184 Assault

Meliodas put Lucy down and she held on tightly onto his arm as the dragon emerging from the gate continued roaring, sending massive gusts of wind towards the mages.

"Focus on closing the gate. I won't let any more dragons come through." Meliodas said. Lucy nodded and glanced over towards Hisui. As the dragon's roar stopped, Meliodas leaped forward towards the dragon that was coming out of the gate, with nearly its entire body out now. The dragon had an appearance made completely out of rock. The entirety of its back was covered in jagged stones and while its underbelly was a smoother brown color. The stones on its face gave it a pronounced chin and two yellow orbs glowed dimly where its eyes should be.

"Meliodas, don't tell me you're going to push that thing back by yourself?!" Arcadios questioned. "I can at least have my men-"

"No. Get your men out of here." Meliodas said. Arcadios' eyes widened as he noticed a shift in Meliodas' demeanor and tone. He felt an intense, dark magic coming from Meliodas. The rock dragon coming out of the gate stared down at Meliodas who was standing right in front of it.

"I was wondering what lowly human would dare stand up alone against a dragon. But it appears you are no human."

A blotched black circle appeared on the center of Meliodas' forehead with a dark ring surrounding it that extended outward as his emerald green eyes went dark. Meliodas didn't say another word as he seemingly vanished from his spot, reappearing right under the chin of the dragon.

Meliodas wound back a darkness-covered fist before delivering an uppercut straight to the dragon's chin. The rock dragon took a few steps back and grunted in surprise as chunks of its rocky scales broke off.

"I didn't expect to meet one as powerful as you. That punch of yours was able to break a few of my scales off." The rock dragon said in an amused tone. The rock dragon raised its right foot up, and slammed it down towards the ground Meliodas was standing on. As he sunk his foot down, the earth beneath began to crack and break, but he could not feel his foot sink into the solid rock.

Arcadios watched wide eyed at the display of strength in front of him at that moment.

"Meliodas…did he really just stop that dragon's foot?!"

Beneath the Rock Dragon's massive foot, Meliodas was standing, sunk knee deep into the ground and both of his arms up. Meliodas immediately pushed upward causing the dragon to tip backwards.

"What is that monstrous strength?!" The dragon shouted as he was flung back towards the gate. Just as the dragon's body was launched back in, the wide doors of the gate began to close. Around the gate, Meliodas could see the twelve Celestial Spirits aiding in closing the gate.

Meliodas stared at the gate as it closed, the bright light coming from inside of it fading away before shutting completely. He looked to the side of the gate and saw Hisui and Lucy both fall to their knees.

"I don't believe it…you actually pushed that dragon back…" As Arcadios looked into Meliodas' dark eyes, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

Meliodas turned around and pointed towards one of the nearby towers. Standing at the top of the tower was a battered up Future Rogue and five dragons flying in the skies behind him.

"It's not over yet."

Future Rogue looked down at Meliodas with a smirk on his face. "Meliodas. Your strength, no… your entire existence, was surely a threat to my plans in the beginning. But even including you, all of the mages in this city combined can't stop the might of five dragons! Seven years from now, the world will be taken over by dragons. However, it isn't because of the dragons that came from this gate. It was because of one dragon alone. Acnologia!"

"Acnologia huh?" Meliodas commented. He felt something stir within him as he remembered his last confrontation with the black dragon.

As Future Rogue looked down at Meliodas, the confident grin on his face vanished. At that moment, he felt something akin to impending doom, something he hadn't felt since Acnologia had ravaged his world in his time. Even the dragons soaring above the city stopped in place as they felt the intense presence coming from Meliodas.

Meliodas' appearance changed further, his shirt shredding off of his body as darkness leaked out of his back, forming a high collared vest-like coat that covered his back and draped over his chest. Darkness leaked out of his wrists, forming black wristbands that flared outward. His lower body became completely engulfed in darkness, covering his legs and forming into five toed talons at his feet. All across the city, the other mages could feel the great presence radiating from Meliodas.

"What the hell is that magical power?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Is it coming from one of the dragons?" Gajeel questioned.

"Juvia has never felt anything like this before." Juvia shuddered.

"T-that's…Meliodas…" Mirajane said with a wobbly voice. 'I've taken over the souls of many strong demons but…this power is unreal…'

Out of the corner of her eye, Mirajane noticed a small figure run past her towards the dragons.

Future Rogue remained silent. As he tried to open his mouth to speak, he could not muster up the strength to say a single word.

"It doesn't matter how strong your magic may be!" A dragon's voice echoed. Meliodas looked up as a massive dragon covered completely in fire landed hard on the ground in front of him, causing the ground to crack underneath. The dragon's flames gave it a skeletal-like appearance as only a shadow of its body was visible under the fire.

"I am Atlas Flame! You will experience firsthand my flames of hell!" The dragon said as it took a deep breath in. Meliodas could feel a large amount of magic being concentrated in the dragon's mouth. Meliodas reached his hand towards the handle of Neo Mel Force but suddenly stopped. 'No...If I reflect this much magic at ground level at this angle, the entire half of the city behind him will be destroyed. And if dragons are anything like Dragon Slayers, they shouldn't be affected by their own magic.'

"Be turned into nothing but ashes by the flames of hell!" Atlas Flame roared as a gigantic mass of flames was launched from his mouth. As Meliodas faced the oncoming flames, he raised his hand out in front of him.

The flames suddenly vanished, with only a small bit remaining that dispersed into the wind. Atlas Flame remained silent as Future Rogue watched with a visible look of confusion on his face. 'I thought he was only able to reflect magical attacks. He can disperse them completely too?!'

Meliodas suddenly leaped forward and wound his fist back as he approached Atlas Flame's face. At that instant, he threw a heavy punch at Atlas Flame's face. The dragon grunted in pain as the shockwave from the punch reverberated throughout the area, creating a large gust of wind. The huge dragon of flames was sent flying, crashing through dozens of buildings until coming to a stop at the outskirts of the city and leaving a trail of flames in its wake.

'Dragon scales are incredibly durable in addition to being magic resistant. So durable, that a specific magic had to be created to bypass their durability. But…with physical strength alone, he can damage dragons through their scales…' Future Rogue thought. 'I have to strike this guy with at least three other dragons first.'

Future Rogue jumped high into the air as he called out to his dragons.

"Motherglare!"

The huge swirl pattern scaled dragon flew underneath him and Future Rogue landed on his head.

"Zirconis! Scissor Runner! Levia!"

The three dragons that were circling the skies above Crocus watching immediately came down and landed in front of Meliodas. The first one was a giant green dragon with a flat face and large jaw. The second was a purple dragon with a narrow head. At the top and bottom of its head were two spines that bent forward. The third dragon was a blue dragon with fish-like fins coming from its face and a beard under its chin.

Meliodas looked down at his hand that he used to punch the flame covered dragon. 'Dragons in this world are far stronger than those in Britannia. Even though their magic isn't an immediate threat to me…' Meliodas clenched his hand into a fist and looked at his slightly bruised knuckles. 'Their scales are the problem.'

Meliodas immediately turned his head as he felt a huge magical presence coming from the outskirts of the city. There he saw Atlas Flame had already recovered and was walking back towards them.

"Arcadios!" Meliodas shouted. "Get your guards and have everyone get out of the city!"

"Absurd! You're not seriously going to fight this by yourself?!" Another voice said. Meliodas didn't turn his head and remained facing the dragons but he recognized the voice as Lahar's.

"Y-you may be the Blond Demon, but not even you could possibly take on five dragons alone." Lahar's voice had a hint of nervousness. The councilman looked at Meliodas, shaken by his appearance and his magical power.

"Who said he was alone?!" A voice said from above as a figure fell from the sky and landed on Meliodas' right side.

"Natsu Dragneel? Where did you come from?" Lahar exclaimed.

"And I'm not alone either." Natsu said with a grin. Not a moment later, another figure landed next to Meliodas on his left side.

"We'll deal with this threat together." Jellal said.

"Well, well, well." Meliodas said with a confident grin. "If it's the three of us, I think we'll be fine."