Fairy Tail: Strongest Creature

In the throne room of Fiore's Royal Palace, every mage—guild masters, council knights, and even young apprentices—gathered before the yawning maw of the Eclipse Gate. The colossal mechanism of steel and runes stood silent now, its purpose both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

"Is this truly the device that brought those dragons forward from four centuries past?" someone whispered.

"Time-space travel," another marveled. "I thought it existed only in legend."

A third voice cracked, "Zeref… the Black Mage… he actually forged such sorcery?"

Su Yan stood at the center, arms folded beneath his cloak. "Open it," he commanded, voice calm yet carrying over every heart.

"M-Ma—yes, sir!" A palace guard seized the control lever.

With a grinding of gears, the Gate's twin doors swung wide. A chorus of distant roars echoed from beyond.

**"The dragons stir!"** gasped the assembled crowd. Their eyes turned skyward, dread spiking their hearts. Seven great wyrms had already battered the city—and now more waited just on the other side.

Su Yan's gaze hardened. He stepped forward, and with a single flick of his wrist, he summoned a massive spectral blade of pure Overlord aura. It gleamed silver in the torchlight as he strode through the Gate.

From the darkness beyond came a rumble as dragon forms—wounded but unbowed—staggered into the chamber. Atlas Flame tilted his head, crimson scales glinting. "Human," he rumbled, "you alone laid low four of our greatest kin. Tell me—why do you, not a Dragon Slayer, bear this power to become dragon?"

Su Yan paused, the blade of aura held at rest. "It is a birthright of mine," he replied simply. "I walk as both man and dragon."

Atlas Flame inclined his head in respect, then bowed himself and stepped aside.

Just as the last dragon passed through, Su Yan halted. A flash of steel in the shadows caught his eye—Rogue's silhouette, eerily still on the far side of the chamber.

Su Yan's lips curved. "You…," he said, and in a blink he crossed the chamber.

Before any could intervene, Su Yan's claws closed around the future Rogue's shoulder. The onlookers gasped: this man seemed identical to the Tiger-Biting Guild's Rogue—yet his bearing was colder, his scars deeper.

"Who are you?" Rogue rasped, struggling beneath Su Yan's grip.

"Your self…not the Rogue you know," Su Yan replied, voice low. "You were one possible future—an age where dragons reign, humanity cowers. But your path ends here."

Rogue's eyes blazed. "You can't kill me—I am fate incarnate!"

Su Yan shook him. "Fate is but a thousand divergent paths. Yours died centuries ago. Now, step aside."

With a swift motion, Su Yan hurled the future Rogue toward Atlas Flame. The hellfire dragon caught him in his claws, scorched silence in his eyes.

"Our judgment," Atlas Flame declared, "will be merciful… for a fleeting moment."

Natsu, still brimming with dragonfire, raised a clawed fist in salute. "Uncle Igneel says hello," he called cheerfully.

Atlas Flame cracked a rare smile. "I shall deliver the message."

As the Gate's doors ground shut once more, Su Yan planted a fist against the steel and let out a final roar of victory. Echoes of dragon might and human will intertwined, sealing the Portal—and with it, the last echo of a doomed future.

Silence settled over Magnolia as the dust of legend settled. The Dragon King Festival was over. A new dawn awaited—one shaped by the Dragon King, Su Yan, whose destiny would define the fate of all.