"100-Year Quest... A quest that hasn't been completed even after 100 years?" Lucy was stunned.
Just how difficult was a quest that couldn't be completed for 100 years?
She had originally thought she was already a mature Guild Mage, but now it seemed she still had a long way to go.
In town.
"It's Gildarts!"
"Gildarts is back!"
[Magnolia Town is changing to Gildarts Mode! All citizens, please quickly proceed to your designated locations!]
Lucy was a little confused. "What is Gildarts Mode?"
Mirajane said, "Go outside and see for yourself."
Lucy looked outside curiously. "No way! The city is splitting open!"
She saw the central street of Magnolia Town beginning to sink, forming a straight path leading to Fairy Tail.
Mirajane explained, "That's because Gildarts uses magic that crushes anything he touches. If he walks over absentmindedly, he might accidentally smash the residential houses."
Lucy asked, "They modified the entire city just for this?!"
Wendy exclaimed, "Carla, that's amazing."
Carl nodded. "Yes, it's amazingly stupid."
"He's coming!"
Everyone looked toward the entrance, their faces showing expressions of admiration.
Takeshi also looked forward. He was very excited to meet Gildarts, who, in the anime, always gave off an extremely reliable feeling.
He was also the only Mage in the anime whose foundational magic was the Super High-Level Destruction Magic—Crush.
Soon, Gildarts walked into the Guild. He had orange slicked-back hair, some stubble on his chin, and wore a somewhat ragged, dark green cloak, looking a bit sloppy.
"Gildarts! Fight me right now!"
Natsu immediately issued a challenge excitedly when he saw him.
Elfman was startled. "He challenges him right away."
"Welcome back."
Gildarts was a bit confused. He looked at Mirajane and asked, "Young lady, I remember there was supposed to be a guild called Fairy Tail nearby."
Mirajane said, "This is it, and I am Mirajane."
"Mirajane?"
Gildarts looked closely. "You've changed so much. And speaking of which, why does the Guild look completely new?"
The Mirajane he remembered was practically a completely different person from the current Mirajane.
"Gildarts!"
Seeing that Gildarts was ignoring him, Natsu had no choice but to attack first.
"Oh! Is that Natsu? Long time no see."
Natsu looked the same, with few changes. Gildarts recognized him immediately.
"I said, fight me!"
Natsu threw a punch toward Gildarts.
Bang!
Gildarts raised his hand and knocked Natsu into the ceiling.
"Maybe next time."
"As expected... he's super strong."
"The old man hasn't changed at all."
"A man among men!"
Gildarts scanned the room and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "There are some new faces. This place really has changed a lot."
He had been gone for three years, and only upon returning did he realize how much time had passed, the Guild had completely transformed.
"Gildarts."
Makarov's voice rang out.
"Master, long time no see."
Makarov asked with a serious expression, "How was the job?"
"Hahahaha!"
Hearing Makarov's question, Gildarts scratched his head awkwardly and laughed.
Makarov sighed.
He had watched Gildarts grow up, so he naturally knew what Gildarts' expression meant.
Gildarts said, "It was no good, I couldn't complete it."
"What?!"
"No way?!"
"Gildarts..."
"He actually failed the quest?!"
Everyone in the Guild was incredulous upon hearing this.
This was Gildarts, the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail. How difficult must a quest be for even him to fail?
Makarov said, "I see. Not even you could do it?"
"I apologize for bringing shame to the Guild."
"Nonsense. It's enough that you returned safely. As far as I know, you are the first person to come back from that quest."
The 100-Year Quest meant that the quest had existed for 100 years. In those 100 years, countless powerful Mages challenged it, but all failed and died. The specific 100-Year Quest Gildarts undertook had never even seen a single person return alive.
"I came back because I wanted to rest. Phew... I'm exhausted. Natsu, come to my house later. I have a gift for you. Well, I'm off now."
After Gildarts finished speaking, he turned and walked away, completely oblivious that there was a wall right in front of him.
The wall was crushed, and Gildarts walked straight through.
Warren complained, "Gildarts, use the door!"
Lucy was deeply shocked and intensely curious.
Just how difficult was the 100-Year Quest that even the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail couldn't complete?
Erza looked at Lucy and said, "You are still too green to take on a 100-Year Quest."
"Do I look that excited?!"
Lucy jumped in surprise. She certainly didn't want to take on that kind of quest.
"The 100-Year Quest?" Takeshi felt a stirring in his heart.
'System, how many gacha spins are rewarded for completing a 100-Year Quest?'
[Completing the 100-Year Quest rewards 100 spins.]
100!
Takeshi's eyes immediately lit up.
100 spins sounded incredibly tempting.
"Master..."
"Absolutely not! You are the next Guild Master. If anything happens to you, who will take over the Guild?"
Makarov immediately vetoed the idea before Takeshi could speak. He knew Takeshi usually craved S-Class Quests.
Countless powerful Mages have fallen while attempting this 100-Year Quest, even Gildarts couldn't complete it.
It wasn't that he opposed Takeshi taking the 100-Year Quest. After all, every Mage wants to challenge it.
However, Takeshi was still too young and had much greater room for improvement. Even Gildarts only challenged the 100-Year Quest when he was over forty.
"Master is right. A quest that even Gildarts failed must be incredibly difficult." Mirajane put her hands on her hips and warned Takeshi.
She knew how bold Takeshi was. She wouldn't stop him from taking other quests, but the 100-Year Quest was different.
Seeing Mirajane say this, Takeshi had no choice but to give up.
"Uh... alright."
He felt that perhaps he had gotten a little carried away recently. The difficulty of the 100-Year Quest was incomparable to other quests, and his own strength might not even surpass Gildarts'. Taking this mission was definitely too risky.
He recalled the 100-Year Quest Arc in the anime. That was truly not a job for humans. Challenging the quests in the anime's 100-Year Quest Arc with his current strength, while not necessarily a death sentence, offered almost no possibility of success.
He should wait until his magic power gets higher before challenging it.