When Makarov brought everyone back to Tenrou Island, the expressions on their faces were ones of utter shock, because the place that should have been Tenrou Island was now completely empty.
An island that large had simply vanished into thin air!
"The island… where's the island?! Where's Tenrou Island?!"
Mirajane leaned over the bow and stared ahead, her eyes full of shock and confusion.
Even if the fighting over here had been intense just now, an island that huge could not possibly have been destroyed so completely that not even a trace remained, right?!
There was not even a scrap of debris left on the sea?!
"And Marco?! Laxus?! The Black Dragon?!"
Erza was just as confused.
She turned her gaze toward Master Makarov, and the worst possible thought began to rise in her heart.
It made even Erza—who had gone through so much and whose heart had already beco incomparably strong—start trembling uncontrollably.
"Sothing's wrong… very wrong…"
Compared to the others, Makarov had instead cald down.
He observed the surroundings, trying to find clues that might let him glimpse the truth.
With two grandsons gone and the guild's holy land gone, Makarov was of course anxious as well, but the battle was already over.
No matter how anxious he was now, it would do no good.
The most urgent thing was to gather clues and information.
The situation with Tenrou Island was simply too strange.... such a huge island had just disappeared without a trace.
It had taken them so ti to get here, and they had completely missed the battle.
The fighting here had already stopped after that one massive explosion.
That earth-shaking blast had clearly already decided the winner, but as for who had won and who had lost, they could not tell at all.
The Black Dragon was gone.
Marco was gone.
Even Tenrou Island was gone.
"Could the island have sunk?"
Freed leaned out and looked down beneath the sea. Since the island had vanished entirely, it was possible that it had sunk into the ocean depths.
He frowned tightly, worried for Laxus and Marco's safety.
"I'll go down and take a look!" Juvia said at once.
Even though she was already panting heavily from exhaustion, she did not hesitate in the slightest and dove straight into the sea.
"Juvia! Co back! It's too dangerous!"
Everyone's expressions changed.
Together with Aquarius of the Aquarius Celestial Spirit, Juvia had powered the ship this whole way, consuming a huge amount of magic along the route.
For her to jump into the sea now and search for Tenrou Island was far too dangerous.
They still had no idea what the situation here was or whether it was safe.
Juvia was simply far too anxious.
Aquarius had already returned to the Celestial Spirit World, because Lucy was gasping for breath and could barely move, only able to rest off to the side.
Juvia's condition was not much better than Lucy's, so it was only natural that everyone was worried about her safety.
Splash!
Erza, Mirajane, Hisui, Cana, and Evergreen all jumped into the sea as well.
Gray, Elfman, Freed, and Bickslow hurriedly followed after them.
Only a few people remained on the ship. Lucy had consud an enormous amount of magic and had the will but not the strength.
Natsu and Gajeel, anwhile, were so seasick they were practically out of their minds.
There was no helping it.
In order to get here as fast as possible, Juvia and Aquarius had accelerated the ship the entire way.
They had no spare energy to care about the two Dragon Slayers.
"Master… that kid Marco… can he win?"
On the ship, Gildarts stood beside Makarov and hesitantly spoke.
He had noticed so strange phenona on the sea's surface.
In certain places, bubbles were constantly rising, and fresh crimson blood seed to be steadily steaming the surrounding seawater.
"That is… dragon blood…"
Makarov had noticed it too.
This was exactly the clue he had been searching for.
Although the dragon blood scattered over the surface of the sea did not reveal the final outco of the battle, it at least let them relax a little, because it ant that when Marco faced the Black Dragon, he clearly had not been completely powerless to resist.
That terrifying Black Dragon—the one whose single attack had almost caused Gildarts to lose half his body—had bled when facing Marco.
"So it really was that kid just now."
Gildarts let out a sigh of admiration.
'So that great explosion just now really had been Marco and the Black Dragon fighting.'
Human and dragon might not have been evenly matched, but they had at least been worthy opponents.
In any case, Gildarts knew very well that he himself definitely could not have reached that level.
Marco, who only a few years ago could still be considered a child, had now grown into a true pillar of strength.
He had even completely surpassed them old-tirs, walking in just a few short years a road others could not finish in an entire lifeti!
"..."
Makarov did not respond.
He jumped up onto the mast, light flickering in his eyes as he looked farther into the distance.
"Injured… badly injured… left in a hurry…" Makarov spoke softly.
The dragon blood that had stead the sea and still had not dispersed stretched out toward a faraway direction.
That ant the Black Dragon had already left—and had left seriously wounded, fleeing while shedding dragon blood along the way.
Makarov was using the trail of that blood to infer what had happened.
Whoosh!
Before Makarov could search for more clues, Erza had already burst up from the surface of the water carrying the unconscious Juvia.
Wearing a green rmaid-style armor, Erza set Juvia down so that she could lie beside Lucy and rest properly.
"Did… did you find it?"
Lucy looked at Erza, hope in her eyes.
Actually, Lucy should not have been in such a terrible state, because she too could draw magic from Aries.
But Marco had drained Aries' magic far too harshly in one go, leaving Lucy with almost nothing to draw on.
That was why she had burned through her own magic to this extent.
"We found it! Tenrou Island is at the bottom of the sea!"
Erza nodded solemnly and brought back the good news.
Tenrou Island had been found!
Lucy's eyes lit up for a mont, but then quickly filled with worry again, because she could tell that Erza was not happy at all.
Clearly, Tenrou Island's condition was not optimistic.
"So it really was sunk?"
Gildarts frowned and asked Erza for confirmation.
"Yes, it sank, but… its state is strange." Erza's expression was odd.
Tenrou Island, resting on the seabed, was very strange.
She could not tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
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