Chapter 285

Chapter 285: Chapter 285

Marshall had never asked Ultear to investigate Zeref for him.

The moment she informed him that the Black Mage had been found on Tenrou Island, Marshall had told her to find an opportunity to get out and stay away from the fighting that was about to begin.

Clearly, however, Ultear wasn’t nearly as obedient as she pretended to be.

No one understood the terrifying nature of the Curse of Ankhseram better than Marshall did.

His position on Zeref was simple: leave him alone.

This was nowhere near the right time to provoke an opponent like that.

Marshall had no idea why Zeref had appeared on Tenrou Island in the first place, so all he could do was hope the Black Mage wouldn’t interfere in Fairy Tail’s battle against Grimoire Heart.

An uncontrollable variable with power that far exceeded conventional standards was best ignored. They couldn’t drive him away, and there was a very real possibility that nobody present could defeat him.

Marshall certainly never imagined some foolish woman would voluntarily walk straight up to him.

If he knew what Ultear was planning, he would’ve smacked some sense into her himself.

Unfortunately, he had no time to worry about anything else.

Through Telescope Magic, Marshall was watching Tenrou Island from afar.

And what he saw made his expression sharpen.

The war had begun.

...

Makarov was the first person on Tenrou Island to notice the powerful and deeply familiar magical presence approaching from the distance.

He glanced toward the horizon, where the silhouette of a massive magic airship could just barely be seen through the haze, then clapped his hands and called everyone together.

"All right, everyone! Gather around! I have an announcement."

He raised his voice.

"The S-Class Promotion Trial is about to begin!"

"OHH! Finally!"

Natsu’s eyes practically ignited.

"I’m all fired up!"

"About time. I was starting to forget why we even came to this island."

"I thought this was a vacation at this point."

"Old man, what’s the first test this year?"

Makarov hopped onto a higher platform, cleared his throat a few times for effect, and slowly surveyed the gathered guild members.

"Before we begin, there’s something all of you need to know."

His tone became serious.

"Fairy Tail has been targeted by Grimoire Heart. They are currently preparing to attack us, and judging by their distance, they should arrive on Tenrou Island within the next few minutes."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, their expressions collectively asking whether the old man had finally lost his mind.

Then the beach exploded with noise.

"HUH?!"

"Master, are you joking?!"

"What the hell?! It’s not even April Fools’ Day!"

"Did the old man drink too much already?!"

Makarov’s eyebrow twitched.

"Ahem! I am not joking."

That quieted them slightly.

"In fact, I received intelligence about their plan beforehand. Rather than canceling the exam, I decided to turn the situation to our advantage."

He smiled.

"Grimoire Heart itself will serve as part of this year’s S-Class Promotion Trial."

"...What?"

Makarov projected four images into the air.

"These four are core members of Grimoire Heart—the Seven Kin of Purgatory."

He pointed at the images one after another.

"Your first examination task is simple. Defeat any one of these four, and your team will earn the right to advance to the next stage."

Several people immediately frowned.

"Wait a second!"

"Aren’t they called the Seven Kin of Purgatory? Why are there only four pictures?"

"Yeah! And we have eight teams! How are we supposed to divide four enemies between eight groups?"

"Two members of the Seven Kin are not our enemies," Makarov explained, "and there is one more whom none of you are expected to fight."

He folded his arms.

"As for how you divide the remaining targets, that’s your problem."

Makarov grinned.

"If you’re capable enough, you could even defeat all five hostile Kin by yourself. In that case, I’d happily declare you the one who advanced."

He looked over the crowd.

"Is that clear?"

"OHH! Got it!"

Natsu cracked his knuckles.

"So basically, if we see one of these four, we beat the crap out of them, right?"

This was exactly the kind of rule Natsu liked.

Simple.

Direct.

Violent!

He immediately pointed toward one of the projected images.

"I’m taking the guy who uses Fire God Slayer Magic! Nobody steal him from me!"

"Idiot."

Gray insulted him without hesitation, but he was already pointing at another target himself.

"Then Loke and I are taking this guy with the weird eyes. He uses Arc of Embodiment, right? That’s basically a type of creation Magic."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Someone else immediately protested.

"There aren’t enough targets to go around! If there are only five enemies, are we supposed to eliminate three teams ourselves before Grimoire Heart even arrives?!"

