Ben's battle against Zeref finally starts and Ben is the one who starts it. He doesn't plan to play around with Zeref while Acnologia is close. Those Spriggans don't have the ability to defeat Acnologia and he needs to save his energy to fight that thing.
So he attacks Zeref immediately using full speed to close their distance. He punches Zeref with a lightspeed punch that can't be dodged by the Dark Mage. Zeref gets punched in the face and flung very fast to the mountain behind.
He crashes onto many trees before crashing onto the mountain and coughs a lot of blood as his face becomes bloody too. The spot where he crashed gets destroyed and forms a big crater. Ben was using his magic to enhance his already powerful punch, so the effect is no joke.
Zeref is actually shocked by Ben's punching power because he never thought it would be this strong. Furthermore, he can feel his immortality doesn't make any effect. Even if it's slow, he always felt himself recover whenever he was injured, but now that sensation has gone.
"Surprised?" asks Ben who suddenly appears in front of the shocked Zeref.
"No need to be surprised. I am a God Slayer, which means I have the ability to slay Gods. You are cursed by a God, but my power can negate that curse. That means you are just a normal human who can die right now. Aren't you happy?" asks Ben while grinning widely.
Zeref becomes very serious after he heard that. He has thought of this possibility, but the chance of his curse being negated by even a God Slayer is small. Ankhseram is a high-level God, a very powerful one who controls life & death, so other Gods' power should not work against him.
Unless that God has a higher level than Ankhseram who is feared even by other Gods. But there aren't many Gods who are known by humans. Even Zeref didn't know there was a Sun God until Ben learned Sun God Slayer Magic.
Though he is wrong about something here. Ben found out that there was no need for a God's existence for someone to create a God Slayer Magic. Sun God might not exist and Ben would still be able to create his Sun God Slayer Magic because he knew the concept of that magic.
Besides, Gods in this world are just magical beings with high-level magic and are worshipped by people. They are also living being here, just like humans, but they are way more powerful. There are some weak Gods though, making them more similar to people.
It is possible for humans to learn non-exist God's magic. They just need to know God's magic concepts and characteristics. Even if there is no such God, humans still can make a God Slayer Magic using their knowledge.
But Ben knows the possibility of a Sun God's existence is high because there were a Sun Demon and a Sun Dragon. Just because there was no known record about the Sun God doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Although Ben doesn't care about that because he just needs to be powerful enough.
That's also one fact that Zeref doesn't know. No matter how high a God's level is, a God Slayer can still counter God's magic with God Slayer Magic. It's just the damage that will be different, just like how it is with Dragon Slayers.
"I never thought your God Slayer Magic will affect an already casted curse. It feels like you are hacking the system," says Zeref.
"Well, I am. That curse is still a God's power and it resides in your body. So you are partially a God in this sense. That's why your body will be damaged by God Slayer Magic," says Ben while cracking his fingers and grinning.
"Seems like I can't prolong this," says Zeref very seriously before teleporting to an unknown place.
Ben stays calm and scans the whole area to find Zeref's magic power. He finds it very fast, but then he is surprised when he senses Zeref's magic power increases at an incredible rate. Still, Ben is grinning because this means things will be more interesting.
He teleports to where he sensed Zeref's magic power and sees Zeref there. But Zeref's appearance has changed drastically in that short amount of time. His hair becomes white, he has glowing wings, and even his clothes become sparkling white.
"I thought you were a Dark Mage, but you are actually a Bright Mage," says Ben before he shivers at how cringe he just sounded.
Anyway, Zeref has transformed and he is more powerful now.
"Was this the power you were aiming for? Was this the reason for targeting Fairy Heart?" asks Ben.
"That's right, I would be more powerful than this if I got Fairy Heart. Too bad you were always close to it, so my chance was very low. That's why I searched for alternatives and I finally found this method," says Zeref.
Fairy Heart is said to have infinite magic power. If Zeref absorbs it, then his power will be unrivaled, that was what he thought. But Ben knows there is no such thing as infinite magic power because even this world doesn't have an infinite amount of it, so an object or even a person won't have it.
