Summoners Rift, Jungle Battlefield.
Under the dark-purple firmament, the dense magical forest had lost its usual vitality, shrouded in a deathly silent, oppressive gloom.
The leaves of the towering ancient trees were no longer verdant, but a sickly, withered gray. The air was filled with the scent of decaying earth, pungent sulfur, and a bone-chilling, soul-trembling sense of desolation and despair.
Natsu stood in a relatively open clearing, his crimson eyes like burning coals, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.
"Buzz—!" The blackened Treant's face, made of charred wood grain, was expressionless, its hollow eyes burning with ghostly fire, fixed firmly on Natsu!
Its massive body leaned slightly forward, and its giant arms, covered in charcoal-like scales, plunged violently into the ground!
Boom!
Countless black tentacles, thick as dragons and oozing corrosive venom, burst from the earth!
Like crazed venomous serpents, they lunged at Natsu from all directions, carrying a pungent stench and a terrifying, life-devouring heat!
At the same time, an invisible, bone-chilling life-draining wave, like a maggot clinging to bone, instantly spread out!
Natsu felt his body sink, a wave of weakness washing over him, his life force seemingly being slowly siphoned away by an invisible straw!
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu roared, his chest expanding like a bellows!
A scorching white flame breath, like a breached dam of lava, roared with the power to incinerate everything, slamming fiercely into the attacking black tentacles!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!!
Flames and venom violently collided and annihilated each other!
Emitting a piercing, dissolving sound!
The intense heat evaporated the venom, and the flames charred and broke the tentacles!
But more tentacles emerged from underground, one after another!
Even more critically, Natsu felt that the eerie fluctuations emanating from the dark-red crown of embers, like invisible tentacles, actually penetrated his flame shield, directly affecting his life essence!
The rate of life force loss suddenly accelerated!
"Ugh!" Natsu grunted, his movements faltering slightly!
"Buzz—!" The crown of embers on the Treant's head glowed brightly!
"Decaying Roots · Entangle!"
The ground shook violently!
Countless tiny, decaying roots, like black blood vessels, burst from the earth and wrapped around Natsu's legs like living things!
The roots emitted strong corrosiveness and life-draining power!
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!" Natsu's pants instantly corroded into holes, his skin burned, and his life force drained even faster!
"This is annoying! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu's fists ignited with flames, and he violently swung them to both sides!
A fiery whirlwind swept out, burning and forcing back the entanglement roots!
But in the instant he was distracted!
"Poison Mist Spit!"
The Treant's massive mouth opened!
A thick, almost liquid, dark-purple, foul-smelling, terrifying poisonous mist, like a bursting flood, gushed out!
Instantly enveloping the space around Natsu!
The poisonous mist not only carried strong corrosiveness and mental pollution but also contained the curse power to accelerate life loss!
The air in the poisonous mist made a "sizzling" dissolving sound!
Natsu's flame shield fluctuated violently, making a "sizzling" sound, rapidly thinning!
"Cough, cough, cough!" Natsu inhaled a wisp of poisonous mist, immediately feeling his throat burn, his lungs ache, his head spin, and the rate of life force loss skyrocketed again!
"Damn it!" He quickly held his breath, forming a thicker shield of flames around him, but the corrosive power of the poisonous mist was extremely strong, and the shield was still slowly dissolving!
"Death Lash!" The Treant's attacks were relentless!
Several of the thickest black tentacles, like giant whips burning with dark-red flames, tore through the air, whistling terrifyingly, and lashed fiercely at Natsu, who was enveloped in poisonous mist and restricted in movement!
Their speed was incredibly fast, and their angles were tricky!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Although Natsu struggled to dodge and block, the effects of the poisonous mist and life drain slowed his movements!
Two tentacles lashed violently across his back and left shoulder!
"Pfft!" Natsu spat out a mouthful of blood!
Where he was struck, his clothes instantly carbonized, his skin charred black, and the burning pain was mixed with a strong corrosive sensation and the weakness of his life force being forcibly drained!
The dark-red crown of embers flames, like maggots clinging to bone, attached to his wounds, fiercely burning his life force!
"Roar!" Natsu let out a pained roar, his eyes burning with even greater fury!
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He endured the intense pain, and his flame-burning fist slammed hard into an incoming tentacle!
Boom!
The tentacle was smashed open, splattering viscous venom!
But Natsu was also knocked back several steps by the immense recoil, a tearing pain came from his wounds, and his life force drained another chunk!
"This can't go on!" Natsu gasped, sweat mixed with blood dripping from his forehead. He could feel his strength rapidly depleting under the multiple suppressions of the poisonous mist, roots, tentacles, and that damned life drain!
"I must… get closer to it! Break that damned hat!" A flicker of madness flashed in Natsu's eyes!
"Buzz—!" The Treant seemed to sense Natsu's intention, and the crown of embers glowed intensely!
