AN: Thank you NinjaFang1331, Wadeparker, AliceCullen3, KaratachiYagura, and Goku275.
KaratachiYagura, I did not realize how young Natsu and Millianna were. I always figured that Millianna was close to Erza's age (19 in X784) and didn't realize that they were both teenagers when Millianna got pregnant. Also, just for the record, Millianna was 16 in X784 (according to the wiki) and Natsu's age is unknown, though I would assume it is around that of Gray (18 in X784) and Lisanna (17 in X784).
As for why Gray didn't mention Jellal's suspicions about the GMG because they weren't certain failed kidnappers were working for the kingdom. It was just a theory, one that had no concrete evidence to back it up and that neither of them wanted to believe was true. Of course, had Minerva mentioned catching Kamika spying on Yukino, Gray would have told his guildmates everything.
Now, onto the chapter. Enjoy!
Despite the severity of the situation — the 10,000 dragons beginning to pour out of the open Eclipse Gate — Lucy couldn't help but feel a twinge of joy as Hisui returned her Celestial Spirit Gate Keys and the two of them worked together to summon all 12 Zodiac Spirits and close the gate.
(Apparently Hisui was also a Celestial Spirit Mage. Libra and Pisces had allowed the princess to summon them this one time, not because they knew about the dragons but because they wanted to close the Eclipse Gate immediately due to the dangers of messing with time.)
The Fairy's excitement faded pretty quickly, though, when one of the seven dragons who made it through looked at her and the princess's group and spoke.
"Hahaha!" laughed the dragon. He remained by the gate as the other six spread out. "You humans look tasty! Now, who should I eat first?"
Lucy, Hisui, and the guards all froze with fear before the cackling dragon. Faced with such a terrifying predator, none of them could move.
"We aren't food, you overgrown lizard!" yelled a familiar voice as a bolt of lightning struck the dragon. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
This attack snapped Lucy and the others out of their daze. They turned and saw Laxus, the Thunder God Tribe, Millianna, Minerva, Yukino, Sorano, Arcadios, and what remained of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knight Squadron.
"Lucy, mya!" greeted Millianna with a wave. "Everyone's banded together to defeat the dragons. The king had Laxus and the Thunder Gods meet up with us to form a dragon slaying squad!"
"Hahaha!" laughed the dragon, having overheard the Fairy's words. "A bit of food won't be able to defeat me, Zirconis! You're so small that I can eat you all in one gulp! In fact…"
"Iron Dragon's Club!" shouted Gajeel, swinging his transformed arm at the dark-colored dragon before him. However, the attack went right through the dragon, whose body turned to…
"Ash?" said Levy, surprised at the uncommon element and its unusual usage. Her curiosity was quickly replaced with apprehension, though. "An opponent that can transform into their element will be difficult to deal with."
When seven dragons emerged from the Eclipse Gate, one of them magically producing eggs that turned into dragon-like creatures, the fighters who had remained in Crocus split into eight groups; seven small teams to battle the dragons and one large, semi-organized army to handle the growing sward of draconian foot soldiers.
Each team included a dragon slayer (with one team containing both Wendy and F-Blaze), along with several other mages. For example, in addition to Levy, Gajeel was being accompanied by Jet, Droy, and the Strauss siblings.
"Hey!" Elfman yelled at the dragon, irritated. "Take our attacks like a man! Or are you scared of us!?"
"'Scared'?" echoed the dragon, snorting. "As a Corpse Dragon, I could reduce all of you to ash with ease. I just enjoy watching my prey fall into despair before killing it. Having a show really makes the dinner all the more delicious."
This comment made all of the Fairies scowl at the dragon. It seemed he was monstrous on the outside and on the inside.
"I'm going to enjoy taking you down," spoke Gajeel darkly. "Iron Dragon's Sword!"
Unfortunately, slaying the Corpse Dragon was easier said than done. The Fairy's chainsaw-like blade simply passed through the dragon again, eliciting a mocking chuckle.
"That's what they all say… at first, anyway."
F-Blaze's blood turned to ice at the sight of the dragon before her, Wendy, Ultear, and the members of Team Mermaid Heel. "It… it can't be."
"I am Atlas Flame!" roared the dragon, his body wreathed in an inferno. "And I will show you the fires of hell!"
