56)The King Prepares for War

“Hell Dragon's Iron Fist!” Eric roared as he flew up while swinging his fist forward, Acnologia tanking the blow with a happy grin before he roared & pushed his chest out, sending the demon flying backwards.

“Arcane Dragon's Hammer!” Acnologia exclaimed as he spun through the air while bringing his tail down in wide arc, ethernano gathering at the end of his tail in the rough form of a ball before Eric gritted his teeth as the force of the blow sent him blasting back towards the ground.

That was not enough to take out the demon as he flipped around & landed with a thunderous thud on the ground, his lower arms moulding scarlet fire into a compacted orb while his upper left arm swung rapidly above him.

“Dismantle. Dragon Cry: Activate.” Numerous invisible blades shot up & towards Acnologia right as a beam of potent energy from Eric's upper right arm shot up behind them, the demon in question leaping upwards after his attacks with his lower arms having condensed his flames into the form of a bright arrow.

Acnologia on the other hand looked ecstatic as he dove straight down, ignoring the blades cutting away chunks of scales as he opened his mouth & devoured the beam of ethernano with a happy smile.

“Arcane Dragon's Roar!” With a loud & dominant roar, the ethernano gathered in Acnologia's mouth shot down in the form of a pillar of energy, Eric grinning as he spun rapidly before throwing out the arrow as hard as he could.

“Dragon Slayer Secret Art…Imperial Furnace~” With a soft chant, the world lit up as his flaming arrow pierced right through the energy beam & stabbed deep into Acnologia's shoulder, the demon exclaiming in pain as the remnants of the beams slammed into his chest right as Acnologia roared when the arrow glowed up bright & obscured both it & the dragon in a blazing sun.

'If he survives that with no wounds, I'm fucking killing myself.' Eric thought with a frown as he flexed his body, tearing off the charred scales & burnt skin before shaking as he looked up, joy filling his body as he watched Acnologia floating closer to the ground with a wide grin & a gaping cautherized hole in his left shoulder.

However, Eric was surprised to feel his body flushing with a relaxing feeling, looking down to see the Dragon Cry glowing with a golden aura while the wounds on his body vanished.

“…Oh, that is awesome~!” Eric whispered with a euphoric grin as he looked at Acnologia only to be surprised as the dragon fell to the ground & landed with a loud boom.

Watching as the dragon's body bulged out before rapidly shrinking down as it was obscured by a dark blue glow, Eric frowned as smoke hid the dragon's form before being surprised at the man walking out of the smoke with a mane of spiky dark blue hair, a tattered cloak covering his tattooed upper body & the pair of torn blue pants he had on.

“Hehehehe~ I would love to kill you right now, but doing so would rid me of a future challenge.” Acnologia spoke and Eric frowned as he clenched his fist.

“You saying you could beat me as I am now?”

“Even with the Dragon Cry & the help of the other Dragon Slayers, it would take me less than half of my strength to take you all out. I want to erase every dragon and everything connected to them from this world, but it won't be fun to do so without a good final fight.”

“So, you feel sorry for us?” Eric asked, scratching the back of his head as Acnologia nodded before shrugging as he crossed his lower arms.

'If he wants to give me time to get strong enough to dog-walk him, I'll take it. Also, he's a lot more reasonable than he was in the anime/ manga.'

“You know that you could come to regret your decision to not kill me right now, right?”

“To do so, you'll have to get strong enough to not be killed by me breathing.” The Dragon of Apocalypse spoke with a smirk before his body transformed back into his dragon form within the blink of an eye and took off into the air.

“In two years time, Eric Creed, Alvarez will attack & that will the moment of our final battle! Cherish the time you have left!” Acnologia roared before flying away, Eric frowning as he noted how the dragon's shoulder wound was already closed before his eyes widened as he felt pain in his sides.

Looking down, he let out a relieved sigh as it was only his arms retracting & the scales around his body fading away, taking a deep breath as his extra pair of eyes closed & the enhanced vision from Heavenly Vision shrunk down in range.

“Eric!” The demon let out a soft chuckle as he looked up just in time for Ms. Fortune to smash into his face with a tight hug, not even staggering from it even as her impact sent a shockwave flying through the air before he pulled her off & placed her on his shoulder.

“I'm okay. Like I said, I don't fight with the intention of losing.”

“No, you fight with the intention of throwing your life away! Dum-dum! Stupid! Idiot! Dumbass! Dum-dum!” Eric wasn't fazed by Ms. Fortune hitting & biting on his shoulder as she couldn't even pierce the skin, looking around before frowning slightly at the devastation that was left on the battlefield after his battle.

