The Jade Dragon Pinned in a Mud Pit

On the other side, at the edge of the broken wall.

The Dragon of Hisui, Zirconis, was flapping its wings, still pondering how to continue stripping the humans of their clothes, when it suddenly saw its companion betray them on the spot, even chatting animatedly with the enemy's main force.

Zirconis jumped up and down in mid-air, roaring in frustration.

"Atlas Flame! What are you doing?!"

"That's a human! A lowly food source! How dare you call a piece of food your brother?!"

Atlas Flame slowly turned his massive head, his gaze falling coldly on the Jade Dragon, his eyes filled with disdain and majesty.

"Shut up, Zirconis."

Atlas Flame flared from his nostrils, his voice heavy as a mountain.

"My dearest friend's son is not the food you speak of."

"Anyone who dares to lay a finger on him, I will burn through his bones with these hellish flames!!"

Natsu stood with his hands on his hips, his feet firmly planted on the base of the Hellfire Dragon's hard horns.

A gust of wind lifted the white scale scarf around Natsu's neck.

Natsu looked down at the giant jade beast circling ahead and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Yoshi! Uncle!"

Let's burn that foul-mouthed green dragon to ashes together!

They heard the shout coming from the top of the dragon's horns.

Atlas Flame's thick neck trembled violently.

Two thick balls of hellfire roared out from his large nostrils, and Atlas Flame opened his blood-red maw, letting out a hearty laugh.

"Haha! Great!"

"Since it's Igneel's son who made the request, I'll play along with your nonsense today!"

Atlas Flame's massive body suddenly rose upright from the ruins of the street.

The enormous fiery wings pressed down heavily, instantly igniting the air along the entire commercial avenue.

Atlas Flame stared at the Dragon of Hisui opposite him and let out a roar that shook the heavens.

"Zirconis! Four hundred years have passed, and your foul temper of provoking the weak hasn't improved at all!"

"Today, let my hellfire wash away this rotten, filthy carcass from you!"

The raging fire waves spread wildly across the ground.

The Dragon of Hisui, Zirconis, flapped its wings in mid-air, its expression turning grim.

As a contemporary dragon who had dealt with Atlas Flame four hundred years ago, Zirconis knew this madman who controlled the hellfire very well.

Not only is its body tough and resilient, but its hellfire also possesses the stubborn characteristic of corroding the soul and scales.

Zirconis let out a sharp, eerie cry.

"You madman! Atlas Flame, you utter idiot!"

"You actually recognized a human as your nephew?!"

Zirconis's massive body swooped down, its enormous jade claws tearing through the heatwave as it lunged for the Hellfire Dragon's throat.

Stop spouting nonsense!

Atlas Flame didn't even bother to dodge; he simply raised his barbed dragon tail and delivered a powerful horizontal lash.

Snap!

The thick, fiery tail lashed solidly into the side of the Jade Dragon, sending up large fragments of shattered green jade.

The Jade Dragon's massive body lost its balance in mid-air, tumbling three times before crashing heavily into the ruins.

Both are adult dragons that traveled across time and space four hundred years ago.

But when they actually clashed, the difference in skill became immediately apparent.

Atlas Flame, a close friend who accompanied the Fire Dragon King Igneel in countless battles, far surpassed Zirconis in both pure strength and combat experience, who usually only made fun of weak creatures.

Deep in the shadows of a partially collapsed house on the side of the long street.

In the Future Rogue pressed himself tightly against the cold, damp, broken wall.

In the Future Rogue gripped his hair tightly with both hands, his once cold and composed face now twisted and distorted, filled with incomprehensible panic.

In the Future Rogue gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath in the shadows.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it!!"

"How could my Dragon Control Magic, which I painstakingly researched and perfected over several years, inexplicably fail at this crucial juncture?!"

"That idiot Atlas Flame actually broke free from mind control after a human brat ate a few mouthfuls of fire?!"

Watching the Jade Dragon crumble and retreat amidst the rubble, Future Rogue's heart sank to the bottom.

Seven of the nine heads of the dragon were dead, and the remaining one immediately turned against them.

Now, the only trump card they have left is this Dragon of Hisui, which has the lowest combat power.

In the Future Rogue raised his head, his gaze peering through the cracks in the brickwork at Jiang Bai, who stood nonchalantly at the edge of the square.

The large, round hole in the chest of the garment was still clearly visible, but the flesh inside was intact and smooth.

Future Rogue felt a chill run down his spine.

"The world that was once within reach... is now completely destroyed!"

"Where did this monster named Jiang Bai come from?!"

"That kind of physical reconstruction, capable of instantly restoring the body even after the heart has been pierced, is something that even the strongest demon recorded in the Book of Zeref cannot match!"

Future Rogue felt the lingering pain in his body, he frantically weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

The tide has turned.

If they stay here and fight to the death, once Jiang Bai Baiteng turns his attention to them, their fate will be ten times more miserable than that of the seven dragon corpses lying in the pit.

In the Future Rogue's feet began to spread eerily like ripples on water.

"It seems we have no choice but to retreat from the capital today and wait for a better opportunity."

"As long as I live, as long as the Eclipse Gate remains, I can travel to other nodes and command even more dragons to return!"

"We'll gather dozens of giant dragons then, and together we'll deal with that monster Jiang Bai!"

Having made up his mind, Future Rogue's body began to slowly sink and merge into the dark shadow beneath his feet.

At this moment, the battlefield on the long street was in its very center.

The Dragon of Hisui, Zirconis, scrambled to his feet from the rubble, his massive dragon jaws throbbing with gasps.

Before Zirconis could even raise its head again, Atlas Flame's massive, flaming head slammed down on its forehead like a giant, solid iron hammer.

Boom!

Zirconis's massive body was once again thrown backward, and a small piece of the jade horn on his head was knocked off.

Zirconis was both shocked and furious, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth as he shouted.

"Atlas Flame! So what if you're a little stronger than me?!"

"We are all dragons, and your hellfire is far from enough to completely kill me!!"

Standing atop the dragon's horns, Atlas Flame raised his long neck, flames churning and raging deep within his throat.

"Hisui! Don't underestimate the hellfire within me!"

Atlas Flame was engulfed in flames, and his voice boomed through the long street.

"And don't underestimate... the son of my old friend who just devoured my flame!!"