The Grand Magic Games had ended, and Toma had mobilized every guild mage he possibly could, preparing them for a desperate battle against the danger that was about to arrive.
But before they could even finish organizing their defenses, a dragon had already appeared within the city.
Sting had recovered his former confidence. He took the lead and charged toward the dragon that had emerged.
The dragon was enormous, its entire body covered in hard scales.
A net-like pattern of energy circuits stretched across its surface, while the horn-like structures on its head formed a pair of scythe-shaped blades, making it look savage and ferocious.
The first dragon, named Scizoransa, looked at the large group of humans rushing fearlessly toward him, and a trace of disdain flashed through his dragon eyes.
He swung his claws, and the tall buildings of the city collapsed as easily as toy blocks.
Even the allied force of mages charging at him struggled to advance beneath the destruction.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
"Holy Nova!"
The conviction in Sting's heart grew firmer than ever.
After becoming guild master, only to suffer a crushing defeat against Fairy Tail, he had come to a deep realization.
If he wanted to lead his guild toward true strength, wasn't there already an example right in front of him?
"I won't let you get in everyone's way, you bastard!"
The massive nova of light Sting formed slammed down toward Scizoransa's dragon head.
Amid the huge flash of white light, a thunderous explosion swept across the area.
Sting was knocked backward by the recoil of his own power and crashed into the ruins not far away.
But just as he looked forward, full of expectation, to see the result of his attack…
He saw Scizoransa staring at him mockingly.
Completely unharmed.
The dragon-slaying attribute of Dragon Slayer Magic could indeed take effect, but the difference in Magic Power between them was simply too great.
"How is that possible…"
The same scene was happening in other parts of the city.
The second dragon, Lissaya, was a giant dragon covered in pitch-black scales, and it was also forcing the allied guild forces into retreat.
"Gaaaaah!"
At that moment, Makarov had already turned into a giant.
Ignoring the surging, scorching flames around him, he rushed forward and wrapped both arms around another faceless dragon made of burning fire.
"You all hurry to the palace! Dragons are still coming out of the Eclipse Gate. Ankh needs more people over there!"
Makarov's face twisted from the heat scorching him, but he still roared at everyone in the guild with his brows tightly furrowed.
Laxus gritted his teeth and shouted to Erza behind him, "You go! I'm a Dragon Slayer, so I'll stay here and help!"
"Be careful!"
Erza did not waste time.
Without another word, she led a unit of mages toward the palace, while the Thunder God Tribe and a portion of the other mages remained behind to deal with the fire dragon.
The guild masters and aces leading resistance against the dragons in other areas clearly thought of the same issue.
Each of them organized combat forces and began advancing toward the royal palace at the center of the city.
That night, Crocus was no longer the beautiful and abundant Flower Capital.
It had become a city of war, on the verge of sinking into terror and blood!
...
At the center of the royal capital, within Mercurius Palace, the heart of the battlefield, Ankh had already been surrounded by dragons after charging in alone.
Yusalk, who was struggling to hold off Soda, could not spare a hand.
Four dragons had already emerged from the Eclipse Gate and were under Rogue's control.
Future Rogue looked at Ankh, who was standing before the Eclipse Gate with golden light radiating from his body, and laughed with incomparable arrogance.
"You're too late, Ankh!"
"Become a stepping stone on my path to becoming the Dragon King!"
Future Rogue laughed hideously and commanded the four dragons to pounce toward Ankh.
Ankh ignored the movement behind him and took over the power of the Star God.
A robe like the galaxy itself draped over him.
His eyes resembled the bright moon and blazing sun, while a faint map of stars shimmered behind him.
If he wanted to close the Eclipse Gate after it had been strengthened by Zous, Lucy's power alone probably would not be enough.
Only Ankh himself, with divine power equal to that level, could do it.
Ankh stretched out both hands and increased the output of divine power from a distance, pouring it into the Eclipse Gate.
The speed at which the doors were closing immediately increased.
Meanwhile, the eighth dragon was trying to crawl out. Its chest was caught between the doors, and it let out a deafening roar of fury.
"Stay away from Ankh!!"
A familiar roar sounded from far away.
Scorching orange-red flames blocked the path behind Ankh and stopped the momentum of the four dragons lunging toward him.
Future Natsu's scar-covered face was filled with anger. He did not hold back at all, directly opening with a Dragon Slayer Secret Art.
At the same time, the members of Team Ram, who had just arrived, also stepped in to help.
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
"Grand Chariot!"
"Python's Venom!"
"Genesis Zero!"
Four ultimate spells were unleashed.
Powerful Magic Power shook the air, finally stopping the four dragons that had been trying to attack Ankh.
"We're here to help, Ankh!"
Lucy and Yukino hurried over, throwing their Celestial Spirit keys into the air at the same time. The keys spun above them, then merged into Ankh's body.
The stars of the entire sky shone above Ankh's head.
"Natsu, knock that dragon blocking the gate back inside!"
"Got it!"
Natsu charged fiercely toward the eighth dragon, the one covered in black scales, and opened with a spinning, blazing Dragon Slayer Secret Art.
Natsu was not stupid.
He knew that Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade might not be enough to break through its defense, so he aimed with extreme precision and struck the dragon directly in the eye!
"Roaaaaaaaar—!"
The dragon's unwilling and furious howl rang out, but it could only be punched backward by Natsu.
Taking advantage of that opening, Ankh, Lucy, and Yukino hurriedly activated the stars in the sky.
An unprecedented golden starlight blazed, and the heavy doors, driven in one final burst, slammed shut with a tremendous crash!
'It was finally closed!'
Ankh let out a breath of relief.
Then his eyes suddenly filled with killing intent as he turned around and looked at the battlefield, which had already descended into chaos.
Four dragons were here.
There should still be three more in the city, but Toma should have already gathered the mages to resist them.
Each dragon had to be handled by at least one Dragon Slayer.
As for Soda…
Seeing that Hisui's body, which Yusalk had possessed, was gradually reaching its limit and starting to bleed, Ankh immediately shouted.
"Yusa, come back! Hisui can't hold on anymore!"
Hearing this, Yusalk quickly withdrew and returned to Ankh's side.
Then the aura around Hisui's body changed, and she collapsed weakly to the ground.
Mirajane hurriedly caught and supported her.
Yusalk floated in midair and moved closer to Ankh, whispering, "Are we really fighting? The Eclipse Gate is closed, sure, but even with just these few little dragons, humans probably still can't win, right?"
"No. We will win."
Ankh shook his head and stepped toward the enormous divine shadow of Soda.
On this crumbling battlefield, there were dragons that saw humans as food.
There was a god who stood above all living beings.
And there were also these people…
Humans who struggled desperately to survive, armed with nothing but burning courage, foolishly trying to fight against heaven itself.
In a voice no one else could hear, Ankh murmured hoarsely, "Don't underestimate humans…"
He raised his head.
Soda looked down on Ankh from high above.
Though He was only a phantom, those eyes still shook the heart with the way they looked down upon all life and regarded every living thing as nothing.
But Ankh's heart was perfectly calm as he met the gaze of the God of Souls head-on.
After hearing the secrets of the past from Yusalk, fragments of old memories seemed to begin stirring somewhere deep inside Ankh.
'Because I chose to become human, you all seem to look down on me even more now…'
Ankh grinned, as if mocking the arrogance of gods who put on airs.
"I'll show you whose choice was right."
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