Ben's battle with Zeref had finally begun and he was the one that started it. He wasn't going to play around with Zeref with Acnologia nearby. The Spriggan 12 don't have the power to defeat Acnologia and he needed to save his energy to fight that thing.
So he immediately attacked Zeref at high speed to close the distance. He threw a punch at light speed at Zeref that can't be dodged by the dark mage. Zeref was punched in the face and sent flying very fast into the mountain behind him.
He crashed into a lot of trees before crashing into the mountain and coughing up a lot of blood as his face was bloody too. The spot where he crashed into was destroyed and formed a big crater. Ben used his magic to enhance his already strong punch, so the effect is no laughing matter.
Zeref was actually shocked by the power behind Ben's punch because he never thought it would be this strong. Furthermore, he can tell his immortality had no effect. Even if it's slow, he always felt himself recover whenever he was injured, but now that sensation was gone.
"Surprised?" Ben asked after suddenly appeared 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 were 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?" Ben questioned with a wide grin.
Zeref was very serious after hearing that. He had thought of this possibility, but the chance of his curse being negated by a God Slayer was minimal. Ankhsheram is a high-level god, a very powerful one that controls life and death, so another gods' power shouldn't work against him.
Unless that god was at a higher level than Ankhsheram who was feared even by other gods. But they're aren't many gods known by humans. Even Zeref had no idea there was a Sun God until Ben learned Sun God Slayer Magic.
Though he was slightly mistaken. Ben found out that there was no need for a god to exist to create God Slayer Magic. A sun god might not exist and Ben would still be able to create his Sun God Slayer Magic because he knew the concept of the magic.
Besides, gods in this world are high-level beings with high-level magic and are worshiped by people. They are also living beings here, just like humans, but they are way more powerful. There are some weak gods though, making them a lot more similar to people.
It is possible for people to learn non-existent gods magic. They just need to know the concept and characteristics of god's magic. Even if there is no such god, humans can still create God Slayer Magic through knowledge.
Ben knew that the possibility of a Sun God's existence is high because there was a Sun Demon and Sun Dragon. Just because there were no records of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Although Ben really didn't care about that because he just needed to be strong enough.
That's also one thing 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 will be different, just like how it is with Dragon Slayers.
"I never thought your God Slayer Magic would affect a curse that was already cast. It feels like you're hacking the system." Zeref said.
"Well, I am. That Curse is still the power of a god and it resides within your body. So in a sense you're a partial god. That's why your body will take damage from God Slayer Magic." Ben said while cracking his fingers and grinning.
"It seems like I can't prolong this." Zeref said in a serious tone before to a unknown location.
Ben remained calm and scanned the whole area to find Zeref's magic power. He found it quickly, but he was surprised when Zeref's magic power increased at an incredible rate. Still, Ben was grinning because this meant things will be more interesting.
He teleported to where he sensed Zeref's magic power and found him there. But Zeref's appearance had changed drastically in that short amount of time. His hair was now white, he had glowing wings and even his clothes were sparkling white.
"I thought you were a dark mage, but you're actually a bright mage." Ben said before shivering at how cringe he just sounded.
Anyway, Zeref had transformed and was more powerful now.
"Was this the power you were aiming for? Was the reason for targeting Fairy Heart?" Ben asked.
"That's right, I would be a lot more powerful than this if I obtained Fairy Heart. Too bad you were always close to it, so my chance was very low. That's why I searched for alternatives and finally I found this method." Zeref explained.
Fairy Heart was said to have infinite magic power. If Zeref absorbed it, then his power would be unrivaled, that's what he thought at least. Ben on the other hand, knew there was no such thing as infinite magic power because even this world doesn't have a infinite amount of it, so an object or even a person wouldn't have it.
Fairy Heart didn't have an infinite amount of magic power, but it did have an unbelievable amount of magic power. It also absorbs magic power from it's surroundings at a very high rate when it's magic power is depleted, that's why it seemed infinite.
Zeref planned to take and absorb that unbelievable amount of magic power. But he couldn't do it because of Ben, so he came up with another plan. They attempted to make something similar to Fairy Heart over the years, but they couldn't perfect it.
It was still very powerful though, so they resumed that project after knowing that it would almost be impossible get Fairy Tail with Ben guarding it. What Zeref used just now was that project, a big lacrima crystal that had an immense amount of magic power.
If it is used as an explosive, then it can decimate the Alvarez Empire. That was very impressive, but Ben became angry instead. That's because an item with such power should be strong enough to kill Acnologia, but Zeref was using it for himself.
"You kept saying that you didn't need power and just want to stop Acnologia. 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 for you to see Ankhsheram." Ben said with a scary expression.
Ben's magic power suddenly rose and his hands were covered in black solar energy. Gauntlet-like claws appear on his hands. There was no other change on his body, just his hands as it's only a partial transformation.
"I just need this much to kill a hypocrite like you. Grit your teeth, this will really hurt." Ben said as he clenched his fists.
Zeref didn't respond and simply raised his right hand towards Ben. Time suddenly freezes and Zeref was the only one that could move there. His Time Magic was more powerful than Dimaria's magic, so Ben also froze in his time, or so he thought.
Ben suddenly disappeared from his spot and Zeref was punched in the face again. Time resumed because Zeref can't maintain it anymore. He crashed into some trees again, slid across a lake, crashed into more trees and finally crashed into a cliff.
This punch was stronger than the last one because Ben was really angry. If he had the item that Zeref used, then he would've used it to kill Acnologia. But Zeref, who always talked about killing Acnologia, didn't use it for that purpose 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." Zeref said while slowly getting up. He didn'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 didn't die, he would be badly injured, so you can kill him easier. You are just hungry for that power." Ben argued as he flashed forward and choked Zeref.
"Then what about you? Aren't you hungry for power too?" Zeref calmly asked.
"I am, but I take every chance I have and I never hurt innocent people for my own sake. We may have the same goal, but our methods are different. Our principles are different, so don't lump us together." Ben said before clenching his hand.
Zeref teleported away in the nick of time to avoid having his neck crushed by Ben. His reaction time was a lot better after boosting his power. Ben can still react to it though and quickly found Zeref after he teleported away.
Without saying another word, Ben flashed over to Zeref and started attacking him. Ben moved very fast and sent a flurry of attacks at Zeref, but he can now react to his attacks. Zeref evaded and struck back, but he didn't block Ben's attacks because he knew he wasn't strong enough to do that.
Ben realized that Zeref was using Time Magic to increase her perception. He boosted his brain's thinking speed using Time Magic to accelerate his brain activity. Normal people would die doing this, but he was immortal, so his body can handle this.
Still, even after doing this, Zeref can only match Ben's current speed. He hadn't used his full speed though. So when Ben started getting faster, Zeref was beginning to be overwhelmed and the balance shifted.
"You lack real fighting experience." Ben said before punching Zeref in the chest at an even faster speed.
Zeref can hold it now and was only pushed back 100 meters. He was satisfied that he can take Ben's punches, but then he coughed up a lot of blood and fell to his knees.
Ben clenched his fist and said, "You never had a chance."