Hour of the Serpent

The Hour of the Serpent is Apophis' name for his plan to consume the world in the power of the Serpent Ring, and transform all humans into snakes.

The Plan
Apophis always held humans in spite, believing them to be scum. After discovering the power of Transformation Magic, Apophis made a resolve to purge the world of humans, by transforming them into snakes.

Serpent Ring
To achieve his plan, Apophis began constructing the Serpent Ring, an item that he could use to change people. However, the process was going far too slow for his taste. Apophis began to look for a way he could amplify the Ring's power. Using the Ring, he began to transform people into snakes, swallowing powerful people he made, and assimilating their power into his own. This amplified the power of the Serpent Ring, but still not enough. To amplify the Ring's power even more, Apophis built the Snake Pit, a place that he could hide and plan in, as well spread the power of the Serpent Ring.

Demon Scar
Seeking sources of power, Apophis came to the conclusion that he was bound to find strong mages if he joined a guild. He set out to find a guild that he deemed strong enough, though his standards were difficult to meet. Eventually, he came across Demon Scar. Though somewhat underwhelmed by most of the members, the power of the guild master impressed him. He also sensed the power of the Ancient Spirits of Evil. Realizing he had found the source of power he had been looking for, Apophis joined the guild, throwing himself in with a team which would come to be known as the Five Aspects of God.

Treachery
After Re-Set was defeated, and mastery of the guild fell to Mahabharata, Apophis, who was presumed dead, snuck into the sanctum, where he found residual magic of the Ancient Spirits and Re-Set. Consuming the magic with the Serpent Ring, Apophis' power sharply increased. He then ambushed his former guildmates in the guild hall, and attacked them with the Serpent Ring. Now backed with both the power of Re-Set, and the Ancient Spirits, he defeated the guild, and consumed them. His power increased even further.

Gathering Strength
Deciding he could wait no longer, Apophis began to move his plan forward. He returned to the Snake Pit, where he began orchestrating a series of attacks against Fiore, hoping to lure powerful mages to him. This strategy had limited success though, and Apophis soon lost his patience. He created four giant snakes from the Snake Ring, and sicked each one of them on a well populated town (one of them Magnolia), causing mass destruction. This got the attention of many of Fiore's powerful guilds.

An alliance of guilds, consisting of Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus tracked the snakes back to the Snake Pit, where Apophis was waiting. Realizing that he could not fight them all alone, Apophis lured them down into the depths of his lair, where he stalled them with the guardians of the snake pit while he prepared.

Eventually, Apophis preperation was complete. He then revealed himself, and the Serpent Ring, unleashing its full power on all those who had come to stop him. All the mages were transformed into snakes, save for Lucy, whose contract with the Dark Celestial Spirits shielded her from its power. Though aware of this, it was of no consequence for Apophis, who finally had the power he needed to complete his plan. Combining all the magic power into one single magic snake, Apophis swallowed it, and his power skyrocketed. He shed his skin again, taking an entirely new, empowered form, capable of levitation.

 With the power he needed obtained, Apophis proclaimed that the age of the human had ended, and that the age of the serpent had begun. He then began to fly towards Crocus, to complete the plan.