"So…he's finally arrived…" Zeref merely shook his head with a smile. "Now…for what reason? He after me…is he trying to eliminate this book…or is he perhaps here for Dhegensea? Only time can tell…"
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"Acnologia…!" Gajeel's eyes widened as he recognized the roar from miles away. He sat up and turned his attention to the sky while gritting his teeth. "Shit…at the worst possible time…!"
"Y-You mean that monster is on its way here!?" Lucy's eyes widened "No, this isn't the time!"
"What's it doing here…? I thought we saw the last of it with King…" Hisui bit her lip nervously. "Do we even have the means to fight it?"
"I'm not sure…" Lucy replied. "We can't deal with Dhegensea and Acnologia at the same time…!"
"This situation isn't looking good…" Ultear mumbled. "One heavy load off our shoulders only for a heavier loud to come right back on…"
"Yo…!" Cana ran into the room with the injured Yukino, Minerva, Mirajane, and Kagura. "You guys okay over here…!?"
"Cana…Yukino…M-Mira!" Lucy's eyes widened in delight upon seeing the eldest Strauss sibling. "I knew you were alive…no matter what they kept saying…"
"It's great to see you too, Lucy…" Mira had a soft smile on her lips. "I would like to see Elfman and Lisanna as soon as possible, but we have to do something about what's approaching first…"
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Acnologia rapidly approached the island, his mere flight causing rippling shockwaves in the ocean, creating tidal waves that spread out on all sides. Once he was within the island's space, he began to fly around, causing massive explosions to occur on various places on the isle. The Black Dragon let out a mighty roar that practically froze the soul of anyone who had ears.
"Evasive maneuvers! MEN!" Ichiya commanded. The members of Blue Pegasus shifted their flight path, just in the nick of time as Acnologia flew right past them. The strength of his flight caused the Christine to spiral out of control.
"H-Hold on…!" Jenny cried out while hanging onto something.
"We're out of control…!" Eve shouted.
"Stabilizing…!" Hibiki grunted; with a few quick inputs, the ship was back to how it should've been in the sky, but with Acnologia circling around it wasn't going to be long before it happened again.
"We have to get out of the sky." Ren looked to the others who gave nods of agreements.
Acnologia continued to fly around; one complete rotation of the island and part of it exploded, completely breaking off from the island into rubble. "Shit…!" Waiston covered his ears while watching Acnologia fly around. "That thing just flying around is causing all this destruction!?"
Acnologia flew above the island and began to inhale, gathering his destructive magic within his mouth as he prepared its devastating roar. "EVERYTHING. DIES." Acnologia's voice echoed throughout the ruined island.
"OH SHIT." Shadowlore exclaimed.
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"That dragon here now of all times?!" Dhegensea growled.
"S-So that's Acnologia…?" Mii struggled to speak. "He's…a lot more intimidating than I thought…"
"He's inhaling…!" Natsu grunted.
"Does he plan to destroy this entire area!?" Gray gasped.
"He said EVERYTHING DIES." Mii panicked. "W-What do we do!?"
"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT. I see I've no choice…all dragons born on this island…I command you to unleash your full potential! Acnologia and the humans must be destroyed NOW" Dhegensea flew into the air and a magic seal formed over his body; a pulse of magic flew throughout the entire island. Within a second, the Black Dragon King shifted to his full form, a large black dragon with red tinted wings. Before Acnologia could unleash his roar, Dhegensea slammed into him forcing him to fly back several miles, which were only a few yards to dragons. "Acnologia, you will leave my island this INSTANT."
"Dhegensea, I will take back what you've stolen from me." Acnologia wasn't going to waste time with words anymore. He flew forward with his fist reared back and slammed it into Dhegensea's face, the impact strong enough for Dhegensea to recoil backwards. Dhegensea immediately fired back, raising his fist up to slam it onto Achnologia's face, sending the Apocalyptic Dragon back a few miles. With a roar, the two dragons then soared higher into the sky.
