Fairy Tail: Collapsing Stars

Chapter 458: Acnologia Finally Descends

”Clap…”

Lucy sat inside her rented apartment. Suddenly, she took off the headphones that were playing music. She raised her head and looked out the sunlit window, falling into deep thought.

”I wonder how Natsu and the others are training?!”

”Sigh…”

”I still donʼt even know who my teammate is! How exactly am I supposed to take the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial one week from now?”

Lucy kept sighing. Whenever she thought about the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial of the Fairy Tail Guild that would be held one week later, she felt an intense headache.

”Forget it, forget it, I wonʼt think about it!”

”Iʼll go sleep for a while!”

As Lucy said this, she put down the pen in her hand, came to her bedroom, lifted the bedding, and crawled inside.

”Huh?!”

”Strange, why does this bedding feel a little stiff? It feels like itʼs brand new…”

Lucy lay on the bed, feeling that her bedding was somewhat hard, and fell into deep thought.

”Could the landlady have washed my bedding again for me?!”

As Lucy thought this, her eyes lit up.

”Forget it, I wonʼt think about it. Time to sleep, time to sleep…”

After thinking for a while, Lucy still couldnʼt come up with an answer, so she lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

On the other side…

Natsu and the others, whom Lucy couldnʼt stop thinking about…

”Boom!!”

Accompanied by a sky full of desert, the Fairy Tail Guildʼs S-Class Mage candidates who had already been knocked unconscious were directly blasted into the sky. Along with these helpless Mages, the fully armed Mystogan was also blasted away…

”How about this move?!”

ʼDesert Kingʼ Ajeel looked at Mystogan, who had been blasted into the sky by him, revealing a sinister grin.

”Sevenfold Magic Array! Void!”

Mystogan floated in the sky. He quickly used his anti-gravity bracelets to balance his body, and then directly manipulated the staffs he had already arranged around Ajeel, releasing his signature magic.

”Hm?!”

Ajeel looked at the seven magic staffs that had fallen beside him at some unknown point, slightly raising his eyebrows. At the same time, he summoned an endless desert, protecting himself on all sides.

”Bring it on!”

Ajeel shouted loudly, no longer afraid in the slightest.

”Buzz!”

At the exact moment Ajeel used sand to wrap himself into a sphere, Mystoganʼs magic directly landed on Ajeel. The sevenfold magic arrays immediately overlapped like a pagoda!

The next second, even space was compressed! Within this space compressed by Mystogan, everything that existed would be reduced to a particle state!

”Boom!!”

Immediately afterward, accompanied by a roar, Mystoganʼs magic completely landed on Ajeel.

Countless grains of dust immediately flew up, scattering throughout the sky. Ajeel, who had been chosen as Mystoganʼs target, had already disappeared, as if he had completely turned into sand and ceased to exist in this world.

”Dead?!”

Mystogan looked at the scene before him and raised an eyebrow. He knew that he had used too much force.

”No, thatʼs not right…”

Just as Mystogan thought Ajeel had died, a flash of red light suddenly appeared in his eyes hidden beneath his hood. The next second, as if he had sensed something, Mystogan shook his head.

”A magic of that level, how could it possibly kill me?!”

”Itʼs practically powerless! Did you not eat breakfast this morning?”

At the exact moment Mystogan finished speaking, a pitch-black shadow appeared behind him. The dust that had been thrown into the sky was being orderly manipulated by an invisible force, reassembling its body behind Mystogan…

Yes, at the instant Mystoganʼs ʼVoid,ʼ which in terms of destructive power alone was comparable to a Super Upper-Tier Destruction Magic and was not inferior even to the ʼCrushʼ Magic Gildarts usually used, descended, Ajeel immediately sensed a feeling of danger!

Therefore, Ajeel, whose battle intelligence was extremely high, directly transformed his body into endless sand and continuously multiplied it, directly breaking through the collapsing space beneath Mystoganʼs magic!

