Eclipse Plan Begins (Final Chapter)

Just as Anna was feeling embarrassed by Igneel and the others' teasing, Grandiere stepped in to uphold justice.

"Alright! You lot, stop fooling around. Let's hurry up and head to Mildian!"

"But we can't use the Teleportation Array now. How do we leave here and return to the sea?" (Skiadrum)

Upon hearing this question, Anna immediately snapped out of her shyness and whispered, "The teacher said before that he left some oxygen masks here, which should be enough for us to get out of here!"

After Anna finished speaking, Igneel asked with a puzzled look, "Anna, was it Brother Sordil who ordered you to teleport us directly here? Otherwise, why would he leave oxygen masks here beforehand?"

After Igneel's reminder, everyone realized that Sordil was indeed somewhat prescient! So, they all turned their attention to Anna.

"Uncle-Master Igneel, the reason our teacher left the oxygen masks here and told me this was so we could use them in case of danger. Bringing everyone here to take shelter was my own decision, based on safety concerns, and has nothing to do with our teacher! (Anna)"

"Ugh! You people are so suspicious, you even doubt Brother Sordil and Anna, it's really annoying!"

Watching Metalicana jump from the skeptical camp to the believer camp, Igneel and the others silently cursed in their hearts, "Traitor!" (This is a reference to Huang Hong, a famous Chinese comedian known for his clever escape).

To avoid falling into an awkward situation again, Zeref, who was both the party involved and the beneficiary, stepped in at the right time to resolve the dispute.

"Now that we've figured everything out, let's hurry up and find the oxygen masks Sordil left behind, and then set off!"

"Okay! (To all)"

Western Continent, Mildian Magic Academy

After flying day and night for three days, Zeref and his companions finally left the boundless sea and arrived at this academy, which can be described as the pinnacle of academic learning.

"This is Mildian Academy! It's enormous!" (Anna)

"Hmm! Considering humanity's construction capabilities, to be able to build such a massive academy is truly remarkable! (Igneel)"

"It's a pity the academy still exists, but its master is already gone... (Zeref)"

Looking at Zeref's sorrowful face, Metalicana patted him on the shoulder and said, "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the fates that no living being can escape, so you don't need to be so sad!"

Although Metalicana's words of comfort were not exactly the right medicine, Zeref was still healed by them.

"Metalicana your advice, Brother Medalicana!"

Hearing Zeref's thanks, Metalicana smiled and then joined the others in admiring the enormous academy below.

After everyone had finished admiring the sights, Zeref said to them, "Gentlemen, I think you have finished admiring Mildian. Now let's go down and check the message that Sordil left for us!"

"Brother Zeref, do you know where Brother Sordil left the message? (Igneel)"

"If that Bandit guy hasn't changed the message storage location, I think I should know where he put the message!" (Zeref)

"Alright! In that case, I'll trouble Brother Zeref to lead the way! (Metalicana)"

"Then everyone, follow me!"

With that, Zeref led the group down toward the library.

When Igneel looked through the window and saw the densely packed books in the library, he swallowed hard and said in a trembling voice, "Brother Zeref, you're not going to tell me that that idiot Sordil hid the message in one of these books, are you?"

"Gulp!"

Upon hearing Igneel's words, everyone swallowed hard and then looked at Zeref.

"Hehe! Brother Igneel, you don't need to be afraid, because this library is the information that Sordil left for us, there's no need to search for it!"

With that, Zeref walked briskly to the library's control center and, following the decryption method left by Sordil, cracked the illusion that shrouded the outside world.

Just as Igneel and the others were completely bewildered by Zeref's words and actions, the library in front of them suddenly collapsed, turning into countless yellowish-brown 'fireflies' (i. e., Magic Particles) that scattered in all directions.

Staring at the enormous Magic Array that had suddenly appeared before him, and Zeref standing on Magic Array, Igneel exclaimed in surprise, "This... this..."

"Everyone, it would be better if we flew into the air, otherwise we might not be able to see the message Sordil left behind!"

Hearing Zeref's friendly reminder, Metalicana and the others nodded, then ascended upwards together for a short distance. (The White and Shadow Twin Dragons were panting heavily from trying to get Igneel, that old oxcart, to the designated location; they no longer had the energy or the inclination to gather information!)

Once they reached a certain height, they were finally able to see the information etched on the ground.

