Selisliu's Death (Part One)

After the purplish-black lightning dissipated, Igneel slowly opened his still-stingling eyes and looked at the empty surroundings. He shouted angrily, "That coward, he ran away again!"

"Heh! If he runs away, we'll just chase after him!"

After speaking, Sordil switched back to his Poison Dragon Mode, listening intently to the sounds around him. Three minutes later, a smug smile appeared on Sordil's lips, and he said to Igneel, "Brother Igneel, I've found him. Let's go!"

"Alright, this time I'm determined to capture this coward alive!"

In a forest northwest of the harbor town

Looking at the suddenly empty view ahead, Zeref exclaimed in surprise, "Who on earth is fighting? How could they evaporate a mountain in an instant? No! The sound we just heard seemed to be the roar of dragons. Could it be that the dragons are fighting each other?"

Just then, a huge black shadow crackling with purplish-black lightning flew out from the gap in the mountain range and headed towards Zeref. Sensing the magical aura emanating from the creature, Zeref instantly recognized it, but his heart was now filled with even greater confusion.

"This Evil Dragon flew in from the gap in the mountain range. Could it be related to the battle that just happened? Wait... this guy seems to be running for his life. Could someone be chasing him?"

Looking up at the approaching Black Great Dragon, Zeref quickly suppressed his questions and perfectly concealed himself in the shadows of the forest.

"Whoosh!"

Just as Zeref had concealed himself, the Black Great Dragon swept over his head with a fierce shockwave and then disappeared into the distance. Just as Zeref was about to leave his hiding place, two figures, one red and one purple, flew out from the gap in the mountain range where the Black Great Dragon had appeared. The red and purple duo didn't stop and went straight after the Black Great Dragon.

"There really is someone chasing him? Wait a minute... why does that purplish-red dragon look so familiar? Could it be that I've seen him before?"

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the lingering sense of familiarity grew stronger, but the next second Zeref dismissed this absurd sense of familiarity.

"The only dragons that survived after seeing me are that Bandit and the other Evil Dragon we encountered on the way here. There is absolutely no such dragon as that purplish-red one, absolutely none!"

After sorting out his somewhat chaotic thoughts, Zeref resumed his search for the ' Bandit,' completely forgetting about the three-headed dragon.

Feeling the two people relentlessly pursuing him, Selisliu was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He couldn't win in a fight, he couldn't win in a verbal battle, and when he tried to escape, he was surrounded and intercepted. At this moment, he truly wondered if he was cursed by the god of misfortune.

"Call out"

Just as Selisliu was feeling utterly defeated and questioning his existence, an intensely hot wave of air rushed towards his back. Without turning around, Selisliu knew it must be that wretched fire dragon unleashing its breath on him. To ensure his safety, he had no choice but to abandon his forward momentum and instead ascend into the sky.

His choice proved to be both right and wrong, for while he avoided Igneel's attack, he fell into Sordil's ambush.

"The Ghost Dragon's Roar"

The familiar Black Great Dragon, the familiar black breath, and the unforgettable feeling of nausea and discomfort—these things transported Selisliu from a perilous chase into a hellish state of weakness and vulnerability. Watching Selisliu lose his balance and plummet downwards, Sordil decisively issued the order to attack to his comrades.

"Brother Igneel!"

"Receive!"

The two, working in perfect harmony, launched an attack on Selisliu simultaneously. However, fearing they might accidentally injure their teammate, they held back some of their strength and did not go all out.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art Technique: Holy Nova"

"Take this Collapse Fist!"

"Aww!"

With no way to avoid it, Selisliu perfectly absorbed all their attacks with his body. In the instant the intense pain struck, he couldn't bear it and let out a piercing scream. Spurred by his survival instinct, Selisliu used all his remaining strength to launch a desperate counterattack against the two.

"Lightning Cannon"

Two jets of purplish-black lightning erupted from Selisliu's body, instantly piercing through Sordil's Holy Nova and the flames covering Igneel's fist before attacking their main bodies.

Faced with the oncoming pillar of light, Sordil switched to Thunder Dragon mode and began to absorb the lightning attack. Compared to Sordil's elegant approach, the Fire Dragon King Igneel was in a much more sorry state, currently playing a game of tag with the lightning pillar. Glancing at the two struggling to survive, Selisliu, clutching his still-bleeding back, hurriedly fled westward.

Ishgar's western coastline

Gazing at the distant, lightning-streaked horizon, Glaide felt his chance to eliminate Selisliu had arrived!

"Selisliu has even resorted to using the Lightning Cannon, so he seems to be in a bad situation! However, this is good news for me. I just don't know if Selisliu can use this move to escape. It seems I need to lend a hand to Ishgar's friends!"

Having made up his mind, Glaide turned to his subordinates and said, "You all saw that flash of lightning, didn't you? That was Selisliu's desperate move— the Lightning Cannon! The appearance of this move means that Selisliu is in mortal danger, which means that the dragons of Ishgar have discovered the reconnaissance team and ambushed them."

"What? The reconnaissance team was exposed? No wonder they didn't send out any information!"

"Wait! If the dragons of Ishgar are ambushing Selisliu and the others, wouldn't our lives be in danger if we land on Ishgar now?"

"Yes! What should we do?"

Glaide waved to the crowd, signaling them to be quiet. Once everyone had stopped making noise, Glaide spoke up, "Brothers, I know what you're worried about, so I've decided that I'll go to Ishgar to investigate, while you brothers stay here to support me."

"No! We must stay with the leader!"

"Yes, we're all in this together, through thick and thin!"

"Yes, we are willing to live and die with you, our leader!"

Looking at his excited subordinates, Glaide rubbed his slightly reddened eyes and then shouted, "Brothers, I appreciate your good intentions! However, as the leader, I cannot let my brothers accompany me on this adventure, so you can stay here and support me. As for going to Ishgar, I can manage on my own!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Glaide flew off without looking back in the direction of the flashing lightning. Seeing Glaide leave, several dragons wanted to follow, but were stopped by Hit, the second-in-command of Koreita.

"Hit, what are you doing?"

"I understand how you all feel! And I believe all the brothers here feel the same way. However, we cannot go with the leader, because doing so will distract him and make him more dangerous!"

Are we just going to stand here and wait?

"Of course not! We have our own things to do!"

"What is it?"

Upon hearing the question, Hit turned his gaze to everyone and shouted loudly, "Take turns to rest and recuperate, and when the leader returns, we will take care of the troubles behind him and complete the cover mission assigned by the leader!"