Acnologia; Part 1

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Seas.

December 16, x784.

While the Fairy Tail wizards were preparing for their trip back to Fiore's mainland, a large, black dragon with white, feathered wings, Acnologia, was flying towards Tenrou island. However, less than five minutes away from his destination, he noticed that he had entered a dome of thinly spread out magic power. Thinking this odd, any doubts Acnologia had about the purpose of this thin veil of magic power were put to rest when he heard a loud shout from the distance.

"Wizards of Fairy Tail! Massive magic power signature inbound. Bigger than anything I've ever felt. And it doesn't feel friendly." Echoed from the direction of Acnologia's destination with clear signs of fear and agitation.

Recognizing the emotions behind the shout, Acnologia's eyes glinted with both amusement and the desire to destroy. However, instead of speeding up, he slowed down in an attempt to bring another level of fear to his prey.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, the Magic Council's fleet also heard Alfonzo's shout, despite the fact that they had backed off quite far on Gran Doma's orders.

"I believe that was Alfonzo Marcus, just now." Lahar said while shifting his binoculars from Tenrou Island to the horizon. "Does that mean he already found out about Acnologia's approach?"

"I want to say no." Doranbolt replied. "But the evidence proves that he has. The question is... How?"

"Perhaps a magic item of some sort?" Lahar asked, sounding unsure of his guess.

"We'll just have to report it to the Magic Council." Doranbolt replied. "More than likely, they will request the method from him afterwards. And I doubt he'll be able to refuse sharing it with them."

Hearing that, Lahar only glanced at Doranbolt from the corner of his eye without responding. A moment later, he returned to looking in the direction where Acnologia should be approaching from, according to the reports.

A few minutes later, both Lahar and Doranbolt widened their eyes when they caught sight of Acnologia's silhouette through their binoculars.

"I can't even feel its magic power from here, yet I'm shaking..." Doranbolt said in a trembling voice.

"Those are your instincts telling you to run... far away..." lahar replied. At this point, I'm feeling the same way. And All I can do is hope that monster doesn't turn its sights to the fleet. Because honestly, there's no way we could run from it if it did." 

In response, Doranbolt could only nod weakly while continuing to watch the situation unfold.

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.

Around the same time, the wizards of Fairy Tail had all gathered at the clearing used as the base camp. Meanwhile, all the wizards present were looking in the direction from where Acnologia was approaching.

While most of the wizards had detected Acnologia with [Magic Power Detection], there were a few exceptions. First, Happy and Carla, who did not have enough magic power to stretch their [Magic Power Detection] that far. Second were Natsu and Panther Lily. While Natsu simply did not have the patience to learn [Magic Power Detection], Panther Lily had not grasped it well enough in the short time he had been a member of Fairy Tail. And lastly, there was Gildarts. Although Gildarts had excellent control of his magic power, the properties of his magic, [Crash Magic], made it quite dangerous for him to use [Magic Power Detection], as spreading his magic power ran the risk of breaking everything it covered down into cubes.

"What in the world is that?" Makarov asked, trembling at the magnitude of the being he felt approaching.

"It's a black dragon." Alfonzo replied while watching the sky with a pair of binoculars.

"A dragon?" Natsu asked excitedly. "I wonder if it knows where Igneel is."

"From that malicious aura it's giving off, I doubt it would tell you even if it did, Kid." Ur replied.

"Still, I gotta ask." Natsu said in a determined tone.

"Um... If there's such a malicious dragon coming here, why aren't we running away?" Lucy asked in an apprehensive tone.

"Because we wouldn't be able to." Elicia replied while wrapping her arms around the trembling Celestial Spirit wizard. "Even if Fonzie's ship is the fastest in the world, it can't' outrun a flying dragon."

"Hey, Alfonzo, let me see those binoculars." Gildarts said, holding his hand out towards Alfonzo. Then after receiving the binoculars, he raised them to his eyes, before continuing to speak a moment later. "I knew it would be that big bastard."

"What are you talking about, Gildarts?" Ur asked with her eyes narrowed.

"Remember when I said that a black dragon took my arm and leg while I was on my way back home after failing the 100-Years Quest?" Gildarts asked, handing the binoculars back to Alfonzo as he did so. "Well, that's the one who did it."

