Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
December 15, x784.
"The second trial begins now!" Makarov announced loudly.
In the next instant, all twelve participating wizards from Fairy Tail rushed into the forest to find Mavis Vermillion's grave in hopes of securing their spot as the next S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail.
"So, they sent us in here with no clues, huh?" Lucy asked as she ran alongside Cana through the forest.
"I don't think we'll need any." Cana replied. "Since we can all use [Magic Power Detection], we shouldn't have any issues finding the grave."
"That's only if there are magic items around it, though." Lucy muttered.
"That's right." Cana replied with a solemn nod. "But did you forget? There's a barrier surrounding this island. And that has to originate from somewhere, right?"
Hearing that, Lucy opened her eyes wide.
"So, you think the first master's grave is where the barrier's origin is?" Lucy asked in an enlightened tone.
"That's right." Cana replied with a nod. "We just need to get to a point where I can stop and scan the forest. Then, I'll be able to pin point the location."
"I just hope the others haven't thought so far ahead." Lucy muttered.
Luckily, Cana was actually the only one that had that train of thought. Meanwhile, the other wizards taking part in the exam were thinking of other landmarks they had seen while approaching the island. Then, there were those like Fried, Bickslow, and Gray who had been to the island before for previous Promotion Exams who thought they had an idea where Mavis' grave might be.
A few minutes later, after distancing themselves from the other candidates and dealing with a few hostile magical beasts, Cana and Lucy came to a stop while Cana closed her eyes to focus on spreading her [Magic Power Detection] as far as she could.
"Let's see… That's the barrier…" Cana muttered as she felt for all the different magic power signatures she could. "And those are the other teams…. There's Lici… And that's Mira… That's Ultear… and that's…."
"Did you find it?" Lucy asked in a hopeful tone.
"I think so." Cana replied. "I found two signatures that are way stronger than any beast on the island that I'm unfamiliar with. While one of them feels really dark and ominous, the other one feels like it's protecting me."
"Then that's probably it!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly.
"That's what I was thinking, too." Cana said as she opened her eyes with a smile. "Now, let's go."
"Yeah!" Lucy cheered happily.
Cana's ability to pinpoint Mavis' grave was actually due to a combination of factors. First, she had come to the island to take part in the S-Class Promotion Exam several times, just like Fried, Bickslow, and Gray.
On top of that, she had spent a lot of time honing the use of her [Magic Power Detection] with Alfonzo, the creator of the technique. And lastly, her desperation had pushed her potential to new heights.
So, with their destination set, Cana pulled three combinations of cards out of her card pouch before slapping them onto her body.
"[Card Magic: Enhancement Cards: Power, Speed, Magic Power Density]." Cana chanted as she grabbed Lucy's arm.
"Not again…" Lucy muttered as she recognized what was about to happen.
Smiling in response, Cana took a step forward, kicking up a large cloud of dust as she raced through the forest in a straight line towards her destination.
"Kya~~~~~~~!" Lucy screamed, the sound of her terror echoing through the forest.
Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy had finally gotten close to the incoming airship.
"Is that a guild symbol?" Natsu asked as he inspected the large, black airship.
"I think so." Happy replied. "But I don't recognize it."
"It doesn't matter who they are." Natsu replied with a scowl. "They're intruding on our guild's holy land."
"Yeah!" Happy shouted in agreement. "Teach them a lesson, Natsu!"
With that, Natsu took a deep breath.
"Hey! Listen up!" Natsu shouted loud enough that Mest, Wendy, Carla, and Panther Lily could hear him from the Tenrou Island's beach. "This is Fairy Tail's holy ground. Turn back or we won't be responsible for what happens!"
Waiting for a few moments, the airship did not stop, slow down, or try to respond to Natsu's warning.
"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you." Natsu said angrily before taking another deep breath as he brought his hands up to his mouth. "[Fire Dragon's Roar]."
