...
The tension in the underground cavern was almost unbearable.
Mavis stared at Shin, her mind reeling from his terrifying declaration. Changing someone's fundamental cognition, conquering a kingdom, brushing off Gods as if they were nothing—it was all completely beyond the scope of human imagination.
"I understand," Mavis said softly, breaking the heavy silence. "We have spent centuries misunderstanding Zeref. I will eventually explain this to the rest of the guild. But Shin... is it truly possible to alter the human mind and erase a divine curse?"
Mavis gripped the fabric of her spectral dress. "Can you really do something like that without angering the Gods? Will they truly let us live in peace if we break their rules?"
Shin scoffed, a genuine look of amusement returning to his face.
"I do as I please, First Master," Shin said, voice unwavering. "If a God stands in my way, I'll kill them. Simple."
Shin turned and began pacing across the stone floor. "I possess the power to tear through space, but navigating time is a different matter. However, I know someone in this era who wields exactly what I need. One of Zeref's elite subordinates possesses absolute time magic."
"Once I resolve your little tragedy and conquer this country, I am going to pay her a visit. With her magic, I should finally be able to open a path back home. And since I am here, I might as well leave this world in a better state than I found it."
Mavis and Makarov exchanged a look of profound realization. They finally understood Shin's chaotic motivations. He wasn't a villain trying to destroy the world—he was just an absurdly overpowered traveler who wanted to fix a broken timeline before he left, simply because he could.
"Now, let me tell you exactly how your story with Zeref was originally supposed to end," Shin said, his tone softening slightly.
"Because of the Curse of Contradiction, the only way for the two of you to finally find peace was for your love to reach an absolute, paradoxical peak. When your feelings for each other hit that ultimate threshold, the curse would trigger and kill you both simultaneously."
"You would die in each other's arms," Shin concluded. "I assume I don't need to explain the exact, intimate physical details of how that moment happens, do I?"
Mavis's face instantly erupted in a massive, glowing blush. She knew exactly what Shin was implying. A kiss. The ultimate expression of love that would trigger the ultimate wave of death.
She was incredibly grateful he hadn't spelled it out in front of Makarov, who was already looking confused enough.
"I... I understand," Mavis stammered, looking away. "Thank you, Shin. Thank you for telling me all of this, and for sparing us that fate."
Shin waved his hand dismissively. "Don't mention it. But Master Makarov, the true enemy of this world isn't Zeref. Zeref is just a symptom of a much larger problem."
Makarov frowned, his bushy eyebrows furrowing. "If the Black Wizard isn't the ultimate threat, then who is?"
"The Black Dragon," Shin stated plainly. "Acnologia. The King of Dragons. My goal before leaving this world is to hunt him down and kill him."
Shin paused, letting the name sink in. Acnologia was a living natural disaster, a monster that even the Magic Council refused to actively acknowledge out of sheer terror.
"To kill Acnologia, we need Dragon Slayers," Shin explained. "And that brings us back to the concept of time travel. Have you ever wondered where Natsu actually came from?"
Makarov's eyes widened. "You said he was Zeref's brother... which means he was born over four hundred years ago. But he grew up here, in our guild."
"Exactly," Shin nodded. "And it isn't just Natsu. Gajeel, Wendy... all of the First and Third Generation Dragon Slayers."
Shin pointed a finger at Makarov. "The dragons were driven to near extinction by Acnologia four centuries ago. They didn't just magically survive in the modern era to teach magic to human children. The dragons and the children they raised were sent through a massive temporal gate."
Makarov gasped, clutching his chest as the monumental truth slammed into him. "You mean... all of them... Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy... they are all time travelers from four hundred years in the past??"
"Precisely," Shin smirked. "And the one who helped Zeref construct that gate was a Celestial Spirit Mage. A woman named Anna Heartfilia."
Mavis gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Heartfilia... wait, does that mean...?"
"Yes," Shin chuckled, thinking back to the chaotic blonde girl drinking upstairs. "Lucy's direct ancestor. Everything in this world is connected by an incredibly tight string of fate. And I am about to cut it all down."
--------------------------------------------------
~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)