BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With each earth-shaking tremor, a massive creature covered in gray hexagonal dragon scales slowly emerged from the Eclipse Gate.
A pitch-black shadow loomed in the gate's direction. The dragon's claw alone was tall enough to tower over every soldier present.
The vast underground chamber suddenly felt cramped. The creature's terrifying aura crashed down like a tidal wave, battering the soldiers' fragile nerves.
Almost out of human instinct, fear and dread spread through their bodies. Their battle-hardened resolve and their willingness to travel four hundred years into the past shattered in an instant!
"Wh-What is this..."
Princess Hisui's face turned pale. Her brain went into a complete freeze, leaving her frozen in place.
"Isn't the Eclipse Gate supposed to be a time-travel device?"
Knight Commander Arcadios, barely maintaining his composure, drew his sword and positioned himself protectively in front of Princess Hisui. "Why... is a dragon coming out from the other side?"
The logic wasn't hard to piece together, but his mind was too overwhelmed to think clearly.
In that moment of confusion, the dragon made its move.
Its raised claw descended gently, unleashing a tearing shockwave of terror.
The shockwave traveled forward along the path of the strike, shattering the hard stone floor like foam. With a deafening BOOM, it exploded against the side wall.
Debris flew. Dust rose. And it wasn't over. As if venting its excitement at arriving in the future world—or perhaps to intimidate the ants before it—the dragon lowered its head and slowly opened its fanged maw.
ROAR!!!
Even without any magical power behind it, the roar alone was as powerful as an ordinary mage's full-force attack.
The erupting hurricane of putrid air scattered the knights stationed around the perimeter, slamming them into distant walls. They spat blood and were immediately incapacitated!
With a single casual motion, an entire elite military unit had been destroyed. This was the power of a dragon!
Arcadios, who had barely managed to withstand the roar, broke out in a cold sweat.
"Wh-What have I done..."
Princess Hisui, trembling behind him, spoke with a shaky voice. She hadn't expected her long-prepared Eclipse Project to lead to this.
The appearance of this monster would bring unimaginable catastrophic destruction to Crocus and all of Fiore!
What made it even more despairing was the faint silhouette of another massive creature visible beyond the Eclipse Gate.
Clearly, there wasn't just one dragon from four hundred years ago. There were tens of thousands!
The only area in the entire underground chamber unaffected by the shockwave was the one protected by Obelisk's divine phantom.
"Th-That destructive power..." Both Lucys instinctively shrank behind Chase, using him as a shield.
Though they had mentally prepared themselves and had fought Acnologia on Tenrou Island, facing a monster like this head-on was still terrifying.
This was a dragon—a creature that could destroy an entire town with a single breath!
If they were this shaken, Future Yukino, who had no idea what was happening, was even worse off.
"It's all my fault... I've brought this misfortune upon everyone..."
The young girl stood frozen, tears of guilt and regret glistening in her eyes.
Having lived her whole life in the shadow of being "unwanted," her first instinct was to blame herself.
Mirajane gently held her trembling hands. "That's not true. This was what we planned to do from the start."
"Chase, that thing is about to leave!" Erza warned with a serious expression.
Following her gaze, the dragon showed no intention of lingering. It raised its head toward the underground chamber's ceiling and began beating its wings.
No creature liked being trapped in an unfamiliar, enclosed dark space.
It wanted to break through the earth and fly into the open sky, then slowly adapt to and dominate this magic-filled future world!
"Don't worry. That's exactly what we expected."
Chase showed no urgency, smiling confidently. "It won't escape this town."
Just like in the original story, the first dragon to pass through the Eclipse Gate was the Earth Mother Dragon, Motherglare.
The same one Future Rogue would later ride. Its scales were indestructible, and it could "birth" swarms of smaller dragon beasts from the vents on its abdomen.
Since this world had no "Eclipse Plan B" and no need to move the gate outside, Motherglare's instinctive choice to head to the surface was completely within his predictions.
Someone was already waiting outside.
