"Zash Caine!"
Zash grinned as he stared at Animus, he looked at the staff on the ground and picked it up, immediately feeling the tremendous amount of magic power flowing towards him.
"Give me the staff Zash," Animus stood up, glaring at him, "I can still forgive you for your actions if you hand it over."
Zash grinned maliciously, "You think of me as a fool? You may have the power that I feared before, but now with this staff on hand, I am no longer afraid of you!"
At this moment, the Three Stars immediately surrounded him, their weapons pointed at his neck.
"You finally showed your traitorous face, huh." Gapri grinned cruelly as he pointed a sword at Zash's neck.
"I never did like you." Swan smiled as she pressed her knife at him.
"Hand over the staff to his majesty, or we will use force." Added Doll.
The three of them never did like Zash. He was traitor who betrayed his own kingdom, and the amount of atrocities he committed is enough to make them feel sick.
The only reason they tolerated him is because Animus still have uses for him.
Now, Zash actually dared to attack Animus.
Zash smiled, "I always knew this day would come." He raised the staff, and the Three Stars all widened their eyes in shock before retreating.
A burst of dark and sickening magic power bursts out of Zash's body as he raised his hand, "Come forth! Quartum Army!"
Quartum Army.
An army of autonomous artificial soldiers Zash spent most of his fortune to purchase from Guiltina Continent, they are made with Dragon Slayer Lacrima.
They are considered the Fourth Generation Dragon Slayers.
Suddenly, hundreds of pitch black figures with the appearance similar to that of a medieval knight emerged from the ground.
"Quartum Army, play with them until they die." With an evil laugh, Zash quickly retreated the room, leaving behind the Three Stars and Animus.
Almost immediately, the Quartum soldiers took action and attacked.
"Grand Fouette!" Swan spun around, generating a gust of wind around her as blades of light shot out from her.
It cut through several automatons, but with their large numbers, it did very little.
"Your majesty, we need to escape!" Doll called out to a stunned Animus.
Then, as if Doll's voice woke him up, Animus glared at the automatons and gritted his teeth.
"Dragon Slayers... Again, Dragon Slayers again!?" Animus was trembling in anger as he glared at the artificial soldiers.
Once upon a time, the dragons went to a Civil War because some dragons would rather protect their Dragon Slayers than to fight together with their fellow dragons.
And one Dragon Slayer, Acnologia, annihilated the entire dragon race.
The decline of the Dragon Race started due to the appearance of Dragon Slayers. For Animus, their existence is every bit as repulsive as Acnologia.
He will never tolerate their existence.
"I will kill...every...single...one of you!!!"
With a roar, Animus, who possessed Sonya's body, released a bright golden light, forcing the Three Stars to close their eyes.
Once the light died down, an enormous reptilian creature stood before them.
"D-Dragon!?" Swan could hardly believe that the king they have been serving for years is actually a giant dragon.
The creature, or rather, the Dragon, has a blue scales with his most distinct physical features being jagged, crystallized features protruding from his body, such as his horns and claws. His jaw is spiky, while his wings are in the same design with jagged edges coming from them.
With a loud roar, the dragon, Animus, swiped his tail towards the automatons, instantly breaking them apart.
Animus was tearing every single one of Quartum Soldiers as if they are made of cardboard.
"Dragon Slayers...!!! I will never forgive your existence!!!" Animus roared, a massive amount of magic gathered on his mouth, preparing to launch and breath attack.
Sensing the danger, Gapri grabbed Doll and Swan and used his Stellarium Floating Device - a large orb made of Stellarium - to fly up to the sky and retreat.
Boooom!!!
A massive explosion occured as Animus released his breath, shaking the entire country to its core.
...
...
...
Zash stumbled down as he tried to maintain balance due to the shaking done by Animus' attack.
"What is going on down there?" Zash grumbled as he stood back up.
He stared at the direction of Fiore with eyes filled with hatred. "Fiore... Your time has come! I will make you regret your decision for banishing me! I'll completely wipe your kingdom off the face of the map!"
He raised the staff, and immediately, thousands upon thousands of magic circles appeared on the sky.
With a manic smile, Zash enjoyed the feeling of power rushing towards him.
"Hahahaha! Amazing! Amazing! Is this power of a god!?"
