Northern side, deep within the forest where the landmark tablet was located.
"Our history here is about the second master, Precht, after he took over the guild," Freed said, sitting by the tablet, looking at the red text on the light screen, sighing deeply. "It's really hard to imagine that the same gentle, kind, guild-oriented guy and Hades of Grimoire Heart could possibly be the same person..."
"I think he probably lost himself searching for the true essence of magic, didn't he?" Evergreen said beside him.
Completely different from Lucy and Cana's Plastic Sisters Alliance, their situation was quite harmonious, free of mutual suspicion and eagerness to compete.
As some of the few members of Fairy Tail who actually used their brains, the Thunder God Tribe had unified their plan of action on the way over.
Namely, they wouldn't take the tablet for now. Instead, taking advantage of the other teams going in different directions, they would inscribe a large number of Letter Magic traps around the tablet.
Their goal was clear. Since all four tablets were needed to complete the trial, as long as they guarded this spot, the others would eventually come running with their own tablets.
In an encounter battle, maybe they wouldn't have a chance. But with enough traps set, Freed had absolute confidence!
"Ahhh! Just waiting around like this isn't manly at all!" Elfman shouted loudly.
This guy obviously wasn't the type to just wait around.
"Can't you just hold back a little for the sake of becoming S-Class?" Evergreen said, propping her forehead on her hand, exasperated.
And here she had already formulated the perfect plan to eventually backstab Freed and the others!
"Having enough patience is also a quality an S-Class mage should possess. In that regard, Elfman, you still have a long way to go," Bickslow, sitting under a tree, teased with a squint. "Besides, Ever prefers mature,steady guys, you know~"
The six puppet dolls: "Mature, steady guys, mature, steady guys~" x6
"Hey, you! You're misunderstanding something! That last part was completely unnecessary!" Evergreen glared at him ferociously.
"Wait, Ever, is there even someone like that in our guild?" Elfman asked, scratching his head blankly.
"Shut up, you muscle-bound idiot! And don't call me Ever!!"
THUD~!
Elfman gained a bump on his head.
Southern coast, on the Gobi Desert.
Celestial Spirit magic and card magic clashed. Lucy and Cana simultaneously retreated from the exploding firelight.
"You're pretty good, Lucy. Way better than I expected. No wonder your bastard dad let you pass," Cana said, holding her Tarot cards, ready for battle, with magical arrays of various colors spinning beneath her feet.
"Hehe. Not only that. I know all about the card magic you use, Cana!" Lucy said, wearing her cool Capricorn Celestial Spirit Dress, sunglasses on, one hand on her hip, looking smug and confident.
Gemini could copy not only a target's appearance but also their magical information and thoughts. So, Cana had no advantage against her.
"I see. So that's how you dodged the Light Sword Seal," Cana realized.
Then she immediately turned and ran toward Lily, who was pinning down Éclair and Momon. "Lily, switch! You fight Lucy!"
"Hey! Just running off like that is so lame!"
Lucy tried to stop her, but Lily's greatsword was already swinging toward her face. She was forced to constantly dodge.
The silly Lucy ultimately paid the price for her smugness. Her previously advantageous situation quickly turned sour.
"As someone who's participated in this several times before, let me tell you, Lucy. The S-Class Trial is cruel," Cana said as she ran toward Éclair and Momon, shedding her extra jacket.
Though she didn't know the limits of Éclair's Silent Magic, spending so much time at the guild, she knew very well that Éclair herself had very little combat ability.
Even without using magic, just relying on physical skills, she could easily take her down!
"Open, Gate of Cancer! Celestial Spirit Dress!"
Cursing under her breath, Lucy used her extremely flexible waist to dodge Lily's slash while simultaneously gripping two crab longswords she pulled from the void.
CLANG!
The three blades collided, sending countless sparks flying. They exchanged over a dozen blows in an instant.
"So you have a technique similar to Erza's?" Lily's pupils contracted as he looked with surprise at Lucy, now in her twin-tails training outfit.
"Don't underestimate the power of a Celestial Spirit mage, Lily!"
Eager to support Éclair, Lucy's body again lit up with the glow of a magical array. She switched to her Taurus Celestial Spirit Dress, with its monstrous strength, and forcefully swung her sword, pushing Lily back.
However, just as she seized this precious opportunity to run and regroup with Éclair, something unexpected happened.
CRASH!
A loud explosion sounded from the southern sky. A pink streak of light plummeted from above. As luck would have it, it was heading straight for where she was standing!
"What's that?!"
Before her eyes could even make out what it was, her body had already leaped aside to safety.
Due to constantly being inexplicably drawn into various battles, she had gradually developed this nearly instinctive reaction.
BOOM!
The pink streak of light abruptly stopped just before crashing into the ground. The glow dissipated, revealing the disheveled but cute girl inside.
"Dark Magician Girl? What are you doing here?!" Lucy, having dodged the danger, looked at her with surprise.
"Dammit! That bastard old man Gildarts! How dare he send a cute, teenage girl flying like that! I won't let him off!"
Dark Magician Girl didn't answer. Instead, she angrily clenched her fists, stirred up her magic power, and shot back along the same path.
As the battle between Chase and Gildarts intensified, aside from Slifer and Gandora, all the other card spirits had been pulled out to fight.
"Getting caught in the crossfire from that far away... what kind of constitution do I have..." Lucy watched the departing streak of light helplessly, complaining about herself.
It wasn't until a flickering red glow caught her eye that she suddenly realized what had happened. