"A plan?" Rhodes asked casually. "Something to train you guys?"
Gajeel shook his head.
"How could that be? He said it happened over four hundred years ago. We're not four hundred years old."
"That's true…"
Rhodes thought for a moment.
Since Zirconis had instantly recognized Wendy as a Dragon Slayer, then teaching Dragon Slayer Magic clearly wasn't the "secret plan."
But suddenly, Natsu put on a very solemn face. Then burst out laughing:
"You're really talking to food! Hahahaha!"
Zirconis's scales bristled in irritation.
"See? This is why humans are such irritating creatures!"
Rhodes silently noted the comment felt suspiciously like Lucy's influence rubbing off on Natsu.
Wendy timidly spoke up.
"Um… what happened to the war after that? Are all these bones, from the war?"
Zirconis didn't refuse her question despite Natsu's provocation.His expression softened with distant memory.
"More or less. But not exactly how you're imagining it.
The war between Dragons burned the skies and tore the earth apart. Both sides were evenly matched, so it dragged on for ages.
However, the coexistence faction had a disadvantage, they tried to protect humans. We only needed to kill."
Natsu opened his mouth to say, "Bad guys!"
Rhodes immediately punched him to shut him up.
Zirconis continued:
"To overturn that disadvantage, to end the war quickly, and perhaps to give humans a way to protect themselves…
Those idiots came up with the most foolish plan of all, giving humans the power to kill Dragons.
They called it Dragon Slayer Magic."
The three Dragon Slayers froze.
This was the origin of their magic?
Rhodes was stunned as well.
All the books he'd read said only one vague line: "Dragon Slayers were created to slay Dragons."
But who created them, and why, none of that had ever been mentioned.
He'd assumed humans developed the magic.
Instead, it was Dragon-made.
Zirconis let out a sharp laugh full of bitterness.
"In a way, they succeeded. Dragon Slayers changed the tide of the war. Victory for the coexistence faction was within reach.
But as their power grew, Dragon Slayers began to slaughter Dragons indiscriminately , even the coexistence faction."
His voice grew heavy.
"And the strongest of them all , after slaying countless Dragons, bathing in their blood, his skin turned to scales, his teeth to fangs, his hands and feet to Dragon claws…
Until eventually, he fully transformed into a Dragon."
Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy were speechless.
The three of them together couldn't beat a single Dragon. How terrifying must that man have been, a man who could repeatedly kill Dragons?
Seeing that they'd missed the real point, Zirconis clarified:
"You're Dragon Slayers, right? Turning into a Dragon is the final fate of Dragon Slayer Magic."
"!"
They all looked down at their hands.
Would they… turn into Dragons if they kept using their magic?
Zirconis went on coldly:
"All the Dragons slumbering here, were killed by that man. By then, he was no longer human.
He was the Dragon King.
The battle marking his rise became known as, the Dragon King Festival."
Rhodes couldn't hold back his shock.
He had seen that name before.
Once while studying ancient history. And again recently, while reviewing information about the Grand Magic Games.
The Dragon King Festival was originally described as:
"A great feast of humans, Dragons, and magic."
The "magic" wasn't demons, it referred to magecraft itself.
Meaning the old Dragon King Festival was a massive national magic festival.
In both scale and cultural impact.
Almost identical to the Grand Magic Games.
And the modern tournament organizers had mentioned an obscure secondary name for the event:
The New Dragon King Festival.
Which meant, they were currently holding a modern "Dragon King Festival" directly above the ancient Dragon graveyard where the original war occurred.
What was Fiore planning? Was it coincidence? A royal whim? Or something intentional buried in the kingdom's records?
At the same time, another, more chilling thought formed.
Dragons had extremely long lifespans.
If someone turned into a Dragon four hundred years ago, so powerful no Dragon could defeat him, was he still alive?
Rhodes swallowed and asked:
"Acnologia. Have you heard that name?"
"Eh?"
The three Dragon Slayers stiffened. That name carried a weight none of them could ignore.
Zirconis's expression shifted as well, the faintest flicker of fear showed in his eyes.
"It's him," he said quietly. "Is he still alive? Those black wings, not quite Dragon, not quite not. The King born from that Dragon King Festival, his name is Acnologia."
So it was him.
Rhodes had known Acnologia was strong, but not that he had been this strong.
One man chasing down entire packs of Dragons.
One man wiping out nearly the entire Dragon race.
It suddenly made perfect sense why the entire Tenrou Team, even combined with Purgatory, Mountain, and Cloud, hadn't stood a chance.
Gajeel swallowed hard.
"Hey… you're not joking, right? That monster was a Dragon Slayer who transformed?"
Natsu and Wendy couldn't even control the shock on their faces.
Zirconis had once said he enjoyed seeing frightened humans, but now, even he couldn't muster a smile.
"Most Dragons were wiped out by him alone," he said bitterly. "We were probably the last group he slaughtered. Pathetic, isn't it? Even fighting to the death, none of us escaped being one-sidedly hunted."
Silence fell.
Every one of them was processing a truth far larger than themselves.
Then Wendy, voice trembling slightly, reminded them:
"Time is running out. Zirconis's soul won't last long."
"I see…" Zirconis exhaled deeply. "I don't know why, but even though humans are annoying, you three aren't so bad."
He looked at them, not as prey, not as pests, but as children who needed to hear something important.
"So let me give you one last message. According to the Dragon Prophecy…"
The light surrounding his soul flickered.
"'The King' will not always remain rational. When there are no Dragons left to slay, he may turn to Dragon Slayers next."
Natsu stiffened.
"And when the Dragon Slayers are gone…"
Zirconis's voice fractured. The glow of his soul glitched like a failing magic lacrima.
"then the world…he…"
The final words never came.
Zirconis's form shattered into drifting fragments of light, small, bubble-like remnants that floated for a moment before fading into the dark.
Wendy reached out with her magic, trying to sense anything, then lowered her hands softly.
"Zirconis has completely passed on."
Gajeel rubbed the back of his head.
"Feels like we just learned something insane."
Natsu's fists tightened.
"So that guy is gonna come after us next?"
Rhodes shook his head firmly.
"No. His first target will be your Dragons. If..." he paused, expression tightening,
"I hope there won't be such an 'if.'"