Chapter 319: A Win is a Win, Even if You're Carried
Everyone was in disbelief; those were seven Dragons after all.
Soon, the seven Dragons roared together toward the ground, intending to completely erase the royal capital, Crocus, and all the Mages.
The sheer volume of magical energy gathering in the sky was suffocating. Crimson hellfire from Atlas Flame, pure terrestrial beams from Motherglare, and jade-green toxicity from Zirconis all merged with the destructive breaths of the remaining four ancient beasts.
The combined attack formed a singular, apocalyptic star of annihilation. The sky above Fiore distorted, the atmospheric pressure dropping so rapidly that the Mages on the ground found it hard to breathe.
Ren, standing safely within the crystalline core of his colossal golden avatar, remained completely unfazed. He simply raised one of the Nine-Tailed Fox's massive, ethereal hands.
He also released a Bijūdama.
The Fox opened its jaws, rapidly condensing positive black chakra and negative white chakra at a perfect eight-to-two ratio. The surrounding space seemed to warp and bend around the sphere, pulled in by its terrifying density.
The massive purple-black Bijūdama soared into the sky.
It left a vacuum in its wake, tearing through the clouds with a deafening screech that sounded like the world itself was being ripped apart.
Boom!!
Ren's Bijūdama collided with the combined roars of the Dragons.
For a fraction of a second, there was absolute silence. The collision of two distinct, world-ending energies created a localized singularity in the sky above the capital.
The purple-black sphere clashed violently against the multicolored beam of dragon magic. The resulting friction caused spatial tears to flicker across the heavens, flashing like jagged black lightning.
The Bijūdama continued to break through upward. Its sheer, condensed weight was actually overpowering the combined breath of the ancient apex predators.
Seeing this, the Dragons couldn't help but increase their strength. Their reptilian eyes widened in a mix of shock and fury, pumping every ounce of their remaining magical power into their roars, desperately trying to suppress the Bijūdama.
Boom!!!
A blinding light lit up the sky.
The delicate equilibrium finally shattered. The night in Crocus suddenly turned into a blistering, pure-white day.
There was no sound, only an overwhelming wave of heat and force. The shockwave didn't just push the air; it pulverized it.
A terrifying shockwave spread rapidly in all directions, and the entire city of Crocus collapsed with a roar.
Grand cathedrals, ancient cobblestone streets, and the towering walls of the Mercurius Palace were all reduced to fine, ashen dust in the blink of an eye. The architectural pride of the Fiore Kingdom was erased as if it had never existed.
"Ughhhhh!!"
"Aaaahhh!!"
Everyone couldn't help but scream in terror at the sight. The Mages, despite being shielded by distance and lingering defensive barriers, were violently thrown back by the hurricane-force winds.
They covered their eyes, feeling the sheer heat of the blast singe their hair and clothes. It felt as though the world was ending.
After a long while, the blinding light faded, and the explosion finally subsided. Everyone slowly uncoiled from their defensive postures and looked toward Ren's position.
"This... the royal capital..."
"Has disappeared...!!"
At this moment, the entire royal capital had been completely destroyed. Where Crocus once stood, there was now only a massive, smoothed-out crater stretching for miles.
And this was only the aftermath of the explosion in the sky.
Rumble!!
Like meteors falling from the heavens, the seven Dragons fell from the sky, each one crashing into the barren earth with a deafening thud.
They had been at the very center of the previous explosion. Plumes of black smoke rose from their massive bodies, their previously impenetrable scales cracked, charred, and bleeding.
Fortunately, the innate defense of a true Dragon is absurdly strong. Even the terrifying, world-shattering attack of the Bijūdama wasn't quite enough to take their lives outright.
"What a terrifying human!"
The Rock Soul Dragon, Earth Build, said with lingering fear. It slowly pushed itself up off the ground, its rocky armor fractured and crumbling into pebbles.
It was the first time in its long, ancient life that it had seen someone with such terrifying strength. Even four hundred years ago, during the Dragon King Festival, it had rarely witnessed such raw destructive capability.
"Yeah! Fortunately, we finally finished him off!"
Levia also sighed with emotion, its breathing ragged. The dark-scaled dragon looked up at the empty sky where the giant golden fox had once stood.
It had never seen anyone so terrifying; even among the most elite of the Dragons, almost none could reach such an absurd level of concentrated power.
Scissor Runner said disdainfully, "Hmph! A mere human, no matter how powerful, was still killed by us..."
The metallic dragon spat out a mouthful of blackened blood, trying to mask its own terror with arrogance. It believed that the human mage had undoubtedly vaporized himself by detonating such an unstable mass of energy at close range.
Suddenly!
Puchi!!
Ren's figure suddenly appeared directly beside Scissor Runner.
