Fairy Tail: Evolution Start From The Black Dragon

In stark contrast to the brutal battles against sea beasts raging in the northern regions of Ishgar, the inland areas of Ishgar presented a seemingly peaceful scene, but this was only relative.

In reality, the kingdoms on the Ishgar continent had recently faced numerous attacks from flying magical beasts. Many dark guilds were also taking advantage of the situation to create chaos, causing the major kingdoms to frantically strengthen their military defenses. If Aegon and his group hadn't been traveling by airship, they would have inevitably faced some inspections along their journey.

They did not linger in the northern region, heading southwest towards the Kingdom of Fiore.

The closer they got to Rosemary Village, the more Irene felt a sense of anxiety about returning home.

But soon, that anxiety was replaced by anger...

What greeted them was devastation. Large areas of land were stained red, a sign of the vast amounts of blood that had soaked the soil, and even subsequent rains couldn't wash it away.

This indicated... Rosemary Village had experienced a horrific massacre.

Three years ago, Rosemary Village had been consumed by a great fire, leaving only the charred remains of brick and stone walls.

Irene stood there, leaning on her antler staff, staring blankly at the scene...

She had never imagined it would be like this. Just when she had mustered the courage to face her inner darkness, reality delivered another heavy blow.

"Twelve years ago, I abandoned my daughter here..."

Selene, also taken aback by the sight, sighed.

Aegon quickly turned to send Misaki and Kiria away.

"Mera, Misaki, you five, go to the surrounding villages or towns as fast as you can and find out what happened to Rosemary Village."

"Yes!" x5

After a moment of silence, Irene began to recount the events of twelve years ago to Aegon.

...

"Lord Aegon, Lady Irene..."

Heine returned to Rosemary Village with a worried expression after gathering information from the surrounding areas.

A large hand took hold of her slightly cold, sweaty palm.

Looking at Aegon standing beside her, Irene took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "Just tell us."

"Three years ago, a group of masked mages attacked Rosemary Village. All the adults were killed, and the children were taken away."

Irene remained silent upon hearing the news.

Selene nodded. "The children were taken... that means they were of use to the attackers."

Selene didn't dare assure Irene that the children were safe, considering that three years ago, they would have been around nine years old...

No one could guarantee they had survived.

However, Selene chose to reassure her. "I think the children should be fine. Otherwise, they would have been killed on the spot."

Aegon provided a more definite answer: "She will be fine, after all, she is your daughter."

For some reason, Irene found herself somewhat believing him after he said this.

Misaki and Kiria returned with similar information, though their descriptions of the mages varied slightly. The consistent part was that the children had been taken.

Misaki slowly recounted what she had learned: "It wasn't just Rosemary Village. Several nearby villages were also attacked by mages three years ago, but there have been no such incidents in the last two years."

Selene nodded in understanding. "This means that perhaps the mages had gathered enough children, or that their group was destroyed by the council or some kingdom, and Erza might have been rescued."

In the magical continent, such events were quite common. The rise or fall of an organization or guild often hinged on a single event.

Leaving Rosemary Village, Irene felt a bit despondent.

As Aegon debated whether to tell Irene that Erza was still alive, events took an unexpected turn.

As they walked to Akane Beach, the group drew the attention of passersby. Besides their striking appearance, with handsome men and beautiful women, young and old, the fact that they were not dressed in bikinis and swimsuits on the beach made them stand out. Soon, Irene was recognized...

A few girls in bikinis whispered among themselves:

"Don't you think that woman with the crimson hair looks a lot like the 'Fairy Queen' Erza from Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah, she does look a bit like her."

"A bit? She looks exactly like her!"

"Could she be her sister?"

"No way, I've never heard of Erza having a sister."

The speaker was a die-hard Erza fan.

After losing consciousness following the Tower of Heaven incident last year, Erza had drifted to Magnolia and joined Fairy Tail.

Given her great strength, she was dubbed the 'Fairy Queen' by admirers.

She occasionally appeared in the weekly magazine Sorcerer, and her fame was growing rapidly.

"What did you just say?"

A cold female voice interrupted the girls' conversation.

"Whoa, you scared me." One girl clutched her chest.

"Seriously! She looks exactly like Erza! Are you Erza's sister?" Another girl asked after seeing Irene's face clearly.

"Can you get Erza to sign an autograph for me? I'm her biggest fan!"

Selene approached Irene, smiling. "Who is this 'Fairy Queen' Erza you mentioned?"

"Wait, you're not related to Erza? That's too bad... but the resemblance is uncanny."

"Could you tell us more about her?" Aegon joined in, smiling warmly.

"He's so handsome," they whispered.

Aegon cleared his throat theatrically. "Please, tell us about Erza."

"Okay! No problem!!!" The girls' eyes sparkled.

"Wait! I have a copy of Sorcerer Weekly with me. It has Erza's picture in it."

She began rummaging through her bag on the table.

After digging through an assortment of cosmetics, she finally pulled out the magazine, which was an issue from September 29, X777, released just a couple of days ago.

"Thank you," Aegon said as he took the magazine.

"He's so polite!!!"

"..."

Selene could hardly stand the fangirling anymore.

Aegon handed the magazine to Irene, but she shook her head. "You do it."

Flipping through the index, Aegon quickly found the two pages about Erza. The combination of pictures and text was very straightforward.

Erza had completed a mission to defeat a magical beast. One photo showed her in armor, wielding a blood-stained magical sword against a massive beast, her crimson hair particularly striking.