"IT'S ACNOLOGIA!"
"Everyone, FLY!"
"Fly for it!"
"I came here for Tames, not the Arcane Champion!"
Vipress cried out in pain, placing a talon over her scars.
"What the hell is that thing?" Belserion demanded. "It's got all the Fires flying for their lives!"
"The last living Arcane Dragon, Acnologia.." Atlas explained. "And they're right to fly.."
"The Living Legend.." Igneel murmured.
Acnologia inhaled, before shooting a large, powerful roar, aimed directly at the barrier. When the attack hit, it almost instantly overloaded and shattered it.
The people and Dragons still inside the city all screamed and tried to run for it.
"No!" Irene cried.
"The Fires have been beating on that thing ever since they got here and couldn't make a dent!" Gray exclaimed.
"W-what they c-couldn't do with hundreds of Dragons, he did with a single a-attack.." Lucy stammered shakily.
"This situation has become too dangerous!" Igneel stated. "EVERYONE, RETREAT!" he bellowed. The Fires that didn't initially turn tail were now booking it.
"He's real?" Cobra demanded. "That's impossible!"
"Try telling him that!" Ignia snapped at the Poison Prince.
"Scatter!" Zeref ordered. "He cannot follow all of you! Scatter and fly!"
The Fires did as ordered, splitting apart into different groups going in different directions.
Acnologia flared his wings, summoning orbs of magic in the sky, then shot them down towards the fleeing Dragons. It was similar to what Emberious had done earlier; however, the orbs were smaller, and there were a lot more of them that covered a larger radius.
Those unlucky to be hit were pierced and burned clean through, either crippling them or outright killing them.
Acnologia cackled, then dove down, shooting more magic from his mouth, which struck the ground, then exploded. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast were completely disintegrated.
"That level of magic is insane," Laxus commented. "We need to get our Dragons out of here!"
"So that's the beast that killed my brother… I agree," Tormenta said, "Lightnings! Retreat!"
The group of trainees scattered, using their magic to help them move faster.
Not fast enough…
One poor Lightning was unlucky enough to find himself in Acnologia's path, and the large Arcane snatched him up in his jaws, crushing his body before tossing it aside.
"We need to do something about him!" Atlas stated.
"We?" Belserion looked at him.
"Enemies are not opponents in the face of Acnologia. I may not like you Sages, but you're not as dangerous as he is," Atlas explained. "If we keep fighting, it will just be easier for him to pick us off."
"I see. They can't escape unless someone can keep his attention long enough," Belserion said.
"I'll do it," Igneel stated.
"You have sons you need to protect! Let me-" Atlas started. Igneel interrupted him, "A King's responsibility is to his Dragons. All of them. I have to protect all of them."
"I agree," Irene said, "Let us do this together. We'll each protect our own Dragons."
"You are no longer a Queen."
"But I still have a responsibility to Magnolia," she said. Igneel nodded, "Always a Queen at heart."
"We will help you," Belserion said, "Whatever time you buy, we can double." Atlas nodded in agreement, "We will always stand by your side."
"I'd argue, but you've proven too stubborn to dissuade," Irene teased, "Let's do it."
And with that, the four of them were off.
"Tell us more about this creature," Belserion said as they tried to follow the Arcane.
"The last living Arcane who miraculously survived the massacre his Dragons suffered," Atlas explained. "He seeks vengeance on all of Dragonkind, as every element contributed to their demise."
"What about humans?" Belserion asked.
"If the stories are true, then it is just Dragons that he wants."
"Good. It means the people will remain unharmed."
Erza watched the four Dragons, impressed that they were able to work together after years of hatred. Then again, who wouldn't stand together with such a large threat facing them?
"What brought him here?" she asked quietly.
Acnologia chased a Fire–mother judging by how much she was trying to protect a smaller dragonet–just barely bigger than Erza herself–in her arms. Unfortunately, he was just too fast for her, darting to her side and slamming her into what remained of the barrier. The collision caused her to drop the dragonet as the two fell.
Acnologia landed on her, crushing her chest under his weight. The dragonet tried to fly, but Acnologia lashed out, snatching the younger Dragon in his jaws and crushing him to death, before dropping the now mangled corpse.
