Chapter 148: The Dragon King Festival
"Thanks Sorano" stated Dante in a grateful tone as Sorano continued to heal his injuries. Dante could feel his strength returning to him as Sorano poured her healing magic into him. Sorano smiled at her master as she started to speak.
"Your welcome master, I'll be done in a moment to just sit still" responded Sorano in a slightly tired voice. Dante could see that healing his injuries and restoring his magical power was draining for Sorano. He knew that Sorano's brand of healing magic was proportional. The more server the injuries or the more magical power she was trying to restore would take a larger amount of magical power from her. Sighing to himself, Dante knew that restoring his magical power to maximum would leave Sorano exhausted since he had so much of it.
"I'm actually feeling a lot better now Sorano, focus on the others" responded Dante as he stood up. Sorano had a look of protest as she started to speak.
"Hold on master, I haven't finished with you yet" responded Sorano in a worried tone. Dante turned to face Sorano as he started to speak.
"I'm fine really Sorano. I don't want you to exhaust yourself on just me, focus on the rest of the team. I have a feeling we are going to need Erza and the others soon" responded Dante unable to shake the feeling that something bad was about to occur. Stealing a glance towards the castle in the distance, Dante was worried the Mira or Natsu hadn't sent the signal flare yet. Seeing the look of worry on her master's face as he looked at the castle, Sorano knew what he was thinking about.
"Okay master" responded Sorano as she then moved to the rest of the Fairy Tail team. Just as Dante was about to make his way towards the castle to see if Mira and the others needed his help, an announcement was made that the king himself wanted to talk to all of the guilds gathered in the capital. Thinking that this could be important since it came from the king, Dante and the others walked towards the very center of the capital city. After a short walk Dante and the rest of Fairy Tail was standing in a large crowd filled with every other guild located in the capital city.
"Thank you all for coming. I hate to spoil the mood after the splendid display of wizardry we've seen today but I'm afraid Fiore's heart may soon be in the claws of a dragon horde" stated the king to the crowd of wizards in a serious tone. Dante and serval others swore at this news, if this was true then it would explain the feeling of dread that Dante was feeling.
"Damn are you serious" asked Dante in a worried tone as he recalled the devastating power displayed by Acnologia. Acnologia might have been the world's strongest dragon, but Dante knew taking on an entire horde of dragons would be suicide. The king continued to speak, making everyone turn their attention back to him.
"As we speak a large scale counter offensive is under way at the castle, the eclipse cannon" shouted the king. Hearing this Dante just knew that Natsu was sure to be right in the middle of whatever the eclipse cannon was since he and the others were still at the castle.
"The eclipse cannon? What is that" asked Lisanna as serval others voiced similar questions. Seeing serval confused faces, the king went on to explain.
"We will use the eclipse cannon to wipe out the dragons, all ten thousand of them at once" explained the king. Dante felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of ten thousand dragons. He doubted that such a weapon existed with that sort of power to kill ten thousand dragons at once. Seeing the doubtful looks on everyone's faces, the king continued to speak.
"I can sense your concern. Regrettably given the sheer number of the dragon's forces we expect at most a few hundred will survive the attack" stated the king in a serious tone.
"Yes, I would assume so" responded Markov in a worried tone as he thought about the safety of his children.
"Damn a few hundred dragons" asked Dante to himself thinking that the power of a few hundred dragons would still be overwhelming. His thoughts drifted to Mira and the others, thinking what was going to happen to them if they had to fight against such a large number of dragons.
"So, I implore you guild wizards! Please lend Fiore your assistance in dealing with this crisis! You are the best hope we have in slaying any dragons the eclipse could not! I beg of you, don't let this kingdom fall into ruin" pleaded the king as he bowed to the crowd. Dante took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Fighting against a massive horde of dragons seemed impossible but if it meant the safety of his friends and loved ones then he would gladly meet the challenge.
"You can count on us" yelled Markov as the rest of Fairy Tail agreed with their guild master. The rest of the guilds agreed to help fight as well. Hearing the large crowd cheer Dante felt somewhat better with their chances of survival. While the power of a few hundred dragons was inconceivably powerful, Dante also knew the combined power of every guild in Fiore was nothing to dismiss.
