Chapter 11: Heart of a Queen
(A/N: Thanks for the feedback within the last for the end of the last Chapter, expect a few more flashforwards towards certain events of the series for this is a giant recap of Irene's life. Trust me when I say that Irene is going to fall very hard and when we get to her inevitable Scarlet Despair Transformation, you would see just how much she's changed from what she used to be but then again anyone who read the series from chapter 484 to 520 would know this already however unlike canon, it's not going to be wasted potential within 36 chapters, it's going to pay off handsomely not just for Irene and inevitably Erza but the whole series as whole for Irene being the first Dragon Slayer is literally something that affects the entire lore of the Fairy Tail verse but I've said more than enough on the topic, we have 3 chapters left within the New Queen of Dragons arc and trust me, it's about to heat up really fast. I'm going to try to post a new chapter or two at least 2 a week, no promises on whether I can keep this up but I'll try to with the best of my ability without trying to rush it because oh boy we got a long way to go before we reach the end of the road.)
December 12,x387
Irene's POV
4 Months have passed since the Battle of Altania. My body suffered such a significant injury to my organs that i eased back on the training for at least one month. While I was able to prevail against Hiden and Levia, I nearly lost my life. I was arrogant to think that I could handle anything given I can battle dragons however that battle showed me that while the dragons are the mightest races, there were plenty of other threats to the world as well.
To make up for lost time recovering from the serious injuries I've received in the last battle, I decided to train with Igneel. Going by what Belserion said, I was ready to fight a B Class Dragon, it's only natural I step up my training as well.
"You're ready to do this princess?" Igneel asked me as he stood over me.
"I am, I want to make sure my body doesn't get complicate within the lack of training." I answered back as I drew my blade.
Igneel then unleashed his intense flame aura, it was unlike anything I felt before. It was as if the sun grew in size. The flames were so overwhelmingly hot that it felt hotter than the inside of a volcano and that's merely being near Igneel.
"Ready?" I asked me as I was barely able to stand near his presence. His intense heat was suffocating, beyond even the flames that Altas Flames could generate. However, I couldn't back down in the slightest.
"Ready!" I answered as I readied myself.
However, in reality, I wasn't ready, beroe I could even react, Ingeel's fist was already inches close to my face. The speed was so incredible that even my eyes lost sight of him. A room wide enough to be a stadium with the two of us at each end and yet within a split second Igneel crossed the room with barely me noticing.
I barely blocked his massive punch however it heated up my sword and I felt burns on my hands.
"AHHH!" I shouted in pain as I struggled to hold onto my sword as my blade conducted the intense heat. Igneel then swung his tail towards me knocking me into the walls.
"If merely a small amount of heat was able to knock your sword out of your hands, you really aren't ready." Ingeel said to me as I struggled to get back up.
"I'm fine… continue." I responded defying my body which is in pain I grabbed my blade yet again having cooled down. I never felt anything so hot that I couldn't grip onto it, and that was even training with Altas Flame for over an entire year.
Igneel then came towards me again as I barely evaded his punch. Fighting one of the Dragon protection Squad in a serious fight was beyond any fight I've had at this point. I attempted to slash at the mighty Fire Dragon King, however, he effortlessly blocked my attack with his forearm. I continued my slashes towards him but despite the cutting power of the, it wasn't even scratching Igneel. Granted this was a sparring match but the fact even when holding back I couldn't hope to contend against him showed just how far I needed to go.
"Lightning Spark!" I chanted as I blasted him with a powerful Lightning blast While it's useless against a Dragon, especially on Igneel's caliber, it was useful enough to blind him for a split second for me to attempt to follow up with another attack as I dashed towards him with my sword, however, he literally disappeared in front of my eyes and knocked me into a wall.
"Sorry Queen but you need to do better than that."Ingeel said to me as he stood there. That was my opportunity to deliver a follow up to his attack.
"Braveheart !" I shouted as I leaped into the air to strike Ingeel but he flapped his wings generating a gust blowing me into the air and hitting the ceiling of the room.
"ARGGH!" I shouted as felt the pain on my back as the stone ceiling knocked me into the floor and then threw a series of fast punches towards me barely giving a break to recover.
"Come on Queen, you can do better than this!" ingeel said to me as he was throwing punches so fast, i was struggling to block them all with the, in fact, I was being knocked back at least a foot or two every attempt to block his massive fists. Since a massive creature moving this fast was beyond comprehension.
Ingeel, however, took a break mid attack and was letting me recover or so I thought. I was too overwhelmed by how fast and strong he was. His power was beyond intense, even at a young age Igneel had the power to destroy a whole kingdom and was moving at speeds beyond comprehension for the medieval era, after all, Subreailstvtic wasn't a term invented until the theory of relativity was invented.
However I sensed something off from Ingeel, his blows kept on getting slower and more predictable to evade and block, his punches were putting in much less force overtime, his movements felt very stiff and he seemed to be a bit out of breath. It didn't make sense why was wasting so much energy so fast when he was supposed to far stronger than myself.
It was however at this point where he stepped back and prepare to fire his Dragon Roar.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" He shouted shot a massive blast of flames towards me. I barely had time to evade the devastating Roar.
"Deus Corona!" I countered as I tried to block his attack however the flames were burning through the spell. Fortunately Ingeel was holding back immensely or I would've been roasted like a fine Mutton Chop but even so, the intense flames felt as if the sun was trying to roast me alive.
However it was at the moment Ingeel was very winded from that attack,far more than I expected.
"Urrgh"!ngeel grunted in pain as he clutched onto his chest and suddenly collapsed onto the floor after using a Dragon Roar.
"INGEEL!" I shouted shocked to see him suddenly fall to the ground. Something wasn't right at all.
It was unlike him to suddenly pass out, something was horribly wrong with Igneel. Ingeel was a powerhouse and one of the strongest dragons in the entire world, and yet he passed out. Worse purple swelling marks were on his scales...It was clear as day, he was poisoned.
Hours Later
Ingeel was taken to the hospital where Grandeeney was trying to treat Ingeel. I rushed over where the rest of the Dragon protection Squad and Atlas Flame Was at. I was worried, how can one as Ingeel be poisoned? Who poisoned him.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked him.
"Sadly I don't know." Grandeeney answered worried about Igneel's weight as well.
"How bad is it?" Altas Flames asked the Sky Dragon hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed.
"Not going to lie, it's Very bad. despite using Re-Raise and using Magical spells to extract the poison, the poison keeps multiplying faster than my magic can remove the poison." Grandeeney explained to us, causing us to be worried greatly.
"This can only mean one thing...He was poisoned by a Poison Dragon Slayer." Vemoniskyreplied notably angry that there's a possible traitor within his ranks.
"You're saying we have a traitor within the ranks? " I asked him, my anger was boiling.
"It would make the most sense, only someone within the Asssiaiantion Unit could've done this. This isn't an ordinary poison either, someone combined Poison Dragon Slayer with an extremely toxic plant, so much so it can take someone like Igneel out. Whoever this trartior is, he's probably defected to the Dark Dragon Tribe and is trying to take us out one by one."
"Damn it, I can't believe we were so careless to not see that coming. Is he going to be alright?" I asked him with tears starting to come down my eyes.
"Calm down, allow me to check this out. " Vemonisky answered. I there was a way to treat poison , Vemonisky knew the way. He specialized within deadly poisons.
He placed his hand over Ingeel's chest and began to extract the poison out of him which came out of Ingeel's body in the form of a toxic purple sludge that smelled worse than a decomposing corpse mixed with several animal excrements.
"God that shit stinks, that's inside Igneel?" Zeusei asked covering his nose right now.
"What we would kill to be Rock Dragons right now." Weisslogia said to everyone as he covered his nose.
"Indeed, I never smelled anything this foul before."Skiadrum replied as he covered his nose as well.
" It's going to be a while guys. Bare with it. Granddeny, pass me a barrel so I could fill it up with this toxic goop." Vemonisky said to Grandeeney.
"Ahead of you."She replied as she put forth a massive barrel that was roughly the size of a 1 story cottage towards Vemonisky. so he can dump the toxic sludge deep into the barrel.
For a few hours, we anxiously waited for Igneel's recovery as Vemonisky was removing the poison into his body, However, it was so much poison that not even he could fully remove it. It was so bad enough a Poison Dragon of Vemonsiky's caliber was unable to move the poison. We saw 10 barrels filled with toxic waste in term
"This poison was not only mixed with the magic of a Poison Dragon Slayer but also the poisons of the Cabrian Scorpion, the Guptan Cobra and the South Alatsika Rainforest poison frog to create a super toxin capable of killing even the strongest of Dragons." Vemonisky said to us giving us the blunt of bad news.
