Chapter 599: Is This the Dragon Irene Turned Into?
"Plus, it's just a friendly sparring match," Noah continued, a genuine, excited grin spreading across his face. "After fighting the two of you, my own strength skyrocketed. I'm actually incredibly eager to test my new limits against you. There are very few people left in this world who can actually push me to my absolute maximum. If we don't fight now, I might never get the chance."
"Good. Then don't forget our agreement," Irene said, her fierce glare softening into an appreciative smirk.
She wasn't actually trying to punish him. Over the last ten days, she had spoken extensively with Ur. She had learned exactly what Ultear had been through, and how Noah was solely responsible for reuniting the mother and daughter.
Ur had also detailed Erza's history, explaining how Noah had shielded her from the horrors of the Tower of Heaven and given her a true home in Fairy Tail. Furthermore, Irene had learned how Noah had personally rescued Sorano and Mirajane from their respective dark paths, giving them the strength to rebuild their lives.
To these women, Noah wasn't just a romantic partner; he was their savior. He was the foundation of their happiness and the light of their lives. Given the profound, unbreakable bonds they had forged over years of mutual struggle and devotion, no external force could ever tear them apart.
As Erza's estranged mother, Irene knew she had absolutely no right to dictate her daughter's romantic choices. Furthermore, hearing the countless testimonies of Noah's unwavering loyalty and devastatingly protective nature, she knew Erza had chosen a man who would truly cherish her forever.
However, as a mother who had literally just reconciled with her daughter, discovering that her son-in-law had a harem was profoundly irritating. She couldn't just accept it without doing something.
A friendly, all-out brawl to vent her frustration was the perfect compromise. And knowing that Noah could effortlessly handle her full power without sustaining permanent injuries made it even better.
"Alright, enough about my love life. How exactly are you going to examine me?" Irene asked, bringing the focus back to her treatment.
"Lie down right here," Noah replied, pointing to a sleek, metallic examination bed in the center of the room. He let out a silent sigh of relief that the interrogation was over.
Irene lay down on the bed. The bed automatically slid backward, feeding her into a massive, cylindrical, highly advanced MRI-style scanning machine.
Seeing that the drama had officially concluded, Sorano let out an exaggerated, disappointed sigh.
Noah heard her and shot her a flat glare. Were you seriously hoping to see me get incinerated by your girlfriend's mom?
Sorano caught his glare, stuck her tongue out, and made another goofy face.
Noah rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the control console, activating the massive scanner.
For the next hour, Noah methodically guided Irene through a battery of intensive examinations. He moved her from the scanner to a magical density analyzer, then to a biological resonance chamber. He extracted several small tissue and blood samples, placing half into cryogenic stasis and running the other half through high-speed magical centrifuges.
Because Mavis and August were actively collaborating on the research, they stood right next to Noah, closely monitoring the incoming data streams and assisting with the complex analytical equations.
Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, and Sorano weren't familiar with the highly advanced Alvarez technology, so they stayed out of the way. However, deeply invested in Irene's condition, they remained in the lab, chatting quietly as they waited for the results.
"I don't recognize most of this equipment. Did you import it from Ishgarian laboratories?" Irene asked curiously, sitting up after her final scan.
Because she had been isolated for centuries, and then immediately recruited to the Western Continent by Zeref, she had no idea what the current state of Ishgarian scientific technology looked like.
"Some of it is standard Ishgarian tech, but the vast majority are custom machines I engineered and built myself specifically for advanced biological research," Noah replied without looking up from his glowing screens.
"So? How is my condition?" Irene asked, her voice tight with anticipation. Hearing her question, the rest of the group immediately gathered around the console.
"Your condition is... incredibly strange," Noah muttered, his brow furrowed as he rapidly cross-referenced the incoming data.
"Your physical constitution is absurdly powerful. Even in this suppressed human form, your muscle density and cellular resilience far exceed any standard mage. You could physically overpower almost anyone without using an ounce of magic.
"However... structurally, your anatomy is completely, flawlessly human. Your organs, your skeletal structure, your nervous system—there is absolutely no biological deviation from a normal human baseline. According to these scans, there is absolutely no reason you should be experiencing draconic sensory distortions or insomnia. The physical cause of your affliction isn't structural."
"Then what is the cause?!" Irene demanded urgently.
"I have a very strong hypothesis, but I need to complete the final stage of the examination to confirm it," Noah replied, shaking his head.
"What do you mean? I thought we used all the machines," Irene frowned. She distinctly remembered being scanned by every single piece of equipment in the room.
"We scanned your human form," Noah corrected, turning to look directly at her. "We haven't scanned your true draconic form."
"You want me to... transform?" Irene asked, her expression instantly darkening, a deep, instinctual revulsion flashing in her eyes.
She despised her draconic body. She hadn't shifted into it in over twenty years.
"It's absolutely necessary. I cannot fully comprehend the scope of your biological mutation without establishing a true draconic baseline," Noah stated firmly, offering no room for negotiation.
"I understand," Irene sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping.
She knew he was right. Her revulsion was purely psychological; a phobia developed over centuries of trauma. If she wanted a cure, she had to face it.
"Where do you want me to do it?" Irene asked, looking around the lab. Given her true size, she would instantly crush the delicate machinery if she transformed here.
"I prepared a specialized containment zone specifically for this. Follow me," Noah said, shutting down his console and leading the group deeper into the underground complex.
