Prime Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x791.
"We're almost there." Ultear said as she looked down at the two Erzas and Prime Jellal fighting off the miniature dragons spawned by Motherglare. "But it looks like one of the Erzas is reaching her limit. We need to hurry."
"What?!?" x 2
Both Natsus reacted violently when they heard Ultear's analysis of the situation. Even though Ultear never mentioned which Erza was in trouble, just knowing that one of their friends might be in danger was enough to make them act.
"Hey, Atlas Flame, we need to hurry!" Prime Natsu shouted as he crouched down, ready to attack.
Natsu, on the other hand, did not say a word. Though, he did crouch down, as well. But instead of asking Atlas Flame to speed up, he channeled his magic power into his feet. Then, with one powerful kick, he leapt from the fire dragon's back, his flames acting as boosters that sent him flying through the air at breakneck speed.
Meanwhile, Erza looked up when she felt the approaching magic power signatures through her [Magic Power Detection]. And when she noticed Natsu flying towards them with his [Soul Armament] partially released, she quickly grabbed Prime Erza and leapt away from the miniature dragons.
At the same time, Jellal, after seeing Erza leap away with Prime Erza, also distanced himself from the area. Though, he was not exactly sure of why. However, when he felt the increase in heat, he had a fairly good idea of what was going on.
*Boom!*
Less than a second after the three wizards cleared the area, a pillar of flames fell into the center of the miniature dragon's encirclement, the shockwave from the impact staggering the nearby miniature dragons.
"Natsu, attack on my mark!" Ultear shouted as she, too, sped up and reached the outskirts of the encirclement while making her casting gesture. "[Ice-Make: Floor]."
Ultear then slammed her hands onto the ground, a thick sheet of ice spreading below everyone's feet. She then made her casting gesture for a second time before slamming her hands onto the ice beneath her.
"[Ice-Make: Rampart]." Ultear chanted as she raised her head to shout at Natsu. "Now!"
"[Fire Dragon King's Purgatory]." Natsu chanted as his body was engulfed in high-intensity flames.
The flames surrounding Natsu quickly heated the ice under his feet, creating steam. Yet, that was not the end of Natsu and Ultear's combined attack. Because only a moment later, the flames engulfing Natsu spread in all directions. On top of that, the heat increased rapidly, as well.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~!*
An instant later, a violent steam explosion engulfed the entirety of Motherglare's spawned miniature dragons. Luckily, Erza, Prime Jellal, and Prime Erza were able to get away quickly enough to avoid the detonation. However, if Ultear had not raised the [Ice Rampart], they would have still been injured by the steam.
"Good work, Ultear." Erza said with a smile while looking toward Ultear, who was approaching the trio.
"Ultear?" Prime Erza asked while looking between Prime Jellal and Ultear.
"She's not the one who's with me." Prime Jellal pointed out. "More than likely, she came with that "Erza and her companions."
"I see.' Prime Erza replied. "I'll find out more---"
"Damn you!" Motherglare's roar of anger put an end to that conversation, causing the four wizards to look up. "I'll kill you all!"
*Roar!*
Yet, before Motherglare could act again, a second dragon's roar echoed over the city. Then, a flaming body slammed into Motherglare from above.
"You're not gonna kill any of my friends." Prime Natsu shouted as he leapt off of Atlas Flame's back. "We're definitely taking you down first. [Fire Dragon's Talon]."
"[Fire Dragon King's Destruction Fist]." Prime Natsu shouted shortly afterwards as he shot up from the steam still filling the space inside of Ultear's [Ice Rampart].
"Yeah, I'm not really looking to be killed by a dragon, either." Ultear muttered as she once again made her casting gesture. "[Ice-Make: Gatling Guns]."
With her [Soul Armament] in its partial release state, Ultear did not stop at making only one gatling gun. Instead, she made a total of four, one on each of her hips and one on each of her shoulders with their firing mechanisms connected between the two on each side. And with the additional strength afforded to her from her [Soul Armament], wielding such heavy weapons was no issue.
*Bang!* x 2
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-!* x 4
A moment later, the sound of Prime Natsu's kick and Natsu's punch echoed around the area, each impact causing shards of diamond to go flying from Motherglare's [Diamond Form]. Then, even more shards of diamond were sent flying when the four streams of ice bullets riddled Motherglare's body, as well.
*Roar~~~~~~~~~!*
On top of that, Motherglare could feel the flames making up Atlas Flame's body were melting her diamond scales. And that was angering her even more than being attacked by the humans.