With that, Atlas Flame breathed a stream of flames toward the humans. Kagura and Wendy defended the group with a mixture of swordsmanship and defensive Enchantments, diverting some of the flames and weakening the effects of the rest, respectively. F-Blaze remained frozen.
"Blaze, what's wrong!?" cried F-Wendy in her head, panicking over the odd sense of shock, horror, and betrayal her host was feeling.
As Wendy and Mermaid Heel began to engage with Atlas Flame, Ultear stayed back. While she could not feel F-Blaze's emotions or hear F-Wendy's words, it was obvious that the girl recognized this dragon and had some sort history with him.
"Snap out of it!" yelled Ultear, shaking F-Blaze. Her actions, while untactful, prove successful in breaking F-Blaze out of her funk. The dragon slayer pushed Ultear away.
"Cut that out!" snapped F-Blaze.
"Good," said Ultear with a nod, ignoring F-Blaze's hostility. Freezing up on a battlefield was never a smart idea, and the enemy being a dragon made it much more dangerous. "Now, why did seeing that dragon affect you so badly? Did he kill someone close to you in the bad future?"
F-Blaze's expression turned from enraged to conflicted. "…No. In fact, I met him before the Eclipse Gate was opened… before Tartaros attacked and my dad became a dragon."
F-Blaze paused, gathering the mental strength to finish her explanation. Ultear mentally connected the dots, but patiently waited for the girl to confirm it.
"Atlas Flame… is the dragon that taught me to be a Hell Flame Dragon Slayer."
"Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus combined attack!" shouted Sting, unleashing a White Dragon's Roar.
Beside him, Rufus performed a Memory-Make of the dragon slayer's spell, Orga fired a 120mm Black Lightning Cannon, Ren launched a blast of Air Magic, Hibiki manifested and Overloaded several Archive screens, Eve hurled a storm of snow, Jenny used Machina Soul to shoot a beam from a magical cannon, and Ichiya threw a vial of his Armpit Perfume.
Unfortunately for them, the dragon they were attacking cut through their spells.
"Hmph," snorted the dragon. "Did you honestly think that would be enough to harm me? I am Scissor Runner, the Blade Dragon! I will kill all of you, starting with the one who threw that disgusting smelling vial!"
Ichiya flinched.
"Yeah, I can't blame you for that," said Sting, gagging at the smell. He turned to Ichiya. "Why did you throw that?"
"Dragons have good senses of smell, don't they?" answered Ichiya somewhat nervously. "I was just trying to take advantage of that and knock him out with my perfume."
"And almost knocked me out!" retorted Sting angrily. "What even is that nasty scent, anyway!?"
"My secret Armpit Perfume," replied Ichiya. Sting dry-heaved, and the others groaned in disgust.
Things were off to a bad start. The only positive was that Scissor Runner was too busy laughing at them to carry out his threat to murder the smelly Pegasus.
Rogue eyed the dragon before him, Jura, Lyon, Sherria, Toby, and Yuka. Neither side made a move.
"Oooon!" went Toby, annoyed. He waved his arms around angrily. "Why aren't we attacking this dragon already!?"
"Because the dragon hasn't attacked anyone or caused any property damage yet," answered Jura. "If we're lucky, this one is friendly toward humans. We might even be able to convince the dragon to fight alongside us against the other ones."
Rogue ignored this exchange, focused on the dragon before him. He cleared his throat and spoke loudly.
"Greetings, great dragon. My name is Rogue Cheney, son of the Shadow Dragon Skiadrum and Third Generation Dragon Slayer. Could you tell me what your name is?"
"You can drop the meek tone," replied the dragon. "It's annoying. It sounds so… artificial. Regardless, to answer your question, I am called Levia and I am also a Shadow Dragon. Now, why have you approached me?"
Rogue and the Lamia Scale mages sighed in relief. Things seemed off to a good start.
"We would like to know if you are a threat to this city and its people," responded Rogue. "If you are not, then we would like your help stopping the other dragons."
"Hmm… I see," said Levia, scratching his chin. "Whether or not I am a threat to this city and its inhabitants… if I am an enemy, a bystander, or an ally… those are decisions I haven't made yet."
"You haven't?"
