Hello Everyone! Welcome to Chapter 18 of RDK. Sorry for this late update. I was originally going to post last week, but due to delays and how long this chapter is, my update got held back. This is by FAR my longest chapter in this fic. I have no idea if I will other chapters like this, but anything can happen. Now, this is a bulky chapter. This holds all of Day 4 of the GMG AND EVERYTHING that happens that night with a few additions. Now the reason this took so long is that as I kept writing and I could not find any good place to stop and this kept happening until I got to the ending.
Honestly, I surprise even myself sometimes. Hopefully, the other outlines don't get this crazy, but you never know. I was hoping this update would be posted with the Neo Uzu one, but due to time constraints and this website being uncooperative, RDK is the only one to get updated now. I will try to get Uzu this week. I really hope you can forgive the slow updates for both stories. I hope you enjoy this! On to the reading!
This chapter has been updated as of 03/30/2024
Rage of the King, Duel of the Dragons, and Revelations from the Past
Last night was interesting, to say the least for the members of Fairy Tail when Erza and Wendy returned with Naruto. Natsu immediately tried to pick a fight, but Gildarts quickly knocked him out. Everyone welcomed Naruto with open arms, which surprised him a little. He hasn't experienced comradery like this in a long time so he was slightly apprehensive with everyone but remained polite when greeting everyone. Naruto finally helped Wendy and Carla talk with one another. Carla apologized for her actions and said they were completely out of line. She said she was being too protective of Wendy and should trust her judgment more and not let her biased opinion get the better of her logical side and think before speaking. Wendy accepted the apology and Carla said she would give Naruto a chance, even if she didn't trust him yet completely. Wendy nodded as that's the best she'll get out of her for now.
Freed asked Naruto questions about his application of Rune/Sealing Magic. Naruto was gracious enough to share some of his thoughts on runes/seals and offered some of his notes so that he could study for them. Freed promptly fainted from the overexcitement he felt from getting such valuable notes. Mira was the ever-cheerful barmaid and Naruto politely accepted her kind and talkative demeanor. They even shared some stories, especially on certain pairings of people. Needless to say, several people in the guild felt a chill go down their spines.
Naruto was slightly surprised when he met Katja for the first time. Several members joked if Katja was another secret daughter of Naruto. Even Wendy teased him at the premise that she had another sister she did not know about with Katja blushing at all this teasing. Naruto rebutted all these claims and said that as far as he knew he had no other daughter.
Though Naruto mentally wondered if Katja was somehow related to him or Anna since the resemblance between her and Wendy was uncanny. Naruto made a mental note to research the girl's family history and probably get a few papers signed by Anna. He did ask what type of Stellar Mage she was, but Katja said she was not sure as she has always felt a presence within her, but she has not been able to call it out. Naruto advised her to be patient and her power would awaken at her most desperate time.
Naruto then felt someone looking at him and turned to see Eclair staring at him. Naruto asked if he could help her, and she explained that she has no memory of her past and is on a journey to recover them. She said that when she first saw him she felt her head begin to throb. She asked if they knew each other. Naruto told her that he sadly does not remember ever meeting her, but does offer his assistance once the GMG is over, which she appreciates. What Naruto did not tell her is that she did look familiar. Her attire and scent were very familiar, but he just wasn't sure where he'd seen it. But he knew one thing for sure. Eclair was not a normal mage. There was something abnormal about her. Whether it was friendly or hostile, remained to be seen.
All in all, a very productive night for the members of Fairy Tail.
The next day was the fourth day of the GMG. The last three days have been some of the most exciting days in the history of the GMG, and everyone was expecting even more excitement today. And oh boy will they be getting it in today's events. The event for the fourth day is a naval battle. Each guild chooses a member to participate in the battle and the last one in the naval arena is the winner. The chosen members were as follows:
Lucy for FTA
Juvia for FTB
Minerva for Sabertooth
Jenny for Blue Pegasus
Sherria for Lamia Scale
Risley for Mermaid Heel
Wave for Quatro Cerberus
Unfortunately, things went south for FTA once Lucy became the second to last person in the arena with the other person being Minerva of Sabertooth. For the remaining minutes, Minerva continuously beat and tortured Lucy with her guild screaming in horror and the other members of Sabertooth mocking Fairy Tail with both teams of Fairy Tail glaring hatefully at them, ESPECIALLY Natsu, Erza, and Wendy. This horrific scene also pissed off two blonde mages and one red-headed mage.
Finally, the beating ended as Arcadios ordered Mato to declare that the event was over. The bell finally rang as Minerva held Lucy by the throat outside the bubble arena. She continued to smirk in smug superiority with her teammates laughing at the girl. However, this all ended as the sky quickly darkened until it was as black as the night. Minerva's eyes widened as she quickly let go and escaped the bubble as a blue lightning bolt struck the bubble arena and destroyed it. Lucy was falling into the sandy arena until she was caught in the midair by Naruto as he landed onto the arena as he gently laid her down.
"LUCY!" Natsu and several others shouted as they approached the injured stellar mage. Erza and Wendy were quickly at Lucy's side as Naruto quickly healed the most grievous of her injuries with a 'Curaja' spell.
"Is she…?" Natsu started asking.
"She'll be alright," Naruto said in a dead tone as his eyes were shadowed by the bangs of his hair. Wendy and Erza were glaring hatefully at Minerva, who regained her composure to give that annoying smirk again.
"What's with the glares? I simply took advantage of the rules. You should be grateful to me for allowing her to keep 2nd place. I guess she did not understand her place. She is just useless trash after all." mocked Minerva. This caused the glares to intensive on Gray's face and become far more primal on Natsu's, Wendy's, and Erza's faces.
'WENDY I DEMAND YOU TO LET ME OUT THIS INSTANT! THAT BITCH HAS GONE TOO FAR! NO ONE CALLS OUR SISTER TRASH! GIVE ME CONTROL! ALL WE NEED IS TEN SECONDS! WE CAN GO FULL DRAGON AND KILL THIS BITCH IN THAT TIME! LET ME KILL HER! LET ME OUT!' ranted Dark off as Wendy felt her dark powers swirl as she was VERY tempted to allow Dark to raise some hell, and damn the consequences as long she could rip that smug look off Minerva's face. Erza was having a similar internal 'conflict'.
'That arrogant bitch! How dare shoes that to our guildmate….our sister! Lucy deserves retribution! Let our power out and we can show why you never mess with a dragon's kin!' The fierce feminine voice spoke again in Erza's face. Erza could feel her magical power begin to leak as unbeknownst to anyone, her eyes turn into slits.
[Naruto Shippuden OST: Yongesha]
Minerva and the rest of the approaching Sabertooth members continued to look on in smug satisfaction, but that ended very quickly as everyone felt an incredible magical pressure enveloping the entire GMG arena. Every single civilian and low-ranking mage fainted from the sheer force of the magical pressure. The higher-ranking mages and guild masters were sent to their hands and knees, shivering from the pressure. Although some could withstand the magical pressure and remain perfectly calm. The mages in the arena were the ones most affected as they couldn't even move.
"What's going on?" Erza asked in fright as she had never felt something so powerful. Even Hades's magical pressure wasn't this strong to force her to go down on her knees.
'Hmmm, it seems our actions will not be required.' said her inner voice.
"Oh, they're in trouble now," Wendy said with a dark smirk as she knew exactly who was causing this pressure. Dark was cackling like a maniac, 'HEHEHEHE. Looks like daddy's very angry.'
With great effort, everyone looked at the source of the pressure and came face-to-face with Naruto's stone-cold glare. Thunder and Lightning danced around the dark skies as they descended from the black heavens and struck Naruto's form. But the lightning did not harm him. Instead, the lightning danced around his body as Naruto's eyes began to glow an eerie white. The sight simply amplified everyone's increasing fear of him.
As for Naruto, he was not mad. He was not angry. He was not even pissed. He was ENRAGED. Pure and unadulterated fury fueled his veins. His descendant. Anna's descendant was beaten for this filthy child's amusement. His blood and his draconian half were screaming for retribution for this insult against his family and retribution WILL be paid!
Naruto marched over with the other members trying to stand to block his path, but with one wave of his left hand all the members of Sabertooth were encased in cocoons of sand, and as he slowly closed his fist, which caused the cocoons to start shrinking and causing immeasurable pain to the four trapped as the shouted in pain. Minerva tried to crawl away, but with another wave of his hand, an arm of sand caught Minerva by her throat and brought her down to the ground. Minerva coughed as she looked up as Naruto kicked her so she was lying on her back. Her eyes widened as she saw Naruto's raised boot right to her chest before he slammed it down.
Minerva coughed in pain as Naruto gave her a sadistic smirk. Minerva glared defiantly as she would not give this man the satisfaction of her screaming in pain. She would ruin his fun with every defiant bone in her body. However, that seemed to have the opposite effect as Naruto's smile became more demented. Minerva felt a shiver go down her spine at this.
"You know, the human body is such a fragile thing. So soft…..so squishy…..so crushable." Naruto said as he applied more pressure as Minerva's face was turning red due to a lack of oxygen. As Naruto began to speak again his voice changed becoming far more monstrous and scaring the shit out of everyone still conscious.
(Imagine Naruto's voice becoming like Zoom's voice from the second season of the CW's Flash.)
"Y'know. I could apply more pressure onto your chest. I can cause your ribs to break and the shards could pierce your organs. You could internally bleed to death." Naruto explained as applied more pressure causing Minerva to let out a small gasp as she turned blue.
"I could break your ribs completely and then crush your organs along with the fractured bones. I could create a beautiful display of your blood and mutilated guts." Naruto said with a twisted smile on his face as Minerva glared back in defiance. Naruto tilted his head in confusion as he could see through her facade.
"Why the glare? You were so condescending to Fairy Tail just moments ago. You can drop the act as I know you are quite frightened. So why glare after having such a smug look on your face. Come one laugh like you were before. Why are you so tense…." Naruto then grabbed her by her cheeks.
"Tell me….." He raised her head as she was face to face with him, "Why so serious?"
"P-Please stop." a soft voice said. Naruto turned to see Lucy looking at him with pleading eyes. Naruto stared at the injured girl as her image was changed to an older blonde that had heavy eyes as she gave Naruto an exhausted, but soft smile. The image changed again to Anna as she gave a tearful smile to Naruto before the image returned to Lucy looking at Naruto with tearful, pleading eyes. "No more. Please," she begged before losing consciousness again.
Naruto remained quiet until he heard something, "Tou-san." he turned to look at Erza. "Father. You've made your point, let us handle this. I promise you they won't get away with this."
"Tou-san, you can trust us. They will pay for what they did to our family." Wendy said.
Naruto growled as the ground shook even more as debris began levitating up into the air. Lighting began to be emitted from Naruto's body as he was covered in a black and blue aura. The remaining mages in the stadium who were still awake were getting very scared. They were already terrified by Naruto's oppressive power and his cruel actions towards Minerva, but they didn't think it could get worse.
Oh, how painful it can be to be wrong.
Naruto continued to growl until he finally let out all his pent-up rage with a loud, "SSSREEEEEEEEEEEONGK!" Naruto's magical energy exploded out of his body as a giant pillar of energy flew into the sky and causing massive shockwaves that ripped away the dark clouds in a flash of light that blinded everyone. The shockwaves created by the pillar of energy were so powerful that the entire capital violently shook from the amount of power Naruto was releasing. When everyone could see again, they could feel that the pressure on them had finally disappeared as eternano particles descended down over the arena like snow.
The Sabertooth mages were finally freed from their confinement as they could properly breathe again. They all looked to see Naruto's cold glare on them and they all flinched in fear. Naruto growled before sighing and walking away. Everyone from FTA gave him space to walk forward. Naruto used one finger to levitate Lucy to his arms and caught her bridal style.
"Let's go." That was all that needed to be said as everyone from Fairy Tail followed him inside.
Up in the stands, everyone was having varying reactions to that spectacle as they helped everyone wake up from that ordeal.
"Good kami, that was frightening."
"Maky, that is one dangerous mage you have at your disposal." Master Bob said as he wiped the sweat off his head.
"I have never felt such a frightening magical power like that in my life. Not even Deliora made me feel like this. I doubt you could even harm him, Jura." Lyin said in a shaken tone. Jura nodded. "I doubt any normal mage could face him. In fact, I can tell not even the Four Gods of Ishgar could defeat him," he said in a serious tone.
"WHAT?!" everyone around him shouted. "Surely you're exaggerating Jura!" Sherria shouted. No one can be that powerful, right?
"You don't understand. If that man is a dragon slayer he should be capable of far more than what we saw. That was him merely flexing a small portion of his power in his rage. Yet that small portion was enough to shake the entire capital. I shudder to think what he would be capable of if he unleashed all his power at once."
"Are you alright Anna?" Irene asked in a gentle tone. Anna snarled as she looked down at the arena.
"I am NOT okay. I just saw my descendant...Layla's daughter get beaten around the arena like a rag doll…..and that bitch had the nerve to call her trash. MY….No OUR family trash. She's lucky Naruto was the one to teach her fear. I would not have been as merciful." Anna growled as her eyes flashed into slits before going back to normal.
"Neither would I had I not been focused on stopping you from going down there and revealing yourself to the world and reveal your other….secret." Irene soothed as Anna sighed before looking gratefully at Irene.
"I thank you for that, Irene." she in an appreciated tone. The two masters of Mermaid Heel then looked at the rest of their guild.
"Girls, are you all okay?" Anna asked in a concerned tone. She knew few people could handle the blunt force of Naruto's magical pressure.
"Yes, but K-Kami, you weren't kidding Anna-sama, Irene-sama. Naruto-sama's power is outstanding. It's unlike anything I have ever felt before." Kagura said.
"I say it's fitting for someone who holds the title of Dragonslayer King," Dimaria commented.
"He's super strong!" Millianna sheered. Everyone giggled at the girl's words as Irene addressed the guild "Your words are kind, girls. But you've only seen a fraction of his power." she said.
"Hopefully, us or Fairy Tail will finally be able to put Sabertooth in their place," Kagura said in a dark tone as everyone nodded in agreement.
[Fairy Tail Infirmary]
The members of FTA were waiting at Lucy's bedside for to awaken. Wendy and Erza were on opposite sides of the bed, holding Lucy's hands. Gray was pacing back and forth, impatiently. Natsu was on a chair with his hands grasped together as he glared at the ground. Naruto was leaning on the wall with arms crossed as he tapped his fingers repeatedly. Porlyusica was waiting for her patient to awaken. The silence was broken as everyone heard several footsteps approaching the door. Everyone looked to see everyone from FTB enter the infirmary.
"LUCY!" shouted Mira.
"Is Lucy alright?!" shouted Juvia in concern.
"You guys…" Gray began as Cana just smiled.
"Hey we may be on different teams, but we're still part of the same guild, right?" Gray just smiled in appreciation.
