Compared to the two fairies, Natsu is truly slaying a dragon!

Henna nodded.

"However, this is normal; I've been doing this almost all month."

"At the time, in order to increase my magic power significantly in a short period of time, I had no choice but to consume the lightning of the Thunder Dragon."

"However, the side effects of such an action are also quite obvious. Putting aside the issue of rejection, the amount of magic power ingested that day was simply too much."

"Such powerful magic was beyond my body's capacity to handle, so I channeled a portion of it through battle."

"And the remaining part gradually took root and sprouted within me, and this power instinctively sought to destroy the original source of magic within me, and then replace it."

"So, what you've done is to purge these rebellious forces?"

Eileen seemed to understand something.

"No, you can think of it as assimilation," Natsu said.

"To completely assimilate this power that originally did not belong to me into my own, of course, this process inevitably involves discarding the dross, therefore, the absorbed power gradually diminishes."

"Not many remain, which is why I said my power is much weaker than before, but it's still several times stronger than before I absorbed the lightning, and..."

At this point, Black Natsu raised his arm, and crimson-black lightning began to crackle wildly!

Eileen's pupils contracted sharply!

"Have you truly made this power your own?"

Black Natsu smiled, then withdrew his crimson-black lightning.

[Then his expression turned serious, and he continued.]

"However, during this process, I discovered another problem."

Seeing Irene's somewhat bewildered expression, Black Natsu said in a deep voice.

"Dragonization! Excessive use of Dragon Slayer Magic will cause your dragonification to gradually increase."

"You...have you realized it already?"

Irene's expression also turned serious. This wasn't just a problem troubling Natsu, but also a problem troubling Irene herself.

Yes, she had told Igneel before that she had begun to transform into a dragon, which is why she has a lifespan comparable to that of a dragon.

[Hundreds of years, even thousands of years, are not a problem.]

[It sounds like a good thing, but in reality, it's quite the opposite.]

During the process of dragonification, your humanity will gradually be extinguished, until you are finally reduced to a monster that only knows how to kill.

[Irene only recently discovered this, but because the consequences were quite serious, she didn't tell Henna.]

[But unexpectedly, he himself became aware of the changes happening to his body.]

Seeing Irene's expression, Black Natsu understood that she was fully aware of the consequences of dragon transformation.

"This is a troublesome problem."

"However, it's not that there's no solution."

【"Huh?!!" Irene exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Black Natsu's words!】

His gaze was fixed intently on Black Natsu in front of him.

Even Eileen, standing outside the canopy, had an expression of disbelief on her face.

"A way? Are you kidding me? If there really were a way... then I wouldn't have been troubled for over four hundred years, only returning to normal today with the help of the Sky Curtain, okay?"

Eileen couldn't even imagine what could possibly solve the problem of Dragon Slayer Mages turning into dragons.

So, he stared intently at the image on the sky.

"Actually, this is just my guess."

Facing Irene's burning gaze, Black Natsu smirked and then spoke.

"The essence of dragonification lies in the seed of dragon-slaying magic taking root and sprouting within the body; let's tentatively call it the Dragon Seed."

"Once the Dragon Seed begins to sprout, it proves that you have begun your dragon transformation."

"At this stage, as the Dragon Slayer Magic is used more frequently, the branches will grow to cover the limbs and bones."

At this point, Henatsu paused slightly.

[Then, looking at Eileen, he said, "Of course, this is just an analogy. Just get the gist of it. The actual operation is a thousand times, ten thousand times more complex than this."]

The growth of branches can be interpreted as the spread of dragon power; when dragon power erodes the entire body, the person will be completely transformed into a dragon.

"I think the legendary Acnologia is in this situation; the power of the dragon, or rather, the branches of the dragon seed, have already taken over half of its body."

"So, how exactly can we avoid this situation?" Eileen asked, somewhat puzzled.

"This might just be my idea; it hasn't actually been tested."

Natsu patted his full stomach and then shared his guess.

"Perhaps we can look to the source of power hidden within the dragon's body: the existence of the Dragon Slayer Crystal."

"Create a space similar to the Dragon Slayer Crystal, or rather, a space for the Dragon Seed to grow. This way, the power of the dragon can develop as it pleases without affecting our essential human nature."

"In other words, when needed, that space is opened, just like a dragon mobilizing the power within the Dragon Slayer Crystal."

"I think this way we can achieve a near-perfect evolutionary trajectory."

"Of course, all of this is speculation. Further research and overcoming more difficulties are needed to achieve this."

[Honatsu speaks eloquently.]

Meanwhile, Eileen on the other side was already frozen in place!

Yes, Dragon Slayer Magic is essentially magic that transforms humans into dragons. However, humans are not dragons, and they don't have Dragon Slayer Crystals to sustain the growth of dragon power.

[This is precisely why those who frequently use the power of dragons gradually become dragon-like, their personalities eroded.]

Simply put, it's a source of pollution that can release power. The completely harmless method is to isolate it and only open it when needed, thus minimizing side effects.

But how have they, the Dragon Slayer Mages, always used it?

That involves pure physical contact with the contaminant; with that method of use, it's impossible not to get infected.

[After Honatsu's reminder, countless ideas immediately popped into Irene's mind.]

Overwhelmed with emotion, Irene even hugged Henna's head and planted a fierce kiss on his forehead.

[Then, cradling a completely bewildered Black Natsu, she spoke with delight!]

["Listen, Natsu, you're a genius, absolutely the most terrifying genius I've ever seen!!!"]

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Farewell, A Promise for Unknown Times!

Beyond the sky, countless people were also shocked!

What did they hear?

A teenager who is not yet an adult is actually innovating on a problem that has plagued Dragon Slayer Mages for over four hundred years?

Although this is still just an immature idea.

However, among those watching the live broadcast from the sky screen were many geniuses of various kinds of magic.

For example, Hades! Brian! Uru! Mavis, as well as Jelf, August, and the like.

They all understood that the idea proposed by Hanaz was a possibility!

In other words, this is indeed a direction for research.

The real research direction is to avoid being infected by dragon transformation.

Hades: "I'm stunned. It's really hard to believe that all of this came from a child who is only about ten years old!"

Brian: "No way, where did this guy get all this knowledge?! How can he even think of these things?"

August: "All I can say is, genius, Henna is indeed a true genius, a genius who can perfectly utilize his talent!"

Uru: "Yes, although it sounds simple to Hänatsu, there's a reason why it has troubled Dragon Slayers for four hundred years."

"Often, what's lacking is that flash of inspiration."

"Once you have a general direction, you just need to follow the steps to study and experiment, and then the method has a chance of success."

Mavis: "But it's still a pity that, to this day, no one in our world has been able to take this most basic step."

Yes, no one in this world has come up with such an idea until today.

Otherwise, Eileen wouldn't have been troubled for over four hundred years.

But can you say Eileen is stupid?

No, it's just that they lack that spark of inspiration.

If Eileen were truly foolish, things wouldn't have come to this.

The strongest female mage among the Twelve Shields of the Alvarez Empire is no joke.

This can be seen from the fact that she has mastered many kinds of magic, and even developed various powerful spells on her own.

Eileen's talent is not bad.