"Igneel-san... why were you inside Natsu's body? And Grandeeney..."
Wendy plucked up her courage to ask Igneel for news about Grandeeney.
"Mhm. She is also inside your body."
Then Igneel recounted everything in detail, though he chose to keep Natsu's origins a secret for the time being.
Everyone in the guild was in disbelief when they heard that Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy were actually from 400 years ago.
However, after seeing the dragons that had arrived from 400 years ago with their own eyes at the end of the Grand Magic Games, they had no choice but to believe it.
"Time travel..."
"It's truly incredible!"
Gajeel and Wendy were a bit dazed.
To think they were born 400 years ago...
But they also received good news: they had finally found their dragons.
"Why doesn't Grandeeney come out to meet me?" Wendy asked in confusion.
Gajeel had the same question.
According to what Igneel said about producing antibodies, it should be finished by now.
Igneel said, "It was a last resort, because they are actually already dead."
"What?!"
Wendy and Gajeel's faces turned pale.
Igneel explained, "Saying they are completely dead isn't quite accurate, it's more like a state of semi-death. Long ago, all of their 'Souls' were extracted by Acnologia's Dragon Slayer Magic. The reason they hid inside your bodies, besides wanting to prevent your dragonification and defeat Acnologia, was also to prolong their own lives."
"Once they leave your bodies, they can never go back, so I prevented them from appearing."
"Igneel... are you okay?"
Hearing this, Natsu immediately looked at Igneel nervously.
Igneel shook his head. "I'm fine. I didn't participate in that war between dragons, so I happened to avoid Acnologia's Dragon Slayer Magic."
"Souls being extracted... doesn't that mean..."
Can they even live if their souls have been extracted?
Igneel explained, "Dragons are different. Their vitality is terrifying, they won't die immediately even if their souls are extracted. They can live even if their hearts are destroyed. That is the vitality of a dragon."
"So, while Acnologia seems heavily injured, he actually still retains considerable combat power."
"That's just insane!"
The members of Fairy Tail marveled. They had long heard that Dragons were powerful, but they hadn't expected them to be this formidable—to be able to live even without a heart.
Takeshi really is impressive too, having actually defeated so many dragons.
"Let's go. We'll head back to Fairy Tail first to prevent that guy from suddenly coming back." Makarov said.
Takeshi's magic power was clearly exhausted now. If Acnologia came back, it would be another huge disaster for them.
Igneel said while looking at Takeshi, "He probably won't come back. Acnologia is quite badly injured and needs to recover properly. However, he clearly holds a grudge against you now. The next time he appears, his strength might be even more terrifying."
"I know. Next time, my strength will also be greater than it is now." Takeshi wasn't afraid.
This battle had given him a lot of confidence. Previously, when watching the Fairy Tail anime, Acnologia was the absolute topdog of the series. No attack magic worked on him, and no one could defeat him.
This had put a lot of psychological pressure on Takeshi, but it was different now. He had truly and tangibly injured that guy. Even if it was only for one minute at noon, it was enough.
With the Character Cards he currently held, as long as he recycled them, he could definitely boost his magic power to eight stars. After that, his strength would increase by another large margin.
However, this was his final trump card. He wouldn't use it unless he had to.
From now on, as long as he completed missions and kept drawing Character Cards, even if he didn't get particularly powerful ones, any Gold Character Card could increase his magic power once recycled.
If seven and a half star magic power wasn't enough, then eight stars. If eight wasn't enough, then eight and a half. If eight and a half wasn't enough, then nine stars.
Since he could contend with him now, it meant he wouldn't be killed by Acnologia. He would leave the rest to time.
Acnologia might grow stronger over time, but so would he. They would just have to see who grew stronger faster.
Hearing this, Igneel looked at Takeshi.
To be honest, against Acnologia, he saw no possibility of victory.
After all, Acnologia could devour almost all magic power to make himself stronger, yet this human before him made him see him in a new light.
Humans, a seemingly incredibly weak species, were capable of producing brilliant individuals. Acnologia was one, Zeref was one, and Takeshi before him was another.
Looking at Takeshi's confident expression, he felt that Acnologia's era might truly be ended by this youth.
...
Everyone returned to Fairy Tail.
Having experienced this war, the members of Fairy Tail had undergone a baptism of both body and mind. Furthermore, after witnessing Acnologia's terror, they all had the motivation to become stronger.
Upon returning to the guild, they saw Macao and Wakaba looking injured. After inquiring, they learned that people from Tartaros had come to launch a sneak attack and had killed the former Council Chairman. Fortunately, Laxus had stepped in and killed them in the end.
Makarov couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. He hadn't expected the enemy to be so cunning, but fortunately, everyone was alright.
Soon, Fairy Tail held a banquet, celebrating their victory over Tartaros, the destruction of Face, and the repelling of Acnologia, as well as Natsu finally finding his father, Igneel.
The banquet lasted for three days and three nights. After experiencing such a major event, everyone needed time to vent their emotions.
Natsu and Igneel, father and son reunited after a long separation, had endless things to talk about.
Makarov called Takeshi to the guild's rooftop alone to have a drink.
"Takeshi, thank you for your hard work once again." Makarov said.
He felt very guilty toward Takeshi, he didn't know how many times Takeshi had been sent to deal with danger. If it weren't for Takeshi this time, he didn't know what would have become of the world.
Takeshi said, "Here we go again. Don't talk about hard work or whatever, this is what I should be doing. Old man, don't say things like that anymore."
At the beginning he only saw Fairy Tail as a guild to become stronger in, but now, he had long since come to see this place as his home.
"..."
Makarov fell silent.
"What's wrong? Old man, do you have something to say?"
"Takeshi... why don't you become the Guild Master?"