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Noah's words landed in the banquet hall like a boulder thrown into still water, sending ripples through every corner of the room.
The five Dragons were to teach Kuro a new Dragon Slayer Magic?
The proposal was so staggering that even the Fire Dragon King Igneel, residing within Natsu's body, manifested a solid spectral form. That massive dragon head, wreathed in flame, lowered itself, scorching eyes fixing on the man called Kuro below.
"Noah. Do you understand what you're asking?"
Igneel's voice was deep and resonant, rolling through the hall with a faint tremor beneath it. "You want us to teach Dragon Slayer Magic to a human who helped slaughter our kind?"
The spectral images of the Iron Dragon, the Light Dragon, and the Shadow Dragon let out low, rumbling growls in turn, each one bristling with obvious doubt. Only the Sky Dragon remained silent.
More than four hundred years had passed since the tragedy of the Dragon race, and their hatred for Acnologia ran bone-deep. Kuro was undeniably a victim, but he had also been the instrument of that destruction. It was not something they could simply set aside on the strength of a few words.
The Five Dragons' refusal was something Noah had expected. So had Kuro. He had never believed a short explanation would be enough to move the Fire Dragon King and the others to teach him their magic.
"Acnologia committed those sins using my body," Kuro said, lifting his gaze to meet Igneel's directly, his eyes steadier than one might have expected. "That makes me an accomplice, and I won't deny it."
"I'm not asking for your forgiveness. But I need power, the power to stand against his Magic of Absolute Negation Dragon Slayer Magic, and for that, I will pay whatever price is asked of me."
Igneel let out a short, dismissive snort. He was not convinced.
Though Igneel was the foremost Dragon of the coexistence faction and had always believed in harmony between dragons and humans, he had also seen enough of humanity's darkness to know better than to trust blindly. Even set apart from the other four, the Fire Dragon King carried a particular wariness when it came to Kuro, a man who had once transformed into a dragon and turned his power against his own kind.
Noah could see that persuasion alone would accomplish little here. Besides, he had only offered the suggestion; if it truly came down to dealing with Acnologia, he was not without options of his own.
But Kuro was not willing to give up. Without another word, he cast a spell. A pale green light bloomed from his hands, and healing Magic washed over Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue simultaneously.
Natsu patted his own chest, looking puzzled. "I don't feel anything."
"You wouldn't."
Gajeel crossed his arms. "Dragon Slayers can consume Magic of the same element as their own. That includes using it to restore injuries. But we're not wounded right now."
Before Gajeel could finish, however, the spectral image of the Iron Dragon behind him flickered and dissolved. A surge of powerful Magic erupted from somewhere deep inside him, followed immediately by a full-throated dragon's roar.
The same thing happened to the others almost at once. Behind Wendy, Sting, and Rogue, the spectral forms of the Sky Dragon, the White Dragon, and the Shadow Dragon vanished in turn, each replaced by a powerful wave of Magic that burst from within their foster children.
Four dragon roars rose and fell through the hall in quick succession. Had Noah not moved to contain the surge in time, the sound alone would have woken the entire Kingdom of Altair.
Only Natsu and the Fire Dragon King showed no change. Natsu scratched the back of his head and looked sideways at Igneel's spectral form. "Igneel, what's going on?"
Igneel seemed not to hear his foster son at all. He was staring at Kuro, and for the first time, something close to shock crossed his expression.
"You used your own soul to repair the damage done to Grandeeney and the others?"
Kuro's face had gone pale. "Acnologia wounded their souls using my body. Isn't it only right that I'm the one to fix it?"
Igneel's expression shifted into something far more complicated.
Four hundred years ago, the Sky Dragon Grandeeney, the Iron Dragon Metalicana, the Shadow Dragon Skiadrum, and the White Dragon Weisslogia had each been defeated by Acnologia. He had not killed them outright; instead, he had used his Magic of Absolute Negation Dragon Slayer Magic to consume a portion of each dragon's soul before departing.
Their souls were grievously damaged, yet they had managed to survive by sealing themselves within their respective foster children using the Dragon Soul Technique. But that same technique was the only thing keeping them alive, and once it was dispelled, the time they had left would not be long.
It was why, even after their children had reunited with them, the four dragons had never emerged. Coming out would only hasten their end.
What Kuro's healing Magic had just done was repair those missing pieces of their souls. The cost of it was that his own soul had grown weaker in the process.
The reason Igneel himself had not been within Kuro's healing range was different. Though Igneel had been defeated by the Black Dragon four hundred years ago, his strength at the time had been great enough that Acnologia had left him only with physical injuries, all of which had long since healed.
Feeling the life force of his four companions swell and strengthen once more, Igneel let out a long, measured sigh. He reached out and stayed Kuro's hand before the man could push himself further.
"That's enough. At this rate, you'll be in a coffin before you ever learn anyone's Dragon Slayer Magic."
Kuro drew a slow breath. His voice was slightly strained as he looked up at the Fire Dragon King's spectral form.
"Then... you'll agree to teach me?"
Igneel snorted. He turned to exchange a look with the four dragon forms that had now re-emerged alongside their foster children. A moment passed between them, and then the Fire Dragon King's massive head dipped in a slow, reluctant nod. His dragon eyes, burning with flame, came to rest on Kuro.
"Human. We have seen your resolve."
"For the sake of ending Acnologia, we will cooperate. But to relearn multiple Dragon Slayer Magics from the beginning, do you truly believe you have enough time?"
Before Kuro could answer, Noah spoke.
"Don't underestimate Kuro. Mastering five types of Dragon Slayer Magic at once would not be beyond him."
He turned and gestured toward Irene, drawing the puzzled attention of everyone in the room.
The implication was immediately understood.
The essence of Dragon Slayer Magic lay in drawing out a dragon's power and giving it to a human. If there was anyone in the world who could accelerate that process, it was Irene Belserion, the woman who had created Dragon Slayer Magic itself, and whose mastery over Enchantment Magic had no equal.
Irene stepped forward. She studied Kuro with a complicated look in her eyes.
"I will use Enchantment Magic to apply the power of the Fire Dragon King and the others to you all at once. I should warn you, the process will be extremely painful."
Kuro nodded firmly. "Thank you."
Without further ceremony, Irene released her Magic. Five Enchantment circles formed around Kuro in an instant, spreading wide. Guided by the wills of Igneel and the other dragons, five immense torrents of dragon power began to pour into the circles in unison.
That night, a shockwave of Magic unlike anything felt before erupted from the banquet hall.
Blazing fire, unyielding iron, cutting gales, blinding light, sweeping shadow — five distinct dragon powers surged and coiled through the air, all converging into a single body.
Kuro opened his eyes slowly. Deep within his pupils, something like the shadow of dragons seemed to stir.
He raised one hand. Above his palm, a sphere of chaotic, shifting color rotated in the air — the five dragon powers blended together, radiating a destructive force that made the air itself feel heavy.
In Kuro's hands, the Dragon Slayer Magics of Fire, Iron, Sky, Light, and Shadow had not simply been acquired. They had been fused and reshaped into something altogether faster and more devastating, a brand new form of power: Dragon Slayer: Five Extremes.
The sight left Noah genuinely impressed.
Kuro's affinity for dragon power could only be described as extraordinary. He had taken to Dragon Slayer Magic the way most people took to breathing.
As expected of the Child of Destiny chosen by the World Will to resolve the ancient conflict between humans and dragons. His talent truly was something else.
...Not that Noah was going to say that out loud. After all, he was hardly one to talk.