"Her life is not in any sort of danger thanks to Naruto's healing spell."
"Oh thank goodness." everyone said in relief.
WHAM!
"NATSU!" nearly everyone shouted as Natsu punched a hole into the wall. "Those bastards." Natsu growled, "They'll pay for this."
"We know, Natsu," Laxus said with a scowl.
"Ugh…" said a voice as everyone turned to it. "LUCY!" Happy shouted. Lucy opened her eyes to see the two teams looking at her in relief. "Everyone, I'm sorry…..I lost again," she said softly as she ducked her head under her covers.
"What do you mean? You got us, second place!" Gray said.
"You did great, Lucy," Erza said as she tightened her grip on Lucy's hand.
"Yeah. You don't beat yourself up about it," Wendy said softly as Lucy bit her lip and nodded with her eyes watering. "My keys…." she began weakly. "Here you are!" Happy said as he handed them to Lucy. Lucy quickly grabbed them and held them close to her heart. "Thank you." Everyone smiled before turning their heads as they heard the door open and in came Makarov with a serious expression.
"Where have you been, gramps?" Laxus asked as Makarov sighed. "I don't know if this is good news or bad, but I just came back from a discussion with the game administration about the future of our team."
"They won't penalize us for Naruto's actions as they were reactionary to Minerva's despicable actions. But they did ask him to show some restraint next time," he explained as Naruto scoffed. "Like that will ever happen." he retorted.
"And Sabertooth?" Natsu growled as Makarov sighed.
"Sabertooth will not be punished they were warned this will be the first and last violation they'll tolerate. If this happens again, not only are they gonna be disqualified they'll be banned from ever participating in the games again."
"Still feels like they are getting free with just a slap on the wrist," Natsu said.
"There is one other thing to discuss," Makarov said as everyone turned to him. "The administration has asked that we combine both teams."
"WHAT?!" everyone, except Naruto, shouted.
"Combine teams A and B?" Cana asked.
"Why would they ask…" Mira began before Makarov stopped as he began explaining, "Due to the disqualification of Raven Tail, they said it would be troublesome to have an odd number of teams. So we must reorganize the team with 5 members."
"What about our points?" Carla asked. "They said we would keep the team points with the least amount," Makarov said.
Carla and several others dropped their heads. "That's so unfair." they all said. Several members shook their heads. "Can't be helped if the administration has decided on this," Erza said.
"On the bright side, that means we can make an even more kickass team," Mirajane interjected. Natsu slammed his fists together. "I'll definitely get revenge for Lucy. I won't forgive them for laughing at our friends." Natsu growled as Lucy blushed a bit. "Thank you Natsu," she said softly.
"Anyway, I'll let you decide on this," Naruto said as he began to walk out of the room and disappearing in a black blur.
Makarov sighed before turning his attention to the two teams. "Now then. Let's focus on deciding who will be in the new team," he said.
[About an hour Later in the Arena.]
"THE FAIRY TAIL TEAM HAS FINISHED REORGANIZING INTO A SINGLE TEAM. FINALLY, WE CAN BEGIN THE BATTLE PORTION OF DAY 4!"
"TODAY'S BATTLE PORTION IS A TAG BATTLE CORRECT?"
"YES, IT'LL BE 2 VS 2. THIS SOUNDS FUN! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"WE HAVE ALREADY POSTED THE OFFICIAL MATCHUPS."
The matches would go as follows:
Blue Pegasus vs Quatro Cerberus
Lamia Scale vs Mermaid Heel
Fairy Tail vs Sabertooth
"AS EXPECTED, THE MOST EXCITING MOMENT WILL BE SABERTOOTH VS FAIRY TAIL. AM I RIGHT?"
"PERSONALLY, I'M SURPRISED IT TOOK TILL THE FOURTH DAY FOR THEM TO BE MATCHED UP WITH EACH OTHER."
"IT WAS! A HOT MOMENT INDEED! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"WELL FOLKS, LET'S SEE THE NEW FAIRY TAIL!"
"Good Luck, everyone!" Lucy said
"I'm counting on you guys," Elfman said.
"Now this is what I call the strongest team," Mirajane said with her sister agreeing.
"I'll be cheering for you all." Wendy cheerfully said as she decided to stay with Lucy.
"This is an awesome team," Cana commented as she took a sip.
"I can't see them losing," Juvia said.
"Thrash them hard," Naruto said.
"Our guild's hearts are combined. We entrust our feelings to you." Makarov said.
"Time is now. Show them the strength of your bonds." Mavis said.
"THE GROUND IS SHAKING! I PRESENT YOU TEAM FAIRY TAIL!" Out from the gate came Natsu, Gajeel, Erza, Laxus, and Gildarts. The entire crowd was cheering for the whole team.
"THIS IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF THE FIRST DAY'S EVENTS. THEY MANAGED TO WIN BACK THEIR POPULARITY IN JUST 4 DAYS!"
Everyone from the guild teams smiled in anticipation. Today was going to be an exciting day for everyone. Natsu and Gajeel glared at the smug Sting and Rogue. Soon fire began emanating from Natsu.
"I'm all fired up," Natsu growled.
[In the balcony of the Royal Family]
"The Celestial Wizard is not here?" Durton questioned out loud.
"She seems to be in her guild's infirmary," Arcadios said.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO MESS UP LIKE LAST TIME?!" Arcadios shook his head. "Oh, last time was a complete blunder. However, this time we will succeed. Let's enjoy the festival shall we?" Arcadios then looked at the minister. "I will put our plans into action after the fifth day is complete."
"Eclipse….." Durton said
"The world will be reformed," Arcadios said.
"There's no longer any way to stop this."
"Lord Zeref has been waiting a long time," Arcadios said before looking back at the arena.
The minister sighs before he leaves to get some air and to evaluate what has happened. He continues walking until he reaches a hallway with a wall painting. A painting depicting a black dragon fighting a cloaked human with a scarf.
"Festival, huh?" he says before touching the painting.
"A gathering of demons, gods, humans rising to battle, and dragons soaring in the skies. The Ryousei (The Dragon King Festival)."
[Back in the arena.]
The first of the tag battles was about to begin between Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus. Chosen for Blue Pegasus were Ichiya and the bunny suit mage, while Quatro chose Bulat and Wave.
"Ready to go wild on them, Bulat?" Wave said. Bulat chuckled. "You should be careful, Wave. People might get the wrong idea. Not that I would mind." Bulat said with a blush on his face.
"That's not what I meant Bulat!" a red-faced Wave shouted. "I wonder how Akame or Kurome think of this?" Bulat teased as he saw Wave's face pale like an eggshell.
"Don't bring them into this!" a frantic Wave shouted. Bulat simply waved his hand. "Hai. Hai. It will be our little secret." he said with Wave just dropping his head in surrender. "Whatever." a defeated Wave said.
"Come, partner. The time has come to release your power to the audience and the world." Ichiya said.
"Huh, so the rabbit mask is coming out," Gajeel said.
"We finally get to know his identity," Erza said.
"I wonder who could be under that mask?" Natsu asked.
The rest of the audience looked in anticipation as the rabbit took off his mask.
"The secret identity of the rabbit costume was kept even from us." Ren began, "What could be under that-HEY CAN'T YOU DO THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE!" he shouted at a kissing couple of Hibiki and Jenny.
"It's fine. Show everyone that handsome face of yours." Ichiya said as the mage's identity was revealed. Under that mask was a cat version of Ichiya! Everyone's eyes bugged out as their jaws dropped to the ground. The judges, Fairy Tail, and even the members of Blue Pegasus were left speechless. Naruto just blinked. "Huh."
"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" everyone shouted.
"THAT GUY…" Gajeel began.
"HE'S FROM EXTALIA!" Natsu finished.
"NICHIYA?!" Lily exclaimed in shock as he NEVER expected to see him here.
"WHA….WHERE THE HELL DID HE COME FROM?!" Happy shouted in shock.
Nichiya jumped out of the bunny suit as he landed in a pose along with Ichiya.
"Double Ikemen Attack," Ichiya said.
"It's a dangerous perfume, indeed." Nichiya continued.
"There's two of them." a pale Erza said as she looked like she was about to faint. Gajeel quickly caught her. "Pull yourself together." Erza then stood up with a furious look in her eyes.
"N-A-T-S-U," Erza growled. Natsu flinched and slowly turned to see an irate Erza.
"This is your fault," she said. Natsu's eyes widened as she shouted, "WHAT?!"
"You made that comment on the first day, and look what happened?!" she exclaimed.
"B-B-B-But I had no idea that there was another Ichiya under there! It was just a joke!" he tried to reason, but Erza was having none of it.
"And I told you that you should not make jokes like that!" The rest of his teammates, feeling pity for the fire mage but decided to leave him to the wrath of the scarlet-haired mage.
Bulat and Wave sweatdropped while chuckling nervously. "Well that was a surprise, I guess." Bulat awkwardly said. "I really don't know how to feel about this. Let's just transform." Wave said.
Bulat nodded. "Alright. INCURSIO!"
"GRAND CHARIOT!" Wave shouted. Now the two mages of Quatro were clad in their respective armors.
"To be able to meet myself. This must be destiny." Ichiya said with a smile as Nichiya was doing the same. "On that clear afternoon."
Bulat smiled under his helmet before dashing in front of Nichiya and delivering a swift haymaker to the yellowed furred exceed. Nichiya was knocked out the moment he landed on the ground. "NO WAY!" shouted Ichiya.
"You shouldn't play anymore, Ichiya," Bulat said.
"We are aiming to win so don't hold back on us!" Wave dashed forward.
"WAIT A MINU-GAH!" Ichiya was stopped in mid-sentence as he was hit hard by a harsh kick to the gut by Wave.
"Ichiya!" Blue Pegasus shouted.
"Had enough, Ichiya-san?" Wave asked. "There's no shame in surrendering." Bulat politely said. "Hmmm. That would tarnish my guild's reputation. As a gentleman, I can not allow that."
Ichiya then stood up and he gave them a determined glare. "I will dedicate to you. The perfume of Victory!" Ichiya soon began bulking up as his muscles and magical power increased.
"So this is his perfume power?" Wave asked.
"Looks like he's ready to go wild," Bulat responded.
"SMILE….." Ichiya began.
"GO WAVE!" Bulat shouted as both dashed towards Ichiya.
"GRAND SLASH!"
"DRAGON SLASH!"
"SMASH!"
The attacks collided as shockwaves were sent around the arena as Ichiya managed to hold off both slash attacks. "MEN!" he shouted as he pushed the two back.
"Woah," Wave said in an awed tone. Bulat then spoke up, "Wave let's use our combo attack, got it?" Wave nodded, "Hai." Bulat then began glowing for a few seconds before disappearing.
"EHHHHH?!" everyone shouted.
"WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO?!" Natsu exclaimed.
Ichiya began looking around before he was suddenly punched in the cheek and sent flying a few feet. He looked around to see Wave just standing there until he was hit in the gut and then felt a kick to his chin sending him flying across the arena again.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! WHAT'S HITTING HIM?!" everyone from Blue Pegasus shouted.
"IS THAT OTHER GUY INVISIBLE?!" Gray and several others shouted.
Ichiya got his bearings to see Wave a few feet above him. "Grand Slam!" Ichiya managed to dodge at the last second but soon shouted in pain when he was slashed in the back. "Grand Dasher!" Wave shouted as he slammed into Ichiya and sent him into the wall.
"Ichiya!" Blue Pegasus shouted.
"Are you ready to surrender, Ichiya-san?" Wave asked.
Ichiya grunted as he got out. "I, as a gentleman, cannot back down."
"As you wish." Ichiya then felt another punch to the gut, but this time, he was ready as he reached out and grabbed hold of something. "I've got you, Bulat." Ichiya then charged his magical energy into his fist.
"SMILING SMASH!" He shouted as he sent the invisible Bulat flying into Wave as the two were sent into the wall. Ichiya dropped to his knees and heaved heavily.
'Damn, I put a good chunk of my magic in that so that I could end the fight.'
"Impressive Ichiya-san had we been lessor mages that would have defeated us," Bulat said as got out of the wall.
"Unfortunately it will take more than that to beat us," Wave said as he also got out of the wall and stretched his body. Ichiya tried to get up slowly.
"Wave let's end this now," Bulat said as he quickly dashed in front of Ichiya and sent him flying up. Wave then appeared above and summoned his spear to slam it into Ichiya as he was sent back down as Bulat summoned his spear and slam Ichiya again. The two continued to hit Ichiya back and forth until Ichiya was sent high up as the two appeared above Ichiya with their spears glowing blue and red respectively.
"TAKE THIS! DOUBLE SLASH STRIKE!" The two armored mages shouted as they slammed their spears into Ichiya and he was sent back into the arena with a loud….
BOOM!
"ICHIYA!" Everyone from Blue Pegasus shouted as the dust finally cleared, there in the middle was an unconscious Ichiya.
"DOWN! BLUE PEGASUS IS DOWN! THE WINNER IS QUATRO CERBERUS!"
"Those two have good coordination with one another," Erza commented.
"They'll be tough to beat whether alone or together," Gajeel said.
"Damn that was awesome," Natsu said.
"Those two are gonna be fun facing off against," Laxus said.
"Oh well. At least he fought to the end." Hibiki said.
"Like a true gentleman." Ren continued.
"You did your best Ichiya!" Jenny cheered.
"We'll get them next time Nichiya," Ichiya said as he carried his partner out of the stadium
"WELL, THAT WAS A GREAT MATCH, WASN'T IT?"
"I SUPPOSE IT WAS DESPITE THE DISADVANTAGE."
"IT WAS EXTREMELY AMAZING! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"THE NEXT MATCH IS LAMIA SCALE VS MERMAID HEEL!"
For this matchup, Kagura and Dimaria came out for Mermaid Heel, while Lyon and Sherria came out for Lamia Scale.
"LET THE SECOND BATTLE BEGIN!"
"Tenjin no Dogo!" Sherria bellowed as she released a torrent of black winds while Lyon launched a herd of ice eagles.
"Gravity Pressure x10!" The gravity increased causing the bellow and ice attacks to be crushed under the increased pressure. Dimaria quickly dashed and summoned a large broadsword as she smirked viciously.
"Take this!" she shouts as Lyon quickly dashes forward and summons two blades of ice to block the attack. Sherria prepares to jump in to support Lyon but is stopped by a Beam Slash blocking her way. She turns to see Kagura with her sheathed sword ready.
"It's best to keep your eyes on me," Kagura warned. Sherria gave her a determined glare as she activated her Sky God Aura and summoned a scythe. "Ready, Kagura?" Sherria asked. Kagura then released around 50 percent of her magical power as her body was enveloped in a blue aura. "I was born ready."
The two dashed at one another as their weapons collided and caused shockwaves all over the arena.
