Prime Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x791.
"Come on!" The Prime Erza shouted as she raised one of her swords into the air while clad in her [Heaven's Wheel Armor]. "I won't let you beasts inflict anymore harm!"
A moment later, a volley of flying swords was sent flying towards a somewhat small group of dragons with thick, dark blue scales that cover their entire bodies, with the exception of their underbellies.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*
Unfortunately, after fighting in the Grand Magic Games' final event in a duel with Prime Kagura, Prime Erza was running low on magic power. As a result, none of her swords were able to inflict any real damage on the small dragons. Though, they were effective in getting the dragons' attention and keeping it on her.
"It's meaningless." A much larger dragon who looked almost identical to the smaller dragons said condescendingly. "Humans are so weak. It would be better to just allow yourself to be crushed and devoured by my children."
The reason why this larger dragon, known as Motherglare, was only nearly identical to the smaller dragons were the holes that could be seen on its underbelly. And those holes were the reason there were so many smaller dragons on the battlefield. They all hatched from eggs Motherglare laid from those holes.
"It's apparent you don't know Fairy Tail." Erza said through ragged breaths after dodging a claw swipe from one of the smaller dragons. "We never give up! And we never lose!"
"Well said!"
*Boom!*
*Roar~~~~~!*
A moment after that voice sounded over the battlefield, a black blur fell from the sky and landed on the dragon Prime Erza just avoided, slamming its head into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"[Requip: heaven's Wheel Armor]."
Hearing that familiar chant, Prime Erza was thoroughly confused. However, that did not stop her from taking on a defensive stance, just in case the newcomer was hostile.
"[Dance, my Swords]" The female voice said from inside the dust cloud.
With that, a number of swords, many more than Prime Erza just used to attack the smaller dragons, appeared around the dust cloud. Then, in a way that was quite familiar to Prime Erza, they began to rotate around the center point. Though, their speed was much faster than she could muster. On top of that, the wind seemed to be aiding their flight, as well.
*Whoosh!*
A moment later, the wind produced by the circling swords blew away the cloud. When it did, both Prime Erza and Motherglare were able to see a woman identical to Prime Erza, from looks to the armor they wore, standing atop the head of a dead miniature copy of Motherglare with a sword that had fairy wings as a handguard stabbed into the dragon's head.
"Another one?" Motherglare asked in an annoyed tone.
"Knightwalker?" Prime Erza asked. And who could blame her, the only person she knew who shared the same face as she did was Erza Knightwalker from Prime Edolas.
"We will have time to discuss that later." Erza said calmly. "For now, I need to clear out these pests. That should give you a little time to regain some of your magic power, as well. [Heaven's Wheel: Circle Swords]."
In the next instant, all the swords rotating around the two Erzas were sent flying outwards. Each one was aimed at one of the miniature Motherglare copies. And with Erza's skill, they all hit their mark. And unlike Prime Erza, each sword sunk into its intended dragon up to the hilt.
*Roar~~~~~~~!*
In response, the dragons all roared in pain before they fell to the ground, most of them dead. And those who were not were no longer able to move.
"You killed my children!" Motherglare shouted angrily. "I will kill you!"
With that angry roar, Motherglare opened her mouth wide and sucked in a large amount of air. As she did, an orb of swirling diamonds began forming in her mouth. However, just as she was ready to launch her breath attack...
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Sema]."
That chant drew the attention of both Erzas and Motherglare to the side where Prime Jellal was bent forward with his right hand pointed to the sky above Motherglare while his left arm hung down towards the ground. Then, the three noticed that clouds were forming and spinning violently in the sky where Prime Jellal's hand was pointed. And in the center of that maelstrom of clouds, a glowing orb of golden light began to form.
"Perhaps we should step back a little." Prime Erza said while looking up at the sky.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Erza replied nonchalantly as she raised Astraia in preparation to attack.
