Chapter 450: Nothingness, Nirvana, and Nothingness

Chapter 450: Nothingness, Nirvana, and Nothingness

A mischievous child scooped up a ladle of water to douse an ant, and that's how Wu felt at the moment, like that ant.

Except, instead of water, he faced a seemingly endless torrent of flames and lava from above.

The lava and fire engulfed Wu, accompanied by intense heat and violent explosions.

The ground beneath him melted, buildings crumbled, and the surrounding streets turned into a sea of fire. Amidst the red glow, not a single intact structure remained.

Natsu couldn't help but turn back, longing for a bite, while the others felt the flames at their backs, as if their clothes were about to be scorched.

Large beads of sweat rolled down Wu's forehead, but they quickly evaporated. His shield lasted a second or two longer than the surrounding buildings before shattering amidst the explosions.

"This is... the dragon..." Wu murmured.

His vision was filled with red flames, and the force of the dragon's breath slammed him into the ground.

Exaggerated magical power surged within him, attempting to disperse the flames around his body, but to no avail. The immense pressure pushed him further into the ground, causing the streets around him to sink as well. Some materials melted and became part of the lava, while others simply vaporized.

A massive hole appeared in the ground, penetrating deep into the heart of Nirvana. If the base of Nirvana hadn't been made of special materials, it would have been pierced and shattered by now.

After releasing a breath, Inferno Wyvern had small flames lingering at the corners of his mouth, which he exhaled and vanished like a street fire-breathing performer.

Inferno Wyvern glanced in the direction where Wendy and Natsu had left, muttering to himself, "I didn't pay attention, but it seems there were two dragon kids? Damn, my entrance wasn't that cool."

He scratched his chin with his front claws, genuinely looking distressed.

Suddenly, Inferno Wyvern spotted a small fire person jumping out of the fire pit. Just as he was about to compliment the person's sturdiness, the person waved and fired a green magical beam at him.

The magic, accompanied by flames, spiraled and struck Inferno Wyvern's mouth, creating a shower of sparks.

Inferno Wyvern moved his jaw and touched the broken dragon scales. "Damn!"

After a beautiful curse, Inferno Wyvern flapped his wings and dove down.

When Wu saw that his most powerful penetrating magic could only shatter a few dragon scales, he gave up, allowing the flames to consume him.

Thinking of the Poison Dragon Slayer in his guild, Wu doubted whether humans could truly surpass dragons.

How did humans get involved in that ancient dragon war? Could Dragon Slayers like him achieve such magical power?

Perhaps today, Wu would truly become nothingness.

BOOM!!!

A thunderous roar reverberated throughout the city as Inferno Wyvern charged forward, a reward for those who dared to injure him.

Amidst the sea of fire, a giant wave rose, and the ground cracked with each explosion, though it was hard to see due to the flames.

Inferno Wyvern lifted his head from the fire, roaring like a monster born from the flames.

He flapped his wings vigorously and flew along the street, heading towards the city's edge.

How long does it take for a dragon to cross a city? No one was there to time him.

If someone could witness this scene, they would see a colossal creature gliding low, lightning-fast, as buildings on both sides of the street exploded continuously.

The fire and explosions engulfed the adjacent streets, as if someone had quickly drawn a thick, straight crimson line on a circular piece of paper with a brush dipped in red paint.

And this line continued to spread outward.

Inferno Wyvern flew sideways, his wingtips grazing the edge of Nirvana, like an endless-ammo bomber drawing a fiery circular border around the ancient city amidst explosions and flames.

He soared through the city's sky, and soon, the entire city was engulfed in flames.

Auto-repair? The scale and speed of the damage had long exceeded Nirvana's magical power, significantly reducing its speed and stride frequency.

As the countdown set by Xi Bi Qi reached its end, explosions sounded almost simultaneously at the base of Nirvana's six legs, bringing its advance to a complete halt.

