After hearing the plan, the few present voiced no objections—one had to take things step by step. They conferred for a while. Once the meeting date was set, Gaal pondered arranging an independent communication device.
Otherwise, with so few people around now, meetings were no problem; yet as word spread, it wouldn't do if, every time they convened, the continent's top mages from the Ishgar Continent's magical world suddenly vanished all at once… even a fool would notice something was amiss. They needed equipment that allowed a continuous link for conversation.
While Gaal was deep in thought, the others finished their discussion and left the room. Outside, the raucous sounds greeted them. Downstairs, the group of diminutive mischief-makers, who had been playfully scuffling, had finally quieted down.
Natsu and Gray were huddled together like brothers, grinning at Mirajane with smiles that revealed just how thoroughly the two had been put in their place. Spotting the group coming down—and being on his first mission—an excited Natsu broke free from Gray's shoulder and ran over to Gildarts.
Natsu shouted, "Gildarts! What mission are you all off on?!"
At these words, curious eyes from other guild members turned toward them. After all, if Gildarts wasn't saying much—and with Gaal and Ultear's mysterious Time Magic in tow—the task this team was undertaking had to be extraordinary. Yet nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the mission board.
Gildarts, ruffling Natsu's hair, said, "Kids, don't ask too many questions. We'll talk when you become an official mage."
Pouting, Natsu wriggled hard out of the giant hand on his head and declared, "Damn it! I'll be a C-Class Mage very soon!"
Gildarts chuckled, "Then we'll wait until you are, kid."
Raising his right hand, Gaal manifested a swirling vortex of flames in his palm that gradually expanded into a one-meter-diameter fireball.
"Natsu," he called.
Natsu turned his gaze toward Gaal, his eyes widening in surprise as he felt the surge of magical power and the heat of the flames. "What an awesome fire!" he marveled.
With a soft chuckle, Gaal tossed the fireball.
Natsu's eyes lit up as he leapt upward and flung his mouth open, "I'm gonna eat—"
But the fireball did not vanish in a single bite as Natsu had imagined. Instead, as soon as he opened his mouth, the flames began to stream continuously into it, all the while the fireball remained perfectly intact. Gradually, Natsu's eyes grew wider as he gulped the flames, mumbling indistinctly, "S...give...!!!"
He collapsed to the ground, holding the fireball—a sphere far larger than himself—with both hands as he devoured the fire. Everyone nearby was stunned.
"Hey, hey, is this for real?" one exclaimed.
"Aren't you afraid of getting burned?" another asked.
"Are you out of your mind? Natsu is the Dragon Slayer Mage of Fire!" came another, followed by an echoed, "S...give!"
Mirajane looked on in astonishment, "Absorbing flames—what an impressive ability!"
Gray, sensing the surge of magical power emanating from Natsu, murmured, "No way… Could swallowing flames really boost his magic?" Instinctively, he raised his hand and conjured a large block of ice, taking a bite. Crack! Crack!
"Hmm… I can't feel a thing!" Gray scoffed as he spat out the shards of ice and flung aside the remaining block. Though he might currently outmatch Natsu in combat, if Natsu kept increasing his power like this, it would only be a matter of time before he caught up. And with Erza, Mirajane, and Laxus also around, a sudden sense of crisis welled up in Gray. "Oh no… am I going to end up at the bottom? No, I arrived first—I absolutely can't let Natsu catch up. From today on, my training time is doubled!"
Even so, watching Natsu's magical power grow as he continued to devour flames made Gray's lips twitch in disbelief. "What kind of bizarre talent is that?"
Gildarts curiously rubbed his chin as he observed Natsu's excited expression while he kept devouring the flames. "A Dragon Slayer Mage… it really is remarkable."
He marveled that one could so effortlessly enhance their magical power simply by consuming flame. Then, musing aloud, he added, "If that's the case… that Black Dragon Acnologia, having slain countless dragons, must have long since devoured all of the world's elements." A low hiss escaped him. "No wonder it's immune to magic."
Gaal then spoke, "This fireball contains an exceptionally pure form of fire element—it'll fuel him for a while." Even after leaving Gaal's hand, the fireball remained buoyant, floating in midair. Noticing this, Natsu completely let loose; he pounced on it and cheerfully nibbled at it from every angle.
Seeing the spectacle, Gildarts laughed, "At last, some peace for a bit." He glanced around and, noticing Cana was missing, asked Mirajane, "Mirajane, where's Cana?"
Mirajane replied, "She went with Levy and Millianna to the West Forest in search of Pokémon."
Gildarts nodded, "I see… Well, I'm off to grab something tasty." With that, he headed outside.
Gaal briefly informed everyone before preparing to return to his room. There, amidst the Dragon Grave, he would collect the dragon skeletal remains and meticulously begin his work. As the two departed, the gazes of the guild members gradually dispersed.
