Erza stared at Finn. Behind his mask, his demeanor was as perfectly calm as ever, but looking into his eyes, she could see a cold, unyielding determination.
"Is that so? Then I won't stop you," Erza murmured.
Before leaving the arena floor, she turned to Natsu, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Natsu. He isn't weak."
"Don't worry! I'm gonna win!" Natsu grinned confidently, smashing his fists together. He truly believed it. He had faced down literal nightmares over the years, and compared to the absolute despair they had encountered against Acnologia on Tenrou Island seven years ago, this masked guy was nothing!
Standing across the arena, Finn perfectly understood the root of Natsu's boundless confidence.
First, Natsu had survived a number of incredibly powerful, logic-defying opponents. Second, Finn knew the information about Natsu's existence from the shared knowledge and his previous life. Natsu wasn't just a loudmouthed mage; he was E.N.D., the Etherious demon created by his older brother, Zeref. He was also the vessel for the legendary Fire Dragon King, Igneel, who was currently slumbering deep inside his soul.
When Finn really thought about it, was there anyone in this world who could permanently put Natsu down? Even Gray, Natsu's fated rival, only stood a chance because of his willingness to use Iced Shell—a suicidal sealing spell. Short of mutually assured destruction, Natsu's protagonist armor made him practically unbeatable.
But I am different, Finn thought, his grip tightening on the glowing saber.
If Finn lost a pure sparring match to Natsu here, he had absolutely no business trying to stand among the endgame bosses of this world. If he couldn't break Natsu's plot armor, how could he ever hope to conquer the Dragon Gods?
"Erza!"
As Finn stepped fully onto the stage and Erza walked back to the Fairy Tail dugout, Lucy, Gray, Elfman, and Wendy immediately crowded around her, their faces painted with complicated expressions.
"What's wrong?" Erza asked, looking at her tense guildmates.
"What do you think?" Gray asked bluntly.
"What do I think about what?"
"Do you honestly think that guy can win against Natsu?" Gray pressed, crossing his arms with an unconvinced scowl.
Erza looked back at him steadily. "Do you think Natsu will win?"
"Do you think Natsu will lose?" Gray countered, his eyes widening in disbelief. Even though Erza hadn't said it directly, answering a question with a question made her doubts glaringly obvious.
"How can you even think that?! Natsu is incredibly strong!" Lucy protested, fully believing in her friend's strength.
"That's true, Erza-san," Wendy nodded in agreement. They had all watched Natsu grow, and they knew the sheer, explosive heights his power could reach when he was pushed into a corner.
Erza was silent for a moment before she asked a single, chilling question. "Do you think Natsu could win against Gildarts?"
"Er..."
The entire dugout fell dead silent. Everyone was rendered utterly speechless. Naturally, if Natsu fought Gildarts Clive, the undisputed strongest mage in Fairy Tail, absolutely no one would bet on Natsu winning.
"I believe his strength is, at the very least, on Gildarts' level. Perhaps even stronger," Erza stated grimly.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Laxus scoffed from the back of the dugout, his arms crossed. He refused to believe some masked newcomer was on par with the old man.
"You are all focusing entirely on his magical output," Erza explained, her eyes fixed on Finn. "As the only one here who actually studies swordsmanship, you cannot comprehend his level. From what I saw when he severed that meteor... his blade is at the absolute pinnacle. He might be the strongest swordsman on the continent."
"How strong can a sword really be?" Gajeel snorted dismissively. Even if he hated Natsu's guts, he couldn't imagine the Salamander losing to a guy with a glowing stick. "It's just metal, right? I should be the one out there. I'd just eat his sword and show him exactly how weak he really is." The Iron Dragon Slayer grinned, licking his lips like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Hmm?"
Down in the arena, Finn felt a strange, deeply irritating gaze lock onto him. He glanced up toward the Fairy Tail balcony, frowning slightly when he noticed Gajeel staring at his saber like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"Hey, masked guy! Focus on me!" Natsu roared, smashing his blazing fists together. "You're fighting me now! If you're looking somewhere else, you're gonna lose!"