"Show me your moves, Sherria Blendy." Sherria jumped back to give her the distance as she slashed downward, only for Kagura to flip backward and land gracefully on her feet.
"Archenemy: Dash form!" Kagura shouted as dashed in a bright blue flash. Sherria retaliated as she also dashed forward and met Kagura at the center as their weapons collided. They pushed against one another as they tried to form some dominance.
However, no matter how hard Sherria was pushing in her current form, Kagura seemed to be even stronger, and she didn't even have a transformation! What's worse is that Sherria knew this was not Kagura's full power. She could feel her holding back some power and she still had not unsheathed her weapon.
Unfortunately, Sherria's mental distraction was all Kagura needed to push Sherria off and cause her to stagger. "Archenemy: Blade form!" Kagura shouted as her beam attack managed to land a direct hit on Sherria and she was sent flying back a few feet.
WHAM!
Lyon grunted as he sent sliding across the arena. Dimaria had a smirk on her lips.
"C'mon Lyon. Show me what you're capable of!" she shouted.
Lyon got back out as he got into his molding position. "I'll give you that and more!"
A giant magic seal appeared on his hands. "Ice-Make: Dragon Shower!" Lyon shouted as several ice dragons came out of the seal and they charged towards Dimaria, who just smiled in amusement. She quickly twirled the blade in her hands as she cut through all of them. She then straightened her grip as she blocked another frontal attack from Lyon.
Lyon gritted his teeth and began a volley of attacks against Dimaria, hoping that one would land one hit, but Dimaria blocked or dodged every single one of his attacks. However, Lyon was not someone to ever give up. Lyon slammed his foot onto the ground as another magic seal appeared below them. Dimaria's eyes widened as several spikes rose and barely missed stabbing her, but she managed to cause several cuts around her body.
"Ice-Make: Serpents!" Several ice serpents made a beeline for Dimaria that gracefully dodged each attack, but then a giant foot appeared above her! "Ice-Make: Titan's Foot!" Dimaria was then slammed into the arena, but she blocked the attack at the last second.
Suddenly, Lyon appeared on her open side and slammed an Ice-Make: Knuckle that sent her flying into the arena again. "Ice-Make: Liger Herd!" Several large ligers appeared and launched themselves at her as Lyon summoned a bow and fired off several ice arrows.
Dimaria managed to rip through the ligers and the arrows and dashed in front of Lyon and slash him…...only for Lyon to shatter into pieces of ice and causing Dimaria's eyes to widen. Lyon appeared behind her with two ice blades in hand. He then launched a barrage of attacks before summoning an Ice Elephant that slammed into Dimaria and dragged her across the arena until Dimaria finally sliced it in half.
Lyon was breathing heavily from the multiple spells and he was sweating profusely. Dimaria was not breathing as heavily, but she still had some sweat on her body along with some blood dripping from some of the cuts on her body.
"I have to say I am impressed. You continuously used spell after spell to keep me preoccupied until you found an opening to exploit and hit me with everything you had. That is a bold plan, but it has left you exhausted. However, I must commend you. Your control over Ice-Make is that of a master."
"Arigato, Dimaria," Lyon said in appreciation.
"But you should give up as you can't keep going like this," she said.
"Maybe. But I always preferred going down fighting." Lyon retorted as Dimaria smiled.
"Hmm. I like that attitude. For entertaining this much I will bless you with a rare opportunity." Dimari dismissed her blades as another large seal appeared. Dimaria smiled "I shall use my best weapon against you. Out of a seal, came a uniquely-shaped broadsword with a blue blade and golden edge. The sword had a semicircular guard on the left side of the handle that extended to the bottom just above the pommel, with a small extension on the right side of the handle.
Everyone knowledgeable in blades felt their eyes widen at the sight of the blade.
"HOW DID SHE GET THAT BLADE?!" Erza and several others shouted.
"I can't believe someone actually possesses that blade," Makarov muttered in shock.
"Erza what's wrong?" Natsu asked.
"Do you know that blade?" Laxus asked in a curious tone.
"Yes, that's the legendary blade Durandal. One of the great blades was forged by the legendary mage Merlin. That blade can easily make its wielder an S-rank mage and is strong enough to cut even a dragon's scales." Erza explained as the eyes of her team widened in shock.
"Holy shit." Gajeel summed up his team's thoughts. "A blade that could cut a dragon," Natsu said in awe and slight fear.
'You get more interesting, Dimaria. I can't wait to see if I can face you.' Laxus thought with a challenging smirk.
'Why I am not surprised that one of their members has one of those blades. Either she had it and that's the reason she was recruited, or Irene and Anna helped her find and obtain the sword. Either way, that woman is definitely someone to weary of on the final day.' thought Naruto.
Lyon looked in awe at the blade but glared in defiance at Dimaria. "You've shown your best. Now I will show you mine!" Lyon shouted as he slammed his hands on the ground, "Ice-Make: Yamata no Orochi!" a giant seal appeared below him as a giant eight-headed serpent rose from the seal. Everyone looked in awe at the gigantic serpent.
"Sugoi Lyon," Gray said.
"Damn that's amazing." said several people in the stadium.
Naruto smirked at the gigantic construct that Lyon created. "Ur, you would be proud of how far your students have come," he said quietly.
Dimaria looked surprised before gaining a glim in her eyes as she smiled. "I'm glad to have fought you, Lyon." Dimaria jumped as she went to combat the giant eight-headed serpent.
Back with the fight between Kagura and Sherria, Sherria was sent skidding back into the arena as she was covered in several bruises and cuts, and very winded from the battle so far. Kagura was breathing slightly hard along with several bruises and cuts around her. It was quite obvious who had the advantage.
Sherria looked to see Lyon on top of the serpent. She looked back at her opponent. 'I need to beat her, so I can help Lyon.' Sherria stood up as she powered up as her aura became blood red along with her hair and eyes.
"God Force," she muttered. Kagura then powered up again as her blue aura covered her body. She was now using 100 percent of her base form, but she will not release her sword yet. That was reserved for Erza, however, she will not underestimate Sherria as she has seen what she's capable of.
"Gravity Release x20," she muttered as she was covered in a black aura for a few seconds before disappearing. She then tapped her blade. "Gravity Curse x2," she mutters as a black and blue aura surrounds her blade and body before disappearing.
"Ready, Sherria?" she asked with Sherria nodding, "Ready."
The two dashed forward once again, but this time Sherria disappeared in a blur. Kagura activated her dash form to dodge a hammer kick from Sherria before the two disappeared into blurs and began to collide several times against one another. The two landed across one another as Sherria summoned her scythe again, but she could immediately tell something was wrong.
Somehow Kagura was getting faster and Sherria was getting slower. Sherria pushed her form further and pumped as much magic as possible into her legs as she dashed again. Sherria swiped with her scythe again as Kagura dodged, but she expected this as she used her scythe as a platform to jump right in front of Kagura, and slammed a roundhouse to Kagura's face. "Tenjin no Mai!" Sherria shouted as she sent Kagura flying back.
Unbeknownst to her, a black aura covered her for a brief second before disappearing. Sherria dashed in front of Kagura with a senpuken to land, but Kagura tilted away from the attack.
"Archenemy: Barrage Mode!" Kagura shouted as she slammed twenty hits on Sherria. Sherria skidded across the arena. She tried to get up only to quickly fall down again.
'What's going on?! I know I have been hit a lot. But it feels like I weigh a ton!' Sherria thought before her eyes widened.
"What did you do? You never used your Gravity Pressure spell on me, so why do I feel so heavy?" Kagura merely smiled.
"A special spell that curses my opponent by increasing their gravity by 2x every time physical contact is made. So every time you landed a hit or I hit you, your gravity was doubled every time. But with how many times it was cast on you, you won't be able to move anymore." Kagura said before looking to see Dimaria about to finish her fight as Lyon was about to launch his last attack. This gave her an idea. She quickly dashes in front of Sherria, grabs her by her shirt, and then sends her flying to Lyon.
Lyon was breathing heavily. His Orochi spell had lost several of its heads and had cracks everywhere. He used the last of his magic to restore the head for one final attack. He was so focused on this task that he did not hear shouting at him until it was too late as she slammed into his back, which broke his concentration. This was the chance Dimari was waiting for.
She smirked in triumph. "Sorry, Lyon. This is the end." She raised Durandal above her head as she focused the magical energy into the tip of the blade. "TAKE THIS! BUSTER SLASH!" Dimaria shouted as she swung the great blade down as a giant blue and yellow beam raced across the arena and reached the ice serpent. The beam cut right through the ice monster as a giant explosion destroyed it. When the smoke cleared Sherria and Lyon were down.
"IT'S OVER! LAMIA SCALE IS DOWN! WHICH MEANS THAT THE WINNER IS MERMAID HEEL!"
"Damn they're strong," Natsu said.
"Indeed. Besides Sabertooth. I think they're our biggest competition." Gildarts said in an excited tone.
"This gonna be fun," Laxus muttered with an excited grin etched on his face.
"Damn, and I thought we had them," Sherria complained as she sat up.
"No use in complaining Sherria, they were just better this time," Lyon said as sat up with a frown on his face. He looked up to see their opponents giving them a nod of respect before walking away.
"Kagura is so strong," Sherria said as Lyon nodded. "She is and the scary part is that she has yet to release her blade. How much power is she holding back?" he wondered out loud.
"Damn, that was fun. Right, Kagura-chan." Dimaria said in a happy tone. That was the most fun she's had since the competition started. She is really hoping the last can be even more exciting.
"Yeah, I actually enjoyed it. Although I will admit I am looking forward to the next match more than anything." Kagura said.
"I am pretty sure everyone is," Dimari said with a smile.
[Near a gate to the arena]
Natsu walks to the arena gate as he sees Gajeel waiting for him.
"Took you long enough," Gajeel grunted. Natsu just scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry had to talk to Lucy one last time." Gajeel just gave her a smirk. "Sure spend time with your girlfriend. I'm sure Lisanna will be pleased to hear that." Natsu blushes before glaring at the iron slayer. "Shut up."
Gajeel shrugged. "Whatever."
"You ready?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, I have been waiting for this. I get to show off the new power I got during my three months of training, especially after seeing the shrimp use dragon force," Natsu smirked.
"Heh. Well let's go and slay some tigers," he said as began walking into the stadium as Gajeel was right behind.
[Stadium Arena]
"WE HAVE SEEN SOME EXCITING BATTLES TODAY, BUT THIS NEXT MIGHT JUST TAKE THE CAKE! THE GUILD KNOWN AS THE STRONGEST SEVEN YEARS AGO WILL FIGHT AGAINST THE GUILD THAT CURRENTLY HOLDS THAT TITLE!"
The two tag teams began approaching the arena.
"FAIRY TAIL VS SABERTOOTH!"
Representing Sabertooth was Sting and Rogue while Natsu and Gajeel represented Fairy Tail.
"THIS BATTLE WILL FOUGHT AGAINST FOUR DRAGON SLAYERS! WHO WILL REMAIN STANDING?!"
"I have been waiting for this for a long time," Sting said with a confident smirk.
[Unknown Location]
Volcanoes spewed everywhere as lava swept the landscape and the skies were dark from the black smoke of the erupting locations. It's here we see a dragon settled in this location. However, this was no mere dragon. It was around 70 meters long and covered in deep red scales with black accents around the claws. Its smooth yellow underbelly had a deep, diagonal scar on the right side of its chest. It also had a scar on its left shoulder and another on the upper part of its right leg. This was Igneel, the Fire Dragon King and Natsu's adopted father.
"Weisslogia. Skiadrum. The dragon slayers that you have raised. Let us see what they can do against my son and Metallica's boy. Will humans be able to surpass dragons once again? Naruto I sense that you are watching this battle. You have come back to your senses, my king. Tell me, do you believe these humans can surpass the dragons and reach your height of power? Or is that a pipe dream that can no longer be achieved."
Igneel said as he adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. "Either way, the time for us to take action draws near. The Dragon King Festival is upon us. Naruto will they all be ready for what is to come?"
"Natsu," Lucy said.
"Gajeel," Levy said.
"Give it everything you got," Elfman said.
"For all our part as well," Gray said.
"I'm cheering for both of you," Yukino said.
"If it's them, they'll definitely win," Wendy said,
"WHO'LL WIN THE FAIRY OR THE TIGER-KABO?!"
"Make your victory, overwhelming."
"Show them the strength of the top guild."
"Put all your heart into this. I have nothing else to say." Makarov said.
'I have waited a LONG time for this, Natsu.' Sting thought confidently.
"MATCH…..START!"
"Let's go!" Sting said as Rogue nodded, "Right."
The two began to run but stopped when Natsu and Gajeel dashed right in front of them. The two were left speechless, which left the two wide open as Natsu and Gajeel landed two hard haymakers to their cheeks! This left the entire audience shocked as they saw Sting and Rogue get sent skidding back a few feet. Sting looked up with a smirk.
"Hakuryu no Hoko (White Dragon's Roar)!" A white seal appeared on his mouth as he fired a condensed white beam of energy. Natsu quickly tilted his body to dodge the beam as it passed him.
"A laser?!" Natsu said in slight surprise. Sting continued to smile as he tilted his head, which caused the beam to change directions and head towards Gajeel. With quick reflexives, Gajeel manages to jump out of the way. Rogue encased his right arm in shadows as he dashed towards Gajeel.
"Eiryu no Zangeki (Shadow Dragon's Slash)!" he shouted. Gajeel raised his arm, "Tetsuryuken (Iron Dragon's Sword)!" he shouted as he transformed his arm into an iron sword to block Rogue's attack. Gajeel then swings his transformed arm to the left and sends Rogue to the sandy arena.
"Rogue!" Sting shouted. He then sees a silhouette as Natsu comes out while holding Rogue by his face. Natsu then slams Rogue into Sting as his arms are soon ignited with flames. "Kaaryu no Yokugeki!"
The two dragon slayers were sent flying into the air. All of Fairy Tail was cheering with the rest of the audience being left stunned. Lector and Frosch were looking rather nervous at how the match was going.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?! STING AND ROGUE. THE TWIN DRAGONS OF SABERTOOTH ARE BEING PUSHED BACK!"
Natsu and Gajeel remained guarded as Sting and Rogue got back on their feet. "You as strong as I thought you'd be," Sting said with a smug smirk. "Gajeel," Rogue muttered as Natsu and Gajeel sweatdropped in annoyance/confusion. 'Is that he can say?' both of them thought.
"Did you idiots actually beat your dragons with that kind of power?" Natsu asked as Sting scoffed. "Not beat. Killed. We killed them with these very hands."
"Weren't those two your parents?" Sting just swiped his arm across. "That has nothing to do with you two. From here on out, we'll show you the power that killed a dragon." Sting said as his and Rogue's mana began to increase drastically. Sting's hair began to get spiker as he was covered in a white aura, while Rogue's hair went from shaggy to spiky as he had an aura of shadow being released around his body.
