[Flashback]

"I've told you before that the one to destroy humanity will be me. I won't allow you to stand in the way of that. The world has rejected me, therefore it shall be I that destroys it, do you understand?" Zeref told Dhegensea with a serious glare.

"You shall be the one to destroy humanity?" Dhegensea merely scoffed at this fact. "That's a little humorous if I do say so myself. Humanity has already nearly met its end once, and not by your hands, Black Wizard. I'm sure you call the incident with that woman and the mirror 400 years ago…and how that very woman nearly brought about the end of humanity on her own. What was her name again? A human so powerful the gods and the Celestial Spirit King had to seal her away. I believe it started with a V. Verona…."

"That incident matters not now." Zeref replied. "What matters now is the soon to come extinction of humanity by my hand. It is something I've decided on a long time ago. There is only one thing that can stop me, but if it cannot...then humanity will fall."

"We'll see what occurs first, Zeref. A mistake from the past cannot be so easily erased." Dhegensea merely nodded. "It won't matter once I take my place as ruler of humans…" This conversation was not the most recent one; far from it. This was one the two carried out whenever they met, which was a rarity in itself…but Dhegensea could not help but think back on it with the most recent encounter. Humans could be dangerous creatures as this 'Verona' woman once proved many years ago…

[End Flashback]

"Those humans are getting rather loud out there…" Eizen sighed while looking outside, glancing at the destruction within the city. It was starting to get closer and closer to the castle, which meant the final battles were rapidly approaching.

"I'm tired of sitting around doing nothing!" Drake exclaimed. "These humans have gone on for long enough! King Dhegensea, I request your permission to finally put them to rest before they even step foot in here once again!"

"I agree, it's pretty boring sitting and frankly these humans are a little too cheeky for their own good. I just want to step on them." Edna said while tapping her foot impatiently on the ground. "Can we just end this already?"

"My liege, it's probably for the best now that things are getting close to the end." Nasir bowed.

"Very well." Dhegensea nodded. "My fellow dragons…use your entire might to crush the humans underfoot!" With that command, the dragons all roared as their wings spread out. Finally, they could strike, and they were all going to enjoy doing so.

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Time until Etherion Fires: 30 minutes.

Juvia stood on the Mystic Water Lake while glaring up towards Gaius, who was staring at her with a look of shock and disbelief. The others couldn't believe it either; Juvia absorbed some of the Mystic Water into her very being for an exponential power boost. "T-This shouldn't be possible! H-How could you…?!" Gaius was tripping his own words. "The Mystic Water shouldn't be inside the vessel of an impure being…! Especially a human!"

The water mage took a few steps forward onto land before shaking her head. "Shut up." Juvia said while throwing her arm into the air, forming her water whip, only this time she wrapped it around Gaius' waist and tugged him down forcefully to her while her other hand surrounded in sparkling water. Once Gaius was pulled in close Juvia swung her fist at Gaius' cheek, a massive explosion of water occurring that sent Gaius flying back into the castle wall.

"Holy shit…!" Blues let that curse slip out due to the surprise.

"That power…!" Aira gasped.

"It's incredible…" Leon said in complete awe.

"C-Can she beat him…?" Meredy questioned the others with a glint of hope.

"Flame Roar!" Gaius threw his head forward and opened his mouth, unleashing a gigantic funnel of flames towards Juvia with the intent to evaporate her. Juvia had other plans in mind.

As the funnel of flames raced towards Juvia, she merely threw her hand forward. The funnel of flames struck her open palm, and in one shift movement she completely doused the flames and Gaius' mouth as a result. "Juvia doesn't want to hear another word from you unless it's begging for forgiveness…and even then Juvia still doesn't want to hear it."

"RAAAAAH!" Gaius roared out in frustration, lunging forward while lighting his wings flame. "Wing Slash!" His speed was far too great for Juvia to evade so she ended up taking the hit directly in the stomach, boiling noises occurring as she tumbled along the ground.

"J-Juvia…!" Meredy cried out.

