Chapter 61

"Mom?" asked Erza in surprise.

"My daughter ~" said Irene happily, moved to Erza in an instant and hugged her tightly.

During this hug, the man also moved towards Erza and the others.

"Mom, who is that?" asked Erza as she separated from her mother.

"This is..." said Natsu but was cut off before he could finish.

"This is my friend, Zeref," introduced Irene.

"What?!" Everyone went into an attack position upon hearing this, even Erza was wary.

"There's no need to worry, despite the legends about him, he's not evil" Irene said to reassure them and lower their guard.

"Are you sure?" asked Erza, still vigilant.

"Yes," said Irene, nodding with a smile.

Seeing how serene her mother was, Erza was convinced and convinced the others as well.

"I can't accept it. You're the one who created END and killed the ones I loved," Gray said resentfully.

"Gray..." said Erza painfully.

"I understand your hatred for me. But you're wrong about some things" Zeref replied with understanding.

"What do you mean?" asked Gray, squinting.

"I understand why you are angry with me, because in the end, I am the one who created the demons, but your hatred towards SNE is useless.

"What?! SNE is the one who...!" Gray wanted to retort but was cut off.

"Wrong. SNE never created the Tartaros guild. Mard Geer did it to unite all the other demons for his purpose. In fact, since its creation, END has never been awakened.

Gray was shocked by this revelation, and they continued to talk until Gray understood and they came to an agreement.

Gray also asked about the identity of NDT, but Zeref said it would be soon.

The story of Zeref's curse and the help of the Celestial Phoenix was explained to them to better convince them so that in the end, everyone understood.

Then Zeref turned his gaze to Natsu with many different feelings and then to Erza.

"You've grown up, Erza," said Zeref wistfully.

"Hm? What did you mean? This is the first time I've seen you" said Erza confused.

"You may not remember me, but we have seen each other many times before when you were still a child" said Zeref with a sincere smile.

"What?" Erza looked at her mother, confused and shocked.

And she was even more shocked when she saw her mother nod her head in affirmation.

"Does that mean you...-"

"Yes. I know your father, he's a friend, he's helped me a lot," Zeref said with a slightly sad and melancholic smile.

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, especially Erza.

And on reflection, Erza now trusted Zeref. If her father did it, then she would do it.

"If not, why are you here?" asked Erza curiously.

Irene and Zeref looked at each other and nodded mutually.

"We're here for the Archbishop," Zeref replied with a serious tone.

"The Archbishop? So as I thought, he's hiding something" Erza replied with a thoughtful expression.

"What do you mean Erza?" asked Irene to her daughter.

"Hm? No, it's just that I always thought he was hiding something. The fact that he gave me that title, the way he approached us, the way he looked at us and what he said earlier" said Erza thinking about all those strange moments.

"I knew my daughter was so smart" Irene hugged Erza like a teddy bear.

"What do you mean earlier?" asked Zeref.

"After I defeated Mard Geer, he appeared next to him with a syringe of blood. As if he had just drawn blood from him."

"!" Zeref widened his eyes as he heard.

"So that's it" said Zeref.

"What do you mean?" asked Irene.

"I think the Archbishop is experimenting with the blood of demons as well as... the Celestial Phoenix" said Zeref with some hesitation for the last part.

"What?!" Everyone was surprised and Erza could see that his mother seemed affected and angry.

"Zeref, since you are known to have lived a long life, did the Celestial Phoenix really exist? Have you ever met him? Is he still alive?" asked Wendy out of curiosity.

"... Yes, he really existed, I have indeed met him and... He's still alive," answered Zeref as he looked away after finishing his sentence.

"Wow" Everyone was surprised to hear that.

Even if he didn't know this legendary creature before, it was still a creature that rivaled Acnologia.

Erza, on the other hand, could feel her mother's body shaking before her mother let go and ran to Zeref.

"Is this true?! Are you sure he's still alive?! Do you know where he is?!" shouted Irene, grabbing Zeref by the collar.

