43)Birth of the King

Chaos raged across Crocus as seven mythical beasts rampaged through the city, each dragon towering over the surrounding buildings while the dragon slayers of the timeline struggled to deliver fatal blows against them.

“Iron Shadow Dragon’s Club!” Gajeel roared as he shifted his right hand into an iron club before it stretched out at a blistering pace, shadows wrapping around the limb like armor just moments before it slammed into the side of the dark-scaled dragon in front of him.

However, the damage was miniscule at best as the beast turned to glare at him, a growl escaping its maw as it rolled its shoulders.

“You wish to use the darkness? Very well. Darkness Dragon’s Roar!” The dragon roared as its maw opened wide and unleashed a conglomeration of shadows from its throat, Gajeel quickly sinking into the shadows under him and appearing far away just as the shadowy beings destroyed everything within the attack radius.

“Need any help, Gajeel?!” Levy shouted from where she was standing on the sidelines with the other Fairy Tail mages, to which Gajeel snorted as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

“Believe me, pipsqueak! You guys are only in the way!” He shouted back before sinking into his shadow as the dragon came down with a tail smack, shooting out from another shadow with a spin before sending the beast skidding backwards with a heel kick.

‘Damnit! It’s just my luck I had to get the one dragon both of my elements are no use of.’ Gajeel thought with gritted teeth as he watched the dragon coming to a standstill, his kick having cracked a few scales on the beast’s jaw and nothing else.

Rushing towards the beast, Gajeel watched as it took a deep breath before stopping his sprint and quickly leaping back as shadows erupted from the ground, cursing his hurried movement as he slowly looked up to see a shadow-covered claw coming down on him.

However, just as he heard Levy shouting at him, he blinked as the claw stopped mere centimeters from him, the force from the would-be attack sending him flying backwards as he flipped through the air and landed just a few paces in front of the other mages.

Not caring/ Ignoring Levy rushing over to hug him, he frowned as he watched the dragon no longer looking at them, the dragon’s wings unfurling before it rocketed up into the sky and flew towards the castle.

‘What the fuck is going on over there?’

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cobra gritted his teeth as he raised his arms in a cross guard while layering scales all over his body and just in time as a storm of boulders crashed into him, making him grit his teeth while glaring at the frozen Rune Knight behind him.

“You’re no fucking help, so why don’t you go away and let me do my job?!” He shouted as the rock storm ended, to which the Rune Knight gave a shaky nod & ran to where the other knights & mages were watching.

Taking a deep breath while turning to glare at the dragon in front of me, he hated the look of nonchalance in the Rock Dragon’s eyes as the beast looked bored with his attacks.

“Your first attack was well-placed and perfectly timed, but without the element of surprise on your side, I can easily defend myself against them.” The Rock Dragon spoke with a drawl as he sat on the ground, a monstrous boulder appearing behind him and blocking the barrage of spells from the Blue Pegasus that tried to sneak around while he lifted two claws that clashed with Cobra’s fist.

However, the struggle did not last long as the dragon flicked him away, Cobra flipping through the air to land on his feet before wheezing as a small boulder snuck past his guard and slammed into his chest.

‘Yeah, that broke a few ribs. Why the fuck did I do this again? Right, for a few minutes of freedom.’ Cobra thought with a few coughs as he stood up, glaring up at the Rock Dragon, who looked slightly impressed at his resilience.

“It appears I have taken you lightly, slayer. Let me rectify my mistake by paying you my full attention.” The Rock Dragon spoke with a growl as he stood up, Cobra now nervous as he watched the dragon rolling his shoulders and shaking his body.

‘Hah, as if this was not hard enough already. This is why being a bad guy is so much easier.’  Cobra thought with a grumble as his ethernano surged outwards, a dark maroon miasma covering his body while scales grew over his arms.

Yet, as he readied himself for battle, he frowned in confusion as the beast stopped abruptly as it went to charge him, watching as it glared at something to the side before blinking as it began charging towards the Mercurius castle.

‘…What the hell?’

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“White Dragon’s Claw!” Sting roared as he slammed his hand into the skull of the scarlet dragon he was facing, getting a bit frustrated as the beast simply grinned while tanking the blow, the dragon slayer quickly leaping away as the dragon tried to cut him with the horn on its head.

Landing on the ground, Sting didn’t care for the other blue dragon that tried to attack him from behind as he was pulled into his shadow, the blue dragon missing the opportunity to bite down on the slayer before being surprised as twin impacts hit his left leg.

