Jellal, now merged into one, stood before Natsu and Gray, a mocking curve on his lips as he said, "Let's continue the fight from before. Show me the strength of a Dragon Slayer!"
"He's completely different from before!"
"Such powerful magical power! Is this Jellal's true strength?"
Gray looked at Jellal, his face full of gravity.
Bzzzt-
While Gray was speaking, the guard whom Jellal had used as a sacrifice had already been absorbed into the crystal.
Realizing this, Gray's heart sank.
"Not good! Zeref is about to be revived!"
Gritting his teeth, Gray punched one hand into the other palm.
[Ice-Make: Ice Hammer]
Bzzzt-
At that moment, a magic circle instantly appeared in front of Gray.
Immediately after, a giant ice hammer charged directly towards the magical crystal.
It seemed he intended to destroy the magical crystal and interrupt Zeref's revival ritual.
"You want to target the sacrifice?"
Seeing Gray attack the magical crystal, Jellal's expression shifted slightly.
"I won't let you succeed!"
As he spoke, Jellal waved his hand grandly.
"Heavenly Body Magic!"
Bzzzt-
Instantly, a golden magic circle appeared in front of his palm.
Whoosh-
Then a golden stream of light swept out from the magic circle and charged directly towards the giant ice hammer.
Thud-
When the golden stream hit the ice hammer, the hammer shattered into pieces instantly.
But before the shattered ice fragments could hit the ground, Natsu had already charged in front of Jellal.
"Fire Dragon's... Sword Horn!"
Natsu's hands were wrapped, coiled with flames as he charged at Jellal like an arrow from a bow, headbutting towards him.
However, just as Natsu's head was about to hit Jellal, Jellal sidestepped, directly avoiding Natsu's attack.
Before Jellal could even catch his breath, Gray's magic assaulted him.
"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!"
Gray shouldered a cannon barrel made of ice, and a frozen cannonball shot towards Jellal at an astonishing speed.
Jellal, who had just avoided Natsu's attack and hadn't yet landed, saw the ice cannonball rapidly enlarging in his vision. His face changed dramatically.
'He can't dodge in mid-air! Perfect coordination, Natsu!'
Gray watched the cannonball charge straight at Jellal and inwardly praised Natsu.
Thud-
Then, under Gray's watchful eye, the ice cannonball directly blasted Jellal.
At that moment, a loud noise echoed through the air, and a large amount of ice fragments flew out in all directions.
"Did we get him?"
Gray lowered the ice cannon from his shoulder, looked at the explosion site, and muttered to himself.
But the next second, Gray saw only Jellal's black robe on the ground, while Jellal's main body had vanished.
"He's gone?"
Seeing Jellal disappear, Gray's face changed dramatically. He immediately scanned the surroundings.
Soon, he saw Jellal, now in a short-sleeved shirt, floating in the sky, emitting a faint golden glow.
"Gray, where were you aiming?! You only hit his clothes!"
Natsu, seeing that Gray hadn't hit Jellal, complained to Gray.
"Stop nagging!"
Facing Natsu's complaint, Gray didn't back down and retorted directly.
Perhaps Gray and Natsu hadn't seen Jellal's movements clearly.
But Kenichi had.
The moment Gray's cannon was about to hit Jellal, Jellal used the Heavenly Body Magic, [Meteor].
With the boost from [Meteor], Jellal's speed greatly increased.
In just an instant, he avoided the cannonball's attack and moved into the sky.
"Hmph, with two of you teaming up, is this all the strength you have?"
Jellal, floating in the sky, said mockingly.
Then, his figure turned into a stream of light and charged directly at Gray.
Bang-
Before Gray could react, Jellal had already reached him and launched an attack.
"So fast! I can't see him at all!"
Gray, taking the heavy blow, exclaimed in shock.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
By now, Natsu had charged over and launched an attack on Jellal, who was assaulting Gray.
But before Natsu's fist could get close to Jellal, Jellal's figure, like a meteor, instantly circled behind Natsu and punched him.
Bang-
With a bang, Natsu was sent flying and finally crashed into a piece of the magical crystal.
Three seconds…
From Gray attacking the magical crystal to Jellal taking down both Natsu and Gray, it had only taken three short seconds.
"Too strong!"
"He's completely out of our league!"
Gray, lying on the ground, looked at Jellal emitting a faint golden glow and spoke with shock.
"Dragon Slayer Magic doesn't seem all that impressive after all!"
Jellal, floating in the sky, looked at Natsu over there and spoke disdainfully.
"Is that so?"
As soon as Jellal finished speaking, an abrupt voice came through the air.
Hearing the voice, Jellal turned to look.
He saw Kenichi standing proudly over there, his body now enveloped in fiercely burning crimson flames.
At that moment, the temperature of the surrounding air rose sharply.
Furthermore, due to the intense heat, the space around Kenichi seemed distorted.
Even the magical crystal beneath Kenichi's feet was melting.
"This is..."
Gray, seeing this change in Kenichi, widened his eyes.
"Dragon Slayer Magic?!"
"Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, the same as Natsu!"
"And this vast magical power is on a completely different level compared to Natsu!"
Natsu looked at the flames on Kenichi, his eyes flickering.
"What in the world is going on?"
"Why can Kenichi also use Dragon Slayer Magic? And it's the same Fire Dragon Slayer Magic as me!"
But Natsu wasn't like Gray. After thinking about it briefly and failing to understand, he simply let it go.
"Whatever!"
"Next, it's up to you, Kenichi!"
While Gray and Natsu were puzzled about why Kenichi could use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, Jellal, floating mid-air, also looked surprised.
However, Jellal was only surprised.
"I never expected you to also be a Dragon Slayer. Then let me see your power. Don't disappoint me!"
Jellal grinned, then his figure turned into a stream of light and charged directly at Kenichi.
And Kenichi, after collecting all the attributes dropped by the system, also charged forward to meet Jellal!