Chapter 223: The Ice Sub-Dragon
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Fairy Tail World - Mt. Hakobe
High up in the sky, FairyTail Renzo was flying through the clouds with Ultear and Kagura Mikazuchi, searching for something.
Kagura had been found in a town thanks to the magical satellite surveillance system Renzo had set up.
After locating her, he sent a clone to speak with her directly, telling her the truth about her older brother, Simon. That conversation had earned her trust, and she eventually agreed to come back with him to join Fairy Tail.
And now, little Kagura was officially a member of the guild.
"Big Bro Renzo! Are you sure there's really a dragon out here?" Kagura asked curiously, hugging her sword tightly.
All this time, she'd been flying under the protection of Renzo's telekinetic barrier. She still couldn't fly on her own—though she had recently started learning psychic meditation.
Back at the guild, Ur had actually been researching ways to combine psychic meditation with traditional mage meditation techniques. The goal was to blend the strengths of both systems to create a new method—one that could help Kagura, Ultear, Lyon, and Gray advance their training even further.
As for Renzo himself, he was using the latest version of Source Energy—also known as Origin Power—a system developed collaboratively by his alternate selves.
This upgraded training method integrated the essence of Reiatsu (spiritual pressure), refining it into a more adaptable and powerful form.
The original version of Source Energy had been created by Uchiha Renzo and Eevee. Then, it was a full fusion system thanks to Aizen—that ultimately evolved into a brand-new energy framework designed to work seamlessly with this world's unique power structure.
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"There is a trace of an ice-type Sub-Dragon nearby. The satellite picked it up a while ago," Renzo explained. "But don't get your hopes too high—it's a Wyvern, not a real, full-blooded dragon."
He continued, "As far as we know, there aren't any living pure dragons left in Ishgar. Not anymore. The only exception might be the Black Dragon, Acnologia."
"The Black Dragon… Acnologia? That legendary Dragon of the Apocalypse is real?" Ultear asked, stunned.
Kagura tilted her head in confusion—clearly she'd never heard of the Black Dragon before.
"Oh, he's very real," Renzo confirmed with a nod. "That thing is practically immortal. Its power has already hit the ceiling of this world's limits. You don't just kill something like that easily."
Honestly, if Renzo had the strength, he'd want to hunt Acnologia down and get a sample of his blood—for research, of course.
He may have merged Reiatsu with the new Source Energy, but he was still nowhere near confident enough to face a beast like that head-on and make it out alive.
In fact, in some worlds, a creature like Acnologia would easily qualify as a god-tier final boss.
Ridiculously strong attacks, absurd defenses, and magic resistance that made you want to cry.
Renzo figured his current strength was already above that of the Ten Wizard Saints' top-ranked member, and even stronger than any of the Spriggan Twelve from the Alvarez Empire.
But... when it came to Zeref, the Black Wizard himself, or Acnologia—the gap was still massive.
He'd have to go all in to beat someone like August. After all, this was the real world, and these people weren't going to get nerfed just so he could win.
...
"Wait, seriously?" Ultear was floored. "There's actually something out there that's truly immortal? But even someone like Zeref—the legendary Black Wizard—died, didn't he?"
"Who told you that nonsense?" Renzo rolled his eyes.
"What? He's not dead?" Ultear gasped. "But Hades said he was! That guy's over a hundred years old—he should know what he's talking about, right?"
After all, Hades had been Fairy Tail's second guild master. Practically a walking encyclopedia of magic.
"Hades doesn't know shit," Renzo said, clearly unimpressed. "He even met Zeref back when he was young—learned his first magic from the guy! So how the hell would Zeref, who's lived for hundreds of years, just randomly die?"
That had always bugged Renzo even back in his previous life when he'd watched the original series.
"Wait, wait, wait—Hades learned magic from Zeref?" Ultear's jaw dropped.
Yup. Renzo was full of surprises.
The more time she spent with him, the more she realized just how mysterious he really was. He knew way too much. Stuff even Makarov probably didn't know.
No wonder Renzo had told her that whole "Great Magic World" thing Hades talked about was a total scam. If anyone could sniff out the truth, it was this guy.