"They're fighting…?!" Mii exclaimed. "I didn't expect them to be friends, but I didn't think they were enemies either…"
"Did you hear what he said about that dragons bit…?" Gray asked them.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Mii admitted.
"Let's see what the others are doing." Natsu said. "I don't like where this is going."
"I hope at least someone killed one of those dragons like I told them to…" Mii mumbled while managing to bring herself to her feet, staggering slightly. She denied all offers for help. "I can walk…"
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Blues was sitting, still stuck on the death of Kuro. At the very least, he checked out what was left of the Mystic Water Lake after Juvia nearly drained it all to defeat Gaius. There was some left, but not enough for him to do anything substantial with it. With Acnologia's appearance, he was planning on meeting up with the others to see if they had a plan, but halted when he felt Gaius beginning to stir. "Shit…he's waking up already…!?"
"Mrgh…" Gaius placed one hand on the ground and his eyes shot open, revealing that reptilian look. A magic seal appeared above him and searing flames engulfed his body; in the next instant he transformed into a full-fledged dragon, letting out a mighty roar.
"WHOA!?" Blues staggered back several steps, but luckily for him Gaius wasn't focused on just him. Gaius instead began to walk around the castle to the city. "Oh shit…"
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Venoma slowly began to awaken, rubbing her head as she had to recall what happened; though those memories were cut short as a magic seal appeared above her, shifting her to dragon form within a moment's notice. She didn't really have any time to process what was happening, it was simply...happening, against her own volition. Since she was within the castle, she no doubt caused most of it to collapse. This forced those already inside to flee to safety; the castle was in terrible condition now.
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"WRETCHED HUMANS!" Nasir awoke from his unconscious state; with an angered roar he transformed into his full dragon form, staring down at the humans with a wide smirk. "You've pushed me too far, and I'm glad…now I get the chance to completely devour you all."
"This…isn't wild…" Bacchus gulped. Even a few drinks couldn't help the slight fear he had when facing down a transformed Dragon. It reminded him of his close call back in Crocus, during the Dragon King Festival.
"They're transforming…this situation isn't looking good…" Angel silently stuttered. She was wondering why it felt like things were going too smoothly. They were fighting dragons, after all! But now she realized why: the dragons weren't using their full strength. It was a completely different situation compared to before.
"We're starting to get outnumbered here again…" Ace's calculations of the situation weren't looking so good.
"At this rate, most of you are going to be wiped out." Joker bluntly stated. "This, however, was precisely why I was created in the first place." To fight a dragon; specifically, Acnologia. However, he was currently busy in the sky, so Joker had to settle with Nasir.
"Always the downer…" Tia scoffed before pointing her scepter forward. "Well I for one refuse to go down without so much as a fight!"
"Rally 'em up sis!" Jack exclaimed. "We've been through worse, right!?"
"Speak for yourselves." Midnight muttered.
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Edna gripped her head, falling to her knees while letting out a pained cry. "H-Help me…! I…!"
"Edna!" Ena was quick to kneel down at Ena's side. Ena was resistant to Dhegensea's commands because of Erza knocking some literal sense into her. "C-Calm down…! Just breathe…!"
"I…I can't….please get away…!" Edna demanded and Ena did just that. With a roar, the crystal dragon took her true form, towering above the others with her reptilian stare.
"Great…" Cygnus sucked his teeth. "How are we gonna deal with this one!?" Just then, Adam in his dragon formed tackled Edna away, letting out a roar to tell her to step back. "Oh, Adam! Nice timing!"
"Get back." Adam told the others. "Deal with the small fries; I'll take care of this one." He watched as Edna stood back up. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't herself, and that's precisely why he had to stop her.
"You heard the man, back out!" Reve commanded White Eclipse and the others to take on the dragon soldiers; while they were full dragons they were smaller than the Commanders, which made them a little more manageable to deal with.
