The next morning, Natsu went to find Gildarts to receive his promised gift, but the news he received could hardly be considered a present.
Learning from the veteran mage that dragons definitely still existed made Natsu incredibly happy, but the horrifying fact that the Black Dragon Acnologia, was a terrifying enemy of all humanity left him temporarily unable to accept it.
His worldview had been shaken.
He returned to the guild and sulked in frustration at a table, so much so that even when Lucy came over to ask him to form a team and take on a new job, he showed little interest, staring blankly at the wood grain.
The Fairy Tail guildhall was as noisy and chaotic as ever.
Normally, Natsu would be right in the thick of the commotion, starting fights with Gray or yelling at Gajeel, but now he seemed entirely out of place, wrapped in a gloomy silence.
At a nearby table, Lucy tilted her head and asked Wendy beside her.
"Are you talking about the date July 7th, X777?"
Wendy nodded earnestly. "Yes, the dragons who taught Natsu-san and me our Dragon Slayer Magic all disappeared without a trace on that exact same day. Oh, and Gajeel-san's dragon too."
"That makes sense. I think I heard Natsu mention that date before," Lucy recalled, tapping her chin.
"I originally met Natsu in Hargeon because he was following a false rumor, searching for the Fire Dragon, Igneel."
"What in the world is going on?" Carla set down her teacup elegantly and voiced her doubt.
"For three massive, powerful creatures to vanish on the exact same day... it cannot be a coincidence."
"Could it be that day was some kind of coordinated excursion? A dragon vacation?" Lucy suggested brightly.
Carla sweatdropped. "I never thought Lucy-san would say something so strange sometimes. A vacation? Really?"
"Igneel, Grandeeney, and Metalicana... I wonder where they are now..." Wendy murmured.
Usually, she was fine, but once the topic was brought up, Wendy couldn't help but deeply miss her foster mother, Grandeeney.
...
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Forest—
A solitary man emerged from the dense woods.
His body was wrapped in tight bandages, and he carried five magic staves of different shapes and purposes strapped to his back.
He wore a dark hat and concealed his face with a deep green robe, moving silently through the shadows.
Seeing that only Raizel was present in the clearing, Mystogan finally lowered the heavy robe covering his face—it was unusually hot for summer anyway.
Raizel and Mystogan met exactly as planned; Mystogan had secretly arranged to meet Raizel here away from the prying eyes of the guild.
As if sensing the heavy mood, a dark cloud drifted over the eastern forest canopy, and a light rain began to fall, pattering softly against the leaves.
Frowning at the unnatural cloud above, Mystogan cut straight to the point.
"Raizel, have you noticed the weather in Magnolia becoming increasingly abnormal lately?"
Raizel thought back to the recent weather patterns over the town. "Yes, it seems sudden thunderstorms and extreme, localized rain have become far more frequent than usual for this season."
Mystogan nodded gravely. "This is likely a side effect of a large-scale Anima preparing to open. If that's the case, then a massive amount of Anima energy is currently being accumulated and focused on the other side, in Edolas. If the portal is really going to be that large, I cannot stop it alone this time."
Raizel considered the timing—it seemed about right.
With the guild members' rapid growth in recent years and Gildarts's recent return, the total magical power concentrated around Magnolia had reached an unprecedented level.
The reason the Kingdom of Edolas had set its sights on Magnolia was precisely because of its incredibly high magical energy reserves.
A single successful extraction of a guild like Fairy Tail could sustain their magic-deprived world for decades.
Mystogan continued, his voice tight. "The reason I sought you out today is to ask for your help. My strength alone isn't enough to protect the town."
Raizel shook his head and said firmly, "This isn't just about helping you, Mystogan. It's about helping Magnolia, helping Fairy Tail itself. Actually, I had intended to bring this threat up to you earlier, but considering Edolas is your homeland after all, I thought it better to respect your decision and wait until you were ready."
Mystogan nodded in gratitude. "Time is running out. With the current setup and weather anomalies, I believe the large-scale Anima will activate within the next two days. When that happens, the entire city of Magnolia, and everyone in it, will disappear into the sky."
"What should I do?" Raizel asked, ready to act.