Tumbling across the ground, the scarlet dragon rolled its eyes as it leapt into the air, looking around for Sting before grinning as it took a deep breath.

“Blade Dragon’s…Roar!” The dragon roared as it unleashed a storm of razor-sharp air blades, the impact area reduced to nothing but dust within seconds as Sting & Rogue barely made it out of the attack radius.

“Oi, Scissors! If you cut them up too much, I won’t eat them!” The blue dragon roared as he rolled to his feet, not caring for the houses he crushed under him as Scissors Runner rolled his eyes.

“Then, that’s more food for me, Levia, which I don’t mind when I’m doing all the goddamn work.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Levia growled, to which Scissors scoffed before turning as a white glow radiated the night lit sky, soon joined by an abyssal black miasma that blotched out the sky behind it.

“Unison Raid: Holy Shadow Dragon’s Flash Fang!” Sting & Rogue roared as they unleashed a large amount of shadows & white light onto the dragons, Scissors Runner simply smirking as both he & Levia took a deep breath.

“Sea King Dragon’s…Roar! / Blade Dragon’s Roar!” Both beasts roared in unison while opening their maws wide, a pressurized jet of water shooting up to clash against the light while a hurricane of razor-sharp winds crashed into the flood of shadows that rained down upon them.

The clash only lasted a few moments before all four fighters’ attacks nullified each other, Sting & Rogue sinking into a shadow as soon as they landed while Scissors huffed as Levia rolled his neck.

“You have to admit that they got a lot more determination than our usual meals, even if they’re a lot weaker than them.” Levia said with a smirk as they watched the two slayers emerging from a shadow far away, Scissors smirking as he nodded.

“That is true, yes, but it’s not good for them. The more I fight, the hungrier I get. Who knows what happens if I became starving?”

“Yeah, let’s get this damn meal over with so we can go eat the others.”

“Think you got a few more attacks in you?” Sting asked Rogue with a tired smirk as he leaned against his friend, who looked just as tired as he let out a sigh.

“No, but given that you won’t stop, I have no choice but to go along with whatever idiotic thought you have in your mind.”

“That’s my buddy. Now, let’s go for a si-What are they doing?” Sting asked in confusion as he looked at the dragons, Rogue looking as well before he was just as confused as he watched the dragons looking intently at something at the castle.

Before they could speak, both slayers were surprised as they watched the dragons leap into the air, spreading their wings as they flew to where they were looking.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Jade Dragon’s Fist! / Sky Dragon’s Talon!” Zirconis & Wendy roared respectively as their attacks clashed, a happy grin on Zirconis’ face as the little slayer managed to nullify his attack with her own.

Watching as the dragon slayer fell to the ground, he tried to get her by spinning & slapping at her with his tail only to be impressed once more as the little slayer let out a blast of air from her hands that sent her flying towards him before his grin widened as he felt a slight impact from her leg crashing into his jaw.

“Hahaha! It’s been a while since I faced a young slayer as talented as you, little girl! Entertain me more!”

“She’s not the only one you need to worry about.” Mira’s deepened voice echoed through the sky as she appeared below Zirconis, who simply looked down at her with a frown before his head snapped to face the sky as a monstrous upper cut slammed into his jaw.

“I thought I told you that you’re a nuisance, pest!” Zirconis growled as he slammed his jaw back down, Mira quickly ducking out of the way before grunting as his fist came around & slammed into her side, sending her careening through the sky.

However, she smiled as an orange glow covered her body, giving Wendy a thankful nod as her protection spell nullified most of the impact from the crash while the dragon slayer turned around as Zirconis gave a slow clap.

“You continue to amaze me, little slayer. Your ethernano will taste divin-!” Both Wendy & Mira blinked as the dragon stopped talking, watching as he turned his head to stare at the Eclipse Gate before they were surprised as he spread out his wings & flew towards it.

‘What is he doing?’ Mira thought as she watched Zirconis flying away before her frown deepened as she saw the others dragons all rushing towards where Zirconis was heading.

“Mira! We need to stop them! They’re heading for Lucy!” Wendy shouted as she flew past with Carla’s help, Mira’s eyes widening before she cursed as she quickly rocketed after them.

‘Shit! Please, let me make it!’

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Mercurius, Lucy & Yukino gritted their teeth as their spirits struggled to destroy the gate, the Celestial Spirit Mage of Fairy Tail taking a glance to the side only to give a mental curse as she saw the battle on the side still raging.

