Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 429: Sorry, Fairy Tail Has Never Been Responsible for Saving Hostages

"Who the hell are you?!"

Those short four words made the blue-haired young man's face darken as he stood awkwardly in place, surrounded by countless girls.

"Ahem..."

"Young man, don't you recognize me?"

The blue-haired young man first coughed lightly twice, then winked at Natsu as if hinting at something.

"Should I know you? Have we met before?"

Natsu froze in place, touching his chin as he recalled something.

Because Natsu was always either fighting or on his way to a fight!

He often gave people the impression of looking down on everyone. In fact, Natsu really rarely remembered what other people looked like!

Therefore, when Natsu heard the blue-haired young man's words, he thought the young man might be someone he knew, only that he had accidentally forgotten him...

"Ahem..."

"Let me put it another way. Have you heard of the name Fire Dragon?"

After hearing Natsu's words, the blue-haired young man's eye twitched slightly. Helplessly, he raised the ring on his finger that flickered with magic power, while smiling slightly at Natsu.

"Let's go back..."

"How unlucky. I finally got information about the Fire Dragon and thought it was really a dragon! In the end, it's just this kind of thing..."

Natsu looked expressionlessly at the blue-haired young man before him. After several seconds of brief silence, he turned around while cursing.

"Aye~"

Happy, who was flying in the sky, shouted loudly after hearing Natsu, then flew above Natsu's head and headed toward the train station outside town. Unfortunately, Natsu had made this trip for nothing this year.

"Huh?!"

The blue-haired young man looked at Natsu's cold attitude with wide eyes, his face full of surprise.

He somewhat could not understand. Was his title of Fire Dragon really that worthless?

Wasn't Fire Dragon an active Mage in the current Fiore magic world? That shouldn't be right!

"Damn it! The title Fire Dragon is way too useless. It can't even fool a guy who looks this stupid!"

The blue-haired young man secretly gritted his teeth. It wasn't that he didn't want to impersonate Mages with more famous titles. In the huge Kingdom of Fiore, there were countless Mages who used Fire Magic.

For example, the legendary Evan, who stood at the peak of Ishgar and ranked first among the Ten Wizard Saints, was also a user of Fire Magic. However, unfortunately, his appearance wasn't good enough! He had heard that Evan was handsome, so after thinking it over, the blue-haired young man ultimately chose to use the title Fire Dragon.

Because Natsu left so decisively without any nonsense, he was not surrounded and attacked by the girls around him who had been bewitched by the blue-haired young man...

Only one beautiful girl with long blond hair seemed to have broken free from the Charm Magic used by the blue-haired young man because of Natsu's sudden intrusion. Her eyes were clear as she looked intently at Natsu. It seemed this blond girl intended to repay Natsu...

However, Natsu knew nothing about this at the moment. He simply walked out of the crowd in great frustration and headed into the distance.

"Sigh..."

Natsu sighed as he walked.

His brows were tightly furrowed, as if deep in his heart, he was regretting something.

"Sure enough, after I go back, I'll beat up the bastard who gave me this information!"

After thinking for a long time, Natsu spoke softly to Happy beside him.

"Aye!"

Happy nodded vigorously, expressing his agreement with Natsu.

"Uh..."

"What is up with these two guys?"

The blond girl who had followed Natsu and Happy out of the crowd trembled slightly after hearing their conversation. She suddenly felt that following Natsu and Happy out might have been a wrong decision.

However, the blond girl had always been someone who repaid kindness. Since she had decided to thank Natsu, she would not stop what she was doing. And so...

"Hey! You two, please wait a moment..."

The blond girl quickly chased after Natsu and Happy.

"Hm? You're looking for me?"

Natsu turned around and revealed the same confused expression as Happy. His eyes seemed to be asking the blond girl, Are you calling me?

"Yes! I'm looking for the two of you..."

Hearing this, the blond girl nodded hard in confirmation.

"My name is Lucy. I'm really glad you helped me break free from that bastard's Charm Magic just now!"

