"Don't worry, he's not dead."
Marco answered Mercphobia casually.
Of course he could not kill Ignia right away.
Mercphobia shifted back into his human form, his face carrying a complicated mix of emotions as he looked at Ignia's unconscious body.
"Then... how do you plan to deal with him?"
Honestly, seeing Ignia get beaten down felt good.
The guy had been picking fights with him for ages, so watching him finally get taught a lesson was satisfying.
At the same time, seeing someone as strong as Ignia lose so easily left Mercphobia with a strange chill.
Even humans would feel that way if they saw someone of their own kind, someone roughly equal to them in strength, get handled like a toy.
Marco looked down at the unconscious Fire Dragon God in his hand, then turned to Mercphobia.
"Mercphobia, stay in Ermina for now. I need to take this brat to see his father, and while I'm at it, I'll let the old Fire Dragon King know what his son's been doing on the northern continent. You can use the time to gather more information on the other Dragon Gods. We'll talk properly when I get back. It shouldn't take long."
Since he had already captured Ignia and confirmed that he really was Igneel's son, Marco could not just decide Ignia's fate on his own.
He had to consider the Fire Dragon King's feelings.
Mercphobia opened his mouth, but in the end he only nodded. "I understand, Master Marco. I'll wait here. As for the other Dragon Gods, I'll do my best to gather what I can."
Looking at how easily Marco carried Ignia's massive body, Mercphobia no longer had the slightest doubt that Marco could solve Guiltina's dragon problem.
If Ignia had been dealt with this simply, how much stronger could Mercphobia himself be?
How much stronger could the others be?
The answer was already painfully clear.
They were not on Marco's level at all.
It was almost the same as when dragons had once faced the Black Dragon Acnologia. Against that kind of power, there was only the one-sided fate of being slaughtered.
Buzz.
Marco said nothing more.
His powerful Cosmo wrapped around both him and Ignia, twisting the space around them in a strange ripple.
A moment later, the man and dragon vanished together, leaving Mercphobia alone above the sea.
...
The next instant, Marco appeared at the secret training spot where Igneel was teaching Natsu.
At that moment, the Fire Dragon King was patiently guiding Natsu through training.
Natsu was darting around wildly, dodging Igneel's attacks as best he could.
Despite his huge body, the old Fire Dragon King moved with surprising agility, and in pure close combat, Natsu was nowhere near his match.
Boom!
Ignia's huge body crashed onto the ground, instantly making both Igneel and Natsu stop.
The moment Igneel saw Ignia, his massive dragon head froze.
His pupils shrank sharply.
He could feel it—there was a connection between himself and the fire dragon on the ground, something rooted deep in their blood. That familiar yet unfamiliar presence told him exactly who this was.
"Marco? Wh-what is this...?"
Natsu's eyes went wide as he stared at the fire dragon Marco had brought back, a dragon that looked almost like he had been carved from the same mold as Igneel.
For a moment, Natsu looked completely lost, almost wondering if he was seeing things.
"Aye?! Why are there two Igneels?!"
Happy was even more direct.
He blurted it out without noticing the differences between Ignia and Igneel at all.
To be fair, even between different kinds of humans, people could still have trouble telling faces apart.
It was not strange that Happy could not immediately spot the differences between two fire dragons.
Igneel's expression, however, was anything but simple.
Surprise and joy flashed through his dragon eyes, mixed with disbelief so heavy it almost hurt.
"Marco... Ignia? What... what happened to him?"
There was a faint tremor in the Fire Dragon King's voice.
One of his huge claws moved forward almost on instinct, as if he wanted to touch Ignia, yet he hesitated before he could.
Just as Ignia had always believed his father had died, Igneel had never imagined his son could still be alive.
He had thought Ignia must have died during the war.
More than four hundred years ago, Igneel had watched countless dragons fall.
He had watched one dragon after another rush to challenge the Black Dragon, all of them fighting to eliminate Acnologia and preserve what was left of their race.
Before going off to fight Acnologia himself, Igneel had not even had the chance to properly arrange anything for Ignia.
Back then, the dragon race had already scattered in every direction.
He had stayed behind to fight the Black Dragon and had not even known where his son had gone.
"That's right, Igneel. This guy is your biological son, Ignia."
Marco clapped his hands lightly and confirmed the Fire Dragon King's guess.
"What?!"
Natsu and Happy shouted at the same time, both of them gaping so hard their jaws nearly hit the ground.
"This wonderful son of yours is now one of the Five Dragon Gods of northern Guiltina, the Fire Dragon God Ignia. He's got some big ideas too. He wants to rebuild dragon rule over Guiltina."
Marco ignored Natsu and Happy's reaction and continued speaking to Igneel.
His teasing tone landed like a bucket of cold water, instantly putting out the joy that had just risen in Igneel's heart.