Finn casually turned his gaze back to Natsu. This fight is going to be incredibly boring, Finn sighed internally.
He knew it sounded arrogant, but Natsu's entire fighting style revolved around brute-forcing his way through problems with fire, raw magic power, and sheer draconic instinct. Strategy? Natsu didn't think about anything.
But Finn also acknowledged that being a battle-crazed idiot was a terrifying strength in its own right. It made Natsu unpredictable, and it meant he absolutely never knew when to give up.
"Save the big words for if you actually manage to land a hit on me," Finn provoked smoothly.
"You're way too overconfident," Natsu smirked, his signature fiery grin spreading across his face. "When you lose, I wanna see you cry!"
Finn ignored him, glancing over at the referee. "Can we start the match now?"
"Ah, yes! But let me ask Natsu Dragneel if he is—"
"I'M READY! LET'S GO!" Natsu interrupted with a deafening roar.
"Then... let the match begin!"
The gong echoed through the stadium, but Finn didn't move a single muscle. He just stood there, his saber resting loosely at his side.
"You can take the first move," Finn offered casually. "If you lose on the very first exchange, the crowd is going to be terribly disappointed."
"YOU BASTARD!"
Natsu didn't hold back. His chest expanded rapidly as he inhaled a massive volume of air. The temperature in the stadium spiked violently as a blinding magic circle materialized right in front of his mouth.
"FIRE DRAGON'S—"
"Too slow."
Before the roar could even leave Natsu's lungs, Finn was already standing directly in front of him.
The glowing saber was raised high.
But it wasn't just his speed that froze Natsu in place—it was the eyes behind the mask. They were completely devoid of warmth, radiating a cold, piercing, absolute certainty of death.
He is going to kill him!
That was the singular, horrifying thought that crossed the minds of every spectator in the stadium. The sheer, suffocating density of Finn's killing intent washed over the arena like a physical wave. Even Igneel, slumbering deep within Natsu's soul, stirred in sudden, genuine alarm.
It was too late to dodge.
Finn swung the blade down. The killing intent was so absolute it cast a localized phantom illusion over the stadium. For a terrifying split second, not just Natsu, but everyone sitting in the direct trajectory of Finn's downward swing felt the phantom sensation of their own bodies being cleanly cleaved in half.
They saw their own deaths. But they were completely paralyzed, unable to do anything but watch the light descend.
Yet, right as the glowing edge of the saber was about to touch Natsu's skin, the killing intent vanished instantly.
Finn smiled warmly.
"I'm just teasing," Finn whispered, his voice dangerously close to Natsu's ear. "Who would actually kill someone in a sporting event? But I am going to beat the absolute shit out of you."
At the last possible microsecond, Finn flipped the saber in his grip. Instead of slicing Natsu in half, he brought the heavy, solid pommel of the hilt crashing viciously up into Natsu's jaw.
CRACK!
Natsu's eyes rolled back as his brain violently rattled against his skull. The sheer upward momentum of the uppercut lifted Natsu completely off his feet, threatening to send him flying across the arena.
But Finn wasn't finished.
His left hand shot out, grabbing Natsu tightly by the back of his pink hair, anchoring him in place mid-air. With a fluid, brutal shift in his center of gravity, Finn drove his knee forward with devastating force, sinking it agonizingly deep into Natsu's exposed stomach.
"Goodbye."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Finn released his grip. The concussive shockwave from the knee strike blasted Natsu backward like a cannonball. He blurred across the arena, violently crashing into the reinforced stone wall in the exact same spot Jellal had impacted earlier. A massive plume of dust and debris rained down, completely burying the Fire Dragon Slayer.
"..."
The entire stadium stared in absolute, paralyzing silence, their minds completely unable to process the casual, effortless brutality they had just witnessed.