117 The Future
The giant blast of magic shot out of Acnologia's mouth immediately changed directions, growing drastically in size in the process and engulfing the black dragon in an even greater explosion. The island shook as the blast collided with Acnologia, with the Fairy Tail members barely being able to hold on as the shockwaves blew across the island and outward, generating large waves in the ocean. Pieces of the top of the large tree that stood in the middle of the island broke off and fell to the ground beneath. Any clouds that were in the vicinity were immediately cleared away for miles, leaving a wide open blue sky with only one massive smoke cloud where Acnologia was once flying.
"Such power…" Freed remarked, still visibly shook by what he just witnessed.
"That had to be stronger than Etherion…" Lucy commented, remembering the events of the Tower of Heaven and Etherion striking the tower.
"That power was too manly!" Elfman shouted. "There's no way that dragon is coming back from that!"
The shockwaves of the blast began to die down and the Fairy Tail members looked up at the massive smoke cloud looming above the island.
"No…" Gildarts muttered. "That dragon is very much alive."
"It had to have taken some damage right?!" Gray questioned.
"I doubt it. That blast only stalled it." Meliodas responded. "When I fought Laxus, I reflected his lightning back at him and it had no effect, even at three times the power."
"Yeah, we're not affected by our own magic." Laxus added. "It makes sense an actual dragon wouldn't be either."
"But if it roars at us, we can just keep reflecting back at it right? It has to run out of magic eventually-" Bickslow's comment was cut off by a deafening roar coming from the massive smoke cloud. A large figure emerged from the smoke cloud and landed hard on the island, shaking it.
"We might stand a chance here. After seeing Meliodas reflect its blast, it won't use it again most likely." Levy added.
"But if it's not affected by our own magic or all of us attacking it at once, how are we supposed to hurt it?" Carla questioned.
Meliodas stared at Acnologia briefly as an idea popped in his head. 'I have to try that. There's no other way.' He turned to Makarov, who was back to his normal size and sitting on the ground.
"Master, you can use telepathy magic right?" Meliodas asked. Makarov nodded as Meliodas walked closer to him and whispered something in his ear. Makarov's eyes widened at Meliodas' plan.
"You're...seriously planning something like that…" Makarov responded.
"Can you relay that to everyone else? I'll need their help." Meliodas said. Makarov paused for a moment as he realized this was truly a last resort and their only chance of
getting off the island.
"You had better survive, Meliodas." Makarov added. He put his fingers on his head, as he activated his telepathy magic, his voice transmitting into the minds of the other Fairy Tail members. The Fairy Tail members' faces filled with a mixture of surprise and dread as they heard the plan.
"So you're using that technique…" Lily commented.
"Meliodas you can't…" Wendy said somberly. Meliodas returned a small smile back at her before getting into a stance as he faced the rest of the Fairy Tail members. Meliodas unsheathed Mel Force, holding it firmly in his left hand as while a large amount of magic radiated from Meliodas' body before vanishing.
"This is insane!" Natsu yelled.
"You're really planning to take all of our attacks without any sort of defense?!" Gray added.
"Yeah, there has to be another way!" Lucy exclaimed.
As the Fairy Tail members stared at Meliodas, they heard the loud footsteps of Acnologia, getting closer and closer. Meliodas looked back at all of them with a reassuring smile.
"Come on everyone, let's do this!"
"We just have to believe in Meliodas!" Erza interjected, now donning her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
"Dammit! You better come out of this alive!" Gray shouted as he got into his ice make stance. The other Fairy Tail members looked at each other before taking their own stances.
"Ice Make: Cannon!"
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
"Evil Explosion!"
"Sand Buster!"
"Water Slicer!"
"Solid Script: Storm!"
"Dark Ecriture: Destruction!"
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
"Baryon Formation!"
"Photon Slash!"
"Mizuwari!"
"Rain of Light!"