At the same time, Motherglare, although she did not feel threatened by the forming spell, was not keen on being hit by it. So, instead of firing her [Diamond Dragon's Roar] at the two Erzas, she sent it flying towards the clouds.
*Boom!*
Just as the swirling torrent of diamond shards left Motherglare's mouth, a gigantic meteor burst through the clouds where the golden orb had been floating and hurdled towards the ground at an impressive speed.
Then, before anyone could react, the breath attack and the meteor collided in midair. For a moment, the two attacks stopped in place, pushing against each other. But before long, it could be seen that the meteor was being destroyed piece by piece, and the diamond shards were shooting into the sky while reflecting the light of the stars in a rather beautiful fashion.
"[Requip: Dragon Slayer Armor]." Erza chanted, once again donning her [Dragon Slayer Armor].
At the same time, Prime Erza, having never seen or heard of an armor like the one Erza just donned, looked at it in disbelief with stars shining in her eyes.
"Where did you get that armor?" Prime Erza asked in a longing tone.
"My husband made it for me." Erza replied proudly. "Several years ago, we found the dragon graveyard under Crocus, and he took some of the dragons remains for research. During that time, he created this armor. This is only the first time I've used it in combat, though. Well, if you don't count the dragon I slayed with Mira not long ago."
Unfortunately, Prime Erza did not hear the full explanation. Because as soon as she heard the word, "husband," she turned as red as a boiled lobster. Then she began to stammer at the thought of someone who looked almost identical to her getting married.
Yet, Erza was not paying attention to her dimensional counterpart. Instead, she prepared to dash forward and strike at Motherglare's exposed throat. However, she was forced to stop when the holes on the dragon's underbelly began spewing eggs at an absurd rate.
"Futile resistance." Erza said sternly as she raised Astraia.
Seeing Astraia, Prime Erza's attention was once again stolen away. Though the sword seemed to be a relatively normal sword, minus the color of the blade, which was green with a black edge, she felt as though it would be perfect in her hands. Yet, at the same time, she felt as if she were to try to take hold of it, it would reject her with all its being.
'It's being?' Prime Erza thought to herself as the thought passed. 'Can a sword have a being? Or rather, a will?'
"[Bring Justice as Swiftly as the Wind, Astraia]." Erza said, chanting her release command.
Immediately, Prime Erza was forced to take a step back from the amount of power Erza and Astraia released. And when she felt the presence of Astraia growing, Prime Erza instinctively understood the answer to her previous internal question.
'Yes, a sword can have a will.' Prime Erza thought to herself as she watched Erza vanish with the use of [Gale Step]. 'But where does a sword like that come from? More importantly, how can I get one?'
A moment later, all the newly hatched miniature dragons fell to the ground dead. Yet, that was only the first wave, as it seemed that Motherglare was able to continue laying eggs endlessly. And with Prime Erza's magic power reserves so thoroughly drained, Erza had to continue to attack the miniatures instead of attacking the source to keep her safe.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor]." Prime Jellal chanted before being engulfed in a cloak of starlight.
In the next instant, Prime Jellal shot forward, moving almost as quickly as Erza, towards Motherglare, who was lowering her head after dealing with his spell. And just as Mother glare looked down to see the state her newly birthed children were in, Prime Jellal appeared right in front of her snout with his right foot outstretched.
*Bang!*
*Roar~~~~~!*
Prime Jellal's kick caused Motherglare's head to rock back and a roar to come out of her mouth. However, judging by the tone of the roar, it did not seem as though she had taken any damage. Instead, it seemed as though she was annoyed.
Even so, Prime Jellal did not stop moving. Instead, he sped around Motherglare's large form and landed attacks all over her body. Yet, he was not able to elicit another roar from her for his efforts. Instead, he was forced to dodge her thrashing tail.
"I grow tired of this." Motherglare growled.
Though she said that, Motherglare did not continue to attack Prime Jellal. Instead, she fell completely still. And it did not take Erza, Prime Jellal, or Prime Erza long to understand why. Because the way that Motherglare turned, more or less, transparent was a big enough indicator.