Yes, it was not Mystoganʼs magic that destroyed Ajeel, but Ajeel who destroyed Mystoganʼs magic!

”Elementalization?!”

Mystogan stared at Ajeel, who had hidden behind him, his brows tightly furrowed.

In the world of Fairy Tail, although elementalization magic was rare, it was not nonexistent. For example, Juvia could transform her body into water, Gajeel could turn his body into iron, while Ajeel could transform his body into dust…

”Quite troublesome!”

Taking advantage of the fact that Ajeel had not completely restored his body, Mystogan immediately used anti-gravity magic to adjust his position. At the same time, his staff immediately became covered in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki.

Although Mystogan could not cultivate magic because he had no magic power within his body, he could instead focus more wholeheartedly on cultivating the Haki inherited from Evan! In terms of Armament Haki and Observation Haki, Mystogan could be said to stand at the very top of the entire Fairy Tail Guild.

”Hm?”

Ajeel looked at the Mystogan who had turned around, his brows tightly furrowed. During his battle with Mystogan, he also felt unprecedented pressure.

”Buzz!”

Just as Ajeel was thinking, the staff wrapped in Haki in Mystoganʼs hand had already descended heavily from the sky, like knocking a walnut, smashing into his head.

”Holy crap…”

”A staff can be used like this?”

”Youʼre using such a good staff for close combat? Arenʼt you letting down such expensive wood and magic crystals?”

Ajeel roared at Mystogan.

”How could a staff be such an inconvenient object?!”

Mystogan held the staff in his hand, directly beating Ajeel toward the ground as he spoke coldly.

”Boom!”

Under Mystoganʼs Armament Haki, Ajeelʼs elementalization was directly broken. He heavily crashed onto the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

”Hiss…”

Ajeel felt the sweetness inside his mouth and frowned unhappily.

”Mystoganʼs Armament Haki has already reached this level?”

Ajeel had naturally been given an Armament Haki seed by Evan during the previous guild-wide battle. However, after several months had passed, his Armament Haki had only risen from LV1 to LV2, which was practically useless.

”Fivefold Magic Array! Mikagura…”

Mystogan floated in midair using his anti-gravity device while waving his hand and manipulating the five staffs he had already arranged around Ajeel, activating his magic.

”Damn!”

Only after sensing the fluctuation of magic power did Ajeel discover that there were actually five staffs around him.

In other words, Mystogan had not casually knocked him down from the sky. Mystogan had deliberately knocked him down from the sky after accurately determining the position…

Everything was Mystoganʼs tactic!

”Thatʼs seriously devious!”

Facing this close-combat Mage who played tactics, Ajeel cursed angrily, and with a wave of his hand, dust flew everywhere.

Immediately, he changed the positions of the five staffs on the ground…

”Clap~”

As the positions of the staffs changed, Mystoganʼs Mikagura naturally stopped activating.

”Rumble…”

However, this was only part of Mystoganʼs plan.

At the moment Ajeel was pushing the staffs on the ground, the sky suddenly became covered in dark clouds. The next second, huge raindrops fell sparsely from the sky, striking Ajeelʼs cheeks.

”This is?!”

Ajeel looked at the gloomy sky, his eyes widening.

”What the hell?”

At this moment, Ajeelʼs mentality was practically shattered. Sand, this stuff, would clump together and become mud as soon as it touched water, making it impossible to control. What left Ajeel speechless was, how could it possibly be such a coincidence that he encountered a sudden rainstorm?!

Of course, if Ajeel were at his peak, he could simply use a large-scale sandstorm to blow away the dark clouds in the sky…

The problem was, he didnʼt have that much magic power in his body right now! One had to know that before he began fighting Mystogan, he had just finished fighting that monster, ʼWinter Generalʼ Invel Yura!