"This is why I always hated Dhegensea." Adam said with a low growl, his cold breath visible from his maw. "He claims to follow Fate, but at the end of the day...I firmly believe that this was always what he wanted. Sitting on his lofty throne for 400 years just for this moment...But I'm not going to let that happen. 400 years ago, I joined humans and dragons to fight for a better future. And today, I'll do that again."
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And just like the others, Drake was transformed as well; he was the reason the weaker dragon soldiers took their forms. He glared down at the humans with a grin, licking his lips after. "I'll be sure to enjoy this."
"If it's not one thing it's another…" Carla grit her teeth. "How are we supposed to deal with this one…?!" Luckily for them, Gaia in her full form intervened and tackled Drake out of the city.
"You will not lay a claw on them!" Gaia gave a growl, much like a mother protecting her children. "I will keep you safe, don't worry." Although it was problematic; she would much rather be up there stopping Acnologia. But when the dragons of this city, of her home, were going berserk, she had to stop them however she could.
"Gaia…!" Alex let out a heavy sigh of relief. "I knew we could count on her…but…what are we supposed to do about all those other dragons?! There's no way everyone can hold them off forever…"
"Juvia, you still have that water, right?" Cynthia asked.
"Hai…" Juvia nodded…finally, an idea clicked into her head. "Juvia knows how to use this to save all the dragons!"
"And who would let you get away with doing that?" Kurthnaga returned, arms crossed while he stood in front of the group with a large grin. "I couldn't bear it if I just let his plans be ruined…I think you humans have done more than enough damage anyway."
"Kurthnaga-san…!?" Wendy gasped. "W-Why…!?"
"He's not on our side…" Juvia stated. She needed to get past Kurthnaga if she wanted to put her plan in motion. But she couldn't leave the others, they were far too exhausted and she was worried about him.
"Don't worry about it, Juvia-san!" Sting, Rogue, Frosch, and Lector rolled up onto the scene, Sting wearing a large, confident grin. "We'll take care of him! Go on ahead!"
"Thank you!" Juvia nodded and proceeded to run off. Kurthnaga attempted to intercept Juvia, but he was quickly stopped by Rogue appearing in front of him, entering his White Shadow mode.
While Kurthnaga silently sucked his teeth at this, he did take note of Sting. "You smell of Eizen…" Kurthnaga's eyes narrowed.
"He's dead." Sting replied. "But he told us to do whatever we could to stop this chaos…I intend to hold my word…with my best friend at my side."
"Oh humans…such interesting creatures. I've always wanted to learn more about you, but Father was right about one thing: they deserve to be destroyed by a dragon's hands." Kurthnaga shook his head as his aura began to expel from his body. "I'm looking forward to tearing you all apart."
"We'll fight with you, Sting!" Cynthia proclaimed, her and Wendy standing right beside the Twin Dragons while Alex and Carla whisked Lector, Frosch, Chelia and Raven to safety.
"W-Whoa, Cynthia-san…How are you feeling?" Rogue questioned mostly because of Cynthia's current appearance.
"I feel better." Cynthia responded with a nod. "But I know I look terrible…I can fight, though!"
"M-Me too…!" Wendy quickly added on.
"Alright!" Sting pounded his fist into an open palm. "Let's show him what we're made of!"
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Bisca watched the events of the Isle with a tense expression. Thanks to the scope of the Jupiter cannon, she could see what was happening, and she didn't like it. "..."
"What's wrong?" Alzack asked, worried about the look on his wife's face. "Are more Dragons trying to attack?"
To that, she shook her head. "No, I think they've stopped trying. Which is a good thing. I've been using Jupiter's rapid shot to keep them at bay, but I'm starting to run low on power now. If that happens, it'll take 15 minutes for it to charge to full. But that's not what I'm worried about."
"What is it then, Mama?" Asuka asked. "Whatever it is, you can shoot it out of the sky, I know it!"
