"Everyone, get over here!" Kira's heart was pounding faster than when he'd first made his fortune. "Hurry to the airship—we're getting out of here!"
Thankfully, he'd already prepared for a retreat. The moment he heard the roar, Kira whipped out his Fairy Airship.
How did it come to this?
This was supposed to be a fun little archaeology trip, maybe record an adventure video for the kids at the orphanage, and tease Natsu a bit—triple the fun, right?
So how the heck did they run into Acnologia?
Acnologia, the Black Dragon from the Book of Apocalypse, a creature of pure magic. Immune to magic, it could even consume it to recover, practically a perpetual motion machine. Four hundred years ago, it transformed from a human into a dragon through Dragon Slayer Magic and proceeded to slaughter every dragon in Ishgar. It was the undisputed ceiling of strength in the Fairy Tail world.
So this is what injured Gildarts here?
This dragon had no sense of magical honor. In the Tenrou Island arc, it only showed up after the battle, like it had mastered the art of kicking people when they're down.
The earth quaked, winds howled, and an oppressive magical aura descended. Acnologia emerged from the storm clouds above, its massive black wings blotting out the sky, its deafening roar echoing through the heavens!
Kira looked up, and what he saw was a beast straight out of nightmares: a dragon dozens of meters tall, wings unfurled, stirring violent gusts with every flap. Its crimson eyes, each as big as several people combined, glowed menacingly. Its pitch-black skin was covered in dark blue scales that looked impenetrably tough. Claws as long as a person gleamed, chilling to the bone.
With every roar from its gaping maw, an overwhelming surge of magic pressure pinned Kira in place, making movement impossible.
He glanced at the others. They were in no better shape—some worse. Bodies trembling, eyes unfocused, hair standing on end, drenched in cold sweat. Fear consumed them.
"A dragon… this is a dragon…" Everyone swallowed hard, their voices quivering.
"Dragons really do still exist!" Natsu took a step forward, shouting at the beast. "Hey! Do you know where Igneel is?"
His question went unanswered. Worse, mentioning Igneel's name only seemed to stoke Acnologia's killing intent.
Gildarts was the first to sense the danger. "Run, now!" he yelled to the group.
"But—" Natsu hesitated, unwilling to leave.
Kira grabbed him. "Natsu, stop asking! This thing won't answer you—it's not a friend!"
The others quickly retreated toward the Fairy Airship. No one here was an idiot. Even Happy, the youngest and most innocent among them, could sense the sheer malice radiating from the dragon. This was no small-time mission.
"Is this… the dragon mentioned in the mission? Which one is it?"
Gildarts' face was grim. With his vast experience and keen instincts, he knew instantly this wasn't an opponent he could handle. In fact, it wasn't an opponent humans could handle.
'I knew there were dragons here, but… the timing couldn't be worse! If it was just me, I might have a chance to escape, but with the others… damn it!'
His strong sense of duty drove Gildarts to face Acnologia head-on, buying time for the others to escape rather than fleeing himself.
If Kira could hear Gildarts' thoughts, he'd be touched but would probably say, "You're overthinking it, man. If Acnologia wants to kill, even you alone wouldn't get away!"
No hope, huh? Maybe just lie down and accept it? At this stage, how could they possibly fight the Black Dragon?
Zonia wasn't Tenrou Island. There was no Mavis casting Fairy Sphere to save them!
Acnologia always targeted dragons. Was it here for Natsu?
No, wait! If it only hunted Dragon Slayers, why did it attack Gildarts in the original timeline? Did it just want to kill anyone who saw it?
"#￥%…&!!!"
As Kira pondered, Acnologia let out an incomprehensible roar. Its black wings beat, and its claws slammed into the ground, unleashing a terrifying force toward the Fairy Airship.
"Watch out! Get off the airship!"
Too late. With a deafening boom, the airship shattered into three or four pieces, and the ground beneath it cracked and crumbled under the sheer power.
"I @#￥%…&!"
Kira cursed with zero elegance. If he could take on the dragon, he'd make it pay for that.
Dragon roars, howling winds, avalanches, and collapsing mountains.
In a single moment, with a single strike, the world seemed to shatter. The shockwave sent everyone flying, but thankfully, Zonia's thick snow cushioned their fall, sparing them immediate injury.
The real problem? The airship they'd planned to escape on was now destroyed.
The Fairy Airship was a magical artifact, not a Word Magic construct. The two were very different.
Molding Magic, like Gray's Ice-Make, created shapes that mimicked objects but lacked real functionality. For example, a ship made with Ice-Make might look like a ship but couldn't actually sail. At best, it might barely float.
Word Magic constructs, on the other hand, were closer to the Arc of Embodiment. They created objects with real functionality, like the ships Kira had made before.
But the more complex the object, the harder it was to construct with magic. That was obvious even to a toddler.
Fighting was out of the question. Handing over Natsu wasn't an option either. Their only choice was to escape—but how?
Creating an airship-like construct with Word Magic was incredibly complex and couldn't be done on the fly. Without an airship, escaping was near impossible.
Luckily, Kira always had a backup plan. He carried a spare airship—Prototype Fairy Airship. It wasn't as advanced, but it could get them out. The problem was timing. If he pulled it out now, it'd just get smashed too.
Kira figured Acnologia had destroyed the airship to trap them. Or maybe it just hated vehicles? Wait… vehicles?
There might be a chance!
Maybe because Dragon Slayers were present, or because there were so many people, Acnologia didn't attack Gildarts directly like in the original story. Instead, it toyed with them like a cat with mice.
That gave Kira a brief window to think—less than ten seconds, but enough to form a plan. It also gave the others time to prepare for battle.
Kira scrambled up from the snow and saw Wendy, now channeling the souls of the Black and White Heavenly Maidens, protecting the non-combatants, Precht and Happy.
Perhaps because they shared a common origin, Wendy could host both maidens simultaneously, giving her a triple-personality-like state.
Fire and ice intertwined, blending unexpectedly. Keys and cards clashed, faintly resonating.
In the snowy winds, the Beast King's soul faced off against a centuries-old dragon. Under the stars, the Lion's radiance illuminated the ancient mountains.
In front of the six, the Fairy Queen stood clad in armor, sword in hand, her red hair dancing in the wind, exuding unmatched grace.
The seven stood ready, their gazes resolute. Though they knew the battle was daunting, not one showed a hint of retreat.
Kira, seeing this, was exasperated. "What are you guys doing? Posing like this at a time like this?!"
Gildarts rushed over. "I'll hold it off! You all get out of here!"
"No way we're leaving you behind!" Natsu shouted. "Fighting a dragon is a Dragon Slayer's job!"
Erza nodded. "Natsu's right. Fairy Tail doesn't abandon its own! Besides, the airship's gone—where are we supposed to go?"
She'd always seen protecting her guildmates as her duty. If someone had to stay behind, she'd rather it be her.
"Yeah, Gildarts, let's fight together!"
"We've gotten stronger!"
"Cut it out! This isn't some ordinary enemy. Even I don't know if I can survive this. You'll just get in the way!" Gildarts yelled, frantic. "Kira, I know you've got something up your sleeve. Get them out of here, now!"