Before he could enjoy it, however, he noticed an enormous shadow blocking the sky.
Raising his head, Zash's eyes widened in shock upon seeing an enormous crystal dragon floating above, glaring at him in hatred.
"Hand over the staff, Zash Caine!" the dragon ordered.
And it was then that Zash realized just who this dragon was. He smirked at him, "Your majesty...you planned to use this staff to return to your true form right? Now that you have, there is no need to fight me over it right? You already achieved your desires!"
Animus' glare intensified, "Achieved my desires? Hah! What do you know about me!? What do you know about my desires!? You think I want that staff for something as small as having a body!?"
"Don't you!?" Zash gritted his teeth angrily, "Don't act all high and mighty! We are all bunch of selfish trash!"
Animus roared in anger, bursting out a vast amount of magic power that causes the entire kingdom to start shaking.
"Selfish huh!? What do you know about selfishness!?" Animus landed on the ground, his body towering over the small Zash, "Spend most of your life fleeing in disgrace! Watch your race dwindle to a handful!"
Animus stomped the ground, "I have in me the blood of a noble dragon, he is nothing but a puny human, but I watched him slaughter my kind, helpless! My dignity, thrown to the way side!"
Magic power condensed around his body, "With that staff, I will bring back the glory of the dragon race! I will kill Acnologia and avenged those who have died! And I will not let a Human question my goals, and call me selfish!"
"Hah!" Zash laughed mockingly, "A lizard who fled foe his life dared to call himself noble dragon!? As if! I'll let you witness the power of Dragon Cry!"
He raised a staff, "Come! Dragon Cry! Give me power to raze this world to the ground!"
Strangely enough, Animus merely stared as Zash's magic power started increasing dramatically, almost reaching the level of a dragon.
"Hahaha! Hahaha—uh?!" Zash's happiness did not last long, as he suddenly felt the staff slowly making him lose his mind. "W-What is happening?"
"You fool." Animus growled, "You think you are able to contain the anger and malice of thousands of dragons in that pathetic body of yours? You underestimate us. We are Overlords of the Skies. Even in death, a mere human won't be able to handle our power."
"Ah, AAAHHHH!!?" Zash screamed in pain as he was slowly being devoured by the staff, starting from his arms.
Animus watched as Zash slowly disappeared as he was being devoured by the staff, with eyes full of indifference.
"I do not pity you." Animus shook his head, before staring at the staff levitating a few feet from the ground, "Finally. The Dragon Cry!"
Animus used his tongue to pick up the staff and directly swallowed it. Immediately feeling the power coursing through him.
"Dragon Cry, turn all my kind's hatred and malice into power! A power that will allow me to kill Acnologia!"
As if responding to his wishes, the Dragon Cry immediately increased his power, causing his scales and the crystals on his to turn from blue to red.
"So this is Dragon Cry's power..." Animus relished on the feeling of power like he never had before.
Just then...
"Hey, dragon, do you know Igneel?"
Natsu Dragneel arrived, standing on the back of an enormous flame dragon made out of his Ten Thousand Beast Flames.
Animus turned his head and stared at Natsu, 'This familiar feeling...and that name...is he Igneel's Dragon Slayer?'
His eyes turned towards the dragon made of fire, 'The Ten Thousand Beast Flame. The flame previously owned by the Nine Headed Dragon—Hydra.'
"Leave now child." Animus turned his head away, "With the power of Dragon Cry, I will surely be able to kill Acnologia."
Natsu narrowed his eyes, "You can't control that power. Even now I'm sure it's taking everything you got just to maintain that state. Once you lost control, it could endanger the entire continent."
"A risk I'm willing to take."
"I can't allow that."
Animus glared at him, "I'm giving you a chance because of your relationship with Igneel, but don't think I won't kill you if you stand in my way!"
"So you do know Igneel." Natsu smiled a little, before shaking his head, "I have many questions, but for now, I'll beat you up and take the staff. It's far too dangerous."
Finally having enough, Animus recoiled his head as he sucked up the ethernano on the air, preparing for a breath attack.
"Crystal Dragon's...."
Not to be outdone, Natsu also did the same.
"Fire Dragon's..."
Finally, the two faced each other and let out a devastating attack.
" " ROAR!!! " "