Chapter 369: Repelling the Black Dragon
"This... how... is it possible..."
Zeref, hidden deep within the fragmented shadows of the battlefield, was utterly stunned. His dark eyes widened in rare disbelief as he stared up at the sky. Acnologia, the undisputed absolute terror of the world, had been seriously injured.
It was a reality his mind struggled to process. Although Acnologia was still far from his absolute peak strength, the Black Dragon remained an existence no mortal or demon could ever dream of rivaling. One only had to look at the Fire Dragon King for proof.
Igneel's strength was top-tier even among the legendary Dragon Clan, possessing raw power capable of leveling entire nations. Yet, he had been systematically beaten back and overpowered by Acnologia in less than twenty minutes. But this human, Ren, had actually managed to inflict a severe, scorching wound upon the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse.
That was Acnologia—the cataclysmic beast whose very magic allowed him to devour any magical attribute in existence.
"A perfect opening!" Igneel's massive, reptilian eyes lit up with a fierce, predatory gleam.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill Acnologia once and for all. The Black Dragon's left arm was severely damaged, hanging rigidly at his side, and a massive, blistering wound had been carved directly into his chest. If the Fire Dragon King missed this fleeting chance, he knew deep down there might never be another opportunity to slay the King of Dragons.
Just as Igneel coiled his massive muscles to launch a devastating killing strike, Acnologia reacted. The Black Dragon let out a low, rumbling growl and forcefully flapped his remaining functional wing, generating a localized hurricane that kicked up a storm of debris.
Instead of re-engaging, Acnologia launched himself high into the sky. Before disappearing into the clouds, the terrifying beast turned his massive head to shoot Ren a deeply piercing, lingering glare. Then, without looking back, the Black Dragon turned tail and fled the airspace entirely.
"The... the Black Dragon..."
"Acnologia... actually..."
"He ran away?!"
The members of Fairy Tail were left frozen, utterly stunned by the impossible scene playing out above them. Such a mythical monster—an entity that treated entire armies like mere insects—had actually been forced to retreat.
A moment of heavy, suffocating silence hung over the ruined landscape. Then, it finally shattered.
"Wooooooh!!!"
"So amazing!!!"
"As expected of Ren-san!!"
"He actually drove away a monster like that!! It's a miracle!"
"That's a real man!!" Elfman roared, tears streaming down his face as he thrust his fists into the air.
After the initial shock wore off, the Fairy Tail members came to their senses and erupted into deafening cheers. Tears of relief and triumph flowed freely as they celebrated their survival against impossible odds.
Ren didn't immediately join the celebration. His glowing, sun-like eyes remained fixed on Acnologia's retreating silhouette until the Black Dragon completely disappeared from sight. Only then did the oppressive, heavy aura radiating from his body begin to recede.
Ren's gaze then swept toward the distant rubble, locking onto the hidden shadow where Zeref stood. Zeref immediately understood the silent warning in his look. The Black Wizard offered a faint, complex smile before turning away, his form dissolving into the darkness as he, too, departed the battlefield.
With both Acnologia and Zeref finally gone, Ren let out a long, heavy exhale.
[Take Over: Deactivated]
His towering, muscle-bound physique and blinding, golden solar aura vanished in an instant. Ren returned to his original form, the divine presence dissipating into the surrounding air. The exact moment he reverted, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed into him like a physical blow.
Ren stumbled forward, his legs giving out completely as he collapsed heavily onto the scorched earth.
"Ren!" Mira cried out, her voice laced with panic.
She dashed across the broken terrain, sliding to her knees beside him. She reached out, gently supporting his back with a face full of frantic concern. "Ren, how are you? Are you okay? Where are you hurt?"
Ren offered a weak, tired smile and waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine, Mira. My magic power consumption was just a bit too high."
That single, devastating strike had forcibly drained more than half of his total magic power reserves in a fraction of a second. It was an astronomical output of Ethernano, which was precisely why the concentrated attack had managed to seriously injure an entity as durable as Acnologia.
