PAIN
Acnologia hadn't experienced a pain so exquisite since he was betrayed oh so long ago. He hadn't thought of those times in centuries. Four hundred years and only one person had engraved this pain into him.
His scales scarred, his flesh torn and his head pounding. It was only his madness and heartbeat that told him he was still alive. Of course, this wasn't for lack of trying. He was always stubborn and unnaturally durable. He wouldn't have become the 'Black Dragon King' if he wasn't.
PAIN
He couldn't even make a sound, halfway buried in the dirt as he was. His senses were out of whack but even like this, he knew he was in a pitiful state. Half dead, waiting for the finishing blow to come.
Or, worse yet, mercy.
'Hah... Mercy.. No. Never. I'd never accept that.' He thought, opening his one good eye and looking into the sky.
Thick, dark clouds had covered the area. Their fire and magic had sent the Ethernano into a frenzy of activity. A thunderstorm so intense, all he could see besides the darkness was lightning. In the brief flashes of light, he saw massive typhoons and violent waves battering the small archipelago he had crashed into.
Then, he saw her.
Not the black Dragon he had faced hundreds of years prior. The human-shaped thing that smelled like a Dragon and about two other things. The explosion burned her skin and damaged some of her armor but she stood in the sky, looking down at him with something that infuriated Acnologia to no end.
'PITY? YOU? PITY ME? A DRAGON.. PITIES ME!?' The Black Dragon raged, pushing up off the ground and coughing, a wet sludge of blood and viscera coming out of his throat.
He pushed the pain down and focused on the white-hot wrath consuming him. He ignored his shredded wings, his half crushed jaw, partially ruptured organs and broken arms. He stood tall, much unlike a Dragon. No, he stood as a man inhabiting the body of something he despised so intensely, he forgot everything else in life.
"Dragon... Equinox... whatever your name truly is.. I will slay you." Acnologia muttered with all the spite and anger he could muster.
His magic behaved strangely, shrinking him down and knitting his flesh back together. Not through any sort of conventional healing magic, no. It seemed like he was forcing his body into a smaller form and using his Dragon flesh to force himself to... not quite heal, but force his wounds closed.
Equinox watched. A strange blend of emotions washing over her as she watched the intimidating Black Dragon King shrink down to the size of a man. His scales shrunk and wrapped around his form like armor, pinning his wounded limbs back in place. His wings shrunk, taking on the appearance of a black mantle. Finally, his head had changed too, a long mane of dark blue, dark skin and light blue magical markings over his face and body appeared.
Though he was battered, bruised and coated in blood, he looked up at her fiercely. If looks could kill, she would have died a thousand times over.
"You're going to fight me.. as a Dragonslayer?" She asked, eyes narrowed in on the drastic change his body underwent.
Acnologia clenched his clawed fingers, looking over the armor his scales had turned into. Grinning, he suddenly disappeared.
THUD!
Equinox felt a titanic impact on her left cheek, her body flying down and crashing against the water as the speed and force of Acnologia's punch hit like a meteor.
She reoriented herself quickly, slapping the surface of the ocean and bleeding off the momentum with a backflip that ended with her heels carving huge trenches through the surface of the water.
Equinox watched as a dark blur shot through the massive waves she created, fist cocked back and striking her again. Only this time, she reacted in time and took the blow to the forearm. The human Acnologia had a mouth-splitting grin etched on his face as he threw more blindingly fast and powerful punches at her.
THUD!
Fists flew as they glided through the ocean's surface. Acnologia's right hook caught Equinox in the jaw, Equinox's palm smashed into Acnologia's ribs and both landed a flurry of strikes on the other's body. Each blow violently upheaved sea water and kept the brawl mobile.
And for a good few minutes, the two fought not as mages, but as masters of combat only attainable by freaks of nature.
"Kahaha!! Where did you learn to fight like a human, DRAGON!?" Acnologia asked in a strange blend of amusement and spite as he ducked two jabs and avoided a knee with a rapid sidestep.
"Calling me only-" Equinox started to reply, moving into Acnologia's vicious haymaker and smashing his ribs with her elbow, "a Dragon isn't very-" then her body shot back as Acnologia spun on his heel and kicked her in the gut. "Mmfh.. accurate!" She then flipped onto her back and planted both feet in his face, sending him flying into yet another archipelago as she coughed up blood.
'Internal bleeding.. He hits like an actual meteor. Aura shattered after the first punch.. I'll have to let it regenerate for one last use of my Semblance later.' Equinox wiped her mouth before her eyes widened and she threw her body violently to the side.
▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▆▇█▉
The largest beam of magic she had ever seen instantly parted the sea and scorched even the ocean floor with volatile Ethernano. It was as wide as a mountain range and just about as tall. It had come at her from above, much like a satelite laser.
RUUUUUMBLE!
But even then, the destructive Arcane beam actually moved toward her. Instantly, Equinox took to the sky as the beam gave chase. Her eyes locked in on Acnologia within the Archipelago. His hand pointed at the sky with his arm raised up.
'A new spell.. And it's even more destructive than any he had showed before.' Equinox thought grimly, speeding up as she used mana platforms to kick off of to gain speed.
