Chapter 302

'The Eclipse Plan' is the 302nd chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.

Summary
Still in the Dragon's Graveyard, Arcadios and Yukino introduce themselves to the group. Gray and Lucy begin to wonder why the white knight and ex-member of Sabertooth are in the cavern littered with the bones of dragons long gone, to which Arcadios begins to explain to them that he requires the power of a Celestial Spirit Mage for his plan and how that is the reason why Yukino is present with him. Natsu then confronts Arcadios, angry and confused about what he wants with them. Arcadios, now realizing Natsu was among the Fairy Tail Mages, compliments him on his battle. Natsu, not caring for Arcadios's praise, rushes to towards him, demanding he tells them why exactly he needs a Celestial Spirit Mage. Arcadios then tells Natsu and friends to follow him but before they proceed further, Yukino tells that if they follow through with this plan, they would have a chance of defeating Zeref and Acnologia.

The group follows Arcadios to the palace, Mercurius, gazing in awe of its sheer size and magnificence. Arcadios then takes this time to apologize to them for the earlier attempted kidnapping of Lucy, showing them how desperate the need was for a Celestial Spirit Mage and revealing that he was the one behind the act to the Fairy Tail Mages, much to their surprise. They then enter the castle and continue to follow Arcadious while he tells them that the Grand Magic Games were actually a ruse to collect magical power from many different Mages, which the Fairy Tail Mages quickly disprove of but Arcadios shrugs off their feelings knowing that the Eclipse Plan would take a large amount of Magical Energy.

After traveling through the palace, Arcadios then shows them the Eclipse Project. A massive gateway that will be unlocked when the sun and moon intersect by the Twelve Gold Keys. He then tells the plan to use the gateway to travel back in time 400 years and destroy Zeref before he could become immortal, stunning the group in the very idea of travelling through time. Yukino then tells them that by using a special dimensional plane of Celestial Spirit World, they would be able to open the gate with that Celestial Spirit Magic. Arcadios then asks Lucy, that on the 7th of July would she lend him her power to open the gate when the moon intersects the sun, with Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy wondering if there was a connection between the dragons disappearance and this upcoming eclipse.

Suddenly, guards come charging into the room and surround the group. They then make way for the minister of defense, Datong, who tells Arcadios to come with him peacefully. Arcadios questions the meaning of Datong's actions, to which he replies that Arcadios has leaked classified information on the Eclipse Plan and is now under arrest. Arcadios claims that Datong is only doing this because he opposes the plan seeing how the Fairy Tail Mages are key to the plan. Datong then yells that of course he was against the plan as Arcadios was not thinking about what effects changing the past could have of the present. He then demands the immediate arrest of Arcadios, Lucy and Yukino and tells the guards to get rid of the rest of the group. Angered by the obscure charges against his friend, Natsu prepares to attack the guards with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. Arcadios warns him not to use magic around the gate but it is too late. Natsu's magic is then sucked out of his body by the gate and he then passes out after losing it all. Datong tells him how using magic this close to the Eclipse gate will only result in him loosing it all in one burst. The guards then take away their new prisoners, while Datong escorts Natsu and the others from the palace. Before leaving them, he tells the group that he only does what benefits his country and that the king has taken a liking to their Guild. Finally he informs them the if they are to win the Grand Magic Games, they would be allowed an audience with the king and that if they were to get along well with him, they might be able to change the sentence for their arrested comrade.

Magic used

 * Dragon Slayer Magic (滅竜魔法, Metsuryū Mahō)
 * Fire Dragon Slayer Magic (火の滅竜魔法, Ka no Metsuryū Mahō)