Once the decision was made, they acted immediately.
Everyone packed their luggage and once again boarded the guild airship, preparing to depart for the Alvarez Empire.
If they flew nonstop for twenty-four hours a day, the trip to Alvarez would take roughly three days. Compared to the previous trip to Guiltina, they now had one more person with them—Selene.
Ultear's spatial Magic training had already begun to take shape, so once the time came, the airship could be stored directly inside a magic space.
On top of that, with Selene's Moon Magic concealing them, there was no need to worry about the Alvarez Empire's scouts detecting the airship's tracks.
Of course, even if they were discovered, Raizel would not be afraid.
He had no intention of hiding his movements during this trip anyway.
Once they were about to reach the Alvarez Empire, they could simply use teleportation to land.
Mira was also coming along this time, and it was by her own request.
After all, the Alvarez Empire was an enemy nation. Having one more person meant having one more source of strength.
Kurnugi, however, did not plan to come with them.
He had gone with Macao and Wakaba to complete a quest.
That was something Raizel had arranged.
Unlike Selene, Kurnugi had no money.
He was a poor bastard in the purest, most soul-stirring sense!
At the very least, he had to learn to support himself.
But since he had never done a request before, Macao and Wakaba volunteered themselves.
They patted their chests and declared that they would handle everything.
And honestly, Kurnugi's appearance seemed to have reignited the flames of youth in those two.
Recently, even their Magic training had become more diligent.
"This airship of yours is rather well designed."
Selene sat on a sofa in the leisure area with one leg crossed over the other. She took a sip of black tea while casually observing her surroundings.
In terms of combat ability, this airship was basically useless.
But in terms of comfort, it was maxed out.
Raizel, who was also sitting on another sofa with one leg crossed, answered casually.
"We specifically hired someone to design it. After all, when we remodeled this airship back then, it was purely for travel and relaxation."
Selene was very satisfied with that answer.
She was also the type who liked relaxing.
If not for the need to find a weapon that could deal with the other Dragon Gods, she would gladly spend every day soaking in hot springs at Blackmoon Mountain or one of her other bases.
"I did not expect Ishgar to look like this now. Had I known, I would have returned earlier."
Selene looked through the glass at the sky outside and the land below, speaking with some emotion.
After staying in Magnolia for more than two weeks, the smiles of its residents had gradually infected her.
Ultear and the others had taken her to buy clothes, to shop for sweets, and to watch shop owners with no Magic Power at all chat and laugh naturally with Erza and the others.
That was something very difficult to imagine in Guiltina.
That place could be said to truly worship strength above all else.
It was not that Selene had never observed humans in Guiltina, but everything she saw and heard there matched her own code of conduct.
An eye for an eye.
A tooth for a tooth.
Or even... repay it tenfold.
Lucy had also explained to her that this kind of social order was not limited to Magnolia alone.
At the beginning, the Magic Council had not simply been a group of useless old fools.
It had established a set of rules, and after many revisions, those rules had become what they were today.
Mages were not allowed to casually attack ordinary people.
Any Mage who attacked ordinary people would be punished.
This rule had already taken root in people's hearts.
It was also one of the reasons the previous Magic Council had disliked Fairy Tail so much.
When Fairy Tail carried out requests, the destruction was often too severe.
It disturbed the lives of ordinary people, and there had even been cases where ordinary people were injured.
Selene had originally thought that after the Dragon King Festival, Acnologia would have ruled over Ishgar.
Even if the people here were not living in misery, they should at least have been living in fear.
She had not expected the people here to be far happier than those in Guiltina.
This was life without dragons.
She was becoming more and more convinced that her way of thinking was right.
Ultear rubbed her smooth chin and pondered, "Logically speaking, if Acnologia wanted to rule Ishgar over the past four hundred years, it would have been simple for him. But he never actually did it. He rarely even appeared in front of humans. So rarely, in fact, that before he reappeared, humans thought he might already be dead."
Mira lightly poked her cheek with her index finger.
"Hmm... Since he was originally human, maybe he still has a tiny bit of humanity left?"
Mira's guess was somewhat close to what Raizel thought, but Raizel still added, "His target has always been dragons and Dragon Slayers. Humans don't threaten him. Or rather, he doesn't hate humans."
"Hate?"
Ultear and the others were somewhat puzzled by Raizel's choice of words.
Selene's expression sank into memory.
"I know a little about that."
"Acnologia was not originally called by that name. No one knows his original name. It is only known that four hundred years ago, he was a medical wizard in a hidden village. He once saved a giant dragon named Acnologia."
"But that dragon did not repay kindness with gratitude. Instead, it destroyed his hometown. After that, he learned Dragon Slayer Magic."
"He had extraordinary talent in Dragon Slayer Magic and soon killed the dragon that had destroyed his hometown. From then on, he called himself the Black Dragon Acnologia and began the Dragon King Festival, slaughtering dragons from both the coexistence faction and the war faction."
Lucy's expression became complicated.
"So in other words, it was actually dragons that created this unsolvable Black Dragon..."
Selene nodded calmly, wearing an expression that said dragons had nothing to do with her.
"That is correct."
Erza quickly shook her head and shattered Lucy's illusion.
"There's no way to avoid it. That man's goal is to kill dragons and Dragon Slayers. Natsu, Wendy, Selene, Gajeel... and even Laxus, who only had Dragon Slayer Lacrima implanted in him, are all on his must-kill list."
Wendy raised her head, her small face filled with determination.
"Besides, Igneel, Metalicana, and Grandeeney... I must help avenge her!"
If the Black Dragon only wanted to kill her, she could simply run away.
But Grandeeney could be said to have died at Acnologia's hands.
Although Grandeeney had never told Wendy to avenge her, that did not mean Wendy did not need to.
Raizel also felt that the Black Dragon was somewhat pitiful.
But that was not enough.
The Black Dragon was now in a state where communication was impossible.
It was not that his mind was unclear.
Rather, he disdained communicating with humans.
Selene said as if it were only natural, "For me to better become human, killing the Black Dragon and the Dragon Gods is necessary."
Mira, Erza, and the others had already gotten used to hearing statements like that from her.
They exchanged glances, smiled, and shook their heads.
Wendy raised her hand and asked, "What if among the Dragon Gods, there is someone like Selene-san who no longer wants to fight?"
Wendy's question made Selene freeze.
She had actually never considered that possibility.
Wendy's words also reminded Raizel.
He quickly asked, "Among the other Dragon Gods, who do you think might be open to reconciliation?"
Selene opened her folding fan to cover her lower jaw and thought for a while.
"If there is one, it should be the Water Dragon God."
"I understand."
Raizel temporarily added the Water Dragon God to the red list.
Of course, they would only be able to confirm that after meeting him in person.
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