"Juvia…is fine…" Juvia replied while standing right back up, shaking off the burn damage and impact. She then extended her hand, unleashing countless strikes of her Water Whip on Gaius who had no choice to defend from the rapid strikes of boiling hot water. Once Juvia decided she had enough of that, she whipped her arm back and swiped the other once forward, sending enlarged scythes of sparkling water towards Gaius. "Water Slicer!"

"Gwwaaaaaah!" Gaius let out yet another roar of pain as he was forced to endure each Water Slicer that struck, sliding across the ground with each successful strike. Eventually, Gaius fell to a knee, panting heavily after. "Guh…"

"She's got him on the ropes!" Aira exclaimed jovially.

"Finish him off…!" Blues pleaded.

"Hai." Juvia nodded, taking a single step forward before an odd sensation struck her entire body. "Ah…!?" Eyes widened for a split second and Juvia suddenly fell to a knee, then to all fours, panting heavily as sparks began to dance wildly around her body. The water mage let out an agonizing scream as she felt her very being torn apart from the inside.

"W-What's wrong!?" Leon asked.

"She was fine just a second ago…!" Meredy gasped. "Juvia! Are you okay!?"

"Heh…" A smirk crossed Gaius' lips as he stood back up and began to walk, though with a bit of a limp. "Finally…I thought it odd the Mystic Water would be accepted into the vessel of a human with little to no problems…and now we've finally arrived at the end of your ride. The Mystic Water is rejecting your body, human, for it is too impure."

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"We've got a small problem…" Freed said with a small grunt. He was sweating and looked like he was straining a little bit.

"What's wrong, Freed…!?" Evergreen asked worriedly. "Are you okay!?"

"I think I've hit my limit…I can't sustain the barrier for much longer…!" Freed grunted. A look around the city and there were many dragon soldiers colliding against the barrier in attempt to shatter it, and there were many cracks spreading along the barrier. A few more attacks later and the entire barrier around the island shattered and Freed practically flew back, losing consciousness almost instantly.

"Shit, Freed!" Bickslow shouted. "We've a problem! The barrier's down!" And to make matters even worse, the wind suddenly kicked up, likely due to Nasir catching wind of the barrier breaking. The dragon soldiers expelled their wings and rode the wind current to get off the isle and fly towards the mainland.

"Don't let a single one of them get out!" Jura shouted while releasing several rocks in all the dragon's directions, but there was no stopping them now.

"I will not allow a single one to escape." Joker pointed his hand forward, shifting it into the rocket launcher that unleashed heat seeking missiles towards the dragons. While some hit, the others managed to evade and fly off. "Tch…!" He grunted in annoyance. His aim was off and it was annoying him.

"Targeting system isn't entirely restored yet…" Ace grit his teeth while using his Vulcan gun in attempt to stall some of the soldiers flying, but it was hardly effective from so far below.

"Oh no…!" Lucy shouted. Though any and all worries were shot down…literally. A gigantic emerald beam shot out from the mainland, taking out any and all soldiers that attempted to make their way off the island. The dragons had no way of expecting such a beam of magic coming from the mainland, and they were shot out of the sky as a result. "W-Whoa! What was that?!"

"That was the Jupiter Cannon…" Gajeel recognized that beam from anywhere.

"Was that Bisca?!" Cana exclaimed.

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Back in Fiore, Bisca was wearing a large grin on her lips after having successfully shot down a whole squadron of dragons attempting to approach the mainland. "Stay where you belong!" She spotted another group trying, and they met the same fate. A gigantic beam shot forth from the Jupiter Cannon and took them out too. This was Bisca's way of telling the others they had nothing to worry about as long as she was manning the cannon.

"Yeah, you go, Mama!" Asuka cheered for her mother as she fired off the Jupiter Cannon.

"You got this, Bisca!" Alzack said with a wide grin. He was absolutely in love at the moment, watching his wife fire off a cannon with such precision.

"Just leave it to me!" Bisca said with a smirk. "The First entrusted this mission to me! So I'll be sure to see it through!"

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"Looks like the First was ready in the event the barrier broke…!" Lucy clasped her hands together.

"That's nothing impressive." Reve scoffed. "I could make a better shot like that with my eyes closed."