But enduring that instantaneous drain was agonizing on the body. It was a well-known fact among mages that forcibly expending too much magic at once was incredibly dangerous. For someone like Natsu, unleashing a Dragon Slayer Secret Art at maximum power would, at most, consume thirty percent of his total magic reserves. That was already considered the absolute physical limit a mage's magical container could withstand in a single burst.
For an average mage, casting a single spell that consumed even ten percent of their reserves in one go would push them to the brink of collapse. Consuming over half at once was practically a death sentence. It was directly comparable to blood loss; drawing 400 milliliters was considered a safe limit, but forcibly extracting liters at once would cause immediate, life-threatening organ failure.
Ren closed his eyes and took a deep, rhythmic breath. Under the passive, restorative effects of the Sun Breathing Technique, oxygen flooded his strained cells, and his depleted magic power began to slowly regenerate. The rhythmic breathing eased the violent pounding in his chest, making him feel significantly better as the cold sweat finally stopped pouring down his face.
"Ren!!"
The rest of the Fairy Tail members quickly rushed over, forming a tight circle around him. Unbridled excitement and awe were written plainly across their dirt-smudged faces.
"Ren, you're just too amazing! You actually drove away that apocalypse monster!" Gray shouted, grinning from ear to ear.
"A man! A true, undisputed man!!!" Elfman continued to bellow, flexing his biceps in respect.
"Ren, how are you holding up, my boy?" Makarov asked, stepping forward with a mixture of immense pride and deep worry.
The seasoned Guild Master knew all too well that Ren must have paid a significant, potentially dangerous price to wield such heaven-defying magic. The more powerful the spell, the heavier the physical toll—a fundamental law of magic that Makarov understood intimately from his own usage of Fairy Law.
"I'm alright, Master. Just severely drained of magic power," Ren reassured him, slowly pushing himself up into a seated position. "It's nothing serious. I'll fully recover after a good night's rest."
"Ren! You're way too incredible!" Natsu suddenly pushed his way to the front, staring at him with wide, starry eyes. "How did you get so insanely strong again?! Back on Tenrou Island, you were absolutely no match for that guy, but now you actually sent him packing! The speed at which you're getting stronger is totally unfair!!"
Natsu practically vibrated with excitement. Just moments ago, Ren had been a literal human sun, radiating a heat and presence that felt completely unparalleled in this world. To Natsu, it seemed like Ren's strength had suddenly leaped forward by another massive, insurmountable margin.
"Not exactly," Ren replied, shaking his head with a humble chuckle. "My baseline strength has definitely improved, but I'm still far from Acnologia's actual level. I only managed to repel him by borrowing the absolute peak Power of the Sun. If the timing had been different, I wouldn't be a match for him at all."
"Power of the Sun?" Natsu tilted his head, utterly confused.
"Yeah, didn't I mention it to you guys before?" Ren explained patiently. "The specific magic I Take Over from Escanor is called 'Sunshine.' It's a unique power that continuously grows stronger as the sun rises in the sky. Just now, we hit exactly high noon."
Ren pointed up toward the clearing sky. "That state is called 'The One.' For exactly one minute at noon, my power reaches its absolute peak, overflowing beyond my limits. That singular, one-minute window is the only reason I possessed enough destructive force to seriously injure Acnologia."
Hearing Ren's detailed explanation, the surrounding guild members finally understood the mechanics behind the miracle. However, comprehending the magic theory was one thing; witnessing it was another. Even with a strict time limit, Ren in that state was still far too terrifyingly powerful for their minds to fully grasp.
Internally, Ren was also quite thrilled. He had finally managed to draw blood from Acnologia. Although he could only achieve such a feat exactly at noon, it meant he officially possessed the firepower necessary to threaten the Black Dragon's life.
