Gajeel flinched in surprise.
"Reborn?!"
"Well..."
God Serena sighed wistfully before explaining,
"After I lost to Raizel of your guild, I wandered off in a daze. By sheer coincidence, members of the alchemist guild Gold Owl found and rescued me, then brought me to the northern continent and invited me to join them."
Although Raizel had taken the eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima from God Serena's body, the man once hailed as "beloved by the Dragon Gods" had long since been assimilated by their Dragon Slayer Magic.
He could still use all eight types of Dragon Slayer Magic.
The Signario Sisters had taken him with them precisely because they valued his strength.
As for losing to Raizel and having his eight Lacrima taken, God Serena held no resentment over it.
A loss was a loss.
"So a Mage became an alchemist?" Gajeel asked.
"No, no, no. I'm still a Mage."
Gajeel raised his guard.
"You're a Dragon Slayer, right? So am I."
God Serena, meanwhile, continued striking poses as though there were no tension between them at all.
"Behold! Eight-Dragon God Serena, once acclaimed as Ishgar's greatest Mage, stands before you!"
He finished his introduction with another flourish.
"Now that introductions are over, could you kindly step aside? Bye-bye, and may GOD be with you."
"Yeah, once acclaimed as the greatest," Gajeel replied. "Didn't you lose to Raizel?"
"..."
God Serena froze.
He chose silence.
"You can leave, but the core stays. My mission is to destroy all the ones scattered through the labyrinth."
"You mean this?"
God Serena chuckled and pulled the brown sphere from his pocket, casually tossing it between his hands.
"Gold Owl's master ordered us to bring this back. Destroying it is GOD-impossible."
"Incidentally, Gold Owl's master is an extremely dangerous person. Then there are the Signario Sisters as well."
Gajeel stepped into his path.
"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry. That core has to be destroyed."
God Serena lowered his head slightly, his expression darkening as he warned in a quiet voice,
"I suggest you give up, brat. Raizel may have been capable of defeating me, but you most certainly are not."
"How will I know until I try? Heh!"
Gajeel bared his teeth and charged.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!"
As he closed the distance, his right arm transformed into an enormous iron blade and thrust toward God Serena.
God Serena merely turned his body aside to avoid it before clenching his right fist.
"Diamond Dragon's Adamantine Citadel Crusher!"
His fist hardened like diamond and slammed into Gajeel's face with the force of a cannon.
Blood burst from Gajeel's mouth as he lost his balance and crashed to the floor. He wiped the corner of his lips with one hand.
God Serena scoffed.
"An Iron Dragon? Unfortunately for you, one of my eight dragons is the Diamond Dragon."
"Iron is so terribly weak by comparison."
"I've got more than iron inside me!"
Gajeel dissolved into a black shadow and sank into the darkness beneath them.
"Shadow?"
"Iron Shadow Dragon's—"
"Flash Dragon's Radiant Stone Heaven!!!"
Light-attribute Dragon Slayer Magic erupted from God Serena's entire body.
The brilliant radiance forced Gajeel out of the shadows and hurled him backward.
"Tempest Dragon's Storm-Snow-Moon-Flower!"
Wind-attribute Dragon Slayer Magic stirred without warning.
Several tornadoes formed around Gajeel and converged on him from every direction.
Even with his considerable durability, Gajeel could not withstand winds that powerful.
The raging currents tore across his body, leaving him aching from head to toe.
He struggled back to his feet.
"What the hell is with this guy...? He's way too strong..."
...
Lily emerged from a magic water mirror and immediately looked at Selene.
"How many are left?"
Selene frowned.
"Twenty-one. More importantly, your partner still hasn't returned. You should go and check on him."
"Gajeel? All right! Please send me to him."
By the time Lily arrived, Gajeel was slumped unconscious against a wall, his body covered in wounds.
"Gajeel!"
Lily hurried over and checked his breathing with one finger. Only after confirming that he was still alive did he relax.
"Gajeel! Gajeel, stay with me! What happened?"
"Cough... cough..."
Gajeel tried to force himself upright, but his injuries were too severe. The attempt only aggravated them, leaving him gasping heavily.
"Forget about me. He took the stone... We need to get it back."
"Which way did he go?"
"Don't know."
"I don't have a Dragon Slayer's sense of smell!" Lily protested helplessly. "Besides, whoever took it already beat you."
"I didn't lose!"
As expected of the Iron Dragon, even his mouth was made of solid metal.
Unable to win the argument, Lily transformed into his larger form and hoisted Gajeel onto his back.
"You really are impossible. Can you still track his scent?"
Gajeel pointed toward one of the passages.
"My nose got punched, but it still works!"
...
Ultear, Erza, and the others had encountered no further resistance, allowing them to tear through the remaining cores at a tremendous pace.
When everyone returned, they looked to Selene for their next destination.
"Only two remain," Selene announced. "One is in the direction Gajeel went, and the other..."
She suddenly sensed that the second core was approaching them.
"You mean this one?"
Kiria walked toward the group wearing Laxus's coat, a Dogramag Core resting in her palm.
Lucy blinked before nodding.
Kiria immediately tightened her grip and crushed the sphere.
"Kiria?!" Lucy cried in surprise.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Kiria replied stubbornly. "I only did it for Suzaku. He's my companion."
Laxus placed his large hand on top of Kiria's head and nodded with the pleased dignity of an elder.
"You have a cute side too."
Kiria lowered her head, her cheeks turning scarlet as she gripped Laxus's coat with both hands, unable to utter a word.
Laxus had been copying Makarov's mannerisms, but he had neglected to account for the slight difference in their ages.
Lucy immediately pointed at him.
"There it is! Accidental flirting!"
With everyone's momentum at its peak, Selene issued her next command.
"That leaves only the core in Gajeel's direction!"
"You needn't bother."
Irene stepped through a magic water mirror with the final core in her hand.
"I already retrieved it."
She crushed it the moment she finished speaking.
With that, all seventy-two Dogramag Cores had been destroyed.
Irene had sensed the power of God Serena's eight dragons and gone to investigate.
God Serena had been completely helpless before her.
The moment he saw Irene, he was so terrified that he nearly lost his mind.
She took the final core from him, then allowed him and Sai to leave. She had even stopped Gajeel and Lily from pursuing them.
Selene contacted Raizel through her portable communication Lacrima.
"All Dogramag Cores have been destroyed!"
Raizel replied through Super Archive Magic.
[Understood. Good work, everyone.]
He then turned toward Natsu.
"You heard that, right?"
"Yeah."
The flames around Natsu's right arm gradually deepened in color, their temperature climbing higher and higher as he glared fiercely at Dogramag.
"I didn't understand most of it, but it means we can finally go all out, right?"
"I'M ALL FIRED UP!!!"
[Take Over: Omnimon X.]
Golden light flashed across Raizel's body as he instantly assumed Omnimon X's form.
Natsu stamped hard against the floor and launched himself high into the air.
"Fire Dragon King's Demolition Fist!!!"