Instead of answering directly with a battle plan, Mystogan explained the mechanics.
"When Anima activates, its dimensional direction can be slightly adjusted from this side. Using a massive source of magical power as bait can alter Anima's course, drawing the portal away from the town center, which would at least ensure Magnolia's safety."
"You mean we should find another isolated location and use large amounts of magical power as bait to lure the portal there?"
Mystogan nodded firmly. "Yes, that's the first step. After that... I want to ask you to accompany me through the portal to Edolas. I want to destroy Anima at its source—no, not just destroy it, but reverse Anima entirely."
Mystogan had already made up his mind.
Having traveled across the Ishgar continent for several years, closing smaller Animas, he had encountered many ordinary, non-magical people.
In his view, lacking magical power wasn't a big deal—people could still live well and build thriving societies without it.
He firmly believed that human will and ingenuity could overcome any circumstance.
Prompted by prior conversations with Raizel, Mystogan had deliberately collected numerous blueprints for Earthland technologies, agriculture, and facilities that could operate perfectly without any magical power.
Even if all magical power eventually disappeared from Edolas forever, his people would still be able to carry on with their lives and rebuild.
After all, no matter what happened, Edolas was still his homeland, despite all the terrible wrongs committed by his father, King Faust, and the so-called gods, the Exceeds...
Moreover, since coming to Earthland, Mystogan had become acutely aware of exactly how many monstrously powerful individuals existed here in Ishgar.
Although Earthland Mages technically couldn't use their internal magical power naturally after entering the world of Edolas, Mystogan clearly understood that Earthland's research and development capabilities were equally formidable.
If they could develop magical tools like the X-Balls—pills that could remove Edolas's magical restrictions on Earthland bodies—Edolas's proud Knights and Royal Army would be utterly defenseless against people like Raizel, Gildarts, or Makarov.
He had to stop his father before he provoked a war that would annihilate Edolas.
"I know this decision to essentially strip your world of magic is difficult for you. I must thank you for your resolve—thank you, Mystogan," Raizel said, expressing his highest respect for the prince.
Mystogan shook his head with a somewhat ashamed expression. "No, I should be the one thanking you, Raizel. If you had wanted to force the issue and attack Edolas earlier to protect the guild, you definitely could have done so, yet you patiently kept waiting for my answer."
"I understand how incredibly difficult such decisions can be, especially when they involve fighting your own family. That's why I wouldn't rush you," Raizel replied.
In truth, Raizel wasn't particularly anxious about the impending Edolas situation for two main reasons.
First, when he had previously met Mystogan years ago, he had asked whether Mystogan had ever encountered Raizel's counterpart—his Edolas self—in that world.
Having received a negative answer from Mystogan, Raizel reasoned that if even the Prince of Edolas had never seen or heard of his 'other-self', the possibilities were limited: either the Edolas Raizel was dead, or he was simply an unknown, powerless nobody.
There was also a much smaller possibility that the other Raizel was some hidden mastermind operating behind the scenes, but Raizel considered this probability to be extremely low based on Edolas's rigid structure.
The second reason was that Raizel fundamentally believed in Mystogan, Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel.
Even if the worst happened—even if all the guild members, including Raizel himself, were absorbed by Anima and turned into a giant Lacrima crystal to power Edolas—Raizel trusted implicitly that the Dragon Slayers, who possessed magic immune to Anima's initial pull, would definitely find a way to rescue everyone.
This wasn't just blind faith in Natsu and Wendy's strength, but absolute trust in the bonds of "Fairy Tail."
Previously, Raizel had held some expectations for the Magic Council to handle the Anima threat, but later realized how naive that had been.
After learning about the mysterious disappearance of several remote villages sucked into the sky, the Council had coldly chosen to suppress the information rather than investigate.
Council members Yajima and Org had strongly opposed this cover-up decision, but with only two votes on the board, they were powerless to stop it.
Of course, the Council's final official explanation to Raizel when he pressed them was that they hadn't made the Anima phenomenon public primarily to avoid causing mass panic across Fiore, fearing it would make everyone live in constant fear and unnecessary anxiety over an invisible threat from the sky.
So, it was up to Fairy Tail to handle it themselves.
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