Fire erupted from his back, and Igneel flew overhead, making sure Acnologia could see that he was the one who attacked.
"Leave this place at once!" Igneel ordered.
Acnologia snorted, then gave chase. Atlas came up behind him, but before he could do anything, Acnologia suddenly swerved, going after a new Dragon.
"Why did he move on?!" Belserion demanded.
"He caught on to what we were doing," Atlas answered. "He wants us to watch as we fail."
"We won't let him!" Irene chased after the Arcane. The Dragon in question whirled around, trying to catch her off guard, but she avoided his jaws and sank her own into his neck and pushed him to the ground.
'My fangs didn't leave a dent!' she thought in a panic. She leapt off of him, narrowly avoiding his jaws as she took flight.
Acnologia gave chase, but Belserion headbutted him, pushing him away.
"How do we kill this thing?" Irene asked.
"We don't," Atlas admitted. "All we can do is hope our efforts are enough to keep Dragons alive."
"I hope you understand what that means for us," she stated.
"Oh trust me, I would not have agreed to this if I hadn't."
Igneel bellowed, flying towards Acnologia, slamming their heads together.
"What do we do?" Lucy asked.
"We try to get everyone out!" Erza said, then dove into the town. "Dragons! All of you need to evacuate!" she loudly bellowed.
"What about the people?!" Amris demanded, landing next to her.
"It's not the people Acnologia wants. We can keep them safe by luring him away!" Erza stated. "Help me spread the word!"
Amris hesitantly nodded, then flew off.
"Everyone, fly! Get as far from this city as possible!" Emberious shouted.
"It's us he wants! The Dragons need to run!" Emri called.
Levy hurried into the Hatchery, trying to herd other Dragons out.
"I'm not leaving!" a large blue Dragon growled as she crouched over her nest. "I can't leave them!"
"I understand your fear.." Levy said. "But that thing likely won't come for the Hatchery if he's too focused on the other Dragons outside!"
"That's not a chance I'm willing to take. I'm staying here," the mother stated.
Levy sighed, "Then please stay hidden and stay safe. We'll make sure he doesn't come after the Hatchery."
Levy turned and hurried out, then took off. Acnologia was still in his scuffle with Igneel, who was lasting impressively longer than all of Acnologia's previous victims. Hopefully that meant Igneel could deal some decent damage to him.
"Hey you!" Emri called. Cubellios turned to look at her, "What?"
"You're the Poison Champion, right?" Emri asked. Cubellios slowly nodded, "Yes… why?"
"We need to help the others with the Arcane! We can deal the most damage to him!" Emri said. "At best, we can buy some more time for the others."
"We can try.." Cubellios nodded.
Emri wasted no time, launching herself at Acnologia and blasting his wing with flames. Unlike all the other attacks, this one elicited a pained shriek from the other. He angrily hissed and turned on the other Champion.
"Emri, no!" Igneel shouted, "Stay out of this!"
"As the Champion, I have a responsibility to these Dragons!" Emri shouted, flying around Acnologia.
Cubellios circled him, causing him to snap his jaws at her. She blasted poison into his mouth during one of these attempts, and he hissed in pain and anger, before flying off.
Igneel launched towards him, only to clamp his jaws down on air and realizing that the Champion vanished.
"Where did he-?!"
"Teleportation magic?" Belserion looked around.
"Keep your guards up! There's no way he ran off!" Irene ordered.
There was a loud, agonized cry.
Acnologia had his jaws clamped down on Oceanum's back, which cracked sickeningly under the force. Eventually, his jaws managed to split her body in half.
"MOM!" Amris cried, flying towards them.
"Amris, don't get near him!" Venski followed her.
Acnologia whirled around and turned his jaws on Amris. Fortunately, Venski grabbed onto her and vanished, with Acnologia's jaws only clamping down on the residual magic left behind.
"Mom.." Amris sobbed. The only thing keeping her in the air was Venski, and he had no desire to stick around.
"Oceanum.." Juvia murmured.
"With one bite..?" Gajeel shakily watched.
