The skies over Fiore were clear; the rain came to an abrupt end. It's safe to say that Dhegensea's roar could've been heard off the coast of the country even from miles away. By this time, Jura was practically finished with the little idea he had in his head: he created a bridge of stone across the water that led directly to the isle. "Finished."

"Quite the bridge you've built, Wizard Saint!" That tone belonged to none other than Fairy Tail's ace, Gildarts Clive. He greeted Jura with a small smile, though the rest of his face was rigid with seriousness. "So, is that the Isle I've heard so much about?"

"Correct." Jura nodded. "Everyone is currently on there fighting from what I can assume, and with only a few hours left…"

"Ah! Just leave it to Natsu and things will be fine…" Gildarts spoke. "Is what I'd like to say, but I think even he's in for a run this time around. Besides…I heard these dragons have picked quite a few bones with my family. I can't let that stand for too long."

"You've been filled in I see…" Jura replied.

"Quite. Makarov's told me everything…even has a little surprise waiting for later if things get dicey. But for now…how about we take a stroll across that bridge and show those dragons why they shouldn't mess with humans?" Gildarts didn't even wait for an answer. He began walking across the bridge Jura built, cape flapping gently in the breeze passing by. Fairy Tail's Ace, and the Iron Rock Saint were going to join the battle.

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The mountain that housed White Eclipse was quiet. Adamantine stood on the balcony, staring out into the distance. Dhegensea's roar caught his attention. "..."

Soon, Mary Crane appeared behind him. A woman who had not been to White Eclipse in ages, but she returned after news of Calium's passing. "I'm surprised you haven't gone with them." Mary said, brushing some of her short red hair behind her ear.

"I was waiting." Adam said. "Waiting for a moment like this. Dhegensea may be a coward, but he has strength and intellect. Approaching the Isle too early would have been a mistake."

"I see. I know it probably wasn't easy, but you put a lot of thought into this." Mary said with a slight smile.

"400 years ago, there was a war between humans and dragons. I fought with the humans." Adam said, staring up into the sky. "My brother, Mithril, fought for the dragons. We had differing views on them. He thought they were weak and deserved to be crushed."

"And you?" Mary asked

"I didn't think that. At the time, I wouldn't say I was a fan of humans...but I didn't think they deserved to be destroyed. They were weak at the time, but then, a woman came up with the innovation of Dragon Slaying magic. That turned the tide of the war." Adam went on, eyes closed. "During this time, Dhegensea refused to fight. His strength could have tipped the scales in either direction...but now, he seeks to destroy for all the dragons that were killed." Before Adam could continue, his eyes widened. He heard a second roar, and this one wasn't Dhegensea.

Mary noticed this. What was a curious conversation turned into something slightly worrisome. "Adam? What's wrong?"

"You didn't hear it?" Adam looked to Mary, his expression shifting into a scowl, though it wasn't aimed at her. Far from it. "...He's coming back..."

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Ichiya was with the rest of Quatro Cerberus, and it looked like their group was doing repairs on the Christina, much to their dismay. One could hear Bacchus drinking his boredom away while the others just lie exhausted on the slightly repaired ship. "Man, this ain't wild! Why can't we be out there fightin' with everyone else!?"

"Yeah!" Rocker exclaimed towards Ichiya.

"We must have a backup team in case things go awry and we need to escape, men~" Ichiya explained with the usual sparkles around his person. "The day may have matured, however that does not mean we can't be ready for its growing changes. Rest assured, I'm sure the time will come for your handsomeness to shine brightly along with the radiance of mine, men~"

"Yeah I'm done with this…" Bacchus grumbled while taking another sip from his bottle.

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"So we're going to need a plan…" Luke said while rotating his previously injured arm; thanks to Chelia he was able to move it, though too much movement was ill advised. "How are we going to take on Dhegensea? Is he really that tough?"

"Tough scales," Mii replied. "Nothing is breaking those scales of his, they're way too tough. Maybe enough dragon slaying magic can wear him down, but don't take my word for it." The red head shrugged, adjusting her cap. "He's probably one of the strongest things alive if you ask me…it's going to take a lot of work to bring him down."

"I'll just hit him as hard as I can then!" Natsu grinned while pounding one fist into an open palm.

"Yeah, because that worked so well last time, didn't it?" Mii rolled her eyes at Natsu's remark.