”Rumble…”

The dark clouds in the sky would not stop because Ajeelʼs mentality had collapsed, and the raindrops would not decrease by a single drop because of Ajeelʼs complaints. Very quickly, before Ajeel could dodge, the raindrops in the sky had already changed from drizzling to a ʼpatteringʼ torrential downpour…

The density of the raindrops was like water being poured from a bucket, fine and dense!

”Damn!”

Under the endless raindrops, Ajeelʼs Desert Garment quickly turned into mud, crumbled apart, and fell onto the ground.

”I have to run!”

Ajeelʼs brows furrowed tightly. He knew that he had to find somewhere to shelter from the rain.

”Boom!”

However, just as Ajeel was preparing to retreat, lightning suddenly descended from the sky, heavily striking a staff nearby.

”Lightning rod?!”

Ajeel stared at the scene before him, his eyes widening. At the same time, he finally understood everything.

”Mystogan, you calculated against me again!”

”Boom!!”

Countless bolts of lightning landed on the seven staffs Mystogan had thrown onto the ground, then converged toward Ajeel at the center of the staffs. Because his Desert Garment had been washed away by the rain, and because the excessive rain made it impossible for him to summon a sandstorm, Ajeel, who already had almost half of his magic power and stamina depleted, took this lightning strike head-on!

”Pant, pant…”

A moment later, Ajeelʼs entire body emitted green smoke as he collapsed to the ground, completely losing consciousness.

”Rumble…”

At the exact moment Ajeel collapsed onto the ground, the dark clouds in the sky gradually receded. The raindrops became fewer and fewer, eventually disappearing completely with a light drizzle.

”Phew~”

Mystogan removed the equipment on his body that had already exhausted its magic power, changed into a slightly drier hood, and then stood in front of the unconscious Ajeel.

”If you still hadnʼt fainted, I would have had to use that final piece of equipment!”

Mystogan sighed. One had to admit that Ajeel was truly powerful. He had already used almost every piece of equipment on his body, yet even so, he had only managed to knock Ajeel unconscious.

Even if Ajeel still hadnʼt been defeated after this, Mystogan would have only had one final move left: summoning the Super Dragon Knight…

”Itʼs over now!”

As Mystogan spoke, he took out Magic-Sealing Stone handcuffs and walked toward Ajeel.

”Hm?”

Just as Mystogan approached Ajeel with the handcuffs, his expression suddenly changed, and he intended to retreat.

”Too late! Taste what the heavenly lightning you summoned yourself feels like!”

Ajeel, who had originally been lying on the ground, suddenly stood up and then released endless lightning toward Mystogan.

At the moment the lightning attacked him, Ajeel had actually used his final bit of magic power to transform his body into a battery, storing all the lightning that had attacked him inside his body until releasing it at the very last moment.

”Boom!!”

Accompanied by lightning filling the sky, no matter how fast Mystoganʼs reaction speed was, it was meaningless before this lightning…

Almost in an instant, Mystoganʼs body suffered the same damage as Ajeel!

”Beautiful!”

Mystogan placed one hand on the Dragon Knight on his chest, but in the end, he still did not summon it.

”Rumble!!”

Accompanied by flashes of lightning, Ajeel and Mystogan both collapsed onto the ground, losing consciousness.

”The battle over there is finished?!”

The endless rumbling naturally attracted Wahl Icht and Larcadeʼs attention.

”Ajeel took such heavy injuries and was still able to trade himself for Mystogan. Heʼs really impressive!”

Wahl Ichtʼs eyes immediately analyzed the situation in the distance. Looking at the two people lying on the ground, he revealed a smile.

”Not bad…”

Likewise, Larcade naturally knew what had happened nearby. He still had his hands clasped together, like an old monk.

”Then we should also end the battle!”

”Larcade, you know that your magic is completely ineffective against me. Iʼm part of the mechanical group. I have neither sexual desire nor fatigue! My body is made entirely of steel. You could say that I am your greatest natural enemy…”

Wahl Icht looked at Larcade and spoke with a smile.

”Natural enemy?”

