"It really is young Lucy."
Outside the city, watching the golden-haired little girl being caught up by the servants, Marco felt quite emotional.
After Lucy joined Fairy Tail, she had mentioned being saved by a golden-haired bunny girl in the past, who turned out to be a member of Fairy Tail.
The pink guild emblem on Lucy's right hand now was modeled after the golden-haired bunny girl who had saved her.
Marco had realized back then that young Lucy was saved by the future Lucy.
So after his younger self told Lucy to leave and seek help, Marco had his crow guide Lucy over.
Marco didn't tell Lucy who was in the out-of-control carriage.
There was no need for her to know - it would only add to her pressure.
Without doubt, faced with such a situation, Lucy would never stand by idly.
If she could see someone in danger but restrain herself from helping, then she wouldn't be Lucy.
And things developed as expected - Lucy saved young Lucy, then departed without taking anything with her, leaving only a dashing silhouette and the conspicuous pink guild emblem on her hand.
Watching young Lucy leave with the Heartfilia family servants, Marco finally felt relieved to depart.
With a surge of magic power, his figure vanished, and the next moment, he had caught up with young Marco and Erza heading toward the river.
The final act was about to begin.
Marco hoped everything would go smoothly.
He didn't want to use the [Illusion Demon Emperor Fist].
It would be best if everything happened authentically, rather than being false memories he created, like moon reflected in water.
By now, the sky was gradually darkening.
The last traces of orange sunset struggled at the horizon, soon swallowed by the deep blue night.
The world outside the city seemed covered by a dark veil, while the small river outside the city became lively again, the babbling water sounding particularly clear in the quiet night.
Young Marco brought Erza to the small river outside the city, where they saw Natsu, Gray, Happy, and young Natsu lying on the ground.
Seeing young Marco, Happy was completely terrified.
The foolish cat went down on all fours, attempting to pretend he was just an ordinary blue cat.
Older Marco's earlier words kept echoing in his mind, with survival instinct completely dominating Happy.
"Aye!"
The nervous Happy meant to imitate a cat's meow but completely failed to correct himself, inexplicably shouting his usual exclamation instead.
"Y-yes... M-Marco!"
Beside Happy, the yellow-haired, bruised Gray widened his eyes, so frightened that he began to stammer.
Clearly, this unexpected situation had shattered his psychological defenses.
Gray was extremely worried - could their simple disguise really fool young Marco?
But Gray reacted quickly.
Just by looking at Erza and Lucy's situation, he understood that if they could actually deceive anyone, it would be truly miraculous!
However, this was actually just a minor issue.
The real trouble was on the other side - the uncontrollable Natsu had finally gone crazy!
Because young Natsu had lost the fight to young Gray, Natsu declared he completely couldn't accept it, since currently he and Gray were roughly evenly matched, neither able to gain advantage over the other.
Setting aside external factors, Natsu's inherent strength surpasses Gray's, but the "Diamond Dust Fist" of the "Cygnus constellation" proves superior to the "Leo Minor constellation," narrowing the gap between them through Celestial Spirit Magic.
Their power dynamics have constantly shifted—from Gray holding a slight edge in childhood, to Natsu gaining the upper hand in adolescence, and now reaching a stalemate.
It has always been a relentless back-and-forth rivalry.
In this current deadlock, competition permeates every aspect of their interactions.
They push each other incessantly, each desperate to regain dominance.
Thus, even witnessing his younger self lose filled Natsu with humiliated fury.
He had lost before and could accept defeat—but not now.
This was utterly disgraceful!
"Gaaah!"
Adult Natsu screamed, descending into madness.
He leaped down, grabbed his younger self by the collar, and unleashed a furious barrage of eighteen slaps—smack smack smack!
Amid the slaps, Young Natsu awoke seeing stars, his vision blurry.
The first thing he saw was a swollen face—both Adult Natsu and Adult Gray were bruised beyond recognition, their features distorted.
No wonder this would leave an unforgettable memory for Young Natsu!
"Get up and fight him again! You haven't lost! Me!"
"How can you give up so easily? Battle Gray again! Defeat him! Me!"
Adult Natsu shrieked hysterically while relentlessly slapping Young Natsu, spittle flying everywhere.
The freshly awakened Young Natsu trembled, shrinking in terror.
Young Natsu's eyes brimmed with fear and confusion toward this "monster," unable to comprehend why it was treating him this way.
Watching this "scene replay," even Marco felt a headache coming on.
Had he not experienced this before, he wouldn't have realized how badly he'd want to strangle Natsu right now.
He completely understood Erza's flushed, furious expression.
Erza was clearly enraged by Natsu's behavior—especially with Young Marco shooting her odd glances nearby.
Hadn't she explicitly warned Natsu and the others not to interact with the past? This Adult Natsu was practically beating Young Natsu to death!
Marco sympathized with Erza.
She had genuinely tried to warn them, but there was no helping it—Natsu was sometimes truly uncontrollable.
At this moment, Adult Natsu—wild-haired, snarling, bloodshot-eyed, with dragon scales nearly erupting from his rage—resembled a demon ready to devour its prey.
At least Young Natsu genuinely perceived him as a monster.
Marco watched from the sidelines: Young Natsu launching an attack at Adult Natsu, Adult Natsu getting kicked flying by Young Marco, Adult Natsu turning maliciously toward Young Marco with a sinister chuckle, and finally, an exasperated Erza forcefully suppressing Adult Natsu with a single punch.
'Natsu really deserves a beating.' Marco couldn't help but complain internally.
"First, he bullies his younger self, then sets his sights on young me? His audacity knows no bounds."
Marco chuckled wryly at the thought.
Only Natsu could pull off such absurd antics—no one else would even attempt something this ridiculous.
Squelch.
The black-haired adult Natsu lay sprawled on the ground.
With two swift kicks, Erza directly silenced the "monster," frightening the younger Natsu so much that he immediately tried to flee.
When it came to bloodline suppression, she had it completely under control—whether it was adult Natsu or young Natsu, facing the furious Erza meant certain defeat!
Soon, young Natsu was also sent away, and Erza called everyone to gather.
After her part in the scene ended, Lucy, who had been quietly pretending to be invisible and hadn't uttered a word, immediately sprang into action.
"When it's time to leave, don't forget what Marco told us to say," Lucy whispered to Gray as everyone gathered around the continuously shouting Natsu, causing Gray to freeze for a moment.
Then, Gray recalled Marco's earlier instructions.
Though he didn't fully understand the reasoning, if Marco had specifically mentioned it, there must be a purpose.
All he had to do was follow through.
"Understood. I'll go first," Gray nodded, indicating he would comply and take the lead.
He remembered Lucy had been assigned a corresponding task as well.
Nearby, Happy's eyes widened upon hearing this, his expression thoughtful—he also had something he wanted to say to Marco!
The night was as thick as dense ink, completely enveloping the riverbank.
Only faint starlight and the distant lights of the town provided a glimmer of illumination.
Silently observing everything, Marco made his preparations.
His mind was highly focused, ready for an instant teleportation, and the [Phantom Demon Emperor Fist] was primed to strike.
A barely perceptible purple glow shimmered at his fingertips.
If anything went wrong, he would have to take control of his younger self.
"Go back, return to your own time," young Marco waved goodbye to everyone, prompting Gray and the others to act immediately.
A clamor of shouts erupted.
"Marco! Be nicer to me and teach me the Diamond Dust Fist! I really want to learn it—I've just been holding back and never said it out loud!"