"Magia Dragon..."
At the northernmost edge of Ishgar, standing beside the coastal cliffs, Marco suddenly opened his eyes.
He had already locked onto his destination for this trip.
Magia Dragon.
It was a name with quite a bit of history behind it. According to legend, it was the very first wizard guild.
Of course, no one knew the exact truth anymore.
More than a hundred years of fog had long since covered those old stories.
And since the northern continent of Guiltina was so isolated from the outside world, it was already impressive that the story of Magia Dragon had continued to spread at all.
Marco's current ability still could not reach the level of a true Gold Saint, where one could sit at home and know everything under heaven.
He could not stand anywhere he wanted and see every corner of the world.
But standing here, with only a strait separating him from the northern continent of Guiltina, he could still peer into Guiltina.
That ability was already extremely absurd.
"They barely even have railways.... they really are a little behind."
With one broad sweep of his vision, Marco had not seen many railway lines.
Across the entire northern continent of Guiltina, there seemed to be only a few routes.
The transportation methods in other places were still very primitive and backward.
Buzz!
Marco activated his Cosmo, used Psychic Teleportation, directly locked onto the coordinates, and transported himself to the front of the Magia Dragon guild.
At this point, Marco had only just set out, but he had already done what most people could not.
After all, if anyone else wanted to travel from the Kingdom of Fiore to Magia Dragon, even the shorter route might take almost a year.
For Marco, it was only a matter of teleporting a few times.
The only reason it had taken even this much effort was because he had never been to the northern continent of Guiltina or Magia Dragon before, so he needed to observe the situation first.
Otherwise, he would have reached Magia Dragon even faster.
Marco looked up.
Before him stood a grand but ruined building.
Rather than a guildhall, it looked more like an ancient castle worn down by time.
The massive stone structure was built from dark gray rock, rough and heavy in style, giving off a deep sense of age and decay.
Above the castle crouched a huge stone dragon statue.
Its head hung low, its wings spread wide, and although its dragon eyes were carved from stone, they seemed to contain endless dignity and sorrow as they looked down at the entrance of the guildhall below.
This giant dragon statue was the symbol of Magia Dragon and the origin of its name.
The first wizard guild in legend had clearly fallen into complete decline.
The whole guildhall was surrounded by silence and ruin. Deep claw marks and black scorch marks left by magic attacks covered the castle walls.
Many windows were broken, leaving dark empty holes behind. It was obvious this place had seen war.
Vines and moss grew wildly between the cracks in the stone, covering large areas.
The air was thick with dust and decay. It did not look like anyone lived here at all.
And there really was not the slightest trace of human voices.
Only the mournful sound of wind blowing through broken walls and ruins.
"As expected... no one's here." Marco muttered quietly.
His Cosmo had already swept over the entire castle and confirmed that aside from himself, there was no sign of any living human.
A hundred years was enough to make a once-glorious guild sink completely into silence.
However, no living humans did not mean there were no other creatures here.
Marco frowned slightly.
He could hear a strong heartbeat.
It did not belong to a human... but it was similar to Igneel and the others.
There was a dragon inside this guild!
Marco did not hesitate.
He walked toward the heavy, rust-covered stone door. With a light push, it opened inward with a sharp creak, sending up a cloud of dust.
Behind the door was an extremely spacious hall, though it was just as ruined.
Sunlight slanted in through the broken high windows, forming cloudy beams of light that lit up the dust floating in the air.
The hall was a mess.
Broken stone pillars, overturned tables and chairs, torn book pages scattered across the floor, and shattered pieces of magical tools could be seen everywhere.
On the wall where the guild banner might once have hung, only faded marks remained.
Clearly, Magia Dragon's decline had not been caused by nature.
It had been caused by war.
And maybe not a war between humans, but a war between humans and dragons.
Marco's gaze swept over the hall.
With his experience, he quickly made a judgment.
A dragon had definitely been here!
Buzz!
Golden light flickered in Marco's eyes.
"Found you."
Buzz!
In the next second, Marco's figure flashed, and he appeared not far from that "person."
Marco looked up.
This "person" had a human form, but he was definitely not human.
Marco could be one hundred percent certain of that.
This guy was definitely a dragon.
The "person" stood tall and sturdy, wearing an old-fashioned robe-like battle outfit that seemed to be stitched together from tough beast hide and metal plates.
In his hand was a dragon-wrapped staff with a jewel set at the top.
The most eye-catching part of him was his hair and beard.
They looked like flowing moonlight, pure silver-white, with a metallic shine. His long hair and long beard both carried that bright silver glow.
His face was old and weathered, yet he wore a smile.
Those eyes, which seemed to contain unimaginable age and power, quietly watched Marco, the intruder who had entered this place.
Standing there, he looked as though he had already become one with these ancient ruins, as if he himself were a living piece of heavy history.
"So you've finally come? The ninety-ninth heroes who's taking the quest. But... why are you alone?"
The dignified old man spoke, his voice carrying a trace of confusion.
He seemed not to expected Marco to come by himself.
...
"I am Marco Dreyar, Guild Master of Fairy Tail. I accepted the 100 Years Quest. Are you the client?"
Marco did not answer why he had come alone.
Instead, he looked over the white-haired, white-bearded old man in front of him.
This old man gave Marco a feeling very similar to the Black Dragon.
Not in terms of strength, but in terms of his life essence.
"You... were also a human who turned into a dragon?"
Marco had the relevant knowledge, along with a pair of eyes that could see through the essence of things, so he immediately noticed the old man's condition.
This old man was probably similar to the Black Dragon.
Both had turned from humans into dragons.
Although the difference was very subtle, Marco had seen natural-born dragons, humans who had become dragons, and Dragon Slayers.
His understanding of this kind of creature was not something ordinary people could compare to.
Buzz!
The moment Marco said that, the old man's eyes changed.
His pupils instantly turned into golden vertical slits, like the majestic eyes of a dragon.
"To think you even know that. Young man, you're very well-informed. And you dared to come alone to accept the 100 Years Quest. It seems you're very confident."
The old man's eyes returned to normal, and a smile appeared on his face again.
The way he looked at Marco carried a bit of curiosity and appreciation.
It was obvious that although he had also turned from human into dragon, this white-bearded old man's attitude toward humans was much friendlier than the Black Dragon Acnologia's.
"I am indeed the client of the 100 Years Quest. I am the founder and Guild Master of Magia Dragon. As you can see, I was once a Dragon Slayer, but now I have become a dragon. You may call me Elefseria, a lonely watcher."
Elefseria briefly introduced himself.
"You said I'm the ninety-ninth heroes. Have that many people already come before me? And none of them succeeded?"
Marco nodded and asked curiously.
"Yes."
Elefseria nodded, his voice carrying a touch of sadness.
"Those challengers either died on the way to the mission or failed and run away. Countless heroes over the past hundred years, and not a single one managed to move the mission forward even one small step."
Elefseria's answer was very honest.
He did not seem afraid of scaring Marco away at all.
Or rather, the 100 Years Quest had always required powerful people.
Anyone who could be scared off would definitely not be of any help.
"It's fine. I'm here now, so this mission should come to an end."
Faced with the terrifying truth Elefseria had stated, Marco only smiled.
His answer was full of confidence, so much so that even Elefseria looked a little surprised. Clearly, he had never met anyone this confident before.
Most past challengers would at least be startled after hearing those words.
"You don't even know what the mission is yet."
Elefseria smiled helplessly.
He was already starting to consider whether he should talk this young man out of it.
This was starting to feel a little too unreliable.