The Law Dragon's slightly cloudy eyes fixed on everyone with a grave expression.
"Whether Acnologia is dead or not has little to do with me. I only want to know one thing. Are you prepared? Have you truly prepared yourselves to accept this request?"
"The few of us... came here for exactly that!"
Kagura raised the dragon-slaying sword Astron.
Erza Requipped Altron into her hand as well. Ultear lifted the Dragon Slayer Lacrima crystal ball, Mira Took Over, Lucy tugged on her whip, Natsu's fists burst into flame as he knocked them together, and Wendy clenched her fists with a serious face.
Raizel glanced at everyone, all of them burning with fighting spirit, then shrugged at the Law Dragon with a light laugh.
"Looks like I don't need to prove anything, right?"
Lucy shot him an exasperated look.
"You're really ruining the group atmosphere, you know."
The Law Dragon closed his eyes and shook his head.
"You already proved yourself to me the last time we met."
He was talking about the last time Raizel had Taken Over Omnimon, as well as his declaration that he would kill Acnologia.
That had proven both his strength and his will.
The Law Dragon took out a contract that had already been prepared and pressed it down on the table.
"First, sign the contract. You must never reveal the contents of the 100 Years Quest to anyone else."
"Also, if anyone loses their life during the mission, neither the Council nor the client will bear any responsibility."
Natsu nodded immediately.
"No problem!"
Mira, Kagura, Ultear, and the others all looked as if they had expected this from the start.
"We figured as much."
Wendy nodded solemnly too.
"Understood!"
As for Lucy.. her whole head was covered in sweat!
"Can I go back...?"
Seriously, who signed a life-and-death waiver just to take a job?
"Lucy, are you taking a bath?" Happy asked with his usual innocent face.
"It's sweat..." Lucy answered through cold sweat.
Raizel signed first.
Natsu, Ultear, and the others followed one after another. After Happy and Carla finished signing, only Lucy was left.
Lucy clenched her fist and encouraged herself.
"I'm scared... but everyone's here with me. There's nothing to be afraid of!"
After mustering her courage, she quickly grabbed the pen and signed her name, as if she were afraid she would chicken out again if she moved even a little slower.
Once she finished signing, Lucy held the contract toward the Law Dragon.
"Then tell us! What is the 100 Years Quest?"
Among everyone present, only Raizel had gotten a rough idea from Gildarts.
He had not revealed it to Ultear and the others.
Of course, with how clever they were, they had more or less guessed part of it already.
Kurnugi. Selene. And the reason Raizel had cared so much about whether their weapons had Dragon Slayer attributes.
Even if Selene had not vaguely mentioned anything to them, the 100 Years Quest was not that difficult to guess.
The Law Dragon glanced at the contract and nodded.
"Very well. The contents are simple. Seal the five dragons of Guiltina known as the Five Dragon Gods!"
'Just as expected.'
Ultear, Mira, and the others exchanged looks.
It was slightly different from what they had imagined, but the overall direction was the same.
Lucy and Wendy, however, turned pale with fright, cold sweat running down their faces.
"The 100 Years Quest..."
"is to defeat dragons?"
The Law Dragon hummed in confirmation, his expression heavy as he explained,
"I learned Dragon Slayer Magic in order to seal those five dragons. However, they are powerful beings crowned with the names of gods. Each one can be said to possess power equal to Acnologia."
Raizel, Ultear, and the others did not comment, nor did they try to refute him.
All they could say was that Selene was definitely not Acnologia's match.
The other Dragon Gods most likely were not either.
The real difficulty of this mission might lie more in finding the Five Dragon Gods.
After all, even Selene, one of the Dragon Gods herself, knew nothing about the current locations of the Gold Dragon God or the Fire Dragon God.
Natsu, meanwhile, looked excited, he cracked his knuckles and grinned.
"Slaying dragons, huh? I'm fired up!"
Erza placed one hand on her hip and clenched her other fist, her face serious.
"We defeated Acnologia, so we can complete this request."
Erza's confidence did not come only from Raizel.
They had a backup.
They could summon Irene and Selene at any time!
Before they left, Irene had given Erza one of her dragon scales.
It allowed Erza to contact Irene, and it also let Irene sense Erza's location. In addition, Irene had begun teaching Erza High Enchantment.
Now, like Wendy, Erza could use High Enchantment as well.
"That's right. This should also be my final request. If even you cannot complete it, then I believe no one in the world can."
As he said this, the Law Dragon lowered his head and frowned deeply.
"In other words, this is the final request, and also my final hope."
Everyone raised their fists.
"Leave it to us!"
...
The group left Magia Dragon and began their journey on the 100 Years Quest.
As they walked, Lucy and Ultear studied the information the Law Dragon had given them and explained it to the others.
"According to the Law Dragon, information about the Five Dragon Gods has been hidden by the Council."
"Or rather, apart from Guiltina's Magic Council, MNP, very few people know much about the Five Dragon Gods at all."
"The Five Dragon Gods, including Selene, haven't appeared in a very long time. But once they do appear, they bring disasters powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth."
Erza rested her chin in thought.
"Now that you mention it, Selene certainly could do something like that."
Raizel shrugged casually.
"Honestly, top-tier Mages can do it too. Irene could achieve the same if she used Deus Sema."
Ultear looked slightly surprised.
"The higher-level spell of True Heavenly Body Magic: Sema?"
"That's right."
Mira knew a little about that spell as well, and she nodded.
"That makes sense. If a meteor like that fell, it wouldn't be much different from heaven and earth collapsing."
Natsu suddenly looked disdainful.
"So the one Gildarts was trying to beat before wasn't one of the Five Dragon Gods, but Acnologia, who had nothing to do with them? That guy's so lame! When we get back, I'm gonna make fun of him!"
After all, Natsu's previous conversation with Gildarts about the Five Dragon Gods had not exactly been pleasant.
The two had talked and talked until they ended up fighting.
Happy spread his paws.
"Can't blame him for getting mixed up."
In truth, Gildarts had not mixed anything up. He simply had not been able to complete the mission.
But Raizel could not say that.
Otherwise, he would be exposing the fact that Gildarts had told him about the 100 Years Quest.
Then he would have to listen to Natsu complain about Gildarts the whole way, and that would be way too noisy to be worth it.
Their first destination, or rather the first Dragon God they were looking for, was the region where the Water Dragon God was said to be.
However, the Law Dragon had only said it was possible that he was there.
From Magia Dragon, they would head west to the Baleria region, then continue southwest toward a port city called Ermina.
That city had once worshiped the Water Dragon God Mercphobia as a deity.
If they went there, they should be able to find clues about his whereabouts.
After leaving Magia Dragon, Raizel rented a luxury carriage as usual, and the group set out for the Baleria region.