The Great Summer Ape crashed heavily into a giant rock, which instantly shattered.
His body fell, blood oozing from his mouth and nose. He propped himself up with his hands, trying to get up several times, but his trembling arms couldn't support his heavy body.
After one last attempt, the Great Summer Ape collapsed powerlessly to the ground, his mouth and nose bleeding, mixed with the dirt, looking utterly disheveled, his life force growing weaker and weaker.
Natsu looked at the Great Summer Ape in the distance, silent.
When the Great Summer Ape completely fell to the ground, the flames around Natsu gradually extinguished, and his fluttering white scarf slowly fell, softly resting on the young man's shoulders.
Natsu turned around and walked away, but before he had taken two steps, a voice came from behind him.
"For the New World…"
Natsu stopped and looked back.
"For… the New Humans…" The Great Summer Ape swayed and stood up, his pupils somewhat unfocused, but he forced himself to stand steady. He grinned, revealing an ugly smile, blood flowing from the corners of his lips.
Natsu frowned slightly, "Can you still stand up?"
The Great Summer Ape lightly wiped away the blood flowing from his nose, "I won't just fall like this."
"People like you wouldn't understand."
Natsu looked at him, "Understand what? Your so-called New World and New Humans?"
"Invasion is invasion. No matter how much you beautify it, it won't change the nature of this war."
"Can you just hurt others indiscriminately to achieve your goals?"
The Great Summer Ape waved his hand indifferently, "It's just a necessary price."
Natsu's expression turned cold, and two flames ignited in his eyes. He asked, word by word: "Then are you ready to pay the price?"
"I've been ready for a long time!" The Great Summer Ape chuckled, blood again oozing from his mouth and nose. His eyes were fixed on Natsu, "Regular fire magic is useless against you, right?"
"In that case, I'll just burn my life and soul to get flames that you can't absorb." Two blood-red flames lit up in the Great Summer Ape's eyes. Immediately after, with a whoosh, blood-red flames ignited all over his body.
The Great Summer Ape's face was distorted. The pain of burning his life and soul made his whole body tremble slightly, but he actually endured the pain and grinned at Natsu, shouting wildly, "Come on, last round!"
Before he finished speaking, the Great Summer Ape bent his knees slightly to squat and gather strength. The ground beneath his feet instantly cracked. The next second, he transformed into a swift blood shadow and charged towards Natsu.
Natsu watched the Great Summer Ape charging like a blood shadow. The flames on his body instantly reignited, and he quickly clenched his fists. Flames instantly ignited his fists, the flickering flames like two scorching suns.
The Great Summer Ape, carrying a fierce wind and blood-red flames, instantly approached Natsu and punched him straight in the face.
Natsu's figure flickered, avoiding the thunderous impact like a ghost.
But the Great Summer Ape's speed was astonishing. He instantly twisted his body and lunged at Natsu again with the force of a collapsing mountain, another punch heading straight for Natsu's face.
Natsu felt a hot and violent current of air assailing him, and a heart-pounding sense of threat emanated from the blood-red flames.
These blood-red flames could really hurt him!
Natsu's expression was serious, and he forcefully swung his fist, enveloped in raging flames.
When their fists collided with a resounding crash, a deafening roar suddenly erupted. The surrounding air seemed to be instantly torn apart, turning into countless turbulent currents, and a red shockwave exploded.
For a moment, sparks flew, like brilliant stars falling. The surrounding earth and rocks were blasted into the air by this powerful impact, and then, under the scorching high temperature, turned into wisps of smoke. The ground beneath their feet almost cracked inch by inch.
The blood-red flames and the crimson flames on Natsu's body fiercely intertwined and resisted each other, making it difficult to determine a victor for a time.
The flames entangled and devoured each other, as if two raging giant dragons were fighting to the death.
The Great Summer Ape's eyes widened in fury, and he let out a roar that shook the heavens. He frantically increased his power output, and the blood-red flames on his body became exceptionally violent.
Natsu suddenly felt an irresistible immense force surge towards him. His arms trembled involuntarily, but he gritted his teeth, his feet firmly rooted to the ground as if they had grown there, not retreating a single step.
The ground beneath his feet rapidly cracked under this terrifying pressure, sinking several inches.
"Little brat, let's die together!" the Great Summer Ape roared madly.
"My life isn't that easy to take!" At the front of Natsu's fist, a huge crimson dragon magic circle opened. His fist suddenly erupted with a powerful force, actually pushing the Great Summer Ape back several steps.
With each step the Great Summer Ape took back, a huge deep pit was stomped into the ground, and gravel flew.
However, he instantly adjusted and charged back towards Natsu like a cannonball.
At this moment, the flames on both of them burned to their extreme, illuminating the entire battlefield as bright as day.
Natsu's flames were scorching and brilliant; the Great Summer Ape's blood-red flames were violent and eerie.
Natsu and the Great Summer Ape's figures rapidly intertwined in the flames. Each collision triggered huge energy fluctuations, and countless red shockwaves continuously spread outwards, making the air tremble incessantly.
