With Luso and Enny both defeated, the Purgatory world began to collapse.
A brilliant light appeared ahead of Erza and Kagura, and the two followed it until they finally emerged back inside Gold Owl.
The moment they returned and saw that everyone else was there, both of them relaxed.
In fact, there were even a few extra people now.
Three unconscious members of Sabertooth and two Exceeds.
Only after Wendy explained what had happened did Erza and Kagura learn that Sting and the others had come to Guiltina for a vacation, only to catch Duke's attention.
They had been ambushed, captured, and stripped of their dragon power.
"Are they all right now?" Erza asked.
Wendy shook her head. "Not completely. We need to defeat Duke first."
Ultear had also finished dealing with Brand, the alchemical doll whose abilities somewhat resembled Gajeel's.
She had first used Radiance of the Gods to interfere with his vision, then trapped him in ice with Ice-Make before finally destroying him with Dragon Slayer energy stored inside a Lacrima.
Lucy looked around the familiar guild hall after returning and immediately asked, "Are we back in the real world? What exactly was that place?"
"We defeated the Signario Sisters, and once they went down, the world they transmuted collapsed."
Mira's attention shifted toward the staircase.
Duke had returned as well, and the black-bodied Athena II stood behind him.
"This isn't the time for explanations. Duke is still here."
Wendy quickly warned the others, "Athena II is troublesome. Her regeneration is extremely strong, and she can use both White Dragon and Shadow Dragon abilities."
Natsu nodded seriously.
"She can even use Minerva's Spatial Magic."
Then he glanced toward the others.
"Can you leave Duke to me? I was just getting into our fight."
"Be my guest." Raizel shrugged casually.
Lucy looked at him with some concern. "You're going to fight both of them by yourself?"
"Nope. I've already got a great partner."
Natsu grinned toward Athena.
"Let's do this, Athena!"
Fighting beside Athena earlier had actually been pretty fun.
Athena nodded firmly. "Leave it to me. I won't allow Athena II to interfere with your fight."
Natsu immediately entered Lightning Flame Dragon Mode, but this time the flames mixed into it were far more complicated than usual.
There were the Purgatory Dragon flames he had obtained from Ultear, the flames of the Hellfire Dragon, Igneel's fire, Natsu's own demonic flames, and Laxus's lightning, all surging together around his body.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Wrapped from head to toe in fire and lightning, Natsu launched himself toward Duke like a cannon shell.
With lightning further accelerating him, his speed far exceeded anything Duke had anticipated.
Before Duke could even react, Natsu was already directly in front of him.
His head slammed into Duke's stomach.
Flames and lightning instantly engulfed Duke's entire body.
His eyes bulged as his head snapped backward and his mouth opened in a silent gasp.
Natsu stopped in front of him and demanded, "You died a long time ago, didn't you? No—that's not even right. You aren't Duke in the first place. So who the hell are you?"
Duke clutched his stomach in pain.
"I am... the representative of Viernes, the Gold Dragon God..."
"If you've got something to say, then just talk! If you actually explain yourself, we'll listen!"
That was what Natsu said.
His furious expression suggested absolutely nothing of the sort.
Neither did the fist already flying toward Duke's face.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!"
Natsu's fist smashed into the side of Duke's face, and another explosion of fire and lightning tore through him.
For all his alchemical knowledge, Duke himself was practically a glass cannon.
After taking devastating blows to both the stomach and face in rapid succession, he simply lost consciousness and collapsed, unable to get back up.
Raizel stared at him in genuine disbelief.
'That's it? He lost already? He's ridiculously weak...'
"Agreed..." someone nearby muttered.
"Duke-sama!"
Athena II immediately tried to rush to his aid, but Athena stepped directly into her path.
At the same time, Rogue lowered his gaze toward his own hands.
"My power..."
He could feel Magic Power flowing through him again.
"It's back..."
Sting, Rogue, and Minerva had already regained consciousness thanks to Wendy's healing, and now the White Dragon and Shadow Dragon powers inside Athena II were steadily fading away.
Athena II still possessed a portion of Viernes's dragon power, but Viernes currently existed only as a will without a physical body, so the amount of power he had been able to provide her was limited.
Athena II had not been strong enough to defeat Natsu even at full strength.
Now that she had lost the White Shadow Dragon power as well, the outcome was no longer in question.
Working together, Natsu and Athena quickly subdued her.
Athena then used Whiteout to strip the remaining Gold Dragon power from Athena II.
Once deprived of her primary power source, Athena II completely lost the ability to fight.
Raizel looked around the guild hall.
Every combat-capable member of Gold Owl had been defeated.
"Let's go. Everyone outside."
Erza and Kagura brought the badly injured Signario Sisters with them.
Unlike the false Duke, Gennai, Kotetsu, and the other constructs created through Viernes's alchemy, Enny and Luso were ordinary humans.
As for the dolls, Raizel had no interest in bothering with them.
Once everyone was outside, he turned toward Wendy.
"Wendy, the rest is up to you."
"Leave it to me."
Wendy raised both palms toward the Gold Owl guild building.
A red magic circle appeared beneath her feet, and crimson Magic Power surged around her as the entire structure became enveloped in her spell.
"I'll separate Viernes from the guild!"
Wendy had already unlocked her Second Origin and had been practicing Enchant: Separation for quite some time, but separating an existence on the level of the Gold Dragon God was still an enormously difficult task for her current abilities.
She gritted her teeth.
Then she activated Dragon Force.
Her hair turned pink as her Magic Power surged dramatically, and she poured even more strength into Enchant: Separation.
"Wendy, I'll help."
Erza immediately hurried to her side and cast Enchant: Separation on Gold Owl as well.
Her grasp of the spell was still rudimentary compared to Wendy's, but she had learned enough to contribute.
Far away, Irene and Selene continued watching.
Irene made no attempt to interfere.
An existence as far beyond their normal level as Viernes was almost the perfect training material for Wendy and Erza, and she had no intention of wasting the opportunity by doing the work for them.
Selene, meanwhile, wore a somewhat complicated expression.
After watching the battle between Athena and Athena II, she had come to the conclusion that the so-called weapon created to defeat the Five Dragon Gods was nowhere near as terrifying as its reputation suggested.
No matter how much dragon power Athena absorbed, she would ultimately amount to little more than an enhanced version of God Serena.
Unless she could somehow completely absorb the Magic Power of the Five Dragon Gods—or Acnologia himself.
And that was little more than a fantasy.
The realization only made Selene even more grateful that she had chosen Fairy Tail when she did.
ROOOAAAR—!
A dragon's roar suddenly shook the air.
Above the Gold Owl guild hall, an enormous golden phantom emerged.
It was a colossal dragon whose entire body gleamed as though forged from solid gold.
Its shape was vaguely reminiscent of a sphinx, possessing a leonine body and a draconic face, while the markings covering its features carried a distinctly ancient, almost Egyptian quality.
"We separated him!"
Wendy turned toward Raizel and nodded.
"Good work, both of you."
Raizel grabbed the now-powerless Athena II and teleported directly above the phantom of the Gold Dragon God.
Using Athena II as a vessel, he pressed the Philosopher's Stone against the top of Viernes's spectral head.
The brilliant red stone slowly sank into the dragon's incorporeal body.
And as it disappeared within him, the golden phantom began to change.
Little by little, Viernes's body became solid.