Larcade remained noncommittal. His three abilities, Pleasure, Hunger, and Sleepiness, were all unable to affect Wahl Icht. Even his Implantation abilityʼs effectiveness against a non-human lifeform like Wahl Icht was uncertain…

”Then Iʼll just give you this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial victory~”

Larcade clasped his hands together and smiled gently at Wahl Icht.

”Hm?”

Larcadeʼs words caused Wahl to freeze for a moment.

”You donʼt plan to keep fighting?”

Wahl looked at Larcade and asked.

”Hehe, I never wanted to fight you in the first place, so how could there be any question of continuing?”

After hearing Wahlʼs words, Larcade merely smiled lightly.

It seemed that he truly had no intention of continuing to fight Wahl.

”You donʼt want to become an S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild?”

Wahl Ichtʼs brain rapidly operated as he asked Larcade.

”No…”

”In my opinion, as long as I can stay in the Fairy Tail Guild and remain by my father, His Majesty Jellalʼs side, that is enough…”

Larcade shook his head. He truly had no intention of winning this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial.

For someone with a long lifespan like him, whether it was one year earlier or one year later did not matter…

Moreover, this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial was simply not prepared for them!

”Hm?!”

After hearing Larcadeʼs words, Wahl Ichtʼs brain continued analyzing. He was considering how much credibility Larcadeʼs words had.

”Donʼt keep agonizing over it!”

”Rest assured! I wonʼt compete with you, at least not this year!”

”Because if Iʼm not mistaken, this yearʼs S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild was prepared for some extraordinary person…”

”So, seeing as you and I were both former Spriggan 12 of the Alvarez Empire and are now members of the Fairy Tail Guild, Iʼll advise you: why donʼt you give up this year as well?”

Larcade clasped his hands together and looked at Wahl Icht with a smile.

Did he really think that Larcade spending several years as Moon Dragon God Seleneʼs male consort had been for nothing?!

Larcade had heard many extraordinary secrets…

Precisely because he knew a little more than everyone else, his desire to fight had been weaker than the others from the very beginning.

”Hehe, the one who ultimately makes the choice is you. No matter what you choose in the end, it has nothing to do with me. I merely gave you a little reminder because you and I used to be companions. If you donʼt want to listen, then I wonʼt say anything more. Good luck…”

As Larcade spoke, he turned his back to Wahl Icht and walked toward the Fairy Tail Guild.

”Theoretically?!”

After thinking for a long while, Wahl Icht still could not figure out what Larcadeʼs words meant.

After all, right now he was already the only candidate still standing in the Fairy Tail Guildʼs X784 S-Class Mage Promotion Trial. Under these circumstances, could he still not obtain this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial victory and become an honorable S-Class Mage?!

”Theoretically?!”

When Larcade heard Wahl Ichtʼs words, he stopped and stood where he was.

”Wahl Icht, do you still remember?”

”There are a total of 26 people in this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial of the Fairy Tail Guild~”

”Donʼt forget, Lucy still has a mysterious teammate who hasnʼt come to Magnolia Town yet~”

Larcade had said too much. He turned around and looked at Wahl Icht, reminding him.

”A mysterious teammate?”

”Right, this yearʼs trial is two people in a group, and Lucy only has one person. That guy called Leo is merely a Celestial Spirit summoned by Lucy. Lucy still has another teammate who hasnʼt appeared!”

After hearing Larcadeʼs words, Wahl Icht suddenly understood. Only now did he comprehend what Larcade had meant all along.

”Is that teammate of Lucyʼs very strong?”

Wahl Icht looked at Larcade and asked tentatively.

”If Iʼm not mistaken, very strong!”

Larcade thought for a moment before looking at Wahl Icht and nodding.

”Uh…” Wahl Icht frowned, then continued asking, ”How strong? How does he compare to us?!”

”Overwhelmingly powerful!”

”Perhaps even we, in his eyes, are no different from ordinary people, right?”

