"By the way, what happened to the guild? Was it invaded? Why is it so wrecked?"
After entering the Quiet Room, Gildarts asked with surprise.
He'd wanted to ask earlier—why was the guild hall so dilapidated? It looked like it had just been through a major battle.
"It's a long story, but yes, it was wrecked," Marco explained with a smile. "We're taking this opportunity to rebuild the Guild Hall. The blueprints and materials are all ready, and construction will start soon."
Over the past month, everyone had been preparing for both the Harvest Festival Celebration and the guild's reconstruction.
Now that the Harvest Festival Celebration had successfully concluded, the preparations for the reconstruction were also complete.
"Rebuilding, huh? Well, that's good. This hall is getting pretty old anyway."
Gildarts paused for a moment, then said no more.
Since everyone had already decided, he wouldn't oppose it.
"Gildarts, what did you want to tell me?" Natsu asked impatiently, his curiosity getting the better of him.
It was obvious Gildarts had called him over for a specific reason.
Natsu wasn't the only one curious, Marco and the others were too.
Marco already had a suspicion—he felt it had to be related to a Dragon.
After all, the only reason Gildarts would specifically call Natsu over was for news about the Dragon he'd been searching for.
"I encountered a Dragon."
Sure enough, Gildarts revealed the news with a grave expression.
"WHATTT?!"
Natsu's cry of shock seemed to echo as Erza, Mirajane, and Happy all gasped in unison.
Only Makarov and Marco, exchanged a glance.
They had both guessed it.
Of course, their faces still showed surprise—it was a Dragon, after all.
The former rulers of this world, a terrifying magical creatures.
It was hard not to be astonished.
"What kind of Dragon? A Fire Dragon? An Iron Dragon? A Sky Dragon?" Natsu immediately asked, his voice urgent.
They currently knew of three Dragons: the Fire Dragon Igneel, who had taught Natsu; the Sky Dragon Grandine, who had taught Wendy; and the Iron Dragon Metalicana, who had taught Gajeel.
"None of those. It was a Black Dragon..."
At the mention of that Dragon, Gildarts's expression grew even darker.
"Oh..." Natsu sounded disappointed.
The Black Dragon wasn't one of the Dragons they were looking for.
"Wait! The Black Dragon?!"
Unlike the disappointed Natsu, Makarov was utterly stunned.
"Are you talking about... 'that' Black Dragon?"
With all eyes on him, Makarov's eyes widened as he sought confirmation from Gildarts.
"That's right. 'That' Black Dragon."
Gildarts nodded gravely, then removed the large robe covering his body, revealing a heavily scarred physique.
"This..."
Seeing Gildarts's body, Marco's eyes widened in shock.
Gildarts was covered in bandages, and both his left arm and left leg had been replaced with prosthetics!
"Gildarts, did you fight that Black Dragon?" Marco immediately realized the cause of the injuries.
"Fight?"
At Marco's words, Gildarts gave a bitter smile.
"You couldn't even call it a fight. In an instant, I was critically wounded. I lost my left arm and leg, and my internal organs were severely damaged. I was lucky to escape with my life. I suspect it just swatted at me casually, assuming it had already killed me."
Gildarts recounted what had happened.
This was Fairy Tail's Strongest Mage—though, of course, he might not hold that title anymore.
Still, Gildarts's words plunged everyone into silence.
They struggled to comprehend the Black Dragon's power. Even Gildarts had been nearly one-shot by it...
"If that was just a casual strike, how strong must the Black Dragon be?"
Mirajane swallowed hard, feeling that this was completely beyond her understanding.
She had once thought Marco and Gildarts were monstrously powerful, but it seemed there were even more terrifying beings in places they didn't know—existences that defied all common sense.
"As expected of the Black Dragon... as expected of the legendary Dragon of the Apocalypse. Its appearance signifies that the end of an era is approaching..." Makarov said, his expression grim.
As a true veteran who had spent decades in the magical world, the Master had read countless books and experienced many things.
He was clearly no stranger to the legends of this dragon.
In fact, everyone had heard of the legends.
The tale of the "Dragon of the Apocalypse" and the "Black Mage" were considered two of the magical world's most classic stories.
The Quiet Room fell completely silent.
"So... is that Black Dragon really going to destroy the world?"
Happy broke the silence, asking worriedly, "If even Gildarts couldn't defeat the Black Dragon, can Marco do it? Can Master Makarov? What about Natsu?"
"Don't worry too much," Marco said with a smile, trying to ease the tension. "I think the legends are a bit exaggerated. This Black Dragon is a creature from hundreds of years ago. Since it's still alive, that means it's been around all this time, but it hasn't destroyed the world, has it? We've barely even heard any news about it."
His words made a lot of sense.
The legends claimed the Black Dragon would destroy the world, yet it had lived for centuries without causing any trouble.
Why would it suddenly start now?
"Yeah! That 'Dragon of the Apocalypse' stuff is probably just a title people slapped on it!" Natsu immediately supported the idea.
He still held a generally positive view of dragons, after all, of the dragons they knew about, only this Black Dragon seemed like an enemy.
"Could the mages who never returned from the Hundred-Year Quest have run into the Black Dragon? Is its home over there?"
Erza offered a perspective, agreeing that the likelihood of the Black Dragon emerging to destroy the world seemed rather low.
Marco's argument was too persuasive.
The Black Dragon had lived peacefully for centuries, and the legends had circulated for just as long, yet the dragon had shown no intention of destroying the world.
"Not necessarily," Gildarts said, shaking his head. "It might just be my bad luck that I ran into it. In any case, the Black Dragon isn't a creature we can handle right now. To fight a dragon, we'll have to rely on Dragon Slayer Mages like you, Natsu. Dragon Slayer Magic was created specifically to combat dragons."
Gildarts couldn't be sure if his encounter with the Black Dragon was a coincidence, but he knew they stood little chance of defeating it.
To kill a dragon, Dragon Slayer Magic was essential.
"I'll do my best!" Natsu clenched his fists.
Anyone else would likely be intimidated by the prospect of facing such a terrifying Black Dragon, but the word "retreat" didn't exist in Natsu's vocabulary.
Whether he could win or not was something he'd only find out after fighting it!
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