He led them to a colossal, cavernous chamber carved directly out of the bedrock. The floor, walls, and ceiling were densely packed with massive, highly complex runic arrays. Several heavy-duty, magically shielded scanning towers were positioned around the perimeter, all aimed directly at the center of the room.
"Stand exactly in the center. When I give the signal, release Zeref's illusion and revert to your true form," Noah instructed.
"Alright," Irene nodded, walking into the center of the massive containment zone.
Noah walked around the perimeter, powering up the scanning towers and linking them to his Archive interface for remote control.
"Ready when you are," Noah called out.
"I really despise doing this," Irene muttered to herself, casting a nervous glance toward Erza, who was watching from behind a reinforced observation window alongside the others.
Irene desperately didn't want Erza to see her as a monster. But she knew ripping the bandage off was necessary. Steeling her resolve, she closed her eyes.
"Rrraaaagghh!"
Irene let out a strained, agonizing cry.
A terrifying, apocalyptic wave of crimson Ethernano violently erupted from her body, generating a localized hurricane that whipped through the massive cavern.
Seeing the sheer volume of magic radiating from her, Noah stomped his foot against the ground.
VMMM!
The dense runic arrays covering the cavern instantly activated. A massive, multi-layered containment barrier materialized around the center of the room, intercepting the hurricane-force winds and preventing them from damaging the scanning towers. The barrier seamlessly absorbed the excess kinetic energy, channeling it safely into the earth.
Behind the safety of the barrier, August, Mavis, and the girls watched in stunned silence as Irene's transformation began.
Thick, jagged white scales rapidly erupted across her face, arms, and legs, quickly covering her entire body. Her skeletal structure violently expanded and cracked as her muscles swelled to monstrous proportions. Her hands and feet elongated, shifting into massive, terrifying draconic claws. Her clothes shredded instantly as her body grew exponentially. Her face elongated into a terrifying, reptilian snout.
A pair of colossal, leathery crimson wings violently tore out of her back. Thick, coarse crimson fur sprouted along her spine, and a massive, spiked tail whipped out from behind her.
The transformation was incredibly fast. Within seconds, it was complete.
Standing in the center of the cavern was a colossal, terrifying Dragon, towering dozens of meters into the air. Her underbelly, limbs, and tail were covered in impenetrable white scales, while her back and wings were covered in vibrant crimson fur.
A suffocating, apocalyptic aura of absolute, primordial power radiated from the massive beast, pressing heavily against the containment barrier.
Even through the shielded observation window, August and the others could feel the crushing, instinctual terror of standing in the presence of an apex predator. It was the natural, biological suppression of a higher lifeform imposing its will upon lesser beings.
"So this... is the Dragon Irene turned into," Ultear gasped, her eyes wide with shock.
Even knowing it was going to happen, physically watching a beautiful woman violently mutate into a colossal, apocalyptic monster was deeply unsettling.
"A human turning into a Dragon... it truly is a terrifying concept," Mirajane murmured, shaking her head.
Her Take Over magic allowed her to temporarily assume the form of a demon, but it was purely reliant on maintaining her magical supply. The moment her Ethernano dropped, she reverted to human. Irene's transformation was absolute; her default, biological baseline was now a monster.
"Her magic... it's overwhelming. So this is how she lived for four hundred years," Erza whispered, staring at the colossal beast.
Because Irene's concealment magic had shattered during the transformation, her true, unsuppressed power was fully exposed. Feeling the sheer, oceanic depth of her mother's magic, Erza felt incredibly small.
But recognizing the sheer horror of being trapped in that body for centuries, Erza's feelings toward Irene softened significantly. The resentment faded, replaced by profound empathy.
"She's massive! If her fur wasn't the same color as her hair, I would never have believed that was Irene," Sorano exclaimed, marveling at the sheer scale of the Dragon.
"So this is a true Dragon," August murmured, analyzing the colossal beast with his peerless magical intellect. He could clearly sense that Irene's raw power and physical durability were exponentially greater in this form.
Mavis observed quietly, comparing Irene's draconic form to her memories of Acnologia's terrifying black scales.
Noah, completely unfazed by the terrifying monster in the room, was rapidly typing on his holographic keyboard.
"Is this sufficient?"
The Dragon spoke. Her voice was no longer human; it was a deep, guttural, earth-shaking rumble that vibrated through their very bones.
"Stay perfectly still! I'm initiating the deep-tissue scans!" Noah shouted over the low rumble of her voice.
He expertly manipulated the scanning towers, bathing the colossal Dragon in highly concentrated magical frequencies. Irene remained perfectly motionless, allowing the machines to map every single inch of her draconic biology.
While Noah collected the data, August, Ultear, and the others walked around the perimeter of the containment barrier, intensely observing the Dragon from every possible angle.
Once the primary scans were complete, Noah temporarily dropped a section of the barrier, stepped inside, and quickly extracted a few small scale and blood samples from her leg. He immediately sealed them in stasis containers and returned to the console.
After another ten minutes of rapid analysis, Noah finally synthesized the complete biological profile.
"Alright, I've got everything I need! You can transform back now!" Noah shouted.
"Haaaa..."
The massive Dragon let out a long, heavy sigh that generated a massive gust of wind against the barrier.
She hated this form. Hearing that she was done, Irene immediately activated Zeref's formula.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn