Chapter 317 – One Man Against Six Dragons
"Yes! It's a foul! A blatant foul!"
The Magic Council existed to uphold order in Ishgar's magical world, and Ren had already shattered that order.
If Fairy Tail ever stepped out of line and the Council dispatched its Enforcement Squad, how could they possibly arrest them? Push them too far and the guild might just wipe out the Magic Council—it wasn't impossible.
That loss of control grated on him.
"Stop overthinking it," Mest's voice cut in, sharp and grounded, jerking Lahar out of his spiraling political thoughts. "Have you forgotten about Black Wizard Zeref and Black Dragon Acnologia? The rules you're clinging to don't matter anymore."
Lahar gritted his teeth, his grip tightening on his clipboard. Right. He was being foolishly bureaucratic in the face of the apocalypse.
On the surface, the world of magic had seemed calm for years, lulling the Council into a false sense of absolute authority. But in reality, unseen storms had always been brewing in the shadows, waiting for a single misstep to bring everything crashing down.
The Black Wizard Zeref—the living terror that had endured since the darkest legends of four centuries past—remained the most frightening variable of all. His very existence defied the laws of life and death.
Then there was the Black Dragon Acnologia, a beast whose power was so terrifyingly absolute that even gods would tremble before it. Even Ren, with all his incomprehensible strength, had fallen before its wrath on Tenrou Island.
Now, seven colossal dragons from the past soared overhead, casting long, nightmarish shadows across the ruined capital. The fate of the world was no longer something politicians or bureaucrats like them could hope to influence.
"All we can do is pray Ren defeats these Dragon Clan monstrosities," Mest whispered, his eyes fixed on the battlefield. "Otherwise, Ishgar will be destroyed ahead of schedule, and no Council law will save us."
Mest had absolutely no time for political speculation; the situation had already spun violently out of control. It was a battle of survival now.
Down in the cratered ruins of Crocus, Ren stood entirely unfazed by the looming titans. He shifted his stance, the earth cracking beneath his boots, and slammed a fist directly into Zirconis's massive snout.
"Guah!"
The Jade Dragon's eyes bulged in shock and agony as the localized impact shattered the air. Zirconis, a creature of myth and legend, went flying backward like a discarded toy, crashing through a row of crumbling buildings.
"Die, human!" Scissor Runner roared, charging forward with earth-shattering momentum.
The massive, pincer-like horn on the dragon's head snapped viciously toward Ren's waist. It moved with blinding speed for its size, aiming to cut the insolent mage in half with a single, brutal snap.
Smack!
Ren didn't dodge. He simply reached out and seized both sides of the giant horn with his bare hands. The kinetic force of the charge dug trenches into the ground beneath his feet, but his posture didn't break.
With a sharp exhale, Ren whipped his body around, utilizing the dragon's own terrifying momentum against it. In a display of raw, impossible physical strength, he hurled Scissor Runner in a flawless shoulder throw straight at the Rock-Soul Dragon, Earth Build.
Boooom—!
The deafening sound of an avalanche echoed across the city as the two dragons collided mid-air. They tangled together in a mess of scales and limbs, tumbling across the ground and leveling several city blocks in their wake.
Above the dust cloud, the Sea-Prison Dragon, Ann, dove from the darkened sky. Its massive, armored skull hammered downward like a falling meteor, aiming directly to crush Ren into an unrecognizable paste.
Boom-boom-boom!!
Ren crossed his arms in a fluid motion and caught the catastrophic impact head-on. The sheer downward pressure forced his boots deep into the bedrock, carving long, jagged gouges through the earth as he was pushed back.
But his defense held. An instant later, Ren's muscles coiled, and his fist smashed upward into Ann's snarling face. The punch landed with a sickening crunch, sending literal stars exploding across the sea dragon's vision as it roared in disorientation.
"This is a clash of actual monsters!!"
Watching Ren seamlessly trade physical blows with the towering titans, every Mage present felt a deep, overwhelming sense of inadequacy. They knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this battle was far beyond their realm of understanding.
It wasn't just the average guild members who felt this way. Even the Ten Wizard Saints, men like Jura Neekis and Makarov Dreyar, could only watch in stunned silence as the young man rewrote the laws of magical combat.
Breathing steadily amidst the chaos, Ren curled his fingers inward. Dense, vibrant blue Chakra gathered at the tips of his hands, vibrating with a lethal frequency that distorted the air.
With a sharp flick of his wrist, he slashed horizontally.
Shhhhk—!!
A crescent of pure, compressed energy tore through the space between them.
"Roooar!!"
A deep gash split open along Ann's armored flank. Hot, glowing dragon-blood sprayed into the night air as the beast shrieked in genuine pain, thrashing wildly.
"He did it! The beast is wounded—!!"
Every Mage in the vicinity erupted into desperate, hopeful cheers. The mythical dragons, whose scales they couldn't even scratch with their strongest coordinated spells, were finally bleeding.
"No! This isn't supposed to happen! Matengraya, support them right now!!"
Future Rogue instantly ordered his mount forward, panic lacing his voice. Each of these seven dragons was a priceless asset in his grand design, and losing even one to a single human anomaly was unacceptable.
Following the command, Matengraya folded its massive wings and stooped toward Ren in a rapid, predatory dive.
Spotting the incoming threat from the corner of his eye, Ren didn't even flinch. He grabbed the staggering Ann by the thick scales of its neck, his muscles bulging under the strain.
With a roar of exertion, he swung the massive sea dragon like a colossal, living flail.