"Howaito Doraibu (White Drive)."
"Shado Doraibu (Shadow Drive)."
'Now things will get serious. Be ready you two.' Naruto thought.
"It's over you garbage guild." Jiemma thought out loud.
Both Natsu's and Gajeel's eyes narrowed. "There it is." Gajeel said as Natsu nodded."It's just like Wendy's. But we can still handle this."
Sting makes the first move as he dashes in front of Natsu and throws a right hook. Natsu barely manages to block the attack as he is sent slightly back by the shockwave of the attack.
"Receive the Holy White Judgement!" Sting shouts as he slams another hook and this time lands on Natsu as he proceeds to deliver a barrage of punches.
"Salamander!" Gajeel shouted until his eyes widened as he felt something behind him. Gajeel turns and tries to punch Rogue, only for his punch to go through some shadows. Gajeel continuously tries to hit Rogue, but all his attacks just miss or go through him. Gajeel tried another hook when Rogue suddenly appeared to his side and hit him with a roundhouse kick.
"OH MY! IT LOOKS LIKE FAIRY TAIL'S GAJEEL IS AT THE MERCY OF ROGUE'S SHADOW DRIVE!"
"Shadows can't be captured." Gajeel clicked his tongue in annoyance. Gajeel transforms his arm into its iron sword form and slashes at Rogue, only for the sword to go right through Rogue as he turns into wisps of shadow. Rogue then formed right at Gajeel's side as he hit him with an elbow to the face. This sent Gajeel flying at the same time that Sting sent Natsu in the same direction with a roundhouse kick, which caused the two mages to slam into one another.
"DON'T GET IN MY WAY!" The two shouted at one another.
"Arguing in the middle of a match? You guys are sure confident." The twin dragon slayers dash into Natsu and Gajeel in the arena, causing a giant dust cloud to erupt from the collision.
"Hmmm. That Drive Mode has given them a slight edge." Lily commented.
"Take care of business, Natsu!" Happy shouted.
Natsu jumped out of the cloud, "These guys are good. But not good enough for that form yet." he muttered before Sting appeared right in front of him. "Quit mumbling to yourself!" Sting shouts as he knees Natsu in the face before jumping over him and slamming a kick to the back of his head. Rogue was slashing at different parts of his body with one slash cutting his headband and causing his forehead to bleed a bit.
"Hmmm. That Drive Mode has given them a slight edge at the moment. Were they always this coordinated, Yukino?" Makarov asked.
"Hai. Sting and Rogue were always strong on their own, but they always worked well together. It's why they were considered the best tag team in the guild."
Makarov nodded before turning to our favorite blonde king "Naruto, what do you think?"
"That drive mode is nothing compared to what it should be if they actually trained the form. I swear they have the arrogance to match the Pentadrakes, but at least they had the power to back it up." Naruto grumbled. He blinked when he noticed everyone looking at him.
"What?" he finally asked.
"Um, Naruto who are the Pentadrakes?" Makarov asked. Naruto blinked as he realized he had spoken out loud about that." 'Oh well.' He mentally sighed. 'It's not like it'll do much harm.'
"The Pentadrakes are a group of dragons that tried to kill Acnologia 400 years ago. However, they were no match for the black dragon and were thoroughly beaten and left for dead. Hell, I am pretty sure Acnologia thought he had killed them. However, they managed to live by the skin of their teeth and went into hiding. For the next four centuries, they recovered and trained to grow stronger. In time they grew so strong that people began to worship them as gods. Even heard a rumor they gained divine abilities that amplified their powers even further beyond. Eventually, these dragon-gods were given the title of Pentadrakes."
"So they are technically gods in a way?" Katja asked. "From a certain point of view yes. Their power could be seen as divine or so strong that people could only see a god wielding that incredible power and worship it as such."
"So they wouldn't listen to you?" Makarov asked as Naruto shook his head. "Well, not exactly. They were at best cordial with my father. But they have no respect for me. Though some can be reasonable to some extent. The others are just a pain in my ass."
"How powerful are they? And could you or Acnologia defeat them?" Yukino asked as Naruto scratched his chin in thought.
Makarov and the others digested this new bit of information on dragon culture. They wondered where those five could be and if they would ever encounter them. They really hoped it was on friendly terms and not as enemies. Makarov then asked, "Can these pentadrakes take on a slayer as the king and queen did for you?" Everyone paled at how ludicrously strong a slayer of one of the dragon gods could be.
Naruto looked at Makarov "Pentadrakes have never taken a slayer before, however, one can take a slayer. However, to my current knowledge, none of them have a slayer that I am aware of. If they did, that person would be considered the most powerful slayer on Earthland, even I don't know what the outcome would be if I were to fight them."
Everything he said was true. He did not know the full extent of the pentadrake's current power or their slayer's power. A battle between them would be...inconclusive at the moment. He didn't even know where those dragons were at the current moment, and when asked Giratina she said she was not telling him any time soon.
"Let's focus on the match. You all have teammates you should be rooting for." Naruto said. "Hai!" everyone said as they turned their attention back to the arena below.
"This isn't as exciting as I expected," Orga said.
"The two from Fairy Tail don't seem to be in sync at all," Rufus commented.
"They're in a must-win pattern now," Lector said.
"Frosch thinks so too!" Fro responded.
"Those two seem to be struggling," Porlyusica commented as everyone looked at the battle through a lacrima vision installed into the infirmary.
"Don't worry so much, Grandeeney," Wendy commented. Porlyusica sighed in defeat, knowing Wendy would never stop calling her that, and she'd never tell the girl that she liked being called that by her.
"Wendy, how can you be so sure?" Evergreen asked. "Because I know those two are stronger than this and they can handle anything those two from Sabertooth can throw at them."
"Natsu. Gajeel." Lucy quietly muttered to herself.
[Back in the arena]
Sting continues to pummel Natsu across the arena. "I always admired you for the longest time. Now is the time for me to surpass you!" Sting shouted as he blasted him in the chest with a white dragon's claw that sent Natsu skidding across the arena.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted in shock. Erza narrowed her eyes. 'There was something off with that last attack.' Erza thought to herself.
Natsu is about to move until he realizes that he can't move. "What the hell? Why can't I move?" Natsu wondered out loud. Sting looked rather smug. "Take a look at her stomach." Natsu looked down to see a sigil on his stomach. "What the hell did you do to me?" Natsu demanded.
"The claw of the white dragon is a holy attack. A body that's marked by its stigmata loses its freedom to move. And with this, I will surpass you!" Sting shouted.
Back with Gajeel, he was unable to land a hit on Rogue. "The dragon that becomes shadow hides its form," Rogue says behind Gajeel before disappearing again after Gajeel tries to hit him again. "Will always take down its prey," Rogue says as he appears above Gajeel to deliver a crushing fang to his….only for Gajeel to grab his arm.
"Will always take down, huh?" Gajeel said as he glared at Rogue. Suddenly, Gajeel's magical energy rose as his body was encased in iron scales all over her body.
"Ho, it has been a while since he used that spell." Makarov mused.
"Hm, looks like Gajeel has gotten used to his opponent and plans to go serious," Lily said. "Natsu will do the same. Go get them, Natsu!" Happy shouted as Natsu smiled as Sting was closing in on him. Sting noticed this and frowned in confusion until Natsu landed a fiery right hook to Sting's face sending skitting a few feet away.
"No way. How can you move?!" Sting shouted as he looked at the sigil, only to be shocked that it was gone with smoke coming off Natsu's stomach.
"You burned it off." a stun Sting said. Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Not too shabby. But you still got a long way to go." Natsu lectured as he was enveloped in a fiery aura as his magical power increased. Natsu, like Gajeel, was now going 100 percent in his base form.
"Looks like the two are taking this seriously now," Makarov muttered.
"Although they still seem to be holding back," Mavis said.
"They're probably trying to back those two into a corner, so they bring out their trump cards," Naruto commented.
"Don't get too cocky brat! Don't mock or look down on Fairy Tail!" Gajeel shouted as he slammed his elbow into Rogue's face before slamming a Hard Fist into Rogue, which sent him flying into the arena wall at the same time Sting was sent in the direction with a fiery claw from Natsu.
"Just like that GO! GO!" Romeo cheered.
"That was great, Gajeel!" Levy said. "Calm down, Levy…... I can't breathe." Lily gasped.
"OH MY! THE COURSE OF THIS BATTLE HAS CHANGED ONCE AGAIN!"
Sting got out of the wall as he smiled at Natsu. "You guys really are awesome. That's why we need to give this everything we have and more!" Sting said as he got into a battle stance and began to release a large amount of mana.
"Damn! Can you feel that pressure coming from him? It's insane." Romeo said as he began to sweat a bit from the power he was feeling.
"This might be…" Happy muttered.
"OH MY, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS YAJIMA-SAN?"
"STING IS CONCENTRATING HIS MAGICAL POWER INTO A SINGLE POINT FOR A DEVASTATING ATTACK."
Natsu began focusing his magical power into his fist. 'If Naruto and Laxus can do it. So can I' he thought with an excited grin.
"Metsuryu no Ogi: Holy Nova!"
"Kaaryu no Hoken (Fire Dragon's Breakdown Fist)!"
The two attacks of fire and light collided and created a gigantic explosion of white and red that consumed the arena in the aftermath. Sting was the first to appear from the smoke cloud. He smiled, believing he had won his battle. "You seem to be happy. Why the smile?" a voice asked from within the dust cloud.
Sting looked up in complete shock to see Natsu standing with a fist still in front of his own. It would seem Natsu used enough power to match Sting's attack so the two attacks nullified each causing no damage to either mage. Sting just continued to stare in horror at the fact Natsu literally took no damage from one of his strongest attacks.
"UNBELIEVABLE! NATSU DRAGNEEL IS STILL STANDING WITH NO DAMAGE!"
"That's not possible." a stunned Lector said.
"No way," Orga said in shock.
"My memory has no records of that attack being withstood like that," Rufus said.
"I see. So this is the power that has been absent for seven years. No wonder he so confidently barged into our dorm. I wonder what the outcome would have been had I not intervened." Minerva mused to herself.
"Gajeel!" Rogue shouted, but Gajeel just sent him flying back with one fist.
"Rogue!" Sting shouted in concern.
"Three months of training and the release of their second origin has progressed them this far, huh? Perhaps they'll both be ready for the trials in December once again." Makarov said to himself.
"Soon. Those two arrogant idiots will be forced to release their last ace." Naruto mused.
"YAJIMA-SAN! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Yajima continues to look at the arena with a critical eye as Natsu and Gajeel beat Sting and Rogue across the arena.
"HMM. THEIR LEVELS ARE FAR TOO DIFFERENT."
"It looks like they have the advantage at the moment," Elfman said.
"They'll win for sure, right?" Evergreen asked.
"Not yet. Those two have one last ace up their sleeves." Wendy said.
"They'll win. I know for sure." Lucy said confidently.
[Back in the arena]
The day had now turned into dusk as Sting and Rogue were down and breathing heavily as Natsu and Gajeel stood there, waiting for them to stand up. They knew this fight was far from over.
"WHO COULD HAVE EVER EXPECTED THE TWIN DRAGONS OF SABERTOOTH TO BE BEATEN SO BADLY! IS THIS THE END?!"
"THIS IS…"
"Like hell! This is not the end." Rogue said as he got up. Sting also got off the ground as he stared at his opponents, "Yeah. We both knew this was not a wall we could easily climb over."
"Sting-kun," Lector said.
"I know Lector," Sting said as he remembered a scene of a young blonde boy with maroon colored exceed on a grassy field. Sting's magical power suddenly skyrocketed. Sting was soon covered in a much stronger aura as a good portion was covered in white scales and his eyes gained a dark blue glow to them. Rogue also had black scales in the shape of black tribal markings covering his body as his eyes glowed ruby red as he was enveloped in a black aura. Natsu, Gajeel, and several others narrowed their eyes.
"There it is," Natsu said.
"Looks like the fun and games are over," Gajeel said.
"Quake in fear at the power of the third generation," Minerva said in a confident tone.
"Be careful you too," Erza said.
The two mages of Sabertooth were now in their Dragon Force forms.
"Don't disappoint me, brats," Naruto said.
"They're finally going all out," Porlyusica said.
"They'll be fine." Wendy confidently said.
"How can you be so sure, Wendy?" Lucy asked.
"Because, Lucy, there is a difference between obtaining a form, having proficiency in a form, and mastering a form. I will say I am close to having proficiency in my Dragon Force form. However, due to time constraints and my body is still developing that's as far I can take it at the moment. Now those two have bodies that are far more developed to be proficient and maybe even master the form, but those idiots let their arrogance get to their heads believing they were invincible. Both have neglected their training and haven't tapped into the true power of that form. And that will cause them the match." Wendy explained.
"Good Luck. Natsu. Gajeel." Lucy whispered as she looked back to the lacrima vision.
"Rogue stay Back. I'll be enough." Sting said as he began walking forward. Natsu and Gajeel frowned at this.
"EH?! STING PLANS TO TAKE BOTH OF THEM AT THEIR OWN?!"
"HE MUST BE RATHER CONFIDENT."
"He's really underestimating us," Gajeel growled in annoyance. The one thing he hates is when someone is looking down on him. Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah. They've gotten stronger, but we can handle it."
Sting dashed as he appeared in front of Natsu, slightly shocking the fire mage. Natsu had no time to block as Sting slammed his fist square into Natsu's face and sending him flying. Gajeel tried a roundhouse kick to Sting's head, but the white dragon managed to duck in time before retaliating with a white magical blast that sent Gajeel flying. Natsu bounced off the arena before landing on the arena wall and using it as a platform to propel himself towards Sting. Gajeel skidded for a few feet before jumping back towards Sting.
The two dragons of Fairy Tail then began assaulting Sting with a barrage of punches and kicks. However in his Dragon Force Form, Sting could handle parrying each of their blows, but he could not retaliate while trying to battle both of them. Sting quickly jumped back to give himself some space, and Natsu dashed forward with a right hook.
Sting smirks as that's exactly what he wanted. Sting quickly dodges the hook before kneeing Natsu in the gut before grabbing him by the collar and then tossing him into Gajeel. The two grunted as Sting jumped into the air and shouted, "Hakuryu no Hori Buresu (White Dragon's Holy Breath)!" Sting roared as a beam twice the size of his roar spell was released from his mouth. The blast slammed into the two and caused a massive explosion that shook the entire stadium and even the arena floor was crumbling from the sheer power of the attack.
"HOLY SHIT!" shouted most of the audience.
"NATSU!" several Fairy Tail members shouted.
'C'mon you two.' Naruto thought. He knew those wouldn't be beaten down with just that.
"GAJEEL!" Levy shouted in concern for her secret crush.