"Then, you mean?" Makarov asked, his expression hardening as he did so.

"We're fucked." Gildarts said bluntly.

In response, the group's morale plummeted immediately.

*Smack!*

"What the hell, Kid?" Gildarts complained after Alfonzo smacked him upside the head.

"Stop bringing down the mood." Alfonzo said sternly. Then, he looked at the rest of his guild mates. "And can y'all cut that shit out? Even if the chances of us surviving this are small, they aren't zero. Remember, Gildarts survived facing that thing alone. So, if we fight together, we'll be fine. Even if a bit banged up at the end."

*Smack!*

"Alfonzo is right." Ur said after also smacking Gildarts upside the head.

"Seriously, what the hell?" Gildarts complained.

"We are Fairy Tail!" Ur roared. "We don't give up! And if anything threatens our guild and gild mates, we work together to make them regret it!"

Alfonzo and Ur's rallying cries succeeded in raising the morale of all those gathered. Meanwhile, Makarov, although his mood was not the best after Hades' death, could not help but feel proud after seeing the younger generation of his guild. Then, he put on a resolute expression. Before he could open his mouth to speak his mind, however, he was interrupted.

"Sorry, gramps, that's not gonna happen.' Alfonzo and Elicia said in unison.

"Huh?" Makarov exclaimed while his expression changed from one willed with resolution to one of confusion.

"We're not gonna run away for you to hold back the dragon." Elicia said. "I mean, that would just be silly."

"Especially when we know who that dragon is." Alfonzo added. "Acnologia, the Dragon King of the Apocalypse. The Dragon that kills dragons and Dragon Slayers."

"Meaning, if we run, he'll only chase us down." Elicia continued. "So, it's better if we join forces from the beginning, right?"

With that, Elicia looked back to the rest of her guild mates, especially the four Dragon Slayers.

"Damn right." Laxus said, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he glared at Makarov. "I'm not leaving my grandpa behind."

"Wherever Laxus goes, I will follow." Fried said enthusiastically.

Though not as enthusiastic as Laxus, Bickslow and Evergreen nodded in agreement.

"I-I'll do my best to help." Wendy said softly yet resolutely.

"*Sigh* I guess I'll stay to." Carla added. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble, Wendy."

"This is the first time I'll ever get to fight a dragon." Gajeel said with a grin. "This should be fun."

"*Sigh* I swear." Levy said in an exasperated tone. "All you ever think about is fighting. Though I probably won't' be much help, I can at least make iron for you when you run out of magic power."

"If my partner is gonna stay and fight, then so am I." Panther Lily said, taking on his Battle Form as he did so.

"Oh yeah! I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted as he was engulfed in his magical flames. "Even if that black dragon, or whatever his name is, won't tell me where Igneel is, I'll just have to beat the answer out of him!"

"Aye!" Happy added energetically.

Not only the Dragon Slayers and their friends were enthusiastic about defending their guild from the approaching danger, either. The others were just as enthused. Unfortunately, before they could voice their support, Acnologia reached the island.

Surprisingly, Acnologia did not roar to announce his presence. Instead, while flapping his wings to remain airborne, he simply observed all the insects looking up at him from the ground. And while his gaze lingered on Alfonzo a moment longer than most, due to his [Magic Power Detection] being the first that he noticed on his approach, his gaze ultimately settled on Laxus, Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted as he took a step forward. "Do you know where Igneel is? If so, tell me, right now!"

"Well, I saw that coming." Gray said in an exasperated tone.

Meanwhile, Acnologia simply glared at Natsu without responding in the slightest. Then, just as Natsu was about to ask his question again, Acnologia opened his mouth and exhaled a breath attack at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

"[fire Dragon's Roar]." Natsu chanted as he frantically tried to counter the incoming [Dragon's roar].

A moment later, Natsu and Acnologia's breath attacks collided in the sky. Unfortunately, Natsu's flames were easily pushed back immediately after the collision.

"[Lightning Dragon's Roar]."

"[Iron Dragon's Roar]."

"[Sky Dragon's Roar]."

Immediately after seeing Natsu's breath attack being pushed back, Laxus, Gajeel, and Wendy each launched their own [Dragon roar] to support Natsu's. Eventually, with the power of all four Dragon Slayers, Acnologia's breath attack was cancelled out.

"Well, that sucks." Alfonzo said after witnessing the confrontation. "It took all four of them to break even. And that big son of a bitch wasn't even trying."

"Yeah..." Elicia muttered. "This is gonna be really hard."

"If we're gonna have any kind of chance at surviving this, we need to get him on the ground." Ur said.

"And how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Gildarts asked.

"Why don't you let us give it a try." Alfonzo said with Elicia's left hand in his right.

"Just what do you think the two of you can do?' Gildarts asked. "That big bastard just shrugged off my [Crash Magic] like it was nothing."

"We won't' know unless we try, right?" Elicia asked with a smile.

Then paying no more attention to Gildarts, Alfonzo and Elicia stepped forward hand-in-hand. As they did, their magic power swelled and began to resonate.

Surprisingly, after Acnologia launched his breath attack, he simply continued to observe the wizards below. Of course, he was not in a hurry to deal with his prey, either. Especially since no one down on the ground was strong enough to endanger his life. However, when Alfonzo and Elicia's magic power began to rise and fuse together, he looked at them with a bit more interest.

Then, when Alfonzo and Elicia's magic power was perfectly in tune, they each raised a hand towards Acnologia, Alfonzo's left and Elicia's right.

"[Unison Raid: Razor Wire Rhapsody]." Alfonzo and Elicia chanted in unison.

In the next instant, magi-steel threads grew from both Alfonzo and Elicia's fingertips. Then, at speeds faster than most could follow, they shot towards Acnologia. Acnologia, on the other hand, simply watched on, even after the threads wrapped around his limbs, the base of his wings, and tail.

"Now!" Alfonzo and Elicia shouted in unison as they both pulled the hands connected to the threads back with all their might.

Unfortunately, despite the power they used when pulling the steel threads, Acnologia took very little damage. While sparks were produced from the threads rubbing against the black dragon's scales, the scales were completely undamaged. And even though a bit of blood was drawn from the feathered wings, it was obvious that Acnologia would have no issue flying.

"Well, it was a good try." Makarov said.

"We're not done yet." Elicia said as she detached the threads from her right hand's fingertips.

At the same time, she released Alfonzo's right hand and handed him the threads in hers. Then, once the wires were in his hand, Alfonzo raised his magic output to its limit and flowed the strongest electric current he could muster through the wires.

*Roar!*

To everyone's surprise, Acnologia roared in pain only a moment later. Then, his wings, which were still flapping relaxedly despite having magi-steel wires wrapped around their bases, ceased up. As a result, the giant black dragon plummeted out of the sky.

*Boom!*

With Acnologia's fall, the entirety of Tenrou Island shook as a giant, mushroom-shaped, dust cloud was kicked up.

"Holy shit, they actually did it." Gildarts muttered in disbelief.

"*Pant* Teamwork *Pant* makes the *Pant* Dream work, baby." Alfonzo said, exhausted from the instantaneous exertion. "Damn, using that much magic power in such a short time is a real bitch."

"We can discuss that later." Makarov said as he began growing with the use of his [Giant Magic]. For now, we have to drive away this beast before he can harm our family!"

By the time Makarov finished growing and speaking, the dust cloud was dispersed by a casual swipe of Acnologia's tail. And although it was clear he was not taking the group of wizards seriously, he did look quite annoyed. On top of that, he was glaring at Alfonzo and Elicia.

"I think we made him mad." Elicia said as she began spreading her threads all over the area.

"I'd be pissed off, too, if someone made me fall from the sky." Alfonzo replied. "Either way, that trick isn't gonna work a second time. So, we'll have to do this the old fashioned way. At least until he gets bored and either leaves or nukes the shit out of the island."

"Although I don't know what 'nuke' means, I get what you're trying to say." Ur said while making her casting gesture. "Let's just hope he leaves once he gets bored. Because if he decides he doesn't like the landscape, there's nothing we can do about it."

With that, the real battle between fairy Tail and Acnologia would begin at any moment.