If Chase were going alone to the world four hundred years ago, he could have entered the Eclipse Gate right away. With two God Cards in hand, he had that much confidence.
But since he had decided to bring his companions along for the experience and growth, he had to consider their safety.
So he planned to start with Motherglare, gathering more information about the world four hundred years ago, the dragons' power, magic, and allegiances, before formulating a plan of action!
BOOM!!
In the few seconds of their brief exchange, a storm swept through the chamber. The rock ceiling exploded.
With its sheer brute strength, Motherglare easily broke through the earth and soared into the vast night sky above.
Moonlight streamed through the massive hole, illuminating the devastation below.
At the same time, another tremor came from the ground. A second dragon had already pushed halfway through the Eclipse Gate!
It was a dragon with purple spots covering its back and fin-like structures on the sides and top of its head: the Sea Prison Dragon, Anka.
Anka slowly opened its massive maw, greedily breathing in the magic-rich air of the future world.
Just as it was about to follow Motherglare's lead and fly away, a deep blue giant phantom suddenly filled its vision.
A divine giant's hand, formed from God Slayer Magic, reached out and firmly pressed down on its head.
The dense divine aura pouring down made Anka's slit pupils contract sharply.
"I know you're in a hurry, but hold on."
Atop the Obelisk phantom's head, Chase's divine magic power surged wildly, forcibly pushing the immovable dragon back through the Eclipse Gate.
Without giving it any time to react, the Obelisk phantom extended both arms, pressing against the two open doors of the Eclipse Gate and pushing with all its might.
THUD!
The Eclipse Gate was slammed shut. The blinding white light vanished.
This obviously wasn't enough. The dragons on the other side could open it just as easily. So the Eclipse Gate also needed to be "locked" by pulling the switch at its base.
Chase didn't need to do that himself. The moment Anka was pushed back, Erza and Mirajane had already completed the task.
The two women stood by the gate's base, smiling and waving at him.
"Haha! As expected of my girlfriends,you're incredibly reliable!" Chase laughed heartily.
The word "girlfriends" caught Mirajane and Erza off guard, their faces flushing bright red.
This card nerd. Couldn't he watch his words a little, given the environment? Princess Hisui and the soldiers were still right there!
BOOM!!
A massive noise from above interrupted their blushing and the two Lucys' unspoken protests.
On the surface, in the central plaza directly in front of Mercurius, smoke billowed. The ground cracked where the massive creature had crashed.
ROAR!!
A dragon's roar stirred up a storm of wind, dispersing the smoke and revealing the prostrate dragon's form.
Motherglare bared its fangs. In the depths of its enraged dragon eyes, two figures were reflected, hovering in midair.
"Such a thick-skinned lizard. A direct hit from my and Master's Dark Burst Magician, and it doesn't even look injured!"
Her pink robes fluttering in the wind, Dark Magician Girl blinked her beautiful eyes and couldn't help but remark.
"The dragons of this world do have considerable magic resistance," Dark Magician analyzed expressionlessly.
"How dare you defy the dignity of a dragon, you accursed ants!" Motherglare shook its head, its gaze dark and menacing.
It didn't attack immediately, unsettled. That magic wasn't the Dragon Slayer Magic those fools had taught humans, yet it had still managed to cause it pain!
In its own era, that would have been impossible for any human!
Now that it thought about it, that deep blue giant phantom it had seen upon emerging from the Eclipse Gate had also seemed quite formidable.
And more importantly—
Why hadn't the other dragons come through?!
Motherglare felt a flicker of unease, warily eyeing its unfamiliar surroundings.
Just as it was about to fly back to the underground chamber to investigate, a sudden sound of footsteps came from the street ahead.
Moonlight spilled down. A biting wind fluttered a deep blue cloak.
Chase walked out from the shadows of the buildings, stopping directly before the massive Motherglare.
"Welcome to the future world, lone flying lizard."
BOOM!!
The moment the words left his mouth, a magic storm erupted. A flash of dark golden light streaked past.
Before Motherglare could react, the giant Sealer's Right Fist, like a falling meteor, crashed into its cheekbone!
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!