"All of you, move!" Irene ordered. "The longer you linger, the longer he stays here! GO!" she roared.
Erik dove towards the middle of the city, then whirled, throwing Macbeth off.
"Umph! Erik.. Erik!" he called.
"I can't stay here and endanger you! I will not let a Dragon harm you guys again!" Erik called back, but kept flying. Aspis and Pythos dropped their riders as well, then flew after him.
"Dammit, Erik! Don't you dare die on us! We just got you back!" Macbeth shouted. "Promise us you'll come back again!"
Acnologia flew by overhead, chasing the three Poisons, his mouth glowing with magic.
"That's not good!" Pythos exclaimed.
Vipress slammed into the Champion, trying to sink her teeth into his neck. "Leave my dragonets alone! You have already tried to kill them once before! I will not allow it a second time!"
Acnologia snarled, pushing her off.
"Mom! Don't try to play the hero!" Aspis called to her. Vipress just shook her head, "Focus on getting away from him! I will buy you time!"
"There is no talking a Poison mother out of protecting her young," Cobra stated. "So I'm not going to waste my time."
Instead, he charged towards Acnologia, "But I'm not going to let her just throw her life away either!"
"Well, we can't-!" Erik started.
"It is a Prince's job to protect his Dragons, and it is a mother's job to protect her young! Do not make what we go through mean nothing by killing yourselves as well!"
"Besides, you still need to live for your human friends," Pythos pushed against Erik, "We need to leave to protect them."
Erik growled, then turned, following his siblings.
He grimaced when he heard the pained cries behind him suddenly go quiet.
Erza dropped down towards the ground, dropping Lucy and Gray before taking off again, "Stay here, and stay safe! We'll all be back soon! I promise!" she called down to the humans below.
Eventually, enough Dragons fled to divert Acnologia's attention away, but as he flew over the city, his gaze slowly lowered to the Hatchery in the midst of Magnolia. His mouth contorted into a twisted grin.
All everyone could do was watch, frozen or unable to do anything as the Champion opened his mouth and fired his magic down towards it. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast all screamed as they burned alive.
Lucy gasped, covering her mouth.
"No.." Gray murmured.
Erza let out a strangled shriek.
"NO!" Levy cried.
"Damn you, Atlas! You told us he wouldn't attack the city!" Irene shouted at him.
"I said he wouldn't attack the humans! The Hatchery was never safe!" Atlas shouted back. "The humans killed were just unfortunate casualties."
"Dammit!" Irene slammed her fisted talon on the ground.
Belserion growled, then charged towards Acnologia. The Champion watched, as if smug that his actions caused such a reaction from the Sage.
"Belserion, no! You can't just-!"
"Get back here, you idiot!" Igneel chased after.
Their words fell on deaf ears, especially as Acnologia finally responded to the attack with one of his own. Using a great increase in speed abnormal for a Dragon of his size, Acnologia lunged.
Nobody knew what happened until it was over.
Blood rained down on the city as Acnologia ripped clean through Belserion's body. Igneel attempted to protect himself by latching his jaws onto Acnologia's arm, which caused it to be ripped off as the Arcane moved too quickly to stop once he realized what happened. Unfortunately, that did little to protect the Fire King, as his body was just as badly mutilated.
"DAD!" Natsu cried. Zeref grabbed him to keep him from moving, but both Fires were pretty distraught.
"BELSERION!" Irene wailed.
"Mom, we.. we have to go!" Erza pushed against her.
"Get your dragonet out of here!" Atlas ordered, before diving down to the now injured Arcane, blasting his wings with fire attacks that did little more than grab his attention. Instead of staying to fight, Atlas took off, leading Acnologia away.
Irene felt numb as she aimlessly followed after the other Dragons fleeing.
Acnologia was just one Dragon, and he slaughtered far too many to count all by himself. The last living Arcane Dragon, the Champion of his kind, and a very vengeful monster. He did not hesitate, nor did he show remorse for the blood now on his talons.
Irene didn't want to think about how often he had done this before, nor did she want to think of what had to happen for a Dragon to turn into such a beast.
It was almost too much for her to handle.