SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 143 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 143: Alvarez Empire Arc: Beyond 400 Years

With the explosive effects of the last attack, the draconian tattoo on Natsu's right arm that signified the last vestige of Igneel's power started fading.

"Natsu!" Happy called out.

"I'm fine." Natsu assured, gaping for breathed on his knees. "I'm okay. I can unleash one more attack. Lend me strength, Igneel. All I need is one more attack."

"You're really grown stronger, Natsu." Zeref was relieved. "You, if anyone, might be able to stop me, that's what I keep telling myself. But things took a little too long. I'd stopped worrying about destroying myself and focused on destroying the world instead. Until seeing you just now. Your next strike could actually destroy me, an immortal. It all depends on your strength. So knowing that, I have something important to tell you while I'm still alive. My name is Zeref Dragoneel." he dropped the bombshell. "I'm your older brother. About 400 years ago, dragons burned our parents to death. My little brother Natsu also died."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu demanded.

"I researched ways to bring you back to life." Zeref admitted. "In the end, I succeeded in creating new life forms called 'Etherious', also known as 'demons of the Book of Zeref'. That's who you are, Natsu. Etherious Natsu Dragoneel: E.N.D."

"Natsu, don't believe what he says!" Happy shouted.

"Yeah," Natsu shook himself back to his senses. "I'm Zeref's brother, I'm dead and I'm E.N.D? That's a load of crap. Besides, I heard that Igneel wasn't able to beat E.N.D. If I'm E.N.D, then he'd crushed me like I was nothing."

"It's not that he couldn't physically vanquish you." Zeref corrected. "He simply refused to do it, out of love."

"E.N.D is the demon that created Tartarus." Natsu barked. "He isn't me. Besides, I'm human."

"Mard Geer created Taurus." Zeref agreed. "He used this book he found by sheer luck and gathered the other demons, claiming it was E.N.D's will." he manifested the Book of Zeref. "In a sense, you could also say that you created Tartarus."

"Enough already!" Natsu snapped. "I am not E.N.D!"

Zeref simply shot a 'Piercing Bullet' ray through the Book of Zeref, the shot was reflected on Natsu's body. "You were always difficult to reason with." the elder Dragoneel sibling sighed. "You refused to learn vocabulary or how to read. That's why I visited my friend Igneel for advice. Igneel was one of the very few dragons at the time that harbored no hostility towards humans, you see. I happened to meet him while collecting herbs for my research. Igneel offered to teach you Dragon Slayer magic. Igneel, Metalicana and the rest devised a special plan. They would raise Dragon Slayers, use the Dragon Soul technique to seal their power inside them, and then travel to the future. All in an attempt to defeat Acnologia. Why would they need to travel to the past, you ask? The dragons have grown weak and needed higher concentrations of Ether-nano to regain their strength. The only way they could lift the Dragon Soul seals was by going to an era rich with Ether-nano. Five children were chosen for this task. Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, Rouge; they were all children without families. You had me, but I approved of the plan. Aside from Acnologia, my hope was that you will kill me someday, once you get stronger. They used the Eclipse to open a gate into the future. A celestial spirit mage named Anna opened the gate's entrance. The exit point in the future was left undetermined. Anna's family passed the task down for generations and opened the gate's exit to this era of increased Ether-nano. A celestial spirit mage named Layla opened the Eclipse's exit. That was the 7th day of the 7th month of the year 777; the day you thought the dragons disappeared. In actuality, it was the day you woke up in this era. You are children from 400 years in the past. As for me, I waited for you all that time. But 400 years is a long time; a lot happened. I saw many eras come to an end. I lost sense of the importance of life and death. I met Mavis and then parted ways. I..."

"Just shut up!" Natsu screamed. "I don't believe any of that crap!" he charged in to punch out Zeref.

"You're a demon of the Book of Zeref." Zeref restated as Natsu charged up a flaming fist. "If you kill me, you'll die too."

"So what?" Natsu roared.

"Natsu!" Happy wailed, flying down to his best friend.

"I've already made up my mind." Natsu spat, ready to end Zeref. "I'm here to defeat you."

"This is your last chance to stop me." Zeref reminded, just as Happy grabbed Natsu by his jacket and held him back.

"Happy, what are you doing?" the fire mage demanded. "Let me down!"

"I don't want it, Natsu." Happy wept, his hands burnt from the sheer heat the Dragon Slayer emitted. "I don't want you to die."

"Let me down!" Natsu demanded, his mark was burning away. "Igneel's power is going away. Zeref will be unbeatable forever if we let him get away now."

