He appeared as if descending like a sovereign. Cold eyes swept across everyone present. The terrifying pressure hammered at their hearts, making it impossible to look directly at his figure.
"Dark Guilds. Grimoire Heart. Tartaros." Natsu's voice was calm, but his magic condensed so densely that it fully manifested his form in their midst.
"Although I very much want to strike immediately, let me ask one thing first—how do you view this world?"
His gaze, detached and frigid, pierced them like falling into an icy abyss.
"View…? What are you planning to do?" Mard Geer instantly caught the hidden meaning behind his words. He realized Grimoire Heart and Tartaros might not even be this man's true targets.
"There is indeed something," Natsu replied smoothly. "All power should be subject to regulation. Take you, for instance—you are mages, a privileged class. At any moment, you can stir upheaval across the world.
Such power is a challenge to the world order. It must be overseen strictly."
"You're joking, right? We are mages—how could we accept something as ridiculous as 'regulation'? A mage is meant to—" Zancrow sneered, wearing a twisted grin.
Crack!
Natsu turned his cold gaze upon him. In that instant, an invisible force twisted Zancrow's body grotesquely. His magic was forcibly stripped away, condensed into a glowing orb, and absorbed into the Seven Realms sigil hovering behind Natsu.
Everyone stiffened in horror, cold sweat breaking out across their bodies.
As if brushing aside a trivial matter, Natsu continued, "But regulating power alone isn't enough. What lies behind that power must also be exposed. If there is a problem, it must be resolved.
Take you, Tartaros—you are disruptors of the present order. Yet it was Zeref who created you. If Zeref is not dealt with, even if you are destroyed, more demons and disruptors will arise.
And as for Zeref himself, his origins also demand investigation. Was it a failure of education that shaped his twisted personality? Or perhaps gods meddling with order? Unless these root causes are resolved, there will always be another Zeref."
"So…"
"So, what you want," Mard Geer cut in, applauding slowly, clap… clap… clap, "is to learn the general outlook of the Dark Guilds. To understand the causes of their existence and uproot the problem entirely. Am I right?"
He smiled coldly.
"An admirable thought. But tell me, won't such thinking create new problems? Humans, as a species, will not all willingly accept regulation. Just like the Kin of Purgatory earlier—or us.
Even parents cannot always make their children obey. Criminals will always exist.
Your vision is great, but in terms of practicality, it is far too poor. You don't have that kind of power. Not even with the one standing behind you."
"At best, you would only drag this world from one abyss into another."
Mard Geer's eyes gleamed as he tried to entice Natsu further. "But… if you trust us, we can create a new form of life for you. Life that will—"
Boom!
Natsu vanished in a blink, reappearing behind Mard Geer. His fist slammed down with the weight of billions of tons, striking directly at Mard Geer's soul. The pain was like being cut into pieces a thousand times over.
The Underworld King collapsed instantly, his brilliance extinguished. His power was stripped away, crystallized into an orb, and absorbed into the Seven Realms sigil.
"Demons. I wasn't asking for your opinions. I was only collecting the Dark Guilds' perspectives on this world.
Besides, I despise those who toy with life. You may have begun as victims, but now—you are perpetrators."
"You bastard—die!!"
The demons of Tartaros went berserk. They cast off all restraint and revealed their demonic forms, unleashing slashes, curses, ice, and more upon Natsu.
But when their attacks came within three inches of him, they simply dissolved into nothing.
Natsu's newly acquired Dragon God power worked against curses as well. Perhaps Grimoire Heart's research had been correct: magic and curses did indeed share a common root—both tied to emotion, both facets of the same mysterious essence.
Then his eyes flashed with white light. Endless brilliance consumed the demons' world.
On the spot, every demon's power was drawn out, turned into orbs, and absorbed into the sigil.
Natsu then turned to face Grimoire Heart.
"Now it's your turn. Tell me—what do you think of this world? Has it been painful for you?"
"…Makarov's disciple, eh?" Hades (Precht) was shaken speechless by Natsu's overwhelming dominance. Mard Geer had been the mightiest demon of Tartaros, even among those written in Zeref's books—his power rivaled or exceeded that of dragons.
And yet he had fallen in an instant.
"This world… to me, it is a cage," Hades said at last, voice heavy with sorrow. "Do you understand? Magic was born of darkness. Through countless generations, it has developed into what it is today.
Magic enriches life—it warms, it comforts, it creates. And yet it remains a cage: incomplete theories, broken knowledge, lost arts.
When flame dances at your fingertips, the warmth it brings—that is what humanity should pursue.
Only mages—yes, only mages—can wield such miraculous, dreamlike power. Mages should be the future of the world!
But they are so foolish. They waste this gift on violence or are seduced by gold and lust.
Like you, Fire Dragon. I don't know what changed you, but before… You were exactly the kind of person I despise most.
I… I wish to shatter this cage. To reforge order. To create a free, perfect world."
"…So. Inflated power made you separate yourself from ordinary people." Natsu nodded, then turned to the next. Meredy.
"I don't really have an opinion… I was raised by Grimoire Heart since I was little…" she stammered, frozen under the dragon's gaze.
"An issue of education," Natsu remarked, then looked to the next—Azuma.
"I'm just… bored. I only wanted to relive the thrill of battle."
And then to the next.
…
One by one, he listened. Natsu gave no judgment, only gathered their words. Like Zeref's lectures once etched in memory, he categorized and analyzed:
"I think I understand now. Most of you lost direction when your power expanded too quickly. This society lacks a proper system to channel its strength into constructive roles. There are also gaps in education… and ideology."
Having finished collecting the upper echelons' thoughts, Natsu no longer lingered. His overwhelming force erupted, filling the hall.
Almost immediately, Hades struck back, cold light bursting from his palms.
"Grimoire Law!!"
Ultear raised her long-prepared golden key. "Spirit King's—"
"Boring."
Natsu's palm crushed their resistance. The Seven Realms sigil spun out, unleashing a flood of white light that drowned the hall. Ultear didn't even finish her incantation; her golden key clattered to the ground.
Their powers were stripped away, transformed into orbs, and absorbed into the sigil.
Thus, in Earthland, the two great Dark Guilds—Grimoire Heart and Tartaros—saw their leadership annihilated.
"…Time to go."
Light surged across Natsu's body. Just as he was about to leave, a tremor rippled within him. His gaze fell upon the Book of E.N.D. resting on the table.
The moment he touched it, the book dissolved into light and merged into him—completing something inside.
"…A demon, huh? No wonder."
Understanding part of his true nature, Natsu's expression softened with relief. Then his figure vanished.
The Balam Alliance was not merely Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. Beneath them, countless sub-guilds existed—and it was they who would become the main targets of the coming purge.