In truth, for Marco, he had only just begun to grasp Cosmo.
The true power of Cosmo was still far too difficult for the people of the Fairy Tail world to understand.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The scenery before them kept shifting as Marco brought Anna forward at high speed. Before long, they had returned to Magnolia.
This was much faster than the trip to find the Eclipse Gate. In fact, it was a little too fast. Anna felt her stomach becoming uncomfortable.
"Marco's back!"
"The Guild Master is back!"
The moment Marco appeared in the Fairy Tail guildhall, everyone immediately became excited, as though they had finally found their pillar of support.
There was no helping it.
Without Marco around, they had felt far too insecure.
At this moment, Magnolia had five whole dragons present!
It was not only the ordinary guild members who felt uneasy.
Even Makarov, Laxus, and the others were secretly tense.
Although those five dragons seemed to stand on humanity's side and even shared close relationships with members of the guild, the pressure they brought did not decrease because of that.
Most importantly, the Shadow Dragon and White Dragon were completely unfamiliar to them.
Even though the two dragons had left the two children in Fairy Tail as "hostages," that still could not dispel everyone's concerns.
After all, they were real dragons.
Dragons were intelligent magical creatures with immense power.
They possessed enormous bodies and terrifying magic power, and very few people had ever seen them with their own eyes.
Because of that, in the understanding of the general public, dragons were dreamlike creatures.
Some even believed dragons were merely illusory legends that had never truly existed.
As for Dragon Slayer Magic, they thought it was nothing more than a kind of "fantasy magic," a magic that allowed people to imagine themselves wielding the power of legendary dragons.
One could only say that when the forest was large enough, every kind of bird could be found.
Marco's gaze shifted toward the two unfamiliar figures in the guild.
They were two boys of only twelve or thirteen, around Wendy's age.
One had black hair, while the other had blond hair.
"These two children are the two Dragon Slayers, right?"
Looking at the two boys, who looked excited yet were trying hard to restrain themselves, Marco asked Anna.
He knew Anna would definitely recognize them.
"That's right. They are Rogue and Sting."
Looking at the two children, Anna's expression softened.
These two children had not had it easy either.
They had not even been as lucky as Wendy, who had been brought to Fairy Tail not long after arriving in this world and had basically not suffered much.
"G-Guild Master Marco! I'm your idol!"
As Marco and Anna were speaking, the blond Sting approached with an excited expression, stammering as he spoke to Marco.
"...Oh?"
Marco tried hard to keep a straight face, but he could not help but laugh.
This kid was a little funny!
"Pah, pah, pah! I said it wrong! You're my idol!"
Sting immediately realized his mistake and quickly waved his hands, repeating himself properly.
The little guy's face turned bright red, clearly extremely embarrassed.
"It's fine. I understand what you meant."
Marco smiled and answered, calming Sting down a little.
To be honest, Marco had long since gotten used to people telling him "you're my idol" wherever he went.
Among mages of his generation and the younger generation, most of them regarded him as their life idol.
There was no helping it.
Although Marco was not that old, his life story was far too legendary. He was handsome, powerful, and capable of nearly everything.
He was practically the version of themselves that all young mages fantasized about becoming.
Who would not want to live Marco's life for a day?
The black-haired Rogue, who had not approached, was clearly looking at Marco with yearning in his eyes too. Evidently, he was also a little fan.
"You two even have Exceeds with you. What a coincidence."
Marco's gaze shifted toward Rogue and Sting's sides.
Beside both Dragon Slayers were Exceeds.
"This is Lector, and this is Frosch. They're our good partners!"
Sting introduced the two cat companions with great enthusiasm.
Lector was an Exceed covered in bright red short fur.
He wore a vest, while his face, inner ears, tail tip, belly, hands, and feet were closer to pink.
Frosch, meanwhile, wore a pink frog costume.
His own fur was green, making him look like an actual frog!
"Eeyah~ Hello!"
Lector greeted Marco familiarly, his expression rather cheeky.
"Hello~"
Frosch was a little more shy, looking somewhat dazed.
"Tch. This White Dragon Sting was acting all arrogant before, like he was amazing and nobody was allowed to look down on him. How come the moment he sees Marco, he changes faces completely?"
Seeing what was happening over here, one of the guild members nearby could not help making a comment.
The White Dragon Sting and the Shadow Dragon Rogue had already been in Fairy Tail for several days.
Everyone had spent a few days with them and had gained a rough understanding of their personalities.
The White Dragon Sting was arrogant, cocky, and forceful. He always liked drawing attention to himself.
The Shadow Dragon Rogue was calm and quiet, seeming uninterested in everything.
One was active while the other was still. They were practically two extremes!
Even their Exceeds had personalities similar to their partners.
Lector was talkative and energetic, while Frosch spoke less.
His catchphrase was "Frosch thinks so too," and he rarely brought up topics or opinions on his own.
Over the past few days, Sting's displayed personality had been completely different from how he was acting in front of Marco now.
Logically speaking, he should have been the type who would not easily admit that he had an idol.
