Irene Belserion

Irene Belserion is an antagonist of Fairy Tail.

Past
400 years ago, Irene lived in Dragnof where she was known as the Queen of the Dragons. During this time, she was married to a young man and became pregnant with his child. She had also befriended the Sage Dragon known as Belserion. The two of them were on the side of dragons and humans coexisting together and would do anything to protect their country from war.

As the war continued, Ishgar was on the verge of losing against the dragons that refused to accept humanity as friends. Irene eventually entered in the war itself where she created and used the Dragon Slayer Magic, a magic that would grant a person the power to slay dragons. As a result, Irene and her comrades won the war but those that became Dragon Slayers developed motion sicknesses, due to their bodies being unable to handle their draconian senses. In addition to this, consuming an overwhelming amount of power would turn that person into a dragon themselves which would lead to the creation of Acnologia. Since then, Irene continued to aid Belserion in battle, along with her husband. Belserion was eventually killed by Acnologia.

Some time later, Irene began to turn into a dragon herself and when her husband noticed this, he demanded that she must be kept locked and be executed. Irene did everything she could to rationalize with him, but her husband believed she was lying and refused to help her. No longer able to take the abuse, Irene soon transformed into a full dragon where she killed her husband and began to wreck havoc.

Since then, Irene has spent most of her life as a dragon, but was able to regain her form from the Black Wizard known as Zeref. Irene expressed in joy to see her human self again, but Zeref reminded her that she was only physically human but still remained a dragon. At first, she paid no attention to it, but when her draconian senses began to emerge again, her mind began to break apart. When she realized that she was still pregnant, Irene planned to use her own child and take over her body. However, when her child was born, she refused to due to how precious looking her child had looked at her. Irene decided to leave her behind in care at a church in Rosemary Village, fearing that one day, that feeling of her's will disappear and she will try to take over her body again.

Afterwards, Irene moved to Alakitasia where she became a follower of Zeref's. During this time, she taught herself how to master her Enchantment Magic and as a result, she was successfully able to do so, demonstrating this magic on a pair of two swords that would serve in her squad; Heine Lunasea and Juliet Sun.

Present
In light of the upcoming war between Ishgar and the Alvarez Empire, and their subsequent fight to retrieve Fairy Heart, Irene receives an immediate summons to attend a meeting between Zeref, Emperor Spriggan, and the entirety of the Spriggan 12, but because of her immediate location within the extremely vast expanse of Alakitasia, she finds herself unable to attend.

Irene, along with Larcade, Bloodman and her own personal squad, are ordered by Zeref to mobilize to the northern Ishgar border, eliminating any resistance while heading towards Fairy Tail, successfully annihilating the Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus alliance. Irene is then seen walking with her two subordinates, Heine Lunasea and Juliet Sun in the Sacred Mountain of Zonia. She recalls an old legend about a white angel and a black angel clashing, in which the white one comes out victorious. Heine and Juliet praise her, and she comments that the angels were the spitting image of the two. She expresses curiosity at who would emerge victorious if Heine and Juliet were to fight, but later states that she was kidding; Irene drastically changes the snowy climate to a warmer one, then turns to Bloodman and Larcade, asking them if they are prepared for battle.

Irene watches the battle proceed from afar with Heine and Juliet. The two express their worries at the Ishgar forces' comeback, but Irene calmly states that they've nothing to fear as Bloodman and Larcade are there as well. Before long, Irene orders Juliet and Heine to join the front lines to deal with Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth and Fairy Tail, as well as the incoming Crime Sorcière. She goes on to describe the incoming fourth guest as very troublesome, and resolves to handle them on her own; To make preparations for the incoming fourth guest, whom she reveals is Acnologia, Irene enchants the ground, proclaiming that Zeref's "game" will have to end as she declares premature victory over the Dragon King. Irene very quickly locates Acnologia, hears that his objective is the annihilation of all Dragon Slayers, and then proceeds to block his path. Acnologia attempts to dismiss her, but she instead challenges him, affirming that she is aware of his strength, and confirms to him that she can, indeed, give him a worthy challenge.

Irene immediately begins her fight against Acnologia by casting several destructive enchantments, but her attacks are parried and she is subject to Acnologia's own Dragon Slayer Magic. After managing to step out of harm's way, Irene is praised for her magical ability by the Dragon King: praise which she returns; however, she wonders aloud about the possibility of Zeref's strength exceeding Acnologia's once he attains Fairy Heart. The two briefly taunt each other until Irene expresses her desire to put an end to Zeref's "game" and bring the war to a swift conclusion. In response to this desire, she begins casting a brand new type of Magic that is unknown to even Acnologia by enchanting the earth of the entire Kingdom of Fiore. Irene then tells Acnologia her name and states her want to meet Acnologia again in the future before ultimately enveloping all of Fiore in the light of Universe One.