Fairy Heart doesn't have an infinite amount of magic power, but it surely has an unbelievable amount of magic power. It also absorbs magic power from its surroundings at a very high rate when its magic power gets depleted, that's why it seems infinite.
Zeref planned to take absorb that unbelievable amount of magic power. But he couldn't because of Ben, so he used another plan. They have attempted to make something similar to Fairy Heart over the years, but they couldn't make it perfect.
It was still very powerful though, so they resumed that project after knowing that it would almost be impossible to get Fairy Heart with Ben guiding it. What Zeref used just now was that project, a big lacrima crystal that has a massive amount of magic power.
If it is used as an explosive, then it can decimate the whole Alvarez. That is very impressive, but Ben becomes angry instead. That's because an item with such power should be strong enough to kill Acnologia, but Zeref used it for himself instead.
"You kept saying you didn't need power and just want to stop Acnoligia. Yet here you are, taking a power that can kill Acnologia to increase your power. I have had enough of your bullshit. It's time to send you to Ankhseram," says Ben with a scary face.
Ben's magic power suddenly rises and his hands are covered by black solar energy. Gauntlet-like claws appear on his hands. But no change appears on his other body parts, only his hands change, it's just a partial transformation.
"I just need this much to kill a hypocrite like you. Grit your teeth, this will hurt so much," says Ben while clenching his fists.
Zeref doesn't answer and just raises his right hand toward Ben. Time suddenly freezes and Zeref becomes the only one who can move there. His Time Magic is more powerful than Dimaria's magic, so Ben also freezes in his time, or so he thought.
Ben suddenly disappears from his spot and Zeref suddenly gets punched in the face once more. The time resumes again because Zeref can't maintain it anymore. He crashes onto some trees again, slides on a lake, crashes onto some trees again, and then crashes onto a cliff.
This punch is more powerful than before because Ben is really angry now. If he has the item that Zeref used, then he would have used it to kill Acnologia. But Zeref who always said about killing Acnologia didn't use it for that and used it for himself instead.
"Using it on Acnologia once won't guarantee his death. Instead, using it to increase my power will increase the chance too," says Zeref while getting up slowly. He doesn't get injured as much as before because of his increase in power.
"Bullshit, you just need to make it unavoidable, and even if he doesn't die, he would get injured badly, so you could kill him easier. You are just hungry for that power," says Ben as he flashes and chokes Zeref.
"Then what about you? Aren't you hungry for power too?" asks Zeref calmly.
"I am, but I take every chance I have, and I never hurt innocents for myself. We may have the same goal, but our ways surely are different. Our principles are different, so don't put me in the same category as you," says Ben before clenching his hand.
But Zeref teleports right in time to avoid his neck being crushed by Ben. His reaction time has gotten much better after boosting his power. Ben can still react to it though and finds Zeref right away after teleporting.
Without saying another word, Ben flashes toward Zeref and starts attacking him. Ben moves very fast and sends a flurry of attacks at Zeref. But Zeref now can react to his attacks. Zeref evades and attacks back, but he doesn't block Ben's attacks because he knows he isn't strong enough to do that.
Ben realizes Zeref is using Time Magic to increase his perception. He boosts his brain's thinking speed using Time Magic to hasten his brain's activity. Normal people would die from this, but he is immortal, so his body can handle this.
Still, even by hastening himself, Zeref still can only match Ben's current speed. But Ben hasn't used his full speed now. So when Ben starts getting faster, Zeref starts to get overwhelmed, and the balance breaks.
"You lack real fighting experience," says Ben before punching Zeref's chest at an even faster speed.
Zeref can hold it now and only gets pushed 100 meters. He is quite satisfied that he can handle Ben's punch. But then he coughs a lot of blood and almost falls to his knees.
Ben clenches his fist and says, "You never had a chance."
______________________________________________
You can read up to 35+35 chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 437. Alta Face (Fairy Tail: Sun Eater)
2. Chapter 448. 4 Sea Emperors (Transcended as Lord Buggy)
3. Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by fatmaqn_
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)