The blond girl, Lucy, waved lightly at Natsu and Happy, smiling as she thanked them.

"Huh?!"

Natsu still had not understood the situation. He looked at the girl before him with a confused expression.

"In short, have you eaten?"

Looking at the confused Natsu, Lucy's eye twitched slightly. After thinking for a while, she asked Natsu.

"Grrrrrr..."

The moment Lucy finished speaking, Natsu's stomach let out an uncooperative sound.

And so...

Inside a restaurant in the port city of Hargeon.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch..."

Natsu was like a dragon that had been starving for years, opening his bloody mouth wide and devouring the tables of delicious food before him.

"Uh, hehe..."

In response, Lucy, who was sitting across from Natsu, held a clean white handkerchief and continuously wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

"Is this guy really human?"

"He's already eaten far more food than his body weight, hasn't he?"

"Was agreeing to treat him to a meal a mistake?"

Deep inside the smiling Lucy's heart, she was constantly complaining about Natsu.

"Inhale, exhale..."

Lucy slightly adjusted her breathing. Although she felt helpless about the scene before her, there was nothing she could do. She had been the one to offer the meal, so even if she had to cry, she still had to finish treating him.

"In short, that man calling himself Fire Dragon used a type of magic called Charm Magic on us! Its effect is to make people unconsciously develop goodwill toward him, and in the end, obey his every word..."

"Many years ago, this magic was classified as forbidden magic by the Magic Council and banned from being sold in magic shops. I really didn't expect that guy to still have this magic!"

"In fact, I was also bewitched by his magic just now. Fortunately, because you suddenly barged in, I finally woke up completely, which is why I wanted to thank you..."

Lucy sat in front of Natsu and Happy, explaining her experience.

"So that's how it is..."

Natsu nodded lightly, but his hands still did not stop. He continued picking up food from the table and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Hehe, actually, don't judge me by how I look. I'm also a Mage! Although I haven't joined a suitable Mage Guild so far! But I believe that one day, I will definitely join the Mage Guild I've always dreamed of..."

Lucy looked at Natsu and Happy with a smile, telling them about her experiences.

"Oh, oh!"

Natsu still nodded and echoed her without any intention of interrupting.

"Speaking of Mage Guilds! When it comes to the strongest Mage Guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, everyone would say that the Mage Guild standing at the very peak of the Kingdom of Fiore today is, of course, Fairy Tail~"

"I really hope that one day I can also become a member of Fairy Tail!"

"But I heard that Fairy Tail's membership requirements are extremely strict! And every year, large numbers of unqualified members are eliminated. As expected, an ordinary Mage like me probably can't enter a Guild like that~"

Lucy continued talking to herself.

"Ah, about that..."

After hearing Lucy say she wanted to join Fairy Tail, Natsu tried several times to cut in. He wanted to explain to Lucy that Fairy Tail was very easy to join. As long as you told the Guild Master sitting at the bar counter, picked up the stamp, and stamped it on your body, you would be a member of Fairy Tail from that day on.

As for Fairy Tail eliminating large numbers of unqualified members every year, that was even more of a lie. Those people left on their own because they could not adapt to Fairy Tail's pace, which caused Guild Master Makarov to feel anxious because he couldn't recruit new members, and lately, his head was getting balder and balder...

However, Lucy spoke too quickly, so Natsu couldn't find the timing to interrupt at all.

"Sorry! Sorry..."

"I said so much about the world of Mages. I suppose you two probably don't know much about Mages, right?"

Lucy seemed to realize she had spoken too much.

And so, she smiled and apologized to Natsu and Happy.

"No, um..."

Natsu swallowed the food in his mouth, seemingly about to say something.

"Speaking of which, Natsu and Happy, why did you two come to this city?"

Before Natsu could finish, Lucy seemed to think of something. She cupped her cheeks with both hands and looked at Natsu expectantly.

"Uh..."