––––
Magnolia Town.
Gaal's Magical Cottage.
He pushed open the door to be greeted by a room crammed with merchandise. Since Gaal was frequently away, these items rarely reached the public; only guild members typically patronized his shop.
Erza was a regular here—ever since she learned that Gaal could custom-make magic equipment, she'd come by with her wildly imaginative sketches whenever she had a moment. Yet, honestly, Erza's drawing skills were… indescribable, managing to lower Gaal's already abstract expectations.
Once inside, Gaal closed the door behind him. He then summoned Gengar and instructed it to head down to the basement.
Next, Gaal layered several Sealing Formations over both the room and the basement. He couldn't risk that, during his refinement of dragon skeletal remains, Acnologia the Black Dragon might be summoned unexpectedly.
A Dragonite's scant display of draconic power might escape Acnologia's notice, but the aura emanating from a true dragon skeleton was far purer—and Gaal wouldn't bet on Acnologia not detecting it. If it were to charge over now and unleash a roar upon Fairy Tail, they'd be as good as finished. The mere thought made Gaal wince in pain.
He still couldn't fathom how that Hades managed to summon Acnologia. After poring over Hades's notes—which said nothing on the subject—it was unclear whether the method was simply not yet discovered or hidden among notes he hadn't taken.
Now, Hades and Acnologia loomed over them like a sword hanging overhead. At any moment, they might appear to ambush Fairy Tail, spell their utter destruction—it was an inescapable deadlock. Hades would never seek a truce or revert to being a Light Wizard. Now it was simply a race: would Gaal rally a team to counter Acnologia, or would Hades find Acnologia first and ambush Fairy Tail?
Gaal reckoned that Hades's understanding of the Black Dragon's power was only half-formed; otherwise, Hades wouldn't have waited until the entire Fairy Tail membership had gathered on Tenrou Island to act.
After all, if Hades truly grasped the strength of the Black Dragon, he'd know that Fairy Law was of little consequence against it. Instead, he could have summoned it in Magnolia Town right away. The reason, it seemed, was that Hades still feared Lumen Histoire, left lurking in the guild's basement before Fairy Tail departed.
He worried that should Lumen Histoire combine with Fairy Law, neither he nor the Black Dragon could withstand it. Not daring to bet on relocating that threat, Hades refrained from acting in Magnolia Town and instead waited until Fairy Tail's main force had all converged on Tenrou Island—then he would use the Black Dragon's power to wipe them out.
Whether that amounted to success or failure, it was a gamble. Failure meant dying at Zeref's hands; success meant a severe blow to Fairy Tail, whose core would end up sealed for seven years—and without Mavis, they'd have been utterly annihilated by the Black Dragon.
Clicking his tongue, Gaal shook his head. "The Black Dragon, huh… Still, I must first refine my skeletal dragon." There were plenty of dragon skeletons around—over two hundred complete sets and thousands of fragments. Just imagining an undead skeletal dragon army, large enough to blot out the sky with a mere flick of the hand, made a small smile play about Gaal's lips. What a bona fide master of the undead catastrophe he was!
"What?" someone interjected.
"You're telling me this world even has an Acnologia?" came another.
"Oh… then never mind."
As for titles like Undead Catastrophe Master, he'd wait until Acnologia was defeated. After all, these dragon skeletons had been those very dragons slain by Acnologia; living dragons couldn't stand a chance against it, let alone undead skeletal dragons.
Gaal retrieved a dragon skeleton from his storage and set it on the basement floor. The complete skeleton alone made the cramped space feel even tighter, so Gaal activated his Earth Magic to expand the area slightly before pressing his hand onto the colossal remains.
He closed his eyes as Time Magic wandered over the bones, and a series of images played in his mind. A moment later, he opened his eyes and remarked, "In life, it was an Ice Dragon—a bit larger in the skull than other dragons, and with a formidable bite."
As he spoke, Gaal raised his hand again. A massive Undead Conversion Magic Circle appeared on the floor, and he began tossing in various materials that melted away like a flowing stream, merging seamlessly with the dragon skeleton.
"Not bad—even after four hundred years, the bone structure remains relatively intact. But the stench of death is far too potent… No, I must modify it slightly. It would be a shame if these claws didn't merge with the Curse Particles. Yet even those aren't sufficient; later I'll pick the sturdiest skeleton to merge with additional Curse Particles. Hmm? All the Curse Particles have already merged… Could I incorporate the mage missiles from the Alvarez Empire? No, they're not nearly as effective as a roar. Perhaps, if caught off guard, I could conceal a pair of overlapping Compressed Thunder Magic Circles in their eye sockets. Yes, that will do. I must also expunge the miasma of death and give it an eerie, forbidding appearance—as if it fears Light Magic, even though in reality, this is an Elemental Undead Dragon. Perfect!"