Chapter 292: The Five God Dragons
According to Makarov's description, George knew that Gildarts used a kind of super high-level magic known as "Crush."
It could instantly shatter the atomic bonds of any material it touched, breaking it into countless pieces. When used on living beings, the effect varied according to the caster's intent—it could either turn the target to dust on the spot or split them into hundreds of tiny clones.
Its power was incredibly strong.
Because his Crush magic unconsciously destroyed nearby buildings, and due to his rather careless nature, Gildarts often caused damage to houses in Magnolia City by accident.
As a result, every time he returned, the town would switch to "Gildarts Mode."
The man fighting the black dragon on the small hill ahead—whether in age, appearance, magic power, or magical ability—matched Makarov's description perfectly. The arrow from the tracking spell also pointed in that direction.
So, naturally, this was the Gildarts he was looking for.
"What!"
However, what happened next made his eyes nearly pop out in shock.
Previously, during the Grand Magic Games, he was the one who left everyone else in awe. Now it was his turn to have his jaw drop because of that black dragon.
Even he could sense the overwhelming power of Gildarts' punch—yet when it hit the black dragon, it caused no harm at all.
Instead, the dragon swiped once with its claw, and Gildarts' left arm and leg were simultaneously broken.
"Human, since you're at least somewhat strong and managed to entertain me a little, I won't kill you this time."
The black dragon roared at the severely injured Gildarts, then, without pursuing him further, turned and flew away with a flap of its wings.
It had come here looking for the dragons that had escaped. Unfortunately, they were too good at hiding and had not been found. But it had stumbled upon a decently strong human to toy with, which slightly improved its mood.
It now planned to return to its lair in the sea to rest for a while. Once it woke up, it would resume its search for those hidden dragons. It was determined to kill every dragon in this world.
"If dragons in this world are really that strong, how could they have gone extinct—let alone been slain and turned into dragon lacrima? There must be some secret I don't know yet."
Seeing the black dragon fly away, George sped over to Gildarts, picked up his severed arm and leg, quickly reattached them, and then cast a healing spell.
"Heal to original!"
The healing magic from the world of Harry Potter was still quite powerful. While it couldn't regrow lost limbs, reattaching severed ones wasn't too difficult.
In fact, limb regeneration wasn't entirely impossible either. As long as the severed limb wasn't affected by dark magic—as in Moody's case—it could regrow with the help of advanced potions.
"Healing magic? Happy, when did you learn such a Lost Magic? And isn't your fur supposed to be blue?"
Having had his limbs reattached, Gildarts looked at George, who bore the Fairy Tail emblem on his back, with a surprised expression.
George withdrew his magic and replied:
"You must be Gildarts. I'm not Happy; my name is George. I joined the Fairy Tail guild just a year ago.
Try moving your arm and leg—see if anything feels off."
"No issues at all. It feels like I was never even injured. Thank you, George!"
Gildarts examined George more closely. While he looked similar to Happy, there were some differences—especially in his eyes and expression.
"By the way, what are you doing in the Northern Continent? Did something happen at the guild? Did the Master send you to find me?"
"No, I came here just like you to take on the Hundred-Year Quest."
George shook his head.
"What's your situation? Was that black dragon just now the target of the quest?"
"You? The Hundred-Year Quest? The Master approved it?"
Hearing George's words, Gildarts was momentarily stunned.
Because he initially mistook George for Happy, he assumed George's strength was about the same—just with the added ability to use Lost Healing Magic.
Given the danger level of the Hundred-Year Quest, only S-Class or above mages were qualified to accept it.
So he was skeptical.
He suspected George may have taken on the quest without the Master's approval.
"Don't worry, the Master approved it. And don't underestimate me—my strength is nothing to scoff at."
George pulled out a coin, and with a flick of his hand, launched a Railgun shot at a nearby hill, instantly blasting a massive hole through it.
Only then did Gildarts believe that George truly had the Master's approval to take on the Hundred-Year Quest.
Somewhat embarrassed, he scratched his head:
"The Hundred-Year Quest is indeed related to dragons, but that black dragon wasn't my target. I just ran into it by chance today. My actual targets are five other dragons.
They are known as the Five God Dragons. They came to the Northern Continent centuries ago and have been wreaking havoc ever since. Finding, sealing, or killing them is the essence of the Hundred-Year Quest.
But I've searched this continent for three years and haven't found a single trace of them.
If those five dragons are as strong as that black one, I think we'd better give up and head back to the guild."
When the Dragon Array Guild's Master, Elefseria, issued the Hundred-Year Quest, he only explained the mission objectives—he gave no information on the location of the five dragons.
For some unknown reason, the Five God Dragons had all gone into hiding in recent years.
So, over the past three years, Gildarts had traveled from city to city across the Northern Continent, seeking clues about them—but all in vain.
Of course, this also had something to do with his own scatterbrained nature. He often got lost, spending most of his time wandering around forests and mountains in circles.
Today, he got lost in this mountain range and happened to run into that black dragon, who beat him up for fun.
If George hadn't appeared, he would've been seriously disabled—relying on magical prosthetics for the rest of his life for both living and fighting.
So, deep down, he was truly grateful.
"There must be power differences among dragons too. That black one was probably a top-tier dragon even among his kind."
George recalled the East Continent's strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings—God Serena—who had eight dragon lacrima within him. If all dragons were as strong as the one they just encountered, George didn't believe even God Serena could have slain eight dragons.
And Laxus' dragon lacrima was also bought by Ivan from the Northern Continent, meaning there were wizards here who could kill dragons.
So he speculated that while dragons in this world were indeed strong, just like human mages, they varied in power.
"I plan to visit the Dragon Array Guild and speak directly with the Master there to learn more about the dragons before deciding whether to proceed with the quest. If you've decided to give up, you can return to the guild first."
Having learned everything there was to know about the Hundred-Year Quest from Gildarts, George had no intention of giving up just yet.
The stronger the dragons in this world were, the more potential the fused dragon lacrima would have—perhaps this wasn't a bad thing at all.
(End of Chapter)