Without any warning, without any explanation, it just came because it had to come.
The black dragon, with its blue markings, appeared like a natural disaster, suddenly and violently descending upon them.
No one knew what it was thinking, no one knew its purpose.
Everyone only felt a gust of wind hit their faces as the black giant dragon landed in front of them in the blink of an eye.
The massive body of the black dragon hit the ground heavily, causing it to shatter and gales to blow.
The wind and sand made it almost impossible for the crowd to open their eyes, and their just-packed luggage was scattered all over the ground.
"Run quickly!"
The guild's strongest mage, Kildas, was unexpectedly the most panicked, seeing the black dragon land in front of him, his first reaction was not to fight but to shout for everyone to run away.
It was the first time anyone had seen Kildas with such a panicked expression.
They had just mentally prepared themselves for the possibility of fighting such a monster, but were now thrown into confusion by Kildas.
Was the powerful Kildas, whom they could hardly rival, actually afraid?
The black dragon, however, showed no signs of stopping, launching an attack as soon as it landed.
Perhaps it couldn't even be called an attack.
It simply slammed its chin into the ground, causing a violent tremor, and then opened its mouth to roar.
—It wasn't the kind of roar from Dragon Slayer Magic; it seemed like an ordinary shout.
The piercing roar made everyone's ears ache, nearly causing tinnitus.
Lucy, Reby, Lisana, Carla, and Hapi, who were the closest, couldn't help but cover their ears with their hands.
But they were immediately knocked down by the following gust of wind.
The nearby people quickly helped them up, their screams drowned out by the dragon's roar.
Dust and debris flew, trees swayed...
This was only a roar from the black dragon with no magic involved.
The crowd somewhat understood why Kildas reacted the way he did.
After a pause in the roar, the black dragon jumped up, flapped its wings, soared into the sky, and looked down at them.
Its dark face showed no expression, its hollow eyes revealed no emotion.
But Kildas had a vague feeling that the black dragon viewed them like a mischievous child who had stumbled upon a few interesting ants gathered together.
The child might just step away, stomp on them, or simply reach out a finger to toy with them...
Those who had seen Rhode summon dragons were puzzled: "What's going on? Can't dragons communicate?"
"What's so strange about that? Just like there are ill-tempered humans, there are ill-tempered dragons!" Gajeel supported Reby, "This guy is completely different from the dragons we know!"
Natsu, unusually, agreed with Gajeel alongside Wendy: "Igneru (Grandeeney) loves humans the most!"
Makarov waved his hand: "There's no time to discuss this, stay quiet, don't attract its attention, and hide in the forest first!"
Makarov only hoped the dragon was merely passing by, landing for a whim, and would leave once they were hidden.
However, the black dragon clearly wasn't planning to leave yet. It didn't stay long in the air but swooped down towards them.
With such a size and speed, in one second, everyone would be flattened into pancakes!
Running was certainly too late, so Rhode shouted: "Mountain Sub-Dragon!"
"Roar~~~" A giant earth-yellow dragon appeared out of thin air above everyone, letting out a loud roar toward the diving black dragon.
At the same time, a small hill rose from the ground, growing higher and higher, pushing the Fairy Tail members apart and forcefully knocking them into the forest.
The black dragon seemed momentarily startled but did not slow down as it crashed straight into the Mountain Sub-Dragon.
The crowd rolled down the slope, most stopping only when they hit the trees in the forest, looking utterly disheveled.
But they had no time to complain, as the next moment, the black dragon pinned the Mountain Sub-Dragon's body, slamming its back against the newly created hill.
—This hill was thoughtfully built by the Mountain Sub-Dragon specifically to protect them.
Now, the earth shook, the peaks crumbled, rocks rolled, and the roars of the two dragons echoed across the island.
The Mountain Sub-Dragon's front claws pushed against the black dragon's shoulders, its mouth biting the base of the black dragon's neck. From a human perspective, dragon scales fell, blood streaming.
But for dragons, this was just a minor injury, not unlike the small scratches from playful scuffling with a peer.
The black dragon's front claws gripped the Mountain Sub-Dragon's shoulders, stretching its neck to bite the Mountain Sub-Dragon's hind neck.
The sharp claws pierced through the rock-like dragon scales on the Mountain Sub-Dragon's shoulders, mixing bloodstained 'stones' among the tumbling rocks on the slope.
Its gruesome jaws also shattered the scales on the Mountain Sub-Dragon's hind neck, a crashing sound like the mountains collapsing, with massive 'stones' rolling off, landing on the slope with loud thuds.
The stone mountain, recently created, began to collapse as the two giant dragons wrestled, leaving the people in the forest utterly shocked.
—Without using magic, just by close combat, they caused landslides. This was the power of a giant dragon!
Rhode frowned, having never seen a battle fall into such an unfavorable position since he could summon the Mountain Sub-Dragon.
Even powerful figures like the second-generation president survived only due to special magic, avoiding an immediate death.
But now, the Mountain Sub-Dragon was completely on the backfoot.
Rhode had already summoned the Cyan Engraved Golem and the Crimson Marked Tree Monster, applying all possible buffs to the Mountain Sub-Dragon, but...the effects seemed minimal.