"Everyone! I really saw one! A dragon—a huge black dragon!"
The little girl stretched her arms as wide as she could, trying to gesture the size of the creature she swore she had seen.
The adults around her only chuckled, exchanging amused looks.
"Daphne, you're imagining things again."
"Dragons? There haven't been dragons for centuries."
"She probably saw a lizard with wings and got carried away."
"Children always have such vivid imaginations, don't they?"
Their laughter stung far worse than scolding.
"Don't be ridiculous, Daphne," one man snapped. "An orphan like you should learn some sense."
"Hey now, no need to argue with a child."
"Come here, kid. Want some candy instead?"
The little girl who was first pushed, then pitied, clenched her tiny fists, tears welling in her eyes.
That day, Daphne swore to herself: *If no one believes the dragon I saw, I'll just make one myself.*
---
Years passed. Driven by that childhood obsession, Daphne devoted her life to magical science—researching night and day to recreate the creature she once glimpsed.
But resurrecting dragons was an impossible dream, one demanding immense funding and rare magical materials. She had neither connections nor sponsors—until one day, a robed priest approached her.
He called himself a scholar, shared her love for dragons, and offered to fund her research. As a "token of trust," he presented her with a fire-element **Dragon Slayer Lacrima**.
She knew, deep down, that his motives were dubious. But Daphne's fascination with dragons overcame caution.
Under his suggestion, she left the Council's jurisdiction and established a private research lab in her hometown—Silent Town.
There, Daphne poured her heart, mind, and soul into creation. Through obsession and genius, she succeeded in shaping life—an **artificial dragon**, a massive living weapon capable of independent thought.
The day it opened its eyes, Daphne wept.
But obsession corrodes reason. She began *forcing* the townspeople into her "Dragon Rider" experiments. Terrified, the villagers used concealment magic to hide from her.
Their fear enraged her. In a fit of fury, Daphne used her dragon's power to magnify the spell and seal the entire town in eternal invisibility.
---
Still, even that triumph wasn't enough.
Her creation lived—but not truly as a *dragon.* The Dragon Slayer Lacrima powering it had limits; it couldn't maintain the massive energy output required for long.
Real dragons possessed vitality incomparable to humans. But with the ancient species gone, Daphne sought the next best thing: **Dragon Slayers**, whose bodies brimmed with draconic power.
Since the Dragoon's core was a Fire Dragon heart crystal, she needed a *Fire Dragon Slayer*.
And as fate would have it, years ago, a wild, flame-haired boy had wandered into Silent Town.
*He's perfect.*
At the time, her cult sponsor stopped her—attacking Fairy Tail was too dangerous for them then.
But now, the very same boy had returned.
Through her glasses, Daphne's pupils dilated as Natsu's fiery silhouette was reflected within them.
Her lips curved into an ecstatic smile. *Oh, my dragon… at last, come to fulfill my dream.*
"Let's make the artificial dragon… real!" she declared.
The behemoth behind her bellowed, lungs swelling, and unleashed a torrent of flame that surged across the ruined street.
---
"Daphne, don't burn him alive," drawled the white-robed priest beside her. His tone was dry, annoyed.
Daphne sneered without looking at him. "Don't worry. A Fire Dragon Slayer won't die so easily. You'll get to capture him soon enough."
At her command, the mechanical dragon roared again, its giant claws tearing through the air as it charged forward.
The flames washed over the battlefield, swallowing the team whole—
—but were quickly sucked back in, twisting like ribbons before vanishing into Natsu's mouth.
Daphne's eyes widened. "He… he *ate* the fire?!"
Of course. That was the essence of Dragon Slayer Magic—the power that let humans consume elements of their own kind.
Natsu grinned, wiping the flame from his lips. "Thanks for the meal."
He clenched his fist, black Haki rippling faintly along his arm.
"And now… my return gift!"
His magic erupted like an explosion.
**"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"**
This time, the blow wasn't just blazing—it gleamed with a strange, obsidian sheen. The shockwave cracked the air, twisting space as the flaming punch smashed into the Dragoon.
The result was devastating. The entire left half of the artificial dragon imploded and collapsed with a deafening roar, flames scattering across the street.
---
Noah, meanwhile, stood among unconscious cultists, wiping stray blood from his gloves. He gazed at the smoke and machinery crumbling before him.
An artificial dragon born from a Slayer's crystal… an imitation of life. Such technology, if perfected, could be apocalypse or revolution.
But a fake dragon could never surpass a real one.
Under his breath, Noah murmured, "So this is the price of trying to create gods."
He clenched his hand and made a silent vow—he would never let his own creation, *Dragon Knight*, fall to a Slayer's might.
Somewhere behind him, Gray's voice cut in. "Hey! Stop brooding—one of the priests is trying to escape!"
A streak of white bolted across the battlefield; their leader, the black priest **Dachiru**, sprinted into the distance.
Before Noah could move, Mira—her form flickering with the **Satan Soul**—soared past, wings fanned open, chasing him like a demon of vengeance.
"Guess she's got him," Noah muttered, lowering his hand.
Rumor said that Black Magic priests were equal to S-Class mages, but from the battles Noah had fought, that notion was laughable.
Other guilds may have feared them—Fairy Tail was different.
When you fought each other every day as "training," you became monsters by accident.
---
Still, Noah stayed behind—not out of laziness, but curiosity.
As the Dragoon's flames subsided, faint pulses of residual energy blinked through the debris, almost heart-like.
For all its horror, Daphne's invention had achieved something incredible: **a living consciousness born from magic.**
Noah's gaze hardened. *If this technology can be preserved for good...*
Then perhaps creation need not end in destruction.
``
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