Chapter 248: Acnologia
When Gildarts and Laxus arrived at the scene, the dust was still settling. They both witnessed the aftermath of the battle—or rather, the one-sided domination—and knew that what Ren said was true.
"You're just being humble!" Gildarts laughed, slapping Ren on the back hard enough to stagger a normal man. "Taking down a Wizard Saint-level opponent in that short amount of time? That's not just luck, kid."
Laxus crossed his arms, his lightning coat buzzing faintly. "Three minutes? Let alone three minutes, thirty seconds is already very strong, okay? To kill a Ten Wizard Saints-level Mage in a single blow... he's truly a monster. Even I would have needed more time to chew through Hades's defenses."
Ren sighed, shaking his hands out as the golden chakra cloak completely dissipated. "It's not humility. It's a limitation."
Ren wasn't being humble; he genuinely felt a bit unsatisfied. The battle had forced him to drop out of the Kurama Link Mode quickly due to the immense strain. It made him feel like he had returned to his early days of joining the guild, where he had to count every drop of mana.
'Six and a half stars of magic power... it is still too low,' Ren thought, his brow furrowing slightly.
To fully utilize the Nine-Tails' abilities—to maintain the avatar, use Tailed Beast Bombs casually, and combine it with Sage Mode without burning out—he felt he needed at least eight and a half stars. Currently, he was driving a race car with a lawnmower engine.
He had already asked the System about the upgrade path. The jump was steep. Upgrading from his current level to seven stars was manageable, but pushing from seven to eight stars required recovering 10 Golden Legend cards.
Ren mentally tallied his inventory. He had Transmigrated for almost two years now. Between completing S-Class quests, disrupting canon events, and pure luck, he hadn't even managed to get ten Golden Legend cards in total.
'And that's with my S-rank luck,' he grumbled internally. 'If my luck had been a bit worse—like E-rank Lancer luck—it was possible I would have only gotten one or two Gold Legendary cards by now.'
But the real despair lay ahead. For the subsequent upgrade from 8 to 9 stars—the realm of true god-tier power—the System stated he needed to recover 20 Golden Legend cards.
The thought alone made his head ache. It was like a pay-to-win game where the developer suddenly decided to spike the difficulty curve into the stratosphere. Twenty legendary pulls? He might as well try to conquer the world twice over.
'I dare not think about it. Absolutely dared not. If I dwell on the grind, I'll lose my mind before I even fight Zeref.'
At this moment, a voice rang out, breaking his internal calculations.
"Gildarts!"
The three men turned their heads. Walking out of the tree line was Lucy Heartfilia, and beside her, looking unusually hesitant, was Cana Alberona.
Cana was clutching the hem of her shirt, her eyes darting between Gildarts and the ground. She looked nothing like the confident, card-wielding drinker everyone knew at the guild hall.
"Cana has something important to tell you," Lucy said, giving Cana a gentle nudge forward.
Gildarts blinked, his rugged face softening into a confused smile. "What's wrong, Cana-chan? You look pale."
Ren looked at Cana, then at Gildarts. The gears in his head turned instantly. He knew exactly what this was about. This was the moment.
He immediately turned to Laxus and grabbed the lightning mage by the shoulder. "Laxus, let's go for a walk. I think I saw a rare beetle over there."
"What?" Laxus looked at Ren like he was insane. "A beetle? Are you five years old? We just finished a war."
"Just come with me," Ren hissed, applying force to drag the confused Dragon Slayer away. He glanced at Lucy. "You too, Lucy. Unless you want to be the third wheel in a family drama."
"I'm coming too!" Lucy realized what Ren was doing. She quickly scrambled after them, leaving the clearing.
Soon, only Cana and Gildarts were left standing amidst the ruins of the forest. The wind rustled the broken branches, creating a heavy silence.
Gildarts scratched the back of his head, sensing the tension but misinterpreting the cause. "What's wrong, Cana? You look so serious. Is it life advice? Or... oh, is it love advice?"
He grinned, striking a pose. "As someone with extensive experience in the field of romance, I can give you plenty of tips. Whether it's dealing with stubborn men or finding the right path, Uncle Gildarts knows best."
He saw the younger generation in the guild as almost like his own children, and he had a soft spot for Cana, who had been in the guild for as long as he could remember.
Cana took a deep breath. Her hands were trembling. She had rehearsed this moment a thousand times in her head over the last twelve years. Every time he came back from a quest, she wanted to say it. Every time he left, she regretted not saying it.
