Recaps

Fairy Tail encountered Brandish on Caracole Island, where she demonstrated her overwhelming power but let them withdraw. Riyao and the others escaped aboard the Sun and headed to rendezvous with Laxus and the others.

• Brandish failed to recognize Riyao until he mentioned X777, when she remembered him as Lady Layla's son and Lucy's brother; Riyao clarified that he was not related to the Heartfilias by blood.
• Mirajane grew jealous when Riyao greeted Brandish, but he explained that he had only met her while treating Layla, then pulled Mirajane into his arms.
• Brandish crushed Caracole Island into a palm-sized rockery, dropping Fairy Tail and the others into the sea, and warned them that they could not defeat the empire's twelve powerful mages.
• Riyao stopped Natsu from attacking Brandish and led Fairy Tail away after recognizing that their mission to draw attention had succeeded.
• The group reappeared aboard the Sun, and Riyao ordered them to rendezvous with Laxus and the others.

Laxus and the others fled the Alvarez Empire aboard the damaged Christina while Ajeel, Wahl, and God Serena attacked them. As the airship raced toward the border, Ur and Silver tried to stop a combined blast of Dragon Slayer Magic and Wahl’s cannon, but their ice failed to hold it back.

• Ajeel raised a wall of sand in the Christina’s path, and Laxus blasted an opening with Lightning Dragon’s Halberd so the airship could escape through it.
• Wahl fired a magic restraint cannon at the Christina, but Ur froze the beam into a giant icicle that crashed into the desert.
• God Serena appeared aboard the airship, revealed he had joined the Alvarez Empire, and attacked with wind and lightning magic.
• Laxus entered Azure and Crimson Dragon Mode and clashed with God Serena’s lava roar while Ur and Silver attacked from both sides.
• Ultear repaired the Christina with Arc of Time and accelerated it, but Wahl fired again as God Serena combined three Dragon Slayer spells with the cannon’s beam.
• Ur and Silver tried to freeze the combined attack, but the overwhelming force shattered their ice as the blast closed in on the Christina.

After Riyao rescued the Christina from Wahl’s attack, the Sun met Makarov and the returning Fairy Tail members in the sky. Riyao and Makarov raced home, and the Sun left the Christina far behind with a burst of speed.

• Zeref watched Wahl’s missed beam carve a lava-filled trench and told Invel to prepare the army.
• Riyao’s Sun appeared beside the Christina, and Riyao teased Makarov about looking older before Makarov slapped him.
• Riyao and Makarov agreed to race home, with the loser paying for a banquet.
• Ichiya pushed the Christina to full speed, leaving Gajeel, Metalicana, and the other Dragon Slayers sick from the ride.
• Riyao infused the Sun with life magic, and the parasol tree drew in sunlight to propel the ship several times faster than the Christina.

Fairy Tail celebrated Makarov’s return, then learned that the Alvarez Empire was their next enemy and vowed to fight it. Mavis appeared to take command, but Riyao suddenly shattered her Thought Projection, leaving the guild in shock.

• Fairy Tail welcomed Makarov back, and he apologized for disbanding the guild before the members laughed off his guilt.
• Makarov warned the guild about the Alvarez Empire, Zeref, and the Spriggan 12, but Natsu and the others refused to back down.
• Mavis appeared and joked that Makarov’s disbanding had almost made her disappear before declaring she would lead the fight against Alvarez.
• Riyao told Mavis to return to her body, then struck and shattered her Thought Projection, prompting the guild to roar at him.

After Mavis’s Thought Projection returned to her body, Riyao’s guildmates discovered that he had faked an impersonation scare as part of the plan to protect Fairy Heart. Mavis joined them in the hall, where teasing about her dress upset her, until Riyao reminded her that dinner awaited after she finished the battle plan.

• Gray and Natsu attacked Riyao, but Mirajane explained that he had staged the incident to send Mavis back to her body and give the guild more time to respond to the enemy targeting Fairy Heart.
• Riyao joked with the guild and escaped with Mirajane to take clothes to Mavis, while Makarov stopped himself from following them and then slammed Natsu into the floor for mocking him.
• Mavis returned from the basement in a Gothic dress and proudly called it a grown-up lady’s style.
• Gajeel compared Mavis’s dress to the outfits Levy wore, prompting the guild to laugh and Levy to kick Gajeel into a wall.
• Mavis curled up and drew circles on the floor until Riyao reminded her she could eat once she finished the battle plan, which immediately cheered her up.

