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The great name of Fire Dragon King Igneel was like a switch flipped deep within Natsu's mind, making him so excited he almost jumped up and down.
This sacred Eternal Flame of Sun Village actually knew about his relationship with Igneel!
Then, Igneel's whereabouts...
"Natsu, I do not know the whereabouts of your foster father."
As if seeing through Natsu's thoughts, the Eternal Flame spoke first, its tone as familiar as if it and Natsu were close.
Natsu, too concerned about Igneel's whereabouts, didn't notice the Eternal Flame's oddness, but the others couldn't ignore it.
Noah, who had made more discoveries, stepped past Natsu and stared directly into the Eternal Flame's deep eyes. "No wonder no one has been able to take the Eternal Flame for four hundred years. How many people in this world can fight a dragon?"
The flame flickered, seemingly surprised that its identity had been revealed, but what surprised it even more was the mixed Dragon Slayer Magic emanating from the white-haired young man. "Young human, where did you learn your Dragon Slayer Magic? I cannot discern its origin."
The marvel of All-Creation Magic was difficult to explain, just as the Fire Dragon Slayer Magic obtained from fulfilling Natsu's wish was hard to articulate, so Noah didn't answer, merely gazing silently at the Eternal Flame.
Without waiting for Noah's response, the Eternal Flame sensed a familiar aura emanating from Natsu's body, then let out a faint chuckle.
"I was rude. I am Atlas Flame, the Hellfire Dragon."
"Fire Dragon King Igneel is my close friend."
The Fire Dragon King's friend—it turned out to be Natsu's convenient uncle.
Noah was now more curious as to why the Hellfire Dragon's attitude toward Natsu was so familiar, yet Natsu looked like he was meeting the Hellfire Dragon for the first time.
Natsu tried to recall for a while, but ultimately couldn't remember any impression of the Hellfire Dragon. "I've never seen you before, and Igneel never mentioned the Hellfire Dragon to me. When exactly did you get to know me?"
The Hellfire Dragon paused, seemingly hesitant, but still answered Natsu. "Our first meeting wasn't in the past, but in the future."
"Huh? The future?"
Natsu scratched his head, somewhat unable to understand the Hellfire Dragon's meaning. What did it mean their first encounter was in the future? Such a thing seemed impossible no matter how he thought about it.
Natsu was completely unaware that he was a time traveler, but Noah knew.
He just didn't know if the magic that allowed the Hellfire Dragon to stay in the future was the same magic that brought Natsu and the others to the present.
Ever since Noah's brief communication with the Fire Dragon King residing within Natsu's body last time, the Fire Dragon King had stopped responding to his attempts at conversation, so Noah wanted to probe the Hellfire Dragon.
"Atlas Flame, can you tell me the magic that sent you to the future?"
There was a hint of admiration in the Hellfire Dragon's eyes as he looked at Noah. He hadn't even explained why he would meet Natsu in the future, yet this young man had already guessed the general idea.
"There's nothing to hide. You'll all know eventually. The magic that pulled me into the future is called Eclipse Gate, a masterpiece of Zeref."
Hearing the name of the Black Wizard once again, Noah felt a sense of awe.
First, there was the R-System that could resurrect the dead.
Now, it was the Eclipse Gate that could travel through time.
The former's authenticity couldn't be confirmed yet, but the latter had genuinely allowed more than one person to travel through time.
Moreover, after the incident on Galuna Island, Noah felt that the Demons from the Books of Zeref were very likely created by the Black Wizard, who obtained demonic remains from the ancient War of Gods and Demons and used them as inspiration to create his own demons.
So many heaven-defying researches and Black Magic.
The Black Wizard was simply an unparalleled genius with astonishing wisdom.
Such a person, still alive today, must be quite powerful, right?
Noah suddenly had a premonition that perhaps one day in the near future, he would confront this rumored Black Wizard.
It seemed he needed to train a bit more diligently. Otherwise, if his premonition came true, the Black Wizard—who had lived for over four hundred years—would be a formidable opponent.
Noah had no more questions, but Natsu, having come to his senses, kept pestering the Hellfire Dragon, insisting on hearing his story and wanting to know why he existed in Sun Village in this form.
However, the Hellfire Dragon's answer surprised everyone.
"Sun Village was founded by me."
"Because I already died four hundred years ago, and this last bit of consciousness can barely protect a village."
Over four hundred years ago, a faction of dragons willing to coexist with humans, led by Fire Dragon King Igneel, signed the Dragon King Festival treaty with humans.
As a close friend of the Fire Dragon King, the Hellfire Dragon was naturally also a staunch coexistence advocate, and he would usually do his best to help humans avoid harassment from evil dragons.
However, the Hellfire Dragon ultimately couldn't escape the catastrophe that led to the near-extinction of the dragon race.
With his body destroyed, the Hellfire Dragon—left with only his consciousness—still honored his promise, using his last power to ignite the fires of hell, thereby protecting humanity.
This burning had continued for over four hundred years.
This showed the Hellfire Dragon's power.
But consciousness is, after all, consciousness, and power will eventually run out. In at most ten years, the Hellfire Dragon's last flame would be completely extinguished.
As soon as Natsu heard that his convenient uncle's power was running out, he immediately couldn't sit still. He didn't want the Hellfire Dragon to die like this. "It's just fire—let me help you!"
The Hellfire Dragon belonged to a branch of the Fire Dragon race, so logically, flames were an excellent supplement for him. Natsu wanted to use his own power to replenish the Hellfire Dragon's Magic Power.
Taking a deep breath, dense flame magic gathered in Natsu's mouth, but before the Fire Dragon's Roar could be released, Noah pressed a hand over his mouth, stifling it back into his stomach.
"Idiot, the Hellfire Dragon is now just a flame formed from a consciousness body, not a real physical body."
"Although your flames are somewhat useful, they won't let him last more than a few minutes."
Although Natsu was impulsive, he knew that since Noah chose to stop him, he must have a better way to help his convenient uncle.
In fact, Noah really did.
Although he wasn't a dragon, Noah could mimic the dragon race's secret technique—the Soul Dragon Art—to integrate the Hellfire Dragon into Natsu's body for nourishment, as both were fire-attributed.
Moreover, this kid already had a Fire Dragon King inside him, so what harm would another Hellfire Dragon do?
Noah looked at the fiercely burning hellfire. "Atlas Flame, I have a way to help you, but it requires leaving Sun Village. Are you willing?"
However, the Hellfire Dragon's answer was surprisingly calm. "Thank you, but I wish to remain here until I no longer have the strength to protect them."
To fulfill his promise, the Hellfire Dragon was willing to burn his life until the end, protecting humans with unwavering devotion until death. Moreover, if nothing unexpected happened, he could still last for ten years, which was already very satisfying.
Noah sensed the Hellfire Dragon's determination and no longer tried to persuade him.
Named after hellfire, performing acts of guardianship—Atlas Flame was a great dragon.
Just as everyone was sighing with emotion, an overwhelming cold suddenly enveloped the entire Sun Village, and purple ice mist mercilessly turned each Giant into a massive ice sculpture.
The person who could cause an accident for the Hellfire Dragon had arrived.
A figure in armor and a cape stopped outside the altar and raised his hand toward the Hellfire Dragon on the altar.
"Demon, repent in eternal ice."