As Marco went on and explained all of Ignia's "great achievements" in Guiltina, Igneel's expression grew darker and darker. His anger was already starting to show.
Natsu and Happy's faces turned serious too.
It was obvious that Ignia's actions did not win their approval at all. If anything, they made them furious.
Igneel's huge eyes locked onto the wounds and marks on Ignia's dragon body, scars that seemed to speak of battle and violence.
"Obsessed with restoring dragon rule, ruling humans on Guiltina, fighting the other Dragon Gods nonstop, treating human lives like nothing, and constantly stirring up trouble..."
Everything Ignia had done on Guiltina was like dancing straight across Igneel's bottom line.
It was almost impressive how perfectly he had stepped on every single one of the old Fire Dragon King's sore spots.
Igneel's massive body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from rage and the deep pain of betrayal.
Igneel had always belonged to the peace faction among dragons.
He had poured everything into stopping the war between dragons and humans, even standing against his own kind, because he knew coexistence was the future.
How much potential did humans have? Just look at the Black Dragon Acnologia.
That monster had once been human.
And now there was Marco. If dragons made enemies of humans like that, how was the dragon race supposed to survive?
"That damned brat!"
After holding it in for a long while, Igneel finally cursed.
There was no helping it.
What his son had done deserved to be cursed. He had completely thrown away his father's pride!
Right then, Ignia groaned in pain on the ground.
His huge dragon eyes slowly opened, though his brain was clearly still struggling to boot back up.
After a brief moment of confusion, Ignia saw the majestic, familiar crimson figure standing in front of him.
His dragon pupils widened sharply, and he recognized the fire dragon at once.
"Fa... Father?!"
Ignia's voice was filled with shock and disbelief.
Four or five hundred years had passed.
The father he had believed died long ago in the war against the Black Dragon was actually alive and standing right in front of him!
"Ignia! Tell me right now, is what Master Marco said true?! What exactly have you been doing on the northern continent?!"
The moment Igneel saw his son wake up, he began questioning him without hesitation.
He could not wait even a second, and he had no interest in playing out some touching father-son reunion.
He could not accept it.
He had risked everything to fight the Black Dragon, only for his son to walk the wrong path and become an evil dragon who ruled over humans!
"..."
The excitement in Ignia's heart was instantly scattered by his father's harsh questions.
He struggled to stand, and the shock in his eyes quickly turned into defiance.
"What have I been doing? Reviving the glory of the dragon race, of course! Making those tiny humans crawl under our feet again! That is the place dragons are meant to have, not living together with humans and taking pride in protecting them!"
Ignia rose to his feet and shouted, his words filled with fanaticism and stubbornness.
Marco almost wanted to applaud him.
'What a fine speech.'
"Make dragons great again," was it?
"Bastard!"
After hearing Ignia's answer, Igneel completely lost his temper. His huge dragon claw slammed down toward Ignia.
Boom!
Ignia, who had only just climbed back up, was slapped straight back into the ground. His head, which had not fully recovered in the first place, went dizzy all over again.
This second heavy hit left the whole dragon seeing stars.
"The glory of dragons? You think glory comes from bullying the weak and enslaving other races?! What kind of glory is that?! You are completely wrong! Glory is strength and responsibility. It is protection and coexistence!"
Igneel's roar shook the air.
"Protection? Coexistence? With humans?" Ignia snarled back, even after taking the slap. "They only know betrayal! The Black Dragon who slaughtered countless of our kind was once human too, wasn't he?! Only absolute rule can bring true order! If the peace faction hadn't betrayed us, humans could never have defeated dragons!"
Even after being smacked by his father, Ignia stubbornly held on to his beliefs.
For four or five hundred years, he had never dared to seek revenge on Acnologia, so he had needed an excuse.
He had found one.
Everything was humanity's fault.
Everything was the peace faction's fault.
If those dragons had not helped humans create Dragon Slayer Magic, then the Black Dragon Acnologia would never have been born.
Strictly speaking, if one forced the argument, that chain of cause and effect could sort of stand.
But if that was how they were doing things, they might as well push it further back.
It was because the war faction dragons had always treated humans like weeds that the kindhearted peace faction had felt pity for humanity in the first place.
So Ignia's argument had no real ground to stand on.
"That's enough. I didn't bring you here to watch you two argue."
Marco suddenly spoke, cutting off the argument between Igneel and Ignia.
"Igneel, you've seen what state your son is in. I'm sure you already know what needs to be done with him."
Marco's gaze shifted toward Ignia, whose face was still full of defiance.
The Fire Dragon God, who had been stiff-necked and stubborn a moment ago, immediately shrank back.
Ignia had personally felt Marco's terrifying strength.
He had been taken down in an instant, and it had happened while he was fully alert.
It had not been a sneak attack.
He had no excuse.
---
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