Chapter 339: The Zoan Principle
Could I actually use Take Over magic on a dragon?
Standing in the freezing, dimly lit vault, Finn stared at the colossal corpse of Kurunugi, his mind spinning. Frankly, the idea bordered on absolute insanity. Why? Because dragons were fundamentally immune to normal magic. That was a universal law of Earthland. It was the exact reason no sane mage had ever attempted to Take Over one.
The only magic capable of piercing a dragon’s scales was Dragon Slayer magic. Everything else was utterly useless. Even the legendary Black Wizard, Zeref, couldn’t defeat a dragon with raw magic alone. You either had to beat them to death with overwhelming physical force or use their own element against them.
Yet, the mechanical prompt from the Manager glowing in his mind shattered that reality. He could Take Over the beast.
But should he?
What if his mind was completely crushed? What if he failed and the dragon’s residual soul obliterated his consciousness?
"No... let’s do it."
If this were seven years ago, Finn would have hesitated. But right now, his soul was anchored by the immense collective willpower of his alternate selves. Furthermore, he wasn’t exactly a novice. While he presented himself to the public as a mage who only took over harmless avian creatures, he secretly harbored a legendary beast within him.
And no, he wasn’t referring to his lower body—though, after his recent multidimensional stamina upgrades, his physical "equipment" was incredibly impressive on its own. But this was about pure, unadulterated magical dominance.
To the elite mages of Fairy Tail, Finn’s choice of Take Over magic might have seemed incredibly weird, if not downright inferior. In a world where raw destructive power or Dragon Slayer magic reigned supreme, Take Over was often looked down upon.
Even Mirajane Strauss, the most famous and frightening user of the magic, had a hard ceiling. Yes, her demonic transformations were legendary—weaponizing her voluptuous, barely-contained curves alongside raw, terrifying physical power to dominate her opponents. But if she were thrown into a death match against Acnologia or Zeref? She would be brutally, miserably slaughtered.
But Finn hadn’t chosen Take Over for flashy destruction. He chose it for its unmatched versatility, its lack of fatal side effects, and its absolute efficiency.
To Finn, Take Over magic was functionally identical to a Zoan-type Devil Fruit from the world of One Piece.
He knew many anime fans would argue for the superiority of Logia or Paramecia types. But Logia fruits were absurdly rare lottery tickets, and Paramecia fruits required the user to be a mad genius to unlock their true, limitless potential. Zoan, on the other hand? It provided immediate, guaranteed physical buffs.
Like a Zoan fruit, Take Over offered an immediate spike in stamina, regeneration, and brute strength. It also provided three distinct stages: a human form, a full beast form (perfect for perfect camouflage), and an incredibly potent human-beast hybrid form that merged the best traits of both.
Even his lowest-level avian transformations were strategic masterpieces. Taking over a chicken or a pigeon might sound pathetic, but it gave him the power of flight—a rarity in this world. More importantly, it gave him absolute dominion over those species. He had used that connection to quietly monopolize the poultry food industry for massive wealth, and he utilized pigeons to build an invisible, continent-spanning spy network. After all, who suspects a random pigeon cooing on a windowsill of being the White Devil’s eyes and ears?
In a universe where entire planets could be devoured by machines, dark magic, or dragons, the only way to dictate your own fate was to be ruthlessly strong. He didn’t need the idealistic "power of Nakama." He just needed power.
His eyes hardened. He stepped forward and slammed his bare hand against the freezing, steel-like scales of the Sword Saint Dragon.
"Take Over!"
Instantly, his consciousness was violently ripped from his body and dragged into a blinding, scorching white soulscape. The sheer heat was suffocating, smelling of burning ozone and ancient blood.
Looming before him was the residual soul of Kurunugi. The dragon was technically dead, but its soul was a towering inferno of pride and rage. It absolutely refused to be dominated by a mere, puny mortal!
"ROOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRR!!!"
The deafening roar threatened to physically shatter Finn’s eardrums. A crushing, agonizing pressure slammed into his brain.
Yet, standing in the face of a mythological god of swords, Finn didn’t scream. He didn’t flinch. He simply planted his feet and imposed his cold, calculating will over the burning beast.
Back in the physical world, the silent battle took a heavy toll. Finn stood frozen, his eyes rolled back in his head. A thick trail of hot, crimson blood dripped from his nose, splashing onto the cold stone floor. His muscles violently twitched and spasmed under his tailored suit, bulging as if they were trying to tear out of his skin.
Suddenly, a sickening CRACK echoed through the vault.
Finn’s skin ripped. Gleaming, razor-sharp draconic scales violently erupted along his arms and neck. His body rapidly expanded, twisting into the terrifying, muscular form of a dragon-human hybrid, radiating an aura of pure, suffocating malice.
For a few terrifying seconds, the White Devil truly looked like a monster.
Then, with a heavy, ragged gasp, the scales retracted. The aura vanished. Finn stumbled forward, his knees hitting the cold stone floor as he returned to his normal human form. He wiped the blood from his mouth, his chest heaving as he breathed in the dusty air of the vault.
"...It seems I desperately need to increase my base magic power reserves," he muttered, a tired but triumphant smirk crossing his face.
He had done it. He had successfully taken over the Sword Saint.
At that exact moment, hundreds of miles away in the middle of a vast, seemingly empty ocean, the salty air grew terrifyingly still.
A violent, massive turbulence erupted beneath the waves. The space above the water warped and twisted, groaning under the weight of an immense magical pressure. And then, breaking through the surface with a deafening crash, a legendary landmass finally emerged from its seven-year slumber.
Tenrou Island had returned, waiting for the world to find it.