Hearing Gildarts' words, the group fell silent, their faces heavy with grief and eyes filled with reluctance. They knew Gildarts was planning to risk his life to buy them time to escape.
"I'm not leaving!"
Before Kira could respond, a voice cut through the air. He turned to see Cana, tears welling in her eyes.
She hadn't yet become an S-Class Mage. She hadn't proven herself worthy of Gildarts' strength or reputation. Most importantly, she hadn't told him who she really was—his daughter.
"Cana?" Gildarts looked at her, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to speak. Her features struck him as familiar, overlapping with a blurry figure from his memories. "Could you be…?"
"No need for extra words right now," Kira interrupted, placing a hand on Cana's shoulder and addressing Gildarts. "No matter what kind of enemy we face or how dangerous the situation, we don't abandon our comrades and run!"
"No other reason is needed—we're Fairy Tail Mages!"
Though it slightly disrupted the emotional moment Cana was building, Kira's words undeniably boosted the group's morale. Gildarts had no choice but to accept Kira's resolve.
After all, they were more than just comrades—they were family.
High above, Acnologia circled the sky. Perhaps this ancient dragon, fond of toying with humans, relished watching them squirm in fear—panicking, betraying, uniting, or breaking down.
Even with his half-omniscient perspective, Kira couldn't fully grasp Acnologia's mindset. For now, the dragon had paused its attack after destroying their airship, but no one could predict when it might strike again.
As the group discussed their next move, Acnologia dove toward them.
"Scatter!"
Gildarts didn't need to shout—everyone had already leaped out of the way the moment they saw the dragon descend.
"You kids! This isn't an enemy we can take on!" Gildarts warned.
As the strongest among them, Gildarts knew better than anyone that there were always bigger fish in the sea. Facing an opponent with such a clear power gap, charging in recklessly wasn't bravery—it was suicide.
Natsu, however, hadn't yet been tempered by Gildarts' teachings about facing fear and recognizing one's own limits. He was still just a hotheaded fool.
"You don't know if you can win until you try!"
Natsu charged forward, fists blazing with fire. Kira could only shake his head and silently wish him luck. "That guy… he won't learn until he's staring at his own coffin."
Then Kira rushed in too—not to fight, but to save Natsu's reckless hide.
Kira's usual strategy was to leave the big bosses to the main hero while he played support from the back. But against a raid-level boss like this, he couldn't just sit it out.
He knew full well that the Black Dragon was beyond Natsu's current strength. What was he supposed to do, stand by and watch? After years of camaraderie, Kira couldn't just do nothing.
Following Natsu's lead, the others charged toward Acnologia, unleashing their signature moves.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Ice-Make: Lance!"
"Sword of the Celestial Wheel!"
"Aquarius: Water Tempest!"
"Five Elements Magic Circle!"
"Flash!"
"Beast King's Right Fist!"
"Crush!"
Kira split his magic into eight precise streams, subtly enhancing everyone from behind. "All-Attribute Boost!"
As expected, aside from Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic, none of their attacks had any effect. Even Natsu's flames couldn't pierce the dragon's defenses.
It was like in Naruto, where only Sage Techniques and physical attacks worked against a Six Paths-level boss. In Fairy Tail, against a dragon immune to most magic, only Dragon Slayer Magic and physical attacks stood a chance.
After three minutes of relentless assaults…
"Our attacks aren't doing anything!" Lucy cried.
"No, Dragon Slayer Magic is working!" Gildarts said, his expression grim. "Is this thing… toying with us?"
Kira's internal translation: I know I can't beat you, but I'm still gonna make you mad!
With a massive sweep of its body, Acnologia sent Natsu flying, crashing into the snow with a thunderous boom.
Natsu struggled to his feet, frustration in his voice. "Damn it! This guy's scales are too tough!"
Before he could attack again, Acnologia pressed its advantage, swiping a massive claw at him.
"Gah!"
The dragon's blow sent Natsu flying, blood spraying from his mouth as who-knows-how-many bones snapped.
"Natsu?!" the group shouted in unison.
Lucy and Happy rushed forward, but Kira was faster, catching Natsu's body and skidding across the snow, leaving two long trails.
"Word Magic: Heal!"
As he absorbed the impact, Kira cast a healing spell on Natsu, stabilizing him just enough to pull him back from the brink.
Natsu's injuries were far worse than the ones Gildarts had taken in the original story. It seemed Acnologia was targeting Natsu specifically, but…
"It's holding back," Kira muttered. "Is it toying with him, or did it underestimate Natsu?"
Kira didn't believe for a second that Natsu would still be alive if Acnologia had truly meant to kill him. This was a dragon who could one-shot even the first-ranked Saint, Serena, with a single claw strike!
"How…" Natsu gasped weakly, his voice laced with frustration. After all his training in Dragon Slayer Magic, a single hit from a dragon had left him broken. It wasn't just humiliating for him—it shamed Igneel, too.
"Don't move!" Kira pressed a hand on Natsu, stopping him from struggling to stand. "What're you gonna do, get up and die?"
"But…"
"No buts. If you really wanna help, lend me something."
"Huh?"
Natsu was clearly confused, and the others, though they overheard, didn't get it either.
"Lend you… what?"
Kira placed one hand on Natsu's head and turned, pulling a meter-long white magic staff from his coat. Pointing it at Acnologia, he grinned. "Heh, just borrowing a bit of your magic!"
"Nani?!"
Before Natsu could process it, he felt a surge of magic flow from Kira's hand into his mind.
"Analyze… transfer… convert… reconstruct…"
Under the influence of Word Magic, Kira broke down Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic into its core magical particles. Using himself as a conduit, he channeled the dragon's power into the staff as a catalyst, then infused it with his own magic. Through the magic circle, he forged a new form of Dragon Slayer Magic.
Dragon Slayer Magic was the result of grafting a dragon's power onto a human, blending it with their innate magic. What Kira did was extract the dragon's essence from Natsu's magic, combine it with his own, and create his own version of Dragon Slayer Magic.
If Irene could create Dragon Slayer Magic from scratch, if old man Faust could self-teach it, if the Dragon Hunters' leader could gain it by eating dragon flesh, then surely Kira could craft his own by borrowing the power of a dragon's seed. Right?
Kira had theorized about this for a long time, preparing for the day he'd face a dragon. But the experiment required Natsu's growth, and he'd never figured out how to bring it up, so it had been shelved.
Until now. This was his first real attempt—basically improvising a new move on the spot.
And as everyone knew, moves created on the fly were almost always awesome.
Following his theory, Kira channeled two distinct types of magic into the dragon-carved staff—a custom-made tool for Dragon Slayer Magic. With the dragon's seed as the core of the magic circle and Kira's vast magic as its fuel, his own Dragon Slayer Magic was born.
"Wise Dragon's Inferno!!"
"Nani?!"
A blazing torrent of fire erupted from the dragon's mouth on the staff. The unbearable heat, mixed with steam from evaporating snow, slammed into Acnologia, forcing the dragon back several steps!
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