While Fairy Tail's new team was fighting hard in the arena, Charles had already led the strike squad to the site of the Eclipse Gate.
At the same time, another group began to move.
Jellal appeared, guiding the Council envoys—Lahar and Doranbolt, who had shown up during the Tenrou Island incident—to the King of Fiore and Princess Hisui.
The Future Lucy traveling with them revealed her identity and told them what would happen.
After discussion, Mavis and Jellal agreed they couldn't act openly.
Doing so not only risked needless clashes with the kingdom, but if anything went wrong, it could cause innocent casualties now and harm Fairy Tail later.
After all, "someone brought unverifiable information from the future" couldn't serve as a catch‑all justification.
To avoid wasting time explaining to the kingdom, Mavis decided that Fairy Tail's squad and Jellal would act in parallel.
Jellal would notify the Council and the kingdom of what was imminent with Lucy, and though the king and princess had blundered with the Eclipse Plan, they weren't foolish enough to miss the greater stakes.
Even if they didn't fully believe Future Lucy, they would certainly act first—making things much easier for Charles's side.
Charles led everyone through the kingdom's guards to the Eclipse Gate and said, "The magic circle here absorbs any magic released externally, so don't use magic lightly."
Natsu's eyes shone with clear confusion. "But Charles, you just used magic, didn't you?"
Charles shot him a look. "If your magic control is high enough, you can ignore a magic circle of this level."
Everyone glanced Charles's way, thinking, so this is the power of a mage who can defeat Acnologia!
Basking a moment in their adoring looks, Charles said, "Jellal's side should be nearly done. Next, be ready for the Eclipse Gate to open."
He pressed a hand to the ground. Complex sigils and lines surfaced and spread rapidly, extending who knew how far.
It was the massive magic circle the kingdom had set to absorb magic. Flames rose in Charles's hand, and from his palm he ignited the circle.
The circle the kingdom had built at such expense didn't even last ten seconds before the nodes began to collapse and the runes fractured.
Charles stood as if nothing had happened, took out his pocket watch, and confirmed the time.
There was an hour until July 7 arrived—an hour that passed in a blink. Because the kingdom had now met with Future Lucy, no one came to interfere.
He didn't need to check his pocket watch to know the time; he could already sense the magic around them turning strange.
Four hundred years ago, on July 7, Acnologia transformed from a human into the black dragon who slaughtered all dragons. Since then, the day the Dragon King was born had been called the Dragon King Festival.
It wasn't that Acnologia made the day special by becoming the Dragon King; rather, it was likely his transformation into the Black Dragon was tied to the day's peculiar magic environment.
Zeref's Eclipse Gate, used properly, exploited the same phenomenon.
Charles didn't know the principle, but on the day sun and moon crossed, the very nature of magic changed.
"Time's up," he said, turning. "Let's begin!"
Lucy nodded. She spread her arms, and the twelve Golden Keys flew from her pouch, slotting one by one into the Eclipse Gate's notches.
The vast magic amassed by seven years of Grand Magic Games drained away like floodwaters through an opened sluice.
The structures on the gate shifted; then the panels moved, and the gap slowly widened.
The Eclipse Gate finally opened! On the other side was the era four hundred years ago, when dragons still roamed the world.
Just then, Charles felt the power in his body boil—his skill, Dragon Slayer, had activated.
That could only mean one thing: a dragon beyond the gate had turned hostile toward Charles.
A deafening roar rolled out from the yawning gate.
"Lucy, close it now—something's coming through!" Erza shouted.
"No," Charles stopped her. "The magic on the Eclipse Gate hasn't fully drained!"
"But…!" Erza frowned.
"Changing the future isn't easy," Charles said firmly. "We knew that. There's nothing left to say—just fight with everything and carve out our future!"
Natsu grinned and cracked his flame‑coated fists together. "You said it. I'm fired up!"
The unease and hesitation on everyone's faces vanished. They brightened, ready to fight.
With a rolling boom, pebbles and dust on the ground began to jump. A vast shadow in the gateway grew clearer.
Roar!!!
A claw sheathed in iron‑gray scales thrust out of the swirling gate.
Extinct for four centuries across both continents, the legendary dragons appeared again.
Proud as ever, the iron‑gray dragon ignored the humans present, displeased only with the surroundings.
It opened its jaws and gathered brutal magic.
There were Dragon Slayers present, and a roar was a common technique—but now they saw up close what a true dragon's Roar looked like.
Inconceivable force blew the top off the cavern. From outside, it looked like a kettle lid blown off by steam.
The iron‑gray dragon beat its wings and shot into the sky, and in that moment a dark red dragon and an azure dragon pushed through the Eclipse Gate.
Lucy finally opened her eyes. "The magic in the Eclipse Gate is fully spent. I'll close it now!"
Hands pressed together in a prayer, Lucy poured out all her magic and chanted the Star Chronicle incantation.
The twelve Golden Keys on the gate spun once. As she chanted, the Celestial Spirits appeared and, bearing starlight, pushed the Eclipse Gate closed.
Opening the gate had used the massive magic the kingdom gathered through the Games, but closing it depended only on the Celestial Spirit mage's own magic.
Even with the magic‑recovery tools Charles had prepared for Lucy, closing the gate nearly wrung her dry.
Even so, two more dragons slipped through during the process and reached the capital.
Watching the five dragons spread out, Charles drew a deep breath. Some were those that had appeared in the original course of events, and some were strangers.
Among them was not Igneel's old friend, the Hellfire Dragon—which meant this might be the worst case, with all five being enemies they could not reason with.
He inhaled and said, "Only Dragon Slayer magic can fell a dragon. Dragon Slayers—the hunt is on!"
He sprang first, summoning twin wings of flame and soaring up, then slammed a Fire Dragon's Horn into the Adamantine Dragon as it crushed a building.
Dragon scales repel all magic—save for those imbued with a dragon's power.
Even with armor hard as stone, the Adamantine Dragon's scales flew under Charles's strike, drawing a bellow of pain.
Natsu and the others followed at once, each chasing the foe they chose.
The kingdom moved just as Mavis predicted. While evacuating civilians, they summoned mages from all the guilds competing in the Games, and the king himself told them what might happen.
Outside, every mage stood ready to defend the realm.
They stopped the dragons in their tracks the instant they appeared, letting the Dragon Slayers find their matches.
This was the true Dragon King Festival—the dance of humans, dragons, and magic had begun!
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