That did make Bisca smile a bit. But the situation looming over the Isle was far too worrisome for her to brush it off like that. "Another dragon is there...it's Acnologia." This made Alzack's eyes widen. "He's fighting Dhegensea, which is no good for anyone. And if it gets too bad, I have to shoot at one of them. But I don't know which one to take the shot at..."
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The battle in the sky between dragons was fierce. Acnologia swung his tail at Dhegensea, only for the hit to be completely avoided by Dhegensea soaring into the air. Acnologia then briefly inhaled before exhaling a gigantic breath from his mouth aimed at the sky. Dhegensea also avoided this, though the breath created several explosions in the sky that created multiple explosions. The two dragons flew back from one another, glaring towards one another. "You will leave this island at once, Acnologia!"
"I will do no such thing, Dhegensea." Acnologia replied with a fierce scowl. "You have hidden in the skies above my reach for too long. Your mistake was coming down. I intend to destroy every single dragon, including you this island!" As Acnologia spoke, he flew forward, rearing a fist back, and slammed it right into Dhegensea's jaw. The Black Dragon King flew back a great distance from the impact.
"These dragons have done nothing to you." Dhegensea replied as he recovered, glaring towards Acnologia.
"How hypocritical of you! Are you not sending these dragons out to attack the world, all because of what 'Fate' has in store for you? You make me sick!" Acnologia proceeded to inhale once again. A gigantic blast of magic shot forward from his mouth a second time, and Dhegensea used his wings to shield himself from the explosive impact. Down below, the ocean itself rippled and split apart from the sheer power of these two dragons doing combat.
Dhegensea sustained some damage from this, but continued to fight on. "I am still their KING! I command my people to fight, to destroy! And it is my sworn duty to protect them from the likes of YOU! "Dhegensea flew forward at high speeds, slamming his entire body into Acnologia's for a full body tackle. This impact send a shockwave that ripped through the sky, causing an earthquake on the land below. "You are one of the strongest reasons we sought to flee! A human soaked in the blood of dragons...And now, you return, eager to finish the job! I would not allow it back then, and I shall not allow it now!" Multiple scales broke off of Dhegensa's body, shooting towards Acnologia at high speeds in a constant array of obsidian bombardment. "Black Dragon's Scale Shot!"
"Guh!" Acnologia felt the impact of each scale stabbing into his body. Due to the sheer number, he was unable to protect himself from all of it. Soon, however, his patience would run thin and he brought his wings together to shield himself from the constant impact. His wings then opened up violently, a strong gust of wind dispersing the scales. "It doesn't matter why you fled to this island, because your fate will be to die by my hands! You claimed these dragons are innocent!? These dragons will kill, because that is in their nature! It doesn't matter who stands in their path...all dragons know how to do is destroy." Something flashed in his mind for a brief moment. Acnologia recalled that time, so long ago...when dragons attacked. They destroyed his home, devoured his family, killed an innocent little girl and thought nothing of it...they continued to kill and rampage.
"And you think yourself any better!?" Dhegensea snarled. "Do you believe yourself some sort of hero, taking revenge!?"
"Humans are arrogant!" He remembered how King attempted to control him, along with Future Rogue. Those transgression were stains on humanity's record to him. "I destroy what needs to be destroyed. Dragons, humans, demons this world...all of it will be torn asunder, BY MY POWER!" As Acnologia roared this out, glints of light appeared in front of him. Blue beams of magic began to rain down on Dhegensea, and it was clear his intended target was also the Isle itself. He didn't care about the lives on it, they all deserved destruction and ruin. There were so many dragons present, this was his opportunity to rid the world of them.
