Fairy Tail: All Magic Converges in One Body

In other words, during the long period after Athena was tricked into becoming the Golden Owl, he couldn't possibly have been unaware of his "child's" fate.

But Duke did nothing.

Duke Barbarossa recognized Pallas at a glance as a replica of Athena created by the Golden Dragon. He was surprised by the extent of Pallas's emotional awakening, but felt even more guilty towards Athena.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long," Duke said softly.

“You lied to us,” Athena said calmly. Duke did not deny it.

"You said you were dead."

"Yes."

"Lord Elevseria and I were both very saddened when we heard the news of your death. The old man even went so far as to fight the Earth God Dragon, and your teacher almost died."

Duke, of course, knew about the great battle between Elevseria and the Earth Dragon. "Sorry... I..."

“Do you know…” Athena interrupted him, her voice trembling slightly, “Lord Eleveselia and I miss you terribly. Since you’re alive, why didn’t you tell us?”

"If there's a compelling reason to fake your death, at the very least... you could notify us with a note..."

Listening to Athena's plaintive voice, Duke Barbaroa, the man hailed as a once-in-a-millennium genius in the world of alchemy and the creator of the ultimate alchemical weapon, had tears welling up in his eyes.

Seeing this, Hope quickly tried to smooth things over, saying that Athena was an alchemical robot and even if she wanted to cry, she didn't have that function, but he couldn't stand it if Duke, this old man, cried.

"Alright, that's enough with the sentimentality."

"Duke, why don't you tell us why you faked your death and escaped without telling your teacher and 'child'?"

Duke sighed. "The reason I came to you today is to tell you everything."

Why does that sound so strange? Hope raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. He could understand confessing to Athena, but why bring them along?

There is probably a huge hidden story behind this.

Hope immediately asked the innkeeper for a pot of tea and some melon seeds and peanuts. As a bystander, he should act like one.

Everyone stared at Hope speechlessly.

Doesn't this guy realize how much he's ruining the atmosphere...?

"Why are you all staring at me?" Hope cast a spell to block out sound, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and looked at Duke seriously. "Please begin your performance."

Duke: ......

Erza took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to beat Hope up. "Hope, stop messing around and listen to what Senior Duke is saying quietly."

"Hey..."

Seeing Hope behave like a good boy, Duke began to recount his past.

Athena was born incomplete, which Duke did on purpose. In order to defeat the dragon, he had to find an energy for Athena that could rival or even surpass the dragon.

But back then, let alone the magic dragon, even the entire human population of the continent of Kiltina couldn't muster that much energy.

So Duke gave up the search and decided to create an alchemical artifact himself to fill the gaps in Athena's life.

That is the legend of the alchemical world—the Philosopher's Stone.

For countless years, no alchemist had been able to forge the Philosopher's Stone, but Duke seemed to have been given a cheat code by the heavens, and he actually accomplished this feat.

That's right, Duke secretly crafted the Philosopher's Stone.

What's most astonishing is that he forged the Philosopher's Stone in the second year after Athena's birth. In other words, Duke single-handedly completed both the "Ultimate Weapon: Athena" and the "Philosopher's Stone" in less than two years.

He can no longer be called an alchemical genius; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the embodiment of "alchemy."

After completing the Philosopher's Stone, Duke was overjoyed and planned to find Elevseria and Athena, who were out there eliminating low-level dragons.

However, the Philosopher's Stone attracted the attention of an extremely terrifying being before it even began.

Duke didn't even see the other party's true face. He only felt a death energy that seemed capable of withering everything around him. Fear rose from the depths of his soul. Even the Five Divine Dragons had never made him feel so desperate.

Then... he died.

The Philosopher's Stone was also destroyed.

Fortunately, Duke had a backup plan. He was worried that he might accidentally die at the hands of a hostile dragon one day, so he secretly prepared a body that had been "human transmuted".

As soon as the original body dies, his soul will instantly transfer to this body.

So after Duke Barbaroa's "death," another alchemist, Salam, suddenly appeared in the world whose alchemy skills were no less than his.

Having changed his identity, Duke worried that he would implicate his teacher and the child, so he stopped contacting them and instead came to Philanthropy City to establish an alchemy guild as a cover, intending to continue refining the Philosopher's Stone in secret.

Because in Duke's vision, the Philosopher's Stone was the best option for Athena to defeat the dragon.

However, fearing being targeted by that terrifying being again, Duke was very careful this time, and his progress in the alchemy process was as slow as a snail's pace.

It was during this time that the Golden Dragon created the Golden Owl and used the fake Duke, an alchemical illusion, to lure Athena into joining him.

Chapter 358 A Wasted Effort

Some time ago, the world's second Philosopher's Stone was finally completed.

However, when Duke emerged from seclusion, he heard news from guild members that almost made him question his existence: the Wood Dragon had been beaten to death by a human.

This makes his obsession with the Philosopher's Stone seem rather foolish.

Later, Duke learned through private channels that the person who killed the Wood Dragon was a celestial soldier invited by the council to deal with the Five Dragons, so he waited for Hope and his group to arrive in Philanthropic City.

