A Plan to Bathe in Dragon Blood!
The comical incident of Pumpkin King Toma revealing his identity was quickly forgotten.
With disaster looming, few people had the leisure to continue dwelling on the king's outlandish attire.
The capital's garrison moved swiftly, with cavalrymen blowing their bronze whistles and small squads dispersing and charging into major residential areas.
The soldiers went from house to house, banging on doors and urging the civilians to pack their belongings and evacuate to the high ground shelters on the outskirts of the capital.
The streets were filled with galloping carriages and people with their families; the entire city of Crocus had entered a state of full-scale wartime.
At the edge of the pool in the central square, mages were preparing for battle.
Gray took off his coat and draped it over the railing, flexing his knuckles as he crossed his arms.
"This time, I won't just stand around like an idiot like Tenrou Island did."
"Hehehe! It's perfect to test my abilities against these so-called ancient overlords and see just how much I've grown in these seven years."
Natsu lowered his head and counted the days on his fingers.
"But speaking of which, the date of the dragon's attack today is July 7th."
"Igneel also disappeared without warning on July 7th of that year."
Lucy walked to Natsu's side, placing her hands on either side of her skirt.
"July 7th? The disappearance and the attack happened to coincide on the same day. Is there some special significance to this date?"
The others gathered around, each speculating about the connection.
Jiang Bai was not with the others in the central square at this time, but went to the Eclipse Gate with Lucy.
Jiang Bai, who was familiar with the plot, knew that this was nothing more than a scam by the Future Rogue.
With just a flick of his finger, Jiang Bai could dismantle the entire Eclipse Gate into scrap metal, directly severing the passage that the giant dragon had traversed four hundred years ago.
But Jiang Bai never intended to prevent the opening of the Eclipse Gate from the beginning.
Releasing these dragons from the past and killing them along the way would actually be a huge opportunity for Fairy Tail.
The high-level magical essence flowing within the body of an adult dragon contains unimaginable energy.
After slaying the dragon, bathing the entire body in processed dragon blood can directly temper the mage's physique and bones, forcibly increasing the upper limit of magic power reserves.
Such a highly nourishing substance is so rare that you could search the entire continent and still not find a single living creature to bleed it.
Now that there are ready-made prey lining up to deliver themselves to our doorstep, it would be a waste to pass up such a free opportunity.
As for eating dragon meat after slaying the dragon?
Jiang Bai immediately nipped the thought in the bud.
The Fire Dragon King Igneel, for Natsu's sake, resided deep within Natsu's heart and slept there, and was also Natsu's true adoptive father and closest relative.
It would be a bit unreasonable to actually roast a dragon over a fire and eat it.
Humans cannot accuse dragons of treating humans as livestock and food, while turning around and cutting up their own kind to cook.
Jiang Bai has a clear moral bottom line. Bathing in dragon blood to enhance his strength is more than enough, so he can skip indulging in gluttony.
When--when--
The hands of the tallest clock tower in the capital city coincide at the very top.
The melodious chimes of Midnight resounded throughout the city of Crocus.
Fiore Palace.
The enormous Eclipse Gate stood in the open space, its surface engraved with intricate ancient Celestial Spirit magic patterns.
Princess Hisui stood atop the stone steps leading to the gate, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
"Time's up, let's begin!"
Earlier this afternoon, Princess Hisui sent her royal guards to invite Lucy and Yukino to the side hall to complete the most crucial unlocking ceremony using the golden key to the Zodiac.
Therefore, there is no need to reinsert the key at this time.
The royal family spent seven years preparing, using the Grand Magic Games as a giant energy-absorbing array to collect and gather the massive amounts of magic power that the participating mages had squandered on the arena, filling the energy storage magic pool around the Eclipse Gate.
This heavy door is a bottomless pit. If a mage with insufficient magical reserves tries to open it, the magical power within their body will be drained away and they will be reduced to dried corpses.
With a command from Princess Hisui.
The heavily armed Imperial Guards soldiers waiting on both sides immediately pulled the bronze winch.