Larcade still had his hands clasped together. He thought of that pitch-black figure in his memories and helplessly shook his head.

Even these demons created by Zeref still had absolutely no way to oppose those pitch-black wings!

”His name is…”

Wahl Ichtʼs expression changed. In this world, the existences stronger than even the Spriggan 12 all had names, so in Wahl Ichtʼs opinion, he must have heard of the name of the teammate of Lucy that Larcade was talking about.

”Hehe, his name is…”

Larcade suddenly smiled. While smiling, he raised his head and looked toward the sky.

At the same time, in the sky, a pitch-black shadow was tearing through the air, rapidly heading toward Magnolia Town!

”Acnologia!!”

Larcade seemed to have sensed something, and thus, with incomparable delight, he spoke the name he had once heard.

”Boom!”

At the exact moment Larcade finished speaking, accompanied by a sound of something breaking through the air, countless clouds were instantly torn apart. A pitch-black giant beast descended from the sky like this, rapidly approaching Magnolia Town!

”Roar!!”

Immediately afterward came endless dragon roars. The ʼWorld-Destroyingʼ Black Dragon King had finally descended!

”This is?!”

Wahl Icht raised his head and looked at the pitch-black giant beast descending from the sky, his eyes widening as countless beads of cold sweat continuously slid down his forehead.

”Yes, this is His Majesty Zerefʼs enemy, the Black Dragon King from the ”Apocalypse”, who possesses enough power to destroy humanity!”

Larcade put his hands behind his back and spoke with a smile as he looked at the Black Dragon descending from the sky.

”Breath~”

”Whoosh!!”

Acnologiaʼs dragon eyes swept across Magnolia Town. Looking at the empty town before him, he was somewhat puzzled. He seemed not to understand where all the residents of the town had gone…

However, Acnologia only thought about it briefly before giving up.

After all, his purpose was not to cause trouble for the townʼs residents, but to find Dragon Magic!

Acnologia could sense that those annoying Dragons were hiding in the town before him. Therefore, Acnologia suddenly inhaled a breath of cold air, then blew it out from his mouth…

”Boom!!!”

Accompanied by endless violent winds, half of the town instantly vanished!

”Roar!!”

After doing all this, Acnologia let out a thunderous roar.

”This is absolutely not something humans can oppose…”

Wahl Icht looked at Acnologia, who was devouring everything with the violent wind coming from his mouth, his eyes widening. He silently shook his head and thought to himself that the ʼBlack Dragon Kingʼ before him was absolutely not something humans could deal with. In this world, the only ones capable of dealing with Dragons were Dragons…

”Everyone, wake up!”

Just as Acnologia rampaged through the town, a gentle voice suddenly sounded beside the ears of the Fairy Tail Guildʼs S-Class Mage candidates.

”What is this?”

When everyone opened their eyes, what entered their sight was a beautiful Mage with crimson-red long hair.

”Senior Irene…”

Wendy looked at the beautiful woman before her and subconsciously spoke the womanʼs name.

”Mm!”

Irene gently nodded to everyone, then used Enchantment Magic to restore everyoneʼs stamina and magic power, clearing away their fatigue and injuries.

”Weʼve recovered?!”

”If thatʼs the case, we can continue the trial! Great!”

Natsu and the others felt the healthy condition of their bodies and immediately became eager to try again.

”Idiot, Senior Irene must have a reason for coming to find us!”

Gray looked at the eager Natsu and could not help but retort.

”What did you say? You defeated loser!”

Hearing this, Natsu immediately became angry.

”Hah? Who are you calling a defeated loser?”

After hearing the four words ”defeated loser,” Grayʼs entire body slowly trembled, and then he became violent.

For a moment, Natsu and Gray seemed about to begin an ultimate showdown.

”Enough, all of you be quiet!”

Irene looked at Natsu and Gray, who were about to start fighting again, the corner of her eye twitching. She picked up the staff in her hand and gave Natsu and Gray one hit each on the head.

”Sorry…”

”Love!”