'Ash, craters and more ash. Damn, glad I went away from Fairy Tail's guild as soon as I can.' Eric thought with a frown as he looked at the pools of lava, the burning land & the deep gorges that was carved into the ground, shaking his head before a pair of flaming wings erupted from his back & sent himself a few dozen meters up into the air.

“So, is Fairy Tail still busy?”

“Nah, they finished their fight a while ago, but most of them were focused here so I told them I would come get you! Wait, I'm still mad at you!” She exclaimed as she went back to biting on his shoulder, Eric simply giving her a deadpan stare before shaking his head as he turned in the direction of where Fairy Tail's destroyed guild was supposed to be.

Surprisingly, he could see most of the guild gathered in its ruins while the rest were out trying to find the others, bursts of flames coming from his back & propelling him through the air as he made his way towards the ruined guild.

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As Eric landed outside the ruins of Fairy Tail's guild hall, he ignored the looks of awe & shock from the residents of Magnolia as he made his way towards it right before frowning as a voice spoke up.

“Oi, who the hell are you?” Looking up, he wasn't surprised to see Gajeel staring down at him, the man taking a few sniffs before Eric sighed as he watched the dragon slayer's eyes widen and his body turn to steel.

“You're a demon.”

“I am, but I'm also a good guy. Don't you remember me?” He asked, waiting as Gajeel frowned before turning to the stunned bluenette besides him.

“Shorty, you look like you know who he is.” He spoke and Levy snapped out of her shock before he yelped as she smacked upside the head.

“That's Eric Creed, you idiot! You know, the guy that killed the seven Dragons all those months ago?!” She hissed and Gajeel frowned as he looked back down at a smiling Eric before shrugging as his body turned back to normal.

“Hey, I don't care for the latest news & shit like that. So, what are you doing here, oh great 'Dragon Killer'?”

“Well, I was busy fighting Acnologia on the outskirts of the town and he left after promising a death battle with me so I wanted to see if everyone here is okay. Oh, and this is Ms. Fortune.”

“Hi~!” Ms. Fortune greeted before going back to biting on Eric's shoulder, the demon rolling his eyes before turning back & smiling in amusement to see the gobsmacked look on the two faces in front of him.

“…Ain't no fucking way you fought Acnologia?”

“Black dragon with blue tribal markings, a round head and a spiked tail? That the guy?” Eric asked and Gajeel looked at him before leaping down & gesturing for him to follow.

“Come on, the master would want to talk to you.”

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“What do you mean you're disbanding the guild?! You can't do that!” Eric heard the voice of Natsu shout as they made it to the back of the ruins, not surprised to see Makarov sitting on a large rock while the guild was gathered around him.

“I can and I did. You have seen what happens if Fairy Tail stays together? The battles we had against Raven Tail & Tartaros showed me that even if we do beat the guild, there's still the chance of massive damage being done to the town. This way, I can make sure that the good people of Magnolia is not dragged into a third guild war that could turn bad.”

“Yeah, it might be too late for that. Hey, everyone, Eric Creed & Ms. Fortune. Pleased to meet you all.” Eric greeted with a smile as he walked through the group of confused & surprised Fairy Tail mages, sitting down next to a frowning Makarov with Ms. Fortune plopping down onto his lap as the old man looked at him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is that I know you're disbanding the guild because you want to see if Alvarez might take Fairy Tail's disbandment as a chance to get Fairy Heart.” Eric answered as he stretched his arms above his head, the Fairy Tail guild looking even more confused while the demon wasn't surprised to feel Makarov's ethernano spiking & making the area tremble.

“How do you know of that?”

“I'm from an alternate timeline and my future self put me here after destroying the other timelines along with giving me his memories, so I know what you're going to do before you even do it. That's how I know of Lumen Histoire & Mavis being sealed inside of it.”

“What?!” Erza asked with a serious frown as she turned to Makarov, Eric looking at the old man as well to see him giving him a disappointed frown.

“Oh, don't look like that. We both know your children are too stubborn to let the guild be disbanded forever as I know that Natsu is going to train and then he's going to get Lucy, which will then make them want to rebuild the guild again.”

“…I am so confused.” Lucy spoke up with a frown and Eric shrugged as he scratched the purring Ms. Fortune on the head.

“It's quite easy to understand. I'm from another timeline like Future Rogue & Future Lucy, whose existences I also know about because my future self had to deal with them. Then, he sent us both through the Eclipse Gate, but in doing so, he shot us to a different timeline instead of the past, which also forced us to become one being and thus, gave me all of his memories.”