The group rushed out of the cabin, some carried by Sharp-beaked Birds, others by cats, and some embraced by Mila. They flew away, evacuating before the fire could reach them.

Inferno Wyvern watched as the tiny figures departed, feeling more exhilarated with each escape.

Nirvana trembled, sparks flew, and explosions echoed above. The massive mobile city began to collapse rapidly.

Countless large and small fragments of buildings fell into the forest below, some still carrying flames.

A fiery red figure rose into the sky, dragging a long red tail of flames as it fell into the center of Nirvana, piercing through the structure and its foundation.

Nirvana began its final collapse.

Six fiery legs broke off and fell, and the main body of the city cracked into irregular pieces and plummeted.

The group, having retreated to a safe distance, gathered together and watched as the burning city collapsed, igniting the nearby forest and causing intense tremors in the surrounding area.

The Inferno Wyvern roared, and its figure disappeared mid-air. Rod probably understood what it meant by that roar—'It's a blast! Bro, if there's anything like this in the future, call me!'

"We did it!" Wendy and Shaluna were the happiest among them.

Jula and the others were naturally delighted, but they were probably more shocked deep inside. They exclaimed:

"This is the power of a dragon."

"What a formidable creature!"

Elusa smiled and said, "Well, with this, our subjugation mission can be considered a success."

"Not yet." Rod, while still having some magic left, summoned another golem and gave a Dong Xi Zhi Guan to himself and Wendy.

"Wendy, please heal Gray. If we don't control the fire in this vast forest, it'll be a disaster."

"Yes!" Wendy ran over to Gray and began using her healing magic.

Everyone suddenly realized that although Nirvana had been destroyed, there was still a mess to clean up.

The area of the city that had been on top of Nirvana was now the size of the raging inferno, and as they spoke, it continued to grow.

If they didn't stop it quickly, the entire mountain range would likely be destroyed.

Rod patted Natsu's shoulder and said, "After Nirvana is completely burned out, it's up to you to extinguish the fire, Natsu. We'll figure out a way to contain the flames."

"Leave it to me... But this is too much!" Natsu responded instinctively, then complained in surprise as he looked at the extent of the flames.

However, his body honestly rushed towards the sea of fire.

"If it's about containing the flames, I can help too." Jula indicated that her magic could create a Fang Huo Qiang, "Also, please heal Levy as well, Wendy. He can also lend a hand."

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, Gray and Levy had fully awakened, and although their injuries were not completely healed, they had all joined the firefighting efforts.

In the Waise Tree Sea, towering rock walls and ice walls rose one after another, effectively hindering the spread of the fire. However, it was still a bit of a struggle for them to contain the entire city's inferno.

Rod continued to provide Dong Xi Zhi Guan to the three while waiting for his magic power to recover.

"Awooo... Wah wah wah... Damn it..."

Natsu let out strange cries as he ran back and forth through the sea of fire, and for some reason, his shouting didn't affect the flames from entering his mouth.

Every time he ran, the fire diminished as if erased by a rubber, reducing the width of the inferno by approximately a street.

When a long rock wall and an ice wall stood tall on either side of the fire, the group witnessed the second dragon of the night.

Amidst the tremors, two Fang Huo Qiangs, taller and thicker than the ones Jula had created, rose from the ground, completely containing the fire.

Although the ice walls were melting and the rock walls were slowly cracking, they managed to stay within the designated area.

Unlike the Inferno Wyvern, the Mountain Range Wyvern didn't roar after completing its task; it silently disappeared.

However, whether it was an illusion or not, the group seemed to hear its sigh.

They had thought that after giving up the dragon soul and introducing the Inferno Wyvern, they wouldn't have to deal with the aftermath, but they still had to clean up the mess, which was annoying.

"Shaluna..."

Shaluna, irritated, complained, "Ugh, I should've asked Wendy to heal you later. I can't stand this anymore!"

Happy instantly turned to stone.

Lucy crouched down and patted Happy's head, teasing, "You two have a long way to go before you're 'an item.'"

