Facing the so-called Beast King described by the village chief, the magical energy emanating from it was completely unrestrained.
Natsu, however, didn't feel any pressure and instead rubbed his fists, eager for action:
"I told you, Rhodes, you were overthinking it. How could this guy be S-class? He's nowhere near Erza's level."
Seeing the Beast King with his own eyes, Rhodes nodded as he hugged Happy on the tree, "Indeed, it's hard to disagree with that."
Natsu continued comparing, "And nowhere near Mirajane either!"
"That... Comparing it to Mirajane is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Happy added, "Natsu means the old Mirajane."
"Old... Mirajane used to be strong?"
"Aye! Mirajane used to be an S-class mage and fought Erza all the time."
"!" Rhodes pictured Mirajane's gentle image in his head, "Her? Fighting Erza?"
It was a bit hard for him to imagine.
"Aye, back then, the two were like Natsu and Gray now."
"..." Rhodes felt his brain glitch. Yesterday, after mentioning Lisanna, he had wanted to ask about Mirajane's past.
But considering Happy's emotions, he couldn't bring it up. Today...
"Roar~~~"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Alright, let's ask after the fight.
Natsu's fist collided with the Leopard Man's, producing a heavy thud.
The two had a significant size difference, with Natsu's flaming fist barely matching the Leopard Man's in size.
Despite that, in this fist clash, Natsu didn't fall behind.
Both stood firm for a moment, then took a step back.
The Leopard Man's fist was slightly charred, and Natsu left a faint trail with his feet.
"You're pretty tough, aren't you?" Natsu flexed his fists and charged in again.
The Leopard Man seemed hesitant, but upon seeing the attack coming, naturally went to meet it: "Roar~~~"
The two exchanged blows—sometimes clashing, sometimes blocking.
The Leopard Man was powerful, each move carried tremendous force, and a regular person would probably have their bones shattered from a single hit.
Meanwhile, each of Natsu's attacks came with flames, providing his blows with immense destructive and explosive power; even successful blocks left burns.
After exchanging over a dozen blows, Natsu attempted to exploit the size difference with more nimble attacks.
However, the Leopard Man's leopard traits weren't just for show—it was large yet quite agile.
"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!"
With a flaming elbow enhanced by jetting flames, Natsu forced the Leopard Man back two steps, then swiftly backflipped twice to widen the gap.
This was the pre-agreed moment to attack. From the surrounding pine trees, one large and five smaller bird-like creatures suddenly swooped out.
The large one flapped its wings powerfully, shooting out dozens of feather-like knives.
The smaller ones each shot out a feather just for good measure.
The Leopard Man raised both arms to protect its vital areas, and dozens of feathers pierced its arms, shoulders, and legs.
"Roar!" The Leopard Man roared, broke a large tree beside it, and swung it, knocking the diving Beak Birds away.
Two Ancient Stone Armor Beetles burst out from underground. One rammed into the Leopard Man's back, knocking it off balance, while the other grabbed its waist with its pincers from the front.
The Leopard Man swung the tree it held in a half-circle behind it, knocking down the beetle behind.
Then it roared again, its arms seemingly bulging thicker, smashing and elbowing the beetle clamped to it.
At this point, Natsu, who was supposed to attack, remained inactive.
The Leopard Man had already battered the Ancient Stone Armor Beetle until it split into two smaller beetles.
"Stone Armor Beetles, bind it!"
Rhodes didn't know what was going through Natsu's mind, but he had backup plans. He could send in another group of Beak Birds for an opportunity.
If all else failed, he could take the risk and send in the Swamp Frog.
Rhodes held the pendant while on the tree branch, "Answer my call..."
"Wait, Rhodes!" Natsu suddenly called out.
"..." Rhodes frowned, urgently asking, "What's wrong? At a time like this, you're not asking for a one-on-one, are you?"
But just in that brief exchange, the Leopard Man knocked away an obstructing beetle, powerfully leapt onto a pine tree, and jumped away, escaping rapidly.
Well, no need to rush now.
Happy flew down with Rhodes. "What are you doing all of a sudden, Natsu? We were about to win."
Natsu spoke sulkily, "That guy isn't the Beast King at all."
Rhodes said, "But it matches all the characteristics of a Beast King."
"Of course, because he fully 'took over' the Beast King," Natsu emphasized, "It's 'he,' not 'it.'"
"Take over… No way?" Rhodes thought of a possibility, but it seemed far-fetched.
Happy asked, "What's going on?"
"That guy, even though he reeks of various beasts, there's also a smell I detected back at the village chief's house."
Natsu believed that it was the scent of Chita, who had been missing for eight days.
Basing things solely on scent wouldn't hold up, so Rhodes said, "But Chita went up the mountain to fight the Beast King; it's not strange if the Beast King picked up his scent... Also, how do you know it's Take Over magic?"
Natsu answered seriously, "When he fought, and when he used his arms to smash the beetles, the way he used magic—it was definitely Take Over magic. I wouldn't mistake it!"
"Why..." Rhodes wanted to ask how Natsu knew Take Over magic so well.
And just now, his sudden burst of analysis almost made Rhodes wonder if Natsu had been swapped with someone else.
"I believe Natsu." Happy's tone also grew serious, and he explained for Natsu,
"Because Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna all use Take Over magic. So, Natsu wouldn't get it wrong!"
"..." Rhodes stayed silent. He sat down cross-legged on the ground. There had been too much shocking information these last couple of days, and he needed time to sort it out.
First, Mirajane had a sister named Lisanna, who unfortunately passed away last year.
Then Mirajane used to be an S-class mage, on par with Erza.
And the Strauss siblings, all three of them, used Take Over magic.
Lastly, from what Happy implied, Lisanna and Natsu were close, so Natsu was familiar with Take Over magic.
Based on this familiarity, Natsu concluded that the Leopard Man "Beast King" they just fought was actually Chita, who had gone missing for eight days, using Take Over magic to seize the Beast King's body.
From what Rhodes knew, Take Over magic allowed one to seize their target's body for their own use.
However, if the caster's power was insufficient but they still forced a takeover, they could be influenced by the other's will, losing control and acting irrationally.
That lined up with the strange and aggressive behavior of that "Beast King."
But one point still didn't make sense.
"Can someone maintain Take Over magic for a full eight days?"
Rhodes said, "If it truly was Take Over magic, then he should've collapsed from exhaustion or reverted to normal from lack of magic on the first day."