"A few of our friends was captured by the royal army, we are going to need their help" stated Erza to a nearby royal guard.
"They are safe, I was recently informed that they joined the princess at the gate" responded the royal guard. Hearing this Dante let out a sigh of relief since he now knew that Mira and the others were safe for the moment.
"Alright everyone we need to get in position and get ready" stated Dante to the rest of the guild as they nodded their heads in agreement. As the guild followed Dante's instructions, Markov gave Dante a knowing look. Seeing Markov's look, Dante continued to speak.
"I know what you're thinking master and forget it. This doesn't prove that I should be the guild master, I'm just doing what is needed to make sure everyone survives" stated Dante with a smile. Markov simply chuckled at these words; he knew soon enough Dante would see what he saw in him. As the guild walked towards the section of the city they were defending, Cana walked up to Dante and Erza who were leading the guild with Markov.
"We can handle this you guys. You both need to rest" stated Cana in a worried tone seeing how beat up Dante and Erza were.
"Don't worry about us, we're fine" responded Erza.
"Yah don't forget we are S-class for a reason" responded Dante with a confidant smile. Thanks to Sorano and the royal healers, he felt almost at one hundred percent.
"Damn is that the eclipse gate" asked Dante as the ground shook and he could feel immense magical power.
"It has to be" responded Gray. The guild was waiting in their assigned position, serval eyes trained onto the sky to spot the first signs of incoming dragons. Suddenly a huge shockwave crashed through the city, obliterating a nearby building.
"Damn does this mean the dragons are here" asked Dante in a worried tone. If that was just a shockwave from a dragon, then they were in for the fight of their lives. Soon the guild along with every other wizard defending the capital stared in awe and shock as towering dragons started to walk around.
"You're kidding me, we have to fight how many of these things" asked Gray in a worried tone. As Dante swore, he looked at the towering dragons, he hoped that Mira and the others were okay. Turning his attention towards Laxus who was standing next to him, Dante started to speak.
"I really hope you live up to the name of your magic" stated Dante with a half-smile. Looking at Laxus, Dante could see the look of awe and horror that was on Laxus's face. If Laxus was this afraid, things were not good.
"Everyone spread out, if we stay clustered together then we risk being wiped out in one fell swoop" shouted Markov before the guild followed his command. Using his magic to transform into his Archangel form, Dante spread his winds wide as he shouted to the guild.
"Anyone that can fly follow me into the air" yelled Dante thinking that they should have a couple of wizards in the air against giant winged lizards.
"Right behind you master" responded Evergreen as she flew beside Dante as he took off into the air above the rest of the guild. In addition to Dante and Evergreen, Freed and Lisanna also joined them in the air the latter had transformed into her bird form. The guild waited, not for long until a massive dragon consumed in a bright flame landed in front of them.
"Wow that thing is huge" shouted Jet as the rest of the guild stared down the massive dragon in front of them. Other guild members spoke similar statements, scared beyond belief that they had to face such a powerful creature.
"Let's take it down" yelled Markov, rallying his children into action.
"You heard the master, show this overgrown lizard what happens when it messes with Fairy Tail" yelled Dante as he spread his wings wide charged towards the dragon. As Dante flew towards the dragon while the guild members of the ground ran towards it, Dante shouted to the other flying guild members.
"Follow me, we are going to take out this thing's wings. The guild below is taking out its feet. It's up to use to make sure this thing can't get into the air" shouted Dante.
"A logical plan, we are right behind you Dante" shouted Freed as the flying guild members charged towards the dragon. The dragon shouted its name, Atlas Flame before he opened his mouth and charged up an attack. The attack crashed into the guild members on the ground, blasting serval backwards.
"Damn it! Keep going, we need to take out this thing's wings at all costs" yelled Dante as he watched his friends on the ground weather the powerful blast of magic.