"It's like Laxus' [Lightning Form]." Erza and Prime Erza said in unison. "Just with diamond instead of lightning."
"So, it would seem." Prime Jellal replied after attacking Motherglare a few more times. He then continued after landing next to the two Erzas. "We will need to be able to break diamonds if we want to harm her in any significant way."
"According to Alfonzo, shattering diamond isn't as difficult as one would believe." Erza replied while dispatching one of the miniature dragons. "It's just a matter of applying enough blunt force at the right angle. Unfortunately, I do not specialize in blunt force attacks."
"And who exactly is this Alfonzo?" Prime Jellal asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable hearing Erza speak so fondly of another man, even if this Erza was not the Erza he knew.
"Do you remember that incredible explosion of magic power?" Erza asked as she cut down another one of the miniature dragons. "Well, he was the one who was responsible for it."
"That was caused by a person?" Prime Erza asked in an incredulous tone. "I thought another dragon had come through the Eclipse Gate."
"That's right." Erza replied. "That was the effect of him releasing the full potential... At least I think it's the full potential... of his [Soul Armament]."
Not only Prime Jellal and Prime Erza were surprised by what Erza said, but even Motherglare was dumbfounded by what she heard. Like the others, she thought another dragon had appeared. But to hear that it was a human with such magic power was something she was finding it hard to believe. Especially because the amount of magic power she could sense was more than she had.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a pink-haired young man was holding on for dear life to Atlas Flame, the dragon Natsu was interested in fighting after the dimensional travel. However, instead of fighting, the two seemed to be talking as Atlas Flame flew through the skies of the city.
"So, you're Igneel's son, huh?" Atlas Flame asked with more than a little respect in his tone.
"Yeah, Igneel taught me everything I know." The pink-haired young man, Prime Natsu, said nostalgically. "By the way, do you have any idea where he went?"
"How in the world would I know, Kid?" Atlas Flame asked. "I was pulled here from four hundred years in the past."
"Oh, yeah." Natsu said while scratching his head.
"[Ice-Make: Shackles]."
The boy and the dragon's conversation was interrupted when a set of ice shackles connected to long chains shot up from the ground and wrapped around Atlas Flame's legs. However, before either could figure out who had attacked, another shout from above drew their attention upwards.
"[Fire Dragon King's Destruction Fist]!"
When they saw the one falling from above, both Atlas Flame and Prime Natsu were confused. Because the one attacking was someone who looked a lot like Prime Natsu. Only, he looked a bit older. On top of that, he was wearing a pair of gauntlets that made both of them think of Igneel when they saw them.
Even so, despite the fact that Atlas Flame was confused, he quickly flapped his wings while intensifying the flames engulfing him.
*Shatter!*
As a result, the [Ice Shackles] wrapped around his legs shattered as he dodged to the side, allowing the attacker to soar past him.
"Uh oh!" Natsu, the attacker, shouted as he flew past Atlas Flame.
"*Sigh* And this is why everyone tells you not to scream your spells at the top of your lungs." The ice wizard, Ultear said from the ground with a hand on her head. "Well, I better do something about this before he burns down most of the city when he lands. [Ice-Make: Rampart]."
With that, Ultear slammed her hands onto the ground. Then, a circular rampart sprung up from the ground with Natsu's landing point at its center.
*Boom~~~~~~~~!*
In the next instant, everything within a block of where Natsu landed was engulfed in flames while a cloud of debris was shot up into the air due to the impact.
"Hey, Atlas Flame!" Prime Natsu shouted. "Take me down there! That fire looks delicious!"
Hearing that, both Ultear and Atlas Flame sighed in exasperation. Though, Atlas Flame obliged Prime Natsu's request. At the same time, Ultear made her way to the top of the rampart before jumping down to reach Natsu so that he did not attack needlessly. Because it was obvious after hearing Prime Natsu that this dragon was not an enemy, at least not for now.