When she said 'an item', she deliberately imitated Happy's tongue-rolling.

"Lucy, you're the worst person in the world!" Happy burst into tears, dropped the fish he was holding, and ran to a tree nearby, crouching and drawing circles.

Lucy's mouth hung open in shock. "Is it that serious?!"

Mila, who was bandaging Erza's wounds, smiled and called out, "Lucy, pick up that fish. Since Happy doesn't want it, we'll make fish soup later. Everyone must be hungry!"

Happy cried even harder.

Lucy loudly mocked, "How cruel!"

But Erza nodded in agreement. "Mila's right. We should replenish our nutrition after a big battle. Fish is rich in..."

"You're taking this too seriously!"

"Miss Lucy seems to have some worries!" Xi Bi Qi rushed in like a whirlwind, kneeling on one knee before Lucy with his injuries, and extended a hand towards her. "No matter what it is, please confide in me."

Lucy scoffed, "If you didn't do this, I'd have fewer worries."

"Then you can tell me too." Yifu made a gesture similar to Xi Bi Qi's, but his expression seemed slightly shyer. "How about I call you big sister? Big sister, is there anything I can help you with? Please tell me quickly."

"Please go and take care of your injuries first..." Lucy said helplessly, "Why don't I see you talking to Miss Mila? She's obviously more beautiful."

"..." Xi Bi Qi and Yifu exchanged a glance but continued to flatter Lucy.

Lian didn't follow their lead this time. Instead, she stayed by Jellie's side, deliberately turning away even though she was within arm's reach, "Your... how are your injuries? I'm not doing this to show concern for you."

"After... after Miss Wendy treated me, I feel much better." Jellie turned away, not looking at Lian, "I'm not trying to avoid worrying you."

Originally, she was very concerned about Levy, but after getting to know Lian and fighting alongside him, she couldn't help but pay attention to him.

Moreover, Jellie felt that Levy preferred to chat with Gray rather than be with her.

Midnight was quiet now. After getting injured multiple times today and using the perfume to unleash his potential, he needed a good night's sleep to recover.

Jula, after resting for a while, built a stone table and stove on the spot and started preparing the ingredients contributed by Rod.

Once Mila finished bandaging Erza, she would come over to cook.

Rod sat atop the high wall created by the Inferno Wyvern, keeping an eye on Nirvana's burning progress to prevent its resurrection.

He also watched Natsu bustling about in the sea of flames.

His head followed Natsu's running direction, turning from left to right and then back again, curious as to how much flame Natsu could consume.

Natsu felt a gaze fixed on him, making him uncomfortable. After running to the closest position to Rod once more, he shouted angrily, "I'm exhausted! Come down and help!"

"I can't eat fire."

"Liar! You can use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic after transforming!"

"That's not normal Dragon Slayer Magic. I really can't eat fire."

"It's because you didn't learn from a dragon. Watch, just suck it in like this!"

"..." Rod didn't want to talk.

He couldn't very well tell Natsu that he had tried eating fire and ended up with a few blisters on his lips. Mila had shown concern, and then she playfully chased him for a kiss, teasing him for several days.

Estimating that the time was about right and his magic power had recovered sufficiently, Rod summoned the Void Nest Worm.

The eggs on the worm's back continuously ruptured, and blue-purple Void Worms jumped out, rushing towards the ruins of Nirvana that hadn't been completely burned down.

Having promised to destroy Nirvana, Rod wanted to be thorough, leaving no trace of the ruins.

As the worms busied themselves, Rod joined the others around the stone table.

Although most of the people here had just met today, they all wore joyful smiles. They raised their bowls of soup as if it were wine and clinked them together, "Cheers!"

Everyone happily drank the soup, except for Natsu, who couldn't swallow it. He lay on the ground, holding his stomach.

Although he had consumed only formless flames, he had eaten too much, feeling overly full. He had the illusion that he wouldn't need to eat for the entire day.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end