He originally intended to use the Philosopher's Stone to help Hope and his group deal with the incorporeal Golden Dragon, but it turned out that it was completely useless. The Golden Dragon was powerless against Hope and was even forged into a sword.

Duke was helpless. Who could have imagined that the Golden Dragon, the most survivable and most difficult to deal with among the five dragons, would perish like this?

If he doesn't come looking for them soon, Hope and the others will have to leave Philanthropic City.

The old man's experiences were truly remarkable, just like his title, making him a veritable legend.

After Duke finished speaking, a brief silence fell within the isolation magic circle.

Only Kana's cracking of sunflower seeds sounded exceptionally crisp. She belatedly realized the awkward atmosphere and awkwardly put the sunflower seeds back on the table.

Hope poured himself a cup of tea, and just when Duke thought he was going to soothe his throat, he saw Hope gulp it down in one go. His sweet little darling Athena was the one who refilled his cup.

"So it seems you've wasted all your time over the past hundred years," Hope said, putting down his teacup.

Duke's expression immediately became somewhat subtle, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his wrinkled, bald old face. "You can't say that... The Philosopher's Stone is the ultimate goal of alchemy, something that countless alchemists spend their entire lives trying to reach without ever touching it."

"Yes, it was successfully refined, and then it was killed by an unknown entity."

Mirajane's cunning side kicked in, and she continued to add insult to injury, "I finally managed to forge the second Philosopher's Stone, only to find out there's a guy outside who can kill a dragon with one punch, so I have no use for this treasure at all."

Cana couldn't help but laugh out loud. Under Erza's disapproving gaze, she quickly covered her mouth and explained to Duke, "Sorry, that's not what I meant... I just remembered something happy."

Duke's face flushed red and then turned pale, as if he had swallowed a fly. He opened his mouth to refute, but found that every word Mirajane said was true and he couldn't refute it at all.

Lies don't hurt, but the truth is the sharpest knife.

Hope didn't continue to tease the legendary alchemist, after all, the old man was still worthy of respect, and better than his lecherous teacher.

Hope grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the table and started cracking them open as he fell into deep thought. After a moment, he looked up and his gaze fell on Duke.

"Senior, when you were killed, was there anything noteworthy about the death energy you emitted?"

Duke's expression changed slightly, and a hint of fear flashed in his old eyes. Even after more than a hundred years, even in a different body, the fear from the depths of his soul could not be dispelled.

Duke's voice lowered, as if afraid of being overheard. "I died before I could observe carefully. The only thing I remember is that the death energy was black and extremely fast."

Athena looked at her creator, her eyes trembling slightly. She could feel the deep-seated fear in Duke's words; it wasn't a lie, nor was it an exaggeration.

"Lord Duke, why didn't you tell us...?"

"Tell you and your teacher?" Duke gave a wry smile.

"Should I tell you that I forged the Philosopher's Stone and summoned something incredible? Or should I tell you that I was killed by someone I never even saw?"

He shook his head. "Athena, you are the child I created, and Elevseria is my teacher. How could I bear to involve you in this kind of thing?"

Athena hadn't expected Duke to carry so much burden, and her previous slight resentment towards him vanished completely.

Hope coughed at the right moment to bring the topic back on track, "Senior, I think I know what that death energy you mentioned is."

All eyes were on Hope.

"you know?"

"Not only do I know, I've also personally fought against them."

Hope's expression turned serious for the first time. "The being that tried to kill you, if I'm not mistaken, should be a god."

The moment the word "gods" was uttered, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

"Gods?" Pallas, a young man only forty-eight hours old, asked doubtfully, "Does this world really have gods?"

“Of course, I have experienced this deeply in both this world and the other.” Hope’s gaze deepened. “The one who ruthlessly killed Duke was most likely Ankseram.”

The name stunned everyone present.

Duke was the first to react, "Ankhseram? That god mentioned in ancient texts, the one who controls 'life' and 'death'?"

Because of Elevseria, Duke had a wide range of knowledge, including various legends about gods. He had always treated them as stories, but he never expected that gods actually existed.

Hope nodded. "I've faced Ankhseram from a distance before. That guy is a real scoundrel, all he does is play dirty tricks. Don't let me catch him, or I'll make him pay."

The others didn't dare to respond, for who knew if the dark god Hope mentioned was eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Ankhseram is a stingy god; he appears whenever someone touches the territory he controls.”

Hope looked at Duke, “For example, the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Duke's face had turned deathly pale.

What is the Philosopher's Stone? It is the ultimate pursuit of alchemy, a miraculous object that can turn the 'non-existent' into the 'real', and has already touched the realm of the gods.

And how could Ankseram, who controls 'life and death', allow such a thing to exist?

Duke is completely numb right now.

He originally thought that he had only provoked some powerful being, perhaps a hidden dragon, or some kind of ancient magical creature.

But now Hope tells him that the one who killed him was a real god, and one who controlled life and death.

He'd wasted his whole life, and even offended a god. What's the point of continuing? He might as well find a rope and swing on a swing now...