"It's... it's the reason I joined this guild," Cana stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "I didn't come for magic. I came to find my father."
Gildarts paused. "This is the first I've heard of it. Is your father a member of the guild? Who is he? Is it Macao? Wakaba? Don't tell me it's Nab?"
"Yes... yes... he's in the guild." Cana looked up, tears welling in her eyes. "Who is it? It's you, Gildarts."
"Eh?"
Gildarts froze.
"Eh eh eh eh?!"
He stumbled back as if struck by a high-level spell. His eyes widened to the size of saucers. Large beads of sweat instantly began to seep from his forehead, cascading down his face like a waterfall.
In the bushes nearby, Laxus, who was being forcibly held back by Ren, was also startled by the news. "What?! Cana is Gildarts' daughter? Since when?!"
"Since birth, you lightning-brained idiot," Ren whispered. "Keep quiet."
Back in the clearing, Gildarts was going through a mental breakdown.
"Wait... wait a minute... You! Whose child are you?" He began counting on his fingers, panic rising in his voice. "Sarah from the bakery? No... Naomi from the Blue Pegasus alliance? Claire from the mountains? Fina? Mary? Eliza? No, that's not right, Eliza had red hair... The hair color is different!"
He began pacing frantically. "Emma? Lila? Jenny? The twins from Hargeon?"
"Pervert!" Cana shouted, her face turning red with embarrassment and anger.
"Just how many women have you slept with?!" she screamed.
Cana couldn't help but get a little angry hearing the names Gildarts kept spouting. It was a never-ending list! Just how many women had this perverted father of hers slept with? She knew Gildarts was a lecherous old man, but she never expected him to be this prolific.
"I... I know!" Gildarts snapped his fingers, looking terrified. "It's Sylvia, right? You look exactly like her when she's angry!"
"Ah! I can't take it anymore!" Cana yelled, interrupting him. "Anyway, that's how it is! That's what I wanted to say! I wasn't expecting you to become my family or anything instantly. I know it's sudden. It's perfectly fine to stay as before, just guildmates..."
She turned to leave, unable to bear the rejection she was sure was coming.
"Cornelia."
The name stopped Cana in her tracks.
Gildarts's voice had changed. The panic was gone, replaced by a soft, trembling tone.
"You're Cornelia's child," Gildarts said, stepping forward. "Absolutely no mistake. When you got angry just now... you looked just like her."
He walked up to Cana, disregarding her shock, and pulled her into a tight, desperate hug.
"Cornelia was one of the women I poured my true love into. She was the only woman I ever married. My only marriage prospect," Gildarts whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "We were happy. But I... I became completely engrossed in work. I was obsessed with the S-Class quests, with the glory. I left her alone too often. I abandoned that love 18 years ago. I just drifted with the wind like trash."
Tears streamed down the mighty wizard's face. "I really didn't know I had a child. She never told me. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I really didn't know..."
"Father..." Cana sobbed, burying her face in his cloak.
"My daughter... was always so close to me," Gildarts cried, tightening his hold. "All these years, you were right there. Watching me drink, watching me leave... and I didn't even know."
"It's okay," Cana sniffled, her voice muffled. "I wasn't asking you to take responsibility or anything. But I still want to say... it's nice to meet you, Father."
Cana felt much lighter after saying it. The heavy stone that had been pressing on her heart for over a decade finally shattered.
Gildarts' body trembled at the address. Father. He recalled the first time he saw Cana; she was just a five or six-year-old child then, who came to the guild with a small dog after losing her mother, looking for him. He remembered patting her head, giving her candy, and walking away without recognizing his own flesh and blood.
Gildarts was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. The joy of recognizing his daughter, combined with the guilt of being such an irresponsible father, completely overwhelmed him.
"Cana!" He wailed, sounding pathetic yet endearing.
"You don't have to be sad anymore!" Cana pulled back slightly, wiping his tears with her thumb. "I won't let you feel sad again! From now on, if I go to work or drink, we'll go together!"
"Won't that be annoying?" Gildarts sniffled. "An old man tagging along?"
"I just... just... want the right to love you," Cana smiled, a radiant, genuine smile that lit up the gloomy forest.
Suddenly!
Thump.
A vibration passed through the earth. It wasn't an earthquake. It was a resonance.
Then came the sound.
ROAR——————!!
