The figure that flew out of Natsu's body was none other than the Fire Dragon, Igneel.
Natsu sat there in a daze.
The father he had searched for so desperately, Igneel, was now right before his eyes.
"I'm sorry for all this time, Natsu. The truth is, I've been inside your body all along."
It was not only Natsu who was stunned.
Ultear and the others were frozen as well, staring upward in bewilderment, their eyes filled with shock.
After all, an enormous dragon had suddenly emerged from Natsu's body.
"But there's no time to explain everything right now. First, we must deal with Acnologia!"
After saying that, Igneel did not wait for Natsu's answer. With one flap of his wings, he shot rapidly into the sky.
Acnologia was still gathering power for his roar when Igneel slammed headfirst into his neck.
"Live, Natsu!"
Igneel's voice came from above.
ROAAAAAR—!
Igneel and Acnologia roared at each other, their voices deafening enough to shake the sky.
"Is all of this a dream?" Juvia's hair was blown into disarray by the shockwaves from the two dragons' battle, but she had no time to care.
Igneel and Acnologia clashed in the sky in the most primal form of combat.
Head against head.
Claw against claw.
But even the shockwaves from their collision sent fierce winds battering against everyone's faces hard enough to hurt.
Mard Geer took the opportunity to go after Raizel again.
After all, the Book of E.N.D. was still in Raizel's hands.
Natsu looked up at Igneel, tears already soaking his face.
Ever since July 7, X777, when the Fire Dragon King Igneel, the dragon who had raised Natsu, suddenly disappeared without a trace, Natsu had never once given up searching for him.
He had tirelessly asked around, chasing any clue about Igneel's whereabouts.
He had never imagined their reunion would come so suddenly.
"So that's Igneel..."
"He was inside him all along?" Ultear frowned, deep in thought.
"Then does that mean Gajeel and Wendy also have...?" Levy looked toward Gajeel and Wendy nearby.
"The heart palpitations... stopped..."
Gajeel froze.
Then Metalicana, the Iron Dragon whose smooth body looked as though it had been cast from steel, with no visible scales at all, also flew out of Gajeel's body and charged toward Acnologia.
Iron Dragon Metalicana.
Wendy's body also began shining with brilliant white light.
A white dragon emerged from Wendy's body, her appearance resembling a large feathered reptile.
Even her wings were formed entirely from feathers, almost like a bird's.
Sky Dragon Grandeeney.
And then came Weisslogia, the White Dragon, and Skiadrum, the Shadow Dragon, carrying the completely bewildered Sting and Rogue as they rushed at high speed toward the Eastern Plains.
Before long, five dragons had surrounded Acnologia!
"T-th-th-there are six dragons?!" Happy's mouth hung wide open.
"This is no longer something humans can overcome..." Ultear shook her head helplessly.
Fortunately, Igneel seemed to be on their side.
In the sky, the five dragons, led by Igneel, faced Acnologia.
Even though five dragons stood against him, Acnologia remained completely calm.
During the Dragon King Festival, he had once faced the siege of even more dragons than this, including some on the level of dragon kings.
"A dragon fighting Acnologia... and those flames..."
"No way..."
Erza and Kagura quickly realized it.
The two exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock.
"The Igneel Natsu always talked about, the dragon who raised him... he was real."
"Jet-black wings, Acnologia. Fire Dragon King Igneel. And four other dragons besides... I will not allow any of you to interfere with my plan, Mard Geer Tartaros's plan. I shall revise the order. The ones who must be destroyed first are you—"
"..."
Raizel looked at him like he was staring at an idiot and shook his head.
He really wanted to ask where this guy got his courage from!
His master, Zeref, would run with his head in his hands if he ran into the Black Dragon.
Raizel tentatively pointed toward Acnologia.
"Why don't you fly up there and tell him that yourself?"
He would absolutely "try it" and immediately die.
"Don't screw with me, Igneel!"
And there really was someone willing to try.
Flames wrapped around Natsu's feet as he roared and leapt straight into the sky.
"Natsu!"
"What a maniac."
Erza and Kagura stared blankly as Natsu shot upward like a rocket toward the six dragons.
"Natsu!" Happy, on the other hand, was cheering him on.
Raizel pointed at Natsu flying up and looked at Mard Geer.
"See that? That's what courage looks like. As for you, I'll leave it at that."
"You idiot! I said we'd talk later!" Igneel snapped irritably when he noticed Natsu flying toward him.
"We're talking now!"
Natsu had already climbed onto Igneel's back armor.
"Why did you suddenly disappear? And what do you mean you were inside my body this whole time?! What happened on July 7, X777?!"
Natsu fired one question after another.
Acnologia roared and flew toward Igneel.
Igneel flapped his wings and rose higher into the sky.
"You're too damn noisy!"
Igneel grabbed Natsu with one hand, then opened his mouth and unleashed Fire Dragon's Roar.
The other four dragons also released their roars.
Five different kinds of energy swallowed Acnologia at once.
Although there were five types of energy, Igneel's flames were by far the most oppressive.
The scorching heat even affected those below.
"So hot!"
"Is this for real...?"
"What a powerful heat wave..."
"We're this far away, but it still feels like our bodies are about to melt."
The guild members could not help gasping.
Ultear and Ur quickly worked together to create an ice wall in front of everyone.
Within the flames, Acnologia let out a pained roar.
Although he could nullify Magic, taking five true dragon roars at once was still not something he could shrug off comfortably.
Acnologia was slammed into the ground by the impact.
With Acnologia at the center, a gigantic blazing fireball appeared on the plain.
Before that fireball, even Igneel looked small.
"That was... Fire Dragon's Roar..."
"I've never seen flames like that..."
"So that's the power of a dragon?"
Even Mira could not help murmuring in awe.
Compared to that, they seemed far too weak.
White smoke drifted from the corners of Igneel's mouth.
Natsu, still held in Igneel's hand, stared with his mouth slightly open.
"S-so amazing...!"
Igneel shook his head slightly.
"No. He's completely unharmed."
"Huh?!"
As Natsu cried out in confusion, Acnologia spread his wings.
The smoke scattered.
Acnologia stood in the ruins, utterly unharmed, and roared toward the sky.
"It had no effect on him?"
"That was the roar of five dragons!"
"Are you serious?"
"He took an attack like that and came out without a scratch?"
The guild members once again felt the true weight of Acnologia's power.
Acnologia spread his wings and flew high into the sky again.
The four dragons roared and Igneel bared his teeth in a fierce grin.
"I'm all fired up!"