Eclipse Plan Begins (Part 1)

As the Black Dragon drew ever closer, Zeref, braving the relentless wind, shouted to Igneel, "Igneel, this can't go on! The Black Dragon will catch up with us sooner or later!"

"I know all that, but what other option do we have now besides running away?" (Igneel)

No sooner had the Fire Dragon King finished speaking than Zeref immediately replied, "Igneel, I'll stay here and hold him off. You take the opportunity to leave with Natsu!"

"Are you kidding me! We finally found you, and we were almost about to complete Brother Sordil's request. How could I possibly leave you here alone at this point!" (Igneel)

After saying that, Igneel squeezed out some of the almost depleted potential within him, and the next second, the speed at which the two escaped increased again.

"Hmph! Trying to run? Dream on!"

Watching Igneel accelerate ahead, the Black Dragon snorted coldly, then also increased its own speed. Thus, the two maintained their previous state... well, I misspoke! They were steadily closing in on each other.

After enduring everyone's scorn, the White Shadow Twin Dragons finally managed to find Igneel and his companion. However, when they looked at the almost identical scenery around them, they were immediately dumbfounded! They realized that they had no idea where Igneel had gone or in which direction.

"Hey! Old White, which way should we go now? (Skiadrum)"

"Gulp!" (White Dragon swallows saliva)

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? (Vyseria)"

Hearing his old friend's reply, Shadow Dragon said angrily, "You don't even know where to go, so why did you ask me to help you snatch this mission? Isn't this a rip-off?"

"Sigh! How come all the blame falls on me when something goes wrong! When I said I wanted to do this, didn't you agree without hesitation? (Vyseria)"

"I thought you already had leads on Igneel and the other guy, which is why I agreed so readily. Who would have thought you'd actually... Humph! (Skiadrum)"

"We've been together all this time. If I knew any leads on Igneel and the others, wouldn't you know too? (Vyseria)"

"Then why did you take on this task? (Skiadrum)"

"I...I was going to ask Anna, but you pulled me out of there so quickly, so I forgot about it... Sigh! So, you're the real culprit! (Vyseria)"

After searching high and low, he ended up putting a huge blame on himself, which ruined the entire Shadow Dragon King's life!

"Well... how was I supposed to know you had something to ask Anna? I thought you... Besides, in that situation, any normal person would have wanted to get out of that awkward place as quickly as possible!"

"Phew! I finally managed to fool them!" (White Dragon's inner thoughts)

As an understanding dragon, Vyseria shook his head helplessly, then said earnestly, "This matter ends here. Don't do it again!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I won't do it again next time, I promise... Wait a minute! Something seems off. (Skiadrum)"

Seeing that the other party was about to react, the White Dragon King hurriedly came out to put an end to the matter!

"There's nothing wrong with it, you're overthinking it! Alright, let's hurry up and think of where to find Igneel and the others! (Vyseria)"

"Is that so? Hmm! Why do I still feel like something's not quite right there? (Skiadrum)"

Seeing that Skiadrum was about to see through the illusion, the White Dragon King had no choice but to slip away.

"Hey... Old Black, you're in charge of searching the west and south, I'll take care of the east and north!"

Having said that, the White Dragon King hurriedly ran off in the northeast direction. Just then, a furious roar came from behind him.

"Vyseria, are you trying to make me take the blame again?!"

"Well... I have some urgent business to attend to, so I'll be going now. No need to see me off!"

Seeing the White Dragon King flee, the Shadow Dragon King roared angrily and then hurriedly chased after him.

"Um?"

The White Dragon King, who was fleeing from the iron fist of justice, suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared ahead with a face full of doubt.

"Hmph! Vyseria, you can't escape now, can you! (Skiadrum)"

Hearing the Shadow Dragon King's shout from behind, the White Dragon King turned his head and gestured for him to be quiet.

Shh! Old Black, listen carefully!

Looking at the serious-looking White Dragon King, the Shadow Dragon King observed him for a long time with a face full of doubt. After confirming that the other party was not fooling him, he did as the other party said and quietly listened to the sounds around him. At this moment, a series of subtle but clear explosions entered his ears.

"That sound... Old Bai, could it be that Igneel and the others are in some trouble?"

