Fairy Tail - Chapter 514 Review by BelserionIrene's Dragonuv KingdomSo we have the flashback we were expecting from the end of last week's chapter as Irene begins telling her story to Erza and Wendy. It turns out that when Irene said she was once the "Queen of the Dragons" she meant a literal queen. Her castle is overrun with children and Dragons co existing and living happily. This was a bit of a smokescreen to what was happening beyond the castle walls. We're introduced to Belserion the Sage Dragon who's reporting to Irene that the anti human dragons of Alakitasia were making their way towards Ishgar, destroying villages and eating humans along the way. This is where we get the sweetest side of Irene ever. She doesn't believe that Dragons should be eating people and she wants to protect Ishgar from that. She debuts a new type of magic, "Enchantment", which gives the people hope that by enhancing the dragons they would win the war easily, which Irene herself wasn't so sure about. Later on, a bruised Belserion reports that they will lose the war because although they were at a disadvantage before, the anti human Dragons of Ishgar have sided with the evil dragons, which basically means they're definitely going to lose. We also learn that this dragon is 100% devoted to Irene because of a debt he owes to her predecessor for saving his life, and he intends to die protecting her if that's what it comes to. Irene has no intention of sitting idly by while her dragons, her friends, are killed. She introduces the concept of Dragon Slayer Magic to Belserion, asking him if there was a way to attach his magic to her. They found a way to do it and the Dragon Slayer concept was a success. Irene became, what she calls, "The Mother of all Dragon Slayers".
Lucy/Natsu.....HappyFollowing Porlyusica's suggestion, Lucy did indeed take her clothes off and crawled naked on top of Natsu. I did not like this moment at all. I don't understand Hiro's need to constantly insert fanservice into even the most serious situations. At this point it's more borderline hentai than fanservice honestly. This isn't NaLu hate. I'm not being anti NaLu, I'm being pro Lucy. Lucy is a powerful, capable mage. She can hold her own just as well as anyone else. But in this "war" she's changed clothes more times than she's changed opponents. I think back to that fight she had with Brandish a few chapters ago and I remember being so impressed by how far she'd come, yes I realize Brandish wasn't going all out, but still it's a compliment to Lucy. I want to see her showcase her real talent as a Celestial Spirit Mage. And it's not just Lucy. I wasn't a fan when Mira was used for fanservice. I'm not a fan of Lucy currently being relegated to fanservice, and I won't be a fan of whomever else Hiro decides to focus on in the future. That being said, body heat is one of the best methods of keeping someone warm, and while I do think there were other ways to go about warming up Natsu, in the end it's what they decided to go with and it seems to be working. Even Happy is contributing his own little body heat.
Natsu/Wendy/GajeelWe continue with Natsu's Heart. Gajeel and Wendy are now there in place of Zeref, and Wendy confirms via Anna what Irene said about being the one who created Dragon Slayer magic, which now saves us days of speculating on whether Irene was lying or not. It also seems Natsu is getting closer to his answer. There wasn't much content from Natsu's heart so i'm guessing it was just to reinforce Irene as the creator of Dragon Slayer Magic and to continue the foreshadowing of Natsu's imminent death and END's awakening.
Irene and The Dragon SlayersIrene and her army of Dragons and Slayers managed to turn the war in their favor with the use of Dragon Slayer Magic but the Dragon Slayers bodies began rejecting the enormous power. Some were overwhelmed and went berserk while others came down with really severe cases of "motion sickness". Irene goes on to explain that a Dragon Seed would begin sprouting in the Slayers bodies, which would mark their final moments as humans before irreversibly turning them into Dragons. We then see Irene's face, it's starting to crack and there are dragon scales underneath the skin. She reveals to Erza that while she had begun to Dragonize, she was already pregnant with her. This is where the chapter ends. The next chapter is titled "I am You.....You are Me". So it seems we'll revisit Irene's cryptic words from a few chapters ago. Mother/daughter relationship might not be that simple.
Rating: 10/10From this chapter it's clear Irene is not an opponent Erza, even with Wendy's help, can hope to defeat. Even if they were to get more help from maybe Laxus or Gildarts, I still find it almost impossible that she can be taken down by anyone other than Acnologia and maybe August.
I think it's pretty much a given now that Erza will receive a power up. The fact that she was growing inside Irene while she was undergoing the dragonification process is a huge indicator. It can be one of two things, either Erza inherited her mother's DS element, or Erza herself is part Dragon. Erza has always been known for her durability, her ability to withstand even the worst torture has always been met with much skepticism within the fandom. Now we may have the answer for this. Also, if we think back to the battle with Neinhart, while she was fighting the historia of opponents she's faced in the past, her eyes underwent some sort of transformation that dispelled the historias with little to no effort. This may also be a symbol of her dragon heritage which will no doubt be revisited very soon.
This fight would be a great reintroduction to the battlefield for Acnologia. It would not surprise me if he was nearby listening to Irene's story. The only drawback would be Wendy. Acnologia is still actively hunting Dragon Slayers, and unless he is really distracted by Irene, or Wendy or Erza suddenly have some sort of teleportation magic, I don't see how Wendy would escape Acnologia's clutches. This is the only hesitation I have about Acnologia actually showing up there right now. Otherwise it's the perfect stage.
The end of Natsu's journey seems to be near. Judging by the how close the light is, it wouldn't be surprising if Natsu meets END next chapter. "I am You....You Are Me" can also be referring to the meeting of those two. That is the whole point of "Natsu's Heart", the revelation of the identity of what lives inside him, which a lot of us has been anticipating.
Overall this was a great chapter, especially the flashback and the information we're receiving about the previous Dragon King Festival which, with Acnologia looming, i'm sure will be relevant in upcoming chapters.
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