Rhode didn't plan to enter from the arena side, instead estimating the location based on last night's investigation and confirmed it with Void Divination.
After pinpointing the location, he placed his hands on the shoulders of Natsu and Gajeel, then asked Wendy to grab onto his coat hem, and activated Earth Magic.
A brownish Magic Array appeared beneath the four of them, flashed briefly, and the four seemed to sink directly as if stepping onto the water surface.
"Woah~~~" *3
The three Dragon Slayer Mages let out brief cries of surprise due to the loss of gravity but quickly found themselves sitting on the ground.
Natsu and Gajeel jumped up wanting to say something, but were already captivated by the sight before them.
Wendy, who was accustomed to falling on her own, didn't complain to Rhode, dusted herself off, and stood up, equally shocked at the countless giant skeletons ahead.
The scenes seen with their own eyes were always more astonishing than what Rhode described, leaving the three speechless for a while.
Rhode gave them time to observe slowly and sent some 'Sentinels' to keep watch around.
"What on earth is... happening here?" Natsu finally snapped out of it after a while.
"Thankfully, thankfully these remains are ancient enough." Gajeel said, "Our dragons only disappeared 7 years... no, 14 years ago."
Natsu and Wendy nodded in agreement, thankful it was so.
But just looking at these gigantic bones still made people feel uneasy.
"Let's begin, little one." Gajeel said, "That guy said you had the magic to communicate with deceased dragons."
"Mm!" Wendy instinctively nodded, then looked towards Rhode, seeking his opinion.
Brother Rhode said not to act recklessly.
"Go ahead, I brought you here specifically for this." Rhode said, "I hope you can get some information useful to you."
"Mm!" Only then did Wendy start drawing a Magic Array on the ground.
A moment later, the Magic Array was finished, and Wendy knelt at the center, chanting like a prayer: "Oh dragon soul wandering here, let your voice be heard through me…"
The dark cave was illuminated by Wendy's magic, revealing a starry sky-like beautiful scene on the ceiling.
Wendy raised her hands, earnestly searching for the remaining dragon souls nearby.
For a moment, it seemed all the bones trembled slightly, then emitted a faint glow.
Some of the glow coalesced into small orbs, floating like little ghost fires.
According to Wendy, these were the souls of dragons.
Due to the passage of time or the severe injuries they suffered back then, most souls that survived till now could no longer communicate.
After searching carefully for a while, Wendy suddenly exclaimed, "Found it! Dragon Slayer's Secret Art - Milky Way!"
Whoosh…
Suddenly, a gust of wind arose in the dim cave, lifting Wendy's long hair and skirt, and many of the surrounding luminous orbs were also gathered by this wind into streams, 'flowing' into the air, growing larger and larger.
Gajeel watched as the orb of light transformed and reminded, "Something's emerging!"
As soon as he spoke, a pair of green Dragon Claws emerged from the orb of light.
Next were wings, a dragon tail, until the soul fully formed.
"Roar——!!!" A jade-green Giant Dragon appeared before them, roaring with its neck stretched.
For Natsu and Gajeel, it was the first time seeing such a scene: "Really summoned the dragon's soul!"
This jade-green dragon seemed dazed for a moment, then lowered its head to roar at the several people.
However, their reaction left it a bit disappointed.
Ordinary humans should have been scared to tears at seeing him, why were these few so calm?
He asked, a bit frustrated, "Are you not afraid of dragons?"
Natsu asked, "Why should we be?"
Due to frequently sparring with the dragons with Rhode, Natsu and the others were feeling increasingly affectionate towards dragons.
Even if their first reaction upon seeing a dragon wasn't about how to hurt it, it certainly wouldn't be fear.
"Really, I still prefer seeing the comical expressions of frightened humans." He scratched his chin with a finger and decided to introduce himself first, "I'm Jilconis, some people also call me Fae... hmm?"
Mid-sentence, Jilconis suddenly showed a puzzled expression: "What was I called again?"
Natsu blurted out, "Can't remember your own name, are you an idiot?"
"No, it was just a momentary lapse, I just remembered but then forgot again." Jilconis said, like a tongue-twister.
Rhode looked at Wendy, guessing whether the magic was unstable or the soul was damaged.
At this time, Jilconis gave up recalling, and continued saying, "Awakening me in a soul state, it should be Sky Dragon magic, right? Who's the technician?"
He looked around and finally lowered his head: "Is it this little girl?"
Wendy split a bit of her attention to greet, "Hello, Mr. Jilconis, sorry for awakening you without permission."
"Such a small Dragon Slayer Mage?" He lowered his body to take a good look at Wendy, then opened his mouth, "Such a cute little girl, I want to eat you."
Rhode didn't move, but Natsu and Gajeel immediately rushed in front of Wendy.
"Ha ha ha…" Jilconis laughed heartily, "Indeed foolish humans, I'm now a ghost awakened by her, I can do nothing."
Speaking, he playfully patted Natsu and Gajeel, his claw passing directly through their bodies.
Both of them showed displeased expressions, feeling tricked, and were about to curse while jumping up and down.
Rhode knew Wendy's magic time was limited, holding them back, and asked, "Have you heard of the dragon names Igneru, Grandeeney, or Medalikana?"
Jilconis's attitude suddenly turned unfriendly, "I have nothing to say to humans, you should leave."
Rhode petted the Shadow Wolf lying beside him and then transformed his left hand into a wolf's paw: "Consider speaking to it, or don't think of me as a human."
Rhode was ready to use strong measures.
Unexpectedly, Jilconis's attitude suddenly returned, "That's possible."
Rhode wasn't sure if this guy sensed danger or if his nature was just capricious.
Otherwise, he was just so pent up from not speaking for hundreds of years.
"The ones you mentioned are quite famous, especially the Fire Dragon King Igneru, but they belong to the peaceful coexistence faction, I'm from the opposition faction, so I'm not familiar with them."
Wendy asked curiously, "Coexistence faction?"
"This is a long story..." Jilconis asked the current year, then continued, "It goes back over 400 years."
"At that time, the Dragon Race dominated the world, and humans were merely a type of food. However, some dragons thought humans equally possessed wisdom and should coexist peacefully with you, these dragons were the coexistence faction.
"Naturally, the opposition faction held the contrary view. This led from discussion to argument, to dispute, to confrontation, eventually escalating to full-scale war...
"I was a member of the opposition faction, I've heard of the ones you mentioned, but I'm not familiar with them. I heard they seemed to be planning something, but I don't know what it was."
Unable to get definitive information, Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel felt a bit disappointed.
However, they were also somewhat excited, as it was the first time hearing news about their foster parents from someone else's mouth, even though the news was from hundreds of years ago.