The wind on the mountaintop brushed over Igneel's scales, making a faint scraping sound.
He looked at the old, yellowed Book of E.N.D. in Marco's hand.
Complicated emotions flickered in his huge dragon eyes, and for a moment, he could not speak.
Marco held the Book of E.N.D. steadily in his palm and looked straight into Igneel's dragon eyes with a serious expression.
"Igneel, Natsu is important family to me. He's my guildmate, i need to know the whole truth. Who exactly is he? E.N.D.? Zeref's strongest demon? What is going on?"
"Haa..."
The Fire Dragon King let out a long sigh.
His dragon breath carried a wave of scorching heat, blowing away a few thin wisps of mist from the mountaintop.
"Master Marco, Natsu is indeed E.N.D., the 'strongest' demon created by Zeref's own hands. He is also Zeref's... younger brother."
In the end, Igneel did not hide it.
He told Marco what he knew, clearly, he knew many hidden secrets.
"Younger brother?" Marco frowned slightly.
That relationship... was even closer than he had expected.
Or rather, Marco had never imagined Natsu and Zeref would actually be brothers.
Wasn't E.N.D. a demon created by Zeref? How could they be real brothers? Did that even make sense?
"Yes. His real younger brother."
Igneel confirmed it, his voice carrying a trace of pity and helplessness toward Zeref.
"Natsu actually died long ago.... Zeref was the one who revived him. The strongest demon, E.N.D., is the revived Natsu."
Igneel revealed an incredibly shocking truth.
Zeref had actually managed to bring the dead back to life.
To Marco, this was even more terrifying than "creating demons." This was truly reversing the natural laws of reality.
"..."
Marco opened his mouth.
He had thought that after becoming a Saint, there would no longer be many things that could shock him like this.
But bringing the dead back to life was simply too horrifying.
Even a Gold Saint did not have that kind of ability.
Resurrection was the greatest miracle of all.
Well, that was not entirely right.
The Ophiuchus Gold Saint could achieve resurrection.
He could even twist the laws of the gods however he wished and easily revive most dead living beings, as long as they had not yet reincarnated.
But the Ophiuchus Gold Saint, Asclepius, the "God of Medicine" from the age of myth, was difficult to call fully human in the first place.
He was the son of Apollo and had learned from the great centaur sage Chiron.
If one classified him by birth, then he should be considered half-god and half-human.
Asclepius, the God of Medicine, had truly surpassed his master. His medical skill went beyond even the great centaur sage Chiron.
And in terms of strength, Asclepius had long since touched the realm of the gods. Only chief gods like Athena, Hades, and Poseidon could suppress him.
A being like Asclepius clearly existed on a completely different level from ordinary Gold Saints.
Marco believed that he would at least need to reach the Eighth Sense before he was qualified to touch the secrets of the Ophiuchus Gold Cloth.
"In truth, Zeref entered the magic academy and began studying and researching magic because he wanted to revive his dead younger brother.
To bring his brother back, he began researching the greatest taboos in magic: creating life and reviving the dead. The curse on his body, the Curse of Ankhseram, appeared at that time."
Igneel's tone became serious.
Clearly, this story was heavy. It was not something that could be treated lightly.
"Zeref poured unimaginable magic power and effort into it. He poured in his understanding of life, his desire for power, his wish to end himself, and his longing for his younger brother Natsu, who had already passed away.
He created E.N.D. for two reasons.
First, to revive his brother.
Second, because deep down, he wanted to create a being powerful enough to end his immortal life and free him from his endless torment and curse.
E.N.D. was his maddest creation, and also the one closest to success."
Through Igneel's explanation, the image of Zeref, the ancestor of black magic, gradually became clearer.
"Zeref wanted to die. He wanted to escape the Curse of Ankhseram, so he created countless demons. But none of those demons could kill him. In the end, he used his younger brother Natsu's corpse to create the strongest demon, E.N.D., achieving both the creation of the strongest demon and the resurrection of his brother at the same time."
Marco continued, combining it with the information he already had.
The logic was now very clear.
"That's right."
Igneel nodded, his dragon face full of sympathy.
Zeref had been cursed by Ankhseram because he wanted to revive his younger brother. Then, in the end, he wanted that revived younger brother to kill him...
"I don't understand it. That's not fair to Natsu."
Marco sighed.
Zeref had revived Natsu on his own, turned him into a demon, and then wanted Natsu to kill him.