"Natsu-nii/Natsu!" Romeo and Happy shouted
"The entire arena floor…" Makarov began in shock.
"Was destroyed." Gray finished.
"That's some impressive firepower," Gildarts said.
"IS THIS THE POWER OF THE THIRD GENERATION?! THE MATCH CONTINUES UNDERGROUND, SO PLEASE ENJOY THE FIGHT THROUGH LACRIMA VISION!" shouted Chapati as panels appeared around the audience that showed Natsu and Gajeel still falling into the ground.
"I'm not done yet!" Natsu glares at Sting as he lands on a large rock and ignites his body in flames.
"Kaaryu no Kenkaku!" Natsu roared as he fired off the rock like a rocket and landed a solid hit on Sting's abdomen. Sting coughed in pain from the hit, which gave Natsu enough to launch another attack.
"Kaaryu no Tekken!" another fist to the gut. "Kaaryu no Hoken!" Natsu roared as his attack launched Sting back up a few feet. Before Sting could recover, Gajeel appeared right behind him as he collected a good portion of his magical power into his mouth. "Tetsuryu no Hoko!" Gajeel roared as he sent Sting flying into the ground in a giant column of smoke, debris, and dust. The two looked down at the dust disappeared as Sting appeared with his shirt completely ripped off. His bare chest had several cuts and minor burns on his chest. Sting smirked and brought his hands together as he collected magical energy into his palms.
"Behold the brilliant light of the white dragon that purifies all things! Holy Ray!" Sting shouted as numerous rays of white magical energy fired from his arms and bombarded both Natsu and Gajeel.
"GWAAAAH!" Gajeel shouted in pain as he could feel his iron scales being ripped off. "AHHHH!" shouted Natsu in pain.
"Damn, that light element is impressive," Porlyusica said.
"C'mon you two," Lucy muttered.
Natsu rolled onto the ground as he quickly got up only to see Sting waiting right in front of him.
"Hakuryu no Senkoken (White Dragon's Flash Fist)!" shouted Sting as he sent Natsu flying a few feet. Gajeel tried another roar, but Sting jumped into the air as he created several white constructs in the shape of spears/lance. "White Lance Barrage!" Gajeel barely dodged a few before he was bombarded again as his scales were ripped off even more.
Natsu fired a roar, only for Sting to block it with a giant white spear. This caused a massive cloud to obscure their visions. When the smoke cleared Sting dashed behind Gajeel and grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed him into the ground as he began running towards Natsu, all the while grinding Gajeel's face into the ground. Natsu had no time to react as Sting raised Gajeel and blasted him into Natsu, and allowing him to end this. Sting poured a large amount of his mana into his mouth. "Hakuryu no Hoko!" Sting shouted as he released a gigantic white laser that enveloped both Natsu and Gajeel in a gigantic explosion.
"NATSU/GAJEEL!" shouted everyone from Fairy Tail.
When the smoke finally cleared, both Natsu and Gajeel were down.
'Are you watching Lector,' Sting thought as he raised his fist up in victory.
"Natsu…," Lucy said sadly.
"IS IT OVER?!"
"Are they not gonna get up?!" Macao shouted. "Natsu-nii get up!" Romeo screamed at the top of his lungs. "NATSU!" several others shouted.
"GAJEEL I KNOW YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN THIS!" Lily shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Times have changed. In seven years we have become true dragonslayers. The era of the old generation is over." Rogue said as he looked down from a broken pillar.
"Yeah, but you were strong Natsu-san. Gajeel-san." Sting said as he powered down and began walking away until…... "You two sure love to talk crap, don't ya." the two turned to see Natsu and Gajeel getting up.
"Ow. I'll admit those were good hits," Natsu commented as he began stretching a bit.
"I actually feel sore in several parts of my body," Gajeel said as he rubbed his arms.
"HOW ARE YOU STILL STANDING?!" Sting shouted in outrage. Natsu and Gajeel scoffed "Did you really think that would be enough to beat us? Man, you guys are full of it. It's like Wendy said. You may have the power of Dragon Force, but you are no master of it." Natsu said.
"LIKE THAT BRAT KNOWS ANYTHING!" both Sting and Rogue said. Natsu and Gajeel simply scoffed.
"This coming from the two who were rather freaked out to see one of the older generation using Dragon Force." Natsu retorted. Gajeel gave an evil smirk.
"Gihihihihihihi. Makes me wonder if deep down you two are afraid. Afraid that our shrimp surpassed you two." Gajeel mocked, which pissed off the two dragons of Sabertooth even more.
"CUT THE BULLSHIT! LIKE YOU TWO HAVE ANYTHING LEFT TO FIGHT US." Sting shouted as he and Rogue powered up again to their Dragon Force forms.
Natsu frowned before sighing as Gajeel scowled at the two. "I've had my fun, but now it's time to end this!" Natsu roared as he was enveloped in a lightning-flame aura. Gajeel smirked as his magical power began to spike. "I have been waiting to use this for a long time. Especially after seeing the shrimp's Dragon Force." Gajeel began to gain several scales around his body and his body began to take a green shine. "Iron Doraibu!" Gajeel roared as his magical aura exploded outwards.
"Gajeel has Drive as well," Yukino said in shock.
"Hmmm, it's about time one of them gets the form," Naruto said.
"Sugoi, Gajeel got Drive. Now all that's left is for those two to gain access to Dragon Force." Wendy cheerfully said.
"YOU THINK THAT WILL BE ENOUGH! NO POWER SURPASSES DRAGON FORCE!" Sting roared as he dashed towards Natsu and he tried to slam a flash fist onto Natsu, but Natsu grabbed the fist without any trouble. "No power, huh?"
"I killed my father with this power! Nothing can surpass this." Natsu then tightens his grip on Sting's fist causing him to wince. "As I said before, the fun and games are over," Natsu said as he continued to increase the pressure on Sting's fist.
"For all my friends you have insulted and mocked….for what you did to Lucy." Natsu looked up as his eyes were full of rage.
"For making fun of my Nakama, I am going to beat you into the ground," Natsu growled as he popped the joint in Sting's hand. Sting winced before coughing out spit as Natsu landed a harsh punch into his gut before slamming an iron fist that sent Sting flying.
Rogue jumped towards Gajeel as he took out his sword and enveloped it in shadow magic. However, Gajeel just looked bored as he transformed his arm into a sword again and with one swing he shattered the shadow-powered sword. Rogue was left speechless before jumping back and glaring at Gajeel. "You won't beat me. I will surpass you. Eiryu no Hoko!" shouted Rogue.
"You really are a broken record. If you got nothing new to say then SHUT THE HELL UP!" Gajeel roared as he launched a massive iron dragon roar that ripped right through the shadow roar and blasted Rogue further away. "It's not over!" Rogue said with Gajeel goading him by waving his arm towards himself. "Then come!" he shouted back.
"Tell me, why did Fairy Tail join the games? The Fairy Tail I knew never cared about its reputation, so why now?" Sting asked in confusion.
"For our Nakama. For the seven years that they suffered and endured. They took it all in and waited for our return. They never gave up. They never disbanded the guild. They kept the guild safe. That's why for our nakama….we'll show everyone. THAT FAIRY TAIL HAS KEPT GOING AND WILL KEEP MOVING FORWARD!" Natsu passionately ranted.
'Natsu.' thought most of the members in tears.
'Stubborn brat.' a nostalgic Naruto thought as recalled similar words spoken by a small silver-haired boy with a huge smile. That image soon changed to one of a small blonde boy with whisker marks on his face. Naruto shook his head. 'No time to get sentimental.'
"CUT THAT CRAP. NAKAMA?! ALL THEY ARE IS A BURDEN!" Sting tried to fire another Holy Ray, but his words simply pissed off Natsu as he created a giant sphere of lightning and fire.
"You keep saying that, and yet you both have exceeds! Raienryu no Koen!" The giant sphere tore through the rays and made a direct hit on Sting and sending him flying at the same time Gajeel sent Rogue in the same direction.
"YOU KEEP SPEWING THAT BULLSHIT, YET THE TWO OF YOU HAVE EXCEEDS! TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"KEEP LECTOR OUT OF THIS! YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND OUR BOUND! HAKURYU NO HOKO!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND FROSCH! EIRYU NO HOKO!"
"YOU CAN'T INSULT SOMEONE FOR THEIR BONDS YET HAVE ONE AS WELL YOU HYPOCRITES! RAIENRYU NO HOKO!" Natsu roared as the gigantic blast ripped through the two roars and enveloped the two in a gigantic explosion.
"Oi! The emo was my opponent." Gajeel said as he glared at Natsu. "Hey, he attacked me and interrupted my fight. Besides those two were pissing off with their crap." Natsu defended as Gajeel glared before looking away. "Fair enough."
"Those two are really going all the way." an impressed Jura said.
"Those two can be blockheads, but when it comes to fighting, they're the worst people to face. Especially if you piss them off." Lyon said from personal experience from fighting Natsu.
"Magnificent perfume, Natsu-kun. Gajeel-kun." Ichiya commented.
"Oi are you for real?" a stun Orga muttered.
"I have no memory of Dragon Force losing this badly," Rufus said in shock.
"Power, huh?" Minerva mused.
When the smoke cleared, Sting and Rogue slowly got up again. "STING!" Rogue shouted as a torrent of shadows came out of his arm in the shape of a giant sphere. "YEAH!" Sting shouted as he created another sphere of white magical energy. The two then began to push the spheres together as the two opposite elements began to mix together.
"Oi! That's a…."
"Yup, a Unison Raid," Natsu said before giving Gajeel a look. "Want to give it a try." Gajeel shrugged his shoulders. "Sure why not." The two began charging up as this would be their last attack to end the fight.
"Metsuryu Ogi!" Gajeel shouted as he brought his arms together as they transformed into a gigantic black and gray cannon with a dragon head at the tip. Natsu began transferring his power to his arms as his aura took the shape of a vermillion bird.
"Power alone can never destroy every obstacle a person will face," Mavis said.
"However, when they have people to push them beyond their limits…." Makarov began.
"They achieve the power to destroy any obstacle they face." Mavis finished.
Sting and Rogue condensed the two-sphere into one tiny black-and-white sphere.
"Unison Raid: Holy Shadow Dragon Fang Flash!"
"Karma Iron Dragon Cannon!" Gajeel shouted as the giant beam of black and green magical energy.
"Metsuryu Ogi: Guren Bakuraienjin (Crimson Exploding Lightning Flame Blades)!" Natsu roared as he fired off a torrent spiral of flames covered in lightning. The torrent flew in conjunction with the beam as the spirals began overlapping the beam. The result was the beam increasing in size as now the beam was a spiral of green, grey, red, and yellow. The two attacks collided and caused massive shockwaves that ripped through the arena below the stadium.
However, the stalemate ended quickly as the combined beam ripped through the flash fang and enveloped Sting and Rogue in a massive explosion.
"A MASSIVE EXPLOSION HAS ENVELOPED THE TEAMS! WHO WILL BE THE LAST TEAM STANDING?!"
When the smoke cleared, Sting and Rogue were still up, but soon began to fall.
"I'm sorry Lector. He's too strong." Sting muttered as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Frosch." Rogue before falling to the ground as well.
"THAT'S IT THE WINNER IS FAIRY TAIL!"
"Nice work you two!" Wendy cheered.
"Now that was a manly fight!" Elfman cheered as he hugged Evergreen next to him.
"Yeah!" Evergreen before realizing her compromising position and quickly pushed Elfman off with a blush on his face. "Get off, baka!" she shouted in an embarrassed tone.
"Awesome job you guys," Gildarts said, proud of their performance.
"Good job," Erza said in a pleased tone.
"They never cease to amaze," Laxus said.
Unknown to everyone a cloaked figure watched the screen of Natsu's victory pose as tears fell down their cheeks. "Natsu," they muttered softly.
Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy felt that shift. "That was…"
"Zeref's magical signature. It's the mysterious person."
"Jellal…" Ultear said in concern.
"I'm on it," Jella said quickly as he disappeared to catch the mysterious person.
"Hmm." Naruto mused when he sensed a shift in Jellal's mana but decided not to intervene. For now anyway.
"Heh that was a fun fight, but they were really easy to read. Sting would always turn his pivot leg to 11 o'clock." Natsu said before Gajeel looked at him. "No, it was 10." Gajeel retorted.
"No, it was 11!" Natsu said as he glared at Gajeel, who glared right back.
"Fine, let's say 10:30. It's not 11:00." Gajeel compromised. Natsu glared defiantly at Gajeel. "It's 11 or 23!" Gajeel glared in annoyance "That's one more turn!" Natsu glared at Gajeel until he noticed his anti-motion sickness seal in view. This gave Natsu an idea as he got a very evil smile. He ripped Gajeel's motion sickness seal off and sent him riding on a mine cart.
"YOU BASTARD!" Gajeel shouted/moaned.
"GAGAGAGAGAGA!" Natsu mockingly laughed.
"WHAT AN EXCITING FINALE TO TODAY'S EVENTS. TOMORROW WILL BE THE FINAL DAY OF THE GMG. THE LAST DAY IS A SURVIVAL BATTLE WHERE ALL THE MEMBERS OF EACH GUILD'S TEAM WILL PARTICIPATE! WHO WILL BE THE WINNER?! I'M SO EXCITED!"
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"My. My. This was the expected outcome." Master Bob said in an amused tone.
"I should have seen this coming." Master Goldmine said.
"Our targets have changed for the final day." Grandma Ooba said.
"Come!" Makarov said enthusiastically.
"Gray," Lyon said.
"Gildarts Clive," Jura said.
"Erza," Kagura said.
"Laxus." Dimaria and Orga said.
"Let's have fun, Natsu-kun," Ichiya said.
"Looks like we'll be the underdogs this time," Orga said.
"No matter we'll still win," Rufus said confidently.
"Hmm. The power of Nakama, huh?" Minerva said to herself as she walked down the corridor of the stadium. However, someone grabbed her from behind as the two disappeared into the darkness.
[Fairy Tail Infirmary]
"That was amazing Natsu."
"Never cease to do the amazing."
"Come here," Erza said as she grabbed Natsu and slammed into her armor in a tight hug. "Can't breathe." Natsu gurgled out before he was finally let go to take in some air.
"Nice fight brat. Though Gajeel will probably kill you, once he finds you again." Naruto commented as Natsu just shrugged. Natsu then turned to Lucy and gave a bright smile.
"Lucy. I kept my promise." he said as Lucy lightly blushed as she smiled softly at her partner, "Hai, you did."
[Unknown Location under the Stadium]
"Salamander you bastard," Gajeel growled as he got out of the cart. "When I get my hands on him I'll…" That's when he takes a good look at his surroundings as his eyes widen in horror at what he is seeing.
"What the hell is this?"
