Zeref's Road to Failure (Part 1)

A village on the Western Continent

"Help!"

"Mom, where are you?"

"Brother, save me! Waaah!"

"Is anyone there? Help!"

"Please, please save us! We don't want to die!"

"Roar"

"Kill all these insects!"

"Awooo! Kill them all!"

"Don't try to take it from me, I'm going to eat my fill this time!"

Under the pitch-black night, orange-red flames erupted in the village as villagers scattered in all directions, their cries of agony, pleas for help, and sobs filling the air. Dark shadows danced in the sky above the village; some hovered, leisurely watching the fleeing villagers below, occasionally letting out triumphant shouts, while others breathed on the fleeing villagers, reveling in the thrill of their prey.

Before long, the village was burned to the ground. The villagers were either burned to ashes, torn to pieces, or eaten by the shadows. There was no one left alive.

"Tch! Humans are so useless. I hadn't even had my fill yet, and they're all dead!"

"Come on, Goethe! You were too slow and didn't get a chance to make a move, so don't complain about our delicious food."

"That is!"

"Alright, stop arguing! If we don't go back soon, the boss will find out we've been hunting humans without permission, and then we'll all be in deep trouble!"

"Bandel is right, we should hurry back. As for those who didn't get any prey this time, we can make up for it next time we come out!"

"Yes! Yes! We'll make it up next time! We'll make it up next time!"

Faced with the unanimous decision of his old friends, Goethe had no choice but to reluctantly agree. Just as they were preparing to return to the secret realm, Goethe, with his exceptional eyesight, suddenly noticed that a large amount of Black Mist was enveloping them.

What is that?

Upon hearing Goethe's exclamation, everyone turned their gaze toward where Goethe was, but before they could get a good look, the Black Mist had already engulfed them.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Moments later, the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground echoed from the ruins of the village.

"In this way, you have avenged yourselves. Rest in peace!"

A sigh emanated from the Black Mist, followed by the rustling of footsteps. Soon after, a black-haired youth appeared amidst the ruins of the village. Instead of checking for any survivors, the youth went directly to the corpse of the dragon that had perished in the Black Mist.

"Quality Magic: Limit Sand Sealing"

"Buzz"

A dark purple magical ripple spread outwards from the boy's hand, and the dragon corpses enveloped by the ripples slowly shrank, eventually turning into dust particles. As the last dragon fell from the sky and was reduced to dust by the boy, the Black Mist began to gather around him, eventually being absorbed into his body.

"With the magic power of these Evil Dragon, we should have enough magic power for the R System. It's time to revive Natsu!"

Having achieved his goal, Zeref headed toward his research institute.

Mildian, the City of Time, outskirts

Looking at his masterpiece, Zeref felt gratified and proud, and of course, joy at the prospect of reviving his younger brother Natsu.

"Natsu, wait a little longer, your brother will revive you right away!"

Zeref gazed at the sky and spoke softly. Then, he turned his gaze to the distant east and murmured, "Bandit, wait for me, I'll be there to find you soon!"

After expressing his feelings, Zeref strode into the tower in front of him to prepare for the revival of his younger brother Natsu.

First, he took out a dragon carcass he had collected earlier and tossed it into a strangely shaped jar. After the carcass was added, the jar began to spin, and as it rotated, the dragon carcass shrank in size. Simultaneously, a bright blue liquid flowed from a transparent pipe at the bottom of the jar. The bright blue liquid flowed through the pipe into the walls of the tower, and then the tower walls began to emit a bright blue light. When the dragon carcass had completely disappeared into the jar, the first floor of the tower was completely filled with blue light. After the dragon carcass in the jar had completely disappeared, Zeref continued to throw in the next dragon carcass.

Once Zeref had finished casting all the dragon corpses, the entire tower was enveloped in a bright blue light. Having completed this step, Zeref began his next move. He quickly ascended to the top of the tower and began inscribing Magic Array on the floor. After about half an hour, a massive Magic Array appeared on the floor of the top floor of the tower.

"Now that everything is ready, it's time to go out and find offerings."

Two days later, Zeref returned to the tower carrying a four- or five-year-old boy to continue his plan to revive Natsu. Zeref led the boy to the top floor of the tower, then placed him flat in the center of the Magic Array and began chanting a spell.

"Great Dark God, Your devout follower Zeref, I pray to you, that you accept my sacrifice, complete the pact between you and me, and grant me my return!"

After Zeref finished chanting, the Magic Array emitted a dark purple light. Immediately afterward, a circular black hole appeared at the top of the tower, absorbing the bright blue light emanating from within. At the same time, the boy placed in the center of the Magic Array floated silently in mid-air, wisps of eerie green light drifting from the black hole and flowing into his body.

"Bang"

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the boy's body expanded rapidly and exploded violently. Then, the entire tower began to shake, and a mushroom cloud resembling a nuclear explosion rose into the sky.

"Cough cough"

"Cough cough"

Half an hour later, the smoke and dust dissipated, and the spot where the tower had once stood became a bottomless pit. At the edge of the pit, a humanoid creature shrouded in black ash coughed repeatedly.

"Ah! Why is this happening?"

"Everything was done perfectly, so why did it fail?"

"Why?"

Looking at the deep pit beneath his feet, Zeref shouted loudly towards the sky, but apart from the swirling dust, there was nothing else around, and naturally, no one could answer his question. After a moment, Zeref, who had been sitting blankly on the ground, suddenly stood up and burst into maniacal laughter.

"Haha! I got it!"

"I'm so stupid... haha... so stupid!"

Having figured everything out, a Clear Wind began to waft around Zeref, washing away the dust from his body. Cleansed, Zeref once again threw himself into the construction of the R System with renewed enthusiasm. A month later, a brand-new R System tower stood tall in its original location. With the tower complete, Zeref resumed his dragon hunts to replenish the R System's energy. However, this time, Zeref's dragon-hunting journey was not as easy as before, but rather fraught with danger and setbacks.

Western Continent, Dragon Clan Secret Realm, Bohr Leviers

"What did you say? That mysterious entity that hunted Goethe and his group has reappeared?"

"Yes... yes!"

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Selisliu angrily cursed, "Bastard! Bastard!"

After berating the guy who attacked his men, Selisliu looked at his men who were standing there dumbfounded and yelled again, "What are you still standing here for? Go and find out who attacked our men!"

"Yes, I will investigate immediately!"