"Actually, we came to Hargeon because we heard that a Fire Dragon had descended here, so we came to search for it."

"But after coming to Hargeon, we discovered that the so-called Fire Dragon was actually that kind of man. What a shame! No matter how you look at it, that guy isn't a Fire Dragon."

Natsu scratched his cheek, his expression carrying some frustration.

"Fire Dragon?"

Lucy widened her eyes after hearing Natsu.

"Aye!"

"We came to Hargeon precisely to find the Fire Dragon~"

Happy echoed Natsu beside Lucy.

"Fire Dragon? No, although I'm very curious what a human would look like to resemble a dragon..."

"But that blue-haired guy looked exactly like an ordinary human~"

After hearing Natsu and Happy, Lucy looked shocked. She could not imagine what a person who looked like a Fire Dragon would be like.

"Haha, not a human!"

"What we're looking for is a genuine dragon!"

After hearing Lucy's words, Natsu shook his head and explained.

"A genuine dragon?"

Lucy's eyes widened. She was completely shocked by Natsu.

"How could something that terrifying possibly appear in a town?!"

Lucy shouted at Natsu.

"No, I thought that so-called Fire Dragon might be living in Hargeon in human form! Like Ignia, Selene, and the others. In the end, it really was just a human. What a disappointment..."

Natsu crossed his arms in front of himself, looking disappointed.

"I completely don't understand what you're saying!"

Lucy looked at Natsu, feeling somewhat speechless.

Natsu's words kept jumping between dragons and humans, making Lucy completely unable to understand the meaning behind them.

"In short, thank you very much for helping me!"

"I should get going soon..."

"I'll leave the money here. Then, see you again if fate allows~"

Lucy smiled lightly at Natsu while placing a large stack of bills on his table.

Then, without waiting for Natsu to say more, Lucy stood up and turned to leave...

"Thank you for the food!"

However, just as Lucy reached the restaurant entrance, a voice rang out, making her pause slightly.

Lucy listened to Natsu's voice and looked back...

Then she saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life. Natsu and Happy were kneeling in seiza on the restaurant corridor, bowing to her in gratitude.

"Uh..."

"N-No problem!"

Feeling the strange gazes cast at her by countless customers around them, Lucy trembled slightly. Sweat appeared on her forehead, and she did not dare remain in the restaurant any longer. She turned around and fled in panic.

"She really is a good person!"

Natsu looked at Lucy's departing figure and spoke softly to Happy beside him.

"Aye~"

Happy nodded lightly in agreement.

"Speaking of which, Lucy wants to join our Fairy Tail Guild! Just now, I originally planned to invite her to come back with me, but I never got the chance to speak! Forget it..."

"Since Lucy's goal is Fairy Tail, then sooner or later, we'll meet again!"

Natsu looked at the corridor and muttered to himself.

"Aye~"

Happy seemed to be of one mind with Natsu. Hearing Natsu's words, he kept nodding in agreement.

Perhaps Natsu and Happy themselves did not expect that their reunion with Lucy would come very quickly.

On the other side...

"That guy really is strange~"

Lucy sat on a public bench in town, recalling Natsu's behavior and could not help muttering.

It was not that Lucy's mental endurance was poor, but Natsu's behavior was simply too shocking.

"Um, miss~"

Just as Lucy sat on the bench and began thinking about her future plans and goals...

A figure suddenly emerged from the bushes beside Lucy.

"You are?!"

Lucy looked at the person beside her and trembled slightly.

"Fire Dragon?!"

Immediately afterward, Lucy spoke the blue-haired man's title in shock.

"Haha, there's no need to be so polite to me. I've been looking for you for a long time. I know you are different from those women. You are special. That's why I hope to invite you to attend the party I'm holding on my cruise ship tonight..."

The blue-haired Fire Dragon raised the corners of his mouth. The atmosphere around him was excessively greasy. At the same time, he slightly raised his finger, using the ring enchanted with Charm Magic to continuously send suggestions into Lucy's mind.

