User blog comment:B214/Chapter 504: Rift/@comment-86.70.179.6-20161002091345

To those who say this chapter is shit, read it again and you will see Mashima did that with a purpose. Showing war is a stupid thing. Gray is stupid with his obssession in destroying END, Natsu is stupid to follow the genetic order of killing Zeref. Alvarez and Ishgar are stupid they want the same thing but they're fighting each other, giving credits to Zeref and Anksheram.

This arc is partially centered around Lucy and the evolution of her personnality during a real war.