[Fairy Tail Infirmary]
Carla stops as she has another vision of the castle crumbling to the ground. Wendy saw the look on Carla's face and paused as she had a good idea what this is about.
"Carla? Did you have another vision?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah. I saw the castle being destroyed," she responded. "I guess with the day approaching, maybe the vision is getting stronger."
"Ignore it for now, unless you see something different, alright?" Wendy recommended.
Carla nodded. "Hai."
[Later that night in an alleyway in the capital]
Jellal finally caught up to the mysterious person "Stop." he commanded as the figure surprisingly stopped "I'll show you who I am if you do the same." Jellal said as he removed his hood.
"Now show me your face," he told the figure as they turned to face Jellal as they removed their hood. Jellal's eyes widened in absolute shock at what he was seeing. "No way. What the hell is going on?!" Jellal shouted in shock.
[Later in the evening, Fairy Tail Guild Lodging Pub]
Everyone was throwing a party at their latest victory against Sabertooth. Everyone was in high spirits. Even the reclusive Eclair was smiling and Wendy was actually becoming social again with Carla, chatting with Katja, Eclair, and Momon. Naruto was sitting by Makarov's side along with Gildarts having a pleasant conversation. Mirajane, Kianna, and even Lisanna were helping pass out drinks and food to everyone.
"GAGAGAGAGA!" Natsu laughed like a drunk maniac. Gray, who was sitting close, finally got tired of Natsu's laughing as he shouted, "Shut it, loudmouth!" Natsu stopped as he turned to Gray's backside.
"What you say? Turn around and say it again." he challenged. Gray turned to glare at Natsu. "Fine. You're too loud flame-brain. You're ruining my mood!" he retorted. "You wanna do something about it?" Natsu challenged. "If you keep talking I might just have to," Gray said back.
"Go for it Natsu!" Happy cheered. Wendy and Katja sweatdropped.
"As always, those two have more energy than what to do with. If there's one consolation is that you're nothing like them, Wendy." Katja said. Wendy giggled. "I was never the rambunctious type to jump at every chance to enter any fight that occurs."
"I am kinda glad for that Wendy-san. I like your peaceful demeanor more. Though I do like Natsu and Gray in their own way." Katja said.
"Hai." Wendy smiled, "Don't worry I get what you mean."
"Those two will probably be like that when they're old, grey, and wrinkled," Momon said cheekily.
"That's a scary thought," Lily said.
"Alright enough you two. Any more of that and you'll destroy another pub." Lucy commanded as she appeared in front of the two. "Killjoy." Natsu and Gray said simultaneously.
"Well, we just won a major fight and tomorrow is the finale of the GMG. A little steam blowing wouldn't be too bad." Mira said as she stopped right behind Lucy's side. "You're too lenient Mirajane," Lucy said before turning to Makarov. "Master do something," she said to Makarov.
"Hmmm. Natsu!" Makarov shouted before jumping on top of the table and pointing at the fire mage. "If you're gonna fight, go all the way and show them why you're a dragonslayer!"
"That's not what I meant, master! Naruto help!" Lucy shouted desperately as he would be the only person Natsu would listen to. However, her hopes were dashed as Naruto shook his head. "As long as I don't get dragged in, I don't care." Naruto retorted as Gildarts laughed like an idiot as he and Cana took a giant gulp of their drinks.
"I don't need to be told to kick some ass! Get ready to cry, Gray!" Natsu shouted as he ignited his fist. "The only one who's going to cry is you, Natsu!" Gray said as he covered his arm in ice.
"Bottoms up~" Happy said cheerfully as she was about to munch on his fish.
WHAM!
That was sadly interrupted as he was frozen in a block of ice and his fish was burned to a crisp.
"Whoops." Natsu and Gray said. "How terrible! You two are cruel, how can you do that to my precious fish!" Happy comically shouted from inside the block of ice. "Sorry, Happy," they said.
Unbeknownst to anyone the fried fish went flying until it landed on the strawberry cake of a certain scarlet-haired mage. Lucy and Juvia flinched as they felt the increased bloodlust and decided to move as far away as possible from this bomb about to go off. Meanwhile, Wendy was doing her best to heal Happy from his frozen experience.
"Don't worry Happy, I'll get you back up in no time," she said confidently. "Forget about me. What about my fish?" Happy cried as Carla scoffed. "Forget about the fish and worry about yourself." Carla scolded.
Natsu and Gray were continuing their fist fight until someone grabbed them by the top of their heads. "ENOUGH!" Erza shouted as she slammed the two together. "E-Erza." the two said weakly.
"Morons. Tomorrow is the finale, and you're wasting your energy in this meaningless struggle?" Erza lectured before glaring at the two. "More importantly, you ruined my cake!" she shouted in comical fury as she summoned a large buster sword. "Have mercy!" the two shouted, but Erza was having none of it. "There will be no mercy for you tonight!" she said darkly.
Before she could move, the door to the pub opened and everyone turned to see an irate Gajeel.
"Finally I am out of that hell hole," he growled out. Natsu walked towards him and asked, "Geez what took you so long?" Gajeel just glared hotly at him. "You bastard. It's your fault I took so long in the first place," he shouted, Natsu shrugged. "Maybe you were just too slow to react. Besides, consider it payback for day 2." Natsu retorted.
"Grrrr," Gajeel growled before sighing. "Forget it. I have more important things to talk to you about."
Natsu just raised an eyebrow at this "What's this about?" he asked in a confused tone, but Gajeel just shook his head. "Not here, just follow me." Gajeel said before he turned to Wendy, "You too shrimp." Gajeel then began walking out of the pub.
"Oi! What's this about?" Natsu asked again, but Gajeel ignored his question again.
"Just follow me," Gajeel said again. Natsu and Wendy looked at one another before Natsu went after the iron slayer. Wendy looked at her father and he nodded to her. She smiled before following the two.
"What could that be about?" Lucy asked as Erza just shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, but I am going after them," Gray said as he went after them.
"Wait for me, Gray!" Lucy shouted as she went after him with Yukino not far behind. "Lucy-san!"
Naruto sighed, having a good idea of where they were going. He then turned to Erza and Laxus,
"Erza. Laxus. Go after them." The two looked confused as to why they should go.
"Why? They can handle themselves." Laxus said with Erza nodding. "Yes, but this could be enlightening to the two of you, especially considering your magic." Laxus and Erza paused as they got the message. This must have to do with the dragons and dragon slayers in some capacity. The two nodded before going after the others.
Naruto sighed as he looked down at his drink "I wonder if they'll be able to handle what they'll see," Naruto muttered as he gulped down his drink. "The promised day is approaching."
[Sabertooth Guild Lodging]
WHAM!
"I warned you brat that if you failed me, you would suffer dearly!" Jiemma shouted.
"We underestimated Fairy Tail's strength," Sting said as he slammed into the ground again.
"Is that shameful talk coming from a mage of Sabertooth?!"
BOOM!
"GAH!" Rogue grunted in pain
"REMOVE YOUR MARKS! YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF THEM!" Jiemma shouted again.
"ENOUGH!" Everyone turned to see Dobengal glaring at the master of Sabertooth. Jiemma growled at the ninja mage.
"I BELIEVE I TOLD YOU THAT YOU'LL SUFFER IF YOU INTEREVE AGAIN!" Jiemma shouted.
"And I told you if you do this again I would not be as merciful," Dobengal warned as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.
"Enough Dobengal," Orga said in an annoyed tone. "So you would side with the coward?" Dobengal retorted, ignoring the growl coming out of the Blast mage.
"Master sets the rules. You know this." Rufus said, but Dobengal scoffed. "If I recall I warned all of you about not underestimating Fairy Tail, especially Wendy Marvell, and yet Minerva was the only one to listen to me. And today you idiots pissed off someone that could have easily killed you if he wanted to."
"DON'T REMIND OF THE SHAMEFUL ACTIONS OF THESE WEAKENINGS!" Jiemma shouted as he blasted Rufus and Orga into the wall hard as they both coughed up some blood.
"Rufus! Orga!" several mages shouted. "You fools were beaten by a nobody. I have never been so ashamed of my life to have such weaklings in this guild." Jiemma said as he looked at the members of the team in disgust.
"That man is something far beyond your understanding. We are ants to him that he could easily destroy at any moment he wishes. Especially you." Dobengal warned as the master started foaming in the mouth.
"You are treading on dangerous ground, brat," Jiemma growled, but Dobengal scoffed. "Like I give a shit. Now, where is Minerva?"
"That is not your concern, boy. That useless child needed to be re-educated on her failure." Dobengal's eyes narrowed. "I will not ask again, what did you do to her?" he asked darkly and Jiemma snapped.
"YOU DARE THREATEN ME?! YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE REST! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS FOR THIS! I WILL PERSONALLY RIP OFF YOUR GUILD MARKS!"
"MASTER WAIT!" Lector shouted as everyone turned to see him appear on Jiemma's left side. "Sting-kun and Rogue-kun did their best. He may have lost, but I am proud of Sting. I believe he learned a lot from this defeat and he can become stronger from this." Lector said trying to convince the master to see reason and to save his friend from another beating.
"Lector." Sting quietly muttered. Happy to know that his partner was not disappointed in his performance.
"Who are you?" Jiemma asked. Lector blinked before laughing nervously "I'm a member of the guild. Look at my m-" Lector began explaining before he heard Jiemma growling at him. "I will not allow a lowly creature to bear my mark!" he said as he blasted Lector with his magic.
"LECTOR!" Sting shouted in horror. The last thing he saw was Lector smiling at him.
"S...ting...kun." were the last words of Lector before he was vaporized. "LECTOR!" Sting shouted as tears fell down his eyes before he screamed to the top of his lungs as he gripped with anguish and sorrow at the loss of his friend.
"Lector's gone," Frosh said in horror as Rogue quickly grabbed him and held him close to protect him from Jiemma's wrath.
"Why are you crying he was a worthless animal," Jiemma said as he was about to strike Sting again as he raised his left arm and charged it with magical energy.
*SLICE* THUMP!
"ARRGHHHHHHHHH!" Jiemma shouted in pain as he looked to see the stump that was his left arm. He looked down to his severed arm twitch a bit before it finally stopped.
"You have gone too far now," Dobengal said as he cleaned the blade of the blood on it and he then pointed it at the now one-armed master. Jiemma growled like a wild animal as he glared at Dobengal. It looked like any sanity he had left was gone. "YOU BASTARD! I AM GOING TO-" Jiemma began shouting, but….
"ARRRRGHHHHHHHH! Sting roared as his magical power skyrocketed until he was transformed into his Dragon Force form. Everyone looked to see an enraged Sting glaring at the master.
"WHAT'S WITH THE GLARE BRAT? I DID YOU A FAVOR KILL OFF THAT-ARG!" Jiemma could not finish his insult as Sting blasted him right through his chest. Everyone, except Dobengal, looked on in shock as they just saw Sting mortally wound the master. Jiemma gurgled as his mouth was filled with blood before falling onto the floor, dead. Sting powered down before falling down as she sobbed at the loss of his partner.
[Meanwhile with Crime Sorciere.]
"Is this true?" Ultear asked in shock. Jellal had come back from confronting the person they sensed in the stadium. But the news he brought was very grim.
"I can't believe it," Meredy said in horror at what was going to happen in the capital.
"But it all makes sense when you connect the dots. Naruto's reappearance. His warning on the calamity. The Eclipse gate. It all fits." Jellal explained. Everything that Naruto told them and the stranger told him. It's all coming together.
"Now I see why he was so hesitant to tell us anything. It would make all of us go hysteric over a hopeless situation." Ultear said. Things were getting bad quickly. If this was really what Naruto was trying to prevent, then what chance did they have?
"But he came to help us, right?" Meredy asked in a hopeful tone. "Or did he come to just save as many as he can?" Ultear questioned back.
"Considering what we will be facing, I won't blame him for doing it," Jellal said. The three remained quiet for a few minutes before Meredy spoke up, "What do we do?" she asked.
"Let's talk to him as he should have a plan, and maybe help me with something that's bugging me," Jellal said as his companions nodded before he disappeared in a flash.
[Meanwhile with the FT Dragonslayers]
"So what did you find, Gajeel?" Wendy asked as they went through an underground tunnel.
"This feels like a waste of time." Natsu retorted.
"Shut it," Gajeel replied back. Behind the three were their exceed partners.
"Is this only for dragon slayers?" Happy asked.
"Probably," Lily replied. "Even so…," Carla said as she looked at Gray, Lucy, and Yukino. "There are onlookers." Yukino and Lucy blushed in embarrassment as Gray shrugged, "Whatever."
"We were just curious," Lucy said awkwardly. Carla then looked at Laxus and Erza trailing a bit behind. "We're here to make sure none of you do anything reckless," Erza said. Laxus just shrugged. "This looked more interesting than staying in the pub," he said.
"We're here." Everyone's eyes widen as took in the sight before them.
"Wait this is-" Wendy started.
"Those look like…" Gray continued.
"Bones." Lucy finished.
"Not just any bones," Wendy said.
"Dragon Bones," Natsu said in shock.
"Yeah, a dragon graveyard," Gajeel said.
"No way! All of these are dragon bones." Happy said. "There are so many. There are probably hundreds, maybe thousands." Carla said as she looked at all the remains scattered everywhere. "Well if anyone denied the existence of dragons…...they would probably believe now," Lily muttered as he was getting a bad vibe from the place.
"Why are they all here?" Gray said as he looked around the cave. "No idea," Gajeel said as he crossed his arms. "I don't understand. What could have put them all here?" Natsu asked. Lucy moved a bit closer to him as she looked around, "Did something happen to them?"
"You think this is where Naruto was going to take you guys?" Happy suggested before immediately regretting his words as he covered his mouth. "HAPPY!" Carla scolded. "SORRY!" Happy shouted quickly. Natsu shook his head.
"No. Igneel is not here," Natsu said as Gajeel nodded. "Our dragons disappeared 14 years ago. But the dragons here are much older. Like centuries old."
'Probably 4 centuries old.' Laxus thought, wondering if Naruto had something to do with this and why he decided to stay back. Wendy's eyes widened as she remembered something, "I got it. Milky Way!" she shouted as everyone looked at her.
"Wendy?" Lucy asked. Wendy turned to everyone. "Remember the spells Porlyusica and Tou-san left me?" everyone nodded. "One of those spells was Milky Wave. It helps to listen to the voices of the dragons connected to the very river in the skies. I can communicate with the eternano particles that remain here and I may be able to summon the spirit of a dragon to talk to us."
"REALLY?!" Natsu and Gajeel asked as Wendy nodded."Yeah, leave it to me."
"I feel like that spell is more appropriate for a soul slayer," Laxus said as Wendy shrugged. "Daddy said that sometimes spells can correlate with many attributes. Plus as he explained the sky has existed far longer than anyone on this planet and has been there for every event in history and when mana particles disperse they go to the sky, adding to the sky's record of the world and its history."
