Chapter 713 - 713: The End of the Age of Dragons

With Ultear, Erza, and the others arriving to reinforce them, Kirin and Misaki had also finished off the Lightning Dragon King, Sword Dragon, Blade Dragon, and the other dragons Helios had resurrected before returning to the main gathering point.

Laxus, Natsu, and Mercphobia's battle against Ignia had yet to reach a conclusion, but the earthshaking roar from high above still drew everyone's attention.

Lucy stared into the sky in disbelief.

"What kind of battle even is that? We're this far away and I can still feel it in my bones..."

Selene had noticed it as well.

She raised an eyebrow.

"An attack launched from beyond the atmosphere? Interesting."

Pendragon's Glory tore through the clouds, scattering the mist in its path as it descended with a terrifying shockwave.

The multicolored beam struck Helios without the slightest restraint.

It engulfed the Sun Dragon God and drove him out of the sky, carrying him downward until both beam and dragon crashed into a volcano.

BOOOOOOM!

The impact resembled a nuclear detonation.

Magma and shockwaves exploded outward, molten rock surging hundreds of meters into the air.

Some of the lava splashed across Ignia's body.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

"That was... Helios?!"

For a brief instant, he had caught sight of Helios's silhouette inside the descending beam.

Ignia's expression shifted to disbelief.

"Helios... is dead?"

He could no longer sense the Sun Dragon God's presence at all.

A crimson figure trailing flames like a meteor descended from the upper atmosphere.

Only when he approached the mountains did Raizel spread Examon X's wings and gradually slow his descent, eventually landing on a mountaintop.

He looked down into the volcanic magma.

Only a few fragments of Helios remained.

"Looks like he really is dead."

Helios left no final words.

Even those scattered remnants of his body were quickly swallowed by the lava.

Natsu immediately brightened when he saw Raizel.

"Raizel!"

Raizel looked toward the battle below.

"Need help?"

"No!"

Natsu rejected the offer without hesitation.

"We've got this!"

Mercphobia roared as blue particles wrapped around his entire body.

"Exactly what I wanted to hear!"

He accelerated like a blue blade.

Ignia stared directly at Natsu, the flames of battle burning in his eyes.

"Now that is a son of Igneel!"

With a thunderous roar, Ignia charged straight toward Natsu and Mercphobia.

Natsu raised both hands above his head.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art—Crimson Flame Dragon King's Sword!"

The flames covering his body surged upward and condensed into a gigantic crimson blade.

Ignia did not evade.

Before him came Mercphobia, his serpentine body transformed into a blue spear, and above him descended a colossal crimson sword large enough to blot out the sky.

Ignia met both head-on.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The Vidolon Mountains suffered yet another catastrophic collision.

Entire rows of peaks collapsed under the impact.

The already overloaded volcanic range began erupting one after another, spraying magma high into the air.

Raizel had already grabbed Laxus and gotten well clear of the blast.

From high above, he watched as Mercphobia burst from the magma and smoke first, his body wrapped in seawater.

Natsu was still standing on his back.

Deep within the rolling black smoke, Ignia lay half-submerged in lava.

A massive hole had been torn through his chest.

He somehow managed one final, faint grin.

"So... Igneel was right after all..."

Those were Ignia's last words.

His eyes closed.

Then his body slowly began to dissolve.

Remembering the enormous crimson sword and Raizel's usual comments about Natsu, Selene smiled.

"Just like Raizel said. Put him against an enemy outside the guild and suddenly he hits like a monster."

Examon X hovered high above the mountains.

Raizel's voice thundered across the battlefield.

"Everyone! The battle against the Five Dragon Gods is over!"

"We won!"

"OOOOOOH!!!"

Cheers erupted throughout the gathering point.

Shouts and cries echoed through the mountains as everyone finally released the fear, excitement, relief, and exhaustion they had been holding back.

Elefseria's eyes filled with tears.

More than a hundred years.

He had waited more than a century for this day.

Karameel could not hold back her own tears either. She had spent the entire battle terrified for Mercphobia's safety.

When Raizel landed and released his Take Over, Ultear and Mira immediately approached him.

"You okay?"

Raizel calmly nodded.

"I'm fine."

Erza frowned at him.

"You could have brought the fight lower. Then we could have helped."

Raizel placed one large hand on top of her head.

"I know. But keeping all of you safe mattered more."

Helios, after all, did not share Acnologia's obsession with specifically hunting Dragon Slayers.

Mercphobia was slower than Raizel, especially while carrying Natsu, but he soon returned as well.

"Natsu! You're okay!"

Happy immediately launched himself into Natsu's arms.

"I'm fine!"

Natsu showed his teeth in a grin and gave him a thumbs-up.

Of everyone present, Selene looked the most delighted.

She raised her voice dramatically.

"Then I hereby declare that from this day forward—the Age of Dragons is over!"

"..."

Mercphobia and Kurnugi wisely said nothing.

Makarov raised a fist.

"How about we start with something more important..."

Everyone looked toward him.

"A feast!"

...

The celebrating belonged to them.

Cleaning up the battlefield did not.

After the war against the Five Dragon Gods, the Vidolon Mountains were almost unrecognizable.

Raizel stood to one side with a portable communication lacrima, speaking with the chairman of Guiltina's Magic Council, MNP.

The chairman shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. We'll handle the damage to the Vidolon Mountains. This was a war against the Five Dragon Gods. Destruction was unavoidable."

More importantly, much of the later devastation had effectively become a volcanic disaster.

MNP had already mobilized personnel for emergency relief, and Magic and Alchemy guilds throughout northern Guiltina were joining the effort as well.

Once the call ended, Raizel turned toward Elefseria, whose face was still glowing with happiness.

"So I guess this officially completes the Hundred Years Quest?"

Elefseria nodded.

"Of course."

Natsu immediately ran over and thrust both hands toward the Law Dragon.

"Then where's our reward?!"

Elefseria's expression suddenly became awkward.

"The reward..."

He hesitated.

"I'm afraid I may no longer be able to provide it."

Natsu and Happy froze.

Lucy looked even more devastated than either of them.

"WHAT?! Then what were we doing the Hundred Years Quest for?!"

The reward Elefseria had originally promised for completing the Hundred Years Quest was extraordinary: Anything in the world they desired.

Seeing Elefseria struggling to explain himself, Athena stepped forward.

"Allow me."

"Elefseria-sama truly was capable of granting the promised reward before. However, during the events in the Dogramag Labyrinth, he lost his heart."

"And with it, he lost most of the ability that could be described as his omniscience and omnipotence."

Elefseria had retained that power before because his original dragon heart had still existed.

After the heart was destroyed, that extraordinary ability had been drastically weakened.

At this point, what remained was perhaps comparable to Raizel's Archive Magic.

Possibly even less.

Raizel glanced toward Ultear and Mira.

When both women nodded, he turned back to Elefseria.

"Then forget it."

"We can consider this the consequence of failing to recover your heart in the Dogramag Labyrinth. You don't owe us a reward."

Elefseria looked deeply embarrassed.

"I'm sorry..."

Ultear shook her head.

"We weren't doing the Hundred Years Quest for the reward in the first place."

Erza looked toward Irene, who was currently laughing and talking with Selene.

A small smile appeared on her face.

"I already received a much better reward."