounded completely like, Why are you in my home? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was the real member of Fairy Tail.
It was completely backward—utterly ridiculous.
This strange guy was already starting to irritate Marco. He was simply impossible to reason with.
"Fairy Tail...?"
Hearing that name, the man froze for a moment.
He thought carefully about it.
It seemed this island had indeed become Fairy Tail's holy land, so the boy's attitude wasn't surprising.
"But... I definitely arrived here earlier than all of you."
Looking at Marco, the man spoke calmly.
"And one more thing—I don't want to disturb you. You'd better stay away from me, and keep everyone else away too. Once I've stayed long enough, I'll leave on my own."
It had been a long time since Zeref had spoken so many words at once.
Even he was a little surprised after saying them.
The sunny, handsome boy in front of him seemed to possess a kind of power that even he couldn't ignore, to the point that he had unconsciously spoken this much.
If this man had dared to say such things a moment earlier, Marco definitely would have turned hostile on the spot.
He would have taught this arrogant guy a lesson and shown him exactly why flowers were red.
Marco himself didn't even know how long it had been since anyone had dared to act this smug in front of him—especially with the kind of arrogance the man before him displayed.
Everything this guy said was nothing but one show-off line after another, all of it dripping with arrogance and contempt.
First, he claimed he had come to Tenrou Island before Fairy Tail.
Then he told Fairy Tail's people not to bother him, saying it was supposedly for Fairy Tail's own good...
Any Fairy Tail mage who heard him would be irritated and think he was looking for trouble.
But at this moment, Marco couldn't attack him, because something about the man's condition was very wrong.
The aura around him was extremely dangerous.
Buzz!!!
Under Marco's gaze, a terrifying power burst from the man's body.
The key point was that the man himself wasn't casting magic at all.
He hadn't mobilized any magic power whatsoever, which made the eruption come with terrifying suddenness.
"Ahhh!!! Run! Get away!"
Most importantly, the man was clutching his head and screaming.
While crying out, he was also telling Marco to get away quickly, as if afraid of hurting him.
The more he shouted, the more violently the black waves erupted, as if they were deliberately going against his will.
Buzz!
Marco's figure vanished. Since he couldn't tell what exactly was happening, he chose to retreat first and observe.
Boom!
The terrifying black wave spread outward with Zeref at its center.
Anything caught within its range instantly lost all vitality.
Literally lost vitality.
Whether animal or plant, living thing or dead thing, everything looked as if its color had been altered, all of it covered in a layer of black-and-white ash.
The once lush green forest instantly became a monochrome painting.
Life withered, trees died, and even the earth cracked apart and lost its vitality.
"This..."
With Marco's knowledge, he naturally recognized it as the power of some kind of curse.
But exactly what kind of curse, he had no idea.
It definitely wasn't an ordinary curse. This level of destruction, lethality, and terrifying life-erasing force was beyond what a normal curse could achieve.
It was beyond what ordinary magic could do as well. It was simply too monstrous.
Marco had absolutely no idea what kind of curse could produce an effect like this.
The dark wave disappeared, and the man clutching his head was no longer in pain.
He raised his head and looked at Marco.
Seeing that Marco had already retreated far away and wasn't hurt, the expression on the man's face immediately relaxed.
His earlier indifference—the way he seemed not to care about Marco at all—had really only been a disguise, a way of hiding his true thoughts.
But unfortunately, the curse wasn't so easily deceived.
In one moment of carelessness, he had triggered "Death Predation."
Fortunately, that boy had run quickly.
Otherwise, he would have added yet another sin to the burden he already carried.
No... even now, he had still added more sin.
The animals and plants that had died because of him were innocent too.
That was also part of his sin.
Buzz!
The moment Zeref felt that emotion, "Death Predation" activated again, and the black waves spread outward once more.
"Tch... why does this never end?"
The reactivated black wave made Marco, who had originally intended to get closer and take a look, stop in his tracks and hurriedly retreat again.
While grumbling under his breath, he dodged the power of that black curse.
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