"Next time will be different!" Natsu yelled. "Dragon slaying exists to slay dragons, and I'm not going to lose to him a second time!"

"If I know Natsu-san, I know he won't fail a second time," Sting said while rubbing the back of his head. "He even has us for backup. But until then…we have to do something about these other dragons. I know they're going to be a nuisance if we don't deal with them soon…"

"About that…" Mii paused, turning on her heel to face the others. "You realize the situation you're in right? As Dragon slayers on an island of dragons."

"What are you getting at…?" Selene quirked her brow. "We can fight dragons, so what?"

"These dragons have specific orders to kill you." Mii explained. "I should know, I have those orders as well, but you shouldn't count on me for anything. I'm asking if you dragon slayers really know what it means to slay a dragon."

"To slay a dragon?" Rogue blinked. "Of course Sting and I know what that means…we slayed our parents…"

"It means to take a life, yes." Mii nodded slowly. "To slay a dragon means to kill. If you don't have it in yourself to take a life, you won't last long against one of Dhegensea's generals. They won't just let it go if you knock them out, you have to KILL THEM. It's the only way to ensure they won't come back and bite you in the ass for your merciful actions." This was a kind of different side of Mii that not anyone was expecting.

"What's gotten into you…?" Gray questioned. "I thought you were on their side? And what happened to your hunt for those with white coats?"

"I'm just….giving you hints." Mii replied while clearing her throat. "That's all. It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not. After all, I'm not one to be trusted. I could be leading you into a trap~"

"There's no just straight line with this girl…" Cana sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"If you want a straight answer, as a straight woman." Mii winked.

"If she wanted to act out she would've done so earlier." Lucy was rather firm in her assumption, which caused Mii to look at her.

"Mhm. She may be a strange one, but she's got a good heart down there somewhere." Yukino gave a nod of agreement.

"I'd appreciate if you stopped spreading such lies right in front of me…!" Mii huffed, cheeks puffed slightly as she crossed her arms. "I am who I am."

"I think she's flustered…" Lector said while nudging Frosch slightly.

"Fro thinks so too!" Fro brought his hand up.

"Stop it! Leave me alooone!" Mii whined while turning around, her face turning bright red as the two exceeds pointed it out. "I'm not listening to you any more lalalalala!"

"Very good, Chosen. Perhaps instead of listening to those humans, you listen to the orders given to you by our King?" Nasir's voice came from above; the sky dragon had his wings out while staring down the group. "Or perhaps you could continue that search you wanted to go on? Pray tell, how's that been going for you?"

Mii uncovered her ears, staring up at the airborne Nasir. "Ah, shit…"

"Back for more, huh!?" Natsu glared at the sky dragon.

"We don't have time for this." Chelia groaned. "We have to get moving."

"Hm, yes…it would be a shame if someone held up your time…" Nasir grinned before touching down on the ground with his arms crossed. "Well, allow me to fill that void, hrm? It's not like you're going anywhere anytime soon."

"Out of the way, Nasir." Mii rolled her eyes. "As you can see I'm doing things my own way, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't interfere."

"I could say the same thing, Chosen. Your choices are making things a little difficult for us…it would be nice if you were a good girl and played along as you were told, but I suppose we all don't get what we want, hmmm?" Nasir chuckled which only annoyed Mii. Currently Mii's allegiance was unknown the way Nasir made it sound, but currently she was with the good side.

"Oi…" Natsu cracked his knuckles before glancing towards back at the others. "I'll take care of him. You guys go on ahead."

"Oh no, Natsu-san…" Sting narrowed his eyes at Natsu before shaking his head. "You're not doing that lone-wolf act again. You've got three dragon slayers right here! We'll take him on with you!"

"Yes, that sounds like a smart idea…" Rogue nodded before turning to Selene, seeing if she was willing to offer her assistance. That answer was yes. "Lector, Frosch…go with the others. We'll catch up soon, I promise."

"If Wendy could beat him, there's no reason we can't together." Selene spoke with a sly grin.

"Don't fall behind!" Gray exclaimed as he and the others ran off, leaving Natsu, Sting, Rogue, and Selene alone with Nasir.

"Hrm…" Mii couldn't help but look back at the battle going to commence. It bothered her how Nasir was going through the trouble of hunting her down. Just what was going on?