Dhegensea, of course, was not going to allow this. Multiple black beams appeared as he flew in a clockwise rotation. Black and blue beams clashed in the sky, multiple explosions taking place once again. While Dhegensea was not keen on saving those opposing his rule, he had to protect his Isle, for as long as they remained on it. He could not lose anyone before his Fate was carried out! Some of these beams did land against him, pushing him back a great deal. But the same could be said for Acnologia. "You have lost your chance to yield! You have one glaring weakness, the same as all dragons!"
"Oh!?" Acnologia grinned sadistically as a response. "Perhaps you didn't know this, but magic doesn't effect me. Even Dragon Slaying magic struggles against my might!"
"But you are a dragon. Wounds that dragons suffer from other dragons will never heal!" Dhegensea replied with a grin of his own. This was a fight to the death. Whoever mauled each other first would gain the advantage, and they both knew it. Dhegensea had so much riding on this. He had to defeat Acnologia, to prove his superiority from 400 years ago, and as a show of strength that no one could defeat him.
"HAHAHAHA!" Acnologia just laughed in response. "I do not intend to leave you wounds that you suffer from. I intend to kill you."
"How amusing." Acnologia mocked. "This is the first time you've acted like a real king. Unfortunately for you, your efforts are simply for naught! I arrived with the intention of laying waste to this pitiful gathering of dragons, and I will not leave until it is done!" Acnologia violently flew forward once again, and Dhegensea did the exact same thing. The result? The two of their skulls crashing together for a fierce deadlock.
"Back down, Acnologia." Dhegensea commanded. "This is your final warning."
"I am the true Dragon King…I will not allow your false reign to strip me for what I already hold. I. WILL. DESTROY!" Suddenly, Acnologia overpowered Dhegensea and sent him rocketing down towards the island, a large earthquake occurring from his impact…with Dhegensea out of the way and all the others dragons busy; there was nothing to stop him from preparing yet another roar…
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"I told you I'm fine!" Mii shouted as Gray attempted to help her. It was hard to stand with how violently everything was shaking.
"You're a liar." Gray responded. "Let's at least get you to Wendy or Aira…"
"What about Chelia…? Mii questioned though the look on Gray's face told it all. "I see…well, listen…I appreciate you two giving me a chance, but it should really be a group thing. I did mess things up for you all…so I'd rather my fate be determined by everyone else…and I'm sure a lot of them want me dead…" Before anything could be said, Dhegensea slammed into the ground and Acnologia was preparing to roar. "E-EEP!?"
"Oh crap!" Gray's eyes flew up and he saw the scene above. A familiar one, and unlike before, it didn't look like they had any outs! If Acnologia roared, the entire Isle would... ""This isn't good!"
"We're gonna diiiiiiiiie!" Mii screamed in response to all of this.
"Wha…?!" Natsu's eyes widened but he felt a sudden pulse from his chest. "…Uh…?" That feeling wasn't just limited to Natsu; Waiston, Daryan, Selene, Blues, Wendy, Sting, Rogue, and Gajeel. Their heartrate was increasing without explanation as Acnologia was preparing to end everything. Suddenly, Natsu began having sudden flashbacks to his time with Igneel, hearing the dragon's voice echo in his head.
'You've grown so much, Natsu…'
"I-Igneel…!? W-Where are you hiding!?" Natsu's eyes widened as he heard his father's voice. A bright light began emanating from his chest. In a bright flash, Igneel suddenly appeared before Natsu, flames scattering from the throne room.
"I've been inside you this whole time, Natsu. I've watched you grow into a strong wizard. And now..." Igneel explained before turning to Acnologia, eyes narrowing. He knew what the situation was and planned to do something about it. The King of Fire Dragons flew forward and unexpectedly tackled Acnologia and interrupted his roar just as Dhegensea rejoined the fray. Both dragons looked shocked to see Igneel appear, out of thin air! "Live, Natsu!"
Natsu looked into the sky, watching the three dragons stare each other down. Tears began to fill the eyes of the Salamander as his bottom lip quivered. "Dad…"
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Next Time: Flames Alight!