Simon and Gale had to fight against Linus before they could step inside the caves. Seeing as how Linus is claiming he's stronger than Gale, Gale wanted to beat this guy badly. As the two of them were fighting, Erza showed up in hopes that she could help her son and the others. As soon as Linus laid his eyes on Erza, something in him snapped and he went to attack her in rage.

"You die!" Linus shouted as he tried attacking her, but Simon got in the way. He pulled out his adamantine shield and blocked Linus' attack. Throwing his weight into it, Simon pushed Linus back. However, he was still filled with much rage.

"Hey, pal! You were fighting me!" Gale said, but Linus just ignored him. There was such anger and rage directed towards Erza.

"I never thought I see you again, but now I can make you pay for causing all of this." Linus said.

"What are you talking about? I've never seen you before." Erza said. Simon and Linus didn't get it. How does this guy know Erza when Erza doesn't, and why is he so mad at her?

"It's all your fault we're even in this mess! I have a chance to make you pay, Irene Belserion!" Linus said. When he called out that name, Erza could see what this was really all about.

"You got the wrong lady. That's Erza Scarlet, the mother of my buddy there." Gale said.

"It's true. This is my mother." Simon said.

"You can't fool me, Irene. I recognize that face anywhere. You might want to change your looks as well as you name, but I guess that didn't occur to you because you never thought you find someone who knew all about you." Linus said as he wasn't convinced they were telling the truth. It was like he didn't even hear them.

"I am not Irene Belserion, but I can understand your confusion." Erza claimed. "My name is Erza Scarlet, but Irene Belserion was my birth mother." That was the part that Linus did hear. He was quite shocked to hear her claim she was Irene's daughter.

"You're... You're really her daughter?! I heard that she suffered from this curse as well, but I didn't think it was possible to have a child when one is cursed like us." Linus said as he didn't know what to think.

"Irene Belserion... My grandmother... You've mentioned to me before." Simon said.

"Well, I'm lost. Who is this Irene Belserion?" Gale asked.

"Irene Belserion, the Queen of Dragons, and I heard she called herself the Scarlet Despair..." Linus tried to explain. "She was the one who created Dragon Slayer Magic." Gale was a little surprised to hear about that.

"Hold on. Wasn't that magic created like four-hundred years ago?" Gale said. "You're saying this Irene is the one who created that type of magic, but she's Erza's mother?"

"I wasn't aware she had a child. I heard that she too suffered from this curse like the rest of us." Linus said.

"Yes. I've met her myself." Erza said. "For the longest time, I never knew who my birth parents were. Then, during one of the greatest battles my guild has been in, I met her on opposing sides. She told me her story."

"What story?" Gale said as he wasn't really seeing it.

"Hundreds of years ago, back when the dragons were still alive, there stood a mighty kingdom called Dragnof." Linus began telling the story. "It was a place where dragons and humans lived in harmony. Irene was the queen. Around that time was when the Dragon King Festival happened. Dragons who opposed humans wanted to ravish the land. The dragons who lived along side humans did their best to protect us, but it looked like it was a loosing battle. That was when Irene came in. She found a way to embed the powers of dragons into us humans."

"Dragon Slayer Magic... She really did create that form of magic?" Gale said.

"Yes, as well as the curse that came with it." Linus said with some anger. "I heard that she suffered from the dragon slayer curse like we did."

"Irene Belserion was a powerful enchantress. That's how she was able to create that magic." Erza said. "In fact, when the side affects of that magic were being known, I was already inside her womb."

"Say what?!" Gale said with shock and had trouble putting the facts together. "You were inside your mother that long ago? When you were born exactly?"

"I was just getting there. When they saw she was turning into a dragon, fearing she would be like Acnologia, they treated her horribly." Erza said. "She used her enchantments to cease my growth and development inside her. She did that to protect me because she was afraid I would be killed. When she escaped, she carried me inside her until she could find a way to gain a human form again."

"Irene Belserion was the one who created this magic, but she was also the one who created the curse that came with it." Linus said. "That means that I've suffered for all these years because of that woman! If she never created this form of magic, I wouldn't be some sort of freak! I wouldn't have endured all this suffering for all these centuries!" Linus put all the blame of all that he went through on Irene. Feeling like some sort of freak, having to live of isolation from other humans, watching those he did care about constantly pass from time. "I swore to myself that if I ever found that woman, I would kill her with my own hands!"

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late." Erza said. "I saw it with my own eyes. She took her own life."

"She's gone?" Linus said.

"I'm afraid so." Erza said. That isn't what Linus wanted to hear. He held much hatred for anger for that woman. He wanted revenge on Irene for creating this curse. There was so much that he just couldn't let it go.