With that, Natsu blew a searing hot flame from between his hands at the incoming airship. Still, the air ship did not move to avoid the spell. Instead, a panel opened on the front of the air ship, revealing a young man with long, spiky blond hair, red eyes with concentric circles in his pupils and a psychotic grin that showed his teeth wearing a yellow and dark blue armor that ends in a battle skirt and exposes the right side of his torso and his guild emblem that is located on his chest.
"A fire wizard, huh? Ahahahaha!" The young blond man said with a psychotic laugh. "I wonder how your flames taste."
With that said, the bond man opened his mouth and inhaled all the flames from Natsu's breath attack.
"What the?" Natsu exclaimed in surprise. "Don't tell me, he's a [Fire Dragon Slayer], too."
"Hmph!" The blond man snorted in disdain after swallowing Natsu's spell. "A Dragon Slayer? Don't make me laugh. After all, what's a dragon in front of a god?"
With that, the young man brought his hands to his mouth in a manner similar to Natsu while taking a deep breath.
"[Fire God's Bellow]." The blond man chanted as he blew a stream of black flames that formed a giant fireball towards Natsu and Happy.
"Fire won't work on me, either!" Natsu shouted defiantly before he inhaled the black flames. "Argh~~~~~!"
Unlike wen the blond man did it, however, Natsu felt the heat from the flames burning his insides as the flames he could not consume exploded, sending him and Happy flying back towards the island.
"Natsu, what's wrong?" Happy shouted as he tried to regain control of his flight.
"The flames… they burned… me…?" Natsu muttered in disbelief and pain.
A few moments later, Happy managed to stop before crashing into the rocky area of the island. Though, he was quite concerned for Natsu's well-being.
Meanwhile, back at the base camp, Alfonzo, Laxus, Ur, and Erza all stood up in unison after feeling both Natsu and the blond man's magic power.
"What was that?" Erza asked as she looked in the direction of the strong magic power she just felt. "I think the first one was Natsu, but what was the second one?"
"The first one was definitely Natsu." Laxus replied with a frown.
"And the second one attacked him." Ur replied. "But why is Natsu here in the first place?"
"That doesn't matter." Alfonzo replied, knowing exactly what was going on. "What does matter, however, is the fact that some mother fucker is attacking us."
"Right!" Laxus, Ur, and Erza said in unison.
"And where the hell is Gildarts?" Ur asked with a frown.
"He said he was going back to the ship to have a drink.' Alfonzo replied. "I'll go get him. From what I can feel, we'll need all the help we can get."
Hearing that, the other three nodded before Alfonzo was covered in blue electricity. Then, he rushed off in the direction where the ship was docked.
"I'm sure the old man felt that, too." Laxus muttered. "I wouldn't be surprised if he called an end to the exam soon."
Just as Laxus finished, a flare shot up into the air.
"And there it---" Laxus started to say before he noticed the color of the flare. "Wait, it's blue. How is that possible? It's only 6:30. Does that mean someone found the first master's grave already?"
Before anyone could answer Laxus question, however, a second flare shot up into the sky. This time, however, the flare was red in color.
"Well, I guess whoever it was got lucky." Ur said. Then, as she focused her attention on the area near Mavis' grave, she smiled. "Oh, it was Cana. About time she passed."
"Seriously, she got really lucky." Laxus muttered. "If she had been a few seconds later, the exam would have been called off before she could complete it."
"Anyway, we should focus on finding the examinees and getting them out of the forest." Erza said in a solemn tone, though the smile on her face told everyone she was happy for Cana.
"Right." Laxus and Ur replied simultaneously.
"I'll stay here." Ur said a moment later. "You can bring the others back here. I'll make sure the base stays safe."
As she spoke, Ur made her casting gesture.
"[Ice-Make: Frozen Fortress]." Ur chanted as she slammed her hands into the ground.
In the next instant, the camp was surrounded by 33 foot (approx. 10 m) tall walls made of ice.
Seeing the walls, Laxus and Erza nodded as they both dashed off into the forest to find the other members of their guild.
Meanwhile, Mest, who was talking with Wendy, noticed the explosion in the sky, as well.
'So, Grimoire Heart is making their move, huh?' Mest asked himself.
