Year X490

It has been approximately 30 years since Natsu's first dragon kill. He got two more since then: Sideeney the Water Dragon, and Celesticana the Gravity Dragon. At first, he thought it would get easier. It did not. Well fighting anything in the middle of an ocean or on top of a mountain that reaches above the clouds would be a pain to begin with. Nevertheless, he managed to acquire the dragons' magic every time. However, he needed a few years each time to get used to and learn how to use his new magic. His new main goal was to be figure out how to combine two or more of his four magics into single attacks or techniques. Moreover, he had discovered that the process also accelerated his dragonification. Speaking of which, it was now in its final stage. He now had scales everywhere on his body and according to his calculations, only had a few months or even weeks before the whole ordeal would be complete.

Natsu had other concerns however. More specifically, his foster father was one of them. Indeed, Igneel's condition had considerably worsened. He now had regular coughing fits, muscle stiffness, cramps and was too tired to even fly or hunt leaving the task of getting food to Natsu. As for his magic, it had become so unstable that it would be almost suicidal to try to use it. Igneel knew the end was near and so did his son. The difference was that the former was fine with it, the latter…wasn't.

Natsu wasn't angry at Igneel for leaving him, he wasn't angry at the world for taking his father away from him, he wasn't even angry at Acnologia for damaging his father's soul which is what got him sick. He was upset with himself. For all his strength and all the hopes people had placed in him, the only thing he could do was lessen his father's pain thanks to his healing spells that were part of his Water Dragon Slayer Magic.

Right now, Igneel was laying on his stomach in the middle of a clearing with his head on the ground and Natsu was sitting in front of his father's head. They had been talking about the past and magic. Igneel didn't really have anything left to teach Natsu but he still had a lot of useful knowledge and experience.

"Did you know it was a human who created Dragon Slayer Magic?" the dragon asked, kind of rhetorically.

"Really? Who?" his son responded in a surprised tone.

"A woman by the name of Irene. She was probably the strongest Dragon Slayer of her time, except perhaps Acnologia, to the point where she became queen of a kingdom called Dragnof." Igneel explained.

"What happened to her?" Natsu asked, not particularly looking forward to the answer but Igneel just shrugged.

"I don't know exactly. What I do know is that by the time the Dragon Civil War ended, she was both married and pregnant. Although, Dragnof doesn't exist anymore so maybe she just retired to live a peaceful family life." It was obvious from his tone that Igneel wasn't too convinced by his own assumption.

"How do you know all that stuff anyway?"

"Belserion, a common friend of ours and the dragon who helped her in her creation, told me." Igneel sighed at this and raised his head slightly to look up towards the sky. "He died in the final days of the war. As soon as I learned about the start of that war, I knew everyone would lose. What I hadn't guessed was that it would cost us so much. Before the war, most dragons, me included, believed themselves to be so much wiser than humans. Oh how wrong we were. All of that wisdom, intelligence and power and we couldn't even agree to stop killing each other, no more than the humans can." then his gaze returned to Natsu. "But you can."

"M-Me?" Natsu stuttered in utter confusion and surprise.

"Yes, you see, this has never just been about stopping Acnologia, this is about making sure it never happens again. Humans can be foolish, they make the same mistakes over and over again but you have a chance to learn and be different, be better. Don't make the same mistakes we did." Little did Igneel know, these words would mark his son forever. "I wish I could be with you longer to see you grow but you should know, I couldn't be more proud of the person and the mage you have become. I love you, my son." And with that Igneel lied his head back down and started emitting a golden light which gradually intensified. Realizing what was happening, Natsu hastily stood up with a panicked look as well as tears begining to build up in his eyes.

"N-No, wait, dad, d-don't go, please." he tried to take a step forward, only to stumble and fall on his knees and found himself unable to hold his tears which began falling down his cheeks. As Igneel started disintegrated into a multitude of small golden lights that floated up to the sky, he sketched a smile.

"Don't cry, Natsu. Come on. What do you do in times of sadness? I told you that, remember?" Natsu's flow of tears reduced.

"I know." The dragon's body was now completely dissolved into golden particles.

"Then try it. Get on your feet." The Dragon Slayer did as he was told and wiped the remainder of his tears away. "I will always be with you. Even now, from now on, all the way down the line. Show me more of what you can accomplish, of how you will change the world…" Natsu clenched his fists and looked up at the sky with nothing but determination.

"Okay, I'm gonna keep living. I'm gonna keep getting stronger. I'm gonna stop Acnologia!" he screamed at the sky.

"That's right. Speak of the future. That is the power to live." Those were the Fire Dragon King's final words as the last orbs of light disappeared far in the sky.

Natsu looked at the orbs fly away with a small melancholic smile and continued to stare into the distance. Until he fell right back on his knees. Although, there was a major difference: his eyes weren't bathed in tears this time, they were…red. And not red because he had cried, his irises had turned from their usual dark onyx to a shiny crimson color. Moreover, he didn't collapse because of his emotions this time, but because of an overwhelming physical pain.

As it turns out, emotions also have a strong influence on dragonification and Natsu's grief and sadness at losing his foster father pushed him over the edge and there was nothing he could do to stop it or slow it down or even make it less painful…what a shit day.

After about a minute of simply writhing of pain, the dragon-to-be managed to straighten up and look in front of him while panting heavily.

Then, all hell broke loose. The ground around him slowly and gradually froze, water was pouring out of his hands that were rested on the ground for support and sliding on the newly formed ice, bright orange fire was escaping his mouth and reaching high up in the sky, and finally all the small objects in the vicinity began to levitate above the ground.

This lasted for a minute or two, by which point the whole landscape was already ruined. Next, the manifestations of his magics ceased and the actual transformation was underway. Two large feathery pitch black wings, akin to a bird's, popped out of his back. Each of them was at least as large as the rest of his body was. The next step was for the scales that had replaced his skin, but had remained the same color as his skin, to change color. At the same time, his whole body started to grow and morph at an amazing rate. His fingers and toes switching to claws, his teeth lengthening and becoming razor-sharp. A tail was coming out of his lower back.

His magic power hadn't been spared by the ordeal either, though the changes were certainly more welcome. Indeed, while the nature and properties of his magics didn't change in the slightest, they had become far stronger and the quantity that he could store had been multiplied many times over.

When the transformation was finished, Natsu was almost as big as Igneel used to be, his entire upper body was covered in black as night scales, certainly a legacy of his demonic nature, while his lower body, specifically his chin, chest, stomach, inner tail, thighs, and arms were of a dark red color that resembled that of his late dragon father. His eyes were beady and shining crimson, he now presented two large elongated plates extending backwards on each side of his pointed and blunt head. His wings were quite similar to Grandeeney's or even Acnologia's. His tail was long and pointed.

Henceforth, he would not only be a human and an Etherious, but a dragon too, a triple hybrid of sort. He shall now be Natsu Dragneel, E.N.D the strongest Etherious and Blazeel the new Fire Dragon King all at the same time.

Looking up at the sky, he let out an earth-shattering roar that terrified to the core every creature that heard it. He then extended and flapped his wings for the first time and within a few seconds, found himself far above the clouds…he might have slightly overdone it. Nevertheless, he flew away in search of a new place to train his new abilities, he had just wrecked the last one.