"Boom!" Natsu leaped high, delivering a fierce and powerful punch squarely to the Great Summer Ape's face. The Great Summer Ape's cheek instantly caved in, his bones seemingly about to shatter.
But the Great Summer Ape not only didn't fall but retaliated even more fiercely.
His hands were like burning giant war hammers, bringing whistling winds, and smashing towards Natsu with overwhelming force.
Natsu could only continuously parry, multiple wounds already appearing on his body, blood gushing out and instantly evaporating due to the high temperature.
Yuumi was also playing her part, with streaks of shimmering white light flashing on Natsu's body. That was the little one unleashing healing magic with all her might.
Natsu's injuries were healing at a visible rate, but correspondingly, the little one's already limited magic power was rapidly depleting.
"Yuumi, are you still okay?" Natsu asked in a low voice.
Yuumi was panting heavily, her two small paws tightly clasped to Natsu's scarf, the gem on her head glowing with white light, looking like a light bulb.
Yuumi looked up and nodded affirmatively at Natsu, "No problem, go, Natsu-ge!"
"Alright! Here I go!" Natsu took a deep breath, gathering all his strength, preparing to launch a fierce attack.
The flames on Natsu's body suddenly spread, then quickly gathered, and the firelight instantly became dazzling. He put his hands to his mouth, inhaled deeply, his chest rapidly puffed out, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A majestic torrent of flames erupted from his mouth, heading straight for the Great Summer Ape.
This torrent of flames was like a raging Fire Dragon, carrying destructive power. Wherever it passed, the air twisted, and the ground became scorched black.
The Great Summer Ape did not dodge at all, charging directly into the torrent of flames, continuing to rush towards Natsu recklessly.
The blood-red flames on his body wildly pulsed, fiercely colliding and eroding Natsu's torrent of flames.
Natsu watched the Great Summer Ape in shock, seeing him struggle forward in the torrent of flames. Although his body was burned and his skin was torn, his pace did not slow down in the slightest.
"This guy!" Natsu was secretly alarmed.
The Great Summer Ape finally broke through the torrent of flames. His body was covered in wounds, his scorched skin peeled off, revealing raw red muscle and stark white bones.
But his gaze remained as firm as ever, as if this battered body had lost all sense of pain.
"This much ability isn't enough!" the Great Summer Ape roared hoarsely.
Natsu said nothing, charging forward like lightning again, engaging in an even more intense close-quarters combat with the Great Summer Ape.
Their fists and kicks intertwined like a fierce storm, flames covering their entire bodies. Each collision erupted with deafening roars, and sparks flew in all directions.
As time passed, the Great Summer Ape's strength grew weaker and weaker, his attacks slower and slower, and Natsu's heavy blows landed on the Great Summer Ape more and more often.
His fists were like dense raindrops, and the Great Summer Ape could only desperately defend. The blood-red flames on his body had become flickering and unstable.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu delivered an uppercut, wreathed in flames, to the Great Summer Ape's chin. The Great Summer Ape's head snapped back violently, his feet lifted off the ground by the immense force.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
Natsu followed with a spinning kick, the flames rotating with his leg, drawing a circular ring of fire around him before kicking the Great Summer Ape in the chest.
Under the huge impact, the Great Summer Ape flew backward.
"This is it, it's over!"
Natsu didn't give his opponent a chance to breathe, taking a deep breath, his cherry-blossom colored hair moving without wind.
Natsu stepped forward with his left foot, his legs bent in a horse stance, pressing down.
"Boom!"
The ground scorched and cracked. A huge red dragon magic circle opened beneath Natsu's feet. The magic circle had three layers: in the very center was a red giant dragon with wings spread, roaring; the second circle was composed of profound and complex runes; and the outermost layer featured dragon scale-shaped patterns. A deep, majestic dragon roar echoed within the magic circle.
Crimson flames surged and erupted from his center. The flames rapidly spun and accumulated around his body, the crimson flames like a wildly burning red lotus.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
Natsu stomped his foot, carrying the flames condensed into a red lotus shape, and spun his body, charging towards the Great Summer Ape who was flying backward.
The Great Summer Ape tried to dodge, but Natsu's speed was like lightning. In his vision, a fiery red lotus gradually grew larger.
"Boom!"
A powerful force erupted. In the sky above, a lotus of flames exploded, and dozens of sword-like flames wildly slashed in all directions. The Great Summer Ape's body was thrown high into the air and then slammed heavily onto the ground.
The Great Summer Ape tried to struggle to his feet, but his body gradually lost all sensation. He tried hard to lift his head. In the distant mountain forest, the black and white portal of Newborn City could faintly be seen quietly and slowly rotating.
He could no longer make a sound, and the scenery before his eyes grew increasingly blurry. He silently thought to himself, "Am I going to fall here?"
"What a pity, I won't see…" His eyes gradually dimmed, and the blood-red flames on his body slowly extinguished.
His body, along with the extinguished blood-red flames, slowly turned to ash. Black ashes drifted away with the wind.
Happy and Yuumi sat on Natsu's shoulders, one on the left and one on the right, watching from afar, breathing heavily.
The mountain wind howled through the forest, bone-chillingly cold. The wind sounded like ghosts crying, desolate and mournful...
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