A moment later, he noticed the two flares that went up over the island. While he did not care much about the blue flare, signifying that someone had completed the second trial, the red one made him a little impatient.
'They're calling an end to the exam due to an emergency.' I need to get out of here, fast.' Mest thought as he glanced at Wendy, who was looking up at the flares, as well.
"What's happening?" Wendy asked in a worried tone.
"Come on, Wendy, we need to get somewhere safe." Mest said as he reached out to grab Wendy's arm.
Still skeptical of Mest's motives, Wendy dodged Mest's hand.
"What's wrong, Wendy?" Mest asked with a slight frown. "If we use my [Teleportation Magic], we can get to safety much faster.
Before Wendy could respond, Carla and Panther Lily flew down, stopping between Mest and Wendy.
"Carla? Lily? What are you doing here?" Wendy asked in surprise.
"I came to make sure you were alright." Carla replied while she glared at Mest.
"And just where were you trying to take Wendy?" Panther Lily, whose instincts were telling him that there was more to Mest than was shown on the surface asked as he reached for the hilt of the sword that was strapped to his back.
Just as Alfonzo promised, he had made a new sword for Panther Lily shortly after they returned from Edolas. And to Panther Lily's surprise, it was better in all aspects when compared to his old weapon, Bustermarm. On top of being sharper and more durable, it could also change sizes depending on which form panther Lily was in. Plus, it was not comically oversized, allowing Panther Lily better control of the blade when wielding it in either form.
'Damn it, why are these cats here?' Mest asked himself. 'It will be much harder to complete my mission of bringing the Maiden of the Sky under the Council's control. A wizard who can heal is wasted on a guild like Fairy Tail, after all.'
Although bringing Wendy with him to the Magic Council was only an optional mission, Doranbolt had every intention of completing it. Though, he was unaware that Org wanted to manipulate Wendy into being his own personal healer in order to keep himself alive for as long as possible.
"I'm just trying to get her to a safe place." Mest replied. "And [Teleporting] would have been faster than walking, right?"
"I see." Panther Lily replied. "Well, now that we're here, I think it would be best for us to fly to the safe zone. That way, we can survey the situation on the rest of the island."
"That's a good idea." Mest said with a forced smile. "Then, I'll leave Wendy to the two of you. I'll [Teleport] to the camp to see what the situation is. With my magic, I'll be able to help even more."
Then, before the others could respond, Mest [Teleported] away from where he stood.
"Well, I can guarantee that he's not going to the camp.' Panther Lily said as he released the hilt of his sword.
At the same time, Makarov, who had seen the explosion in the sky, knew that Natsu had been attacked.
"What is that boy doing here?" Makarov asked in a tone filled with anger. "Even so, I'll punish him for that later. First, I have to make the ones who attacked one of my children pay!"
As he spoke, and with every step he took while rushing towards the direction of the Grimoire Heart airship, Makarov grew in size. By the time he reached the shore, Makarov stood at an imposing height of just under 33 feet. (10 m) And when he saw the guild emblem on the side of the airship, his anger reached a new peak.
"Grimoire Heart! How dare you intrude on Fairy Tail's holy ground and harm one of my children!" Makarov bellowed angrily. "For your crimes, you shall be punished severely."
With that, Makarov raised his large arms in front of his chest and brought his palms close to each other. A moment later, a bright orb of white light formed between his palms.
At the same time, a hatch at the top of the airship opened and out walked an elderly man with long, slicked back, silver-white hair, a long mustache and beard of the same color that reached his chest, and a simple eye patch over his right eye wearing a black t-shirt with white pants and black boots along with armored shoulder pauldrons and gauntlets while chaim mail covered the exposed parts of his arms.
"It looks like you've gotten old, Boy." The Elderly man, Hades, the guild mater of Grimoire Heart said as he walked forward and took a posture similar to Makarov's "But do you really think you've grown enough to make me pay for anything?"
"[Fairy Law]." Makarov chanted, completing his spell before he recognized hades, or rather his old identity, Precht Gaebolg, the second master of Fairy Tail.
"[Grimoire Law]." Hades chanted, matching Makarov's spell.