A few days later, Rowan finally decided to set out for the Western Continent.
Before leaving, however, he first informed Erza and Makarov.
After hearing Rowan's plan, Makarov's gaze flickered several times before he said,
"Then be careful."
Erza, on the other hand, immediately said,
"I'll go with you."
Rowan shook his head.
"There's no need. After Oración Seis comes the journey to Edolas, and the guild civil war still hasn't happened. Fairy Tail needs you here."
Erza froze.
As someone who had read the story, she naturally understood how serious the Edolas incident would be.
To put it bluntly, it was the closest Fairy Tail had ever come to being completely wiped out.
If Natsu and the others had not turned the situation around, Fairy Tail might genuinely have reached a game over.
At such a critical moment, Erza truly could not be absent. She needed to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Therefore, she probably could not accompany Rowan to the Western Continent.
Rowan had no patience to wait until the Edolas plot ended either.
Aside from the Exceeds, no one in Edolas could use magic, which meant there was nothing there for him to copy.
Compared with Edolas, the Western Continent suited him far better.
Thus, after saying goodbye, Rowan left the guild and headed toward the Western Continent.
With the assistance of farsight magic and the Door-Door Fruit, he reached the Western Continent with almost no effort.
He entered the Alvarez Empire.
It was a magical empire even more prosperous than the Kingdom of Fiore.
The first thing Rowan did after arriving was search for Irene.
Fortunately, Irene was practically a household name throughout the Alvarez Empire. Rowan found her whereabouts without difficulty.
The problem was how to approach her.
After thinking for a while, Rowan decided to be direct.
He teleported and abruptly appeared before Irene while she was handling official business.
Seeing a stranger suddenly appear in front of her, Irene was startled. The magical power within her instantly began boiling, as though an unprecedented force might erupt in the next second.
"Who are you?"
She stared coldly at Rowan, magic gathering restlessly in her hand.
Rowan ignored the light in her palm and said with a smile,
"I've brought news about Zeref. Don't you want to hear it, Miss Irene?"
"News about His Majesty?"
Irene's gaze flickered.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I know everything about you."
Rowan began speaking confidently.
"For example, your name is Irene. Four hundred years ago, you were the queen of the Kingdom of Dragnof. To resist the invasion of the evil dragons, you created Enchantment Magic and used it to attach a dragon's power to humans, forming a new type of magic—Dragon Slayer Magic."
"However, the magic came with a side effect: dragonification."
"After transforming into a dragon, you suffered greatly. In the end, you destroyed your own kingdom and flew deep into the wilderness."
"Later, you met Zeref, and with his help, you regained a human appearance."
"But in essence, you remained a dragon. You merely gained the ability to switch between human and dragon forms."
"Because of the dragon power within you, you lost your human sense of taste and became unable to sleep. After giving birth to Erza, you attempted to enchant yourself onto her body, but the attempt failed."
"When you prepared to try again, your maternal love prevented you from going through with it. So you abandoned Erza in a village—"
"Enough!!!"
Before Rowan could finish, Irene roared furiously.
She had never expected him to expose her most painful wounds the moment they met, forcing her to remember those old nightmares once again.
If Rowan had not claimed to possess information about Zeref, she would already have attacked him.
"Who exactly are you? Why do you know so much?"
Rowan smiled faintly and activated Archive Magic, transmitting his own information and Irene's future directly into her mind.
For example, in the near future, Zeref would return.
Under his leadership, Irene would travel to Ishgar alongside fellow members of the Spriggan Twelve—Bloodman and Larcade—as well as Juliet, Heine, and three hundred soldiers of the Alvarez Empire.
They would invade from the northern region of the Kingdom of Fiore.
Later, Irene would wreak havoc inside the royal castle, effortlessly annihilate the kingdom's army, and transform the princess into a mouse.
Afterward, she would attack Erza.
In the end, after losing to Erza, she would take her own life.
Because Acnologia resented Irene for creating Dragon Slayer Magic, he would later destroy her corpse.
After seeing her future, Irene's expression changed repeatedly.
"So this is my future?"
"That's right. This is your future."
"And you… are someone from another world?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Irene. My name is Rowan, a traveler from another world."
"You came here to copy my magic."
After organizing the information Rowan had sent her, Irene finally understood his objective.
As expected, there was no love without reason, nor hatred without cause.
The reason he had told her all of this was because he wanted something from her.