"Don't use that kind of magic on me again! I've already seen through you!"

Unfortunately, Lucy was not affected by Fire Dragon's Charm Magic as he wished.

"As expected..."

The fake Fire Dragon narrowed his eyes. He had long guessed the possibility that Lucy was a Mage. In order to prevent Lucy from reporting him to the Magic Council, he was so eager to find her.

"Then how about I put it another way? Don't you want to join Fairy Tail?"

The fake Fire Dragon looked at Lucy and asked softly.

"You mean..."

"You're a Mage of Fairy Tail?"

Lucy immediately brightened after hearing the fake Fire Dragon, and her heart began pounding fiercely.

"Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon. I wonder whether you've heard of this title?"

The fake Fire Dragon looked at Lucy's expression and raised the corners of his mouth, explaining his identity.

"I-I have!"

Lucy nodded. Of course she had heard of Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon. He was one of the well-known Mages in the Kingdom of Fiore.

"How about this? As long as you attend tonight's party, I'll speak to the Guild Master and let you join Fairy Tail. How does that sound?"

The fake Fire Dragon directly grasped Lucy's weakness and asked softly.

"This..."

Hearing this, Lucy trembled slightly. Her rapidly beating heart had already exposed her thoughts.

"Hehe..."

In response, the fake Fire Dragon merely smiled lightly, his gaze carrying a hint of contempt.

"As expected of a girl who hasn't really been beaten by society! She's so easy to deceive!"

The fake Fire Dragon silently thought to himself, the corners of his mouth rising. He knew that the situation was settled.

After confirming that Lucy had been deceived by him, the fake Fire Dragon exchanged a few more pleasantries with her, then agreed on a boarding time with her. He lightly snapped his fingers and flew toward the sky.

"Bye-bye~"

And Lucy, this silly girl, had once again fallen under the fake Fire Dragon's Charm Magic and was still waving at him from the ground~

And so...

Time arrived at night, the time Lucy had agreed upon with the fake Fire Dragon. Wearing a gorgeous dress, Lucy boarded his cruise ship.

"You truly are beautiful, Miss Lucy~"

At that moment, the fake Fire Dragon was still playing the role of a gentleman. However, unbeknownst to him, before a true young lady like Lucy, his gentlemanly image was utterly laughable.

Lucy endured the fake Fire Dragon's disgusting behavior, boarded the ship, and silently endured the dance party that made her feel incredibly annoyed...

Time flew by. Just as Lucy casually found an excuse and returned to her room to rest, the music that had been surrounding the ship suddenly stopped. This made Lucy frown, and an ominous feeling suddenly rose in her heart!

"Is anyone there? What happened outside?"

Lucy gently pushed open the door of her room, looking outside through the crack while asking softly.

However, before Lucy could think further, the door to her room was suddenly pushed open. One burly and vicious-looking bandit after another rushed into Lucy's room and pressed her to the ground.

"What?"

Lucy's face looked panicked, but her heart was completely calm. She had long expected that something like this would happen.

In fact, with her skills, she could completely stop the bandits around her. However, in order to investigate what exactly was happening on the ship, she deliberately pretended to be caught.

"Hehehe, Mr. Bora, having us come really was the right decision. This girl wasn't affected by Mr. Bora's Sleep Magic at all!"

One of the bandits looked at the awake Lucy and laughed.

"In short, take her to the deck first and let Mr. Bora watch her!"

Another bandit nodded in agreement and spoke to the surrounding bandits.

"Okay!"

The bandits all nodded together, then escorted Lucy toward the ship's deck.

"Mr. Bora?"

Lucy frowned slightly, thinking about what the bandits' words meant.

At the same time...

On the ship's deck, the fake Fire Dragon with short blue hair was solemnly commanding the vicious-looking bandits.

"Be gentle! These are all my important goods! If even the slightest thing goes wrong, I'll use the heads of you bastards to pay the debt!"

At that moment, the fake Fire Dragon no longer had his gentlemanly demeanor from before. Like a vicious ghost, he spoke coldly to the bandits around him.