Still, the Arcane beam followed. And she saw Acnologia's grin widen as she closed in. Her fist cocked back and she struck out, smashing his head into the archipelago's mountain and watching him crash straight through.
"Gotcha..." Acnologia muttered, lowering his hand and smacking the ground.
Immediately, Equinox realized what was happening.
'He drew me in close range not to resume the melee.. But to hit us both with the beam. Wait, no... Your own magic doesn't hurt you in Fairy Tail. Clever...' Her pupils dilated as the ground lit up, and within a fraction of a second, the entire archipelago was obliterated by the dense beam of Arcane energy.
"Gahahahaha!! Do you like it!? I call it Arcane Armageddon!" Acnologia laughed, his eyes focused on the silhouette within the massive beam.
But his grin was wiped off his face when the energy dissipated. Left within the crater, her scales, horns and skin had emerged to protect her from the magic. But if it were just that, she would never have been able to resist the magic equivalent of an orbital death laser ripping her atoms apart. Not even turning into her full Dragon form would have stopped her from taking a grevious injury.
So within the brief time she bought herself by transforming, she searched her memories for something to create.
She looked at her hands. One holding a large sword, the Demon Dwelling blade, from Black Clover. The other, the Eye of Avarice, from Eminence in Shadow. Not perfectly copied but the appearance and function of the two, focused on the beam had allowed her to come out of the attack in tact.
Acnologia grit his teeth, preparing another attack.
FLASH!
Equinox was already moving. Calling upon Creation, she funneled a massive amount of ocean water above her while her right fist, coated in Ruin, struck the space between her and Acnologia and destroyed it, punching him straight through the Archipelago once more.
'That was a lucky hit.. It's drained a shit ton of my Ruin energy. I have to finish this fast...' Equinox thought as she dashed after Acnologia.
"ARCANE DRAGON'S ROAR!!" Acnologia righted himself, pushing off the water and flying up as his mantle unfurled into Dragon wings.
"Unison Raid: Flames of Balance!" Equinox pushed her own magic out, black and white flames crashing into the Dragon roar in the sky as she pulled the massive funnel behind her, pushing Creation to the maximum.
RUUUUUMBLE!!!
"THIS IS IT, DRAGON! This is where you perish!!" Acnologia cackled madly, raising his hands up and forcing his nigh infinite magic to coalesce into the dark sky above.
Equinox's eyes widened as beams of light peeked through the pitch black thunder clouds above. Her eyes easily peering through the darkness to see a massive comet flying straight toward her. Her left hand smoothly swung out to the side, pulling on the now massive funnel of water and earth that was being shaped.
"ARCANE COMET!" Acnologia roared, flying high and channeling his magic into the devastating spell.
"I made a vow. Parasites who mindlessly self indulge like you will not taint the beauty of this world any more."
RUUUUMBLE~
The mountain-sized mass of water and earth coalesced into the shape of a Western Dragon. The sight of it only fueled Acnologia's rage. Equinox suffused its entire being with the golden and umbral energies Ruin and Creation, closing her palms as the massive construct flew into the path of the deadly magic.
FLAAASH!!
The effects weren't instantaneous. The magic and cosmic energies clashed fiercely in the sky. But in the end, the construct had swallowed the spell and flew at the man who despised Dragons more than anything, maw open wide, swallowing him whole before exploding in a brilliant flash of gold and purple.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion blew away the thunderstorm and revealed a sunny, cloudless sky. And the Black Dragon King, body irreparably damaged, fell down to the Earth, his bloody eyes staring listlessly at the sky.
'Dragons... No.. you aren't like those ones, are you? Hah...' Acnologia thought as his body slowly disintegrated.
"Haah...." Equinox sighed, taking a seat on a mana platform with shaky legs. "I did it. Everyone who was important to them... to me, is safe."
A proud smile appeared on her face as she looked Eastward. Dozens of kilometers away was Tenrou. Still protected by her failing barrier. The barrier had seen serious damage due to the brutal fight, but it had lasted long enough. Almost as soon as she lowered it, she saw multiple people racing off the Island. Every single guild member who came to the exam was moving toward her.
But then, something popped up in front of her.
[World Quest: Like a true Dragon.
World: Fairy Tail
Age: X375
Quest chain- 1: Meet the Dragons and their children and learn from them.
2: Cure the Black Wizard Zeref from his curse
3: Stop the Black Dragon King Acnologia from ruining the world
Rewards: Fairy Tail magic integration, Magic bestowal, Bloodline evolution, Exceed familiars (Shade and Scorch)]
She checked the details and felt her brows shoot up, "Interesting.. Ah, the cats are coming back with them? Hmhmhm~"
"Yin!""Sis!""Yang!"
She heard the cries for the two and stood up, waving over to the incoming friends the two made. She knew goodbyes would be hard but she was pretty confident they could and would return after some time. After all, with the bonds made here, the twins were ready to take on anything Remnant could throw at them.
But Equinox had to admit, she too would miss the people from their memories. Even if she herself had barely directly interacted with them, they were important to her. With one final exhale, she let go and one became two once more.
[AN: Sorry about these few weeks. Work's been.. work lol. And I needed to do this right. Acnologia needed to be treated like the bad mf he is. We're back to Remnant in the next chap! Thanks and STONE a mf <3]