She later is warped inside of Mercurius's castle due to her Magic, saying that for the first time using the spell, the results were favorable, before pondering her location in front of the confused Royal Family. Afterwards, Irene defeats the Royal Family guards with relative ease, leaving a beaten Arcadios in shock of the might of her power. Irene turns her attention to Toma E. Fiore and his daughter. The former asks her to do as she pleases with him, but to spare his daughter. For an answer, Irene turns Hisui into a mouse and cruelly asks the king if he's still able to love his daughter despite her new appearance. To her disappointment, the king replies that he'll always love his daughter no matter what, Irene calls his affection for his daughter a pity, as she prepares her next move. Suddenly, Irene freezes as she senses a familiar presence, she goes on to investigate and uses her Eye Magic to scan the environments, when she finally spots a red-haired woman, she starts pondering about her identity. The Scarlet Despair later appears right behind an exhausted Mirajane after she defeats Heine and Juliet and reveals that the two of them are actually swords enchanted with a personality.

As Mirajane remains shocked by Irene's vast amount of Magic Power, the female Spriggan uses this opportunity to make use of both Heine's Magical Bands and Juliet's Mucus Magic to tie Mirajane up and then torture her, using the mucus to burn her skin and clothes and declaring that she will not let Mirajane die a swift and easy death. She is stopped by August, who appears with Brandish as well, and accuses the witch of using Universe One without the Emperor's consent. Irene blames it on Acnologia's appearance and also points out the Magic's successful usage. Brushing her comments aside, August decides that the remaining Shields of Spriggan must assemble at the Emperor's side, which Irene stubbornly refuses to do, causing August to remind her that he is general of the Spriggan 12. Irene reluctantly obliges, but declares she will take care of Mirajane first; it is for naught, as August pierces Mirajane's heart before the witch can act. Satisfied, Irene departs with August and Brandish.

Later, Irene is seen with the Spriggan 12, who are gathered at the Fairy Tail Guild. She is ultimately greeted by Zeref, who praises her for successfully casting Universe One. He orders her to remove Fairy Heart from Mavis, who is shocked that Irene is capable of such a thing. Along with Zeref and the rest of the Spriggan 12, Irene then stands in front of the guild as a part of an impenetrable battle formation. While the fight outside continues, Irene is inside the guild building, making use of her ability to slowly extract Fairy Heart. She shows pity for Mavis' current state, with her intellect being stolen thanks to Invel's Ice Slave. All of this is witnessed by Zeref who confronts Irene, displeased to see Mavis' suffering and questions the duration of the Enchantment. Irene calls him out for his naivety, noting that Acnologia's defeat is impossible if Zeref himself has such feelings. Zeref acknowledges her words and leaves the building, letting her continue the extraction. However, she is interrupted yet again, this time by Neinhart, who informs her that Erza's whereabouts are known. Irene coldly orders him to kill her and even though Neinhart argues that his Historia is ineffective against Erza, Irene insists that he does it himself, reminding the Spriggan of his true identity.

Afterwards, while still in the process of extraction, Irene is interrupted as Zeref arrives at the scene, wishing to speak to Mavis one last time. Irene expresses her opposition, commenting on foolishness of that act. Zeref, however, is still persistent in his intentions, before it's proven that he's been an illusion all along. As the real Zeref makes that clear, he says that Illusion Magic is one at which Mavis is particularly good, having been allowed to do so due to Invel's defeat. Infuriated that she was able to be deceived, Irene gladly obliges to pursue the escapee. She does so by going outside and manifesting her giant eye in the sky, taunting everyone by openly projecting the thought that Mavis cannot run nor hide from her gaze. Mavis' voice also projects from the sky at this point, taking Irene by surprise; a giant illusion of Mavis is conjured to rally the Fairy Tail troops, and Irene, realizing that her actions were anticipated and used as a means to the girl's end, expresses vehement disgust for Mavis.

Irene then goes on to cast Berserker on the Alvarez army, enchanting them all into mindless, absurdly strong warriors who easily overwhelm and brutalize Fairy Tail. Satisfied with Fairy Tail's current predicament, she wonders aloud how Mavis is going to respond. Before long, however, a startled Irene is caught in the light of Makarov's Fairy Law, but emerges completely unscathed, surmising to Zeref behind her that 70-80% of their forces were killed, but that the remaining Spriggan 12 were unharmed, thus leaving the flow of battle largely unchanged.

Irene then travels to where Team Natsu and Juvia are located and attacks them, after which she greets Erza. Citing that it's been a long time since they've last met, Erza asks Irene who she is, to which she cryptically responds that they are one and the same. Irene laughs at Erza's confusion, but soon ceases upon being afflicted with the effects of Larcade's Pleasure; as a result, the wounded are allowed to escape. The Scarlet Despair immediately retaliates against an attacking Erza with an atmospheric enchantment when she charges at her, but to her surprise, it is blocked and diffused by Wendy. She then curses both Wendy and Erza for being unaffected by Larcade's Magic.