Black Feather of the End

"Water Dragon's Roar!" The azure dragon spewed a powerful Dragon's Breath from its mouth, slamming heavily into the Ice Dragon.

Mira and the others stared in terror at the dragon that had suddenly appeared before them. Mira asked in disbelief, "Did he just say he was Feng Lan? What is going on?"

Lisanna shook Natsu, asking worriedly, "Natsu, is Brother Feng Lan okay?"

Natsu said excitedly, "Haha, don't worry! Brother Feng Lan is fine~ It's just... I haven't seen him go full throttle like that in a long time. I'm fired up!"

Mira and the other two stared at the sea-blue dragon, their eyes filled with shock.

Mira could not help muttering, "Is this your full strength... Feng Lan?"

Lisanna and Elfman looked at Feng Lan as he was now, their eyes full of admiration.

Natsu gazed at Feng Lan, his eyes brimming with longing. "Just wait, Brother Feng Lan. One day, I... I'll definitely catch up to you!"

Struck by Feng Lan's Dragon's Breath, the Ice Dragon spun several times in midair before stabilizing itself. "Ice Dragon's Wing Attack!"

The Ice Dragon flapped its wings, sending an icy wind mixed with shards of ice straight at Feng Lan. Unhurried, Feng Lan wrapped himself in his wings to withstand the freezing gale.

"Wing Attack of the Water Dragon!" Once the cold wind had passed, Feng Lan swiftly spread his wings, sending countless water-shaped blades flying toward the Ice Dragon.

"Ice Dragon's Seal!" Seeing this, the Ice Dragon hurriedly froze the water blades.

Feng Lan smiled faintly and appeared behind the Ice Dragon. "Water Dragon's Collapsing Fist!" Feng Lan drove a Collapsing Fist into the Ice Dragon's back, knocking it directly into the water blades.

"Roar!" Hit by Feng Lan's attack, the Ice Dragon had countless water blades pierce its body and let out a miserable scream.

The Ice Dragon crashed to the ground and slammed both hands heavily against it. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Ice Piercing Bone!"

A huge ice-blue sphere of magic power formed above the Ice Dragon. The sphere spun at high speed, firing countless ice needles in every direction.

"Water Dragon's Soul Devour!" Feng Lan unleashed a watery black hole, destroying most of the ice needles, but some still slipped through.

"Watch out!" Feng Lan saw dozens of ice needles shooting toward Natsu and the others.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu instantly unleashed a scorching vortex of flames, destroying and melting nearly all the ice.

"Full-Body Take Over—Satan Soul, Dark Spark!" Seeing this, Mira immediately took on Satan Soul as well, completely destroying the remaining ice needles.

As Feng Lan's black hole exploded, the Ice Dragon's magic sphere was destroyed as well. Then the Ice Dragon flew high into the sky, intending to attack Feng Lan again.

Feng Lan glared furiously at the Ice Dragon. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art..." An incomparably massive circular black hole appeared in the sky. "Abyssal Depths—Falling Stars!" In an instant, countless deep-blue comets, roughly shaped like raw stones, emerged from the black hole. Like rain, they all crashed down onto the Ice Dragon.

"Roar!" The Ice Dragon was smashed into the ground by countless comets, and the hard ice rock was forcibly blasted full of huge craters.

As the smoke cleared, the Ice Dragon lay on the ground, barely alive. Feng Lan also undid his Dragonization and returned to human form. With magic power coating his hands, he slowly approached, ready to finish the Ice Dragon off.

"Wait!" Suddenly, a white-haired little boy stepped in front of Feng Lan, shielding the Ice Dragon. "Please, don't take Dilsid away too!"

Feng Lan stopped in place, somewhat shocked as he looked at the boy before him.

"Liel! Get out of the way!" the Ice Dragon lying on the ground shouted at the boy with all his remaining strength.

Mira asked Natsu in confusion, "Natsu, what's going on?"

Natsu shook his head. "I don't know... Don't ask me."

Liel showed no intention of backing down as he looked at Feng Lan. He squeezed his eyes shut, gathered his courage, and charged at Feng Lan. "Ice Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"A Dragon Slayer Mage? Could it be..." Feng Lan withdrew his magic power and caught Liel's punch barehanded. "Not even as good as Natsu..."

Dilsid, lying behind them, used all his strength to inch forward. "Hey! Water Dragon, let go of Liel. Kill me or torture me, do whatever you want."

Feng Lan pushed Liel over to Dilsid's side, then waved Natsu and the others over. "I think we can talk."

The four of them walked behind Feng Lan, warily watching Liel and Dilsid.

Liel plopped down on the ground, and Feng Lan and the others sat down as well.

Feng Lan spoke first. "Your name is Liel, right?... You're an Ice Dragon Slayer Mage? Did this Ice Dragon called Dilsid teach you?"

Liel shook his head. "I am indeed an Ice Dragon Slayer Mage, but Dilsid wasn't the one who taught me magic... It was his biological father, my adoptive father—the Ice Dragon King, Dilrak."

Natsu hurried forward and asked, "Dilrak? Where is he now?"

Liel said despondently, "He... died, five years ago..."

Feng Lan and Natsu were both shocked. "Died? Five years ago!?"

Liel nodded. "Yeah. It was Dilrak's death that provoked Dilsid and drove him mad, even changing the climate."

Natsu nodded sympathetically. "Then... do you know a dragon called Igneel?"

Liel was just about to shake his head and say he did not know when Dilsid beat him to it. "I know him. The Fire Dragon King Igneel, the Water Dragon King Slokard, and the Wind Dragon King Tefraha were friends of my father, the Ice Dragon King Dilrak."

Natsu hurriedly asked, "Then where are they?"

Dilsid shook his head. "Tefraha died decades ago. From what my father said before he died, Igneel and Slokard disappeared four hundred years ago without a trace. My father said they went to fulfill some kind of mission..."

Natsu and Feng Lan both froze where they stood. (Explanation: In this book's setting, Acnologia did not kill all the dragons during the Dragon King Festival a hundred years ago, so quite a few members of the Dragon race have survived to this day. Dilsid and Dilrak are among them. Also, Liel is not a transmigrator, so Feng Lan and the others do not know him. He was a child adopted by the Ice Dragon King in this era.)

Natsu asked anxiously, "That's impossible. Igneel and the others only disappeared a few months ago."

Feng Lan said uneasily, "Yeah, and I even saw Aunt Tefraha two years ago."

Liel scratched his head. "Maybe you remembered wrong... Do you have any more questions?"

Feng Lan nodded. "I do have one... The cause of your father's death..."

Fear and anger appeared in Liel's eyes. "He was killed by a dragon. Instantly..."

Feng Lan was immediately horrified. "That can't be possible! The Ice Dragon King... How could a Dragon King-level dragon be killed instantly, especially on his own turf?"

Liel shook his head. "I didn't believe it either! But it was the truth... He was killed by a black dragon..." As he spoke, he condensed a model of that dragon out of ice.

Feng Lan and Natsu looked even more frightened after seeing it. "I've seen this dragon in my dreams."

Then Feng Lan and Natsu looked at each other. "You saw it too?"

Lisanna asked, unable to make sense of it, "Then what is this dragon?"

Elfman also asked curiously, "Is this dragon good or bad?"

Feng Lan and Natsu exchanged glances, then shook their heads. "We don't know. We've only dreamed of what he looks like."

Dilsid sneered. "The source of all evil in this world. A dragon who possessed Dark Wings that did not belong to dragons, who slaughtered hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dragons alone, and nearly drove the Dragon race to extinction—the Dragon King, Black Feather of the End—Acnologia!"