Acnologia was angered by Larcade's indecent spell. Ben watched in amusement as Acnologia was angry with the member of the Spriggan 12. He didn't want to bother them, so he teleported away and erased his presence.
Acnologia dashed forward to attack Larcade, but then a big explosion went off in front of his face. Neinhart used his Blast Magic to produce the explosion in order to stop Acnologia. Naturally, it didn't affect him because it was ordinary magic.
Acnologia appeared in front of Larcade and thrust a claw at him. His attack was stopped by Irene's hand and Dimaria's sword. Irene's hand had a lot of scales now because she released some of her Dragon Slayer Magic's power.
Acnologia was interested, but he continued targeting Larcade. The blonde-haired man didn't remain silent though. He forged a bright white spear with his White Arts and threw it at Acnologia's face.
The spear hit Acnologia in the face, or so they thought. He actually caught it with his teeth and crushed it like a cracker with a grin. Then Acnologia opened his mouth and a bright blue beam appeared there.
"CAREFUL! THAT'S-" Irene shouted, but Acnologia already released his dragon roar before she finished her sentence.
His dragon roar wasn't as big as the one used in his dragon form, but it's still very powerful because after Larcade narrowly dodged it, the beam hit Vistarion's wall and produced a massive explosion. It was so big that it decimated a wide area and erased it forever.
Ben kept observing Acnologia to learn more about his power. Now that they are evenly matched, Ben can judge Acnologia's power a lot better than before. But he still hadn't seen much of Acnologia's power, so he needed to observe it more.
His observation was interrupted by another annoyance. Ben suddenly caught a black orb full of a aura of death that flew at him. He caught it with a hand that had been covered in Sun Dragon Slayer Magic because he didn't want his hand to erode.
"What do you want, Zeref?" Ben demanded, annoyed while crushing the black orb.
"I have a proposal, Ben. What if we work together for a while to defeat Acnologia? With our combined power, we can surely bring him down. We can finish our business after that." Zeref offered.
Ben had a serious expression for a while and rubbed his chin while thinking. Or so it seemed because he laughed out loud, but not loud enough to get Acnologia's attention. He looked at Zeref with a expression of pity.
"This is a joke right? You want us to work together. Hah, are you high right now. Why would I work together with you of all people? Do you think I can't defeat Acnologia on my own? Don't put me on the same level as someone who's been stagnant for 400 years." Ben said with a wide grin.
"Besides, I know you're planning to stab me in the back. So why would I team up with someone that wants me dead? I thought you were smarter than that, Zeref." Ben added while looking down on Zeref as they stand real close.
Ben was taller, so he could literally look down on Zeref. He liked irritating his enemies and Zeref was no exception. Right now, the emperor stared at him with a calm expression, but it was clear that he was pissed off with Ben.
"If that's what you want, then let's settle this immediately. I've told them what to do so they'll be able to fend Acnologia off." Zeref said.
Zeref was the one that planned this scenario to distract Acnologia and keep him from fighting the Spriggan 12. Larcade's magic affects one's feelings and even if it wasn't perfect, it affected Acnologia. Zeref never defeated Acnologia, but he knew the black dragon better than anyone else, and he knew how to make Acnologia angry.
He planned it to shift Acnologia's attention away from Ben so he can focus on fighting him. Right now, Ben was a bigger threat than Acnologia in Zeref's eyes because in addition to raw magic power, he was a lot smarter. So he needed to face Ben when he was still at full power.
Ben and Zeref stare at each other for a while before they suddenly disappear. Acnologia finally noticed their disappearance, but he chose to ignore it. He was more interested in fighting Irene who he called the mother of Dragon Slayers.
"Is the first Dragon Slayer really this weak? Come on, show me your true self or you'll regret it." Acnologia said as he then transformed into a dragon.
Irene sighed for a while before suddenly changing into her dragon form. "Regret? I won't be the one who regrets this. August, what are you waiting for? All of you too, it's time. We received a beating from that kid just for this."
August suddenly transformed, activating his battle mode. His skin became dark red, his hair flared upward and some gold circles and lines appear on his body. August's massive reserve of magic power is fully released now.
Other than August, Dimaria's transformation also began. She transformed into a god using her Take-Over: God Soul. The god she transformed into is Chronos, the God of Time. That's why she had the power to stop time in a area.
Wall also transformed into his Assault Mode which made him look even more like a robot. He had many weapons on his body and full body armor. In this mode, he looked more menacing, although he will just compel Ben to research his technology.
The others don't have a form to change into, but they release the magic power that they have been saving. They almost went all out before while fighting Ben, but Zeref stopped them after realizing he planned to call Acnologia here.
"I will take him head-on, you guys just need to keep attacking him. Remember, always use your strongest magical attacks. He's not immune to magic, he just has a very high resistance." Irene said before firing a scarlet dragon roar at Acnologia.
Acnologia countered it with his own dragon roar, causing a large explosion upon contact. The dragon roars were equal and after a while, they cancel each other out. Irene has a strong attack and doesn't lose despite facing Acnologia.
Brandish tried to reduce Acnologia's size, but he didn't shrink one bit. She felt like she tried to compress the hardest object in the world, so she stopped and chose to use the earth and air to attack Acnologia by compressing and expanding them which made it look like a big explosion.
The other remaining members of the Spriggan 12 also start attacking Acnologia. They are bombarding him with attacks strong enough to destroy a mountain in a short amount of time. The one they attacked can destroy a mountain even faster and was much tougher than something like a mountain, so their attacks didn't really faze him.
Their attacks annoyed Acnologia though, so he retaliated by flapping his wings. A simple flap of his wings generated many sharp blades of magic that fly towards the Spriggan 12 at high speed. They can evade or block the blades though, they are the Spriggan 12, individuals chosen by Zeref.
Irene then attacked Acnologia and engaged him in close combat. She was trying to keep him occupied while the other members of the Spriggan 12 can find gaps to attack him. They know that they can't do it alone, so they need to work together.
Zeref had told them that fighting Acnologia together even with him won't guarantee their victory. Not to mention fighting him individually which amounts to suicide. According to Zeref, their chance of winning is slim to none, that's why they need Ben, but he doesn't need them.
"Your chance of winning against Acnologia are slimmer than mine and you know that. Not only am I more powerful than you guys, but I also have a magic advantage over Acnologia. I want to see how you'll handle him without me." Ben said after teleporting to a valley with Zeref.
"It will be easy to defeat him after you've been defeated. But it won't be easy to defeat you if he hasn't been defeated." Zeref replied.
Ben was confused for a while, but then he realized Zeref's intent and laughed. "Ha ha ha, how funny. You want to use my Evil Sun Dragon God lacrima?"
"That is the best chance to win. Even if we can't instantly make a beast like you with that lacrima, I can make it explode next to Acnologia. It would surely kill him and me, so it's our best option to stop all of this." Zeref informed him.
Ben smirked and said, "You're out of your mind. Sorry, I don't intend to die until they grow up and have their own families. You're free to die, but count me out."
Ben knew that Zeref must have a trump card to be used against him or he wouldn't be this confident. Zeref wouldn't confront him without preparing anything. Especially after Zeref considered him to be a bigger threat than Acnologia.
Either way, Ben needed to defeat both Acnologia and Zeref. He will welcome whoever comes to get a beating first and it seemed Zeref is impatient. Well, that's fine for him because the last boss will truly be the last.