"I love to kill Irene, but since she's no longer here, I suppose killing her daughter would be the next best thing." Linus claimed with a sinister grin.

"Are you serious?" Erza said as she readied herself for a fight.

"Are you really that insane?" Gale said.

"Don't be absurd. If you went through what I have, you would want revenge too. You'll suffer from that curse as well. If anything, you should be on my side" Linus said. "You're a dragon slayer like I am. It's only a matter of time until you suffer from the curse as well. Why not just cut out the middle man and join us?"

"I don't know if me and my friends are going to go through that too, but it doesn't matter to us." Gale said.

"Exactly." Simon said. "It doesn't matter to us if our friends are turned into dragons. They'll still be our friends."

"Doesn't matter because you'll all die while they live on." Linus said.

"It's not just that. You guys are willing to kill innocent people. No way would we do something like that." Gale said.

"I am sorry for what you went through, but your actions aren't going to fix anything." Erza said.

"They'll sure as hell make me feel a lot better!" Linus said as he went straight at Erza again. He was really going to go through with killing her in place of Irene. However, Simon stood in the way. "Don't bother trying to stop me, red! You've got nothing that can stop me!"

"Beg to differ!" Simon said as he pulled out a weapon. He swung a blade at Linus. Linus didn't expect it to do much, but he actually felt a sharp pain over his shoulder where Simon cut him. Linus jumped back and was surprised to see he was actually cut.

"How the hell...? My body is as hard as steel! How could you have done this to me?! What sword did you use against me?!" Linus said.

"Simon, you didn't have to protect me." Erza said.

"A son should protect his mother. Besides, this gives me the chance to try out my new weapon." Simon said. They all looked at his new weapon and saw it was a sword radiating with green magic energy.

"I won't ask again! What is that sword?!" Linus said.

"Something I created myself." Simon said. "We have our own enchantress in our guild. Thanks to her help, she embedded dragon slayer magic into this sword. Quite helpful against opponents like yourself. As a tribute to my dear friends, as well as this incredible magic, I call this sword Dragon Slayer."

"A sword embedded with Dragon Slayer Magic?!" Linus said as he's never heard of such a thing.

"Hey! Don't go getting distracted!" Gale shouted as he smashed his fist against Linus and actually knocked him against the ground. "We're far from done."

"Damn these pests." Linus said as he got back up.

"Mother, I do appreciate you caring and wanting to come out here to help us, but we have everything under control here." Simon said. Erza would have loved to jump in the fight, but she could see that Simon and Gale really could handle this fight.

"Very well. See me as no more than a spectator. I'll only jump in if it's necessary." Erza said as she backed away from the fight. That's a big thing to do when you're a Fairy Tail wizard.

"You think you can stop me? Think again!" Linus said as he was far from defeated as he had his arm change into a spike. "Steel Dragon Harpoon!" He stretched out his arm at both of them, but they both were able to avoid the attack.

"Iron Dragon Club!" Gale stretched out his arm and tried to smash it against Linus, but Linus was able to catch his attack.

"You're iron still can't break my steel!" Linus claimed.

"But my steel can cut through yours!" Simon said as appeared right next to Linus. He swung his sword down, but Linus avoided his attack as he jumped back.

"I can't be stopped! We can't be stopped!" Linus claimed.

"Yeah, yeah! You keep reminding us of all that!" Gale said. "I get you went through some pretty hard times, and I'm actually sorry about your past, but you guys brought this upon yourselves. I mean, you're not completely alone. You have all your other buddies who went through the same thing you did. Since you do, why do you even need to do any of this. You have friends who are the same as you. Why do you even need to do any of this?"

"A person can only take so much." Linus said. "Sapphron was the one who brought this idea upon us. He persuaded us to pursue this path. Sapphron is a great man that we all proudly followed."

"The real problem is that you just can't let go of the past." Simon said. "I'm sorry, Linus, but Gale speaks the truth. You brought this upon yourself!"

"I have, have I?!" Linus said as he was getting really annoyed. "You think you really can stop me?! Let's really put that theory to the test!" Linus unleashed some power and his body began to transform. Linus was unleashing his true dragon power as his body began to transform. He entered his dragon form as his entire body was coated in dark steel. His tail looked like is one large sword with his wings having a feather-shaped problem. He also had black tipped nails on his claws. Gale and Simon could see they would have a real fight now.

"Is that... Is that really his dragon form?!" Gale said as he was quite shocked at what he saw.

"It's hundreds of feet tall, looks similar to a lizard, and we just saw him change from a human to that." Simon said. "I say it is."

"Now you see another coming of the dragon slayer curse. You will now see what you brought upon yourselves when you challenged me!" Linus claimed.