Click!
The gears meshed and turned, producing a dull tremor from the ground.
The massive stone Eclipse Great Gate, slowly cracked open inwards.
Jiang Bai stood on the open space in the square, his mind fixed on the gate.
Is it finally coming?
The kingdom's high-ranking officials and soldiers waiting inside the stone hall erupted in excited shouts.
"The gates of victory have finally opened!"
"This is our ultimate hope in overcoming calamity!"
Praise and cheers echoed through the hall.
Lucy, standing at the edge of the line, froze in place when she saw the eerie green light shining through the crack in the door.
Lucy's expression suddenly changed. She took two quick steps forward and screamed loudly at the Hisui Princess in front of her.
"No! Stop right now! We absolutely cannot open this door!"
Lucy didn't even care about royal etiquette and waved her arms frantically.
"It must be turned off immediately!"
Captain Arcadios, his hand on the hilt of his sword, strode forward.
"Lady Lucy, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
Lucy was so anxious that she stamped her feet.
"Turn it off! Please, stop the winch and turn it off right now!"
Princess Hisui turned around and resolutely rejected this absurd proposal.
"Miss Lucy, you can't close the door! This is the only weapon in the Kingdom of Fiore that can withstand ten thousand dragons!"
Lucy shook her head vigorously.
"Wrong!"
Lucy pointed to the ever-widening crack in the door and loudly exposed the cruel truth.
"It's not some kind of super weapon for annihilating the enemy at all!"
"This door is a passageway connecting to the past!"
However, the royal scholars and guards around them had already been completely brainwashed by the grand blueprint of Lunar Eclipse Plan, and not one of them stopped what they were doing.
Lucy lifted her skirt, turned around, and ran straight to Jiang Bai.
Lucy, panting heavily with her hands on her knees, looked up for help.
"Jiang Bai! That door... that door wasn't meant to kill dragons at all, it was..."
"Lucy, calm down and even out your breathing."
Jiang Bai's calm tone instantly soothed Lucy's frantic emotions.
"I know what this door is for, and I know what's behind it."
"After a few dragons peek out from under the door, you and Yukino can work together to close the door using the Celestial Spirit Key."
Lucy was stunned, completely unable to comprehend this logic.
"But since we knew it was a passageway connecting to the past, why didn't we block the door beforehand?"
Jiang Bai turned to the side and pointed to the area around the square.
King Toma, full of hope, stood on the high platform, surrounded by the kingdom's high-ranking officials and commoner representatives who had staked their lives on this door.
Every face was etched with fervent worship for the savior artifact.
Jiang Bai looked at these people and stated the facts directly.
"Look at them now. Everyone is counting on this door to eliminate the dragon once and for all."
Jiang Bai shrugged, his tone as clear-headed and sarcastic as ever.
"These stubborn power holders will never give up until they see for themselves what exactly will emerge from that door."
"With me standing here today to protect you, no matter how many lizards crawl out of the door, the situation won't turn around."
"But if I were to shut the door now, they would only think that I have destroyed the kingdom's hope."
Jiang Bai patted his sleeve.
"Even if they don't dare to resist on the surface, the next time I'm not in the capital, these self-righteous high-ranking officials will secretly open the door again. That will be the real catastrophe."
Lucy looked in the direction Jiang Bai was pointing.
Look at the soldiers and officers whose faces are full of expectation, some even with their hands clasped together in prayer towards the gate.
Lucy pursed her lower lip, and the confusion in her heart completely dissipated.
Indeed, only harsh reality can teach these people, blinded by false prophecies, the most profound lesson.
Just then...
The imaginary runes above the Eclipse Gate suddenly flashed with a ghastly green light.
The bronze gate, which is tens of meters wide, is already half open to the outside.
A giant claw covered in hard scales suddenly stretched out from the void inside the door, smashing the granite steps of the palace.
Immediately afterwards, a gigantic dragon head, as large as a house, squeezed through the crack in the door, its two dark yellow pupils shining in the darkness.
The violent air currents tore at the ground.
"Roar--!"