"Thorn Cage!"
Countless pitch-black thorns, burning with dark-red flames and with edges sharp as knives, grew and spread madly from the ground and the surrounding trees like living things!
Instantly forming a giant thorn cage that covered the entire clearing!
Trapping Natsu firmly within it!
Viscous venom flowed on the surface of the thorns, emitting high temperatures and a strong aura of life plunder!
At the same time, more decaying roots burst from the earth, wrapping around Natsu's ankles!
The poisonous mist also grew thicker!
Natsu was like he had fallen into a quagmire! Unable to move an inch! Both his life force and magic power were rapidly draining!
"Roar, aooo—!!!" The Treant let out a muffled roar, as if announcing the death of its prey!
Its massive body leaned slightly forward, and its giant arms, covered in charcoal-like scales, were raised high!
A highly compressed dark energy orb, with dark-red lava flowing within and emitting destructive fluctuations, condensed in its palm!
"crown of embers · Seed of Annihilation!"
The energy orb, with a shriek that tore through space, slammed fiercely towards Natsu, who was trapped in the thorn cage!
This was the finishing blow!
Containing the ultimate destructive and plundering power of the crown of embers!
"Are you kidding me!!!" Natsu's pupils suddenly contracted to pinprick size!
The shadow of death instantly descended!
But under this extreme pressure!
The Dragon Slayer Mage blood flowing in Natsu's body completely boiled!
"I'm fired up!!!" Natsu let out a deafening roar!
He no longer tried to defend against the poisonous mist!
No longer dodged the roots!
No longer blocked the thorns!
He suddenly spread his arms!
Letting the poisonous mist corrode his skin!
Letting the roots wrap around his legs!
Letting the thorns cut his body!
All his magic power, all his will, all his anger, all his… desire for victory!
All condensed!
"Fire Dragon's — Brilliant Flame!!!"
Boom—!!!!
Natsu's body instantly transformed into a human-shaped sun!
White flames, even more scorching, more violent, and purer than before, erupted madly from his body like a supernova!
The scorching white flame surge instantly swept through the entire thorn cage!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!!
The poisonous mist was instantly evaporated and purified!
The decaying roots carbonized and broke under the high temperature!
The thorn cage, burning with dark-red flames, was instantly overwhelmed and incinerated by the violent white flame surge as if it were made of paper!
The "Seed of Annihilation" energy orb that was smashing towards him was also violently struck by this sudden, beyond-limit torrent of flames!
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!!
An earth-shattering explosion occurred!
White flames and dark-red energy violently collided and annihilated!
The shockwave cut down the surrounding trees at the waist, turning them into ashes!
Natsu's figure flew backward in the explosion's firelight, heavily smashing into the charred trunk of an ancient tree!
Pfft!
He spat out another mouthful of blood, his whole body charred, covered in wounds from thorns, corrosive mist, and energy impact, bleeding profusely!
But!
His eyes were brighter than ever before!
Like two burning stars!
"Ha… haha…" Natsu grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth, and let out a low laugh.
He felt it!
In that desperate burst just now, in the instant he fiercely clashed with the "Seed of Annihilation"!
The dark-red crown of embers flames attached to his wounds, trying to burn his life force… were actually… forcibly devoured and assimilated in part by the violent Dragon Slayer Mage fire within him!
A strange energy, scorching, violent, and with a strong plundering aura, merged into his flames!
The white flames on his body subtly gained a faint, almost imperceptible dark-red pattern!
"So… that's how it is…" A flicker of realization and… madness flashed in Natsu's eyes!
"Your fire… tastes pretty good!" He suddenly looked up, his crimson eyes fixed on the burning crown of embers on the Treant's head!
"Come again!!"
"Roar—!!!" The Treant seemed to be completely enraged by Natsu's provocation!
The crown of embers pulsed violently!
Its massive body suddenly shook!
"Decay Domain · Life Wither!"
Buzz—!!!
A larger, colder wave of life drain spread out like an invisible tide!
Natsu felt his body suddenly sink, and the rate of life force loss instantly increased several times!
Even breathing became difficult!
At the same time!
"Death Roots · Pierce!"
Countless extremely sharp roots, covered in charred scales and with dark-red flames burning at their tips, burst from the earth like dense javelins, stabbing at Natsu from all directions!
Faster speed! Stronger power!
"Poison Mist Storm!"
A thicker, almost inky-black poisonous mist tornado instantly formed, carrying a pungent stench and strong mental corrosion, completely engulfing Natsu!
"crown of embers · Soul-Burning Whip!"
Several giant tentacles, burning with intensely dark-red flames and with molten lava flowing along their edges, like whips from hell, tore through the poisonous mist storm, striking fiercely at Natsu with the power to incinerate souls!
Facing this world-destroying triple attack!
Natsu not only didn't retreat but burst into wild laughter!
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