It's a well-known fact that long-running manga series tend to suffer from a common ailment: retcons. The longer the series, the more severe this problem becomes.
Fairy Tail was no exception. Especially between different arcs, new information in the latest chapters often contradicted established lore.
While the author's retcons were of little consequence to him, they posed a significant headache for Drake, who actually lived in this world.
Take, for example, Guiltina Continent, Drake's immediate destination.
In this world, the landmass was divided into three major continents: east, west, and north. The Eastern Continent, where Fairy Tail was located, was known as Ishgar, with the Fiore Kingdom being just one small nation on that landmass.
The Western Continent, on the other hand, had been unified into a vast empire known as Alvarez, ruled by Emperor Spriggan, who was none other than Zeref, the source of all evil in Ishgar.
Though there, he went by the name of Spriggan.
And to the north of these two continents lay the Guiltina Continent, the setting for Fairy Tail's new "100 Years Quest" arc.
Ah… also the place with the most egregious retcons.
Ever since Acnologia's introduction, he had always been depicted as the "Winged Despair" who had annihilated all dragons… that was the established lore.
But in Guiltina, there were at least five dragons still alive. And these five dragons were even revered as gods, collectively known as the Five Dragon Gods of Guiltina.
While their backstory was that they'd fled to Guiltina out of fear of Acnologia, the Moon Dragon God, who could traverse dimensions, was one thing, but how could Acnologia have overlooked the Wood Dragon God, a colossal being with entire towns built upon its body?
Acnologia, after becoming the Dragon King, had been roaming the entire world; there was no reason he would have missed such a large continent as Guiltina!
Furthermore, Guiltina was home to a guild composed of unique individuals: the Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers, also known as Dragon Eaters – mages who obtained their Dragon Slayer magic by consuming dragon meat.
Drake's decision to head to Guiltina wasn't just a way to get rid of Jellal and the others; he had a genuine purpose.
However, he had put his plans on hold due to the Grand Magic Games and the threat of Tartaros. But now that Crime Sorcière was helping out, Drake could finally put his plan into motion.
Drake wasn't interested in the 100 Years Quest or the Five Dragon Gods; his target was the Dragon Eaters. Drake's goal was to enhance his own Dragon Slayer magic.
After finding Sting and Rogue, Drake had been constantly contemplating and researching the differences between the various generations of Dragon Slayers.
Of course, the differences couldn't just be in how they learned Dragon Slayer magic.
Of the five generations in the original story, excluding the Fourth Generation, who weren't even mages but artificial weapons, Drake had already met and studied three.
That left only the Dragon Eaters, a group Drake had yet to understand, which was why he was planning to study them.
He already had some ideas, but he needed further data to confirm them. And even if his ideas were validated, the actual enhancement could only be carried out in Guiltina.
So, after the Grand Magic Games concluded, Drake immediately set off for Guiltina.
"So this is Guiltina? It's definitely different from Ishgar!"
Hearing this exclamation, Drake nodded in agreement.
Guiltina was indeed vastly different from both Ishgar and the Western Continent.
The specific difference was a sense of desolation that pervaded Guiltina. Riding on the back of his shikigami, Airship, after crossing the ocean, the group mostly saw wilderness, with few towns inhabited by humans.
Even facilities like railways were rare. While this was a world of magic, some technologies had already been popularized thanks to the advanced development of magic.
This showed that Guiltina was far behind in terms of magical technology.
However… Drake turned to look at the group on Airship's back, sighing, "Why did you all have to come along?"
Drake had originally intended to only bring Stella, and the two of them would search for the Dragon Eaters together.
But after hearing about their destination, Sting and Rogue had insisted on coming along.
The two were quite proud of their status as Third Generation, perfect Dragon Slayers. Upon hearing that there was a Fifth Generation of Dragon Slayers, they couldn't just sit still.
Then, Chelia, dragging Wendy along, had also insisted on coming. Drake, unable to refuse, had simply brought Kagura along as well to help keep an eye on the kids.
Sting cracked his knuckles, saying, "Don't say that, Drake! I'm really looking forward to seeing what makes those guys think they can call themselves Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers."
Drake shot him a sidelong glance, "Don't say I didn't warn you; with your current strength, you're no match for those Dragon Eaters. Don't go charging in without thinking!"
Even if Sting hadn't reached his peak yet, even the Sting from seven years in the future wouldn't have much of a chance against the Dragon Eaters.
Although he said that, Drake knew from Sting's expression that he wouldn't listen.
He was truly a Natsu fanboy, with the same stubbornness and refusal to listen to reason.
Airship flapped its wings, hovering in the air.
Drake saw a town below, saying, "It's almost nightfall; let's rest in the town below. Maybe we can find some information there!"
Airship, following Drake's instructions, descended, and the group arrived at the small town.
Despite not seeming to have many outsiders, the inn they chose to stay at was quite lively.
The tavern on the first floor was almost full by night, and Drake and his group chose to have dinner there, their main objective being to gather information.
He had hoped that everyone would help gather information, but they were all too busy stuffing their faces.
To be fair, while Guiltina was behind Ishgar in terms of magical technology, its cuisine was unique.
Perhaps it was because the ingredients were of higher quality, or perhaps it was because the cooking techniques were better; in any case, the food had a distinct flavor that appealed to Drake, who was from Earth.
After confirming that he couldn't get any useful information from the surrounding patrons, Drake began to enjoy his dinner.
The next day, the group set off again, searching for the next town. After five days of searching in Guiltina, Drake gave up on this needle-in-a-haystack approach.
Despite Guiltina being the birthplace of magical guilds, with the world's first guild, Mammoth, located there, magical guilds were surprisingly rare on this continent, and there wasn't much interaction between them.
And because the Dragon Eaters' guild, Diabolos, was too unique, none of the guilds Drake had encountered in the past few days had any information about them.
So, Drake decided to change his strategy; since he couldn't find them, he'd just have to let them come to him.
For those who sought to gain power by devouring dragons, there was no better bait than the news of a dragon's appearance.
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