I Said Memento Vivere

No one dared to move. The name of the Dark Mage was too famous; every mage knew this name.

Zeref stood in the middle of the smoke and dust, his long black robe trailing to the ground, not even a ripple at the hem.

He bent down, picked up the Book of E.N.D., dusted it off, and casually flipped through it.

"I'm sorry, this is my book, I can't give it to you."

He looked around the room, his gaze finally settling on Natsu.

His gaze was as calm as a deep pool of water, devoid of hostility or warmth.

Mard's eyes lit up when he saw Zeref, and he reached out his hand to Zeref.

Half of his body was still frozen in the ice, his metal armor was covered in cracks, and dark purple blood was seeping down between his fingers. But his eyes were burning with an almost pious light.

"Master... I did all this to get back to you."

"Oh? Do I need to praise you?" Zeref gave him a cold look.

The tone was as indifferent as if asking about the weather. Mard's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"I wouldn't dare..."

Mard felt a chill run through his hands and feet, and a sense of impending death crept into his heart.

Zeref reached out his hand to him, not to help him up, but as a black magic circle appeared.

Only a ring of dark purple patterns slowly rotated in front of Zeref, eerily quiet.

Mard's eyes widened in terror, and he transformed into a book.

His body began to ethereal from his fingertips; his metallic armor, bat wings, and dark purple blood all disappeared inch by inch, as if erased by an eraser.

Instead, a book with a dark purple cover fell to the ground with a thud into the pile of rubble.

Everyone present witnessed this scene.

Is the Demon of the Book of Zeref really just a book?!

They had always thought "the demon of the Book of Zeref" was just a title, never imagining it actually referred to a book.

With a flick of Zeref finger, the book that Mard transformed into was burned to ashes by the flames.

This action triggered Natsu's underlying code.

"Isn't that your partner? What are you doing?"

Natsu took two steps forward, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his eyes bloodshot.

"Partner? Not really, it's just my creation, my tool. That's all for today, see you next time, Natsu."

Zeref's figure slowly dissipated and disappeared from the scene.

His body began to become transparent from the edges, like ink merging into clear water, leaving not a trace of magical fluctuation.

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. A sense of impending death had been looming over them, more real than Mard's earlier warning of "Memento Mori."

Some people's legs gave way and they sat down directly in the pile of rubble.

The battle between Igneel and Acnologia in the air has entered its final stage.

The Fairy Tail members all looked up.

Ten thousand meters in the sky, two enormous figures are colliding at a speed that is difficult to perceive with the naked eye.

The clouds were torn to shreds, and the air currents formed violent vortexes.

Igneel has abandoned magical attacks and is fighting Acnologia with his bare hands.

Its crimson scales were covered in cracks, and its wings had several large holes.

But the fighting spirit in those vertical pupils showed no sign of waning.

The two dragons charged at each other at such speed that they both created sonic booms.

Bang!!

The two dragon bodies collided violently in mid-air, and a white shockwave exploded at the point of impact.

Igneel jerked his head to the side and bit off Acnologia's entire arm.

With a crisp snap, the dragon arm covered in mysterious black patterns was bitten off, and black blood gushed out from the cut.

For the first time in four hundred years, something has finally managed to injure the Black Dragon.

Zeref, who hadn't gone far, was also astonished; he hadn't expected Igneel to be able to injure Acnologia.

He stopped in mid-air, glanced back, and a flicker of emotion appeared in his lifeless eyes.

Everyone stared in horror, their eyes wide with disbelief as they watched this scene unfold.

In just a moment, Igneel was torn in half by Acnologia, and the half-dragon fell to the ground.

With a deafening roar, it crashed onto the ruins of the Underworld Island, creating a deep crater in the ground.

Strangely, no blood flowed from Igneel's half of his body.

Acnologia glanced at the dying Igneel, then flew straight away, disappearing into the high-altitude clouds.

Natsu staggered toward Igneel.

His legs were trembling, the gravel under his feet crunched under his feet, and he almost tripped several times.

"Igneel!!"

He scrambled and stumbled to Igneel's side.

At the edge of the pit, Natsu slipped and tumbled down, scraping his knee on the gravel.

Unaware of his surroundings, he climbed up to Igneel's enormous dragon head and reached out to touch its rough scales.

The scales were still warm, but the heat was gradually fading.

Natsu couldn't accept that their reunion, which had been so hard-won, was ending so abruptly.

He shouted to those around him.

"Riyao!! Riyao!!"

The sound echoed across the empty ruins, but no one responded.

Natsu's voice was hoarse from shouting, and his eyes were red, but he clenched his teeth and refused to let the tears fall.

"Natsu, it's no use. We've already lost our dragon souls; it's no different from death."

Igneel's voice was low and weak, its eyelids drooping, and its once fiery vertical pupils were now only a gentle afterglow.

"No, Riyao is very capable; he definitely has a way."

Natsu's hands were trembling.

He had seen Riyao cure Laxus's poison, seen Riyao reshape Ur's body, and seen Riyao use "Memento Vivere" to break Hades's death Curse.

In his mind, that blond bastard was omnipotent.

Natsu...

No one went forward to disturb Igneel and Natsu.

After the other four dragons finished off Face, they returned to their own offspring and began to give their last words.

Four beams of light pierced the clouds in the sky, revealing the figures of four giant dragons: Grandine the Sky Dragon Grandine, Metalicana the Iron Dragon, Weisslogia the White Dragon, and Skiadrum the Shadow Dragon.

Sting and Rogue reacted the most, since in their memories, the White Dragon and the Shadow Dragon died at their hands.

Although they had their doubts, they were still taken aback.

"Weisslogia! You actually lied to us? This is outrageous!"

Sting stomped his foot in anger and went up to give the White Dragon Weisslogia two punches.

His fist slammed into the White Dragon's scales, producing two muffled thuds, but Weisslogia didn't even blink.

"Haha, a kid's memory can be altered so easily. We even wanted to go further back then, Igneel wouldn't allow us to. What a pity."

Weisslogia clicked his tongue, feeling only regret.

Shadow Dragon Skiadrum poked Rogue with his claw.

The dragon Rogue was bigger than Rogge's entire body; with a light touch of its fingertip, it sent Rogue staggering back two steps.

"Still so unlovable, like a block of wood. Natsu is much more fun."

"..." Rogue remained silent.

He kept his head down, his bangs obscuring his eyes.

His shoulders were trembling slightly, but he bit his lip tightly.

Grandine brought her head close to Wendy's. The Sky Dragon's head was much larger than Wendy's whole body, but she moved very gently when she approached.

Wendy rushed over, hugging Grandine's nose tightly with both arms, burying her face in the cool scales, and finally couldn't hold back her tears.

Wendy, you've grown up.

Grandine's voice was as gentle as a spring breeze across a lake, and it gently nuzzled Wendy's head.

"Grandine, is it really hopeless? Maybe Riyao Bro has a solution."

Wendy looked up at Grandine with teary eyes.

Grandine remained silent, only nuzzling against Wendy.

Gajeel glanced at Iron Dragon Metalicana, then turned his head away and refused to look at him again.

His movements were stiff; his neck was twisted to one side, but his ears were perked up.

Metalicana made a sarcastic remark.

"Still so fierce."

"Hey! Is that all you say after all this time?"

Gajeel suddenly turned his head, his eyes wide open, and his voice was eight octaves higher than usual.

"I wish I had picked up a girl like Wendy."

"You bastard! You think you can take care of a girl?"

The two, one man and one dragon, went back and forth, neither giving an inch.

"I told you to Memento Vivere." The off-key voice rang out again.