The only mages stronger than Zeref that we know of are the five gods of giritina, Acnologia and possibly Touka but she is probably only on par with Zeref as he was considered the most powerful human mage to ever live.

Acnologia

Larcade Dragneel is a major antagonist from the manga/anime series Fairy Tail. He is a member of the Spriggan 12 and is said to be the third strongest member, behind Irene Belserion and August.

Gildarts

Yes, it has been revealed that August is Mavis and Zeref’s son. He joined forces with Zeref but never mentioned anything about him being his son to him. He was born with immense magic power due to his lineage and is also consider the Wizard King.

She kissed Zeref. Because they both had the same curse, she was put into a deep sleep, so much so that her successor, Precht, sealed her away until the latest Fairy Tail arc.

August died because Mashima like with Irene couldn’t figure out a way to have them be defeated by fairy tail, so he just had them kill themselves for “love”.

In Fairy Tail, how is Natsu 400-years-old? Long answer: Natsu died as a child but his brother brought him back using some questionable magic, as a result both are immortal. His brother is cursed and as a result Natsu couldn’t stay, so his brother dropped him off to a dragon named Igneel who taught Natsu Slayer Magic.

Mavis proposed Zeref to live their immortal lifespan together and find a way to break the curse together. They fell in love and shared their first kiss. However, Zeref ended up killing Mavis as his curse kills anything he loves.

As with Gajeel, Mashima struggles with ever letting characters meet their ultimate demise, death at times being as permanent as it is in Dragon Ball. It’s unfortunate since Makarov’s death was one of the more emotional moments in the series when he sacrificed himself to protect the members he saw as children.

No, actually. This misconception comes from the anime, where the animators decided to make him look like Shanks rather than the official artwork that was drawn by Mashima. Granted, Mashima must have heard the accusations and when he brought back Gildarts in the final arc, he made him look very different.

Fairy Tail automatically gets hate. There was quite a bit unnecessary fan service being it’s biggest worry. Yes, Lucy is the supposed protagonist. The show is supposed to be about her and not how badass Natsu is.

Tl;dr: Gildarts has the edge in both worlds. Gildarts would win simply because magic would beat shanks haki.

Outcome: Natsu Dragneel admits defeat but Gildarts Clive lets him pass.

Dragon Force ( 竜の力 ドラゴンフォース Doragon Fōsu): By consuming Etherion or the Flame of Rebuke Natsu has been shown to be able to enter Dragon Force. This ability is said to be the final and most powerful state a Dragon Slayer can attain, and it has been said that their power becomes comparable to that of a real Dragon’s.

Fairy Tail: Top 10 Most Powerful Dragon Slayers, Ranked

1. 1 Acnologia. The OG Dragon Slayer: enter, The Black Dragon!
2. 2 Natsu Dragneel. The main protagonist of the Fairy Tail series, Natsu is the Fire Dragon Slayer, raised and taught by Igneel, the Fire Dragon King himself.
3. 3 Irene Belserion.
4. 4 God Serena.
5. 5 Laxus Dreyar.
6. 6 Gajeel Redfox.
7. 7 Wendy Marvell.
8. 8 Sting Eucliffe.

Physical prowess: Natsu is one of the strongest characters physically, along with his durability he is far superior to Gray. It was said that during x784 S-class trials, Natsu was the candidate with most physical capacity.