"Uncle Zeref, what is the Eclipse Plan?"

Upon hearing Anna's question, everyone looked at Zeref.

"The Eclipse Plan was a large-scale magic spell that your teacher and I devised together to alter time!"

"A grand-scale spell that alters time? What does that mean?" (Grandiere)

"Eclipse is actually a magical device that allows people to travel between the past and the future! (Zeref)"

Igneel and the others, who had been completely bewildered, all looked at Zeref and Anna with excitement after hearing this. According to the clues left by Sordil, with these two by their side, they could complete the Eclipse Plan.

Looking at the excited Igneel and the others, Zeref said helplessly, "Everyone, I know what you're thinking, but I regret to inform you that it is impossible for us to return to the time before Sordil and the others were killed through the Eclipse!"

"Why? Isn't Eclipse used for time travel? (Igneel)"

"That was indeed our initial plan when we designed the Eclipse, but I later discovered that the Eclipse can only travel to eras that also had Eclipse Eclipse, not to eras that did not!" (Zeref)

"Then... then we made a wasted trip? (Metalicana)"

Hearing Metalicana's words, Zeref shook his head and said, "Although we can't use Eclipse to go back to the time before Sordil and the others were killed and rescue them, we can use Eclipse to defeat the Black Dragon, so this trip wasn't in vain!"

"Use Eclipse to defeat the Black Dragon? Brother Zeref, what do you mean by that? (Vyseria)"

"As I've said before, the Black Dragon isn't a true dragon; he transformed into a dragon through Dragon Slayer Magic. Since he can surpass everyone else using Dragon Slayer Magic, we can also train powerful Dragon Slayer Magic to surpass him and fight against him. But in this current timeline, we're already struggling to escape his pursuit, let alone train Dragon Slayer Magic. (Zeref)"

"So we need to travel to another dimension, train Dragon Slayer Magic there, and then return to this dimension to defeat the Black Dragon! (Zeref)"

"And to travel through time, we must rely on the power of the Eclipse, which is why you said, Brother Zeref... (Skiadrum)"

After Shadow Dragon King finished speaking, Zeref nodded, indicating that this was exactly what he meant.

"Uncle Zeref, although this is the best way to deal with the Black Dragon, have you considered this problem? That is, how to deal with the berserk state and dragonification caused by the Dragon Slayer Magic! If we can't solve this problem, won't we just be creating a few more Black Dragon?"

"Yes! If we don't find a way to solve this problem, then everything we do will be in vain! (Grandiere)"

"I'll find a way to suppress the side effects of Dragon Slayer Magic, because I've already had experience with it!" (Zeref)

After Zeref's reminder, everyone remembered that this person had already modified the Dragon Slayer Magic once. So, they shifted their focus to another direction.

"Now that the problem of Dragon Slayer Magic is solved, how do we open the Eclipse Gate in the future and travel to that world? (Vyseria)"

Leave this to me!

Looking at the speaker, Zeref shook his head and said, "No! The world we're going to this time is uncertain; it could be decades or centuries from now. As an ordinary person, you can't guarantee you'll last until then. Besides, you also need to travel to the future with the Dragon Slayer Magic to ensure they can return to this timeline. So this mission can only be completed by someone else!"

After Zeref finished speaking, Igneel and the others all laughed.

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

Seeing Igneel and the others laughing so hard they were doubled over, Zeref asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with what I said?"

Hearing Zeref's words, Igneel suppressed a laugh and whispered a few words in his ear.

"What? Anna is married and has children? (Zeref)"

Seeing Zeref's surprised expressions, everyone laughed even harder!

"Haha! If Grandiere hadn't noticed her odd behavior, we would never have guessed that this girl would have gotten married while we were out looking for you! (Vyseria)" (For the sake of narrative coherence, please don't use the jokes made by Igneel and the others earlier here as a reference!)

After learning that Anna had taken time off to have a baby, the last technical hurdle of Eclipse Plan was overcome. Zeref then assigned tasks to everyone, and they all went about their preparations.

On April 3, X377, with the help of Igneel and others, Anna successfully constructed a Eclipse.

On July 6, X377, Zeref arrived to find Igneel and his companions with the Soul Dragon Secret Technique he had successfully developed.

On July 7, X377, under the glow of a blood moon, Anna opened the gates of the Eclipse, carrying the hopes of this era to another era of hope.