So far, they had only encountered two members of the alchemist guild—God Serena and Sai.
Even the members of Diabolos knew very little about alchemy, so if Raizel and the others wanted more detailed information, they would need to meet more alchemists themselves.
Ignia's mysterious plan and Dogramag's final words about the "seeds" already having been planted left Raizel, Selene, and the others equally baffled.
There simply weren't enough clues yet.
For now, all they could do was proceed one step at a time.
Elefseria himself was fine.
He had already been living without his original heart, so nothing had really changed except that the heart had now disappeared for good.
Raizel later explained that Dogramag had drained it of all its power long ago.
What remained had been nothing more than an empty shell that continued beating.
Even if they had brought it back, it would have served no purpose.
At least they had finally dealt with Dogramag, the Earth Dragon God, so Elefseria did not dwell on the loss.
"All right! Then I guess we're done here!"
The members of Diabolos were preparing to return and report what had happened.
Standing outside the entrance to Magia Dragon, Misaki spoke seriously on behalf of the group.
"We'll give your words proper consideration and decide on a new path for Diabolos."
Even if Selene and Irene chose not to interfere, the current Black Dragon Slayer Knights might actually be capable of challenging Guild Master Georg Reizen together.
The main reason they had endured his behavior for so long was that Kirin and Suzaku still felt indebted to him.
Now, however, they had realized that Georg had essentially been sending them to their deaths.
The Dragon Gods existed on an entirely different level from them.
Selene also gave Misaki an item that would allow her to call for help. If the need ever arose, Selene could reach her immediately.
After seeing Diabolos off, Elefseria looked toward Raizel.
"You said you were searching for the whereabouts of Viernes and Ignia. What do you intend to do next? Have you found any leads?"
"No."
Raizel shook his head without the slightest hesitation.
His answer was so blunt that Elefseria actually froze for a moment.
"That's exactly why we're going back for a while. It'll be easier to gather information if we return to Fairy Tail."
They had already been away for quite some time, and since they currently had no clues to pursue, returning home and getting more people to help brainstorm seemed like the most practical option.
Naturally, they hitched another ride through one of Selene's magic water mirrors and returned directly to Magnolia.
The moment they reached the guild, Natsu and Happy were by far the most excited.
Unfortunately for Natsu, the guild's tavern doors were practically always wide open these days, so he no longer had the chance to dramatically kick them down.
"WOOOAH! I MISSED THIS PLACE!!!"
"IT'S THE GUILD!!!"
Natsu and Happy raced inside like baby birds returning to the nest.
"Welcome back."
"Everyone looks lively."
Lisanna and Kinana, who were working the counter, greeted them with warm smiles.
"Mira-nee! I missed you with every ounce of my manly spirit!"
"Laxus and Gajeel are back too? You two suddenly vanished, so everyone was wondering what happened."
Gajeel and Laxus had disappeared without warning when Selene dragged them into the Dogramag Labyrinth, leaving the rest of the guild completely bewildered.
Ultear, Erza, and the others went to find Ur, while Raizel headed toward the bar and found Makarov.
"Gramps, it's been a while. You doing okay?"
Laxus shook his head in exasperation.
"How could he not be? He spends every day drinking with Kurnugi, Macao, and Wakaba."
Makarov's face immediately turned red.
He awkwardly raised his mug and kept drinking as though he had heard nothing.
A moment later, however, he suddenly stared at Laxus.
"Wait. Laxus, you..."
"Hm? You noticed?"
Laxus placed his right hand against his chest.
"I removed the Lacrima Ivan forced into me when I was a kid."
"I always thought it was the source of my Magic Power, but apparently it wasn't. Once I took it out, I was finally able to bring out the power that was originally mine."
"As expected of Laxus!!!" Freed declared with a beaming smile.
"I knew he was the strongest!" Bickslow added.
Evergreen's lips parted in surprise.
"Wait... You mean all the power you've shown until now wasn't even your original strength?"
"That's a real man!!!"
Raizel, Erza, and the others had already noticed the change.
Simply put, after removing the Dragon Slayer Lacrima from his body and absorbing the soul and remaining Magic Power of Elexion, the Lightning Dragon King, Laxus had actually become much stronger.
He could now enter a Lightning Dragon King Mode during battle.
If he combined that power with his own crimson lightning and unleashed everything at once, the result would probably be terrifying.
Makarov turned toward Raizel.
"And what about the rest of you? Have you finished the Hundred Years Quest?"
Raizel thought for a moment before answering.
"I'd say we're about halfway done. We've hit a dead end for the moment, which is why we came back to see if we could find any new clues."
"Mira or Erza can give you the full report later."
"I see."
Makarov nodded with a rare trace of seriousness.
Then his expression immediately changed.
He leaped onto the bar, raised his mug high, and shouted,
"ALL RIGHT, BRATS! TO CELEBRATE RAIZEL, ERZA, AND THE OTHERS COMING HOME—LET'S HAVE A PARTY!!!"
The massive guild hall quickly became even louder than a crowded marketplace.
Natsu stood on top of a table, enthusiastically reenacting everything that had happened at the Dogramag Labyrinth, Mercphobia's temple, and Drasil.
Elefseria had already given them permission to discuss it.
At this point, so many people knew about the Hundred Years Quest anyway, and with the mission already well underway, revealing some of the details was no longer a serious problem.
"...And that's basically what happened. So we decided to come home for a while."
...
Elsewhere, Ultear, Mira, and Erza were giving Mavis, Makarov, and Ur a more complete report on the Hundred Years Quest.
"So there were actually six Dragon Gods..."
"I was wondering whether the guild library might have any old records concerning the Five Dragon Gods."
"Hmm..."
Makarov looked toward Mavis.
Mavis closed her eyes for a moment before firmly shaking her head.
"No. There's nothing."
She had read every single book in Fairy Tail's library.
There were no texts related to the Six Dragon Gods.
Makarov lowered his head thoughtfully.
"In that case... I might know somewhere."
"Sabertooth has a library said to be the finest on the continent. There might be something there."
Ultear's eyes lit up.
"You mean the Sabertooth Grand Library, right? It does have an incredibly long history. I've heard its collection is practically endless."
Mira raised one finger.
"There is one problem, though. From what I've heard, the Sabertooth Grand Library isn't open to outsiders."
Kagura shook her head.
"Wasn't that a rule imposed by their previous master, Jiemma? Sting is the guild master now, with Minerva there as well. They may be willing to make an exception."
Raizel immediately made the decision.
"Then it's simple. We'll visit them directly and ask."
Erza planted her hands proudly on her hips.
"Shouldn't we send a letter first to let them know we're coming? I can write it!"
"No."
Ultear rejected the idea without a second of hesitation.
After all, any letter written by Erza had an unfortunate tendency to look like either a declaration of war or an official challenge.