"Now let's do this." It took Wendy a few minutes to draw the magic circle to perform the spell.
"Be ready as we can't be sure that if I do find a spirit he/she will be willing to talk." Wendy went into the center as she got to her knees and began to chant,
"Wandering souls of the dragons…..I am ready to hear your voices. MILKY WAY!" The seal around Wendy began to glow bluish-white as a beam went up to the ceiling creating a giant swirl of magical energy that eventually turned green.
"OHHHHHH!" Everyone said. "Pretty." Lucy, Yukino, and Erza said.
Soon green whips of manacame out of the vortex and went around the entire graveyard. Soon all the bones began to shake causing everyone to get nervous.
"They're all shaking!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Wendy is this supposed to happen." a concerned Happy asked.
"Don't worry. I am looking for a dragon soul, but the residual energy is really low as these bones are extremely old and small." Wendy, then she opens her eyes. "Found one. It's small, but I should be able to maintain it to get some answers if any." Suddenly all the wisps began to come together in the air as a giant portal seemed to be opening.
"WOAH!"
"Is that a soul?"
"Wendy…"
"Hush Happy, she's concentrating."
Suddenly something began to come out of the portal. Something very large.
"Hey.."
"That's a…"
A large quadruped creature with large wings came out of the portal. It was around 55 meters in length. It was covered in a thick dark green armored hide with sharp fangs and claws. It also had two whiskers going down its chin.
"DRAGON!" everyone shouted. "ROOOARRRRRR!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" everyone screamed in fear.
"GAHAHHAHHAHAHA!" the dragon started laughing at everyone's reaction. "Huh?" everyone said. "You humans are always fun to screw around with. It never gets old." Everyone just stared incredulously at the spiritual dragon.
"My name is Zirconis, I am the Jade Dragon. I'm surprised you humans would be able to summon my soul. If I am not mistaken this spell belongs to that sexy dragon Grandeeney, now who's the one who summoned me?" He looked around until he saw Wendy.
"Awww, how cute. This little dragon slayer summoned me?"
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM WENDY!" Natsu shouted. "No way I am going eat this adorable munchkin." Natsu comically growled "YOU BASTARD!".
"HAHAHAHA! Lighten up, you idiot. It was a joke. I'm a ghost what could I do to her? Possess her?" Natsu glared at the dragon "This guy." he said in an annoyed tone. The others were having similar reactions.
"We just had to get a crazy person," Lucy said.
"Not a person, a dragon," Gray said.
"To be more precise a soul." Gajeel retorted.
"A dragon soul," Laxus muttered in an annoyed tone.
"A very annoying dragon soul." Erza finished in the same tone.
"My name is Zirconis, and I'm-"
"YOU ALREADY TOLD US!" everyone shouted as Zirconis just chuckled in amusement. Humans were so much fun screwing around with.
"How did you know Grandeeney?" Natsu asked in a curious tone.
"She was one of the most desired dragons back in my day. But no one had the nerve to go near her when her 'brother-figure' was near to bat anyone way. That girl tailed him anywhere he went. Made a lot of us wonder if she had some kind of infatuation for him and wanted to court him."
Wendy snorted at the thought of Grandeeney acting like that towards her dad. It sounded pretty funny and she wished to have seen that. Inside her head, she could hear Dark rolling around laughing uncontrollably, which made her giggle a bit. Unbeknownst to her Grandeeney was trying to hide her cherry-red face, denying everything Zirconis said and making Dark laugh even harder.
"What exactly happened here?" Erza asked.
"This place looks like a dragon graveyard," Lily said.
"We summoned your soul to see if we could get some answers," Carla said politely.
"I have nothing to you, humans, go away!" Zirconis said as he turned his head away.
"Wait, the three of us are cats." Happy said.
"Aw well, this started over 400 years ago." Zirconis began as everyone sweat-dropped. 'He seems to change his mind very often.' everyone thought.
"Dragons were the rulers of Earthland. We thrived in the land, sea, and sky. Everything in this world belonged to us, and our power was nearly unmatched. The only ones that could fight us were divine beings and the kaiju. And the number of demons that could fight us was small also."
"Humans looked up to us as gods and worshipped many of us as such. However, most of my kind saw humans as nothing more than food. However, several foolish dragons lived in coexistence with the humans. They created a kingdom in these ancient lands and at the time were ruled over by the Sixth Dragon King, Thoron."
"The two sides never saw eye to eye, so small skirmishes always broke out. But soon it escalated to a full-scale war between the coexistence dragons and the man-eating dragons. I was on the side of the man-eaters."
"W-Wait you ate humans," Lucy said as she looked up at the dragon in fear.
"I may not like humans, but your kind is a delicacy that I could never forget."
"Didn't you mama dragon tell you to never talk with your food." Natsu teased with a vein popping on Zirconis's head.
"You getting on my nerves!" Zirconis coughed before regaining his composure, "The war continued for several years with neither side gaining an advantage. We were in a deadlock until the coexistence dragons broke with their foolish strategy. A strategy conceived between two humans and a dragon. A plan that would spell doom for us all. They taught humans the magic dragons used to slay dragons. This was the birth of what you humans call dragon slayer magic."
Everyone looked shocked, especially Natsu and Gajeel. "That's how dragonslayer magic was created," Lucy said. "So the first dragon slayers were soldiers in a war?" Happy asked as Zirconis nodded.
"That's right. The power of the dragon slayers was immense and turned the tide of the war. However, there was a miscalculation. Many dragon slayers became too powerful and arrogant as they started to kill the dragons on their side too. They would come to regret those actions as they had angered HIM."
Everyone blinked in confusion "Who?" they asked. "One of the two humans who helped create dragon slayer magic. The Father of all Dragon slayers, you could say."
"When he saw what the traitors had done, he snapped. He went on a rampage to find them. And find them he did. He then systematically slaughtered every last one of them in a horrific display of blood and gore. Even a dragon like myself shivers remembering him."
Nearly everyone's eyes widened in horror, while Erza's and Laxus's eyes narrowed. Wendy frowned knowing who this was about.
"I still remember when I saw him again. His eyes were empty sockets into a deep white void, an aura that reeked of death, and a body covered in the blood and flesh of my kind. I made the mistake of angering him when I killed another brat who was under his care. That mistake would lead to my gruesome end along with the dragons that were with me that day." Everyone glared at what they heard and many were thinking he deserved it.
'So far this matches everything Naruto/father told us. But I wonder what else we'll learn.' Laxus and Erza thought respectively. Everyone noticed how Zirconis was staring at Erza and Lucy. Lucy got rather uncomfortable, while Erza narrowed her eyes. "What?" Erza asked but had a good idea what the staring was about.
"Hmmmm now that I look at you two closely, you remind me of a woman I knew during the war. The same could be said about the blonde next to you." Everyone looked between the three with Lucy looking very lost at what Zirconis said. Does that mean one of her ancestors was part of the war and maybe a dragon slayer? But as far as she could recall there has never been a dragon slayer in the Heartfilia family, so what could Zirconis mean? Erza knew that Zirconis was speaking of her mother and Anna, but she kept quiet as it was not yet time for that secret to come out yet. Zirconis shook his head as he turned back to his entire audience.
"Anyway as time went on he would continue to slaughter my kind as the war went on. He bathed in our blood and devoured our flesh. He really was a monster in every sense of the word." Everyone had paled hearing the father's description, while Lucy and Yukino looked like they were gonna be sick. "Eventually, his skin became scales, his teeth became fangs, his feet became talons, he grew wings and a tail, and soon looked more and more like a dragon."
Nearly everyone felt their eyes widen. "A human became a dragon?" Lucy asked in fear.
"Why?" Natsu asked. "Because that is the inevitable fate that befalls all who use dragonslayer magic. Once it begins it can't be stopped."
'I know father became a dragon, but why am I getting a bad feeling about where this story is going?'
"All the dragons you see here are the remains of everyone that man has killed. Despite his human origins, that man would kill our king and reign as our new king. The war that was fought would be known as the Dragon King Festival. That man's name was Acnologia. Once a human, now a black dragon that was cloaked in wings of darkness."
Everyone who did not know the truth about Naruto felt their eyes nearly pop out of their heads. "WWWWHHHHAAATTTT?!" they all shouted.
"ACNOLOGIA! THAT THING WAS HUMAN?! HOW COULD THING EVER HAVE BEEN HUMAN?! IT ATTACKED US FOR NO REASON AND WE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP HIM!" Lucy shouted in fear. Why wouldn't she? That monster came out of nowhere and attacked her guild. They threw everything they had, but nothing could stop him.
"HOW COULD THAT BE POSSIBLE!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"WAIT THAT MAKES NO SENSE! NARUTO IS THE DRAGON KING!" Natsu shouted as Zirconis's eyes widened. "How do you know that name?"
"We've met him. He told us he's the son of Thoron and Saphira. That makes him the Dragon King. So how the hell is Acnologia the King."
"HEHEHE….HAHAHAHAHA!" Zirconis began to laugh uncontrollably. "WHAT THE HELL IS SO DAMN FUNNY?!" Natsu roared in annoyance.
"No lies were spoken to you. Everything you were told was the truth. However, I will warn you now. The fact that Naruto has resurfaced means a great shadow is soon to come. Beware humans of the calamity that will come. I have said my piece, farewell." Zirconis finished as he faded away.
"Wendy?" Carla and Happy asked as they approached the girl. Wendy shook her head. "Sorry, his spirit has completely vanished. Perhaps he may find peace in the afterlife."
'Or burn in hell.' Dark replied. 'Hush Dark. It's ill-advised to speak ill of the dead.' Wendy mentally scolded as she got up, but paused when she smelled a foreign scent in the air. Someone else is here.
"Well, that was one hell of a history lesson," Gray said.
"I think that was too much," Lucy said with a tearful look in her eyes.
"Well, that was a bit of a waste of time since I already knew most of this. Though at least everything was confirmed." Laxus muttered to himself. He looked to ask Erza her opinion but got concerned when he saw how quiet she was. "Erza?" he asked, but unfortunately Erza was too focused on her own internal thoughts.
'None of this makes sense. How could Acnologia become the king and have been that killed Thoron when father said he was the one who did it?' Erza thought before her mind froze as she had a moment of clarity as everything came together. 'Father was a dragon slayer who lost the children under his care. He slaughtered all those responsible. He soon began to turn into a dragon. He went to a person to end the war. He hurt Aunt Anna and turned into a dragon. Thoron died saving him and leaving him as the sole person to take the throne. My father is Acnologia.' Erza felt as if she was splashed with a bucket of cold water until she felt Laxus's hand shaking her.
"Erza? Are you okay?" Laxus asked as Erza took a few breaths to calm herself as she looked at her fellow S-rank mage. "Yeah, just a lot to think about."
"So….Does that mean if we use dragon slayer magic too much, we'll turn into dragons?!" Natsu asked in comical terror. "How should I know?!" Gajeel retorted.
"No, Natsu you and Gajeel shouldn't have to worry about it," Wendy said as everyone turned to her.
"Wendy, what do you mean?" Natsu asked. "Do you know something?" Lucy asked.
"Before I talk I think our spy should come out," Wendy said as she looked to the far right and someone came out from behind a skeleton that was covered in dust and moss.
"Hmmm. So you found me out? The nose of a dragonslayer is truly an impressive tool." the person said as everyone became guarded in case the man did anything.
"Who are you?" Laxus asked. The man took a bow before he introduced himself.
"Forgive me, my name is Arcadios and I am Head of the Holy Chivalric Order of the Cherry Blossoms and part of the army of the Fiore Kingdom stationed here in Crocus. Now my dear please continue." Wendy looked at the man for a few seconds before turning back to Natsu.
"Natsu when we granted dragon slayer magic we began to grow something in us called the dragon seed. The more we use this magic, the more this seed grows and it will eventually begin to spread throughout our body, and we'll see the physical signs just as Zirconis explained. The claws, fangs, talons, wings, etc. And when the seed blooms, the person becomes a dragon. They are the fourth generation dragon slayers." Wendy said as Natsu and several others shouted, "WHAT?!"
"The fourth generation can turn into dragons?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock.
"WAIT WENDY DIDN'T YOU SAY YOUR FATHER IS A FOURTH GEN?!" Lucy shouted as Wendy nodded. "Yes, my father can turn into a dragon as he is a fourth-gen…..just like how I am fourth-gen as well."
"WHAT?!" nearly everyone shouted again. Wendy mentally sighed at all the shouting, but pressed on."HOW?!" Natsu and Gajeel asked loudly.
"I will keep this short. Back when I was really young, my dad sealed a powerful mana force inside me. It was meant to protect me in case I was in an extreme situation. However, there was an unexpected result. The power merged with my dragon slayer magic and destroyed the seed, but left me with all the benefits. Now I can enter my dragon form while not losing access to my drive and dragon force forms, which is what normally happens to a fourth-gen slayer." Wendy explained but decided to leave out the part about the power technically originating from a demon. That would cause too many problems with some members of the guild.
"Damn." was all anyone could say. "Can you turn into a dragon now?" Natsu asked, but Wendy shook her head. "Not for long. One, my body is not able to handle the stress of the transformation, so I would just be killing myself. Second, if I stay too long not only will it cause harm to myself, but I will also lose myself to my primal mind and become a rampaging monster that attacks everything and everyone in my line of sight."
Everyone shivered as they remembered how Wendy reacted to Carla's insults to her father. Then everyone imagined what would have happened had Wendy actually snapped when Lucy was beaten. Everyone felt the color drain from their bodies at the thought of Wendy snapping in the middle of the stadium that was filled with hundreds of civilians and mages. They all shivered in fright. "I'm glad you never turned into one, Wendy," Gray said.
Wendy chuckled awkwardly "Yeah, isn't that a relief." she was sure they would not like to hear that she was very tempted to go full dragon against Minerva for what she did to Lucy. 'Yeah, they may not like hearing that.' Dark said.
"Hmm. How fascinating. Your information and what the dragon told us, match everything he has in our records. Although he did omit one thing involving Acnologia." Arcadios said as everyone looked at him.
"Tell me do you know of the demons of Zeref?" he asked as Gray's eyes widened. "You mean like Deliora?" Arcadios nodded. "That's correct. Acnologia you could say is similar. According to a theory we devised, Zeref assisted Acnologia in his transformation into a dragon."
"ZEREF HELPED TURN ACNOLOGIA?!" several people shouted.
"Yes, and by destroying Zeref, the source of all evil, we destroy Acnologia as well," Arcadios said. Wendy narrowed her eyes at the man. 'I really don't trust him.' Wendy thought as Dark also did not like this man. 'Be wary, but I don't think he's evil.'
'That explains who helped father.' Erza thought as another piece of evidence was added to her conclusion about her father.
"However for this goal to be accomplished we require the assistance of two Stellar Mages. In particular, ones that have the zodiac keys."