For a moment, Natsu and Gray, who had just been arguing about continuing the battle, immediately became obedient.

”In any case, because of some special reasons!”

”So the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial has had some rules changed~”

”Your rules have changed from fighting each other to dealing with this big guy…”

As Irene spoke, she lightly snapped her fingers.

Immediately, an image appeared before the Fairy Tail Guildʼs S-Class Mage candidates…

In the image, a pitch-black giant Dragon was continuously destroying Magnolia Town.

”Thatʼs a Dragon?!”

The moment they saw that pitch-black giant beast, Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy immediately could not sit still.

”More precisely, four hundred years ago, the King of the Dragons who slaughtered all the Dragons, the ʼBlack Dragon Kingʼ Acnologia!”

Irene added for everyone.

”The Dragon King who slaughtered all the Dragons?!”

Gray, Lyon, and the others trembled after hearing Ireneʼs words.

Unlike the original story, Gray, Lyon, and the Mages of the Fairy Tail Guild had a clear understanding of the strength of Dragons because of Dragons such as Kurnugi. They knew exactly how powerful Dragons were. They were existences that were almost impossible for humans to defeat…

Yet the black Dragon before their eyes had slaughtered all the Dragons four hundred years ago?! And he was even the king among Dragons?! Just how powerful was such a Dragon? No one present dared to imagine…

”In other words, this guy is very strong?”

Just as everyone was frightened by the Black Dragon before their eyes, Natsu crossed his arms in front of his chest and calmly looked at Irene as he asked.

”Mm! He can be called the strongest!”

Irene nodded after hearing Natsuʼs words.

”Iʼm burning up!!”

Hearing this, Natsu shouted excitedly, flames erupting all over his body.

”Then if we can defeat this so-called Black Dragon King, does that mean we can become S-Class Mages?”

While Natsu was eager to try, he continued asking Irene.

”If you can defeat Acnologia, then I can make an exception and allow all of you to pass the trial!”

Irene held her staff and smiled gently at Natsu.

”All of us pass?!”

For a moment, all of the Fairy Tail Guildʼs S-Class Mage candidates froze where they stood.

”Weʼre burning up!!”

The next second, all of the S-Class Mage candidates, including Natsu, Kagura, Gray, and Lyon, collectively shouted. The vast magic power within their bodies continuously burned.

”Then go! Go defeat the Dragon King who rampaged across the world four hundred years ago! Tell him that the era has changed!”

As Irene spoke, she waved her staff and pointed it toward the distant Dragon.

”Hey, hey, hey! This is inside the town. What if we accidentally destroy something?”

Gray was still somewhat rational. He asked Irene.

”Oh my~”

”Since when did you develop the illusion that the place youʼre in is Magnolia?”

After hearing Grayʼs words, Irene smiled slightly at him.

”What do you mean?”

Grayʼs spirit shook upon hearing this.

”From the moment you left the Fairy Tail Guild, the place you were in was no longer Magnolia Town! We arenʼt even within the territory of the Kingdom of Fiore…”

”The place youʼre in now is on a relatively large deserted island on the endless sea, and it is also the location of this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial!”

”As for the town that the Black Dragon King is currently destroying, it is merely a one-to-one model identical to Magnolia Town that Evan and I jointly created!”

”As for the town residents you saw earlier, they were merely personalities I implanted using Enchantment Magic. They have all now returned to their original forms~”

Irene held her staff and explained to everyone.

”You implanted the personalities of more than one hundred thousand people by yourself? What kind of monster are you?!”

After hearing Ireneʼs words, the Mages of the Fairy Tail Guild all loudly complained.

”Ahem…”

Irene lightly coughed twice and did not answer everyoneʼs question.

”Alright! Hurry up and set off now! There isnʼt a single resident left in the town. Go all out and defeat the Black Dragon King!!”

Irene pointed her staff forward and shouted loudly at the Mages of the Guild.

”Yeah!!”

”Weʼre burning up!”