He had not considered how Natsu would react after learning all of this at all.
"True."
Igneel agreed.
He and Marco naturally stood on Natsu's side.
Everything Zeref had arranged might have felt perfect from Zeref's own perspective, but for Natsu, it was only the beginning of pain.
"But why did things become like this afterward?"
Marco looked at the Book of E.N.D. in his hand.
Natsu's current state was clearly different from the other demons.
The others were one with their Demon Books, but only Natsu had been separated from his book.
"That is because I once fought E.N.D. Since Zeref and I were friends, I did not destroy E.N.D. But for some unknown reason, E.N.D.'s demonic power was sealed back into the Book of E.N.D., and all of his memories disappeared as well."
Looking at the Book of E.N.D., Igneel answered.
He knew about Natsu being separated from the Book of E.N.D.
But what Igneel had not expected was that the Book of E.N.D. had been lost.
Zeref was truly unreliable!
Had he really become more and more insane? Had his mind become more and more unstable?
"He lost his memories? So Natsu never knew his own background, never knew his true relationship with Zeref, and never knew this Book of E.N.D. existed."
Marco could not help complaining inwardly.
Natsu really had it rough.
He had lost his memories once as E.N.D., and then, as Natsu, he had lost some more memories when passing through the Eclipse Gate.
He was clearly not that old, yet he had already gone through so much.
"Yes."
The Fire Dragon King lowered his huge head slightly, carrying both guilt and worry.
"I chose to hide everything. I did not want him to carry such a heavy past, or be bound by identities like 'the strongest demon' or 'Zeref's weapon.' In any case, his demonic power had already been sealed. He was no longer a demon, but a normal child.
I hoped he could live, fight, laugh, cry, and find his own meaning in life as a person—as Natsu, a Fire Dragon Slayer.
Of course, he was also given a new and greater mission. As a Dragon Slayer, he had to go to the future to defeat the Black Dragon Acnologia and save this world."
Igneel's dragon eyes stared closely at the Book of E.N.D. in Marco's hand as he spoke sincerely.
In truth, placing their hope on a few children had only been because they had no other choice back then. Now that Marco existed, their thinking had immediately changed.
"Marco, Natsu is my child. This Book of E.N.D. is Natsu's true body, the core of his life, and his lifeline. It is also his greatest and most fragile weakness.
As long as the book exists, Natsu exists.
If the book is destroyed, then Natsu... no matter where he is or how powerful he becomes, will disappear with it.
I beg you, protect it! Do not let it be destroyed, and absolutely do not let this book fall into Zeref's hands. Zeref's current state... I truly cannot trust him anymore."
If Igneel had still held some unrealistic hope toward Zeref's current condition before seeing the Book of E.N.D., then after seeing this lost book, he had completely abandoned that hope.
"Don't worry, Igneel."
Marco nodded and gripped the Book of E.N.D. tightly.
With an extremely solemn expression, he released Crystal Wall and a strange light flowed over the surface of the book, sealing it completely.
"Anyone who tries to harm Natsu is an enemy of all of Fairy Tail." Marco spoke firmly.
Fairy Tail would never allow anyone to target one of their own.
Looking at Marco and feeling the burning will to protect his companions, along with the powerful confidence in his words, the heavy worry in Igneel's heart finally eased a little.
Natsu's future might still be full of unknowns and challenges, but at least he was not facing them alone.
His family, his companions, and his powerful Guild Master all stood behind him.
"Then... should we tell Natsu about this?"
After getting on the same page and fully clarifying Natsu's background, Marco hesitated a little and asked for Igneel's opinion.
"I don't know."
The Fire Dragon King shook his enormous dragon head.
He handed the decision to Marco. Whether to tell Natsu or not was for Marco to decide.
"..."
Marco looked at the old fire dragon speechlessly.
"He's your son, and you're telling me you don't know?"
Marco complained.
Shouldn't something like this be decided by Igneel, his "father"? Wouldn't that make more sense?
"No, Marco. You know this too! For most of these years, I was asleep and healing. I only woke up over the past year or two. In that sense, I do not understand Natsu as well as you do. Whether or not to tell him is something you can judge better."
Igneel spoke very reasonably.
"..."
Marco suddenly had no way to argue.
That did make some sense.
When it came to understanding Natsu, Igneel, who had slept for so many years, was definitely not as familiar with him as the companions who had grown up with him.
---------
Read 50 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator