"Marco isn't lying. We can all prove it. When we encountered that Black Dragon, he wasn't the only one there. We were all present!"
Seeing that Anna was still hung up on the matter of the Black Dragon, Lucy immediately spoke up.
At the time, it truly had not been Marco alone.
Although Marco had teleported them away before the danger arrived, they had already seen the Black Dragon's body from afar and felt its overwhelming power.
Besides, even if most of them had not witnessed the battle between Marco and the Black Dragon itself, and had only seen the scene after the battle ended, Laxus and the now-ghostly First Guild Master had watched the entire fight from beginning to end.
"..."
Anna fell silent.
She opened her mouth, only to find herself unsure what to say.
Why did this matter sound more real the more they explained it?
'Could this young man in front of me really possess the strength to stand against the Black Dragon?'
Anna could not help beginning to doubt her own understanding.
Was the world more than four hundred years later really this special?
The reason they had chosen to come to this point in time was precisely because the magic power of this era was extremely dense, the richest it had been in centuries.
It would help them recover and allow the children to grow.
Those five Dragon Slayers were a crucial part of their plan.
They needed the children to grow up quickly so that everyone could work together to eliminate the Black Dragon.
Of course, Anna had also been searching for other methods all this time, constantly trying to find a way to make the final battle easier.
That was what she had spent these years doing.
"Miss Anna, I want to ask something. Can the dragons inside Natsu and the others perceive what's happening outside?"
Seeing Anna fall silent, looking as though she was questioning herself, Marco asked curiously.
If Anna did not believe them, then it would be better to call out a dragon she could believe.
"Perhaps... they can?"
Marco's reminder made Anna's eyes suddenly light up.
However, she did not have absolute certainty that after the Soul Dragon Technique was used, the dragons would be able to perceive everything happening outside.
"How do we get Igneel to come out?"
Seeing the topic return to their dragon parents, Natsu immediately cut in. He had nearly been holding himself back to death.
"Igneel! Igneel?! Come out already!"
After asking, Natsu immediately began shouting, trying to call out Igneel from inside his body.
"..."
Marco looked at Natsu speechlessly.
How could shouting possibly work?
It was not as if Natsu had never shouted before.
Years ago, he had spent every day running around shouting "Igneel," trying to find his vanished dragon father.
"They were injured, badly injured. They entered your bodies partly to prevent you from turning into dragons, and partly to heal their own wounds."
Seeing Natsu shouting like that, Anna explained.
The reason the Fire Dragon King Igneel and the others had not responded might be because their injuries had not healed yet, not because they were deliberately refusing to answer.
"So that's how it is..."
Natsu stopped shouting.
That made sense now!
Otherwise, why would Igneel refuse to come out and meet him all this time?
"Wait. What do you mean by turning into dragons?"
Marco reached out and smacked Natsu on the head, thinking that this brat had completely missed the main point of Anna's sentence.
Wendy, standing nearby, had clearly noticed it. Her expression was worried, and she had already thought of a certain possibility.
"In truth, that Black Dragon was originally human."
The moment the experienced Anna Heartfilia opened her mouth, everyone was stunned.
That terrifying Black Dragon said to destroy the world had actually been transformed from a human?
Humans could actually become dragons?!
"He was once a Dragon Slayer too?" Marco asked.
Dragon Slayer Magic actually had this kind of side effect?
It could turn the user from a human into a true dragon?
He had thought it only allowed someone to become a "humanoid dragon."
"That's right. He was the first Dragon Slayer to transform from a human into a dragon."
Anna nodded.
As someone from the same era as the Black Dragon Acnologia, she knew quite a lot about his story.
This information had almost been public knowledge back then, and Acnologia himself had never tried to hide it.
"Will... will we all become dragons too?" Wendy asked quietly.
Although she was not afraid of dragons, and even loved Grandeeney dearly, that did not mean she wanted to become a dragon herself.
"No. Grandeeney and the others have produced antibodies inside your bodies. The possibility of you turning into dragons is already extremely low."
Anna shook her head.
This was also the reason Igneel and the others had done this.
They needed new Dragon Slayers to defeat the Black Dragon, not to create more humans who would turn into dragons.
"Then what about Dragon Slayers like Laxus, who use Dragon Lacrima?"
Marco frowned.
If a dragon had to stay inside the body to produce antibodies and reduce the chance of dragonification to almost zero, then what about Second Generation Dragon Slayers like Laxus?
They had no dragons inside them to create antibodies.
"Those who have Dragon Lacrima implanted actually don't need to worry. After all, they are borrowing external power. Once the Dragon Lacrima is taken away, they will directly lose the power of Dragon Slayer Magic."
Anna shook her head.
Her words put Marco at ease.
Otherwise, he would have had to find a way to get a dragon to live inside Laxus for a few years too.
"Natsu, go to the open space outside."
Just as everyone was still shocked by this information that had long been hidden in the river of history, a voice suddenly echoed in Natsu's mind, freezing his body in place.
"Igneel..."
Natsu murmured, and unprecedented light burst from his eyes.
It was a light mixed with disbelief, wild joy, and intense longing.
That voice was one he could never be more familiar with.
"Igneel! Is that you?! Where are you?!" Natsu shouted, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
But Wendy had no time to care about Natsu.
Tears immediately filled her eyes, and her small body trembled slightly.
"Grandeeney... Grandeeney... Is it really... really you?"
At the same time Natsu heard Igneel's voice, Wendy also heard Grandeeney.
She tightly hugged Carla, as if searching for support, as if confirming that she was not dreaming.
Gajeel, meanwhile, looked utterly shocked, his expression extremely complicated.
He clenched his fists and muttered under his breath, "Metalicana... really is inside me?"
Gajeel had actually still been skeptical until now.
Only when he truly heard Metalicana's voice beside his ear did he finally believe it.
"Outside! I'm going outside right now!"
Natsu shouted wildly and ran straight toward the large lake behind the guild.
The guildhall definitely could not fit dragons, but the area beside the lake behind the guild could.
The open space there was large enough.
Wendy and Gajeel immediately followed Natsu. Clearly, the two of them had received similar requests.
For the dragons to emerge from their bodies, they needed a wide enough open area.
Seeing this, everyone in the guild immediately followed.
They could already predict what was about to happen, so naturally they were full of anticipation.
This was a chance to see three dragons.
In the open space beside the lake behind the guild, Natsu stood there trembling with excitement.
He could finally see Igneel!
It had been seven years since they separated in X777, more than seven years had already passed.
"Igneel..."
Natsu murmured his dragon father's name, waiting for what would happen next.
Wendy and Gajeel also looked toward Natsu.
The three dragons seemed to have discussed the order as they would emerge one by one.
The Fire Dragon King first.
The Sky Dragon second.
The Iron Dragon last.
Buzz!!!
Under everyone's gaze, magic power erupted from Natsu's body.
Crimson flames shot into the sky.
Those flames were no ordinary fire.
They contained pure draconic presence, violent and scorching, as though they could burn everything in the world to ash.
Within the flames, a massive, suffocating outline quickly took shape.
The fire dispersed, and a majestic, powerful dragon covered in dark red scales like hardened lava stood proudly before them.
His wings spread wide, as if they could blot out the sky.
The dragon's body was incredibly robust. Both his body and his head bore obvious scars, making it clear at a glance that he had survived countless battles.
This was the veteran king of fire dragons.
The Fire Dragon King Igneel lowered his head.
His dragon eyes were filled with deep affection, and his gaze locked precisely onto that small figure who had worried him for so long, that figure he was so proud of.
"Natsu..."
A deep, powerful voice rang out like rolling thunder exploding in everyone's hearts.
The Fire Dragon King Igneel had returned to the world.