For a moment, all of the S-Class Mage candidates in the Fairy Tail Guild loudly cheered.

A great battle was about to begin…

At the same time…

Within the uninhabited town.

”Boom!!”

Another gust of violent wind blew, and countless part-time jobs were blown into the sky by Acnologia!

”What happened?”

In the sky, Lucy, wearing pajamas and having just woken up, stared at everything before her with wide eyes. She had only intended to take a short nap. How had she ended up in the sky when she opened her eyes?!

”Everyone in the town! And my friends in the Guild! Where did you all go?!”

Lucy shouted with a deep sense of sadness in her heart.

”Lucy!”

At the exact moment Lucy was flying through the sky, feeling extremely lonely, an extremely familiar voice slowly sounded beside her ear.

Immediately afterward, Lucy felt her body warm up. Her delicate body was picked up by a young man who was like a furnace.

”Natsu!”

Lucy looked at the young man who had come to save her at the critical moment, and her pretty face immediately turned red.

”Lucy, youʼre so heavy!”

Happy flew behind Natsu. At the same time, flying high in the sky while carrying two people was still somewhat difficult for Happy.

”Happy?!”

Lucy did not become angry because of Happyʼs words. At this moment, simply being able to see Natsu and Happy already made her extremely excited.

”Lucy, listen to me…”

”Forget it, itʼs too troublesome to explain now. Iʼll explain after I defeat that Dragon!”

”You go down below and take shelter…”

As Natsu spoke, he lifted Lucy high into the air.

”Eh, I suddenly have an ominous premonition!”

As Natsu lifted Lucy high into the air, Lucyʼs expression immediately changed.

”Off you go!”

Natsu did not waste any more words and directly threw Lucy toward the ground like a cannonball.

”Ah!!”

”I knew this would be the outcome!”

Lucy tore through the air, shouting as she condemned Natsuʼs behavior.

”Boom!”

Just as Lucy was falling toward the ground, an endless sea of sand formed and caught Lucy, who was falling from the sky, extremely gently.

”Uh…”

After Lucy crashed into the sea of sand, her head finally cleared.

She stood on the sea of sand and looked at the group of Fairy Tail Guild S-Class Mage candidates surrounding her, immediately freezing for a moment…

”Lucy, youʼre awake?!”

Levy seemed to notice Lucy, who had been rescued by Ajeel. She immediately walked toward Lucy and greeted her with a smile.

”Levy! What exactly is going on?”

Lucy looked at Levy and asked.

”Because of some special reason, the rules of the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial have changed!”

”As long as we can collectively defeat that pitch-black giant Dragon, all of us will collectively pass this yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial!”

Levy spoke to Lucy with a smile.

”Defeat that Dragon?”

After hearing this, Lucy finally looked toward that pitch-black enormous creature.

”Gulp~”

Just by looking at that enormous creature, Lucy knew that the other party was not someone to be trifled with.

”This Dragon is?”

Lucy looked at the Dragonʼs pitch-black body and overwhelming power. She seemed to have thought of something, so she immediately looked at Levy beside her to confirm it.

”His name is… Acnologia!”

Levy nodded and directly spoke the name of this pitch-black Dragon.

”What? This really is that Black Dragon from the ”Apocalypse”, the legendary Black Dragon who possesses the power to destroy the world?”

Upon hearing this, the corner of Lucyʼs eye twitched slightly, and she nearly fainted.

At the same time, with Levyʼs nod, Lucy finally confirmed the identity of that pitch-black Dragon!

Yes, this rampaging Dragon was none other than the Black Dragon King from the ”Apocalypse”, Acnologia!

”Does the Fairy Tail Guildʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial really have to be this huge?”

”This yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial is fighting the Black Dragon from the ”Apocalypse”. Then next yearʼs S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, arenʼt they going to have to go kill a god?”

Lucy looked at the Fairy Tail members beside her who were eager to try, unable to help loudly complaining.