Facing the Beast King mentioned by the village chief, the opponent's magic power was fully and openly displayed.
Natsu didn't feel any pressure, instead, he was ready to fight:
"I told you, Rhode, you're overthinking this. How could this guy be S-Class? He can't compare to Erza at all."
Seeing the Beast King firsthand, Rhode, holding Hapi on a tree, nodded: "That's true, it's hard to disagree."
Natsu was still comparing: "And he's no match for Mira either!"
"Well... comparing to Mira is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Hapi said: "Natsu's talking about the old Mira."
"Old... Was Mira very strong?"
"Aye! Mira used to be an S-Class Mage, always fighting with Erza."
"!" The image of gentle Mira flashed in Rhode's mind, "Her? Fighting with Erza?"
This somewhat challenged his imagination.
"Aye, back then they were like Natsu and Gray now."
"..." Rhode's mind was somewhat overwhelmed, he wanted to ask about Mira's past since Lisana was mentioned yesterday.
But considering Hapi's feelings, it was hard to bring up, today...
"Roar~~~~"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Alright, ask after the fight.
Natsu's fist collided with the Leopard Man's, making a dull sound.
Their size difference was significant, but with flames wrapping Natsu's fist, it looked almost as big as the Leopard Man's.
Yet in a fistfight like this, Natsu didn't fall behind.
After a brief stalemate, both retreated.
The Leopard Man's fist had some scorch marks, and Natsu left a shallow mark with his foot.
"You're quite capable, aren't you?" Natsu clenched his fist and charged again.
The Leopard Man seemed hesitant but faced the attack head-on: "Roar~~~"
Both exchanged blows non-stop, sometimes attacking, sometimes blocking.
The Leopard Man's strength was immense, each move contained extraordinary power, an ordinary person might have their bones shattered with just one hit.
And Natsu's every move was accompanied by flames, adding great destructive power and explosiveness to his attacks, even successfully blocking them could leave burns.
After a dozen moves, Natsu wanted to try using his size difference for more agile attacks.
But the Leopard Man's leopard traits were well-developed, not only large but also quite agile.
"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!"
A fiery elbow increased by flames pushed the opponent back two steps, and Natsu agilely backflipped twice to gain distance.
This was the pre-arranged opportunity to strike; six strange birds, one large and five small, flew out of the surrounding pine trees.
The big one flapped suddenly in the air, shooting dozens to hundreds of feather-like throwing knives; even the small ones joined in by shooting one each for fun.
The Leopard Man raised both arms to protect its vital parts, dozens of feathers pierced its arms, shoulders, and legs.
"Roar!" The Leopard Man roared, breaking a big tree nearby, swinging it to knock away the beaked birds diving at it.
Two Ancient Stone Beetles burst from the ground, one crashed into the Leopard Man's back, knocking it off balance, the other clamped onto its waist from the front.
The Leopard Man swung the tree in its hand half a circle back, smashing the Stone Beetle behind it.
Then roared loudly, its arms seeming to thicken, punching and elbowing the creature holding onto it fiercely.
Natsu, who should have attacked at this opportunity, didn't move.
The Leopard Man had already beaten the Ancient Stone Beetle split into two Stone Beetles.
"Stone Beetle, bind it!"
Rhode didn't know what Natsu was thinking, but he had a backup plan, another group of Beaked Birds might get a chance.
If necessary, they could even risk using the Magic Swamp Frog.
Rhode gripped his pendant on the tree branch, "Answer the call..."
"Wait, Rhode!" Natsu suddenly called out.
"..." Rhode frowned, asking urgently, "What is it? Not now, please don't tell me you want a one-on-one battle?"
But in the time these words were exchanged, the Leopard Man kicked away a blocking Stone Beetle, and with a leap, sprang up a pine tree, jumping rapidly away.
Well, no need to hurry now.
Hapi carried Rhode down: "Why'd you stop, Natsu? If the fight continued, we'd have won soon."
Natsu said sulkily: "That guy isn't the Beast King at all."
Rhode said: "But its characteristics completely matched the Beast King."
"Of course, because the Beast King has been completely 'Received' by him," Natsu emphasized, "it's 'him', not 'it'."
"Received... No way, right?" Rhode thought of a possibility, but it was too far-fetched.
Hapi asked: "What's going on?"
"That guy, although he carries the scent of many beasts, he also has a smell I encountered in the village chief's house."
Natsu believed it was the scent of Chita, who had disappeared for eight days.
Judging by scent alone is untenable, Rhode said:
"But Chita went up the mountain to fight the Beast King, so it's not surprising the scent also lingered after their battle... And how do you know it's Receiving Magic?"
Natsu said seriously: "During the battle, and when he powered his arms to smash the Stone Beetles,
that way of using magic power, it's Receiving Magic, I definitely won't mistake it!"
"Why..." Rhode wanted to ask Natsu why he was so familiar with Receiving Magic.
And this analysis just now almost made him suspect Natsu had been switched.
"We believe in Natsu." Hapi's tone became serious too and explained for Natsu,
"Because Mira, Elfman, and Lisana all use Receiving Magic. So Natsu won't mistake it!"
"..." Rhode was silent, he directly sat cross-legged on the ground, needing to organize the heavy news he'd heard in these past two days.
First, Mira had a sister named Lisana, who unfortunately passed away last year.
Then, Mira used to be an S-Class Mage, the kind that could rival Erza.
And the Strauss family, all three siblings, used Receiving Magic.
Lastly, by what Hapi implies, Lisana and Natsu were very close, which is why Natsu is so familiar with Receiving Magic.
Due to this familiarity, Natsu could determine that the 'Leopard Beastman King' was actually Chita, who had disappeared for eight days using Receiving Magic to take over the Beast King's body.
According to Rhode's understanding, Receiving Magic is a type of magic that allows one to take over the target's body for their own use.
But if the one using Receiving Magic lacks the necessary strength, forcing the reception may cause them to be influenced by the other party's will, losing rationality and acting involuntarily.
This matches the strange and violent behavior of the 'Beast King'.
However, one thing was still unexplained.
"Can anyone really maintain Receiving Magic for a full eight days?"
Rhode said, "If it really was Receiving Magic, he would have exhausted himself to death on the first day, or fainted from lack of magic power and reverted to normal."