"W-We understand, Mr. Bora..."

The bandits all seemed very afraid of the fake Fire Dragon. They looked at Bora fearfully and nodded lightly.

"Mr. Bora, the person you wanted is here!"

Just as the fake Fire Dragon was commanding the bandits to properly settle the sleeping beautiful girls one by one, several bandits' voices suddenly sounded behind him.

"Oh?!"

Hearing this, Bora turned around and saw Lucy, whose hair was disheveled and who looked somewhat miserable.

"So it really was your doing! You used Sleep Magic to knock these girls unconscious. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lucy looked at the fake Fire Dragon, Bora, frowned, and angrily questioned him.

"Hehe, Lucy, you really didn't disappoint me! You truly weren't affected by Sleep Magic..."

"As for why I knocked these girls unconscious? What else could it be for? Of course, to send them to other countries as merchandise, sell them, and make a huge profit! Hahaha..."

Bora's expression twisted as he laughed at Lucy.

"And you call yourself a Mage of Fairy Tail?"

Tears welled in the corners of Lucy's eyes. For a moment, the image of Fairy Tail's Mages in her mind completely collapsed.

"Hahaha..."

"Of course I don't count as a Mage of Fairy Tail! Lucy, you're too stupid and naive. You believe whatever I say..."

"Since you're this naive, I'll give you one piece of advice! Never go to Fairy Tail, or you will regret it."

After hearing Lucy, Bora laughed loudly toward the sky. Then a trace of fear flashed through his pupils as he warned Lucy.

"So you really aren't a Mage of Fairy Tail!"

Hearing this, much of the pain in Lucy's heart instantly dissipated. For a moment, her filter toward Fairy Tail returned.

"Now that you know I'm not a Mage of Fairy Tail, do you feel much better? Then what are you going to do next, my dear Miss Celestial Spirit Mage~"

Bora stood with his hands behind his back and asked Lucy with a smile.

"Of course, defeat you..."

Lucy was too lazy to say anything more. She directly reached for the key ring at her waist.

Then Lucy awkwardly discovered that there were no keys at her waist at all...

"Huh?!"

This made Lucy widen her eyes.

"Lucy, is this what you're looking for?"

Bora looked at the pale-faced Lucy, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. Then he took out a string of shining keys from his chest.

"Those are my keys!"

Lucy looked at the Celestial Spirit Keys in Bora's hand, and her face instantly turned pale.

Once a Celestial Spirit Mage lost their keys, they were no different from an ordinary person...

"Hahaha! Did you think that after I knew you were a Celestial Spirit Mage, I would still let you hold onto these keys?"

Bora laughed loudly. Everything was within his plan.

"Damn it, what should I do next?"

Lucy's expression was panicked. Her body trembled slightly as she thought about how to break out of this situation.

"Lucy!"

Just as Lucy's body trembled in shock, a voice came from the sky and drew her gaze.

"Huh? Happy! And Natsu..."

Lucy looked up and saw an extremely familiar figure in the sky.

A young man with short cherry-pink hair was flying through the sky with the help of a blue cat with white wings on its back.

"You are?!"

Bora looked up at Natsu flying in the sky. His pupils trembled slightly, and an ominous feeling rose in his heart. Especially after Bora saw the mark on Natsu's shoulder, the mark that represented taboo in the magic world, his mind trembled even more.

"You're the brat who impersonated us Fairy Tail Mages, right?"

At that moment, Natsu did not notice Lucy. In his eyes, there was only Bora.

"S-So what if I am?"

Bora stepped back half a step and looked at Natsu while asking shakily.

"Since you used Fairy Tail's name, then prepare yourself!"

After hearing Bora's words, Natsu's eyes flashed with anger, and he raised his right hand toward the sky.

"BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by an endless roar, Natsu's magic power, comparable to that of the Ten Wizard Saints, immediately gathered toward his right hand. In the blink of an eye, a huge fireball with a diameter of one hundred meters appeared in the sky. The light released by the fireball directly illuminated the entire area around the ship, as if another sun had been born in the sky.

"Hey, hey, hey! This has to be a joke! If something like that falls down, people will die!"

"Boss Bora, what do we do now?"

At that moment, everyone conscious on the ship panicked, especially the bandits who had little magic power and were merely vicious in appearance. They were nervously biting their fingers while asking Bora.

"How would I know if you're asking me?!"

Bora looked panicked and speechless. How had he gotten so unlucky that he ran into those lunatics from Fairy Tail?! There was an old saying in the Kingdom of Fiore: better to fight a Dark Guild than say a single word to the lunatics of Fairy Tail...

"Mr. Bora, this is bad! Cherry-blossom short hair, crimson eyes, and a white scarf shaped like dragon scales! This guy is the real one! He's Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon, the one famous throughout Ishgar!"

At that moment, among Bora's subordinates, someone with knowledge directly revealed Natsu's identity.

"Shut up! I'm not blind. I saw it..."

After hearing his subordinate, Bora roared angrily.

But at this point, saying anything had no meaning. The fireball in the sky was about to fall...

"Natsu is actually a Mage of Fairy Tail? And he's even that famous Fire Dragon?"

"No! Now isn't the time to think about that. The most important thing now is how I can survive!"

Lucy was first shocked that Natsu was actually also a Mage, and even a Mage of Fairy Tail. Then she immediately fell into deep thought. Right now, the most important thing she needed to consider was not what Natsu's real identity was, but how she could survive under the giant ball of flames Natsu had gathered.

"Natsu! Calm down! You need to calm down!"

"There are still a lot of good people on the ship..."

"Most importantly, I'm still on the ship!"

And so, Lucy looked at the sky and shouted continuously at Natsu.

"All sinners who impersonate Fairy Tail must be punished!"

Unfortunately, Natsu seemed not to hear Lucy at all and continued gathering flames.

The fireball grew larger and larger, reaching over one hundred and fifty meters in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, that terrifying fireball nearly illuminated the entire sky above Hargeon!

No, it could no longer be called a fireball! It was practically a sun, like a great blazing sun reflected above the sea!

"Damn it, he can't hear me?!"

Lucy looked panicked. She discovered that Natsu could not hear her at all.

"Give up! Don't struggle pointlessly! Those lunatics from Fairy Tail have never been responsible for saving hostages..."

After hearing Lucy's cries, Bora gently shook his head. He seemed to understand Fairy Tail very well.

"Give me my keys!"

Unfortunately, Lucy did not listen to Bora at all. After all, in Lucy's eyes, Bora was just a liar.

"Hehe~"

Bora did not explain anything. He merely casually tossed Lucy's keys over.

"Thank you!"

Although the keys originally belonged to Lucy, after receiving them from Bora, Lucy still thanked him. After saying this, Lucy did not explain. She directly leapt from the ship's deck into the sea...

The cool seawater immediately made Lucy especially calm.

"Mr. Bora, why did you give her the keys?"

Bora's actions caused dissatisfaction among the people around him.

"As if we can survive if I don't give them to her."

Bora sighed and pointed at the enormous fireball in the sky that had expanded to two hundred meters, speaking coldly.

"Uh, this..."

After hearing Bora, his subordinates immediately stopped talking.

"Disappear!"

At the same time, in the sky, Natsu threw down the massive dragon flames he had created toward Bora.

Of course Natsu knew the situation on the ship, so his dragon flames automatically detected enemies. For those sleeping girls, the dragon flames were equivalent to a wave of heat, nothing serious...

"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

At the same time, Lucy finally opened her Celestial Spirit Gate in the sea.

The instant the dragon flames descended from the sky, it seemed as though the sea itself was thrown toward the heavens!

Immediately, with the cruise ship as the boundary, the sky and the sea were divided into the territories of flame and ocean!

At this moment, magic power continuously shook!