'Zodiac keys?' Lucy and Yukino thought. Wendy's eyes narrowed in thought before they widened in realization as she glared at the knight. "You son of a bitch! You're the one who sent those goons that captured Katja and Eclair." she accused as Arcadios nodded. "That's correct."
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted as several of them got into fighting stances, but Arcadios waved his hand. "Calm yourselves. I am not here to capture them. I must apologize as I acted hastily and made a critical mistake. I meant no harm, but I acted too forcefully to gain the zodiac keys. I am sorry." Arcadios as he bowed his head. Everyone looked suspicious before calming down a bit.
"What exactly is your goal, Arcadios-san?" Wendy asked. Arcadios then turned around and he began walking "Please, follow me and I will show you."
[An hour later at Fairy Lodgings.]
It turns out that Arcadios took the group to see the Eclipse Gate. He explained they would use this gate to open a portal to go 400 years back into the past and kill Zeref before he became immortal. Nearly everyone in Fairy Tail had an epiphany as they now realized that the gate in Carla's vision was the Eclipse Gate. They also connected that the malicious magical energy was coming from the gate.
Wendy asked if it was safe to mess with things such as time travel as they had no idea of the consequences of these actions. But some like Yukino wondered if the consequences could outweigh the potential good that could be done with this gate. Arcadios explained that with the twelve keys, the gate would be opened when the moons are eclipsed to one another. July 7 is when the gate will be opened. That made some alarm bells go off in everyone's heads as that was the same day Naruto said he would reveal where the dragons went. This just raised even more questions. Were these two events connected in some way?
However before they could voice their opinions, they were all surrounded by the kingdom's army, and leading them was the colonel/minister, Durton. He explained that he was against this plan from the start and now will have Arcadios, Lucy, and Yukino arrested. Natsu wanted to intervene, but he had his magical energy drained from him by the Eclipse Gate. The rest were kicked out of the castle and told if they win they may have an audience with the king and get their friend back then. Now they're back in the lodging and explain everything to Makarov, Gildarts, and Naruto.
"So the only way to get Lucy and Yukino back is if we win the GMG," Gildarts said as Gray did not look convinced at the deal. "The problem is that we have no clue if they will even keep their word. They could easily backstab us."
"WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT ALL THAT! I SAY WE GO IN AND BUST HER OUT NOW!" Natsu shouted from his tied-up position.
"Calm down Natsu. None of us like this either." Makarov lectured.
"Master, f-father. What do we do?" Erza asked though she had difficulty saying father, something that Naruto noticed and made a mental note to ask her about.
"Hmmm. We can not act rashly as this is the king we are dealing with. Though he shouldn't treat his subjects so roughly. The two are being held as an incentive for us to win." Makarov said as he scratched his chin in thought.
"But why let us leave if we have such valuable information?" Gray asked. "Because who would actually believe anything we tell them? Everyone will think we're crazy. And the last thing I think anyone wants to do is start a civil war against the kingdom." Laxus answered.
Natsu finally got sick of sitting and ripped himself out of his bindings. "ENOUGH BLABBERING AND LET'S JUST GO SAVE THEM!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "SETTLE DOWN!" Makarov said as he slammed his enlarged fist on Natsu.
"They have members of our family in their clutches. Considering who our opponents are….we can't attack upfront without consequences." Makarov said before looking at the blonde king, "Naruto what do you propose?" Naruto hummed before answering.
"We need to appear in the games as they'll immediately know if don't. So we create two teams. One will participate in the games, while the other DISCREETLY infiltrates the castle and rescues Lucy and Yukino. If the GMG team wins, we'll have our audience with the king and get the girls back, but if they go back on their word our rescue team will get them out."
Makarov sighed "That seems to be our best option at the moment."
"I'm going on that rescue team!" Natsu shouted with a fiery look in his eyes. Naruto rolled his eyes. "I already knew you would say that. Wendy, I want you to go to help Lucy and Yukino, but also to keep him from getting into trouble."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Natsu shouted but was ignored by everyone else.
"Anyway. All of you get some sleep, we have a LONG day tomorrow and you need your rest." everyone nodded as they all began turning in for the night. Wendy gave Erza and Naruto a tight hug before going to bed. Naruto was about to go to bed on the couch when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Erza looking at him.
"Father?" she asked in an uncertain tone. Naruto raised an eyebrow as she bit her lip."Can I speak with you?" Naruto nodded as the two sat on the couch and quickly put a silencing barrier to keep the conversation private.
"What is it?" he finally asked. Erza fidgeted before finally speaking "I want you to be honest with me. When we spoke to Zirconis he spoke about a particular mage that helped bring about the creation of dragon slayer magic. How he was betrayed by his comrades and killed them all. How he slowly descended into madness and became a dragon. A dragon that rose to become the Dragon King." Erza looked up to see her father's serious gaze, "Father. Are…..Are you really Acnologia?" she finally asked.
Naruto looked at his daughter for a solid minute before answering "Yes." The two remained quiet as Erza looked down, coming to terms with what was confirmed to her.
"Why then?" she finally asked. Naruto looked at her. "What?" He asked as Erza raised her head as she stared at her father with sad, conflicted eyes. "Why did you attack my guild?"
Naruto sighed before answering, "I will say what I told Wendy, I originally went to go after Zeref as I wanted revenge against his actions against me. I don't have to explain that, correct?"
Erza shook her head. "Well when I saw he was gone, but you guys were on the island, I decided to have fun with you guys." Erza glared at her father for that remark "FUN?! FATHER DO YOU REALIZE HOW TERRIFIED YOU MADE ALL OF US?!" she screamed.
"I am well aware, but let me ask you something. Did anyone die?" Naruto asked. Erza narrowed her eyes. "No. But that's not an excuse." Naruto shook his head as that wasn't the point he was making. "Didn't you ever find it weird that I went out of my way to land on the island and attack you all when all I had to do was fire my roar at the island when it came into my line of sight?" Erza looked thoughtful as what her father said did make sense. He did not need to land on the island. "Not to mention no one died or lost a limb. Gildarts fought me and lost an arm and leg, but no one lost anything. I did all that because I wanted to see how strong you guys were."
"And?" Erza questioned as her father scratched the back of his head. "Well I was disappointed in your power as I expected more, but I was happy at how close your bonds to one another were. It showed that you held the ideals of my sister, Mavis, close to your hearts. So I tested you with my roar, and you managed to deflect it thanks to the Fairy Sphere you created. Once I saw you guys were alive, I left and you know the rest."
Erza looked down digesting everything she heard. She looked up when she saw her father get up to dispel the barrier "I will take my leave." he said. Erza's eyes widen in shock. "Wait why?!"
"I can tell my presence is upsetting you. So I'll leave and if you don't want to speak with me again. I'll understand." Naruto said as he looked at his daughter sadly before he began walking out. Erza continued to look in horror before she finally snapped back into reality and ran after Naruto.
"NO!" she shouted as she enveloped her father in a firm hug from behind. Naruto was left stunned as Erza buried her head on his back as she held on tight. "Please, don't leave," she said softly. Naruto looked back in confusion "But you-" Naruto began but was interrupted by a loud, but firm, "Be quiet and let me speak!" Naruto stayed quiet to allow Erza to speak.
"I do not hate you. Am I angry? Yes, I am very, but I don't hate you. I have heard and seen enough of your past to know just how complicated and jaded you are. You have been so much throughout your life. So much pain, so much suffering, so many betrayals. It could make anyone snap. All the pain you felt, eventually became all you knew and the only thing you knew how to give others. But Master Mavis and Wendy have shown that you still are capable of feeling love and yesterday shows that you hold great sorrow for your mistakes." Erza then looked at her father with gentle brown eyes and a small smile.
"That's why If I can forgive Gajeel, Laxus, Jellal, and Ultear for their actions, then I should have no problem forgiving you, father," Erza said brightly as Naruto just looked at his daughter in wonder before turning around and bringing her into a tight hug. "Thank you for my benihime," he said softly as she returned the hug. The two stayed in silence before they separated as Erza was asked something that had been on her mind for a while.
"Father one last question. When I saw Lucy getting hurt, I felt a great anger and then heard a voice speak to me. I also heard it after seeing your memories." Naruto sighed before answering, "That would be your inner dragon." Erza blinked, "My what?"
"It's a physical manifestation of your dragon slayer magic. And its personality depends on you, your upbringing, and any other factors that affected you and your personality. And considering your very protective and loyal nature towards your nakama…. it's safe to assume your draconian half is that but taken up to the extreme." Naruto explained.
Erza nodded as that explained a great. She wondered if every dragon slayer had to deal with an inner dragon. She'll ask that another time, but right now she wanted to know one thing. "How do I talk to her?" she asked as she wanted to meet her inner dragon to establish an understanding and a connection. Naruto summoned a piece of paper with the 'Deep Sleep' kanji written on it. "Here. This seal will put you to sleep and send you straight into your inner world."
"But what if I don't wake up in time for the games?" Erza asked worried she may miss the games. Naruto shook his head. "Relax. I made it so the seal wakes you up in time for the games you have my world. If anything goes wrong with it, Wendy will be there to help." Erza nodded in appreciation "Thank you."
"Now go get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow." Erza nodded as she gave Naruto one last hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving to go to her bedroom.
Naruto sighed as he wanted to get some rest after this long day. "Now for some sleep-"
"Naruto," Jellal said as he appeared next to the blonde king. "Fuck." Naruto silently swore as he looked at the blue-haired mage. "What is it?" he asked. Jellal looked at Naruto with a grim look in his eyes. "I need to speak with you about the mystery person. They told me what's going to happen here on July 7th."
Naruto sighed in exasperation."This is so damn troublesome, dattebayo." Naruto muttered before his eyes widen. "DAMMIT!" he shouted.
This was gonna be a long night for Naruto.
[Unknown Location]
Erza opened her eyes to see herself surrounded by numerous crystal constructs. It all looked like a giant forest of crystals of different shapes, sizes, and colors.
"So this is my inner world. I guess the crystals represent The Tower of Heaven since that's what I knew for a good portion of my life before Fairy Tail."
"Hello, Erza. It's a pleasure to meet you at long last." A strong feminine voice said. Erza turned to the source of the voice and saw a figure sitting on one of the branches of the crystal trees.
She looked like a teenager of average height, with fair skin, brown eyes, and dark burgundy hair. Her hair is mostly chin-length with the addition of elbow-length bangs that frame both sides of her face. Her attire typically consists of a high-collared, low-cut red corset with short, light green puffy sleeves worn underneath a sleeveless, magenta trench coat that flares behind her, being shorter and pleated in the front, and black, elbow-length, fingerless gloves with gold bracelets above them; below that, she wears red high-heeled pumps and black thigh-high stockings connected to a skirt by suspenders. Erza admitted that the girl looked very pretty and could pass as her sister or close relative.
(Think Akiza from Yugioh 5Ds)
"Hello, my inner dragon. I'm glad I get to finally meet you." Erza said politely as the inner dragon smiled before she spoke again, "Yes indeed. Now then let's talk."
[Next Day, GMG Stadium 3 PM]
"WELCOME AT LONG LAST EVERYONE! TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY OF THE GMG! WHETHER YOUR HAPPY, SAD, OR BOTH, TODAY A WINNER WILL BE DECIDED!"
"TODAY'S REPORTER WILL BE me, CHAPATI. EX-COUNCIL MEMBER YAJIMA!"
"HELLO!"
"AND FINALLY OUR SPECIAL GUEST IS...MATO-KUN! THE OFFICIAL MASCOT OF THE GMG!"
"KABO!"
"ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?"
"YES LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD AND INTRODUCE THE TEAMS!"
"FIRST IS BLUE PEGASUS!" Out came Ichiya, Jenny, and the Trimens
"LAMIA SCALE!" Lamia Scale was Lyon, Sherria, Jura, Toby, and Yuka.
"QUATRO CERBERUS!" Bacchus, Bulat, Wave, Ajeel, and Lubbock.
"NEXT COMES THE CURRENT HOLDER OF THE TITLE OF NUMBER 1 GUILD! WILL THEY MAINTAIN THEIR RECORD! HERE THEY ARE….SABERTOOTH!" Out came Rufus, Orga, Rogue, Sting, and Minerva leading them.
"OH? THEY LOOK DIFFERENT."
"PERHAPS THEY HAVE RENEWED THEIR FIGHTING SPIRIT!"
"THEY LOOK SO COOL!"
"Hey one of the cats that usually cheers for them is missing." one of the civilians pointed out with his friend also noticing the oddity. "Well, that's weird. Where did the little guy go?"
'Lector.' Sting thought. "Sting-kun do your best." Sting turned to the voice to see an image of Lector cheering him on before it disappeared. Sting smiled softly before looking forward. "Leave it to me, Lector. I will do my best for you."
"NEXT COMES MERMAID HEEL!" Out came Kagura, Seilah, Dimaria, Brandish, and Risley.
"Good Luck girls," Irene said. "Show them your power." Anna cheered.
"FINALLY THE CURRENT #1 OF THE GMG! THE GUILD THAT WAS #1 SEVEN YEARS AGO! HERE COMES….FAIRY TAIL!"
Out of the gate came Gildarts, Laxus, Gajeel, Erza, and finally…... Gray?!
"THEY'VE CHANGED MEMBERS!"
"..." Durton stayed quiet.
"HUH?! GRAY?!"
"Natsu is not here," Rogue said as Sting shakes his head. "Not like that would make things easier for us."
"WHY WAS NATSU NOT INCLUDED IN THE TEAM?!"
"HMMM, PERHAPS SOMETHING HAPPEN?"
"Hmmm, he must have not recovered his magic," Durton muttered to himself.
"GO FAIRY TAIL!" Romeo and Asuka cheered.
"GO GRAY!" Juvia cheered.
"ERZAAAA!" shouted several members of the guild.
"Gajeel beat them up!" Levy, Jet, and Droy shouted.
"Laxus show them your superiority and bravery!" Freed cheered.
"You and Naruto thought this through," Porlyusica said. "You sure about this Maky?"
"This was the best arrangement, so we can only hope the best," Makarov said.
In the city, several figures were rushing to the capital's castle. These figures were Natsu, Wendy, Mirajane, Happy, Carla, and Lily. "I leave it to you, brats," Makarov said in a confident tone.
Meanwhile, Naruto was standing on the statue of GMG viewing all of this going down.
"Good luck everyone. The day of reckoning is upon us."
Only nine hours remain before the promised time.
Thanks for reading. From the updates, I changed the dragon emperors to the pentadrakes from the 100-year quest. I could not really fit the emperors anymore in this story. Any attempt felt like I was adding too much to an already-packed story. So I will be saving them for another time. I promise to update Neo Uzu as soon as possible. The next update in RDK will be in mid-February Please, Favorite and Review.