"That's right."
Rowan nodded openly.
"What do you think, Miss Irene?"
Irene remained silent for a moment before asking,
"Did our invasion of Ishgar fail?"
Rowan nodded.
"It failed."
"What happened to His Majesty?"
"He died together with his wife, Mavis."
Irene's expression immediately became much more despondent.
"And Acnologia?"
"He was defeated by Fairy Tail."
Rowan looked at Irene with a smile.
"If you're willing, I can help you kill that black dragon."
Irene froze.
"You can kill him too?"
Rowan calmly said,
"Of course. He's only a black dragon."
"His magical power is overwhelming, and his body is incomparably durable. But what about his soul?"
"I possess an ability specifically designed to target the soul. Killing him wouldn't be a problem."
Irene shook her head.
"He possesses an extremely high resistance to magic. Furthermore, he—"
"I know."
Rowan interrupted her with a smile.
"He is the Dragon of the Apocalypse, capable of reducing all magic back into raw magical energy and devouring it. In other words, he is essentially immune to all magic."
"But who told you I would attack him with magic?"
As he spoke, Rowan decisively converted the magical power within his body into cursed energy.
"I already told you. I come from another world, and I have visited more than one."
"Many other worlds possess their own unique power systems, such as cursed energy, chakra, and ki."
"These are completely different from magic."
"Acnologia may be immune to magic, but he is not immune to cursed techniques."
He raised his hand, and cursed energy gathered in his palm.
Irene could clearly sense that this power was entirely different from magic.
"I possess a cursed technique called Soul Manipulation. It allows me to affect the body based on the state of the soul."
"In other words, I can turn you from a dragon back into a human—a true human."
"What do you think? Would you like to try?"
He extended his hand toward Irene in invitation.
Irene stared at Rowan's hand and fell silent.
His words sounded wonderful and struck directly at her deepest desire, but she was uncertain whether she should trust him.
However, the power in his hand genuinely was not magic.
It was an entirely different kind of energy.
That seemed to prove that Rowan was not lying.
After hesitating for a moment, Irene decisively made up her mind.
She would gamble on him.
She longed far too deeply to become a complete human again.
Thus, she extended her hand and took Rowan's.
Rowan smiled faintly and activated Soul Manipulation, transforming Irene's body into that of a human.
As mentioned before, after Irene became a dragon, Zeref helped her recover a human appearance.
However, her true nature remained that of a dragon, and she could switch freely between human and dragon forms.
This time, Rowan directly altered Irene's body.
Irene transformed from a dragon into a human.
Even if she wanted to turn back into a dragon, it was no longer possible.
In addition, all her human senses—taste, touch, and everything else—returned to her.
After several centuries, Irene had finally become human once again.
At the same time, Rowan copied Irene's magic.
Besides High Enchantment Magic, he obtained Extreme Enchantment, Separation Enchantment, Telekinesis, Detection Eye Magic, and many others.
As expected of an old monster who had lived for several hundred years.
She knew an incredible number of spells.
But now, Rowan benefited from all of them.
Meanwhile, after discovering that she had truly transformed from a dragon back into a human, Irene became so excited that she could hardly contain herself.
This was something even Zeref had been unable to accomplish.
After several hundred years, she had finally become human again.
"Thank you."
Naturally, Irene was extremely grateful to Rowan.
Rowan waved his hand.
"There's no need to thank me. I obtained what I wanted as well."
Irene froze briefly before realizing what he meant.
"You can instantly copy magic too?"
Rowan nodded.
"I can, but it isn't magic. It's another ability."
"So you copied my magic."
"Mm-hmm."
Seeing Rowan nod without the slightest shame, Irene surprisingly did not become angry.
Perhaps it was because he had just solved a problem that had tormented her for centuries.
"Next, you intend to copy the magic of the others as well?"
Rowan nodded.
"That's right. I came here to copy all of your magic."
"So my next target should be the Magic King, August."
"I see."
Irene suddenly understood and asked with interest,
"Then do you have a way to persuade August?"
"I have the perfect method."
Rowan said,
"He is the son of Zeref and Mavis. As long as I bring him to meet Mavis, he will naturally agree."
Irene froze.
August was actually the son of Zeref and Mavis?
She truly had not known that.
Zeref actually had a son.
August had never mentioned it even once.
He had hidden the truth far too deeply.