"Atlas Flame, you traitor!" Motherglare bellowed as she whipped her tail at Atlas Flame, who's fangs were buried in her neck. "I'll make your death even more miserable than those pathetic humans!"
"Does helping my dear friend Igneel's son make me a traitor, Motherglare?" Atlas Flame asked after releasing his fangs from Motherglare's neck. "If it does, then I'm fine with being a traitor."
Then, just as Atlas Flame's words ended, Atlas Flame opened his mouth, gathering flames between his open jaws. Meanwhile, Ultear, Natsu, and Prime Natsu continued to attack, chipping off pieces of Motherglare's [Diamond form] with every attack landed.
*Whoosh!*
Finally, after charging his breath attack for a moment, Atlas Flame unleashed a devastating stream of fire that bathed most of Motherglare's body, melting down more and more of her [Diamond Form].
"*Roar* Damn you!" Motherglare roared in both pain and anger as she struggled to free herself from Atlas Flame's grip, the violent writhing dislodging both Natsus from her.
Mother glare then whipped her tail, striking Atlas Flame in the head, freeing herself from his grip, as well.
"I've got them." Erza said calmly as she bent her knees, preparing to jump. "[Requip: Black Wing Armor].
In the next instant, Erza was covered by the light of her magic power before she vanished from next to Prime Erza in a burst of speed. She then flew through the air, catching both Natsus before once again landing next to Prime Erza.
"I'll take care of the final blow." Ultear said as she spread the wings provided by Kinsi's unsealing.
Ultear then flew up to above Motherglare, who was trying to cool her glowing red hot body. However, before the temperature could drop by too much, Ultear, clad in freezing cold wind, landed on Motherglare's back with her hands held out in her casting Gesture.
"Damn… It's even hotter than I thought." Ultear muttered as she flared her magic power. "No matter. Hopefully, this should end things. [Ice Age]."
*Freeze!*
Immediately after Ultear uttered the name of her spell, Motherglare's entire body was frozen. Then, without the flapping of her wings to keep her airborne, she fell to the ground, the light in her eyes completely snuffed out from the rapid change in temperature.
*Boom!*
*Shatter!*
And when the body of such a large dragon hit the ground, having become brittle after rapid heating and cooling, it shattered into shards of ice and diamond, marking the end of yet another dragon from the past.
"I see you've actually been paying attention when Alfonzo talks about science." Erza said as Ultear landed next to her.
"Yeah, some of that stuff is actually quite useful when you can use [Ice magic]." Ultear said while wincing in pain. "Anyway, I need to find Wendy. Even though I covered myself in cold air to try and mitigate the heat, I've still got burns all over. And I really don't wanna end up with scars."
"Indeed, your skin is far too pretty for that." Erza replied with a nod. "Though, I doubt that Alfonzo will love you any less for it."
"Oh, I know he won't." Ultear replied with a painful smile. "But I don't look pretty just for him, you know. Being pretty makes me feel good, too."
Erza nodded in response. Then, she turned to the others to thank them for their help. However, when she saw the sour expression on Prime Jellal's face and Prime Erza's blush that made it unclear where her hair started and her face ended, she was brought up short.
"Um... Is something wrong?" Erza asked in an uncertain tone.
"You said you were married to this Alfonzo, right?" Prime Jellal asked in a dark tone.
"Yes?" Erza replied, not understanding what the issue was.
"Then, why would it matter if he stops loving her?' Prime Jellal asked while looking pointedly at Ultear. "Is that man two-timing you?"
Hearing that, Prime Erza's blush faded rapidly. She then began to glare angrily, as well.
"What kind of scum is he?" Prime Erza asked coldly. "To think the man that another version of me fell in l-l-love with is such a fickle man."
Erza was completely dumbfounded when she heard that. Ultear, on the other hand, was trying, and failing spectacularly, to hold back her laughter after understanding the misunderstanding Prime Jellal and prime Erza were having.
"Since you're laughing, you must understand why these two are so angry, correct?" Erza asked, turning her attention to Ultear, who by now was holding her stomach in laughter, wincing in pain from her movements.
"Oh… Hahaha! Yeah, I… Haha! Get it." Ultear replied as she fell to her knees from the hilarity of the situation and the pain she was in. "They think that I'm the other woman and you're okay with it."
Having consumed many smutty romance novels over the years, after Ultear's explanation, it did not take long for Erza to also understand the issue. Her expression then turned stern as she flared her magic power, putting pressure on both Prime Jellal and Prime Erza.
"I think you're both having a misunderstanding." Erza said coldly. "And because you don't' know our circumstances, I won't punish you for speaking ill of my husband. But should you ever do so again, I will make my displeasure known."
Feeling Erza's magic power, not only Prime Jellal and Prime Erza stiffened with their eyes wide in shock, but even Prime Natsu, who was talking to Natsu and asking him about Igneel, froze. Meanwhile, Atlas Flame, if he had any, would have raised an eyebrow at just how potent Erza's magic power was before glancing at Ultear and Natsu, who also had magic power on a completely different level than the humans he was familiar with.
"But why are you okay with that?" Prime Jellal managed to ask despite the pressure he was under. "Shouldn't your husband be true to you and only you?"
"Alfonzo has many wives." Ultear said after getting her laughter under control. At the same time, she flared her magic power in a specific pattern to get Wendy's attention since she had made her injuries worse from all the movement. "And that's all thanks to his first wife, Elicia, who urged him to accept more of us into his life to make everyone happy."
"D-d-does that mean…?" Erza, her blush going supernova again, asked. "All of you d-d-do that together?"
Once again, Ultear could not help but burst into uncontrollable laughter while flaring her magic power even more frantically to call for Wendy. Prime Jellal, on the other hand, looked like he just ate something extremely bitter while throwing glances at Prime Erza.
"We do." Erza replied with a nod as she retracted her own magic power and sealed Astraia. "Quite often, in fact. Though, we haven't had much time to do so for the last few days. *Sigh* Perhaps I'll ask---"
"Alright, Erza, that's enough." Ultear said, forcefully stopping her laughter to intervene. "We don't need to let everyone know what we do behind closed doors with Alfonzo. You do enough of that in our world. We don't need legends about us spreading here, too."
"I suppose." Erza replied. Though, it was obvious to see that she wanted to continue.
"Hey, guys." Natsu said while looking into the distance. "That big golden gate is closing. Does that mean there won't be any more dragons to fight?"
Hearing that, everyone turned to look in the direction of the Eclipse Gate. And just as Natsu said, it was closing. Meaning, Prime Lucy and Prime Yukino, under Future Lucy's guidance, managed to get the job done.
"That's right." Atlas Flame said, his voice rumbling through the area. "And if they can manage to destroy it, I will be able to return to where I belong, as well. Though, that will be much harder than simply fighting the dragons that came through it."
"I'm sure Alfonzo will find a way." Erza and Ultear said in unison. "He always does."
With that, the group continued to chat for a few minutes while waiting for Wendy to arrive. And before long, both Wendy's arrived with the two Gajeels not far behind. And when they did, the atmosphere got even more lively.
However, everyone's attention was pulled towards the Eclipse Gate when they felt a swell of magic power appear near it.
"Yup, looks like Alfonzo is doing something about it.' Ultear said while Wendy treated her burns.
"Do you think he's gonna destroy it himself?" Gajeel asked with an almost feral grin on his face. "Because I'm kinda mad that I'm not closer. I really wanna see it up close. He might even leave some metal scraps for me to eat."
Hearing about metal to eat, Prime Gajeel's eyes lit up as he turned to look at his counterpart.
"Metal?" Prime Gajeel asked.
"Oh yeah." Gajeel replied as he threw an arm over Prime Gajeel's shoulders. "He uses [Metal Magic]. He can create any kind of metal. And let me tell ya. The ones he makes are the tastiest I've ever had. Especially that Techno Organic Metal stuff. Mmm… It's like nothing I've ever tasted before."
As Gajeel continued to praise the taste of the Techno Organic metal, Prime Gajeel began to drool just thinking about it.
Unfortunately, that little conversation drew everyone's attention away from the Eclipse Gate for a moment. And in that moment, the entire gate vanished, looking as if it had been sucked into itself. Then,…
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
… before they could continue for too long, the sound of a humungous explosion silenced all the conversations taking place in the entire city as heads whipped in the explosions direction from everywhere. Then, they all saw that the Eclipse Gate was replaced by a pillar of black magic power and motes of golden magic power were rising into the sky.
At the same time, Atlas Flame's body was also breaking down into motes of magic power. Then, before he could even offer a fair well to the two Natsus, he was sucked in the direction of the Eclipse Gate's magic power before vanishing from this time period.