"Reve, this isn't the time to be jealous that you aren't the one manning the giant toy guy over there," Heather rolled her eyes at Reve's competitive nature.

"Revey is so jealous." Selene said with an annoying smirk. Reve was trying to keep his cool, but anyone could see on his face that there was a hint of envy.

"We don't have to worry about any dragon getting off this island then!" Natsu's grin only widened as the distance to the castle was closing rapidly. He was only stopped when a crystal wall rose in front of him and he comically slammed into it. "Oof…!"

"Natsu, are you okay!?" Happy questioned while looking at the stunned Natsu.

"Are these…crystals…?" Selene quirked a brow at the material before her.

"Great, she's back…" Heather scoffed.

Edna stood atop the crystal wall, tapping her foot with a sly grin on her lips. "Finally, you losers made it. But you're making quite the ruckus here…we don't go onto your home and start wrecking everything, do we?"

"Having déjà vu here…" Cygnus said while rubbing his head. "Either way, that's what you're PLANNING to do anyway! So it doesn't matter!"

"Get out of the way!" Natsu demanded.

"Keep moving. We'll take care of this one." Luke stepped forward. "Some of the other guilds stayed behind to deal with any stragglers, so the least we can do is help make a clear path, right?"

"Not like we'll be missing out on the action. Tired of your Fairies always taking the spotlight." Waiston huffed while staring at Edna.

"We're not going to fall behind you again, but right now someone needs to move on ahead." Takeru nodded. "Besides, something about this girl just irritates me." That statement brought forth several nods of agreement from everyone; Edna was a really irritating dragon to deal with for whatever reason. White Eclipse was going to face off against Edna. With this in mind, Natsu recklessly led the way forward to the castle with the others right behind him. They were almost there and there was no doubt the others would be behind them once the cleanup in the city was done.

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"Now now…" Nasir was the one stood in the way now, arms crossed over his chest as his presence rapidly changed the course of the wind. "I can't just let you waltz around however you please. You've no invitation to the castle this time."

"Of course this asshole would be the one to stand in our way…" Natsu scowled. "Get out of our way! We don't have time to deal with you!"

"He'll just throw a fit if we throw him around a little bit…I noticed that tendency to complain when we encountered him a while back…" Rogue pointed out. "He also still looks pretty beat up from when we were winning our fight earlier."

"W-What!? How dare you!?" A tick mark appeared on Nasir's head at Rogue's accusation.

"He's a whiner…?" Minerva quirked her brow, stifling a laugh to think a dragon would whine when things didn't go their way.

"Fro thinks so too…!" Frosch innocently chimed in.

"Okay enough! I won't sit here and be belittled by humans!" Nasir growled. "Now I'll make you won't be getting into the castle!" Suddenly, a strange scent wafted into his sensitive nose, causing him to cringe and take several steps back. "Ugh?! What is the pungent aroma!?"

"This is my parfarm, men~" Ichiya said while from above on the Christina, followed by members of Quatro Cerberus. "Its handsome scent is only the most beautiful among all my aromas!" The other Blue Pegasus members took their positions back on the ship while QC made it back to the land.

"Don't worry about the skies!" Jenny said with a salute. "We'll be here for aerial support if you guys need it!"

"Just leave it to us!" Ren nodded. "Go ahead!"

"Now we're gonna get some action? This is about to be wild!" Bacchus grinned while taking a swig from his special gourd.

"FOUR!"

"Who would've thought they would've come through when we needed them the most?" Orga scratched his head.

"Who cares, let's keep moving!" Gajeel barked with obvious excitement. "The castle is up ahead! I'm inching to get some action in! Whoever else is in the way is gonna get railed down!"

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While the battles were going on in the city, Gaia was taking it upon herself to take down several dragons herself. She slammed her hands on the ground, causing large pillars of earth to rise up and strike a number of soldiers. They all growled in pain. "Just go down." Gaia mumbled before waving her hand to the side. This caused the ground to cave in under the soldiers, and she promptly trapped them within it as well. "Earth Burial."

