Southeastern Guiltina, Filan City—Gold Owl Alchemist Guild
"Oooh! The Signario Sisters are looking beautiful as ever today! GOD! Beautiful!!!"
God Serena was still singing, dancing, rapping, and striking one ridiculous pose after another in the middle of the guild hall as he showered the two women across from him with praise.
They were the very Signario Sisters he had mentioned before.
The elder sister, Enny Signario, wore an off-the-shoulder dress with high heels. Her long hair was tied into twin tails, and the guild emblem was stamped on her right arm.
Her younger sister, Luso Signario, wore an off-the-shoulder dress of her own with knee-high combat boots, her long hair gathered into a single ponytail.
"You're annoying. Disappear," Enny said, frowning irritably at Serena.
Luso remained expressionless as she replied in a perfectly calm voice,
"Thank you, Serena-kun."
Enny's frown deepened.
"I still don't understand why there's a Mage in an alchemist guild."
Athena, whose entire body had been constructed from mechanical parts and whose head was covered by a white helmet, offered an explanation.
"Enny-sama, alchemy and Magic share many similarities."
Luso clasped her hands behind her back and smiled at Athena.
"Athena-chan is both a Mage and a product of alchemy herself, isn't she?"
Athena inclined her head.
"That is correct, Luso-sama."
Enny then turned a dark look toward Gold Owl's guild master.
"More importantly, Master, Serena failed his mission to retrieve the Dogramag Cores. I'm allowed to kill him, right?"
God Serena immediately recoiled in horror.
"NO! GOD!! NO!!!"
A tall figure slowly stepped forward, laughing softly.
"Come now, don't say that. There are substitutes for the Dogramag Cores."
He smiled confidently.
"And obtaining one is necessary if Athena is to become complete."
Athena's mechanical face displayed a surprisingly human smile.
"Yes, Master. I'm very much looking forward to it."
The man wore his hair slicked back, an eyepatch over his left eye, and a long coat over a formal waistcoat.
Duke Barbaroa kept both hands casually tucked into his pockets as he spoke with complete confidence.
"Once Athena reaches her complete form, every one of the Five Dragon Gods will bow before me."
...
Northern Sea of Ishgar, Blast Sea—
To continue the Hundred Years Quest and search for Athena, Raizel, Ultear, and the others boarded Fairy Tail's airship and set out for Guiltina once again.
Athena—A living doll affiliated with Gold Owl.
A weapon supposedly capable of defeating the Five Dragon Gods.
After gathering everyone on the uppermost deck, Raizel casually sat down on the floor.
"All right. Let's organize what we know."
Jellal, Sorano, and Meredy had provided them with a fair amount of information.
However, after receiving it, Raizel's group had only taken enough time to inform Makarov before immediately departing for Guiltina, so they had not yet properly gone through everything.
Mira wrote with a magic pen as she summarized the information.
"The White Mage Athena is a living doll originally created as a weapon."
Kagura added,
"Elefseria specifically told us that Athena was created by his pupil. He also said that pupil died a long time ago."
Lucy scratched her hair awkwardly.
"Unfortunately, Elefseria lost part of his memory, so he also forgot where Athena was sealed."
Erza continued,
"After being created as a weapon, Athena later founded the White Magic cult Rebellious. For an artificial doll to rise to such a position is impressive in its own way."
Ultear pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"But then she suddenly disappeared. The next time anyone found traces of her, she had become a member of the alchemist guild Gold Owl."
"So did Gold Owl find Athena after she vanished?"
"Most likely."
Raizel nodded.
"We simply don't know how it happened. Faris and Touka told us before that they had no idea where Athena had gone either."
Mira checked the information in front of her before making a suggestion.
"According to Misaki and Skullion, Gold Owl is quite famous throughout Guiltina. We still don't know exactly where their guild hall is, but there's a good chance it's somewhere in Filan City, which is where Sorano and Jellal's information pointed."
"For now, let's head to Filan City and gather information there."
"Just in case, I should tell Selene and Irene first."
Raizel immediately activated Super Archive Magic and established contact with them.
A virtual window appeared in midair, displaying Selene and Irene from the waist up.
Standing behind them were Misaki and Kiria.
After Raizel explained what they had learned about Athena, Selene nodded.
"Understood. I've also gotten some information from Misaki and Kiria."
"Oh, right. There's something else I should tell you. The master of the Dragon Eater guild... What was his name again?"
Selene turned toward Irene questioningly.
Irene shook her head without the slightest change in expression.
"I've forgotten too."
Apparently, neither of them had considered the name of an insignificant human worth remembering.
Selene turned toward Misaki instead.
"Georg Reizen," Misaki supplied.
Raizel shrugged.
"His name doesn't matter. What happened to him?"
Selene blinked her large eyes.
"He died."
"I stepped on him."
"...What happened?"
Irene answered on Selene's behalf.
"We tested him. After confirming that he was beyond saving, we killed him."
"I can testify to that!"
Suzaku's voice came from somewhere outside the communication window.
Raizel looked at the completely unbothered expressions on Kiria and Misaki's faces and nodded in understanding.
"Dead is dead, then. A guild master whose own members don't look remotely upset about his death probably isn't worth mourning."
He quickly changed the subject.
"So you're at Diabolos right now?"
Irene nodded slightly.
"That's right. Though we're preparing to leave soon."
"We're going to search for Athena."
...
After several days of travel, Fairy Tail's airship docked at a port in southeastern Guiltina.
Ultear stored the airship away in her spatial storage.
"From here, we should travel on foot or by carriage. Flying such a large airship directly into the city would make our movements a little too obvious."
The outskirts of Filan City were filled with factories of every imaginable kind.
Thick smoke constantly poured from towering chimneys, giving the area an appearance reminiscent of the early Industrial Revolution.
Airships occasionally crossed the sky overhead as well.
As usual, they bought a local map and travel guide after entering the city.
Lucy pointed toward one section of the map.
"There are mineral veins around the city. Apparently, they produce a lot of rare ores used in alchemy."
Ultear nodded.
"And plenty of stalls along the streets are selling stones and minerals."
Kagura studied the surrounding architecture.
"So alchemy is deeply connected to this city?"
Gemstones and unusual minerals filled display stands on both sides of the streets, their sheer variety almost overwhelming.
Happy's eyes lit up.
"Carla, do you think Gajeel can eat rocks?"
Carla immediately shot him down.
"Rocks and iron are completely different!"
Meanwhile, Erza grabbed Natsu before he could run off like a horse that had slipped its reins.
"First, we find an inn."
"Then we start gathering information."