He was no longer in his massive fox avatar. Instead, his human-sized body was cloaked in the blistering, golden flames of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Before the metallic dragon could even blink, a condensed, golden beast claw sank directly into Scissor Runner's abdomen.
"Awoo!"
Scissor Runner let out a cry of agony, its massive eyes bulging.
"What?!"
This sudden development truly startled everyone, especially the surviving Dragons. They had completely lost track of his presence.
"It seems your defense is no longer sufficient."
Ren said indifferently, his eyes glowing with a cold, analytical light.
The stronger a Dragon's magic, the stronger its defensive scales. However, Ren had intentionally used the overwhelming force of the Bijūdama earlier to fracture their armor and deplete their magical reserves, greatly reducing their defensive capabilities.
Now, their bodies were vulnerable.
"Damn it!"
The other Dragons had just reacted and were preparing to attack. They opened their massive jaws, trying to summon whatever residual magic they had left.
Ren's figure shifted instantly, leaving behind a fading golden afterimage. His body appeared completely behind the Jade Dragon, Zirconis.
He didn't waste any movement. The golden beast claw formed around his hand pierced ruthlessly toward Zirconis's kidney—a universal weak point even among giant reptiles.
Puchi!!
"Aaaahhh!!"
Zirconis let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain. The Jade Dragon's massive body convulsed violently, its legs giving out as the sheer agony of the targeted strike paralyzed its nervous system.
"Roar!!"
Earth Build let out a furious roar to mask its rising panic.
The two surrounding Dragons, the Mother Earth Dragon Motherglare and the Rock Soul Dragon Earth Build, rushed toward Ren together. They intended to crush the small, golden human between their massive, armored bodies.
Pa!!
Ren didn't even bother to dodge. He spread his hands, meeting their charge head-on, and ruthlessly pressed down on the heads of the two colossal Dragons.
The earth beneath Ren's feet shattered for miles, but his arms didn't buckle. He forcibly slammed both Motherglare and Earth Build's snouts directly into the dirt, burying them under his immense physical strength.
Seeing their kin pinned, the Sea Prison Dragon Anka, the Life Prison Dragon Levia, and the Hellfire Dragon Atlas Flame rushed toward Ren together from his blind spots.
Ren didn't look back. The golden chakra cloak flaring around his body surged, and several massive, ethereal tails whipped out faster than the speed of sound.
Ren's tails moved first, accurately grabbing the thick necks of the several charging Dragons.
The Dragons immediately struggled violently. Atlas Flame tried to burn the golden constructs with his hellfire, while Levia thrashed its massive claws, but the pure chakra was far too dense to be easily broken.
Ren's other tails immediately formed massive, golden fists, relentlessly and continuously striking the suspended Dragons.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Awoo!!"
The Dragons were beaten until they screamed incessantly in the air. The heavy, concussive blows rained down on their already fractured scales, breaking ribs and shattering horns with ruthless efficiency.
Finally, having thoroughly pulverized their remaining resistance, Ren released the Dragons with his tails.
As their massive bodies slumped toward the earth, Ren bent his knees and leapt high into the air, hovering above the cratered battlefield.
Ren raised his palm.
The chaotic sound of a thousand screeching birds filled the sky as he molded his wind-natured chakra to its absolute pinnacle. A massive, rapidly spinning shuriken made of pure, white-blue wind energy formed above his hand.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!!"
The high-frequency screech of the jutsu was deafening. It was an attack that didn't just deal physical trauma; it attacked the very cellular structure of its target, severing the microscopic connections within the body.
Ren threw the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken downward.
The massive disk of wind plummeted like a divine guillotine, expanding rapidly as it struck the very center of the pile of battered Dragons.
Boom!!!
A terrifying dome of concentrated, slicing wind erupted, trapping the remaining Dragons within a storm of countless microscopic blades.
[Akarin's Note: The Rasenshuriken attacks the opponent at a cellular level, acting like countless tiny poison needles that sever the chakra/magic network. This is why it can completely bypass the physical hardness of Dragon Scales and knock them out instantly.]
"Awoo!!!"
The Dragons' final screams of absolute agony were quickly drowned out by the explosion. The dome of wind expanded, chewing through the bedrock of Crocus before finally dissipating into a gentle breeze.
When everything settled, the dust finally cleared. The seven legendary Dragons lay sprawled in the massive, miles-wide crater, completely motionless and all unconscious.
"Ooooohhhh!!!"
At the distant Grand Magic Games Arena, which had miraculously survived the worst of the shockwaves, everyone cheered wildly upon seeing Ren defeat all seven Dragons.
"So amazing!!"
"Mr. Ren is so amazing!!"
"Yeah! To actually defeat such powerful Dragons! He's truly a monster... in a good way! He's incredibly strong!"
