When Lucy stepped outside the guild, she felt the ground shaking.
As the ground continued to tremble, the city in front of Lucy suddenly split open!
The buildings along the streets separated into multiple sections.
The structures in each section rose up and slowly moved apart.
From above, it looked like the entire city of Magnolia had automatically split in half along tracks, creating a straight path right through the middle.
"The city is splitting apart?!" Lucy waved her arms in shock.
Carla watched as the entire city made way, creating a canyon-like path leading out of the city right in front of the guild entrance.
She could not help but gasp in amazement.
"There is actually a city like this?"
Ankh explained with a smile, "The magic Gildarts uses is called 'Crush.' It is also classified as Super Magic—the ability to crush objects just by touching them. It is quite terrifying."
Erza added helplessly, "Because this guy always gets lost in thought and walks straight through houses, destroying buildings along the way, so..."
"So this mode was created to prevent that?" Lucy scratched her head, confused about such a silly situation.
"How can someone be so clumsy?!"
Wendy, however, looked on with admiration. "Its so amazing, right, Carla?"
"Indeed," Carla nodded. She then continued with her signature sharp tongue, "Amazingly clumsy."
"Look, look! He is coming!" Natsu jumped up and down excitedly, watching the tall man's figure approach along the path in the distance.
He was about the same height as Ankh and Laxus, but clearly leaner and more powerful than Laxus.
Even though he did not have bulging muscles, there was an undeniable sense of terrifying power inside him.
His body was covered in a black robe that had become somewhat tattered from the wind and sand.
His unshaven face looked very determined, and he had brown hair styled in a slicked-back look.
Gildarts followed the path, walking along the arrows on the ground until he reached the guild entrance.
The guild members cheered.
But when he looked at how the surrounding buildings were arranged, his face scrunched up in confusion before he let out a puzzled, "Huh?"
Then Gildarts walked up to Mirajane at the entrance and asked.
"Hey, miss, I remember there was a Fairy Tail guild around here..."
"Oh, this is it." Mirajane smiled and pointed at herself and said. "I am Mirajane."
"Mira?" Gildarts squinted.
He finally matched the rebellious girl in his memories with the sweet young woman in front of him, then exclaimed.
"Oh! It really is you! You have changed quite a bit over the years."
Then, Gildarts looked around like a creepy old man while marveling, "And the guild has changed too. Was it renovated?"
Lucy silently complained beside them, "He didn't even notice when he saw the outside of the building earlier."
"Gildarts!" Natsu suddenly roared, sliding across the floor to stop right in front of Gildarts.
Gildarts laughed heartily, "Isn't that Natsu? How have you been?"
"I challenge you, Gildarts!" Natsu pointed at him, declaring proudly.
Lucy could not help but sweat drop. "That is the first thing you say after years apart?"
Red light erupted from Natsu's body as faint Dragon Scales appeared on his skin.
He leaped up excitedly, swinging his iron fist.
"This is my new power! Let's settle this, Gildarts!"
"Ah~ I am busy right now. We will talk later." Gildarts caught Natsu's iron fist with one hand.
Then, he spun him around several times like a ball before casually tossing him toward the ceiling.
"BAM!!"
Natsu's body embedded itself into the ceiling. He was stuck there, unable to fall down.
Gray could not help but laugh. "Some things never change, old man!"
Elfman looked like he was seeing his idol and excitedly said, "The manliest of men!"
Lucy gazed at Natsu, who was stuck in the ceiling, and sighed, "This old man... is super strong."
Gajeel could not help but swallow hard.
The Salamander, even after activating Dragon Force mode, got instantly defeated.
If he went up, he would probably meet the same fate.
During the guild war back then, he really had several close calls with death...
Gildarts now looked at Ankh, who had grown as tall as him, and laughed heartily.
"You and Laxus are the ones I have seen the least! I never thought you would all grow up so much, hahaha!"
Ankh looked at the still-unserious old man before him and raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed, you are still as unreliable as ever."
"Not at all, not at all~"
"Hey~ Ambush!"
While laughing, Gildarts suddenly turned and threw a punch at Ankh!
The powerful fist tore through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
If Natsu had tried to block it, he would probably have been sent flying halfway across Magnolia.
But Ankh simply raised his hand lightly.
He opened his five fingers to swiftly catch Gildarts' incoming fist.
The moment their hands connected, a shockwave erupted around them, pushing the tables and chairs far away.
"Not bad, you have gotten stronger! With you here, the Master can retire peacefully." Gildarts withdrew his fist and laughed reassuringly.
Ankh said irritably, "You are just afraid the Master will come after you to take over, aren't you?"
Gildarts heartily put his arm around Ankh's shoulder and laugh.
"Nothing of the sort~ Speaking of which, there are many unfamiliar faces in the guild. It has really grown fast..."
"Gildarts!"
At that moment, Makarov, who had been sitting at the counter, called out.
Only then did Gildarts notice the tiny Guild Master.
He greeted him with a smile, "Yo, Master! I am back!"
Makarov nodded and asked, "Well done. Did the job go smoothly?"
Upon hearing this, Gildarts raised his hand to scratch the back of his head.
Then, he suddenly let out a few carefree laughs and said, "There is no helping it—I am completely unqualified for it."
The entire guild erupted in an uproar at Gildarts' words.
To the guild members, this was nearly unbelievable.
Gildarts failing a mission?
How could that be possible!
Just as Jura was the ace of Lamia Scale, Gildarts was the ace of Fairy Tail, a guild filled with powerful mages!
Especially for Fairy Tail's younger generation, the thought of their seemingly unbeatable idol and senior failing was unimaginable.
It made them wonder just how difficult the mission must have been.
Among the crowd, Lucy was equally shocked, and a shadow of dread crept into her heart.
"Even someone like Gildarts failed... What exactly is this Century Quest?"
"Give up on it. With your current strength, you are still far from ready to take on a Century Quest," Erza patted Lucy's shoulder and seriously advised her.
Lucy pointed at herself, her eyes nearly popping out of her head in shock.
"Do I really look like I'm eager to try it?!"
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