"You see, all living things have an immutable nature that they are compelled to follow," began Levia. "Sentient beings like myself and you humans can resist our nature — even behave contrary to it — for a time, but we always revert to it. As it so happens, my nature is a rather inquisitive one."
"And how does that factor into your decision," asked Rogue. Tension started to build in the dragon slayer as it became increasingly clear that a fight could break out at any moment.
"Now, that…" spoke Levia, giving a grin that Rogue and the others found very ominous. "…depends entirely on you and your nature, Rogue Cheney."
"Take this, dragon!" boasted Sawyer, activating his Slow Magic. Immediately, the rock-like body of dragon before him slowed down. As it did, Erik, Macbeth, and Richard moved closer, no longer at risk of being affected by Sawyer's spell. "You better hurry, guys! I can feel that my spell didn't slow this dragon down as much as it would a person, and that it'll run out faster than normal!"
"Liquid Ground!" shouted Richard, liquifying the earth below the dragon's feet. On both sides of the dragon, the modified ground surged up into waves and crashed onto the dragon's body.
"I guess this is all I can do," grumbled Macbeth. Unable to twist living things with his magic (like the dragon's body), Macbeth instead reshaped the Liquid Ground to wrap around the dragon before it solidified. As a result, the dragon's legs, wings, and mouth were all restrained, at least for a few moments.
"Poison Dragon's Twin Fang!" yelled Erik, grinning as he swiped his arms in an X-shape and unleashed two waves of poison. The spell struck the dragon's forehead, breaking away the rocky spikes to reveal… "What!?"
…Another layer of scales. Ones that were blunt and looked metallic. The dragon laughed, and Erik frowned as his Hearing Magic picked up on what was so funny.
"Did you honestly believe that would work?" chuckled the dragon, Sawyer's Slow Magic having worn off. The dragon spent the next few seconds breaking free of Richard and Macbeth's bindings, the laughter dying down. "I am an Armor Dragon. You may be able to break through my outer layer of scales, but those are just impurities that have been removed from my true scales. Breaking those is impossible for mere humans. Now, die!"
The Armor Dragon swung a claw down on Erik, forcing the dragon slayer to dodge.
"Impossible, huh…" said Erik, a smirk making its way onto his face. He could hear their backup arriving. "Then I guess it's a good thing that we've some execution specialists with highly destructive magic on our side!"
"Crime Sorcière," stated Kama as he and the other Garou Knights arrived. "I don't approve of your guild, but… if it is for the sake of this kingdom and its people, we will fight alongside you!"
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" bellowed Natsu, breathing a stream of fire at the dragon producing eggs that turned into dragon-like creatures. He was currently in dragon form, flying at his opponent.
The dragon hissed as Natsu's flames struck, and egg production stopped. The dragon turned toward the Fairy and glared daggers. It was clear from the dragon's undamaged scales, though, that the halted production was merely to focus on getting revenge rather than from being too injured to continue.
"Who dares to attack Motherglare, the Diamond Dragon?" roared the dragon.
"You can call me Natsu," replied the Fire Dragon confidently. "My father is Igneel, and I'm a member of the Magic Guild Fairy Tail and this kingdom. So stop destroying it, or I'll kick your ass!"
"You are a fool to think you can command me," sneered Motherglare. "And I will enjoy teaching what a mistake it was to earn my wrath."
"Go ahead," retorted Natsu, giving a broad grin. After all, it wasn't every day he got to fight a dragon. "I can finally prove that I deserve to be called a dragon slayer."
The two dragons commenced their fight, rocketing toward one another and attacking. Truly, a second Dragon King Festival had begun.
Omake
"Hurry!" exclaimed Gildarts, speaking between Mest's teleportations. "The solar eclipse is already over! For all we know, Acnologia could be at the capital right now!"
"This is as fast as I can go!" responded Mest, a bit of frustration seeping into his voice. "Besides, we would be there by now if somebody hadn't thrown a tantrum about his relationship with his daughter!"
In spite of their words, the two of them weren't actually angry at each other. They were simply at their wits' end worrying about their guildmates might be facing without them.
"Everyone, if you can't win, then just hold on a little bit longer!" thought both Fairies.
AN: And so the matchups have been announced. By the way, in case I wasn't clear about it, all unmentioned mages are currently fighting Motherglare's spawn. That's all for now. Goodbye!