Mavis prepared Fairy Tail for the coming battle while the guild celebrated, unaware that Brandish had secretly entered Magnolia. After Lucy discovered Brandish in her room, Riyao explained that he had once saved Brandish’s mother, and Brandish briefly reacted to his words.

• Mavis projected a map of Fiore and presented tactical plans, while Warren activated his magical radar system and the guild received phones funded by Riyao.
• Riyao teased Natsu about being an antique, then punched Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray into the floor, wall, and ceiling.
• The guild held a feast before its members went home to rest, and Riyao, Mirajane, Erza, Natsu, Lucy, and others returned to Riyao Manor.
• Lucy screamed when she found Brandish in her room, lying on her bed after apparently using the manor’s bath and eating its desserts.
• Riyao told Mirajane that he had saved Brandish’s mother from the man who possessed Capricorn, and Brandish briefly paused at the explanation.

The Alvarez Empire launched its first assault on Magnolia, and Fairy Tail's members fought back across the coast and town. Riyao left Brandish behind in the courtyard and headed east.

• Mavis warned Fairy Tail that more than fifty Alvarez Empire warships were approaching Magnolia's west coast and sent the Flying Dragon and Osprey Squads to respond.
• Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel attacked the enemy fleet, while Bisca prepared to snipe its flagship with Alzack and Asuka supporting her.
• Warren discovered imperial soldiers had infiltrated Magnolia, so Mavis ordered Freed to remove the runic barrier and sent the guild members to fight them.
• Riyao used the Parasol Tree to strengthen Fairy Tail across town while Brandish refused to join either side and asked him to claim he had captured her.
• Riyao shrank the Parasol Tree and used Life Mimicry: False God to travel east, leaving Brandish in the courtyard.

Riyao reached Fiore’s eastern border and found four elderly men in white robes as the Alvarez Empire attacked from four directions. Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy fought Ajeel near Magnolia, where Natsu used the destruction of an airship to absorb an explosion and blast Ajeel into the sea.

• Riyao wondered whether Zeref’s divided invasion reflected his contradictory desire to destroy the world and be stopped, then greeted four elderly men at the eastern border.
• Ajeel covered Magnolia in a sandstorm, and Natsu and Happy flew through it to confront him.
• Natsu’s attack failed to break Ajeel’s sand wall, and Natsu collapsed from motion sickness after landing on an assault airship.
• Ajeel launched spinning sand cones at Natsu, who revealed that his apparent struggle had been a signal for a long-range Compressed Jupiter shot.
• Compressed Jupiter destroyed the airship, and Natsu absorbed the explosion before blasting Ajeel into the sea with Fire Dragon King’s Roar.

Wahl Icht’s weakness-specific puppets initially overwhelmed Fairy Tail, but Mavis’s order to switch opponents let the guild regain the advantage. Mirajane destroyed Wahl’s puppet and wiped out the southern district’s soldiers, while Erza faced Neinhart and the enemies he conjured from her memories.

• Wahl Icht’s puppet analyzed Fairy Tail’s weaknesses and deployed countering soldiers that stopped Elfman and Bickslow.
• Mavis told the guild members to switch opponents, allowing Gray and Elfman to destroy the puppets that had countered them.
• Mirajane attacked Wahl’s puppet, tore it apart, and survived its self-destruct explosion.
• Mirajane used Seilah Form to command the Alvarez Empire soldiers in three blocks to kill themselves, clearing the southern district.
• Erza received the battle report and confronted Neinhart, who summoned deceased enemies from her memories.

Riyao redirected a devastating beam away from Fairy Tail, while Mavis sent the Dragon Slayers to confront Wahl Icht. After life magic let Natsu and Gajeel damage Wahl’s mechanical body, he escaped toward Magnolia, prompting Mavis to order a town-wide search.

• Riyao summoned a giant wooden dragon that deflected the beam aimed at Fairy Tail into the sea.
• Mavis ordered Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel to attack the last enemy airship, and Gajeel split it apart.
• Wahl Icht created a floating ice platform, leaving the Dragon Slayers temporarily incapacitated until their cats carried them into the air.
• Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel infused their attacks with Riyao’s life magic, which Wahl could not analyze or dissolve.
• Wahl transformed into a mechanical construct and charged at Wendy, but Natsu struck him and Gajeel pierced his reactor with an iron spear infused with life magic.
• Wahl vanished, and Wendy warned Mavis that he had escaped into Magnolia; Mavis ordered Warren and several guild members to search the town.