"Impossible!Even you can't treat him? " Metalicana asked him grabbed vemonisky.
"It's beyond my power as of now! " Vmeonsiky said to us trying to maintain his stoic expression.
"NO! SO EVEN YOU CAN'T FIX THIS?" I shouted disheartened that even Vmeionsiky was unable to heal Ingeel of the poison.
"All is not lost though. My mother knew of a special miracle drug that exists within the frigid wastelands of Dragonv. It is said to have healing properties beyond even the most powerful healing spells at the time." Grandeeney explained to me giving us a ray of hope.
"Then what are we waiting for, let's look for this plant and get it to save Igneel." I shouted as I was not willing to waste any time.
"It's not so simple, the plant is hidden within the Winter Wonderland Region within Dragonv. It's a large region in Dragonv that rivals the size of the Gaberian Peninsula. It snows all year around there and the snow averages 3 feet deep, it would take at least a week to find it. " Zeusei explained to me, stating that the place is very hard to trekk.
"Then I'll search for it regardless." I stated defiantly to search for the cure.
"You're a fool, that region is very hard to traverse, even Dragons that wandered there have ended up dead. You need to think about this." Metalicana shouted at me.
"Hey there's nothing to think about, I can't be the queen of dragons if Ingeel dies in my watch right. I refuse to let some traitorous scumbag to kill my comrades." I replied willing to risk everything to save Ingeel.
"That's our queen! " Weisslogia said to everyone.
"How long can you keep Ingeel's poison from killing him? " I asked Vmeoniksy.
"I can suppress the poison for roughly a week, hopefully, you're able to find this cure or Ingeel will die." Vmeonisky explained to me as he gave me a grave warning.
"Then there's no time to waste." I replied as I was ready for my adventure by Grandeeney stopped me.
"Be very cautious Irene, the extremely cold climate is known to be super harsh, so much so that some of the strongest creatures in the North come from there such as the Ice Vulcans, Frost Giants, and Blizzardverns all much stronger than they would in countries like Fiore, they're extremely feral and attack anyone in their territory." Grandeeney explained to me warning me about the hazards within the region.
"Very well then, I will be careful and keep my guard up at all times. I won't let myself be caught off-guard so easily as back in Altnia. Everyone, search for the traitor of the country. Alatas Flames, come with me, we need your assistance the most."
"No problem queen, Ingeel is my friend, I would do anything to help him." he replied with a slight tear coming from his eye, He was determined to save his best friend.
"No problem princes,s we will search this kingdom for the traitor who poisoned our comrade. Put the kingdom on lockdown. " Belserion commanded everyone as he followed my orders.
"What about assistance Queen Irene? " Atlas Flame asked me.
"I have 3 people plus you to help me out. We're going to make three stops today." I answered Altas Flames.
Several Hours Later
I wasted no time and went to assemble Rena, Lena and Erenjack flying on Altas Flames back who volunteered to take us to the Frozen wastelands. We first stopped at Varaklya to pick up Lena who was training with the Varaykles. She was taking a break from fighting when Altas Flame dropped me off towards her.
"Lena!" I said to her as I hugged her.
"Irene, you look sad." Len asked me.
"We got an emergency, one I needed help with., I'll explain on the way ."
After getting Rena and Ernejack on Altas Flames, we were flying towards our destination.
"What?" Rena asked shocked to learn the news.
"Ingeel has been poisoned?"Erenjack asked me shocked to learn that Ingeel was poisoned.
"We have a mole within our kingdom that the Dragon Protection Squad is searching for." Altas Flames answered.
"We're searching for a cure within a region of Dragonv roughly 23 times the size of the country of Fiore which is like searching for a needle in a haystack, we only got a week to search this region, we're going to need to put on alot of deep layer clothing to make sure we don't freeze to death searching the mountains."
"Sounds easier said than done but we can do i.." Rena said to me.
"Don't worry we would find the cure." Lena stated.
"We won't let our friend die." Erenjack replied as we flew off to find the cure for Ingeel's poisoning.
End of 1st Person POV
3rd Person POV
Ingeel is reeling in pain within the hospital as Vmeonsiki is trying to extract the poison with Grandeeney assisting him.
"Damn it, even with your Lteghary spell, he's still feeling the pain."Vemoniskyshouted as he was frustrated with having to treat the poison too,
"This poison is something formidable, Hopefully, the other Dragons find this rouge." Grandeeney replied as she tried to keep Ingeel asleep with her magical spell.
Meanwhile, Ingeel was having dreams of his past.
21 years ago
Ailtar City, East Bosco
Ingeel was within the country of Stella fighting through a major battlefield as explosions from Dragon Roars and magical spells were exploding everywhere with thousands of dragons flying over the crimson red skies. He wakes up to see flames everywhere and everything around him burning. A Dragon Roar was coming towards him but his father appeared and smacked back the Dragon Roar into a mountain causing a massive explosion. His father has red scales with a white underbelly with Blue Bat-like wings with facial features and a body structure slimair to Ingeel with his body covered in scars.
"Get up son, we got a war to fight." Primus said to Ingeel as he pulls up Ingeel from the ground.
"This is my first time in a war...Sorry for freezing up Father. I was caught off guard." Ingeel answered as he regained his cool
"We need to take back the CIty of Altair and stop the enemy advancements into the country, think you can do it Ingeel?" Primus asked his son.
I've been trained by you father, I won't let you down." Ingeel replied with a confident smile as he charged into battle.
Ingeel flies down to AItar where 50 Dragons are attacking civilians retreating from the city as Dragons smash apart buildings, All of them are C Class Dragons. The city was engulfed with flames. One shoots a dragon roar towards a woman holding a baby however the flame roar was easily absorbed by Ingeel.
"A mere dragon getting in our way, where's your regiment boy? " one of the fire dragons asked Ingeel.
"Disgraceful, attacking humans like this, people like you are a disgrace to the Fire Dragon Race. I don't anything more against pathetic disgraces like you, just my own abilities. You will pay for attacking this festival" Ingeel shouted angrily as he got into his battle stance.
"Arrogant fool, there are 50 of us and only one of you." the dragons laughed.
"Which is more than enough to allow these humans escape for reinforcements to arrive" Ingeel arrogantly replied with a smirk.
One dragon fired a Dragon Roar towards Igneel, however, he effortlessly deflected the blast away from the town. 3 More fire Dragon Roars on him, all of them fire but Ingeel goes through them effortlessly tanking the explosions
"Brilliant Flame of the Fire Dragon" Ingeel shouted as he ignites both his hands in flames and then brings them together shooting a fireball towards the dragons, managing to kill the 3 fire dragons with an explosion despite their immunity to fire.
"Impossible, he killed 3 Fire Dragons with a fire attack."One of the dragons said to another.
"How strong is he? Only the Grand Fire Dragons can easily slay another Fire Dragon with flames" another dragon replied sweating in fear.
"Fire Dragon Crushing Fang!" Ingeel shouted as he kills a dragon attempting to attack him from the air, decapitating the Dragon with a firely slash that cleanly seared the head off the neck.
Igneel then dashes through, taking out 4 dragons with singular attacks. He then uses a widespread Dragon Roar, splitting the renaming dragons in half.
After defeating 50 Dragons with superior combat skills, a flaming dragon appeared with intense flames around him. His entire body was engulfed in flames.
"Not bad Son of Primus, your strength is quite formable." Altas Flames said to Igneel as he stands there with an intense flame aura.
"Who are you?" Igneel asked him noting the strength of Altas flames.
"King of the Hellfire Dragon Tribe Altas Flames, here to take over this settlement in the name of the Dark Dragon Tribe.
"Over my dead body." Ingeel replied angrily as he was going to battle the Hellfire Dragon.
Igneel and Altas Flames are about to face off. They clash attacks evenly with their fists clashing creating shockwaves damaging the already destroyed city of ALitar with neither Atlas Flame or Igneel getting an edge in combat.
"Hellfire Dragon Roar!" Atlas Flame chanted as he shoots an intense blaze of hellfire towards
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Igneel countered with his own intense flames.
Both roars create a giant explosion which engulfs the entire city. Ingeel however not wait for the smoke to clear, goes to strike against the Hellfire Dragon with a follow-up attack.
"Fire Sword Horn." Igneel shouted as he goes to light his entire body ablaze and headbutts Atlas flame only to go through Atlas Flame and not hurt him.
"Missed me!" Altas Flames pointed as he was unharmed from Ingeels attack.