Yet facing Marco, he admitted it on his own.
All one could say was that Marco's charm was simply too great, and his achievements were too impressive.
Sting had no way to lie to himself.
Standing in front of Marco, he found it very hard to say that he would surpass him.
"Since you've come to Fairy Tail, get along well with everyone. Especially Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy. The five of you actually grew up together in the past. You just don't remember it anymore."
Looking at Rogue and Sting, Anna stepped forward and spoke gently.
The reason Rogue, Sting, Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel had forgotten the past was because of the Dragon Soul Technique.
As for the exact details, even Anna did not fully understand.
There was no helping it. Even the five dragons themselves could not fully explain it.
"All right."
Facing the gentle Anna, Rogue answered.
Although he no longer remembered, he could still feel Anna's goodwill.
He could still find a sense of familiarity from the woman before him, which made them instinctively willing to trust her.
In truth, Rogue and Sting felt most strongly that there was something wrong with their memories.
The two of them had once even believed that they had killed the Shadow Dragon and White Dragon.
Even though that thought was clearly unreasonable, that was how it was in their memories.
But when the White Dragon and Shadow Dragon appeared, Rogue and Sting were directly stunned.
Everything was different from what they remembered.
After that, the White Dragon and Shadow Dragon brought them to Fairy Tail, where they met the other three Dragon Slayers and the three dragons.
They gradually learned about their own origins, and now that Anna had returned, the missing pieces of their past were being filled in even further.
"Where are Igneel and the others?"
After getting acquainted with Rogue and Sting, Marco asked about the five dragons.
Clearly, the five dragons had not stayed inside the guildhall. Five massive beings were far too conspicuous.
"They went to the eastern forest. It's large enough to hold them."
Mirajane, who had just finished her work, walked over and answered Marco's question.
"The eastern forest? Perfect."
Marco nodded.
He was also planning to go to the eastern forest.
Just right.
He would go there to unlock his new Gold Cloth and let the newly arrived Shadow Dragon and White Dragon witness his power as well.
After greeting everyone, Marco's figure vanished, heading swiftly toward the eastern forest.
...
At this moment, in the eastern forest, the Sky Dragon Grandeeney was chatting with Porlyusica.
This pair of counterparts from different worlds could sense one another and could be considered to have known each other in spirit for a long time.
The White Dragon and Shadow Dragon, meanwhile, were engaged in a heated discussion with Igneel and Metalicana about going to fight the Black Dragon.
As for Marco's strength, both the White Dragon Weisslogia and the Shadow Dragon Skiadrum still had doubts.
They had nearly been beaten to death by the Black Dragon Acnologia themselves, so they naturally knew exactly how strong that Black Dragon was.
If Igneel and the others had not vouched for him, the two of them would absolutely never have believed it.
It sounded like a dream.
"When he returns, you'll see it for yourselves."
That was all Igneel could say.
He was also troubled right now.
What troubled him was how to persuade Marco to act together with them.
Marco insisted on waiting until he became stronger before actively fighting the final battle against the Black Dragon. In Igneel's view, that was completely unnecessary.
People had limits.
No, all living beings had limits.
Once someone reached a certain limit, getting stronger after that could only be done through slow accumulation.
Even if they became stronger, it would be extremely difficult to achieve a qualitative change.
In Igneel's view, Marco had certainly already reached that limit.
After all, Marco's strength had already reached a terrifying level, a level that even Zeref would struggle to match.
Igneel knew Zeref. In the past, Igneel had viewed Zeref as the limit of humanity. After all these years, Zeref probably had not improved much either.
Now, Marco had become the new human limit in Igneel's mind.
Igneel believed that Marco, like Zeref, would find it extremely difficult to improve from this point on.
After all, Zeref had also reached his peak when he was very young.
Buzz!!!
Just as the dragons were each lost in their own thoughts and worries, a terrifying surge of power suddenly erupted within the eastern forest.
Boom!!!
The five dragons entered battle-ready states at once.
Their heads turned together, looking toward the direction where dazzling golden light had erupted.
Above the sky, the stars shone brightly, as if the entire world had been dyed gold.
"What is that?!"
Grandeeney asked the person beside her with worry on her face, because she realized Porlyusica was not nervous at all.
In fact, she looked as if she had long since grown used to this phenomenon.
"No need to panic. It's that brat Marco messing with something again. If nothing unexpected happens, he's probably become even stronger."
Porlyusica's expression was calm.
She was far too familiar with this kind of situation.
More than that, she could tell that this time, Marco had not restrained himself in the slightest. He had even deliberately magnified the spectacle.
Clearly, he was putting on a show for these five dragons.
"Marco?!"
"Become stronger?!"
The dragons cried out in shock, their expressions turning strange.
Wait.
That man had not been joking?
He really could become stronger?
And not through slow accumulation?
Igneel's first thought was, 'Impossible. Absolutely impossible.'
But Porlyusica's completely accustomed expression told him that this seemed to be true.
And that it was not the first time.