"Then... the game is over."
Gears loosely closed one hand and turned it clockwise.
Laxus frowned at his declaration.
"Did his Magic Power increase? No... it doesn't feel like it."
"Take a closer look at your body."
Only then did Laxus notice the gear-shaped marks that had appeared across his chest and abdomen.
A vicious smile curled across Gears's lips.
"The formula for torturing you to death is complete. The gears no longer have any need for you."
"What kind of magic circle is this?"
More importantly, Laxus had no idea when Gears had placed the marks on him.
"These gears will strip away your ability to think."
"My body's getting slower..."
Laxus suddenly felt his limbs turn unbearably heavy, as though he had become a frail old man nearing the end of his life.
An explosion erupted against his body.
Faced with Gears's attack, neither his mind nor the muscle memory he had always relied upon could react in time.
'In that case...'
Laxus tried to transform his body into lightning.
In his mind, he became a bolt of electricity and shot toward Gears.
In reality, he remained standing exactly where he was, watching an imaginary version of himself fly forward.
Laxus froze.
'I imagined myself turning into lightning, but the spell never activated?! What the hell is happening?'
"It seems you've forgotten how to use Magic."
Gears accelerated and appeared in front of Laxus, driving a heavy punch into his stomach.
Under normal circumstances, that speed would have seemed painfully slow to Laxus. Now, however, neither his mind nor his body could keep up.
Laxus caught Gears's right arm with both hands as blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"The gears governing your thoughts are falling out of alignment."
'He isn't lying. My mind can't keep up at all...'
Laxus clenched his teeth.
'Even though the enemy is right in front of me...'
'Ivan?!'
White smoke rose around Gears, and his form changed into that of Laxus's father.
'Why is Ivan here? Is this some kind of illusion?'
"So this is what you see once your gears leave their proper track?"
The imitation Ivan clenched his left fist and struck Laxus in the abdomen again.
"Your gears will soon stop turning altogether."
Laxus was sent flying.
Before he hit the ground, he bit down hard on his tongue.
The pain cleared his mind for a moment.
It was not much, but it was enough.
Laxus slowly forced himself back to his feet. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, yet a smile appeared on his face as he stared at the figure of Ivan.
"Why did he appear? Because I still feel a little guilty about him?"
"Too bad. There's some guilt, but not much."
"I think I understand your Magic now. You use guilt to disrupt a person's thoughts and bring their mental processes to a halt."
"I won't claim I've lived my whole life without ever wronging anyone. I do feel a little guilty toward him because he's my father."
"But he betrayed Fairy Tail. He betrayed his family."
"I have nothing to feel guilty about."
Ivan had founded a Dark Guild and committed no shortage of crimes.
He had also spent years trying to seize Fairy Heart, failing only because he lacked the strength to succeed.
Makarov and Gildarts had wanted to deal with him personally and throw him into prison long ago, but Ivan had always been good at hiding.
Makarov had already severed their relationship as father and son.
Laxus sliced his palm across the gear marks on his body. Crimson blood spread over them, and the symbols gradually vanished.
"To thank you for helping me let go of that guilt, I'll give you something special."
Crimson and golden lightning erupted around Laxus, while orange flames danced between the crackling currents.
"Thunder-Mercury: Crimson Imperial Lightning!"
Three colors of lightning, dominated by crimson, formed a hemispherical sphere of energy that swallowed Gears instantly.
The three currents twisted together, compressed, and fused—
then exploded.
A pillar of tricolored lightning tore into the sky and punched straight through the clouds.
Laxus looked at the ashes scattering through the air and gave a quiet laugh.
"Don't make me laugh."
"My gears turn for Fairy Tail alone. Whether they stop or not isn't for you to decide!"
...
Selene began with Moonlight Butterflies.
Moonlight and countless white butterflies gathered together, forming a vertical tornado that surged upward across Aldoron's abdomen.
When the Wood Dragon God cried out in pain again, Selene smiled excitedly.
"Another God Seed must have been defeated!"
Raizel followed her example.
After shrinking his body, he slipped beneath Aldoron.
The Grey Sword gleamed coldly as he carved a deep slash across the dragon's belly, continuing his rather brutal bloodletting treatment.
He did not linger.
Raizel immediately teleported above Aldoron when the dragon tried to sit down and crush him.
Aldoron's enormous body granted him tremendous vitality and regenerative power, but a frame larger than a mountain also made him painfully slow and cumbersome.
Even turning around was an ordeal.
Since the battle began, he had spent nearly the entire time being attacked from every direction.
Kurnugi wanted to imitate Raizel, but he did not dare.
If Aldoron dropped that enormous body on him, even he would be reduced to paste.
Instead, Kurnugi repeatedly drove his massive sword horn into Aldoron's abdomen, leaving behind countless bleeding holes.
August swept a Composite Dragon Slayer Beam across the opposite side of Aldoron's lower body, triggering a chain of explosions along his flesh.
...
Inside Aldoron's body, the God Seed suddenly froze.
"Even Gears has been defeated...?"
Only then did he realize that all five God Seeds had been reduced to one.
Himself.
All four of the others had been killed by humans. Doom had not even survived for two full minutes.
Selene, Irene, and Kurnugi were dragons, so their strength was understandable.
But Raizel and August were also inflicting tremendous damage upon him.
Even Natsu, standing before him, seemed to grow fiercer the longer the battle continued.
Aldoron stared at him in disbelief.
"Have humans truly become this powerful over the last several centuries...?"
Natsu suddenly asked,
"Are you one of those dragons who hates humans?"
Aldoron paused before answering.
"Hate? I neither hate nor like mere nourishment. Humans exist only to strengthen me."
"Nourishment?"
Natsu frowned.
"I allowed humans to build cities upon my body and live there so I could absorb their life force."
"But I no longer need them."
"With the power I have accumulated, I will devour the other Five Dragon Gods!"
"First, however, I will dispose of you—Ignia's brother!"
Natsu's scent was remarkably similar to Ignia's.
He had also revealed that the Fire Dragon King Igneel raised him and personally taught him Dragon Slayer Magic.