The whole time this happened, a number of wizards from Fiore watched Gaia with pensive expressions. "She looks so torn..." Melody commented, her Silver make creations doing some work in keeping the dragons at bay.

"It's no surprise." Magnus said with a frown. "This is her home. I wouldn't be shocked if she recognized each and every single person fighting right now."

"That's so sad..." Milliana frowned. But she was quickly filled with some determination. "Then we can't leave the heavy burden to her! Fighting against her own people...that would be like me fighting against feral cats!" Having said this, she swung her arms forward, causing multiple of her tubes to shoot out from a magic seal. "Nekosoku Tube!"

"Huh?" Several of the dragons turned at the sound of her voice. When they did, her tubes wrapped around them, sealing their magic. "What the hell?"

"Eh?" Even Gaia was surprised by this sudden intervention. "Mermaid Heel-?"

"Nyahaha!" Milliana smirked. Although her eyes did widen as it looked like the dragons were about to break free. That wasn't going to be much of a concern, because Melody then acted.

"Silver Make: Cage!" From the ground, silver cages shot upward and wrapped around the dragon soldiers, pulling them to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Gaia asked, blinking in surprise.

"Helping you out, of course!" Milliana replied with a grin. "We're all in this together, remember? Besides, it's probably pretty painful to fight, isn't it? This may not be our home, but we're going to protect the people that live here as best we can. That's why we're here!"

"..." Gaia was stunned for a moment, but soon, a smile crossed her lips. Her reptilian eyes softened. "...This is why I fight..."

Unfortunately, that sweet moment could not last long. Magnus realized something and looked to the sky. "Gaia, above you!"

"Ah!?" Gaia looked up, spotting a few dragon soldiers prepared to land on top of her. She had time to counter, but she didn't need to. Because several explosions of darkness knocked them out of the sky, and they crashed into the ground as a result. "Huh?"

"I thought you were more aware than that, Guy-chan." That voice came from Evanee. She approached the scene slowly, with a faint smirk as she arrived. The moment she made herself known, Gaia's eyes lit up.

"Ev-chan! What took you so long!?" Gaia practically hugged Evanee, despite the latter's sudden deadpan expression at this unwanted contact. So she was comically attempting to shove Gaia off of her.

"I thought about what you said. I still don't think I should be here...but you asked for my help. And I decided I wanted you to owe me one for the foreseeable future." Evanee said with a sinister smile. Yet, that was good enough for Gaia.

"I knew you'd show up one way or another." Gaia then pulled away from the unwanted hug, turning to look towards the incoming dragon soldiers who wanted more. She recognized all of them. She knew their names. And more importantly, she knew how much they didn't want to fight. "I feel a lot better now. So I ask for your help to knock some sense into all of them."

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"Agh…" Juvia's breathing was weighted as her entire being was ripping apart from within. Absorbing the Mystic Water came with a backlash she wasn't expecting to pay for. "J-Juvia's body is…not responding…"

"As I said…a human's body is too impure for the Mystic Water. Where did you think you'd get away with becoming one with it?" Gaius shook his head at Juvia with a wide, hungry grin. "That's the folly of humans, attempting to toy with things they don't understand in hopes they can get it to work by some miracle. What driving force pushed you to preform something so stupid?" Gaius lit his foot in flames and kicked Juvia, forcing her to roll away until coming to a stop on her side; he continued to walk after her, now stomping on her side violently, a cry of pain escaping Juvia in the process with each stop. "Was it love? A pathetic emotion that humans believe they can thrive on!? That same emotion that killed that one human before the rest of you!?"

"T-That's enough!" Aira yelled, attempting to make a move but a ring of flame surrounded the group, preventing them from moving anywhere. "A-Ah…!?"

"Do you...really hate humans that much!?" Meredy exclaimed weakly. She wanted to help Juvia so badly, but she couldn't.

"With every fiber of my being!" Gaius roared while keeping his foot on Juvia's side. "Humans defile the natural order. They should've been wiped out during the war 400 years ago! But a single woman was able to birth the creation of impure Dragon slaying magic. Using our own magic to slay us!? The arrogance. Human arrogance has brought the world to its knees many times! You believe you can do anything simply because you have the power to do so!? I will not stand for it. I will crush any and every human under my foot no matter what it takes! Fate has declared it so, and it shall happen!"