"What?" Igneel shouted shocked to his attack missed him.
"I forgot to mention while we can't hurt each other with our attacks, the difference is I'm made of flames, meaning you can't hit me with physical blows." Altas Flames explained to igneel how his body makes it nearly impossible to land a hit on him.
Igneel fought against Altas flames for hours on, despite being at a disadvantage against a flame body, he was able to block against Altas Flames blows matching the dragon blow by blow with the entire city being reduced into a flaming circle of fire with almost nothing remaining, however, Injeel is at his physical limits whereas Altas Flames isn't even tired.
"How is it possible for you to maintain your flame body for so long?" Igneel asked him worn out trying to attack Altas Flames.
"Simple, I've trained for hundreds of years to achieve the state of Magic Body in which I can attack and defend at the same time while maintaining a near constant state of his power even when my reserves are low." Altas Flame explained to Igneel as he reveals the extent of his power.
"I wasn't aware such a thing was even possible." Igneel stated trying to maintain his resolve learning the fact.
"Now then time for an attack so mighty that even Fire Dragons can't withstand! HellFire Spin" Atlas Flame chanted as he spins around transforming his body into a tornado of flames.
Igneel is hit directly by the attack with the attack causing effects silmair to motion sickness which weakens his defense so the flames start to burn him, he falls to the floor actually burned.
"URGGH!" Igneel grunted in pain as he struggles to get back up.
"My Hellfire spin combines the intense flames of hell with the Dragon's weaknesses to too much motion sensitivity. Our draconic senses make us extremely sensitive to anything that can severely impact it such as extreme motion, combined with the triandos increasing the temperatures of my already hot flames, they burn even hotter than the surface of the sun, which is past the limit of even Fire Dragon Slayers." Atlas flames explained to Igneel as Igneel struggles to get back up hurt from the attack so intense even his scales were burned. "I must admit you almost had me however you're finished" Atlas Flame said to Igneel as he's about to stomp on Igneel but Igneel dodges and puts Alta's flames in a full nelson.
"What?" Atlas Flame shouted as he struggles to try to break out.
"Funny you mention hotter than even my scales with that attack, it seems that if you can't do that attack, I can eat your flames just fine." Igneel smirked as he begins eating the flame body of Altas Flames absorbing the flames while Altas Flames struggled to fight out of his grip.
"Let go of me!" Altas Flames shouted as he tries to push off Igneel but, despite the superior flames Igneel manages to devour them with Altas Flames struggling to remove him off of him with Igneel managing to regain strength.
"Now I'm really fired up!" Igneel said excitedly that he gained his strength and then reveals he gained blue flames around him.
"Enough! I'm ending this! Hellfire flame Sword Horn" Altas Flames shouted as he comes for a flying headbutt covered in hellfire flames
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn" Igneel countered as he does his own flying headbutt with flames covering his body.
Both attacks collide and create a massive explosion that completely reduces the city to ashes and creates a massive fireball that can be seen across the region with an intense heatwave felt across the neighborhooding countries.
The smoke clears up to reveal that Altas flame has fallen to the ground while Ingeel still stands with the entire region of Eastern Bosco reduced to ashes. Thankfully most humans and civilians were evacuated to safety. The once snowy mountainous country was reduced to the wasteland with ashes everywhere. AAfter Igneel defeated Altas Flames, Igneel stands over him.
"Thankfully most people went underground prior to this fight, I need to control my magic better." Ingeel said to himself as he looked around the destruction caused by their collision.
"Finish me, I've fallen to disgrace." Atlas Flame said to Igneel as he was ready to die only for Igneel to give him a hand up.
"You seem too good of a person to be part of the Dark Dragon Tribe, you spared the humans of the battle and allowed to escape, in exchange I'll spare your life, however, you must disown the Dark Dragon tribe." Igneel explained to Altas Flame as he held his hand.
End of 3rd Person POV
1st Person POV
While we traveled to the Frozen Wastelands Altas Flames explained his past with Ignee.
"So you used to be part of the Dark Dragon Tribe until Igneel defeated you?" I asked Altas Flames.
"I was merely following orders and was misguided, they tricked me into thinking Dragonv killed my family. I wanted revenge for what I thought they did to my family, hence I joined the first Dragon war but after Igneel spared me, I learned it was them. I have also believed that humans had no honor or morals until I met your mother." Altas Flames explained to me noting how much he changed over time.
"Glad to see you come through, I would hate to have you as an enemy if you can maintain this flame body for a long time." Lena stated.
"I wish I can learn that type of magic. " Rena replied.
"Indeed, thanks to him I don't feel so cold, hell I feel overdressed with these fur outfits." Erenjack said to everyone notably
"As long as you stick near me, we can find this plant and keep the creatures away." I said to Altas as I was confident that we can save Igneel.
We landed within the Frozen Wasteland for their long search for the legendary herb to save Igneel's life. We search for 6 days straight only to find nothing.
End of 1st Person POV
3rd Person POV
6 days later.
Vemonisky is maintaining Igneel to the best of his ability.
"Come on guys, you have only 1 day left... I can't maintain suppressing his poison for long." Vemonisky said to himself as he desperately tries to contain the poison as he removes more toxic sludge from Igneel while Grandeeney assisted in trying to stabilize Igneel when Metalicana arrives with information.
"We found something that might lead us to the culprit." Metacialaina said to Vemonisky.
"You did? "Vemonisky asked him.
"It's within the outskirts of town." Metalicana answered as Vemonisku goes with him.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the cottage where the alleged py was hidden in and found a pen quill with fresh ink with a rolling up scroll.
"This is what I found, it's best you see this." Metalicana said to Vemonisky as he reads the letter.
"Narcos, this is Drangus, we've imported the ingredients for a special cocktail said to be capable of killing any and all dragons attacking the very draconic senses and nerves they rely on for this with your own deadly poison and you would help us eliminate the Dragon Protection Squad for good as well as the Queen of Dragons before the war begins. With no successor left and with all the Dragon Protection Squad members being single children, there would no remaining force to oppose us once the war begins, get this and you would be promoted to colonel effective immediately... Drangus.:" Vemonisky read learning the truth about his own men Nercos.
"Find the bastard fast, we got a traitor on the loose. Nercos was the one who poisoned Igneel and was an Agent for the Alakstika Dragon Alliance... Make sure everyone find him." Metalicana said to Vemonisky.
"Where was the last time you saw him?" Vemonisky Asked him.
"He was last seen at the mess hall...Oh no!" Metalicana shouted as they both go to rush towards him.
Meanwhile Belserion is about to eat a massive portion of a giant warthog 3 times the size of an average human being served to him by a Dark purple scaled dragon with a purple underbelly with extended digi fingers with bat-like wings with spikes running down from the Dark Dragon's spine and onto its tail, which in itself ends in a rippled, almost torn fashion.
"Here's your meal Belserion!" the Dark Dragon said to Belserion as he offers him his meal.
"Thank you Sergeant Nercos. " Belserion replied as he's about to eat his food until a blast of poison hits the food and Metalicana snatches the fork out of his hand.
"VENOMISKY...WHY DID YOU ?" Belserion shouted as he then sees Nercos go to attack Belserion off guard.
"You catch on quick, I just have to get my claws on you and kill you all." Nercos shouted as he attempts to attack Belserion.
"Poison Dragon's Crushing Fang" Vmeonsiky countered as he swipes his claws and slashes at the Poison Dragon, decapitating him with a single slash.
"What's going on?" Belserion asked the two as Metalicana cuts open the warthog revealing the poison hidden within the meat.
"That bastard just tried to poison you the same way he did to Igneel." Metalicana answered.
"You catch on quick. I'm surprised you guys were able to catch me however you killed an impostor of me…. This is merely a clone. The real me is out of reach." Nercos elaborated as the clone melts into purple toxic sludge
"Vemonisky, secure the Pantry and Mess halls, Metalicana notify everyone. We got a rogue Poison Dragon Slayer on the loose." Belserion explained to Metalicana as he searched for the elusive Nercos.
" He's after everyone, including Irene, let's find the real him before he comes after the queen." Vemonisky said to the others as they search for the real Nercos.
End of 3rd Person POV
1st Person POV
Meanwhile at the frozen wastelands.
It's been 6 days since we started our search for the legendary herb in a land area that is almost as large as the Isghai Sea. Below the much smaller sub-kingdom Oblast of Wonderland, the Siberian wasteland within the northern central country was a vast desert of snow and snow storms. Like the North Arctica, South Arctica continent and Mount Zonia, it snows here all year around.
