419 419. Eastern Continent
Eastern Empire, a place that looks like countries in East Asia. The people and culture here are quite similar to Earth's East Asia. When Ben saw them for the first time, he assumed that Earth Land was like Earth in another dimension or universe, that's why there are many similarities.
It doesn't matter to him though because it is more comfortable that way. He would be familiar with many things, which would make things easier, especially when he has foreign affairs. He won't be shocked by how different their cultures are, so he could be more careful to not offend them.
Difference is a beautiful thing for him, but that beautiful thing is ruined now. The Eastern Continent that Mira likes so much as their holiday spot is destroyed. The destruction here is much worse than in Alakitasia & Ishgar.
Towns and villages are completely destroyed here. Some even get destroyed completely and only big craters are left on what were once towns & villages. It looks like the Dragons were very angry or the battles here were just too destructive.
Ben doesn't have high hope to find any survivors, but they find a group after walking around for a few days and hunting 3 Dragons. The Dragons here are more powerful than the ones on Ishgar & Alakitasia even though they have massive injuries too. Well, the weaker ones were eliminated before them, so the ones that attacked this place were initially stronger.
Among the first group of survivors they find, there is no Mage. There are some kids who have the potential to be Mages though. But they don't have time to teach these kids magic. They still don't know anything about magic, so it will take a long time for them to learn.
The people here refer to magic power as chakra or chi. Although it is basically just magic power made of ethernano, so it's the same thing. The ways they use their magic were different from Mages in Ishgar or Alakitasia, but the basic concept is still the same.
Anyway, Ben asks the survivors why the towns & villages got destroyed that much. The older survivors tell him that the great destructions were caused by the battles between invading Dragons and their Guardian Deities or Gods. Eastern Continent was known to worship their Gods that protected an area each.
Gods are magical creatures with a higher rank than Dragons. However, that doesn't mean Dragons can't win battles between them. As long as they are more powerful than the Gods, then they surely can win. Thousands of Dragons led by an individual like Acnologia would surely win the war against some local Gods.
The Mages helped their Gods, but they were just too powerless against the Dragons. Their help could give time for the civilians to evacuate though. There weren't many who survived at the end when the Dragons attacked the survivors, but at least there are still survivors left to continue this continent's legacy.
"Do you know if there are Mages who survived and still wanted to fight the Dragons now?"
"Mages? Are you talking about Martial Artists?"
"Yeah, them. The ones who have incredible power."
"Uhm, there were 3 Martial Artists in our group before. But they left to group up with other Martial Artists. They said they wanted to attack the remaining Dragons here."
"Where were they going?"
"I think they were going to the west, to Mount Suiji where more Martial Artists would gather. They left last month, so I think they've started attacking the Dragons."
"Mount Suiji, huh? I've been there once. Alright, thanks for the information."
Ben's group leaves after giving the survivors some supplies. They prioritize giving medicine because these survivors usually have found their sources of food. But medicine is hard to find, so many sick survivors can't be treated properly.
Ben goes to Mount Suiji with his group using trucks that have camouflage magic, smell-erasing magic, and sound-canceling magic to prevent the Dragons from finding them. Ben knows how good Dragons' senses are, so he needs to avoid their detection while moving around.
They arrive on Mt. Suiji quite fast and Ben releases his magic power a little to make his presence known, but not enough to be sensed by Dragons. The closest Dragon is kilometers away from this place, so there won't be any problem.
A while later, some middle-aged people suddenly appear there. Ben doesn't know any of them, but he knows they are quite strong. They could be S-Class Mages on Ishgar and he knows they are also ones of the strongest here. There is only one person in their group on the mountain who is stronger than them, and even that person is weaker than Wendy.
"Who are you? State your name."
The Martial Artists threatened him by raising their weapons, but Ben doesn't get intimidated one bit.
"Name's Ben, a Mage from Ishgar. I am here to recruit you to my Dragon Hunter team. We are hunting Dragons and have defeated the ones on Ishgar & Alakitasia."
Ben doesn't chitchat and goes straight to the point. The Martial Artists are surprised, and they can't help but look at Ben's group. They are impressed by the group's transportation, but they laugh when they see the group members are mostly young Mages.
"Hahaha, did you really kill Dragons with these kids? You sure know how to spout bullshit. Go to the shelter, kids! The Dragons will eat you if you roam around."
Ben just grins and he doesn't need to say anything for the 'kids' to take action. The kids suddenly run at a very high speed and place their weapons right on the Martial Artists' necks. This has happened a few times, so they know what to do when people look down on them.
"These kids aren't even the strongest in our group, but they can kill you if they want. So, are you interested to listen now?"
The Martial Artists gulp their saliva and finally agree to talk with Ben. They take the group to the peak that gets protected by a space barrier. It isn't as good as Ben's barrier, but at least it can prevent detections from outside, so the Dragons won't find them.
Inside the barrier is a whole different place. There are many buildings invisible from the outside and there are many people too. There must be hundreds of people here and they all are Mages or Martial Artists at different levels.
The middle-aged people take Ben to the biggest building at the peak while the rest of the group stays in the main plaza to rest. Ben follows them to meet the strongest Martial Artist here. He is quite surprised to see the person that leads them is a young woman, well, looks like a young woman.
"You want us to join you hunting Dragons?"
"Yeah, it seems you've heard it already. I need more people to join my Dragon Hunter team. We only have 184 people while there are thousands of Dragons. So we need more people, and I heard you are also planning to hunt the Dragons. Isn't it better to group up and attack the Dragons together?"
The woman smirks hearing that proposal. "Why should we join forces with you?"
"Easy, because you need us. We have Dragon Slayers who have effective magic against the Dragons, Dragon Weapons that can injure the Dragons more effectively, and the most important thing is you need us because you are weaker than us."
Ben releases his magic power after saying that and it overwhelms the whole mountain, even everyone in his group. The strongest Martial Artist can't even hold her ground and falls on her knee even though she was sitting before. Other Martial Artists take it worse, they are lying flat on the ground and a lot are passing out.
"Even with this power, I am not sure I can defeat the Dragons alone. I am a Dragon Slayer, and my magic is effective against Dragons, but I don't have that confidence. Do you think you can do it without us?"
Ben needs to do this because he realized that these people are very prideful or can be said to be arrogant. If he doesn't show how strong he is, then they won't join him. He needs more people to fight the Dragons and they have many people, so he really wants them to join him even if it's out of fear.
'I don't want to end this alone. I'm only here for my kids, sisters, & friends. If they have the power to fight, then they need to fight. This is their world, their lives, their freedom. They need to fight for themselves.'
No one can even stand under the pressure of Ben's magic power. It isn't even his full power, but it's enough to make them submit. Then as he wishes, the Martial Artists finally join them even though it's just out of fear.
But Ben treats them equally by giving them good Dragon Weapons. Well, the stronger they are, the better their weapons are because they can wield stronger weapons and their attacks will be stronger. Ben also has made armor made of Dragon scales for everyone to protect them.
After the Martial Artists joined, the group has 523 people in total. Ben takes them to hunt a Dragon so that the Martial Artists will know how they hunt. Only 20 people attack the Dragon that becomes their target and no one is a Dragon Slayer, but they can win already, so it shocks the Martial Artists.
Ben smirks seeing their shocked faces. "Do you regret joining us now?"
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You can read more chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 443. The End (Fairy Tail: Sun Eater)
2. Chapter 467. Pirates vs Gods (Transcended as Lord Buggy)
3. Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by fatmaqn_
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