"Fate...isn't something that happens on its own..." Leon growled while forcing his way to his feet, but with Juvia in danger, it was difficult for him to make a move. "If it's your fate to try and hurt my friends, then it's my duty to stop you!"

"I'll snack on you next." Gaius told Aira and Leon before giving his attention to the bruised and battered Juvia. He raised his foot, aiming to bring it down on Juvia's skull to crush it…but she stopped it with her hand. "…!?"

Even though her body was still in pain, Juvia began to ignore it. The fire around Gaius' foot was put out as a result from the water. "Juvia…will not tolerate…" She began to stand up, having an iron grip on the dragon's foot. "A mockery…of love!" She then swung another punch at Gaius, forcing him to stagger away. "The purest emotion to ever exist is love…and Juvia will fight to show you that! Gray-sama is depending on Juvia…and so is that little dragon. So Juvia will not lose!" Purity at its finest. Just like that, the sparks around Juvia's body dispersed and her body began to sparkle once again, fully imbued with the Mystic Water's power.

"W-What the…!?" Gaius' jaw dropped. "But how…!? Humans are filthy!? Their hearts are tainted by arrogance and greed! A lust for power that can never be quenched!"

"Maybe those humans that you saw 400 years ago...!" Meredy exclaimed. "But right now, each and every single one of us has something we're fighting for! And in order to protect the things we hold dear, WE WILL FIGHT!" As Meredy shouted this, she activated her Sense Link, connecting not only her emotions to Juvia's, but Leon, Aira, and Blues' as well. Their pain, their anger, their sorrow, and their love...!

Juvia held her hands forward silently, generating a cyclone of water within her hands. She was now bringing out the power the awakening of her Second Origin could use. Combined with the emotion and magic power she felt from the others, it was quickly growing in size, but it was still taking a bit too long for her liking.

"I won't allow you...to defeat me! Humans don't recognize when they are beaten, and I will remind you where you stand!" As Gaius spoke, wisps of flame appearing around his scaled mouth. "GIGANTIC FLAME!" He was just about to release a massive funnel of flames towards Juvia, seeing how everyone was putting their hopes on her. But then, from his blind spot, Blues slammed himself headfirst right into his jaw, forcing his head to snap to the side. "...?!"

"Blue Dragon's Torpedo!" Blues roared out, tears in his eyes, but his anger and determination were still present. Because of this impact, Gaius ended up releasing a gigantic stream of flame off to the side, completely missing his target! Blues wasn't going to let Kuro's sacrifice be in vain. As sad as it was that he couldn't slay this dragon, he was putting his faith in the one that could. "JUVIA!" And he hit the ground right after that.

This was her chance. Thanks to everyone's own emotions and the weight behind them, Juvia could bring this fight to a close. The power of the Mystic Water made her body sparkle. "Wings of Love!" From Juvia's hands, a gigantic cyclone of water shot out, ripping across the field as it raced directly towards Gaius at breakneck speeds. Not even the fire dragon had a defense for this and was consumed by the attack.

"Ugh…?!" Gaius was on a knee, unable to believe any of this. "H-How…!? This can't be happening!? Could it be...? Is her heart so pure, that the Mystic Water blended into her emotions...!?"

"Now…" Juvia held her hands up, beginning to draw forth from the Mystic Water Lake itself. The sparkling water began to take form of a vicious whirlpool directly around Juvia's lower body. The size was incredible, towering a few yards into the air. "This one is for Kuro-san and Blues-san! WATER JIGSAW!" Juvia began to move forward, not only dousing the flames around the group, but caught Gaius in the midst of her Jigsaw, slamming him against the castle wall and forced him there until the eventual explosion of water. The explosion was so great Juvia found herself hitting the ground on her back with a pained groan. "Oof…!" But at on the other side, Gaius laid on his back with his eyes pure white to signify a sign of KO. "That's…the power of love…"

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Next Time: Bundle of Roses.