"He really does look like a ghost!" several people remarked upon seeing Gilconis's appearance.
"My Gilconis, and I am known as the Emerald Dragon!"
"I already said that!" Gray retorted.
"What exactly is going on here?"
"Are there dragon carcasses everywhere here?"
"We brought you out in order to find out the truth," Charle, Happy, Lili said.
The Emerald Dragon Gilconis tilted his head and said, "I have nothing to say to humans, hurry up and go! Go! Go away...!"
"We're not human, we're cats!" Happy said.
"That's true! That was over 400 years ago."
"What a casual principle..." Several people broke out in a sweat.
Gilconis continued, "Back then, dragons were the rulers of this world, freely dancing in the sky, galloping across the land, and traversing the seas. They were once incredibly prosperous, and everything in the world belonged to them. Humans were, at best, merely food for us. Gurgle..."
"But... a foolish dragon objected to the dragon race's dominance, saying it wanted to create a world where humans could coexist. Thus began a war between dragons who agreed and those who disagreed, and I, the old man, fought on behalf of the opposition."
Upon hearing Gilconis's words, Lucy's body trembled slightly as she said, "The opposition... that means?"
"I don't like humans! Although they'd be alright as food...!"
After hearing Gilconis's words, Natsu covered his mouth with his hand and chuckled mischievously, "You can actually talk to food? Hehe..."
"Hey... that's really infuriating!!"
"What happened to that war afterward?" Charle asked.
"Hmm... the war has reached a stalemate. After all, a battle between dragons would be enough to shatter the earth, so the dragons of the coexistence faction came up with a foolish strategy! They bestowed dragon-slaying magic upon humans, making them participate in the war!" Gilconis said.
Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy were all somewhat surprised when they first heard it, but the others were the same;
Lucy spoke up, "Is this the origin of Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"The Dragon Slayer Mage are incredibly powerful. The dragons, who chose to coexist with humans, seemed poised to secure victory. However, they miscalculated. The overpowered Dragon Slayer Mage began to harass the dragons who wanted to coexist with humans. And among those humans was one person tainted with too much dragon blood—just hearing his name fills me with dread!"
"The man kept slaughtering dragons and constantly soaking in their blood. Eventually, scales began to grow on his skin, his blunt teeth turned into sharp ones, and he began to resemble a dragon."
"Humans have turned into dragons...!" Upon hearing the Emerald Dragon's words, Natsu and Gajeel couldn't help but swallow hard.
"This happened before the Dragon Slayer Magic. The dragons here who were indulging in this practice were also killed by that man. Although that man was human, he became the King of Dragons, giving rise to the War of the King of Dragons."
"It is the 'Dragon King Festival!!!'."
"The king's name is Acnologia! Though a dragon, he possesses extraordinary Dark Wings!"
Upon hearing the man's name, everyone was taken aback. "That's him!"
"So it was originally human?!"
"Impossible...!!"
"Compared to that fellow, the real dragon was destroyed! This happened 400 years ago, old man! As for you..." The Emerald Dragon's words were cut short as it turned into specks of light and vanished;