The Domus Flau erupted into a frenzy of tears, hugs, and ecstatic shouts. Seeing all the Dragons defeated, everyone felt a profound, overwhelming sense of surviving a true catastrophe.
Everyone was cheering and celebrating, embracing their guildmates and former rivals alike, except for one single person.
"No! Impossible!! Those were the invincible Dragon Clan? How could they be defeated by a human?!"
Hovering in the sky above the arena, Future Rogue stared wide-eyed in absolute disbelief. He grabbed his hair, his mind completely fracturing.
He had traveled back in time, manipulated princesses, and opened the Eclipse Gate to bring forth an army of absolute despair. He had planned to use these Dragons to rule the future and kill Acnologia.
He was entirely unable to believe that a single man named Ren had actually defeated so many prime Dragons without breaking a sweat. His grand ambition had been crushed like an ant under a boot.
Down in the crater, the golden chakra cloak surrounding Ren finally dissipated into glowing embers.
Ren returned to his original form and sat heavily on the ground, panting heavily. Sweat poured down his forehead; this time, he had used almost every ounce of strength and chakra he had stored.
Although these Dragons couldn't compare to the sheer, infinite vitality of the true Nine-Tailed Fox, their raw physical strength and magical defense weren't much different from other regular Tailed Beasts.
It was also very troublesome to fight them all at once while simultaneously trying to protect the Mages in the distance. Thinking about how there were countless Dragons of this strength roaming the skies four hundred years ago, Ren couldn't help but marvel at the terrifying high-rank scaling of this world's history.
He really didn't know how the Black Dragon, Acnologia, had single-handedly ended the era of the Dragons as overlords. The sheer power required to slaughter them by the thousands was nearly unfathomable.
"Ren!!!"
A chorus of voices broke his train of thought. Everyone from Fairy Tail and the other allied guilds was running frantically over the ruined landscape toward him.
"Ren! Are you okay? Answer me!"
Mira was the first to arrive. She dropped to her knees and came to Ren's side, immediately checking him over carefully. Her hands fluttered over his arms and chest, her blue eyes wide with panic, deeply fearing he had suffered some internal injury.
"I'm fine, Mira. Really, just a bit exhausted," Ren smiled softly, gently catching her trembling hands.
Ren waved his free hand dismissively. His magic power and chakra were currently insufficient; if his reserves were higher, dealing with these Dragons would have been even easier, and he wouldn't be sitting in the dirt right now.
"Ren, you're truly amazing! You saved everyone!" Erza praised, walking up behind Mira with a look of profound respect.
"Yeah! Super amazing!! You totally kicked their scaly butts!" Natsu cheered, pumping his fists enthusiastically, completely ignoring his own injuries.
"Damn! This is so frustrating!"
A gruff, angry voice interrupted the celebration. Gajeel's expression was very grim. The Iron Dragon Slayer stood a few paces away, his arms crossed tightly, glaring at the unconscious bodies of the massive beasts.
Levy walked up to him, looking at her tall partner with concern. She asked Gajeel in confusion, "What's wrong, Gajeel? We won, didn't we?"
"Clearly, we are the 'Dragon Slayer' Mages, yet we didn't manage to defeat a single Dragon."
Gajeel was somewhat unwilling to accept the reality. A Dragon Slayer Mage who couldn't even leave a lasting scratch on a real Dragon—what right did they have to call themselves Dragon Slayer Mages? The iron scales he was so proud of had felt like fragile glass in front of the real thing.
"How embarrassing! We were completely useless out there."
Sting, who had just arrived with Rogue and the rest of Sabertooth, couldn't help but feel a bit depressed hearing Gajeel's harsh, but true, words.
"The title of Dragon Slayer Mage is unworthy of its name today," Rogue said helplessly, staring down at his own trembling hands.
They had given their absolute all. They had used Dragon Force, combined their elements, and pushed their bodies past their limits. But they were simply no match for the true Dragons. Although their specialized Dragon Slayer Magic could cause some minor damage, it was only superficial damage—not even enough to cause a serious, life-threatening injury to the beasts.
"But Mr. Ren is truly powerful! Seven Dragons working together were no match for him," Sting muttered, looking at Ren with a mixture of awe and lingering fear. "If even someone as ridiculously strong as Mr. Ren isn't Acnologia's match... just how powerful is Acnologia?"
Rogue and Sting fell silent. They used to arrogantly think they could eventually defeat Acnologia, but now it seemed like pure delusion. Even if they trained for decades and grew exponentially stronger, they'd at most reach the level to defeat one of these seven Dragons.
How could that ever compare to the Black Dragon King, who hunted these very monsters for sport?
"Forget it, let's not think about that for now. We won, even though we didn't really do anything."
Sting had a better mindset; after all, a win by being carried is still a win, right?
"True."
[Akarin Note:
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