182 Speedrun 34

(Fairy Tail - Tenrou Island- Andy POV)

"Zerky, my boy!" I exclaimed as I took a seat right next to the most notorious mage on the continent. Finding him lazily reclining under the tree was a piece of cake, even without my authorities. He radiated unfathomable amounts of divinity, yet I knew it wasn't his.

Zeref Dragneel, brother of the annoying fire-spewing demon, gave me an uninterested glance before closing his eyes once again. My appearance on this island was sudden and unannounced, yet he didn't seem surprised.

Despite being hundreds of years old, Zeref had the appearance of a young man. He had short black hair, dark eyes, and abnormally sharp canines. He wore a gold-trimmed high-collared black robe, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso. He also had a pendant that, if my memory serves me right, contained a picture of him and his brother around his neck.

His arms were placed behind his head, his feet crossed, as he comfortably lay on the large oak tree in this clearing.

"How can one be so carefree..." I muttered under my breath while shaking my head.

"Leave. This is your only warning," he casually stated without moving an inch.

"Or else?" I challenged, only for my torso to be hit by a ball of destruction, which shredded my clothes but did no damage at all.

"That was rude," I said with a pout, waving away the smoke and reverting time for the nanites that composed that part of my outfit.

"I came to offer my help, yet this is how I'm welcomed," I chided, shaking my head in false disappointment.

The fact that I didn't die from his attack, even though he couldn't feel a hint of magical energy from me, finally made him open his eyes and look at me with a more inquisitive look.

"Who and what are you?" he asked, with a suspicious expression.

"Why does everyone always ask that?" I said with a sigh, "They never ask how are you. How's your day going? Nor do they compliment me on my appearance. Like, look at these boots!" I said, gesturing toward my newly created boots made out of demonic hide, "They're brand new!" I exclaimed in an exasperated voice, making the cursed dark mage glance at them, recognizing the skin of one of his demonic creations.

He gave me a deadpan expression and asked, "Is skinning one of my creations supposed to be some kind of statement?"

"Nah," I said with a shrug, "Just a fashion choice. Although they are quite comfortable. Could I ask you to make a few more demons so I can make boots for my companions as well?" I asked, cocking my head to the side, while giving him a pleading look.

"Ridiculous," he snorted, shaking his head in amusement, "You're the first one to ask for something like this."

"There's always a first for everything," I said with a chuckle.

"So, Mr. Enigma, what are you offering?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

"So impatient," I said, shaking my head, and making him conjure another ball of destructive energies above his palm. I gave him a deadpan look and asked, "The first one didn't work, what makes you think the second one will?"

"The first one was a warning; this one will be serious," the energy in the ball increased fivefold, making me nod in appreciation. "Your control is quite admirable, although even if you sink all of your energy into that spell, you're not going to do too much," I said with a shrug, completely ignoring his threats.

"We'll see about it," he said, releasing the spell at me, making me roll my eyes and casually swat it away with my palm.

"Satisfied?" I said, giving him an unamused look.

"Not yet," he said, blinking away as dark miasma started to gather around him. "Dark Predation!" he shouted, releasing a wave of darkness that should have killed everything in his immediate vicinity. Yet the hastily erected holy affinity barrier that surrounded me and the tree that I still used as a backrest, like an immovable object, stood firmly in its way.

His spell washed over the barrier, sending ripples throughout its structure and eroding its surface, but otherwise doing nothing to it.

"Are you done with this dick-measuring contest?" I asked, unmotivated to movie a single muscle.

"Almost," Zeref stated with a wide grin as he swiped both of his arms in a circular motion until the bottoms of his hands met.

He was surrounded by a maelstrom of dark energy, with his top hand having the index and middle fingers pointing upwards and the other hand having the little and index fingers pointing downwards. With a smirk on his face, he uttered a single word, "Repent," unleashing a devastating spell directly inside the barrier, creating a huge vertical explosion that consumed everything, including the barrier itself.

"That was uncool," I muttered in annoyance as my back impacted the smoking ground. Both my clothes and the tree I was resting on were completely disintegrated, and I lay there on the cold hard ground in my birthday suit.

"I disagree," Zeref simply stated, appearing by my side.

"Aw, man!" I exclaimed, noticing the cold air blow between my toes, devoid of my comfy boots. "I did like them," I muttered in false sorrow, then grabbed and disintegrated the hand that reached towards the marble that lay right next to my body. "Don't even think about it," I warned, my tone growing dangerous. "What Ankhseram did to you would be child's play compared to my punishment."