Fairy Tail searched Magnolia for Wahl, but Brandish delivered the unconscious, shrunken Spriggan 12 member to the guild. Riyao explained that Life Magic left behind by Gajeel had spread through Wahl’s core at the manor, prompting Gajeel to angrily accuse him of stealing the kill.

• Erza and Mirajane discussed how a Spriggan 12 member had fled, while Mavis searched Magnolia for Wahl.
• Mavis concluded that Wahl was hiding at Riyao Manor, and Erza, Mirajane, and Laxus raced toward it.
• Brandish arrived at the guild with Wahl unconscious inside a glass bottle and said she had found him that way at the manor.
• Mavis noticed Life Magic around Wahl’s wound, and Riyao explained that traces left by Gajeel had grown and destroyed Wahl’s machinery at the manor.
• Gajeel shouted over the telepathy channel that Riyao had stolen his kill.

Mavis secured Wahl, mobilized Fairy Tail to reinforce the other battlefields, and kept Brandish from sharing information by frightening her with a fake curse. On the eastern border, Riyao stood with the Wizard Saints as Hyberion angrily confronted him over Fairy Tail’s latest trouble.

• Mavis had Silver freeze Wahl inside an indestructible block of ice, then ordered the guild to support the other battlefields.
• Erza and Mirajane led one group south, while Laxus led another north as Mavis warned the guild leaders that several Spriggan 12 remained unaccounted for.
• Mavis tested Brandish’s loyalty and scared her into staying put by claiming Riyao had placed a curse on her.
• Riyao heard Mavis’s deception over the telepathic network and watched the sunrise on the eastern border with Hyberion, Warrod, Jura, and Wolfheim.
• Hyberion berated Riyao for Fairy Tail’s role in provoking the Alvarez Empire.

Riyao faced August, Irene, and God Serena on the eastern battlefield, then challenged God Serena to protect the Four Heavenly Kings. After easily overpowering Serena, he watched him unleash the full power of his eight Dragon Slayer Lacrimas.

• Riyao spotted August, Irene, and God Serena approaching with the Four Heavenly Kings beside him.
• God Serena asked to take on the Four Heavenly Kings, while August and Irene confronted Riyao.
• Riyao transformed with Life Mimicry: False God and challenged God Serena to keep him from attacking the Four Heavenly Kings.
• Riyao nullified God Serena's wind magic, crushed him into a crater, and dragged him back out.
• God Serena pushed his eight Dragon Slayer Lacrimas to their limits, unleashing fire, shadow, lightning, wind, and water across the cliffside.

As Mavis worried over the intense magical disturbance at Riyao's position, Makarov confirmed that Riyao was safe and the All-Creation Giant Dragon was stable. Jacob Lessio of the Spriggan 12 infiltrated Fairy Tail's guild hall, but Ur killed him, and the guild announced his death to the front lines.

• Mavis struggled to decide whether to tell Mirajane about the unstable readings from Riyao's battlefield.
• Makarov asked Mirajane about the All-Creation Giant Dragon, and her report reassured everyone that Riyao was safe and had ample magic.
• Mavis noted that most of the Spriggan 12 were still unaccounted for as Jacob Lessio appeared at Fairy Tail's guild hall and introduced himself as an assassin.
• Ur surrounded Jacob with seductive ice sculptures, distracted him, and froze him to death when he tried to use Space Magic.
• Mavis announced Jacob's death across the communication network, raising morale among the defenders, while Brandish hid under a tablecloth.

Riyao effortlessly countered God Serena’s eight-element Dragon Slayer attack and crushed him with overwhelming magic. After burying God Serena beneath a mountain, Riyao turned his attention to August and Irene and began casting a new spell.

• Irene stopped Warrod and the other Heavenly Kings from intervening in Riyao and God Serena’s fight.
• August delivered Zeref’s warning that Riyao should consider threats elsewhere, and Riyao dismissed it.
• God Serena unleashed Calamity of the Eight Dragons, but Riyao compressed the attack into a small sphere with Universe in the Palm.
• Riyao separated the sphere into eight elements, struck God Serena with them, then battered him through magic circles and buried him beneath a transformed mountain.
• Riyao faced August and Irene and began casting Interwoven Fates with overlapping silver-white and golden magic circles.

Bloodman devastated the allied forces with his Magic Barrier Particles and copied curses, while Laxus and Gajeel fought back without stopping him. Riyao arrived in a dragon form and erased the black fog, leaving the stunned army facing the battle’s unexpected newcomer.