The region was said to be only inhabitable by Frost, Snow and Ice Dragons who live in underground cities deep beneath the frozen tundras. They're very hard to find within the reclusive and secluded region of Winterland. The closest one was 100 miles away from our current location, that's how deep we were in this wasteland.
We woke up within our makeshift tents within the middle of the snowy wasteland alongside Lena,Rena, and Erenjack. Thankfully Altas Flames was also sleeping near us providing us with great heat against the frozen wastelands. He also provided a good campfire as we grilled food on his body. We had some captured deer for breakfast.
"Six days and still nothing." I said frustrated at the fact we spent so much time searching for something we've yet to find.
"I know, we have only one day left before it's too late." Rena replied.
"I never thought I would get sick of seeing snow, why does it always snow here?" Lena asked me as she was shivering a bit.
"The Winterland region has been known for its extremely harsh winter period which is every year due to its proximity to the North Arctica Continent. As for why it snow all year, I have no clue." Altas Flames explained to us.
"Grandeeney and the others were right, we searched everywhere and we're found nothing close to what we were looking for." Lena stated worried if we would even succeed.
"Well at least on the bright side Altas Flame makes a good campfire." Erenjack replied trying to keep his cool, in reality, he was nervous about failing as well.
"Not a time or place for jokes Eren!" I shouted at him, I then noticed that there was a mountain we haven't checked.
"Sorry, I was trying to lighten the spirits here, Irene? " Erenjack was explaining himself when he noticed I was looking at the mountain.
"I know one place to check, that mountain over there, it has to be there." I said to everyone, I knew it had to be within that mountain range.
"That is the one place we didn't check. Naturally, it would be there." Rena said to everyone trying to convince them to search that range.
"It would make sense, however, proceed with caution, that is one of the most dangerous parts of the wasteland." Altas Flames warned as he gets back up and stands here.
"All the more reason we must search that region." I replied as I was determined to search the mountain range.
We begin the search for the herb within the mountain range area. We scaled the region for hours on end through the morning until we decided to climb up the massive 5km mountain. We then eventually reached the summit when we already encountered trouble.
Altas Flames got ready on the defensive as we seen what appeared to be a massive Blizzardvern larger than even Altas Flames with a long beard with large goat-like horns with snow-white scales with wing arms and a large spike tail.
"The Blizzardvern King!" Altas Flames said to us notably nervous about the massive
"You dare trespass our sacred lands ?" the Blizzardvern King asked us angry that we're intruding on their land.
"We need a special plant to heal our comrades, we come in peace." I stated trying to pressure the Blizzardvern King.
"You will pay for trampling our sacred grounds, attack." Blizzardvern King replied as from out of the blue 10 Blizzardverns, 15 Frost Bears, 40 Ice Weretigers, 20 Vulcans and 5 Frost Giants as well.
"Come on, we don't want to fight you." Lena said to them trying to appeal to the Blizzardverns.
"I don't know if talking is going to help, they seem pretty angry." Rena stated.
"Looks like reasoning with them is impossible, fight to wound, we don't want any unnecessary deaths." I replied as I prepared myself for a fight.
"Let me handle the Blizzardvern King, take care of his minions and find the herbs." Altas Flames commanded us as he prepares to fight against the Blizzardvern King,
The fight began as we were surrounded by various enemies. One Blizzardvern flies to attack me dashing at me with his talons attempting to claw me however I evaded the strike and managed to punch the Blizzardvern square in the jaw and render the flying creature out cold and grounded.
Soon two Wyrens's try to come at me from the sides attempting to gore me with their Talons however Lena stepped in and summoned a Sand Shield to stop their attacks.
"Thanks Lena." I said to her as Rena follows with her hair wrapping around the Blizzardvern.
"Crimson Hair Whip!" Rena chanted as she swings around her hair whips to smack the two creatures into rocks knocking them out.
5 Ice Weretigers move at high speed around Erenjack moving at very fast speeds and attempting to slash at him their razor-sharp claws.
"Metal Make: Hammer Time." Erenjack chanted as he summons two Hammers in his hand and begins to wail on each weretiger hitting them around, knocking out with single strikes.
10 Weretigers go to attack me however I had something for them.
"Thunderbolt" I chanted as I shot a massive Lightning wave around my body frying the weretigers knocking them out instantly.
"Sand Wave!" Lena chanted as she sends a massive wave of sand towards 20 Ice Weretigers knocking them out with a tidal wave of sand.
Meanwhile, 5 Blizzardvern charge their powerful ice beams and fire them at me.
"Metal Make Shield" Erenjack countered as he protects me from the blasts.
"Thanks, Ernejack. I said to him.
"No problem milady." Ernejack replied as we both go to attack the Blizzardvern
Meanwhile one of the frost Giants goes to attack Lena with his massive tree size club covered with Ice Spikes only to be hit by Erenjack from behind.
"Crimson Hair Strike !" Rena chanted as she slaps a frost Giant with her hair tendrils knocking him back however the Giant withstood the hair.
"GONNA SMASH YOU !" the frost Giant shouted as he smashes the ground trying to attack Lena and Rena but they dodge the fissure wave from the club smash which creates several ice spikes.
"Sand Slash" Lena chanted as she generates a slashing wave hitting the Frost giant, however, the frost giant shrugs off the hit with only a minor bruise.
"Hair Axe" Rena chanted as she swings her hair shaped like a flaming axe and hits the creature dead on but he shrugs it off.
Meanwhile, 6 Ice Vulcans come towards them, however, Erenjack summons his blades.
"Metal Make Swords" Erenjack chanted as he slashes at the 6 Vuclans knocking them out.
Meanwhile, Lena and Rena are struggling against a single frost giant as they try to take it down but proves to be so tough that they can't take it down.
"He's tough, not much we can do against him." Lena said to Rean as they look for a plan.
"Let's combine attacks." Rena replied giving them an idea as the Frost King goes to attack them.
"Sand Tornado" Lena chanted as she creates a massive tornado getting him trapped within the tornado.
"PUNY TORNADO CAN'T STOP ICE GOLEM!" the frost giant said to Lenas he's about to overpower the Frost Giant.
"Hair Shower: Firefly Flame" Rena chanted as she sets the tornado on fire with small pieces of her hair catching ablaze engulfing the
"URRGGH!" The Frost Giant grunted in pain as he is knocked out from the attack.
Both Lena and Rena were worn out fighting against a single frost giant.
I was dealing against 5 Ice Bears, each of them strong enough to tunnels straight through mountains, a fact I reminded myself as I avoided their sharp dangerous claws.
"BraveHeart!" I chanted as I struck a bear down with the blunt end of my sword jumping down to render him out cold.
One bear nearly tags me with their claws but I evaded the slash and goes to attack that bear.
"Arms!" I chanted as I punched the bear with an enhanced punch knocking it out cold." Lightning Storm" I chanted as I fired several Lightning bolts at the bears, knocking the remaining bears unconscious, however, I was hit from behind by an Ice Giant.
"IRENE!" Erenjack shouted as he tries to save me only to be attacked by a Ice Bear.
Thankfully I protect myself with Armor enchantment, even still, that hurt quite a bit being caught off guard against one of the Ice Giants.
"ME SMASH PUNY HUMANS!" The Ice Giant shouted as he swung his club towards me however I stopped his club with one hand.
"Dividing Wind!" I chanted as I slashed the giant down with a single strike impressing everyone.
"Whoa, she took out an Ice Giant with ease." Lena said impressed by my strength.
"We needed our combined strength just to take out one of did it without breaking a sweat." my cousin replied also impressed by my strength
"That's the queen to you." Ernejack responded.
"These guys don't compare to the Giants of Olaf or Gorha." I replied casually having trained amongst giants from the two kingdoms.
2 more frost giants came at me with their clubs., however, I, charged energy with my hands.
"Blazing Sky!" I chanted as I shot a massive flame from the sky which hits the two Ice Giants, talking bout of them out with a single strike resulting in a fiery explosion.
However, the enemies knocked out previously keep getting back up.
"Damn it, they're getting back up as nothing happened." Erenjack shouted horrified that these creatures kept getting back up.
"We knocked them out." Lena said frantically.
"I think it has to do with the fact that because their ice creatures and this is now, it's regenerating their wounds and energy at a far faster rate than normal. No wonder Grandeeney warned us about this region." I explained to the team.
"Man these enemies are tough." Lena said to Rena.
"They're too many of them." Rena repealed panting.
"There are too many enemies here, we got to conserve energy for the herb get behind me, Lena set up a barrier, Erenjack, reinforce with your metal make, Rena stabilize the defense with your hair, I'll enhance it with the Enchantments." i commanded my comrades as they go to set up our defenses.