Ultear honestly wanted to pry open his brain and see just how much hidden knowledge was packed in there.
"Besides," Renzo added, shaking his head, "do you really think he'd just tell you something like that? You haven't known him that long."
"No... you're right," Ultear admitted with a sigh. "Some things are just... too personal to share."
"Exactly. Everyone's got their secrets," Renzo said with a half-smile.
Ultear nodded in agreement, but her curiosity only grew.
"But still," she asked, "if Zeref isn't dead... how come there's been no trace of him all these years? No sightings, no rumors, nothing?"
It was like he'd just vanished from the world.
Someone like Zeref… staying quiet and under the radar? That didn't add up.
"He's obviously hiding," Renzo replied casually.
Maybe he was laying low on Tenrou Island. Or maybe, at this point in the timeline, he was off in the western empire of Alvarez, playing emperor behind the scenes.
"Why would someone like him need to hide?" Ultear pressed, even more confused.
Renzo gave her a flat look and reached out to flick her forehead. "Jeez, do you ever stop with the questions? Some stuff you're just not ready to know yet, okay? When you're older, I might fill you in."
"But for now, how about you focus on getting stronger? Didn't you say you wanted to take revenge with your own hands? You're still nowhere near strong enough to take on Brain."
And Brain wasn't weak—not even close. At minimum, he was on the level of a veteran S-Class mage, maybe even a newcomer to the Ten Wizard Saints.
Honestly, if it weren't for Natsu and his plot armor in the original timeline, Brain wouldn't have gone down so easily.
Plus, his other personality—Zero—was way more dangerous.
The truth was, Fairy Tail in the original story was powered by nothing but constant power-ups. The MC squad basically shouted their way to victory. Total nonsense. The power scaling fell apart faster than you could blink.
Renzo wasn't about to get cocky just because he remembered how things went in the anime. This was a real world now, and things could be very different.
"I know, alright?" Ultear huffed, rubbing her forehead and pouting. "I will beat Brain. I promised myself I would!"
She was clearly frustrated. Renzo wasn't that much older than her, yet he always acted like some wise adult lecturing a kid.
Not that she could really argue.
"...Found it. Let's go!"
Renzo's eyes lit up as he looked northeast. He waved his hand and shot forward, taking Kagura and Ultear with him at breakneck speed.
Their sudden burst of flight cracked the air with a sonic boom, sending snow flying in all directions. The sheer force of their movement melted the falling snow, leaving behind a lingering trail of white mist in the sky.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!"
After flying for over ten kilometers, they finally spotted it—a massive wyvern-like dragon, over ten meters long, soaring through the air. It was in the middle of hunting a group of wyverns, picking them off like prey.
"Is this… dragons eating other dragons?" Renzo muttered with a weird look.
He waved his hand, gently landing Ultear and Kagura on a nearby mountain peak, then used telepathy to warn them: "Stay put and just watch. Don't come any closer. This is way too dangerous for you two."
Without waiting for a reply, he surged forward straight at the dragon.
At that moment, the wyvern dragon had just caught a fleeing prey with its claw and sank its teeth into the creature's neck, guzzling its warm blood. But then it noticed Renzo charging in without a hint of fear.
"ROAAAAARRR!!!"
Clearly irritated, the dragon roared at Renzo, then opened its mouth and spoke in fluent human language:
"I am Aslad Oris, the Ice Dragon! You dare approach me during my feast, human? You dare interrupt and provoke me?! Then DIE!"
"Ice Dragon's Roar!!!"
It instantly tossed its half-eaten prey aside, flapped its wings, and inhaled deeply.
A massive surge of ice-elemental magic began to gather in its mouth and throat, condensing into raw destructive force.
In the next moment, it unleashed a terrifying blast of freezing energy—a huge torrent of ice nearly eight meters wide, barreling straight toward Renzo like a frozen tidal wave.
Renzo could've just teleported out of the way, but with Ultear and Kagura behind him, he didn't want to risk the aftermath hitting them.
So instead, with a flick of his mind, he summoned his weapon:
Kyoka Suigetsu.
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.
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