“Hell Flame Dragon’s Roar! / Diamond Dragon’s Roar!” Atlas Flame & Motherglare roared as they unleashed their respective breath attack, a hurricane of scarlet flames cancelled out by a swirling storm that had diamonds swirling at the centre.

As the two attacks clashed, the two beasts ignored the monstrous explosion and dove into its centre, Natsu leaping from Atlas’ back and landing on Motherglare’s with a grin before leaping at Future Rogue with his right foot clad in flames.

“Fire Dragon’s Talon.” Natsu exclaimed as he swung his foot through the air, the trail of fire it left behind lashing out like a whip at F. Rogue, who only snorted as he ducked below the attack while his shadow darkened & expanded.

“Shadow Dragon’s Abyss.” F. Rogue growled while slapping his hand onto his shadow, Natsu bringing his whip down upon F. Rogue only to growl as the slayer’s shadow shot up & completely absorbed his attack.

Watching as the shadows began crawling towards him along the flames, Natsu cut it off while leaping away, taking a deep breath before breathing out a torrent of flames down upon F. Rogue.

However, it was not enough as F. Rogue sunk into his shadow, the attack washing over Motherglare’s attack and making them growl at the irritation before it glared at Atlas as the Hell Flame Dragon used the distraction to land a punch to its side.

“L-Lucy! I can’t! I don’t have enough…to keep going!” Yukino gritted out as she & Lucy continued to fuel their spirits with energy, making the blonde frown as she racked her brain for a strategy before her eyes widened as she heard five loud thumps behind them.

Slowly looking back, she felt her heart drop as she saw the five dragons that were fighting the mages in the city slowly walking towards them, her head spinning to where Natsu was fighting as she heard F. Rogue’s cackling.

“You see, Dragneel?! No matter what you do, my destiny is inevitably!” F. Rogue exclaimed with a grin as he saw his five dragons arriving at his battlefield, Natsu frozen in shock as he saw the dragons.

“Wha-What happened to the others?!”

“Natsu, jump back!” Atlas’ shout managed to snap Natsu from his shock as he quickly ducked F. Rogue’s attack and leapt towards Atlas’ back, who landed next to Lucy & Yukino while glaring at his former allies.

“Lucy!” Natsu shouted as he jumped down, watching as his friend & her fellow Celestial Spirit Mage continued to fuel their attack, turning to glare at F. Rogue as he landed with his now six dragons all behind him.

“You lose, Dragneel. Now give up and let me do what needs to be done.” F. Rogue growled with a glare, which Natsu returned as flames erupted from his body.

“Never! As long as I can fight, I’m never letting you kill Lucy!” He growled back while readying himself for a battle, to which F. Rogue gritted his teeth before scoffing.

“Very well. It’s your funeral! Dragons! Kill him!” F. Rogue exclaimed and Natsu readied himself for a fight before frowning as nothing happened, F. Rogue looking irritated as he turned to glare at the dragons.

“I said attack!” F. Rogue shouted once more, now both irritated & confused as the dragons weren’t even looking at him.

Taking the risk to look away from F. Rogue, Natsu turned to shout at Atlas to help him before blinking as his ‘uncle’ wasn’t even looking at him.

Instead, he, like the other dragons, was intently looking at the gate, to which Natsu looked as well before blinking in confusion at the eerie glow coming from it.

“Uh, Lucy?! Is that good or bad?!” Natsu shouted while pointing at the gate, to which the other humans present looked at the gate before Lucy frowned in confusion at the red glow coming from the gate’s edges, her eyes widening as she saw the glow becoming brighter.

“Guys! Get away!” She shouted at hers & Yukino’s spirits, to which they all quickly flew away just as the doors erupted open, her heart dropping while F. Rogue looked ecstatic to see the gate active once again.

“Hahahaha! Yes! Oh, it feels glorious when fate deems your path worth-!” Before F. Rogue could finish his sentence, everyone turned as he gave a wheezing gasp, Lucy turning to look at him before her eyes widened at the bloody cuts all over his body.

“W-W-W-!” He was unable to finish his sentence as his body fell to pieces, Yukino & Natsu looking just as horrified as Lucy, who was too busy staring at the portal and the shadowy figure walking closer.

“Natsu, take your friends and run.” Natsu turned to Atlas as he spoke, seeing the worried look in the dragon’s eyes before turning to see the other dragons looking just as unsteady & nervous.

“Lucy! Let’s go!”

“R-Right! Yukino, let’s go! Everyone, go back!” She shouted at the spirits as she helped a tired Yukino to her feet, the other dragons not even caring to stop them running past as Zirconis took a deep breath.

In the blink of an eye, a colossal hurricane with hundreds upon hundreds of jade emeralds inside it erupted from his maw and was sent flying towards the gate only for an equally as big beam of energy to crash into it.

The monstrous explosion from the two attacks made the entirety of Crocus shake as every mage turned towards the castle Mercurius, Scissors Runner & Levia rushing forward just as the being inside disappeared & reappeared in between them.

“Dragon Scales. Repulse. Paired Falling Stars. Devil Slayer Cursed Arts: Timeless Dismantle.” In the blink of an eye, the five dragons around them duck as a wave of scarlet energy erupted from the being, both Scissors & Levia coming to a standstill just as they wanted to unleash their attack.

“What are you two doing? Atta-!” Motherglare’s shout was interrupted by their eyes widening as both Scissors Runner & Levia fell to the ground, their heads rolling across the ground as the four-eyed being turned to look at them.

“Nine Ropes. Polarized Light. Crow and Declaration. Between Front and Back. Devil Slayer Cursed Arts: Supreme Hollow Purple.” In mere moments, Motherglare’s head was gone as a swirling purple storm of light blasted right through it, the blast continuing on through the sky before it erased a chunk of the clouds from existence.

“Who the hell are you?!” The Rock Dragon shouted as it glared at the four-eyed being, who simply looked at them as it landed.

“Forget learning who he is! We need to kill him!” Zirconis shouted as the Dark Dragon got ready, but Altas frowned as he seemed to recognize the being, looking at him as the black-haired young man turned to stare at the Rock Dragon.

The next sequence happened before Atlas could think to intervene as the young man lunged towards the Rock Dragon, who didn’t even know he was dead as a gaping & scorched hole erupted in his chest.

Not done yet, the young man ate the Rock Dragon’s heart in one gulp before reappearing behind the Dark Dragon, who couldn’t even turn around before another hole was opened in his gate.

Turning to stare emotionlessly at Zirconis as he ate the Dark Dragon’s heart, the young man rushed forward while dodging the hail of jade raining down upon him, Zirconis quickly punching out in panic as the young man leapt towards him.

Just as he thought his fist would connect, both his & Atlas’ eyes widened as scarlet flames erupted from his feet and helped him flip over the massive fist, Atlas watching in shock, horror & fascination as the young man pulled a fist back while scarlet flames covered his hand.

“Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Imperial Scarlet Cannon.” The young mage chanted as he sent his fist crashing into Zirconis’ chest, the force of the attack shattering the scales on his belly while a pillar of scarlet flames erupted from his back.

As the fire died down and the young mage landed back on the ground, Zirconis’ face was frozen in horror as his corpse landed on the ground, his back visible for all to see as his organs were seen slowly spilling out blood onto the ground.

“And then, there was one.” Atlas turned as he heard the young man speak, surprised to see him giving him an amused smirk.

“S-So, you’re a Hell Flame Dragon Slayer? Well, who is the filthy mongrel under my command that made you into one?” Atlas growled before his eyes widened as the young man simply smirked.

“You, dear father.”

“You expect me to believe that I, the great Atlas Flame, has grown so low that I needed to save my legacy by taking in a human as my hatchling?!” Atlas growled as he stood tall, his fear having vanished as the young man looked at him before shaking his head.

“Be glad that I spare you.”

“Wha-!” Before Atlas could ask, his eyes widened as the young man disappeared, a blow from behind knocking the wind out of him as he was sent blasting into the Eclipse Gate, looking back to see the young man giving him a final nod before the portal closed as a violet light shone down upon it.

Looking at the destroyed Eclipse Gate, the young man frowned as he saw everyone’s ethernano rushing closer, watching as the bodies around him vanished into golden motes of light before sighing as he felt his strength diminishing.

‘That was the last of my power, Eric. From here on out, you’re on your own and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.’ F. Eric spoke with a smile as his consciousness vanished, Eric giving a gasp as he felt himself returning into his body.

“W-Wha…” Eric wanted to ask what the hell F. Eric meant, but the ethernano drain from using so many powerful attacks left him tired beyond what he has experienced so far.

“There!” He heard someone shouting, the last thing he saw being that of Natsu & the other mages rushing towards him before his vision went black and he fell onto the ground.