Chapter 707 - 707: Irene vs. Dogramag

The endless spikes created by Aldoron's Blade Forest rained down from above, blotting out the sky.

Kurnugi immediately threw his massive body over the others and used himself as a shield.

Some of the spikes slipped between the gaps in his scales and pierced directly into his flesh, sending sharp jolts of pain through him.

But at least Kurnugi had scales. Sting, Rogue, and the others beneath him did not.

No matter how much it hurt, he refused to move an inch.

Laxus had an entirely different problem.

Brandish had enlarged him with Command T, leaving his enormous body with nowhere to evade. One of Aldoron's spikes plunged directly into his chest.

"Laxus!"

Gajeel immediately moved in front of him.

After absorbing his new rare metals, Gajeel's body had become hard enough to rival even the Armor Dragon and Diamond Dragon.

"I'm fine!"

Laxus grabbed the spike embedded in his chest.

Without making a sound beyond a clenched grunt, he ripped it free with his bare hand and gripped it like a weapon.

"Enchant: Composite Dragon Slayer Beam!"

August lightly tapped his staff against the ground.

Twelve magic circles layered themselves in front of it.

A concentrated beam containing twelve different forms of Dragon Slayer Magic erupted forward and washed over Aldoron's colossal body.

The Wood Dragon God roared in pain, and the relentless rain of spikes finally stopped.

Laxus seized the opening.

"Let's see how you like it!"

He drove Aldoron's own spike into the softer flesh around the dragon's neck.

"ROOOAR!"

Aldoron let out a pained howl.

"Heh!"

Gajeel's entire body hardened into steel as he punched the protruding spike with all his strength.

The blow drove it even deeper.

"Nice one!"

"You too!"

Laxus and Gajeel bumped fists.

Kurnugi slammed headfirst into Aldoron's side.

"Would you two quit chatting?! We're in the middle of a fight!"

...

Kirin's assigned opponent was Elexion, the Lightning Dragon King resurrected by Helios.

Laxus had originally planned to handle Elexion himself, but Kirin had insisted so strongly on taking the fight that Laxus eventually gave it up.

Besides, beating on Aldoron was proving more entertaining anyway.

Kirin had loudly declared that he would deal with the Lightning Dragon King.

Reality was proving considerably less cooperative.

Elexion countered him almost perfectly.

Kirin's Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic had practically no effect on the Lightning Dragon King.

Kirin wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and frowned.

"Damn it... Do I really have to use Dragon Force?"

Ever since the fight began, he had been painfully aware of how badly he was being suppressed.

Misaki and Suzaku immediately shouted at him.

"Don't!"

As a Fifth Generation Dragon Slayer who gained his power by eating dragon flesh, Kirin could force himself into Dragon Force.

The problem was that once he did, there was no turning back.

At best, he would begin dragonifying and lose his reason.

At worst, he would die.

Elefseria, already transformed into the Law Dragon, shouted toward him.

"If the matchup is that bad, switch opponents!"

Of course, Kirin could not exactly switch with him.

Elefseria was fighting the Four Beast Dragon, which wielded four different draconic attributes.

Even Elefseria, despite his tremendous experience, was having difficulty now that he lacked his original heart.

Kirin would fare even worse.

"I can switch with you!"

Suzaku disengaged from the Sword Dragon after another clash of blades and landed beside Kirin.

"Don't force it. I'll take the Lightning Dragon King. You deal with the Sword Dragon until I finish him."

Kirin nodded.

"Fine by me!"

The two immediately exchanged opponents.

Suzaku turned toward Elexion.

Kirin faced the Sword Dragon.

...

"Sage Dragon's Roar!"

High above the battlefield, Irene unleashed a tremendous breath attack toward Dogramag's fortress-like body.

"Earth Dragon God's Rock: Wood Tiger!"

Dogramag took the roar head-on and chose to trade damage rather than defend.

The rocks surrounding him rose into the sky.

Then they came crashing down like a meteor shower.

"Enchant: Detonation."

The stones never reached Irene.

Crimson Magic Power suddenly coated every airborne rock.

Then all of them exploded.

Boom! Boom! Boom—!

A continuous series of detonations erupted around Dogramag himself.

The deafening blasts rattled his enormous skull, and he shook his head violently as he tried to clear it.

Then he noticed something else.

The temperature around him was climbing rapidly.

"Enchant: Scorching Heat!"

Irene Enchanted the surrounding air with heat, forming a gigantic sphere of fire.

It plunged toward Dogramag.

By the time he looked up, the enormous fireball was already right in front of him.

"Enchant: Impact!"

Irene was not finished.

The ground beneath Dogramag suddenly heaved upward.

A violent shockwave erupted from below and launched the Earth Dragon God's massive, wall-like body off the ground.

At the same moment, the giant fireball struck him.

BOOOOM!

The explosion engulfed Dogramag.

His pride as the Earth Dragon God finally snapped.

"Human! You will die for this!"

Manipulating stone and earth was his domain.

Yet Irene was standing right in front of him, casually reshaping the ground beneath his feet as though his authority over the earth meant nothing.

To Dogramag, it was nothing short of an insult to his very existence.

Irene sneered.

"Enchant: Ground Collapse."

Several kilometers of land centered around Dogramag suddenly fractured.

The mountain terrain split apart violently as a powerful quake tore through the region.

Dogramag's enormous body disappeared beneath an avalanche of rock and earth.

Irene clearly had an instinctive talent for finding exactly which buttons to press.

Two gigantic claws burst from the rubble.

A moment later, Dogramag's dragon head emerged as well.

His eyes were bloodshot with fury.

"HUMAN! YOU WILL DIE!!!"

Irene watched him calmly.

'He really is easy to provoke.'

"Enchant: Heat-Light Impact."

While Dogramag was still roaring, Irene launched her next attack.

A gigantic sphere of light formed near the ground and instantly enveloped the Earth Dragon God.

BOOOOM!

A huge mushroom-shaped cloud rose into the sky.

...

Selene, meanwhile, had gained the upper hand against the resurrected Viernes.

The Gold Dragon God once again used his alchemy to create "dolls."

Gennai.

Sai.

Kotetsu.

Athena II.

One after another, his constructs returned.

The Signario Sisters, Lucy, and Athena immediately found themselves facing familiar opponents all over again.

Selene looked at Viernes's weakened state and sighed.

"What a shame. Fighting you at your peak would have been far more interesting."

Then she reconsidered.

"Actually, no. This is better."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Any dragon who threatens the peaceful human life I've chosen deserves to die."

Viernes roared furiously at her.

"DISGRACE TO DRAGONKIND!!!"

Selene felt absolutely nothing.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm human."

Her tone remained perfectly composed.

"And human is all I intend to be."

A full moon appeared behind her dragon form.

"Moonlight Flame!"

Selene opened her jaws.

A massive platinum-white beam blasted directly into Viernes's metallic body.

Viernes might no longer possess his peak strength, but his absurd durability had not diminished nearly as much.

He endured the Moonlight Flame head-on, and the attack left little more than blackened scorch marks across his metal body.

Viernes shook himself violently.

Then his wings spread.

He launched himself toward Selene in midair.