Everyone quietly watched as the once-invincible Dragon King slowly disappeared before their eyes.
Raizel glanced at the spot where Acnologia's body had fallen, then slowly shook his head.
"So... the battle is really over? Acnologia just died like that?"
Lucy still found it hard to believe.
This was the Black Dragon recorded in the Book of Apocalypse, the Black Dragon King who had slaughtered dragons during the Dragon King Festival!
"That battle wasn't easy at all."
Ultear's Magic Power was almost completely drained.
Although they had not gathered the full strength of both the eastern and western continents, they had more or less gathered every top-tier fighter available.
"Irene, can the sacred peak still be restored?"
Raizel did not pay attention to everyone celebrating. Instead, he turned toward Irene, who was standing beside Selene.
"Of course."
Irene, who had already returned to human form, raised an eyebrow and lightly tapped the ground with her antler staff.
'He looked at me instead of Ultear? So he actually knows about Universe One...'
Irene's Universe One was something only Zeref and a few members of the Spriggan 12 knew about, but she did not dwell on it.
'Maybe August told him.'
"Everyone, into the air."
August cast Gravity Magic, applying anti-gravity to everyone present as well as the two airships.
A wave of red light spread outward from Irene's antler staff.
The sacred peak, and even the western land that had been split open by Raizel's slash earlier, were all enveloped in it.
Standing on the airships, everyone watched the changes below.
Wherever the red light passed, the damage from the battle rapidly repaired itself.
The sacred peak soon returned to its original snow-covered appearance.
Irene's Universe One could reconstruct any chosen area.
She could freely reshape the size of countries and the terrain itself.
As long as she was not transporting people to special locations, especially powerful people, Universe One was entirely under her control.
However, the destroyed vegetation and the magical beasts killed by the aftershocks could not be restored.
After fighting Acnologia and then using such a large-scale Universe One, even Irene could not help reaching her limit.
Her legs weakened, and she nearly lost her balance.
A hand suddenly reached out to support her.
It was not Selene, but it was Erza instead.
"I didn't think this through carefully enough."
Raizel looked slightly surprised when he saw Irene and Erza, but he did not think too much about it and apologized to Irene.
"It's fine. I'll be all right after some rest."
Irene slowly shook her head.
...
Half a month after the battle with Acnologia—
Magnolia had long since returned to peace.
Most ordinary citizens did not know the details of the battle against the Black Dragon, but everyone was still extremely excited.
The reason was simple.
After the battle with the Black Dragon, the war between the Alvarez Empire and Ishgar had ended.
Both sides had signed a non-aggression pact, and they had even signed a trade agreement.
After Raizel, whose strength had risen another level, used All Delete to remove the curse of Ankhseram, Zeref chose to return to the western continent and continue serving as emperor.
Mavis, who had regained a physical body through Cana and Ultear's Fairy Glitter, made a similar choice, though she still stayed in Magnolia.
The condition between Raizel and Zeref was never fulfilled, because Mavis and August revealed the truth themselves.
It became the whole "I have a child" saga.
Zeref was completely stunned, but he had lived for four hundred years.
What had he not seen by now? His ability to accept strange things was excellent, and he soon accepted the truth.
He and Mavis did not exactly reconcile like nothing had happened, nor did they fall into some dramatic love-hate relationship.
Instead, they were closer to a kind of platonic bond, pursuing spiritual connection and rational understanding.
Larcade did not die.
But socially, he was finished.
He had constantly claimed in front of August that he was Zeref's son, only for the real son to have been right in front of him all along, watching him act like a clown for decades.
August did not give up on everything either.
He still handled the empire's political affairs together with Yajeel and Invel.
This war had dealt a heavy blow to the Alvarez Empire.
They had lost all kinds of magic warships, countless soldiers, the lives of two Spriggan 12 members, one missing member, and two who had more or less checked out.
The empire still needed people like them to keep things stable.
Wahl and Bloodman were dead. Serena had vanished without a trace.
After Raizel had Wendy separate Serena's eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima from his body, he had stopped caring about him and left him at the camp.
By the time Raizel and the others returned to the northern camp, Serena was already gone.
Logically speaking, he should not have been able to run around, but if he ran, he ran.
Raizel could not be bothered to deal with him.
Brandish and Dimaria had also checked out.
Although they had not formally left the Spriggan 12, they were already living a peaceful countryside life.
After Ishgar and the Alvarez Empire signed their peace treaty, Irene and Erza's relationship returned to normal.
Raizel also learned from Erza about the "secret" she and Irene had shared on the airship back to Ishgar.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
They had known Irene for more than half a year.
Although Irene was aloof, they could all sense the kindness she hid deep inside, so they had often sighed over how long it was taking for her relationship with Erza to improve.
Wendy especially.
Every time they ate together and she ended up sitting between Irene and Erza, Wendy felt like her head was going to split in two.
Erza was practically an older sister to her, while Irene was her teacher.
There was also one other person—Anna Heartfilia.
She could no longer return to her own time, so she chose to settle in Magnolia as well. She opened a private magic academy, the kind that did not charge tuition.
The money for building the academy was lovingly sponsored by her descendant, Layla.
On top of that, the academy frequently had elite teachers appear at random, including Cana, Ultear, Precht, August, Mavis, Irene...
Anna had also long since explained everything from four hundred years ago to Natsu, Wendy, and the others.
Natsu and the five Dragon Slayers recovered the memories that had become scrambled and lost after their journey through the Eclipse Gate.
Although there were all kinds of strange bugs running around, teenagers in appearance but technically more than four hundred years old, it did not affect their lives.
Just like Anna, even though they had come from four hundred years in the past, they had already blended into the present.
...
"Is everyone ready?"
Makarov stood on the stage, wearing a white formal suit and the cloak that belonged to him as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and shouted loudly.
"We're ready!"
The members answering him were all dressed in formal suits and gowns.
Raizel, Laxus, Natsu, and the others wore black suits.
Gray and Lyon wore shorts below the waist, while their shirts had somehow vanished again.
Ultear, Mira, and the others wore evening gowns made from all kinds of gorgeous fabrics—velvet, brocade, crepe, taffeta, organza, lace—and the colors shone like jewels, from wine red and emerald green to rose purple, black, and white.
Tonight, King Toma of Fiore had invited the Mages from the major guilds who had made outstanding contributions during the battle at the sacred peak to attend a royal banquet.
Not only that, but it was also to thank the Kingdom of Fiore army and the Magic Council forces for fighting bravely in the war against the Alvarez Empire.
Inside Mercurius and outside the palace, banquet tables stretched everywhere.
The crowds were bustling, the streets were packed, and the soldiers celebrated together with the residents of Crocus in a grand feast shared by all.