Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 142

Natsu reached up and patted Happy's head.

"Hey, you with me, pal?"

Zeref folded his arms as Happy clambered down and stood bravely next to Natsu.

"And here I thought you sent all your friends away to save their lives. Now you'll kill your pet."

"You ain't gonna lay a finger on Happy," Natsu said. "Not again."

"I don't have any interest in killing him, but I can't account for any collateral." Zeref tapped the Book of E.N.D. "Just to be clear, you're sure you want to go through with this, right?"

"Why don't you put the book down and find out?"

Zeref smiled. "I don't think I was able to fully explain it before, so allow me the chance to do so here. Our lives are connected, Natsu, beyond anything superstitious. Your life depends on mine, as it is written right here." Zeref once again tapped the Book of E.N.D. "If I should die, you will go with me."

"Yeah, right," Natsu said.

Zeref opened his palm, and a pulse struck the book. Natsu immediately doubled over, clutching his chest.

"What the—?"

"Like the demons of Tartaros, you are no more than the book I wrote," Zeref said. "Your body may be separate, but that is only flesh and blood. I can harm more than that. If I am destroyed, so too ends your soul."

Happy looked from Natsu to Zeref.

"He can't be serious," Happy said.

"He is," Mavis said. She curled her hands into fists. "Zeref wouldn't lie about something like this. He needs a guarantee that once he is defeated, E.N.D. will have served his purpose."

"You may have conquered whatever magic was dormant within you, Natsu, but there are few who can conquer death," Zeref said. "Unfortunately, I have made it so you cannot be one of them. Once I'm gone, you'll leave this realm, too, and our family can be together again."

Family.

His father and mother, Baylan and Nika Dragneel, were distant yet nonetheless present memories in Natsu's mind. To see their sons like this, fighting? As kids, they'd rarely fought. Stupid, brotherly things, sure, but nothing like this. Every night, Natsu looked forward to waking up and getting the chance to play with Zeref again. And then, one day, he closed his eyes for good and forgot all about Zeref.

Until earlier that morning, when all of that joy and pain and love came rushing back, only to be obliterated by what Zeref made him into. By E.N.D.

Natsu stood to his full height again.

"Yeah, Zeref ain't lying, buddy," Natsu said. "But that doesn't mean we have to back down. If we retreat, everything everyone fought for is over. Cana and Master Makarov's death will be in vain."

"Ah, so you didn't hear about Gildarts," Zeref said. "Pity."

Lightning crackled around Natsu's flaming arms. "I know you're scared, pal." Happy stood trembling, staring down Zeref as the Black Wizard summoned more magic around him. Slowly, golden light began to fall around Natsu and Happy. "And you know what?" He felt the shaking in his body. "I am too. Really scared. There's a whole lot left to do once we're done here, and I don't wanna miss a thing by dying. But right now, we gotta take Zeref down so that everyone else has a chance to live out their dreams and get outta this nightmare world my brother's created!"

"Natsu, I'm with you," Mavis said, raising her arms. "Don't worry about me. Go all out, do what you need to do."

"Yes, E.N.D.," Zeref said as the all-powerful white light of Fairy Heart mixed with the four-hundred-year dark mastery of Zeref's magic. "Show me the fruits of my labor!"