"What are you planning Irene?" Enrejack asked me.
"You'll see, trust me, there's a reason I'm ordering all defenses to be raised."I answered I don't wish to kill myself and everyone involved.
"Sand Shield!" Lena chanted as she sets up a sand defenses around us as the polar bears try to claw through the defenses while the Ice Vulcans pound on it as well as the frost giants slowly starting to crack it.
"Metal Make: Iron Dome" Enrejack chanted as he reinforces the interior of Lena's barrier with a metal dome.
"Crimson Hair: Hairball" Rena chanted as she forms a spherical dome with her hair under Ernejacks's Iron Dome.
"Armor II" I chanted to follow up, making the defense 4 times tougher with all the barriers being 4 times denser.
"Now what?" Lena asked.
"Blazing Sky Heavenly Body Sema" I chanted as I send a fireball the size of a church heading towards the battlefield.
The meteor hits the mountain creating a massive explosion, the explosion was so intense that it could be seen from Whitestone One as the explosion engulfs the battlefield. After a few minutes, we came out of our barriers. The mountain we were on top of was gone, all 4 km of the mountain was gone, however, all the creatures fighting us earlier were knocked out cold. I was able to control the spell to the point it burst within the air, given how tough these creatures were, they could withstand a mountain busting attack.
"Holy crap was that your father's technique."Erenjack said to me.
"I've been working on that spell for quite some while. It's still nowhere near as powerful as his. His spell at full power can kill even Dragons." I explained to them looking down at my hands.
"Even dragons? I thought you can't kill Dragons with Magic." Lena questioned me about that statement.
"That much is true however the spell isn't met to kill Dragons itself. By channeling enchantment magic to a specific point in the atmosphere, you can generate friction .. Combine this with Sema, the meteor would move 10 times its normal speed and hit with 10 times its normal force, enough to send even dragons straight into the earth itself. Father can generate a meteor comparable to the great Asteroid that killed the Dinosaur race millions of years back and accelerates it with Blazing Sky, the meteor would not only have the destructive force to level a continent but push anything impacted by it straight into the depths of the planet's mantle itself where there's no oxygen and intense flames of hell, something even Dragons couldn't hope to survive in. The massive drawback is that it takes time to set something up to that scale, you can also be killed by your own attack due to the fact it obliterated anything it touches and assuming you live, you have nothing left to fight back, also it's a huge risk that it can kill not only the user but everyone around the user too, including entire countries." I explained to them just how powerful my father was.
"It's basically a suicide technique." Erenjack explained to me concerned about the use of the technique that it could kill me.
"Father invented the spell as a Last Ditch technique. Father first used a less powerful version of it to blind the mighty King of Demon Dragons Morton to saved my mother's life and his own life and contributed to his defeat. Sadly the only way to actually kill a very powerful dragon as a human is to sacrifice your life or use a spell that risks kill you as well. Father attempted to kill the Dark Dragon King Krauser and his minions with a far more powerful version of this spell and failed, even they were powerful enough to withstand the Mantle and the continental crust pressure. Funreartly father had a barrier around the impact site or the destruction radius could've engulfed all of Ishgal with a single attack, even with the barrier, he generated a massive earthquake felt across the entire world. One day I will perfect this spell and hopefully one day I would develop a power that doesn't have merely on this one sword to slay Dragons...That being said, I'm very winded. Let's find the herb which I think might be at that mountain over there." I explained to them as I struggled to stay concusis from the energy I already drained.
"Are these creatures going to be okay?" Lena asked concerned about the creatures well being.
"Yes, I denatoed the spell merely a kilometer above the mountain doing a powerful air burst that merely obliterated the mountain, these creatures are tough, it would take more than a mere mountain busting attack to kill them. Considering how far we came and those creatures can keep getting back up from our hits, they'll be fine. We should be fortunate we aren't up against Dragons today. If dealing with these creatures are tough enough in this climate, lord knows what would happen if we're up against an Ice Dragon." I explained to them only to notice Lena was very angry.
"What if it was on this mountain and just destroyed it Irene? Seriously think about your actions, you're going to one day do something you end up regretting. " Lena questioned me scolding my recklessness.
"Trust me I know, doing research on the plants during the time, the plant would tend to be within a cave, this mountain didn't have a cave at the summit. I assume the herb must be hidden within the cave's summit there where the Blizzardvern King lurks." I responded to here, in reality, I was nervous that I might've blown up the herb to Igneel's cure, then again wouldn't be the first or last time my recklessness caused me big time.
"Just one problem. We gotta climb that mountain, it's going to take us hours to get to the top,
"Then let's do it as fast as we can." I replied as we walked through the charred rubble and debris of the former 5km mountain which was now flattened by my father's spell only to collapse from the wasted energy.
"Damn it, you overused your energy." Enenjack shouted.
"Sorry, damn I feel stupid having to do that." I replied feeling dumb for having overused my magic.
"Don't worry, I'll carry you." Erenjack replied as he picked me up and had me piggyback on him until I had enough strength to walk on our own.
"I swear you're recklessness is going to be the end of you Irene." Lena scolded me as we began our climb upward.
We began our large climb up the tallest mountain within Dragonv, Mount Bilzlzardvern which is over 5.5 km high, the windy mountain made it hard for us to climb the mountain from the base. Rena's hair magic proved to be very useful for scaling the mountain, combined with Lena's sand Magic, we made progress in scaling the mountain.
Meanwhile, Altas Flames and the Blizzardvern King clash within the air as the two are within an intense battle. The Blizzardvern King was simply too fast and powerful for me to even hope to fight at my current state, even at my full power I doubt I could beat him. Even Altas Flames was struggling to land any this, fortunately, the Blizzardvern King was unable to harm Altas Flames as Altas Flames had intangibility and his flames made it hard for a creature weak to fire to strike it up close.
"Hellfire Dragon Roar!" Altas Flames chanted as he shot a massive blast of fire energy towards the Billzardvern King but the king evaded the attack as it hits a mountain near ours causing us to struggle to hold on.
"Whoa, such intensity"Erenjack shouted as he almost fell down the ledge only to be stopped by Rena and Lena.
"Let's keep going up the summit." Lena shouted as we scaled the mountain.
As we climbed the battle with Atlas Flame and the Bilzzardvern King got more intense as they two clashed attacks. A series of beam battles and blasts occurred causing the climb on top to be even more treacherous as the collisions caused small avalanches and rockslides that made the trip on top even harder.
Eventually, we made it to the top and on the top, we saw the herb within a bunch of plants around the Bizlzardvern nest. Things seem quiet, perhaps far too quiet. It was nighttime at the time we reached the summit and we were hungry.
"Finally we made it to the summit!" I said to everyone as got off Erenjack's back and rested on the snow.
"Man I'm hungry, we've been scaling this mountain all day."Erenjack explained to us as we heard his stomach grumble.
We then heard more explosions from a distance as Atlas Flame and Billzardvern king resumed their battles from afar so they don't hurt their comrades. Form a distance, Altas Flame looked like a miniature sun moving around.
"Man you would think it's noon given Altas Flames heat, it's past sunset and yet we can see light and feel heat." Rena said to us.
"Altas Flames was said to be an Honorary member of the Dragon Protection Squad and once was a rival to Igneel, one day he might become the 8th Dragon of the Dragon Protection Squad." I explained to everyone only to notice Lena was silent and staring at the distance.
"The Herb, it's there Irene" Lena replied pointing at the miracle Herb Grandeeney said for us to look for.
"Thankfully we got some wood collected to make a campfire, let's find some snow hares and eat, we deserve a good meal after all that." I said to everyone as used my high speed to catch some snow hares and killed them to put in the campfire i set up.
"Whoa, that was fast. Looks like you regain your energy ."Lena said to me.
"Barely, I'm quite hungry, to be honest. I feel like I only got at least 20% of my energy back. I need some food before doing anything more." I said to them.
"Indeed, I'm a bit worn too." Erenjack replied.
After having our meal we were rejuvenated or so we thought, we went towards the Miracle Herb and things seem to be going well, that is until I sensed serious trouble. Before I knew it, I draw out my Hoshigami No Satsuki to block a claw attempting to gore me through.
"A DRAGON!"Everyone shouted, we weren't expecting this.
"Nercos! SO YOU'RE THE ONE WHO POISONED INGEEL?" I shouted as I pieced together everything. Nercos attempted to assassinate me with a sneak attack
"You catch on pretty quickly, those halwits within the Dragon Protection Squad are searching for me as I speak, thankfully Romemus taught me his cloning magic before he kicked the bucket."