• Laxus warned the allied forces to retreat from Bloodman’s Magic Barrier Particles, but the black fog swept through the front line, poisoning allies and Alvarez soldiers alike.
• Freed rescued and treated injured Sabertooth mages as Gray and the others tried to hold the fog back, but Bloodman reassembled and detonated the particles with Explosion Curse.
• Bloodman used Slashing Curse to cut through the allied ranks, and Laxus attacked in Azure and Crimson Dragon Form but passed through Bloodman’s smoke-like body.
• Gajeel entered a human-dragon union with Metalicana and shattered Bloodman with Iron Dragon’s Steel Shattering, briefly slicing the Magic Barrier Particles apart.
• Bloodman filled the forest with black fog, but Riyao descended in an azure lightning bolt and purified the fog and revived the withered ground.

The allied forces fought the Alvarez Empire at Hargeon Port until Dimaria Yesta stopped time and gravely wounded Ultear. A mysterious Riyao appeared to heal Ultear and restart time, but Mirajane realized he was not her Riyao.

• Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, and Mermaid Heel attacked the imperial army at Hargeon Port, while the others wondered where Natsu had gone.
• Dimaria Yesta appeared in the battlefield’s center and used Time Seal to freeze everyone except Ultear, who could move with difficulty.
• Dimaria slashed Ultear with countless strikes, leaving her gravely wounded, and Ultear used her time magic to free Erza and Mirajane from the freeze.
• Erza attacked Dimaria while Mirajane tried to save Ultear, who said she lacked the magic to bring in the All-Creation Giant Dragon.
• A man who looked and felt like Riyao healed Ultear with Life Magic, then struck the ground with his staff and made time flow again.
• Mirajane realized the man beside her was not her Riyao.

The Fairy Tail guild discovered that three versions of Riyao had appeared across different battlefronts, while Zeref sensed the impossible temporal disturbance during the Alvarez Empire’s march. Natsu confronted Zeref on the plains and unleashed a series of powerful attacks, but Zeref survived and regenerated completely.

• Mavis identified the three magic-power markers as Present Riyao, Past Riyao, and Future Riyao, and recalculated the guild’s chances of victory.
• Zeref sensed that one person existed in three places at once, and his death aura erupted until Invel ordered the army to retreat at Zeref’s command.
• Natsu attacked the Alvarez army and demanded to face Zeref, while Igneel and Happy watched from above.
• Natsu struck Zeref and followed with Fire Dragon King attacks that blasted him into a massive lava crater.
• Zeref rose from the crater, healed his charred body, and told Natsu that his flames still could not burn him away completely.

Zeref revealed to Natsu that he was his biological older brother and that Natsu was END, the demon Zeref had resurrected. Igneel carried Natsu and Happy away at Riyao’s request, while Zeref prepared to begin the war in earnest.

• Zeref introduced himself as Zeref Dragneel and told Natsu he was his biological older brother.
• Igneel confirmed that Zeref had entrusted Natsu to him and that he had erased Natsu’s memories of their childhood.
• Zeref explained that he had resurrected Natsu as END and warned that Natsu would die if he killed Zeref.
• Igneel explained why he could not kill Zeref four hundred years earlier, when magic power was scarce.
• Igneel carried Natsu and Happy away because Riyao had told him to take them, despite Natsu wanting to keep fighting.
• Zeref watched them leave and ordered an outfit befitting an emperor, declaring that the war would begin in earnest.

White-Haired Riyao appeared on the battlefield outside Hargeon, displayed devastating spatial magic, and revealed the effects of Ankhseram’s curse. After draining Dimaria’s time to prolong his existence, he erased the remaining imperial army and vanished, while soldiers began falling from the sky above the Alvarez capital.

• White-Haired Riyao broke free of the Time Seal and crushed hundreds of imperial soldiers with spatial magic.
• Mirajane and Erza realized he was a future version of Riyao, and Mirajane suspected he carried Ankhseram’s Curse of Contradiction.
• White-Haired Riyao’s Death Storm killed thousands of imperial soldiers and left the battlefield within a one-li radius lifeless.
• White-Haired Riyao seized Dimaria, drained her time and powers, and left her limp on the ground.
• White-Haired Riyao erased the surviving imperial army, then vanished as time particles scattered into the sea breeze.
• Imperial soldiers began falling from the sky above the Alvarez Empire’s royal capital.

Azure Dragon Riyao annihilated Bloodman and the imperial soldiers while healing the allied mages, then vanished as a crimson High Enchantment Magic engulfed Fiore. The chapter ended with the battlefield caught in warped gravity and space as Metalicana identified the magic as a woman's attack.