Meliodas stood in place as over a dozen different magical attacks struck him and various sensations of different degrees of pain radiated throughout his body. From the intense cold of Gray's ice, to the heat of Natsu's fire. His body, continuously ravaged as the roars of the other dragon slayers struck him at once, the blunt force of Gajeel's roar, the great pressure of Wendy's roar, and the electrifying power of Laxus's roar.
These sensations of pain and damage, building up in his body further as several more attacks hit him and he could feel each one breaking him down further. Mirajane's darkness slammed hard into his body as the combined gust of sand, wind, and water tore into him. He could feel every bone in his body screaming with pain as the attacks kept coming, the added pain from the Thunder God Tribe's onslaught making it nearly unbearable at this point.
As Meliodas grit his teeth and braced himself for more, he felt the energy blast of Erza's swords collide with his body. He could feel his bones creaking at this point, his body screaming at him to stop, but he continued taking each attack to its fullest. At that moment, the ground underneath him cracked, a massive shockwave of magical energy tore into him from Gildarts' attack. He could feel many of his bones breaking and blood gushed out of his body as several fractures pierced out of him through his skin. Suddenly Meliodas felt an immense pain, one that he was all too familiar with as he could feel his body break down from many blasts of light magic that Makarov launched at him, a demon's natural weakness.
The smoke from the resulting massive explosion of every attack striking the same area began to clear, revealing Meliodas standing up in a massive crater after taking all of the attacks. His body heavily beaten and bleeding, his skin mostly purple from heavy bruises, torn to shreds and seemingly on the verge of death. Meliodas fell to his knees with an empty look in his eyes as his head leaned back with Mel Force on the ground next to him.
"W-was that too much?" Wendy cried out as she looked at Meliodas, who appeared to be on the verge of death.
Acnologia began to charge towards Meliodas, tearing through the trees and rocks that were in his way. As the black dragon got closer, Meliodas jolted up from his kneeling position and picked up Mel Force from the ground with a fierce look in his eyes. A bright vortex surrounded Meliodas, one larger than even Acnologia and rose seemingly endlessly into the sky. His body began to hover in the air as he prepared to swing Mel Force at Acnologia who was now directly in front of him.
At that moment, Meliodas noticed a strange spot on Acnologia's chest, one reminiscent of a scar. A scar in that seemingly impenetrable wall of scales that did not heal correctly from a previous fight unknown to Meliodas. 'There!'
"REVENGE COUNTER!"
Meliodas swung Mel Force with the power of his revenge counter behind it, causing the vortex to dissipate as his blade glowed brightly. Meliodas' blade clashed with Acnologia's body, creating a massive shockwave as a loud clanging sound echoed throughout the island. Meliodas swung as hard as he could into Acnologia's body with a fierce look of determination in his eyes. 'I'll protect everyone here.'
At that moment, the fierce expression on Meliodas' face vanished, becoming one of pure despair as a loud cracking sound rang through the island. In his hand, Mel Force had completely broken, the blade shattered into many pieces like glass with only the hilt remaining. The remaining energy of the revenge counter faded as Meliodas slowly fell to the ground. He looked up with dreary eyes at Acnologia who was glaring at him.
"Meliodas get out of there!" Carla screamed. At that moment, the fortune of his demise that the Queen had spoken of came into his head. 'So this is it…I couldn't change that future.'
Acnologia raised his right claw in the air and swiftly slashed down at Meliodas. Meliodas felt a sharp pain go across his entire body going from his left clavicle down to his right hip. Blood gushed out of the massive gash in Meliodas' body as he was sent flying across the island towards the ocean, the Fairy Tail members watching in absolute horror as blood from his body rained down below. Meliodas' vision began to grow darker and darker, the screams of his worried comrades fading. He could feel no more physical pain in his body. Instead, he felt a deep burning pain in his chest that struck at his very essence. One that felt even worse than any physical trauma he had been through as he watched Tenrou Island get further and further away from him.
'I couldn't protect them.'