Boooom—!!
Caught completely off guard by the sheer absurdity of the maneuver, Matengraya couldn't adjust its flight path in time. It crashed head-on into Ann, the sickening sound of snapping scales and bone echoing for miles.
"Roooar!!"
Despite the brutal collision, Matengraya emerged relatively unscathed, shaking off the impact. Its hide was uniquely armored in diamond-hard, interlocking hexagonal scales—granting it the absolute strongest physical defense among the seven beasts.
Boom!
Before Matengraya could retaliate, Ren flashed across the battlefield using an advanced body flicker technique, appearing instantly before Levia. The sudden movement caught the beast off guard, but it instinctively swiped a massive claw at him.
Booom—!
Ren casually raised a forearm to block the strike. Even though he neutralized the direct hit, the residual shockwave still cratered the surrounding earth, kicking up a storm of dust and debris.
Using the dragon's arm as a springboard, Ren leaped high into the air. He spun elegantly, channeling immense power into his leg, and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick directly across Levia's jaw.
The force was astronomical. The colossal dragon was literally lifted off its feet, toppling over with a crash that registered like a minor earthquake.
"Brilliant—!!"
The observing Mages cheered themselves hoarse, their morale skyrocketing as Ren clearly held the upper hand against so many legendary wyrms simultaneously. It was a legendary feat playing out right before their eyes.
Yet, amidst the celebrating crowd, Makarov Dreyar's wrinkled brow creased with deep concern. "Last time, during the battle against Acnologia, he lasted exactly five minutes. We're almost at that five-minute mark again."
"Right!" Jura nodded grimly, the realization dawning on the veteran mages.
Everyone who understood the core mechanics of magic remembered a harsh truth: every spell drained magical power, and the mightier the spell, the heavier the physical and spiritual cost.
Ren's frantic, high-octane pace had to be burning through his reserves at an alarming, unsustainable rate. He was essentially outputting the energy of a small country with every passing second.
"Don't worry, old man! Our strikes might not kill them, but they do hurt them—a little, but enough to buy him some time," Laxus Dreyar stated grimly, golden lightning beginning to arc violently across his muscular frame.
"We'll fight too! We are Dragon Slayers!" Sting Eucliffe declared passionately, stepping forward as white holy magic illuminated the darkness around him.
"He is right. Ren's battling out there for all of us—we absolutely won't retreat and just watch!" Rogue Cheney added, shadows swirling ominously at his feet.
Back in the center of the ruins, Matengraya recovered from the collision and charged furiously. Its reinforced skull hammered down toward Ren, determined to crush the human insect.
Boooom—!
The monstrous impact sent Ren skidding backward, his boots failing to find immediate purchase.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!
Twin, smoking furrows gouged deeply into the ground beneath his feet as he was pushed back dozens of meters before finally stabilizing his stance.
"As expected—even with their numbers whittled down, dragons aren't simple pushovers!" Ren muttered, wiping a small trace of dust from his cheek.
Seeing the human finally yield some ground, Matengraya reared back and drew an impossibly deep breath. Magical particles from the atmosphere visibly rushed into its gaping maw, condensing into a terrifying sphere of destruction.
"Watch out! It's a Dragon's Roar—!!" Gajeel Redfox shouted from the sidelines, his metallic eyes widening in sheer panic.
Whoosh—!
Without a second thought, Ren blink-stepped using his immense speed, appearing directly in front of Matengraya's charging maw.
"What?!" Future Rogue gasped from his vantage point.
The armored dragon recoiled slightly, momentarily startled by the human's sudden, suicidal appearance right in the barrel of its most devastating attack.
Boom!!
Before the dragon could release the blast, Ren's Chakra-infused fist buried itself brutally into Matengraya's snout. The upward force snapped the dragon's jaw shut right as the energy reached its peak.
Whoosh—!
The violently misfired Dragon's Roar veered wildly off course, shooting upwards and outwards into the distant mountain ranges far outside the borders of Crocus.
Boooom—!!
A blinding, cataclysmic sphere of light suddenly lit up the night sky, turning the darkness into artificial daylight. The sheer volume of the explosion defied logic.
Even from miles away, inside the relatively safe zones of the capital, the resulting shockwave violently rattled windows and knocked people off their feet.
"So... so this is the true power of a Dragon's Roar!" an unnamed mage stuttered, dropping to his knees in terror.
"Terrifying!! If that had hit the city..."
Many of the younger mages were seeing such apocalyptic power for the very first time. It was enough energy to completely raze cities and effortlessly topple entire kingdoms. Had that blast struck the capital directly, absolutely nothing would have remained but a smoking crater.
Bzzzt—!
Ignoring the distant explosion, Ren quickly raised his right hand. The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air as dense, swirling energy rapidly gathered in his palm, expanding into an oversized, violently spinning blue sphere.
"Massive Rasengan!!" Ren shouted, his eyes locked onto his target.
With blinding speed, he closed the distance and slammed the swirling sphere of chaotic energy directly into Matengraya's heavily armored chest.
Boooom—!
"Roooar!!"
The diamond-hard scales fractured and shattered under the continuous grinding force. Blood sprayed profusely from the dragon's maw as it slid helplessly backward, unable to resist the immense pressure.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!
Its colossal bulk plowed a deep, devastating trench across the torn ground, kicking up a massive wake of earth and shattered stone.
Whoosh—!
Ren vanished again.
Smack!
One hand clamped around Scissor Runner's throat, the other already shaping a second Massive Rasengan.
Boooom—!!
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