Akira didn't answer because he knew that Irene had finally decided to get serious.
Irene threw her staff into the air. Before it could fall, her body burst into a pillar of bright red light. Giant red scales covered her skin, and her body grew bigger and bigger. Massive wings opened up, tearing through the dark clouds as a huge dragon stepped out of the light.
"Do you see it now, Akira?!" Irene's voice echoed straight inside his head, heavy and scary. "This is my true form! The Queen of Dragons Slayers!"
She opened her giant mouth, gathering a massive ball of hot red fire. With a loud roar, she shot a giant beam of dragon fire that covered the entire island.
Akira stood right in the middle of the roaring flames, totally calm. He didn't even make a shield.
"Dragon fire, huh?" Akira said softly, his voice echoing clearly through the loud flames. "You seem to forget, Mother... I carry dragon blood too."
Instead of dodging, Akira opened his mouth wide and took a deep, heavy breath.
A massive vacuum formed around him. The giant beam of red fire—enough to melt a whole mountain—was pulled straight into his mouth! He swallowed the roaring flames whole, absorbing every bit of her dragon magic into his body.
The dark magic around him flared, mixing with the stolen dragon fire to create glowing, pitch-black scales across his arms and face.
Irene's huge dragon eyes widened in shock. "You swallowed my fire?!"
"Thanks for the meal," Akira coolly replied, wiping a small spark from his lips. He leaned back and gathered a wild mix of dark magic and swallowed fire deep in his chest.
"Sage Dragon King's... Roar!"
Akira blasted a giant, dark-red beam of dragon breath straight back at her. The beam hit Irene's chest with a loud crash, pushing her huge body backward across the beach and making her roar in pain.
Before she could regain her balance, Akira moved like a flash of black lightning. He appeared right above her giant head, his right fist coated in sharp, black dragon scales and dark magic.
"Demon Dragon's Crushing Fang!" A phantom of a Black dragon appeared behind Akira. By combining the dragon force and the demonic energy in his body, he created a new dragon slayer technique unique to him.
He swung his fist down hard. His hit smashed right onto her snout, slamming Irene headfirst into the hard dirt, creating a huge crater in the middle of the island.
The entire island shook violently as Irene's massive dragon head slammed into the deep crater, throwing tons of dirt and rock high into the dark air.
A loud, painful groan echoed across the beach. Blood leaked from her snout, but Irene forced her huge body back up. Her glowing red eyes burned with wild anger.
"Impertinent child!" Irene roared, her voice vibrating inside Akira's head.
Akira gave her no time to speak. Pushing his magic power to its limit, he activated his demonic eyes, locking Irene's giant dragon form completely in place. Her massive body froze mid-motion, unable to move a single scale.
His hands moved in a rapid blur, drawing glowing Abyssal runes one after another in the air. At the same time, a dark purple magic circle unfolded beneath his feet. If Mavis were there, she would instantly recognize its structure. It was the base of Fairy Tail's ultimate defense, Fairy Sphere—but twisted into a unique, custom spell created by Akira himself.
The Abyssal runes fused with the dark purple magic circle, turning the surrounding light into complete darkness as Akira began his chant:
"Gather, ancient shadows of the void.
Freeze the flow of time and seal all light.
Become the absolute wall that no magic can pierce!
Abyssal Fairy Sphere: The Forgotten Land of Shadows!"
Then the magic circle suddenly began to float and began to enlarge, covering the whole island. Then magic began to gather around the island, sucking everything like a black hole. Then a dark dome slowly began to appear, covering the whole island.
The dark dome expanded rapidly, swallowing the island, the sky, and the ocean water around them. Everything touched by the dark purple light stopped completely—the crashing waves froze in mid-air, the falling dust locked in place, and the howling wind vanished into total silence.
The big dark dome flashed with a bright purple light and disappeared. Just like that, the island, the ocean water, and all the magic vanished from the world, leaving only empty sea.
A few minutes passed in complete silence.
Then, the clouds ripped open. A huge, terrifying black dragon with glowing blue markings dropped down from the sky. It was Acnologia, the Dragon King. He had felt the massive magic from miles away and came looking for a fight.
He flew in circles over the empty water, his wild yellow eyes searching for any sign of life. But there was nothing left—no rocks, no magic, and no scent. Akira's dark spell had hidden the island so well that it was like it never existed.
Acnologia opened his giant mouth and let out an angry, loud roar that shook the sea. Angry that his prey was gone, he flapped his giant wings and flew away into the dark clouds.
…..
Seeing Acnologia fly away into the dark clouds, Akira let out a heavy sigh of relief. His body felt tired, but he managed to fool the Dragon King just in time. He was extremely lucky that his Observation Haki had leveled up, letting him see a few seconds into the future.
If he hadn't seen the future, both he and Irene would have ended up as two more names on Acnologia's long list of victims.
He then looked at Irene, who was calming down. Well, it seems the fear brought by Acnologia is very effective against her mental illness. Well, let's just research mind-calming medicine after he finished this mission.
Akira took a step closer, watching as Irene's massive dragon body began to shrink. The red scales faded, her wings pulled back, and in a bright flash of light, she turned back into her human form.
She sat on the dirt, breathing heavily. Her long red hair fell messily over her shoulders, and her dark dress was torn. The wild, crazy look in her eyes was completely gone, replaced by quiet shock. The terrifying feeling of Acnologia's magic power hovering right above them had shaken her back to her senses.
"That magic power... it was him," Irene whispered, her voice barely louder than a breath. She looked at her trembling hands, her face unusually pale.
"Yeah. Acnologia," Akira said softly, walking over and standing beside her. He looked down at his mother with his usual calm expression. "If I hadn't hidden this entire island in another dimension, he would have dropped down and killed us both."
Irene stayed quiet for a long moment; the madness that usually filled her head completely cleared up.
"You... saved me," Irene whispered, her red eyes looking up at him with a mix of shock, confusion, and something long forgotten. "Even after everything. Even after I tried to kill you."
Seeing Irene like this, Akira let out a soft sigh as he undid his transformation. He took off his mask, revealing his true face, and looked down at her with a calm, gentle gaze.
"Mother, you can stop pretending now," Akira said softly. "You know I was born with a unique skill—the ability to hear everyone's true thoughts and feelings. So no matter how much you try to lie to yourself or hide behind that cruel smile, your heart has already told me everything."
"For four hundred years, I was raised hearing your pain, your despair... and your love for me and Erza," Akira continued, looking directly into her eyes. "I heard how much you suffered in that dark prison, how the dragonification warped your mind, and how desperately you wished to become human again."
He stepped closer and gently offered his hand to her.
"And I also heard how much love you have for your children," Akira said, his dark eyes softening. "I heard how deeply it broke your heart to send us both away, giving up your own happiness just to protect us from your own madness."
Irene froze, her breath catching in her throat. The cold, proud mask she had worn for four hundred years cracked completely. Big tears filled her sharp red eyes and ran down her bruised cheeks as the heavy weight of four hundred years of secret sadness finally came out.
The cold and quiet face she had put on before was gone, and her true feelings were finally showing.
"Akira..." she choked out, her voice trembling softly. "My son..."
****
Author's Note: I'm currently balancing my university studies with writing, and things can get pretty tight. If you enjoy my work, even a $1 donation on P.a.t.r.e.o.n makes a massive difference in helping me cover my education expenses.
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