A colossal sound descended from the sky. It wasn't just loud; it was absolute. It drowned out the wind, the waves, and even the sound of their own heartbeats. It was a roar that commanded every living thing to freeze in terror.
The tender atmosphere between father and daughter shattered instantly.
Gildarts' expression changed from emotional vulnerability to pure, unadulterated horror. His pupils contracted to pinpricks. He clutched his left arm—the arm that wasn't there anymore.
"This feeling..." Gildarts whispered, sweat breaking out on his skin again, but this time from cold fear. "No... it can't be."
"It's here!"
Ren's expression also tightened immediately upon hearing the sound. He looked up at the sky, his senses screaming danger. The air pressure had dropped drastically. The Ethernano in the atmosphere was fleeing, pushed away by a tyrannical presence.
"What's that sound?!" Lucy covered her ears, falling to her knees.
"It's so loud! It feels like my head is splitting!" Natsu shouted, looking around wildly.
"This sound is..."
Soon, everyone in the guild—Erza, Gray, Wendy, the Raijin Tribe—gathered at the temporary base near the coast, drawn together by instinctual fear.
"It's the roar of a Dragon..."
Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer, stated the answer. Her face was pale, her knees knocking together. "But... it's not like Grandeeney. It's full of... hate."
"A Dragon?!"
Everyone was greatly astonished. Although they had heard that Dragons still existed in the world, most people had never seen one with their own eyes. To them, Dragons were myths, legends, or the parents of their friends.
Gildarts walked forward, shielding Cana behind him. He looked up at the clouds with a grave expression.
"It's that guy from back then!"
When he was on his Century Quest at Mount Zonia, it was because of this entity that he failed. In an instant, he had lost his left arm, his left leg, and nearly his life. He was the strongest mage in Fairy Tail, yet he had been reduced to an insect before this being.
The clouds parted.
A massive black shadow eclipsed the sun.
Soon, a colossal figure appeared above Tenrou Island. It had scales as black as the void, marked with glowing blue patterns that pulsed with apocalyptic magic. Its wingspan was wide enough to cover the entire island.
"What is that?!"
"It's so big!"
"This is..."
"A Dragon?!"
"Is that real?!"
"A real Dragon..."
"Indeed, Dragons are still alive in this world," Gray whispered, horrified.
The members of the Fairy Tail Guild involuntarily began to tremble upon seeing the Black Dragon. The magical pressure radiating from it was suffocating. It wasn't just strong; it was a different dimension of existence.
Makarov stood at the front, his small body shaking. Being well-traveled and knowledgeable in ancient lore, he immediately recognized its identity.
"The Black Dragon mentioned in the Apocalypse... Acnologia," Makarov breathed the name like a curse. "It actually exists. The Bringer of the End."
The Apocalypse mentioned its identity; its appearance didn't just mean a fight. It signified the end of an era. The end of the world.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, a figure ran forward. It was Natsu.
"Do you know where Igneel is now?! And where are Grandeeney and Metalicana?!"
Natsu, heedless of danger, shouted at the sky, waving his fist at the terrifying beast. "Answer me! You're a dragon, aren't you?!"
"Stop it, Natsu!"
Gildarts lunged forward and quickly covered Natsu's mouth, wrestling him back. "Don't draw its attention! You don't understand what that thing is!"
But it was clearly too late.
In the sky, the blue markings on the dragon's body glowed brighter. Acnologia had already noticed the insects on the ground.
The Black Dragon, Acnologia, swished its massive tail and folded its wings. It rapidly descended towards the island like a falling meteor.
Roar—————!!
Acnologia let out a second mighty roar as it plummeted.
Crack! Rumble!
The soundwave alone caused all the surrounding ruins and debris to crumble instantly. Trees snapped like toothpicks. The ground fractured.
A single roar caused everyone to involuntarily feel endless fear rising from within their souls. Even Ren, who was psychologically prepared and knew the plot, felt his body trembling uncontrollably from the primal terror radiating from the Dragon King.
'This... this is the power of the Ceiling of Fairy Tail,' Ren thought, gritting his teeth to stop them from chattering. 'It's monstrous.'
Suddenly!
The Black Dragon Acnologia pulled up at the last second, crashing onto the island's surface with an earth-shattering impact. It roared again, preparing to massacre everything in sight.
Makarov stepped forward, expanding his magic to its limit, but even he knew it was futile.
"Run————!!"
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