A vein appeared on Makarov’s forehead.

These idiots were adapting to the situation far too quickly.

"Hold on! There’s another way to qualify if you don’t manage to defeat one of the Seven Kin."

Everyone immediately looked back at him.

Makarov raised one finger.

"Defeat one hundred ordinary Grimoire Heart members, and your team will also advance to the next stage."

"ONE HUNDRED?!"

"Does their guild even have that many people?!"

"They do, they do indeed."

Makarov waved dismissively.

"According to our intelligence, Grimoire Heart has nearly two hundred regular combat personnel. If you defeat enough of them, that counts too."

He suddenly pointed toward the sky.

"And speaking of which..."

"They’ve arrived."

Everyone looked up.

A goat-headed figure was flying overhead.

Around him, countless glittering objects resembling tiny glass beads began raining down toward Tenrou Island.

As the beads approached the ground, each one abruptly burst apart.

One Mage after another emerged from them, landing across the beach and surrounding Fairy Tail from every direction.

A quick glance suggested there were easily a couple hundred enemies.

At this point, there was no longer any pretending this was simply an unusual S-Class exam.

This was a full-scale guild war.

Laxus stared at the army surrounding them, lightning already crackling across his body.

"Heh."

His eye twitched.

"They really had the nerve to attack us directly on our own sacred ground."

His temper was already beginning to slip.

"Looks like Fairy Tail has been seriously underestimated."

"Easy, Laxus."

Makarov remained calm.

"Your opponents haven’t arrived yet."

The plan had already been decided.

Makarov and Gildarts would hold off Hades.

Meanwhile, Laxus, Erza, and Mira—the guild’s other senior S-Class fighters—would handle Bluenote Stinger and Azuma, the wielder of Arc of the Great Tree.

That would leave the younger candidates free to deal with the remaining Seven Kin.

Once those opponents had been defeated, Fairy Tail could regroup and overwhelm the remaining enemies one after another with superior numbers.

Always fight with more people than the other side.

That was the true essence of the human-wave strategy!

As for the mob of ordinary Grimoire Heart members whose Magic Power didn’t even reach ten thousand?

They were barely worth considering.

Kick them aside like roadside trash.

At most, they existed to consume a little Magic Power before the real battles began.

Makarov swept his gaze over his guild.

"All right, children."

His expression hardened.

"Prepare yourselves."

"The war has begun!"

...

At that exact moment, there was one member of Fairy Tail’s group who had started sweating considerably harder than everyone else.

Their resident multi-layered spy—Mest.

Every time Mest returned to the Magic Council, he altered his own memories.

As a result, his current understanding of his identity was still that of a Magic Council operative planted inside Fairy Tail to investigate Makarov’s supposed ambitions.

Never in his wildest expectations had he imagined that his investigation would place him directly in the middle of an open war between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart, the strongest Dark Guild.

Now he had a serious problem.

To provide support for his mission, a Magic Council vessel was currently stationed not far from Tenrou Island.

Under ordinary circumstances, if an official guild and a Dark Guild openly went to war, the Magic Council was supposed to intervene on the official guild’s side.

But if Mest called them in now... wouldn’t he expose himself as a spy?

’What do I do?’

’What the hell am I supposed to do?!’

Unfortunately, there was no longer any time for him to think.

A gigantic shadow suddenly swallowed the coast of Tenrou Island.

Makarov’s body expanded at an astonishing rate.

Higher.

Larger.

Until a colossal giant hundreds of meters tall towered over the shoreline.

The sheer pressure of his presence immediately sent a wave of fear through the invading Grimoire Heart forces.

Makarov’s thunderous voice rolled across the island.

"You dared to invade Fairy Tail’s sacred ground."

His enormous eyes looked down upon the enemy army.

"Then you’d better be prepared to face death."

He raised his hands.

"I’ll give you three seconds to decide."

"Surrender—or die."

Golden light began gathering around him.

"Fairy Law!"

Before the spell could be unleashed, however, another figure suddenly appeared in front of the gigantic Makarov.

An elderly man with a long beard, a helmet, and a visor covering his eyes.

Hades.

The Second Master of Fairy Tail.

His voice remained perfectly calm.

"Brat..."

"You shouldn’t throw around power meant for intimidation so carelessly."

Dark Magic surged around him.

"Grimoire Law."

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