However, a sobering thought quickly grounded him. Acnologia was truly in a league of his own. Even a point-blank detonation of Cruel Sun had only managed to burn through his scales and severely injure him, rather than outright vaporizing him. And that was only because Acnologia's current strength was at a historical low point. If the Black Dragon had been at his absolute peak, that attack might not have even breached his natural magical defenses.
"Ren, you have my gratitude. Thank you for intervening and coming to my rescue just now."
Suddenly, a deep, booming voice echoed across the battlefield, vibrating the very earth beneath their feet. The Fairy Tail members flinched, their heads snapping toward the source of the overwhelming sound.
"A Dragon!" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth.
"He's so incredibly huge up close!" Wendy murmured, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and instinctual Dragon Slayer reverence.
"Wait... is this Natsu's Dragon?!" Happy asked, flying up slightly to get a better look.
The Fairy Tail members couldn't help but slowly gather around the towering form of the Fire Dragon King. They looked up at his massive crimson scales and jagged horns like a group of curious, starstruck children. Many in the guild had seen Dragons during the recent Grand Magic Games incident, but they had always been fighting them in desperate, life-or-death struggles.
This was the very first time they could observe a living, breathing Dragon of this caliber in a peaceful, non-hostile setting.
"There's no need for thanks," Ren replied, looking up at the majestic beast. "After all, if you hadn't been wearing Acnologia down in close combat, I wouldn't have had the opening to land a clean hit. I might not have been able to wound him at all."
Igneel was undoubtedly a top-tier powerhouse. Ren recalled that in the original timeline, Igneel had sacrificed his own life to completely tear off one of Acnologia's arms. He was the only entity in the entire history of Earth Land to permanently maim the Black Dragon, a true testament to the Fire Dragon King's overwhelming strength.
Just then, the massive, imposing body of Igneel began to violently glow with a brilliant crimson light. The blinding magical energy swirled around him like a localized tornado of fire. To the absolute shock of everyone present, his colossal, draconic silhouette began to rapidly shrink.
When the crimson light finally faded, a tall, middle-aged man with wild, fiery crimson hair stood in the Dragon's place. The man possessed an incredibly sturdy, muscular build and was clad in simple, rugged clothing. A warm, fatherly smile graced his rugged face, radiating an overwhelmingly friendly and approachable aura.
Seeing this impossible transformation, the entire guild collectively dropped their jaws in shock.
"The... the Dragon just turned into a human!!" Gray yelled, his eyes bugging out of his head.
"I... I..." Natsu stepped forward, his whole body trembling as he stared at the familiar crimson hair and the unmistakable scent. "Igneel?!" he asked tentatively, his voice cracking with a decade's worth of pent-up emotion.
The sturdy middle-aged man placed his hands on his hips and laughed heartily, the booming sound carrying the exact same warmth it had all those years ago. "What's wrong, Natsu? You don't recognize your old man just because I changed my appearance a little?"
"How... how did you become human?!" Natsu stammered, gesturing wildly with his hands, his face a perfect picture of absolute disbelief.
"Well, aren't you all human?" Igneel replied casually, crossing his thick arms over his chest. "It's simply more convenient to communicate without accidentally crushing you or burning down the surroundings in this form."
"No... that's not what I mean!" Natsu shouted, waving his arms even faster. "How can a giant Dragon just turn into a human?!"
"Through magic, of course!" Igneel chuckled, amused by his foster son's reaction. "Almost all the high-ranking members of the Dragon Clan possess Morphing Magic to take on human forms. Otherwise, how do you think we ever managed to coexist and interact with humanity in the ancient past? Not only can the Dragon Clan turn into humans, but they can even mate with humans and produce offspring."
"That's actually possible?!"
The collective shout echoed across the ruined landscape as everyone stared at the Fire Dragon King, utterly floored by the world-shattering revelation that such a thing was even biologically possible.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me!
Want to read ahead on our official home, or unlock 50 advanced chapters (plus an Ad-Free experience) to feed your addiction? Help keep this shameless translator alive here:
(P.S. Replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
🌐 Official Website: elysianreads[.]com
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]