"You been working against Dragonv the whole time? " I shouted shocked at his betrayal.
"Simple, to be a great Assassin you do whatever you're ordered to. To be a legendary Assassin, you must infiltrate the enemy organization that you were assigned to take out and wipe out the entire organization one by one " Nercos bragged to me laughing.
"What are you talking about?" I shouted at him.
"After the First Dragon War and after the death of your mother thanks to our operative Romeus giving us the intel to take out the Dragonv family, your country was in desperate need of voluntary recruits to fill up the ranks for the inevitable war, using that, I forged my documents and soon found myself as a Student under Vemonisky, that old fool never saw the day I would develop a poison even he couldn't stop." Nercos bragged explaining how he duped everyone.
"You Bastard...How many operatives like you are in my army? " I asked him furious at the idea more people like him existed.
"Like I'll tell you that. If anything it's the fear and mistrust that thrives my existence. You're so naive Queen of Dragons, Navie about the world around you. You think any dragon would seriously respect humans? They pity you at best, you're kind is nothing more but insects to us. Hence why I came to eliminate you once and for all." Nercos stated with his haughty laugh.
"Fat chance, you're merely a low ranked Dragon not much stronger from Zincrosis, I've grown much stronger than that in the last 2 years." I said to him as I go to strike but I threw up."WHAT?"The next thing I knew, I lost all my energy and fell to the ground, rolling around screaming in agony "ARERRGH !"
"IRENE!" Everyone shouted as they rush to my aid.
"You fool as if I would take my chances against you. Unlike you humans who don't know their place, us dragons are content with our place. In any day of the week, Igneel would've easily Annihilated a worthless foot soldier like me, however, thanks to the special poison I've developed, he is one foot in the grave and he's far stronger than you, imagine how well a puny human like you fares against my deadly poison. Thankfully I was able to carefully place it in the Snowhare you hunted down prior to killing it so you can take the bait, now time to fish you in." Nercos arrogantly mocked me as I struggled for my life.
"BASTARD!" I shouted as I struggle to resist against the poison but it was futile, it was zapping all the strength I had.
"It's useless. This poison was not only mixed with the magic of a Poison Dragon Slayer which has the power to poison and Dragons, but also the poisons of the Cabrian Scorpion which has enough poison to shut down the nerves in your body, ,the Guptan Cobra which would rot all organs within your body and the South Alakitasian Rainforest poison frog which destroys your body from every fiber, Not only would you die a painful death but I will devour your corpse to make myself stronger than ever Now time to eliminate you." Nercos explained to me as he approached me.
I was powerless to move, I was careless like Lena said, I felt for his trap, He poisoned one of the Snowhares prior to me eating one and I was paralyzed by the poison however thankfully my comrades appeared to block his attempt to claw me to death. Lena with her Sand Shield, Erenjack with his Metal Make Shield and Rena with her hair shield.
"Pesky Humans got some fight in them, perhaps I need a few appetizers before the main course." Nercos said to them brushing them off as expected.
"Run, forget me…..He's too powerful for you guys to take on…." I weakly said to them. In realty they stood no chance against Nercos.
"No chance, we're not going to abandon our queen." Erenjack replied as he struggled to hold back Nercos claws along with Lena and Rena.
"We're going to save you." Lena replied as she struggles to hold back the claw as well.
"You're our family, we can't let you die." Rena responded as she pushes back against the claw but to no avail.
"How cute, puny humans trying to hold me back." Nercos laughed as he effortlessly breaks the sand bind on his neck and goes back into his fighting stance.
"Damn it, he's taking us lightly." Lena shouted.
"Get the herb and leave. There's only one herb, I rather have Igneel take it than me."
"BUt queen." Ernejack asked.
"No butts, this is your queen's final orders…."I shouted at him as I struggled to get back up but I then was unable to move.
"As if I'm letting you people touch that herb. You're not undoing my work" Nercos shouted as he swings his claws towards them but they evaded the attack.
"Hang on cousin, we're going to protect you and save you and Igneel's life." Rena said to me as she was ready to assist the team.
"Remember, he's a Poison Dragon, if he even gets a single hit on us, we're done for." Erenjack said to the team as they prepared to lay down their lives and protect me from hard.
"Oh please like mere humans can avoid my claws of death. All I need against you humans is one finger." Nercos replied as he took out one index finger with his claws smirking about his fight with them.
"We have to hurry, Irene is in bad shape." Lena said to them as she was ready to fight.
"Then we have no choice but to beat him."Erenjack replied looking serious and angry.
"But how do we even defeat a Dragon?" Rena asked them.
"HHAHAHAHAHAHA! No human can beat a dragon, not without the legendary Hoshigami No Satsuki, now let me play with my food." Nercos replied not seeming the least bit worried about humans.
Necros comes at the two with his right index finger moving at the speed of a Lightning bolt, however, Ernejack was able to evade the attack.
"Rena Protect Irene, Lena and cover me, I can take him myself." Erenjack said to Lena and Rena ready to fight.
"You can't take him yourself, it's suicide!" Lena shouted.
"Trust me, I got this, protecting the Queen and the Herb, Trust me I got a trick up my sleeve." Erenjack replied who was overly confident in his abilities.
"Fine, just don't die Erenjack!" Lena replied as puts a sand shield over my body.
Meanwhile, Erenjack evades his attack with his claw which the claw punches a hole through the ground casually causing the ground to become filled with a purple toxic waste.
"Metal Make: Hammer Time" Erenjack chanted as he summons two Hammers made entirely of metal which was able to knock back the Dragon slightly, however, Nercos wasn't even scratched or bruised.
"Not bad, looks like you got some fight in you." Nercos rubs his chin not even fazed as he goes to follow up with a tail whip but the Metal Make mage manages to evade the strike.
"Metal Make Lance" Erenjack chanted as he shot multiple lances made of metal towards Nercos, however, the Dark Dragon effortlessly tanked the attacks with his scales.
"Worthless!" Nercos laughed as he lunged at Ernejack with his finger.
"Metal Make Hammer" Erenjack countered as he swung his hammer with all his strength managing to knock back Nerco's fingers slightly harming the Dragon.
"Urggh! Not bad, you were able to give me a splinter on my finger. You must've trained your muscles pretty hard to fight me." Nercos said to Erenjack as he held onto his finger.
"Anything for my queen you beast." Erenjack replied as he stood his ground ready to defend against the dragon.
"I've played with you fools long enough, time to end this mission and collect my pay." Nercos said to Erenjack as he powers up creating such a massive poison wave around him which Erenjack evades as rocks are melted from the poison.
Nercos goes to throw a punch at Erenjack however the young blacksmith narrowly evades the punch.
"Whoa such speed," Erenjack said trying to evade the punch.
"Not so confident now are you?" Nercos said to Erenjack as he swings his fist more towards Erenjack
"Metal Make: Ball and Chain" Ernejack chanted as he formed a massive ball and chain with metal make and swung it at the Dragon however the dragon barely flinched from the attack and shatters the Ball and chain with a casual to knock back Nercos a bit with no damage " Metal Make: Hammer Time" Erenjack chanted as he used Daul Hammers to try to push back the dragon.
Erenjack uses his dual hammers to clash evenly with the dragon for a bit however he's forced to be on the defensive as his attacks aren't fazing the dragon much while the claws come closer to his flesh. He struggles to avoid the claws however the hammers are destroyed.
"Damn it !" Erenjack shouted as he was left defenseless.
"Playtime is over human. Poison Dragon Claw" Nercos chanted as he swung his claws towards Enrejack, if Erenjack is even scraped by the claws, it's game over.
"Armor+Sand Wall" Lena countered as she managed to save Ernejack seconds before the claws connected with his flesh putting forth a wall of sand which Nercos put there.
"Hair Shower: Thousand Birds" Rena chanted as she barraged Nercos with several bundles of hair straight directed at the face and eyes hitting them with fist-shaped hair tendrils hurting the dragon.
"URGGH!" Nercos grunted as he holds onto his eyes as they were hit by the fists.
"Thanks!" Ernejack said to the two of them as he takes out his father's forging hammer and then goes to leap up to strike him.
"Fool I can't see but I can still smell you via my nose, now jump into my mouth" Nercos shouted as he is about to bite down on Erenjack, however, Lena counters.
"Sand Blast!" Lena countered as she fills his mouth with sand making the dragon choke a bit and giving Erenjack the opportunity to do a decisive Knockout blow.
"THIS IS FOR IRENE!" Erenjack shouted as he strikes down the dragon hitting his forehead, managing to knock down the dragon with his father's forging hammer.