• Azure Dragon Riyao crushed Bloodman and unleashed Yin Wood Divine Lightning across the battlefield, striking Gajeel along with the imperial troops.
• Riyao fully dragonized and transformed into a thousand-foot azure dragon, startling Sting and the allied mages before swatting Gajeel into the mud.
• Riyao swallowed Bloodman and the Magic Barrier Particles, then used azure lightning to kill the surviving imperial soldiers and heal the allied mages.
• Riyao's dragon form faded away, leaving Gajeel frustrated that he had no enemies left to fight.
• A crimson light swept across Fiore, distorting gravity and space and trapping Gajeel against the ground.
• Metalicana identified the crimson phenomenon as a woman's High Enchantment Magic.

At the eastern cliffs, Riyao dropped his divine act and revealed that Irene’s daughter Erza was alive and in Fairy Tail. He then exposed August’s connection to Mavis and Zeref, leaving August hopeful that his parents had never known he existed.

• Riyao sent the Four Heavenly Kings away and told Irene that Erza was her daughter and was still alive.
• Irene reacted with shock and Dragon Force before regaining her composure, while August tried to change the subject by showing that he could only imitate a trace of Riyao’s Life Magic.
• Irene guessed that August’s family member was Mavis and began to infer that Zeref was his father, prompting August to cut her off in panic.
• Riyao asked whether Mavis and Zeref knew August existed, then said that neither of them knew about their child.
• August’s despair lifted as he realized his parents might not have rejected him, and he began longing to seek their love.

Riyao offered to help Irene reunite with Erza, but when he asked why Irene had abandoned her, she attacked him with Enchantment Magic. Their confrontation was interrupted by Acnologia, and Irene and August immobilized both him and Riyao.

• Riyao told Irene that Erza was doing well and liked strawberry cake, and Irene guessed that her daughter had inherited her beauty.
• Riyao asked Irene why she had abandoned Erza, and Irene trapped him in Thunder Prison and attacked with a meteor, crushing gravity, and a blazing stone furnace.
• Riyao survived Irene's attacks by using folded space and reflected on the magic and costs behind his defenses.
• Acnologia arrived at the coastline, recognized Irene as a dragon, and fixed on her as a target.
• Irene called on August, and they spread crimson magic across the landscape, immobilizing both Acnologia and Riyao.

Irene used Universe One to reshape Fiore and separate the opposing forces, leaving Mavis alone with Zeref and sending Riyao and Acnologia to the end of the world. Riyao recalled a ruined future in which Zeref’s premature death triggered a catastrophic war, and he resolved to change history.

• Irene compressed and rearranged Fiore, surrounding Fairy Tail with the empire’s forces while scattering the allied mages, and left Mavis alone with Zeref.
• Irene sent Riyao and Acnologia to the end of the world, where Acnologia transformed and attacked Riyao in midair.
• Riyao remembered the future seven years after the final battle, when Zeref’s early death led the Spriggan 12 and imperial army to devastate Ishgar.
• In that future, White-Haired Riyao returned too late to save Mirajane, killed Acnologia and the Alvarez forces, and wandered the ruined world.
• Riyao recalled the choices that might have prevented the disaster and headed toward the Northern Continent after sensing that history had changed.

Riyao returned to Ishgar, reunited with Mirajane, and sent Fairy Tail a rough map of the reshaped Kingdom of Fiore while the Black Dragon remained trapped in a spatial loop. At the ruined guildhall, Zeref and the remaining Alvarez forces prepared for Fairy Tail’s arrival as August hesitated to reveal the truth about himself.

• Riyao escaped the Black Dragon by folding the space around it into a loop, then returned to Ishgar and reunited with Mirajane.
• Riyao shared a rough map of the rearranged Kingdom of Fiore with Fairy Tail, and he and Mirajane flew toward Magnolia on the All-Creation Giant Dragon.
• Riyao told Mirajane that Irene had used the Twin Walls of Despair to reshape Fiore, and Mirajane tried unsuccessfully to call Erza.
• Fairy Tail’s scattered members followed Riyao’s map toward the guildhall as the remaining Alvarez army gathered in Magnolia.
• Irene blasted Neinhart through the guildhall walls after he told her about Erza, while August remained uncertain whether to reveal the truth to Zeref and Larcade.
• Zeref left Mavis’s side and ordered the Alvarez forces to prepare for the approaching enemy.