Dante along with Evergreen, Freed, and Lisanna charged towards the dragon ready to cripple it wings. Holding onto the Sword of David, Dante channeled holy energy through it. Holy energy radiated from the blade, heightening it's sharp edge. Freed along with the other flying members readied themselves to join Dante's attack.
"GIVE IT HELL" yelled Dante as he raised his sword, ready to slash into the foul creature's wings. Freed and Lisanna joined Dante as he flew towards Atlas Flame. Freed raised his sword in a similar fashion to Dante and Lisanna had her sharp claws pointed towards the dragon. Behind them, Evergreen was reading to fire her magic once the three in front of her cleared out of the way after their assault. As they flew towards Atlas Flame, Dante swore as the heat from the intense flames hit him.
"The heat is so intense" shouted Freed in a pained voice.
"KEEP GOING! WE CAN'T FAIL" shouted Dante in a desperate tone.
"I-it's too much, I can't handle it" stated Lisanna in a pained voice. Dante swore to himself as he looked at Freed and Lisanna. While Freed looked pained, Lisanna was looking much worse. The truth was that Lisanna was simply not strong enough to get close enough to such hot and intense flames.
"Lisanna fall back and help Evergreen! Freed and I can continue the forward charge" shouted Dante not wanting Lisanna to put herself in unnecessary danger. Lisanna reluctantly agreed to her big brother's instructions, falling back to join Evergreen as Dante and Freed charged forward.
"Are you ready Freed" asked Dante as he struggled to fly forward despite the intense heat.
"Yes, I'm right behind you" responded Freed in a determined but pained voice. The two of them picked up the pace until they were within striking distance.
"TAKE THIS YOU STUPID LIZARD" yelled Dante as he slashed towards Atlas Flame's wings with the Sword of David. Freed followed close behind, slashing at the dragon's wings with all of his strength. Dante and Freed struggled to run their blades across the dragon's wing, they then flew back once they completed their attack. Once Dante and Freed were out of the way, Evergreen fired her ranged attack.
"I'M NOT DONE YET" yelled Dante as he hovered next to Evergreen and pointed his hand towards the dragon's wing.
"Heaven's Ray" yelled Dante as he fired a supercharged beam of holy energy, joining Evergreen's attack as it flew towards the exposed wing of Atlas Flame. The attack crashed into the wing of Atlas Flame. The four flying guild members hovered in the air hoping that their attack did something to cripple or hurt Atlas flame.
"Did that work" asked Lisanna in a worried tone. Just after Lisanna said this, Atlas Flame let loose a mighty roar as it looked at Dante and the others. Seeing that Atlas Flame appeared perfectly fine, Dante swore as he started to speak.
"Damn! Did all of that really have no effect? I thought the wings were a weak point in their defense" shouted Dante in a worried tone. Suddenly Atlas Flame fired a powerful breath attack towards Dante and the others. Seeing the attack flying towards them, Dante flew some distance in front of his friends.
"STAY BEHIND ME" yelled Dante in a panic as he raised a hand towards the incoming attack as he continued to speak.
"SHIELD OF HEAVEN" yelled Dante as he erected a holy barrier to protect himself and the rest of the guild members hovering in the air behind him. The attack crashed into Dante's barrier and the drop in Dante's magical power was immediate as the shield held strong. As the attack finally vanished, Dante struggled to remain in his Archangel form after he felt the immense drop in his magical power.
"Are you okay big brother" asked Lisanna in a worried tone as Dante breathed heavily.
"Yah I'm fine" responded Dante as he continued to breathe heavily. Looking at Atlas Flame, Dante panicked as he tried to think of some sort of strategy to win. The attack he just blocked took a lot of magical power away from Dante and he could tell that Atlas Flame had much more than that. Somehow Dante and the rest of Fairy Tail needed to defeat a creature that easily outclassed their combined power with ease.
"We can't up! We need to keep fighting for our family" yelled Dante loud enough for the entire guild to hear him. The guild cheered as they continued to fight against impossible odds. As Dante continued to fight he hoped and prayed for the strength to protect his Fairy Tail family. He didn't care about his own life or safety, just as long as everyone else lived Dante would be content.
End of Chapter 148