Zeref, surprised by my sudden shift in demeanor, took a step back while his elbow sprouted a new hand in an instant. This time, he took up a serious fighting stance and asked. "How do you know about that?"

"Oh, I know a lot about you, Zeref Dragneel, or should I call you Emperor Spriggan? Wait, you're going by the Black Wizard moniker right now, right?" I asked but didn't wait for a reply. "You're an Immortal, cursed by the god Ankhseram for dabbling in the natural order of life and death," I continued with a grin as my outfit reformed, and I stood up. "I know you were orphaned after the Dragons killed your parents and your little brother, Natsu. I also know that you were a student at the Mildian Magic Academy, where you relentlessly researched the connections between life, death, and Magic to revive your family." Before I added, "And I also know that you partially succeeded, creating E.N.D, or better know Etherious Natsu Dragneel, just so he could kill you."

"How do you know all of that!" He shouted, his expression sour.

"I have my ways," I said with a shrug, not wanting to disclose that his story was told as a form of entertainment in my world. "Now let's get back to why I came here," I said, shifting the topic. "I'm offering you the realization of your wish, a way to escape," I added with a devilish grin. "So, Zerky, would you like to die?"

(Fairy Tail - Unknown Island - Aletia POV)

"That jerk!" I shouted in annoyance, while Fluffy circled me, sniffing the air curiously, trying to locate our target. "I can't believe it! He goes to have a talk with some immortal while he sends us to find a monster!"

"Shaa..." Fluffy muttered while rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean, 'get over it'?" I exclaimed in shock, realizing the little monster wouldn't take my side.

"Shaa-Shaa," she muttered while shaking her head.

"Wait!?" My eyes widened in realization. "You're getting paid for this?!"

"Shaa?" She hissed, looking at me in confusion.

"No, I'm not!" I crossed my arms and huffed in annoyance. "He didn't offer anything. He just teleported me here and said, 'Take care of the...' What was it called?"

"Shaa!" She exclaimed in a rather uncharacteristic tone.

"Right," I nodded, confused by her tone. "It was Acnologia, whatever that is."

"Shaa, SHAA!!" She screeched, her claw pointing towards the sky.

"Yes, I get it..." I said, rolling my eyes. "You don't need to repeat its name so many times..."

"SHAA!" Fluffy screeched once again, powering up an attack, while her eyes were glued to the horizon.

"Huh, what's up with you?" I mumbled, then following her gaze, and my eyes widened in horror. "God, I really hope that's not Acnologia," I said with little to no hope, as a massive dragon approached our location at a rapid pace.

The dragon had an entire upper body covered in black, round scales, which were decorated by spiraling blue markings. The scales seemed to disappear at the end of its tail, which, in itself, ended in a stinger-esque shape. Its large black wings were feathery in appearance, akin to a bird's. Its lower body, specifically its chin, chest, stomach, inner tail, thighs, and arms, were gray in color and appeared to be rather smooth.

Its eyes were white and beady, and its head was round and blunt with four large, elongated plates extending backward. The dragon's mouth was full of razor-sharp teeth, and attached to its chin was a protrusion that resembled an arrowhead.

It stopped in the air, floating high above us, and opened its massive maw. The breath it took, changed the direction of the winds, sending a chill down my spine.

"Fluffy!" I exclaimed in horror, my eyes wide as saucers, as magic started to gather inside its maw.

Fluffy exploded in size, towering over me like a mountain, her breath attack completing its charge just in time to contend with whatever the dragon had unleashed upon us.

With a deafening roar that nearly ruptured my eardrums, the two breath attacks met in a violent explosion, sending shockwaves through the island, raising it in a matter of moments.

My only saving grace was the fact that I stood right behind Fluffs' towering form, which blocked the brunt of the damage. Still, I was in bad shape, the sudden pressure difference wreaking havoc on my body.

As the attacks subsided, the two monsters assessed each other, a hint of amusement in their eyes, and a moment of deafening silence descended on the battlefield.

The blood trickling from my ear canals reversed in flow as my regeneration skill activated, restoring my hearing and revitalizing my body in a matter of seconds. Yet, I could only grimace as my eardrums once again ruptured the moment the floating dragon released a roar, diving towards our location at astonishing speed.