"Sorry, I couldn't confirm it before but now I can confirm that he's alive" Zeref replied with a slight apologetic smile.

Irene trembled and tears rolled down her cheeks as she fell to her knees.

"Mother!" Erza rushed to her mother.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Erza as she took her mother in her arms.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Erza, I have to tell you something," Irene said as she came to her senses and wiped away her tears, then looked at her daughter seriously.

"What?" asked Erza confused because she had never seen her mother so serious.

"I never told you who your father was and I think it's time now that you knew the whole truth" Irene said as she took a deep breath and prepared to tell her to Erza's shock.

She had never known who her father really was and now she was going to know everything.

"Your father is... The Celestial Phoenix."

There was a silence after this sentence.

No one could believe it.

"W-What? What are you saying, Mom? It's a creature from 400 years ago, how-" Erza said in utter confusion.

"I'll tell you what Erza. My secret and the story of your father and me" said Irene.

And after that followed a long conversation in which Erza was shocked along with the others.

"It's- I-" stammered Erza as she lowered her head preventing her face from being seen.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'll understand if you're mad at me," Irene said with a sad, pained expression.

*PLOP*

Irene suddenly looked at her daughter as she heard the noise and could see that she was shaking and that drops of water were falling to the ground.

"It's-it's not that, Mama... It's just that I'm... I'm happy," Erza said with a broken and emotional voice but with a tone of joy.

Irene's eyes widened as she saw her daughter's tearful, upturned face with an emotional smile.

"I-it means that daddy-... that daddy's alive," Erza said as she collapsed into her mother's arms and tears of joy filled her eyes.

"Soon, soon we will be reunited" said Irene with certainty in her daughter's ear.

Everyone smiled at this emotional conversation.

After a short while, Erza and Irene separated after recovering from their emotions.

"I understand now why the Archbishop said he knew who I was and why he said he would wake up because of me! Daddy must surely be here!" said Erza excitedly after thinking about all his moments with the Archbishop and what he had said to him.

Zeref and Irene turned to Erza in surprise, but they didn't have time to ask Erza before a sinister laugh was heard.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, FINALLY!"

*BRRRRRRRRRRRR*

The ground began to shake.

*BOOM*

The cathedral suddenly exploded and the floor opened up as a figure flew out of it.

The others had all taken up guard positions while Irene had created a shield in front of them.

But everyone felt the same.

The person who had emerged from the ground was giving off immense pressure and his magical power was phenomenal.

When all the dust cleared, they could get a glimpse of the person.

It was a man, he looked exactly like the archbishop but much younger.

He had red draconic wings on his back, four black demonic horns on his forehead and his right arm no longer looked human but was all black with claws instead of fingers.

"You...!" said Irene, gritting her teeth with hatred.

"Hm? Oh, here are two new guests. Zeref, the black mage and Irene, the crimson enchantress... or should I say the former queen of dragons and Dragnof?" said the Archbishop quietly but with a superior air.

"How did you know about my identity?" asked Irene with a sweat on her brow.

"Ahah, I guess I can tell you since you are no longer a threat. If I know that, it's because... I was there" replied the Archbishop with a smile.

"What? You are" Irene asked in shock but was interrupted.

"Yes, I was an inhabitant of Dragnof, a dragon who survived more precisely"

Irene and Zeref were shocked. He would never have thought that people from Dragnof would have survived all these centuries, let alone dragons.

"So what is your purpose?!" asked Irene.

"My purpose? I don't have one now. But my goal was to become the god of this world!" said the Archbishop with a huge smile.

"I still remember that day. When our king stood up to that dragon, his power was incredible. I wanted it. That power. So when our king had teleported all the remaining inhabitants to a safe village, I thought I would no longer have access to that power. But later, I saw the black mage, Zeref, cast a spell on the village to stop time and buried our king in this crystal underground. Luckily, I was high in the sky outside the village at the time so I was not affected by the spell," explained the Archbishop.

Irene was shocked. She didn't even know that Shin had teleported the inhabitants to a village.

But if Shin was buried in this village and he's here now, then that means...' Irene thought, her eyes widening.