"Alright, Nasir…" Natsu took a step forward. "You may have gotten away from me once…but you're not getting away this time."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that…" Nasir said as a wicked grin slowly stretched along his lips. "This time, I'm not going anywhere."

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.

"That rumblin' stopped…" Gajeel let out a sigh of relief. "That old fossil's roar was something else…"

"You felt it too?" Laxus briefly questioned.

"Yeah…no doubt the others did as well…" Gajeel nodded. "But that just means we gotta start hauling some ass. Who knows what's going to happen from here on out…"

"I agree…" Levy nodded while keeping Lily in her arms. She then glanced over to Elfman and Lisanna, flashing a soft smile. "Don't worry you two, we'll find Mira soon!"

"I'm not worried. I know Mira-nee is okay," Lisanna said with a small smile. "It's those around her we should be worried for.

"Though I say we should be worried about our decreasing time…" Freed interjected. "In more ways than one…"

"What are you talking about, Freed?" Evergreen questioned.

"The barrier…" Freed replied; everyone was beginning to notice the bead of sweat appearing on the rune mage's forehead. "It's been holding strong this entire time…but it's beginning to wear down. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it up before it's shattered…"

"So a barrier of such a scale has been slowly eating away at your magic?" Bickslow concluded. "I suppose it doesn't help that they've probably sent forces to deal with it…just hold out as long as you can, buddy. You've lasted this long."

"Just don't go wasting your magic unless it's absolutely necessary. That barrier is the only reason Siegrain hasn't fired off that cannon yet…" Pantherlily warned.

"I understand." Freed nodded. He was really aware of the situation and a large amount of lives were depending on his ability to uphold the barrier that prevented the Isle's dragons from escaping to wreck having on Earthland. "Don't worry; I will do everything I can to keep the barrier up. You have my word on that."

"A true Man keeps his word! We're counting on you, Freed!" Elfman shouted.

"Think you could be a little louder with that?" Gajeel grit his teeth at Elfman's shouting. "Tell the enemy exactly where we are with your shouting…!" Gajeel wasn't making the matter any better so he received a smack to the back of his head from Levy's purse. "Ow…!"

"Quiet down, both of you…!" Levy hushed the two brutes with a stern expression on that adorable face of hers. "Let's just hurry and see if we can find anyone else befo-" And before she could finish, several shards of ice flew over her head. They were aimed at her or anyone in the group per se; they were warning shots. "Ah!?"

"Think that got their attention, Jules?" Nina Roulette asked while dusting her hands off, glancing towards her elder sister with a small grin on her lips.

"Judging by the looks on their faces, I'd have to say yes…" Julia said while giving a halfhearted shrug. "Attention: grabbed."

"Great, who are these guys?" Evergreen asked while preparing herself.

"They don't appear to be with that white coat wearing bunch…" Freed deduced. "Which can only mean that they're a part of another group. "But who?"

"Don't worry yourselves about that too much," Nina said with a growing smile on her lips. She cracked both her knuckles. "Just know that we're about to have a fun time!"

"Don't these idiots know we're pressed for time!?" Gajeel grit his teeth in annoyance. "What the hell are they every doing here…?"

"Oh, we're aware of what's going to happen…and we've carved out enough time for what we need to do." Julia responded while twirling around one of her braids. "But you don't have to worry about why we're here. The only thing you should be worrying about is yourselves."

"We don't have time for your nonsensical nonsense!" Elfman boisterously exclaimed while taking a step forward. "We've better things to do than mess around here! As a Man, I will deal with the two of you!"

"Alone? That's not a very smart decision…A little boring, if you ask me." Nina let out a small sigh before glancing towards her sister. "What do you think, Jules? Think he could be interesting to fight alone?"

"Elf-nii won't be alone…!" Lisanna corrected Nina while taking a step forward next to her brother. "We have to find Mira-nee, and I'm not going to let you take up that time..! S-So move..!" She was actually putting her foot down, or at least trying to.

"A battle between siblings? Well, well…" Julia's interest in this peaked just slightly.

"Are you two going to be okay?" Levy questioned.

"You go on ahead! We'll catch up! Man!" Elfman flexed while giving a nod to his comrades. "We're not about to die before finding Mira! That would be unmanly!"

"Looks like they're going to take care of this one…" Laxus said to the others. "Let's let them take it. They'll be fine." With that, the others went ahead to leave Elfman and Lisanna with Nina and Julia.

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Next Time: Howling Winds.