"I'm going to kill him!" I shouted in annoyance, finally realizing why Andy had pushed me to learn how to imbue the dragon-slaying concept into my magic.

Dragon-slaying, as well as Demon-slaying magic, had seemed like a childish idea to me, something I'd only skimmed through with minimal interest. Why focus on something so specific when other forms of magic could be used to slay dragons as well?

However, understanding how to cast Concept Magic from my world made it so much easier to grasp these spells, so in the end, I did learn, even if I might never need it.

With my complete elemental affinity, it could be said that I was one of the strongest dragon slayers in this world, probably only a single place behind Andy.

White ethereal wings, composed of compressed air, sprang from my back as I launched myself to the side, ascending toward the heavens at a rapid pace, while a metallic sheen covered my outer form to prevent damage from the sudden acceleration.

Meanwhile, Fluffy took a single step and, with a tremendous explosion of displaced air that vaporized a quarter of the island, reappeared just behind the wide-eyed dragon and bit into its neck.

"Enchant!" I shouted, gathering and sending a spell directly toward Fluffy's teeth. Yet, to both of our surprise, her sharp, reinforced fangs failed to breach the dragon's skin, blocked by its glowing scales.

"Damn it!" I muttered in annoyance as the two beasts tumbled through the air, rapidly falling from the sky.

I placed my palms before me, gathering my mana and shaping it into a skyscraper-sized ice lance, imbued with the dragon-slaying concept. "Now, Fluffy!" I shouted, prompting her to chomp down and rip off one of the dragon's wings before propelling herself away from the creature.

Acnologia roared in pain, blood gushing from its wound as it struggled to regain its bearings. Tumbling through the air and nearing impact with the ground, its eyes locked onto me and the spell hovering just before me.

"Ice Javelin!" I yelled, releasing the spell that consumed more than a quarter of my mana.

The dragon's eyes widened, and it hastily gathered a breath attack before releasing it at my spell. The two spells collided, with mine easily overpowering its hastily conjured attack.

While my spell was more potent, I couldn't help but grimace. Stopping my attack wasn't its intention. The distance between us allowed it to slightly alter the trajectory of my spell, causing it to narrowly miss its core and only scrape the side of its scales.

"I think I made it angry," I muttered with a wry smile as the dragon disregarded Fluffy's follow-up attacks and focused on me with a menacing gleam in its eyes.

In a greenish-white flash, its form regenerated, a new wing sprouting from its back, and all the superficial damage it had sustained vanished. It then unleashed a magic-infused roar that resonated through the heavens.

"Great, just great," I grumbled under my breath. I cast a time manipulation spell on myself, accelerating my perception of the world, and allowing me to deftly evade a sudden black fireball that materialized from thin air and exploded high above us.

The explosion was so powerful that it sent me hurtling through the air at terminal velocity, while simultaneously filling the sky with a hailstorm of black fireballs.

Opting for a more strategic approach, Fluffy rapidly shrank in size and materialized beside me. She grabbed my shirt, taking a step that whisked us hundreds of meters away from the danger.

As we reappeared at a safe distance, I wiped the soot from my face. "I'm ready for round two," I declared, my hands radiating an ethereal glow, while Fluffy growled at the massive dragon, her gaze unwavering.

It took but a blink, and what appeared before me was an enormous maw opened wide, poised to devour me. However, before it could strike, a powerful impact sent the dragon's body hurtling into the ocean at a speed faster than my eyes could track.

The ocean parted as the monster's massive form crashed into the water, sinking to the seabed with such force that it liquefied the ground and vaporized the surrounding water. Then, the sea came crashing down, sending a towering column of water kilometers into the air, creating a salty rain on this clear, sunny day.

In that brief moment, I understood what had occurred. A colossal, hollow spike, sizzling and exuding a corrosive substance, had pierced the dragon's head, passing through its lower jaw, ending its life in a single, seemingly unblockable, attack.

The responsible party, who had been standing beside me just moments ago, now floated in the sky hundreds of meters above me, their form roughly the size of the nearby island.

"You could have done that from the beginning?!" I exclaimed in frustration, causing the island-sized beast to respond with a shy 'Shaa...' as it averted its head, unwilling to make eye contact.

"Fluffy!"

(A/N: I'm updating my publishing schedule to include only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, allowing me to have the weekends off.)