'Don't tell them anything else.' Eric thought with a smile as he kept Ms. Fortune from talking with more scratches, the Exceed unable to even have a cognitive thought as she laid flat on his lap with her legs twitching.

“And you expect us to believe that?”

“Who came through the Eclipse Gate & killed the dragons in Crocus again?” He responded to Mira's question with another question, to which she hummed in amusement & nodded.

“Fair play. So, is it true what he said?” She asked as she turned to Makarov, all of them looking at the old man before they looked surprised as he sighed & nodded.

“But…why? Why would you want to do this on your own?”

“Because the ruler of Alvarez is known as the God Emperor, but it's actually Zeref the Dark Wizard.” Eric spoke up once more, Makarov groaning as they all snapped their heads to look at him.

“…What?” Even Natsu sounded stunned as he spoke, Eric simply nodding as he scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, the big bad. The evil dude. Mr. Death himself. Well, not just him but also one of the first dragon slayers, Zeref & Mavis' son, an Etherious demon that's supposed to be a copy of his perfect masterpiece E.N.D. and a couple of other ladies & gentlemen that are all as powerful as the strongest Wizard Saint.”

“Okay, see now~! I know you're lying, right?” Gray asked with an amused smile which faded as Eric simply looked up at him with a stoic face.

“Unfortunately, not at all. Not just that, but I was fighting Acnologia over that hill and he just told me that I have about before he comes to kill all dragon slayers, which is also the same amount of time we have left as when Alvarez comes for the Fairy Heart according to him.”

“…Oh, you have got to be kidding me~!” Makarov groaned and Eric chuckled as he reached over & patted the old man on the shoulder.

“It's okay. It just means we have two years to get strong enough to beat their asses black & blue and send them back where they belong.”

“Right! And if we get the other guilds to help us, that's makes it even better, right?” Wendy asked with a hopeful smile, the rest of the guild nodding in agreement as Makarov sighed.

“So, none of you are going to leave if I ask you to, are you?”

“Nope! So, you better get ready to train us, gramps!” Natsu exclaimed with a grin, the rest of the guild shouting with him and he gave a soft chuckle as he nodded before looking over to see Eric standing up with a groan.

“And what of you? Since your old timeline got…destroyed as you said, I'm certain you don't have a home, so why not stay here?”

“Thanks, but I'm already staying at the palace and if the Queen hears that I tried to run away again, I'm fairly certain she's going to chain me to the castle and never let me leave.”

“W-Wait, the Queen? A-As…as in Queen Hisui, the ruler of Fiore?” Lisanna asked with a shocked look before her eyes widened as Eric chuckled & nodded while Ms. Fortune finally snapped from her blissful state & leapt over to the ground besides them.

“The one & only. Also, I'm a Cerberus through & through so I don't think that would be possible. Ms. Fortune, if you would please.”

“Right!” Ms. Fortune spoke with a smile as she was obscured by a ball of flames before they dispelled to reveal her now transformed into a large phoenix-like form, surprising everyone as he leapt onto her with a flip & waved at them.

“It was lovely meeting you all. Until we see each other again.”

“Bye, everyone! Bye, Blue Exceed~!!” Eric was surprised to hear Ms. Fortune's soft greeting towards Happy as they took off, looking back over her tail-feathers before smirking as he saw the Exceed and the other two completely stunned.

“I see someone has a crush, hmm?”

“I do not!” She exclaimed as they flew through the air and he chuckled at her attempts to throw him off as we slowly made out way back to Crocus.

“So, back to the castle & then where?” She asked before being surprised as he hummed & spoke.

“I think we're staying at the castle for a while now. I've had enough adventures for the rest of the year.”

“Really? No flying around & being a hero?” She asked and he snorted before shaking his head as he looked out into the distant land with a soft smile.

“Nah, I think it's time Eric Creed settled down for a while & got his living situation under control.”

A/N: This is a very upload and with sad news as I'm officially…discontinuing the story. Its rewrite has just started and I was finally getting the happiness back to write this story, but with how messed up the timeline was & how it also isn't fitting with the timeline I had in mind, I can't continue on like this.

Just like with Frost of Time & An Arctic Trident, one was the prototype & one was the finished product. I think this will be the same case for King Of Hellish Gravity & A Cursed Soul(The name of its rewrite)

Once again, thank you to everyone that has been reading this and been keeping up with the uploads, but sometimes all good things must come to an end.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

A final Ba-Bye from here~!!