Fairy Tail {Lost Dragon Slayer}

Chapter 38 {King of Hell}

Natsu attempts to do battle with Mard Geer, maneuvering around his Thorn Curse to push him back. Mard then contacts Kyoka via Telepathy and instructs her to speed up the activation of Face. When she cites the people capable of controlling Crawford's body have been defeated, Mard Geer instructs her to merge with Face itself via Organic Link Magic, even though she will die upon it being activated; she ultimately complies. After merging with Face's timer, Kyoka enters her Etherious Form and destroys Erza's armor after telling her that the only way to stop Face now is to defeat her.

Natsu continues his fight with Mard Geer, but begins having trouble as Mard Geer manages to dodge and counter his attacks. Igneel takes notice of this but is nearly killed by Acnologia, who finally speaks, vowing to slay Igneel. Meanwhile, Natsu is about to be finished by Mard Geer, but Sting and Rogue arrive and save him from the assault. Sting then requests that Natsu work together with them, but Natsu declines, stating that defeating him is a job from Igneel, Sting then plays on Natsu's airhead nature and turns the fight into a competition. The three manage to, together, prey upon Mard Geer's openings and knock him around, though this just makes him livid, which Natsu mocks, stating that Mard Geer is now much closer to the humans he despises.

King of Hell tries to contact Kyoka but finds she is too preoccupied in her battle with Erza. Sting then demands to know what Mard Geer's goal is.... he repeats that he wishes to destroy Magic so that E.N.D. can be revived, but adds that the phrase "return to Zeref" is a genetic marker in all Etherious that causes them to desire Zeref's destruction, which he cites to be his ultimate goal, regardless of the costs to humanity. Mard Geer then summons his Prison Flower to do away with the Dragon Slayers, but at the last second Gray arrives and freezes Mard Geer's plant and left arm. Returning Natsu's scarf, Gray states that he's come to defeat Mard Geer.

As the Dragon Slayers and Mard Geer are astonished by this new power, Gray attacks Mard Geer and manages to inflict lasting damage. Going in for a fatal blow, Gray is knocked away by a demonized Jiemma, who Mard Geer reveals, joined Tartaros and threw away his humanity for power. Jiemma, however, proves himself to be less than loyal, stating that after he's done killing Sting and Rogue, he's coming for his head. Natsu attempts to knock Jiemma back, and even though he fails he manages to succeed in destroying the Twin Dragons' fear of their old Guild Master. The Twin Dragons then opt to take on Jiemma, thereby allowing Natsu and Gray to team up against Mard Geer, who enters his Etherious Form to finally end the dispute

Mard Geer immediately unleashes a massive thorn attack against Natsu and Gray, which distracts them long enough for him to grab them and fly away, grinding their faces into stone as he does so. Meanwhile, the Twin Dragons face off against Jiemma, who proves himself to be an impressive foe with his new power. He then earns great disgust from Sting and Rogue when he reveals that he had Minerva captured and turned into a Demon; he likewise chastises the two for turning Sabertooth into a "weak" guild that no longer prioritizes survival of the individual. The two counter that Fairy Tail taught them true strength and, after taking a fatal blow, use their combined White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk to critically wound and defeat Jiemma. Exhausted, the Twin Dragons fall and leave their hopes with Gray and Natsu, who concurrently break free of Mard Geer's grasp and punch him into the stone.

Mard Geer manages to recover and dodges nearly every single attack that Natsu and Gray throw at him; even when struck with a point-blank Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, he stands uninjured. Mard Geer then goes on to explain that Magic and Curses originated from the same source, and that E.N.D. created Curses out of foul human emotions. He then unleashes his ultimate Curse, which he created in order to destroy Zeref Memento Mori; a Curse that does not bestow life nor kill, but merely erases one's existence. As Natsu and Gray are swallowed up by its darkness, Mard Geer reverts to his human form and remarks upon his perfected Curse before stating that all that remains is E.N.D.'s revival.

However, it is quickly revealed that Gray demonized half of his body to block the brunt of Memento Mori and falls, leaving his hopes to Natsu. Angered, Mard Geer returns to his Etherious Form Natsu, likewise out of anger, enters Dragon Force and overwhelms Mard Geer with his significantly enhanced strength. Landing Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade, Natsu discovers that though Mard Geer is greatly wounded, he is not yet defeated. Before he can kill Natsu, Gray rises and delivers unto Mard Geer his Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow, which defeats him once and for all. As he falls to the ground, Mard Geer realizes that Kyôka has reverted Face's timer to zero and that the pulse bomb will activate any second.

To be continued...