"'You're right. The people of this town are the descendants of the people of the Dragnof kingdom."

"That's why, when I rule this world as God, I will make the people of this city privileged as well as you and your daughter, as my former queen and princess"

"Even you, Zeref. For if I have been able to complete this power, it is also partly because of you" said the Archbishop looking at Zeref.

And from his hand, a dark grey energy manifested itself.

"You! You absorbed demon blood and became a dragon-demon hybrid! But how? You should have died!" said Zeref in shock.

"Merging two incompatible bloods into one body should not be possible, otherwise it would create a monster devoid of sense and intelligence" said Zeref.

"Ahah, that's right, you are smart Zeref. It's not for nothing that you're treated like a genius" complimented the archbishop.

"But you're right, I should have been. But that was without counting my former king, the Celestial Phoenix"

"Over the years, I transformed into a human and began to create a church in the name of the Celestial Phoenix belief just above where it had plunged into the ground"

"And then I found the place where he had been buried in his crystal. He was giving off the same special energy as before, an energy so pure that it healed wounds. But with an even more incredible focus and power than in Dragnof.

"And as I stayed close to that energy and saw those properties, I wondered if that was the missing element."

"And eventually, I lured the demons here so I could draw some of their blood. And I injected myself with it. With unbearable pain and a lot of conviction, I managed to become what I am now. The energy released by the crystal healed me every time I broke and eventually the blood fused."

Everyone had complicated expressions on their faces.

"And now I have reached unimaginable power! But it's not enough yet and thanks to you, young lady, I'll be able to achieve an even greater power" the archbishop sneered as he looked at Erza.

"What?" said Erza, frowning.

"Thanks to you, your father, the Celestial Phoenix, will awaken and then I can kill him take his blood and inject it into my body to become a perfect being!" said the Archbishop with a mad face.

"Don't talk about my family like that!" said Irene angrily as she pointed her staff at the Archbishop and shot a beam of magical power at him.

But the Archbishop deflected the beam with a simple wave of his hand.

"Ah, look, girl," laughed the Archbishop and pointed to the ruins of the cathedral where he had come out.

When they all looked over there, they were all shocked.

Especially Erza and Irene.

In the ruins, a huge crystal was floating with a man inside.

"It's..." Erza muttered with difficulty.

"Honey..." said Irene in a low voice as she had tears in her eyes.

Erza, on the other hand, was in a sort of trance as she stared at her father in the crystal.

"Ah!" Then suddenly she held her head as she had an immense headache.

"Sweetie!" Irene turned to her daughter who had crouched down and went to support her.

In Erza's head, many memories surfaced, from her birth to the fateful day.

"My princess" As the memories surfaced, she heard a voice she had forgotten and not heard for so long.

"Aaaaaaah!" Erza screamed in pain with tears in her eyes as her forehead began to glow with strong green lights as a tattoo appeared.

The Archbishop smiled at her when he saw this.

Waves of power and Life energy were emitted all around Erza as his mother took Erza in her arms.

*CRACK*

In all the panic, a slight crack was heard drawing the attention of Zeref and the Archbishop who smiled even more.

*CRACK**CRACK**PAH*

The cracks that appeared on the crystal continued until the crystal exploded.

Everyone heard it and all looked towards the crystal except for Erza who was still on the ground screaming as he remembered everything.

The whole town was silent as only footsteps could be heard.

Finally, Shin came to Erza and crouched down in front of her while no one spoke, not even Irene.

"My princess" Erza heard that voice and phrase again but this time it sounded more real.

Then she felt a warm hand on her cheek that made her wake up and stopped all the pain.

She looked up in a daze and the memories that were still appearing stopped when she saw a face that she now remembered.

Shin's eyes were filled with sadness and sorrow, but also with so much joy.

"Daddy..." Erza said in a faint hoarse voice.

"You've grown, my princess" said Shin with the most beautiful and reassuring smile.

"Waaaah" Erza burst into tears, jumped into her father's arms and cried like a baby.

The family was finally reunited.