"You're my friend, Natsu!" Happy pleaded. "Don't you feel the same way about me?" he shouted and carried Natsu away from the fight. "I'm taking you back to the Guild, no matter what."

At the port of Hargeon...

"This is a pretty nice town." Dimaria looked around, the naval fleet had made landfall. "Smart of you not to destroy it, Wall."

"I was actually aiming for Magnolia." said Machias laughed, perched on a roof.

"It's a good thing you didn't destroy that, either." Dimaria snorted. "Randi's being held prisoner. The thought of how pitiful she must look gets my appetite going."

"Humans make no sense at all." Wall remarked.

"Where's Neinhart?" Dimaria asked a nearby soldier.

"Still in his ship." the soldier responded.

"Sheesh..." Dimaria sighed. "I'm stuck babysitting a loner and a machine. I can't wait to see you, Randi."

Outside Hargeon...

"How many of these Alvarez guys are there?" Millianna gawked at the vast army stationed in the town.

"By my estimate, about 2000 are in position in front of the occupied city." Ditea concluded, peering through her spyglass.

"There are even more in the city." Beth added.

"And there are troops at sea that haven't landed yet." Risley noted.

"About 300,000." Kagura confirmed.

"That's insane." Millianna shivered.

"Between Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel, we have around 200 people." Sherria stated.

"We must fight, no matter how great our enemy's numbers are." Lyon declared.

"Ishgar is our land, our country." Litana frowned. "We will not allow Alvarez to overrun it."

"The combined forces of Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale will now do battle to liberate Hargeon!" Ditea took charge. "Forward!"

At the port of Hargeon...

"It seems we need to teach those foolish upstarts a lesson about the true power of the Twelve." Dimaria heard the rally cry.

"Yup." Wall leapt down.

In the forest of North Fiore...

Both Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus were working in tandem to fight off the invasion.

"What's happening?" Yukino spotted a group of mages running away from the forest.

"Run, Yukino!" one of the mages warned. "Everyone... they're all..." his sentence was cut short when he was taken out. "It's the Grim Reaper, run!" the other mages shouted as Bloodman entered the fight.

To the east of Fiore...

The three Shittenou and Jura faced off against God Serena, August and Jacob Lessio.

"So, you're the one who attacked Bosco, traitor?" Wolfheim questioned.

"I didn't do it alone." God Serena shrugged. "August and Jacob helped too."

"Why would you defile your motherland, God Serena?" Draculos demanded.

"That's a nice look, Draculos Hyberion." God Serena grinned.

"Behind him is the Mage King August, a master of every kind of magic from every region of the world." Draculos supplied.

"Lastly, an assassination magic expert and member of the Spriggan Twelve." Wolfheim added. "Jacob Lessio."

At the port of Hargeon...

"Take them down!" Lyon ordered, Toby and Obaba-sama and Yuka were using their magic to take down the defending troops.

Araña's 'Web Shot' had also taken out her opponents.

"Never underestimate chubby power!" Risley reverted to her slim self and landed a flying kick on three of the defending soldiers.

"Vegetable Magic: Carrot Missiles!" Beth bombarded a number of soldiers with her bombs.

"Kitten Blast!" Millianna took out her opponents.

"Arc Lightning!" Litana's lightning strike took advantage of the soldier's held weapons, enabling her to electrocute one solider after another.

"Blade Wave!" Ditea's curved energy blade cut through an entire line of soldiers before curving back and taking out a second row of enemies.

"Ice Make: Titan Feet!" Lyon's overgrown ice construct stomped on the remaining soldiers, taking out most of them.

"Sky God Boreas!" Sherria blasted her black whirlwind at her enemies.

"Targets locked." Wall grinned on a cliff overseeing the fight. "Adapting missiles." he conjured numerous missiles within the area. "Now, you call all blow up together!" he sent his missiles flying towards the battling group.

"Kagura, magic is coming from the sky!" Millianna shouted, Beth and Risley were already taken out by Wall's flying missiles.

"Leave it to me!" Kagura sprung into action. "Archenemy: Flying Form." she sliced through the remaining missiles with one slice.

"Nice reaction speed." Dimaria grinned, Kagura met her sword attack head-on. "A kimono from the East." she parried Kagura away. "It's beautiful. But, I'll stain it with blood for you." that said, she activated 'Age Seal' and locked Kagura in a time bubble. "Your bangs are just like Randi's." she smirked. "It's gonna be fun tormenting you." in an instant, she shredded the upper half of Kagura's kimono.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.