So many years have passed, and you've changed to this degree? Zeref looked at Irene Belserion and Erza Belserion, whose bodies now resembled vast nebulae, and sighed with a trace of emotion.
A breeze blew, his black robes swaying lightly.
From every direction, more and more Magical Lifeforms converged. Their gathered resonance created a unique field that endlessly amplified their collective power.
"Your resolve has weakened. Has four hundred years been enough to make you soft?" Irene's nebula-like form fixed her gaze on the small figure below. The shadow that once clung to her like a curse had long since vanished the moment she transcended her mortal shell.
Now, Irene could truly look down on that man.
"You destroyed humanity, slaughtered dragons, and now you seek to obstruct the birth of a new era." Her last lingering obsession kept her from immediately striking at Zeref.
"What?!"
From their hiding place amidst the aftermath of the explosion, Natsu and the others felt their very souls quake. What did those words mean?
The catastrophe four hundred years ago… was orchestrated entirely by Zeref?!
Doragio's face darkened. Makarov wore an expression of grim realization. The rest—Erza, Gray, Mirajane, Gildarts—looked stricken, disbelieving.
"We can argue later. What matters now is stopping the old man." Gildarts slapped a hand on their shoulders. At the same moment, Mirajane used her weapon—Fear—to strip away the negative emotions within herself and the others.
"Fight!!"
Meeting one another's eyes, they found only one word reflected there.
"The tide of an era surges forward. No single man can stop it. Humanity destroyed itself. They killed the dragons. And in the end, you all heaped the blame upon me?" Zeref's voice was calm, but his tone carried mockery.
"You'll do nothing more." Irene's patience broke. She gathered endless magic, even devouring several Magical Lifeforms into her own being, her aura ascending to unprecedented heights.
That power shone like the sun, smothering the world in unbearable pressure. Space and time froze, thoughts themselves were bound, and all of Irene's might focused into a single point.
Crack!
The world shattered like a mirror. Zeref's body splintered into infinite fragments, each shard of time-space containing a piece of him.
"Irene… you've grown stronger." As if time rewound, Zeref's form reassembled perfectly, not even his clothing marred. His expression remained calm as he faced the nebula before him.
"Favored of the God of Time, Zeref—you remain as loathsome as ever." Irene wasn't surprised that her strike had failed. If it were that easy, neither she nor the twin dragon tribes would have suffered his existence for so long.
"But this time, you've miscalculated. The one I serve is beyond your imagination… a greatness you will never touch." Raising his hand, Zeref dragged the heavens down.
A towering god-statue manifested, its very presence twisting the skies, disrupting time and space. Its terrible power rippled outward like crashing waves.
"Old man!" Natsu shouted, drawing the attention of the Belserion sisters. They didn't strike immediately—perhaps to them, compared with Zeref, the others were beneath notice.
But while they looked down on Natsu's group, the other Magical Lifeforms did not. Dozens of them turned their cosmic gazes toward the nine, their combined might weaving into a net that blotted out the heavens.
This power already surpassed the level of the Twelve Shields, stepping into an entirely new realm.
Mirajane was the first to break free. Transforming into Satan Soul, she unleashed the force of Fear. Shadows of dread seeded themselves deep within every Magical Lifeform present.
The effect was immediate—nebulae destabilized, starlight dimmed, brilliance fell into ash.
"Hurry! I can't hold this for long!" Mirajane's voice rang from the air. These were the most elite of Magical Lifeforms—most at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints, with several rivaling the Twelve Shields.
If not for the overwhelming nature of Fear, Mirajane would have already been overwhelmed and consumed in mind and soul.
But her warning still came too late. Irene Belserion extended her hand, instantly steadying several Magical Lifeforms. They flared with destructive radiance and rushed toward Natsu's team.
"Break Spell—All Things to Nothing!"
A torrent of power surged into Gildarts' palm, releasing not ordinary magic but something far more primal—destruction itself.
Annihilate. Break. Reduce everything to nothing.
The weapon he had received—Collapse—was an ancient device, a miniature, controllable eraser of magic. It could obliterate anything composed of magic… and anything touched by it.
To keep such a dangerous weapon usable, ancient humans had devised a safeguard: binding the caster's emotions and will to its activation, ensuring its destructive force only struck the chosen target.
Here and now, Collapse was in its element. On a scale of one to ten, its power surged to a thousand.
The devastating energy pierced the heavens, tearing countless Magical Lifeforms apart, scattering their nebulae, and creating a vacuum in the magical world. Magic rushed into the void, only to be erased upon contact.
"…Interesting." Irene Belserion shifted her gaze again, her interest no longer in Zeref but in the nine mortals—and the strange weapons they wielded.
As she reached out her hand, the sky trembled.
"A flaw." Irene suddenly caught it—Zeref's mistake. In the middle of their clash, he had turned his thoughts elsewhere. She seized her chance.
With a single gesture, she hurled the god-statue of Pape toward him. Space froze, the world inverted. For a fleeting instant, Zeref felt something alien—a deluge of memories pouring into his mind.
The Cursed Child. The Demon Creator. The Black Mage. The Emperor. The Tragedy of a Man.
Endless titles, countless names.
And through them all, the most vivid memory was of a golden-haired girl in a white dress—innocent, radiant, like a fairy herself.
Just as Zeref was about to be swallowed by the tide, the visions vanished like ebbing waves, leaving only his own sharpened clarity.
He was the God of Time's chosen. The end of magical civilization. The Watcher of Time. The greatest sinner in the world's history.
He was Zeref. Zeref of Edolas.
The transformation seemed to last forever, but in reality, it was only a single heartbeat.
The god-statue of Pape struck the earth, rolling like a common stone. Not only Zeref but even Irene and Erza Belserion paused in shock, their hands momentarily stilled.
"This isn't right. This is impossible!" whispered the two most powerful Magical Lifeforms.
But Zeref, his eyes alight with sudden realization, turned to the nine and shouted:
"The statue is alive—it can think!"
"Quickly! Stop it before—!"
Silence fell across the world. Somewhere unseen, an invisible hand reached down, eraser in hand, preparing to wipe something from existence.
But another hand appeared from nowhere, swatting it aside.
"Old man—you're there, aren't you? Answer me!!" Natsu bellowed. The Dragon God's power engulfed his body, transforming him into a roaring dragon that launched itself at the god-statue.
"Answer me!!!"
"Blasphemer, cease." Erza Belserion moved at last. Chains of infinite magic stretched across time and space, piercing the dragon's flesh, blood spraying.
"Why?! Why have you become this?!" Makarov, stunned at first, roared as he saw Natsu impaled, and he too charged toward the statue.
"Master!" Erza, Gray, and the rest rushed behind him.
"Insolence." Chains surged once more. Each one forged from endless magic, their corrosive force would instantly obliterate any mage weaker than a Wizard Saint.
And then—
That is enough.
Pape itself spoke.