"I get it." Without asking another question, Makarov spun around and bellowed, "Everybody listen up! Grab your stuff—we're heading back to the guild right now! Move it!"
Under the guild master's orders, the members were confused but sprang into action anyway. In no time they had everything packed and were marching in a huge group toward the beach at the edge of Tenrou Island, ready to board the ship that brought them here.
But just as everyone was about to climb aboard…
BZZZZZZ—
A low, muffled wingbeat none of them had ever heard before thundered down from the clouds high above—like a rolling thunderclap pounding straight into their hearts.
"Massive magical power incoming! Everyone stay sharp!!" Erza requipped in an instant, sword already drawn, brows furrowed, her sharp gaze locked on the sky.
The clouds were violently ripped apart by an invisible force. First came a pair of jet-black claws wreathed in an ominous aura.
Then a forelimb even thicker than the oldest ancient tree, covered in heavy black scales.
Just that simple motion created a wind pressure so strong it pushed the ocean surface downward, kicking up massive waves!
The clouds blocking their view scattered like they'd been blown away by a bomb.
When the white clouds finally cleared, the full terrifying form of the creature was revealed without anything left to the imagination.
Its entire body was covered in pitch-black scales, each one etched with eerie blue markings.
Its unfolded wings were so huge they blotted out the sky, casting a gigantic shadow that swallowed the whole beach.
Just hovering there, the destructive aura rolling off it made everyone's bones feel ice-cold. Happy and Carla were having trouble even breathing.
Makarov looked up, pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Raw fear gripped him as his voice trembled almost imperceptibly. "A black dragon… with ominous blue markings… radiating pure evil and destruction…"
"Don't tell me—this is the one written about in the Book of Revelation… the Wings of the End that bring about the apocalypse, the world-destroying dragon that can wipe out an entire era…"
"ACNOLOGIA!!!"
"You got it!" Gildarts, standing next to Makarov, was tensed to his limit, staring dead at the black dragon that had just landed on the beach ahead of them.
"That's Acnologia!"
He remembered his past encounter and shouted a warning. "I ran into this thing on the 100-Year Quest! Everyone be careful—its scales have some insanely weird power! They can massively weaken or even completely nullify almost all magical attacks!!"
Mira instinctively pulled Lisanna and Elfman behind her, shock and confusion written all over her face. "Why is a dragon that only exists in legends and nightmares—the one that symbolizes the end of the world—suddenly showing up here?!"
Roger stood at the front of the group, narrowing his eyes at the black dragon while a million thoughts raced through his head.
(So in the end it still followed the "original" timeline and got drawn to Tenrou Island, huh?)
(I really thought putting the key in the system inventory would let me dodge its senses… Guess I was one step short.)
(Still…)
He lightly clenched his fist, knuckles cracking.
(Acnologia feels a little weaker than I expected?)
(Maybe it's because I've gotten stronger.)
(Plus I've got those two trump cards…)
Roger took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and his eyes sharpened again.
(This fight… I can do this.)
Under the suffocating pressure of annihilation, Natsu suddenly shot out from beside Roger!
Fighting the instinctive terror that the dragon's presence drilled into his soul, he charged to the front, threw his head back, and yelled at the mountain-sized black dragon with everything he had:
"Hey, you big lizard! Let me ask you something—do you know where Igneel is?!"
"And Grandine! Metalicana! You know where they are?!"
"This absolute blockhead…!" Laxus behind him face-palmed so hard it hurt and roared, "Natsu!! Open your damn eyes!!"
"Does that thing look even remotely friendly to you?! Even if it knew the dragon that raised you, they'd one-hundred-percent be mortal enemies!"
"Why the hell would it tell you where the other dragons are?!"
"M-mortal enemies…?" Natsu froze for a second. A memory flashed through his mind of him and the others as kids guessing where Igneel went, and a giant cartoon lightbulb practically popped over his head.
"Ohhh! I get it now!!"
He whipped his head up, glaring at Acnologia with even more fury, pointed straight at it, and roared indignantly:
"You're that secret comic Igneel went off to fight, aren't you?!!"
"Pfft—!"
"Huh?!"
"Secret… comic???"
In that instant, the frozen, terror-filled air got punctured like a balloon.
Cold sweat rolled down everyone's foreheads at the exact same time. The apocalyptic dread that Acnologia had been radiating got blasted into pieces by Natsu's absolutely ridiculous line.
Carla covered her face with her paws, unable to watch. "He… does he even hear what he's saying right now?"
"This guy is beyond saving…"
"Aye!" Happy just shrugged like it was Tuesday, little paws spread wide in a "what can you do" gesture and a fond smile on his face. "That's just Natsu for you."
Lucy's mouth twitched uncontrollably. She leaned over to Gray and whispered, "Uh… what exactly is this 'secret comic' thing?"
Gray looked like he was having war flashbacks, rubbed his forehead, and explained, "Back when that idiot first joined the guild, a few of us were privately guessing where Igneel disappeared to."
"It wasn't 'secret comic'—it was 'he went on a secret mission to fight a powerful enemy'!"
Lucy: "The difference is kinda… massive!"
"Only Natsu could twist it that far. His brain works in ways no one will ever understand."
Seeing flames bursting around Natsu as he got ready to charge in for "revenge," Roger walked up with a helpless laugh, put a hand on his shoulder, and stopped him.
"Calm down. The you right now is nowhere near its level. Step back."
"Who says I can't beat it?!" Natsu exploded like someone stepped on his tail. "It's Igneel's enemy!! I'm gonna take it down myself and avenge him!!"
"Hm—?"
Roger didn't say anything else—just narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a low, warning hum.
The second Natsu heard that sound, a shiver ran down his spine. His whole body flinched, his neck shrank into his shoulders, and all that burning passion got doused like someone threw a bucket of ice water on him.
"F-fine, whatever… I got it…" He drooped like a defeated rooster and sulked back into the crowd, still muttering under his breath with a face that screamed "just you wait till I get stronger."
Lucy stared at the black dragon that hadn't reacted at all to Natsu's "provocation," just coldly overlooking them with those vertical pupils, and whispered uncertainly, "Why… isn't it attacking even after he yelled at it like that?"
"Does it maybe not have as much malice as we thought?"
Roger chuckled softly and answered, "Of course not. If it didn't have malice, it wouldn't be here."
"As for the provocation… imagine an ant crawling up to your foot, waving its little arms and screaming at you. How would you feel?"
"An ant?" Lucy blinked, thought about it, and answered, "I probably wouldn't even hear what it was saying… or if I noticed it, I'd just think it was trying to say hi and was kinda cute?"
"Exactly." Roger nodded.
"To the black dragon in front of us, Natsu's super-intense challenge just now was basically a slightly louder ant chattering in its ear. It didn't even register emotionally—definitely didn't make it angry."
He raised his voice so every guild member could hear clearly:
"Acnologia wasn't born a dragon. It used to be a human Dragon Slayer."
"WHAT?!" "A human?!"
Gasps erupted everywhere.
Roger continued, "Because he overused Dragon Slayer magic and bathed in the blood of countless dragons he slaughtered—nearly wiping out every dragon on the continent—he fully transformed into the black dragon Acnologia."
That bombshell detonated in everyone's minds!
Wendy covered her mouth, voice shaking uncontrollably. "A… Dragon Slayer?! He—he was originally human?!"
Laxus frowned hard, zeroing in on another key point. "Overusing Dragon Slayer magic and bathing in dragon blood turns a human into an actual dragon?! That—"
"He… wiped out nearly all the dragons…" Happy went pale as a sheet. He whipped around to Natsu, who was frozen in shock, and wailed, "D-does that mean Igneel is—"
"Hey, idiot! Not the time!!" Carla snapped, cutting Happy off.
"Ah!" Happy realized what he'd just said, slapped his paws over his mouth, eyes filled with regret and fear. "S-sorry…"
"It probably isn't directly connected," Erza said calmly, analyzing the situation. "According to records, Acnologia has been known as the Dragon of the Apocalypse since ancient times."
"Igneel, Grandine, and the others all disappeared at the same time on July 7, X777. The timelines don't match."
"Plus Roger just said 'nearly' wiped them all out—which means a very small number of dragons probably survived."
"Igneel and the others are most likely among them."
Natsu clenched his fists so hard his knuckles went white. He looked up at the black dragon, eyes swirling with anger, worry, and a trace of confusion he couldn't quite hide.
Roger ignored the commotion behind him and kept explaining, "While slaughtering countless dragons, it devoured and fused their elemental powers, eventually creating a power that should never have existed—a black dragon force that can nullify and even devour all magic."
"To it, no matter what attribute or form the magic takes, it's like throwing fire at Natsu."
"Not only does it do zero damage—it just gets swallowed and absorbed, turning into more of its own strength."
"That's why you can't beat it with magic, Natsu."
"No way!!"
If the earlier revelation had shocked everyone, this one was a nuke straight to the brain!
Makarov's face went white as paper. He rushed forward and asked frantically, "Roger! Are you sure you're not remembering wrong? Or maybe the ancient records are off?!"
"How can any creature completely nullify every kind of magic in the world?! That goes against the very laws of magic!"
"Does it only block certain types? If we use holder-type magic we could still hurt it, right?"
Roger gently shook his head, crushing the master's last hope. "All magic. That's the fundamental reason it's called the Dragon of the End."
"All… magic…" Levy swallowed hard, eyes wide with horror and despair.
"But… magic is the power we mages live by… Does that mean almost no mage in the world can actually hurt it?!"
"Damn it! You've gotta be kidding me!" Cana kicked the sand in fury, sending grains flying. "In a world full of magic, there's something with complete magic immunity?!"
"That's straight-up broken! How are we even supposed to fight that?!"
At that moment, the black dragon finally seemed to run out of patience for "observing."
It slowly raised its right claw. Just that simple motion instantly whipped up a typhoon-level wind pressure!
WHOOOOOSH—!!!
The ferocious gust slammed into them like an invisible wall!
The weaker members threw their arms up to shield their faces, squeezing their eyes shut as their bodies slid backward uncontrollably, carving deep grooves in the sand.
Happy clung to Natsu's vest for dear life so he wouldn't get blown away.
Watching that massive claw rise like it could smash a mountain flat, he yelled, "It just lifted its claw a little and already caused a hurricane?!"
"Are dragons seriously THIS insane?!"
Seeing the destructive claw about to come crashing down, despair flashed across Makarov's face—but the next second it turned into iron resolve!
He threw his head back, looked at Roger who was facing the dragon, and roared with every ounce of strength he had:
"Roger!! Listen to me! By the authority of the third master of Fairy Tail—Makarov Dreyar—I order you!!"
Golden light exploded from his body.
"Take everyone and get out of here! Get as far away from Tenrou Island as you can!!"
"From this moment on—you are the fourth master of Fairy Tail!!"
"NOW GO!!!"
"Don't worry, Master." Facing what sounded like final words, Roger just cracked a grin.
At the same time, an overwhelming gray-gold magical power erupted from him like a volcano that had been sleeping for centuries!
"The ones who need to think about running… aren't us."
"Don't be reckless!!" Makarov's body rapidly grew gigantic under the golden light, his voice booming like thunder.
"It nullifies all magic! We can't win! That's an order—go!!"
"If magic doesn't work…" Roger stepped forward as he spoke. With every step, the light around him blazed brighter.
"Then we'll just use our fists."
[All Stats Up – Knight of God]
Red, blue, and green lights instantly wrapped around him like ribbons, skyrocketing his aura!
[Dragon Force Mode – Steel-Scale Armor]
Shhhhk! His skin was instantly covered in crimson-iron dragon scales that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen.
[Dragon Force Mode – Lightning Runes]
Crackle—! Wild golden lightning runes crawled across the gaps in the iron scales like living things, pumping his muscles with power far beyond human limits!
[Enhancement Magic – Full Body Reinforcement]
Vmmm! Crimson magic runes like burning flames flowed from his shoulders to every corner of his body, pushing his already monstrous physical strength to an insane new peak!
He bent his knees slightly. The muscles in his calves coiled and bulged like steel cables!
The sand under his feet cracked and spider-webbed outward from the sheer buildup of raw physical power!
"!!!"
The next instant he shot forward like he'd broken free of gravity itself, turning into a blur too fast for the eye to follow, tearing through the air with a sonic boom as he charged the black dragon!
[Add-on Art – Gravity Magic – 50× Gravity]
A faint gray glow flashed across his right fist and vanished.
Just before the descending claw could crush him, Roger's figure flickered—he ghosted to the dragon's relatively vulnerable lower jaw!
Twist hips, rotate waist, drive shoulder—he coiled every ounce of power in his body into one devastating line and threw his fist upward like a cannon shell!
[Bajiquan – Collapse]
BOOOOOOM—!!!!!!!
Fist met the scales under Acnologia's jaw with a thunderous impact!
The dragon's claw froze mid-swing.
Its colossal body locked up for a split second—then the bizarre force from that punch exploded inside its skull like a distant earthquake!
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
A series of muffled explosions rang out inside its head. That mountain-sized body was hammered upward again and again by an invisible titan, completely out of its control!
Down below, every single Fairy Tail member watching had their jaws on the floor, eyes bulging like they were about to pop out!
"He… he sent it flying?!!!!" Makarov forgot to maintain his giant form and shrank back to normal size.
He rubbed his eyes hard, making sure he wasn't hallucinating, then screamed, "Roger actually knocked the black dragon into the air with one punch!!"
"Is that kid even human anymore?!"