However, Nercos goes back up almost instantly and spits out sand from his mouth and holds onto the small bump on his head while he regains his sight.
"Not bad, you humans have some bite to you, perhaps you would make a good dinner after all." Nercos said to my friends kinda impressed they were even able to hurt him.
"In your dreams Dark Dragon." Ernejack replied defiantly against him.
"Let's face it, you're outclassed, had not for your friend there, you would've been dead or close to death. You puny humans can never harm our dragon scales." Nercos laughed as he's ready to fight them.
"Don't count your Chickens before they hatched, for years in the academy I was dreaming of the day that I can slay a dragon. I've graduated at top marks, you know why? Because I worked very hard to get my position. Thanks to my training with Rey Fullbuster within the last year, I was able to develop a magic that no one but me has developed."
"Are you foolish or something? It doesn't matter what kind of magic you develop human, magic can't hurt dragons
"All I need to do is knock you out, not kill you. I know I can't slay a Dragon however if I die to protect the Queen and knock you out cold at the same time long enough for an escape, then it's all I need. Allow me to show you the magic of a New Era, one that would be part of history." Erenjack said to Nercos as he stood there as his aura powered up. "Re quip: The Knight"
In that instant, Ernejack changed the magic world. He transforms himself into a fully armored Knight wearing a giant full suit of armor more than twice his size and power with a magical Lachrima attached to the back of it. He then summoned a large broadsword as large as his body.
"Ha, that's all, a simple Requip spell? All you did was change your clothing and merely summoning a weapon? Here I thought it would be some dragon slaying magic. This is hardly worth my time." Necros laughs as he goes to punch Erenjack but Erenjack manages to block his massive fist with an open palm." WHAT?"
"How is he holding the dragon back? I've never seen armor boost a person's strength" Lena asked shocked to see Erenjack hold back a giant.
"That is the magic of Requip: The Knight. In addition to switching between weapons and armor, I can make armor amply my strength tenfold, In Addition, This Magic allows the user to store weapons and armors in pocket dimensions and summon them during battle. In the hands of both a Metal Make Mage and Blacksmith, it's the best magic I've made. Not to mention it gives the user a high level of offense, defense, flexibility and variety in combat, regarding the type of the armor and/or weapon they Requip. It's still in the works, I didn't think it would need to be used so soon." Erenjack explained to us about the new magic he developed, a magic which would be used by a certain someone much later down the line while holding back the dragon's fist.
"Big deal, you're merely just a snack anyway you put it." Nercos laughed as he retracted his fist and then goes to attack Erenjack but his punch is blocked again by Erenjack. This time using a broadsword and his father's forging hammer.
Nerocs and Erenjack clashed attacks with each other with neither of them being able to scratch each other. Erenjack swung his sword attempting to get hits, however despite knocking around the dragon a bit, barely scratch Nercos. Likewise despite how much Nerocs clawed
"Metal Make: Hammer Storm" Erenjack chanted as he summons multiple hammers from his dimensional space and hits Nercos repeatedly with them until there was a slight scale crack on the arm of the dragon. Erenjack was notably out of breath and was starting to lose a bit of power.
"Not bad human, you managed to crack my scales. I must admit, you're slightly stronger than expected however it seems that armor has traded speed for power and I hate to break it to you kid, you would never catch me with a slow-moving armor, especially when it drains your power greatly." Nercos explained to him noting that if he was taking Erenjack seriously, he would've easily evaded his slow attacks.
"You're right my knight needs serious work, this is frankly the only power armor I have right now, however, I'll stand and fight for my queen no matter what.. Rena, Lena combine your power with my own." Erenjack defiantly said to the dragon as Lena and Rena were willing to die for me too.
"Indeed, we will die protecting my cousin"Rena responded defiantly.
"Right !" Lena responded with her own response as she was setting up her attack.
"Time for my strongest attack! Hair Shower: Wolf Fang " Rena chanted as she formed their hair in spirals and shaped it into the front half of a large, furry wolf, complete with clawed forelegs, blank eyes, a canine nose, pair of ears and a mouth full of massive sharp teeth and lunged it at the dragon
"HAHAHA! You think such a weak attack would be enough! " Nercos laughed as he easily swipes the wolf into pieces however it was a diversion
"No, but it would a good distraction. Hair Shower: Firefly Flame" Rena chanted as she explodes the hair stands to create a series of blinding explosions towards the face blinding the dragon.
"URRGH! INSOLENT PESKS" Nercos shouted as he struggles to see only to notice that he's sinking into the ground.
"Sand Pit !" Lena chanted as she sinks him below the ground.
"Why you brats!" Necros strikes to fly out but he notices his arms have been chained along with the wings attached to the arms.
"Looks like Metal make Chain came in handy. Lena, Rena now." Erenjack said to the two of them as they begin their attacks.
"Pesky humans, you can try all the little tricks you want. You can't hurt dragons!" Nercos laughed as Erenjack, Lena and Rena combine their powers together.
Lena combined her Sand Magic with Ernejacks Metal Make and Rena combined her Hair Magic with the sand to make the spears fiery.
"Unison Raid: Flaming Metal Sand Spear Rain" All three of them chanted as they launched their attacks, the combined attacks reach velocity as they head towards him.
Hundreds of spears reign down onto him with each of them exploding thanks to Rena's magic while the sand and metal make for good shrapnel hitting the dragon multiple times until the scales chip and some of the spears manage to lightly penetrate through the Dragon Scales
"Ahhh ...Impossible, I was hit through by humans." Necros screamed in pain as he struggled to see and struggled to move due to Lena and Ernejacks restraints.
Erenjack then leaped in the air with power armor with him form a hammer from metal make the size of Nercos.
"The real reason invented the armor, is so I can have the strength to finally wield this hammer.: Take this Metal Make Minojri" Erenjack shouted as he swings down the massive hammer with both hands on the grip.
"Unbelievable, he learned a spell based on King Rey's moves. How much stronger has he become." Lena said to Rena.
"Man he's incredible, developing a spell on his own and learning form King Rey." Rena replied as Erenjack connects with Nercos skill with the hammer.
The force of the hammer was so great that Lena and Rena, as well as me, was blown away from the impact of the hammer but Lena and Rena caught me and stood their ground thanks to their magic as the force of the hammer strike smashed Nercos deep into the mountain going straight down to the bottom of the hole punched through was as wide as Necros himself. Erenjack then powered down back to normal however he was beyond exhausted as he was barely able to move from that attack.
"That might not have killed him but boy is he not getting back up from that one for a bit...Quick let's take the herb and leave." Erenjack said everyone as Lena picks me up along with Rena.
"What about Irene? We need to treat her now…" Lena asked us.
"Shit ...I didn't think of that, we only have one herb." Erenjack said with a panicked voice.
"We give it to Irene." Rena said to us.
"And Igneel dies?" Lena pointed out the fact that there's not enough breb for both of us.
"Good point, still we gotta do something...Irene can't die like this." Ernejack shouted.
"There's only one herb ,none of us known any healing spells too, if we don't get her back to Dragonv fast, she's going to die " Lena replied as she was on the verge of tears and breaks down crying while Rena was trying to maintain her tears but Erenjack hugs them both with tears in his eyes
"No one is dying today." Erenjacks said us comforting us with his words.
"On the contrary...YOU'RE ALL DYING TODAY!" Necros replied angrily shattering the serenity of the moment.
Necros flies back up with a massive lump on his forehead with some blood coming out of his cracked scales looking very pissed.
"Damn it !"Rena shouted.
"UNFORGIVABLE, BEING DAMAGED BY A PUNY HUMAN !" Necros shouted as he was enraged by the fact humans were able to hurt him, ablet not very much.
"No way...He survived that with only a lump on his head..."Erenjack said horrified to see that
"NO, that can't be, he should be out cold..." Rena shouted.
"I must admit humans, you're the first ones to ever scratch me this bad...However, THIS IS WHERE I KILL YOU ALL! Poison Mist Claw" N Necros shouted as he leaped at them moving at them to take them all out with one slash... I couldn't sit by and let my friends die.
Before I knew it, I was able to stand with my sword drawn behind Nercos. With a swing of my blade, I cleaved his right arm off entirely with ease while I was barely able to stand.
"MY ARM…..AAAAAAAAAAAARGGHH ...MY HAND" Necros shouted as he was struggling to withstand the pain of his arm being chopped off I was beyond angry.
"UNFORGIVABLE! I CAN'T STAND TRATRIOS TO THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HURT MY FRIENDS." I shouted with intense fury as I powered myself up with the last of my willpower.