The White Dragon King pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's not impossible! Let's go! Old Black, let's go take a look!"

As they spoke, the two of them cautiously headed toward the direction from which the sound came.

"Run! Run again! (Black Dragon)"

Looking at the smug Acnologia in the sky, Zeref whispered to Igneel, "Igneel, we have no choice now. We can only do it the way we just discussed!"

"But... (Igneel)"

"There are no 'buts' anymore, we have to do it now!" (Zeref)

After issuing the order firmly, Zeref gently comforted him, "Igneel, don't worry, there's no one in this world who can kill me!"

Although Igneel knew in his heart that this was just an excuse from Zeref to put his mind at ease, the Fire Dragon King still nodded and agreed.

"Alright! In that case, I'll give you a signal later, and then you can take the opportunity to leave here with Natsu."

After speaking, Zeref began to gather his magical power, while at the same time, the Fire Dragon King, who had risen from the ground, also began to gather his strength. However, Igneel's target was not the safe rear, but Zeref standing in front of him and the Black Dragon high in the sky.

Just as the two finished their preparations and were about to launch their attack, two beams of energy, one black and one white, shot out from behind them and attacked the triumphant Black Dragon at an extremely fast speed.

"Igneel, come here quickly! (Skiadrum)"

Hearing the voice behind them, Igneel and his companion realized that a black dragon head had appeared in their shadows without them noticing.

"Skiadrum, what are you doing here? (Igneel)"

"We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to hurry and meet up with Vyseria! (Skiadrum)"

"Okay! We're coming right now!" (Igneel)

Seeing that Igneel was about to fly over, Skiadrum hurriedly stopped them. "Wait! It's too slow for you to go like this, and it will make that guy up there realize our intentions, so let me take you there!"

"In that case, thank you for your hard work! (Zeref)"

Seeing that Zeref had agreed, Igneel had no choice but to follow suit. (The Fire Dragon King's embarrassing history has been updated; not only was he chased all over the place, but he also needed the help of others to successfully escape! PS: This is why Igneel didn't agree immediately.)

By the time the Black Dragon had finished digesting the attacks from the White and Shadow Dragons, Zeref and the others had vanished without a trace.

"Roar! No matter where you run, I will find you!"

After roaring, the Black Dragon sensed the surroundings carefully before chasing after the dragon again.

Not long after the Black Dragon left, a shadow in the forest below suddenly split open, and the next second, the three dragons and two others rolled out from inside.

"Ouch! That hurts so much!" (Igneel)

"Hey! I was the one who got the worst squeeze just now, okay? (Vyseria)"

"I only said it hurt, I didn't say it was from being squeezed, why are you getting so worked up? (Igneel)"

"You... (Vyseria)"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Shadow Dragon quickly stepped in to change the subject.

"Alright! Stop fooling around! Igneel, who was that guy just now? Why did he attack you? (Skiadrum)"

Upon hearing Shadow Dragon King mention the Black Dragon's identity, Igneel's smirk vanished completely. He then said in an icy tone, "That guy just now is the one who killed Uncle Sacred Dragon and Atlas Flame!"

"What? It's him! (Vyseria)"

Seeing the White Dragon King suddenly stand up, ready to fight the Black Dragon to the death, Igneel not only didn't stop him, but instead 'encouraged' him, saying, "Go on! Why aren't you going? I'm waiting to collect your corpse!"

"Hmph! You think I wouldn't dare? Fine, I'll go! (Vyseria)"

Seeing that Vyseria was really chasing after the Black Dragon, Igneel and Skiadrum hurriedly stopped the hothead.

"What the hell! You idiot, you actually went after him! (Igneel)"

"Old White, are you out of your mind? Can't you see our attacks can't even hurt him? You're not going to avenge someone, you're going to your death!" (Skiadrum)

Amidst the two men's gentle head pats and earnest admonitions, the White Dragon King finally realized his mistake. He then sincerely said, "Of course I know all this, but since the Gluttonous Dragon King has put it that way, how could I not go!"

Hearing Vyseria's sarcastic retort, the Fire Dragon King, his face covered in soot, barely suppressed the urge to punch him, turning his head away speechlessly. Meanwhile, Zeref and Skiadrum were discussing with great interest how to see the bright stars obscured by clouds during the day.