"No impossible...You should be unable to stand...That poison is enough to take out a Dragon of the caliber of Ingeel...HOW ARE YOU STANDING ?" Nercos shouted terrified that I was still standing at this point.
"BECAUSE I'M THE QUEEN OF DRAGONS! YOU POISONED INGEEL, YOU WILL PAY!" I shouted in intense fury as I just lost it. Necros was truly frightened and tried to escape however I grabbed him and punched him straight in the gut causing him to cough up blood.
"UUUUGH!" Nercos shouted as he coughed up blood covering me in his blood.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE OF TREASON!" I yelled at him as I was ready to kill him.
"Poison Dragon Roar" Necros shouted as he desperately tries to shoot one towards my friends but I easily deflected it away with my sword.
"NOOO!" Necros shouted as it was his final words before I went on a berserk rampage as I slashed him so many times that he was losing every limb of his body before decapitating him. By the time it was over, Nercos was dead, reduced into a pile of mutated limbs and a severed head, despite my poisoned state, he never stood a chance against me.
"HOLY !" Lena shouted shocked to see me kill a dragon with ease.
"CRAP" Erenjack replied sweating from what I just did.
"Did she just kill the same dragon we struggle to wound with ease, poisoned?" Rena asked shocked to see her cousin so strong.
Blood drenched the summit cavern as I stood only for me to collapse due to the poison running in my veins.
"IRENE !" they all shouted as they try to assist me.
Alatas Flames returned from his triumph battle with the Bilzlardvern King to see what happened.
"What happened? " Altas Flames asked them as I was suffering from poison.
"We need to get her and the plant back fast." Lena answered as she puts me on Altas back and climbs up him along with Rena and Erenjack.
"HURRY!" Erenjacks shouted as Altas too off.
The scenario was dire. My life was yet again at risk. This was the second time I came close to dying. They wasted no time flying to the castle where Grandeenedy and Vemonisky were at.
"This is not good, only one person can get the cure of this and both are poisoned." Grandeeney said in the most demoralizing tone out there.
"NO YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME? You mean someone is going to die? Ernejack asked Grandeeney
"What to do? " Rena shouted as she was freaking out.
I was able to get up and speak.
"Give it to igneel….He desperately needs it..." I said to them ready to put others over myself.
"YOU CAN'T DIE IRENE, WE NEED YOU!" Lena shouted.
"As queen of this land...my job is to protect the people...regardless of the cost to myself...Besides you can find another herb in time right..." I replied to them as I was feeling my vision fading.
"You fool, they only grow once every 1,000 years…"Grandeeney said to me trying to convince me otherwise.
"Then I'll be seeing you there..." I replied, ready to die for my comrades as I passed out from the poison.
The Next day
I, however, woke up later, completely cured of the poison the next day.
"I'm alive!" I said to myself looking around when I see Lena, Erenjack and Rena all hug me with tears in my eyes.
"YOU'RE ALIVE " They all shouted happy that I was alive but I it dawned upon me what about Igneel.
"INGEEL! WHERE'S INGEEL!" I shouted frantically only to see Igneel there too.
"I'm alive too!" Igneel said to me.
"How are we both alive? " I asked him.
"That was a noble and honorable thing you've done Irene, putting your own life at risk to protect your comrades.." Igneel explained to me thanking me for my courage
"I wasn't going to lose a comrade just to save myself, that is not how I operate." I explained to Igneel.
"Thankfully I discovered a way to save you both at the same time or you both would've been dead. "Vemonisky explained to me about how he saved our lives.
"I'm in your debt Venomiksy. As for you Lena and Erenjack, that was an amazing display of teamwork and power you both showed.
"We did our best" Lena stated.
"Indeed, especially Erenjack, he really pulled it off."Rena replied.
"I trained non stop with King Rey to the point I combined Maker Magic with requip to create a new form of magic know as Requip Knight. I need to work on it but if I can get it right, I can transform armors mid-battle to use." Erenjack explained us on how well he performed because out of everyone, he grew the strongest one here.
"That sounds very useful, one day it would be used by future generations to be used conjunctly in battles, you're quite the genius Erenjack." I replied as I hug him.
"Anything for you my queen, that was brave of you to sacrifice yourself to save Igneel." Erenjack said to me.
"It's what I do best. "I replied to them.
Igneel and Erenjack would go on to heavily define the future, even after their passing from this world, they're legacy carried on with the New Era. Igneel would go on to train Natsu within the future and Erenjacks's Knight Requip would be used by the strongest knights and soldiers worldwide, including my very own daughter Erza. Had I been with Erenjack instead of the man I would marry to make Erza, things would've been very different however even in the case, nothing could prepare me for the future threats, Acnologia and Zeref.
To be continued
(A/N: And that was the chapter keeping up with the namesake of the chapter. Yep, quite a world of difference Irene was in the past compared to how she became around the Alvarez Arc. As promised everyone else was given much more screen time and character development within this chapter.
The unnamed Dark Dragon in canon who fought Gajeel is given the name Nercos and is given Poison Dragons Slayer Magic to fit within the color scheme of the Dragon, also it's no coincidence that i had Gajeel's father fight this monstrous Dragon and much like Canon Gajeel, he barely stood a chance against Nercos given his superior strength, though it should be noted that Erenjack at this point is easily more powerful than Gajeel and has a lot more experience in battling dragons despite being unable to kill one as of yet, thisis a good benchmark of how far he would come once he becomes the very first Iron Dragon Slayer.
As expected we had to have Irene sidelined within the chapter because as seen within the end Nercos was little to no challenge to her whatsoever at this point. The poisoning subplot was not only to give the other characters screentime but to also develop more on Altas Flames as a character given at one point in the Fairy Tail Canon, Altas Flames used to fight for the Anti Human Side of the Dragon Civil War only to turn around when he fought and was defeated by Ingeel and became comrades with Igneel.
Also hope you like how badass I made Igneel at his youth, his fight against Altas Flames was met to not only directly parallel Natsu's fight with Altas Flames much later on but also the fight between Natsu and Totomaru gave both use fire and both were stalemated by their powers until Igneel decided to turn the tables and eat Altas Flames fire magic.
Also before you ask about Ingeel killing other Fire Dragons, as established within Fairy Tail, higher tiers of flames can hurt Dragon Slayers such as the GodSlayer Flames which are presumably as hot as the surface of the sun. The Fire Dragons Ingeel killed burn with average flame temperatures whereas Ingeel burns with flames hot enough to melt iron easily. It's slmair to how Ace was killed by Akainu from One Piece with lava being hotter than normal fire.
And yes I made Erenjack Redfox the inventor of the Requip Magic because the guy was a blacksmith who was constantly pushing himself to keep up with Irene so naturally, he would develop the very Requip Knight armor that Erza would later use within the story. Essentially Erenjack is the Gray of this storyline, a fairly powerful and versatile mage who would become even stronger once he gets Dragon Slayer powers.
Irene (Age 17/Withouth Hosgisaki No Satsuki):14,878 MPF base, 15,544 MPF using Enchantments, 16,544 MPF with base full power, 17,210 MPF using Enchantments full power
Ingeel(Pre Dragon Festival)37,932 MPF base, 48,000 MPF flames of emotion, 53,333 MPF after eating enough flames, Magic Resistance up to 60,000 MPF
Altas Flames( Young, Pre Dragon War):16,250 MPF, Attack potency up to 23,333 MPF, Water Magic Resistance up to 32,533 MPF
Ingeel(Young, Early Frist Dragon War)16,250 MPF, 25,000 MPF using Flames of Emotion
Erenjack(Age 17):14,332 MPF base, 16,000 MPF Redfox Power Armor.
Lena Marvell(Age 17)10,000 MPF base, 13,332 MPF full power base, 14,666 MPF using Enchantments
Rena Corona(Age 17):10,666 MPF base, 14,666 MPF full power
Irene (Age 17):14,878 MPF base, 15,544 MPF using Enchantments, 16,544 MPF with base full power, 17,210 MPF using Enchantments full power, 18,000 MPF with the full power Hoshigami No Satsuki, 18,666 MFF using Enchantments
Dragonvian Ice Wryens:12,000 MPF each
Frost Giants: 15,000 MPF each
Frost Bears: 14,332 MPF
Dragovian Ice Vulcans: 10,000 MPF each
Ice Weretigers: 9,000 MPF
Altas Flames( Young, Pre Dragon War):16,250 MPF, Attack potency up to 23,333 MPF, Water Magic Resistance up to 32,533 MPF
Blizzardvern King: 21,000 MPF
Necros: 14,498 MPF
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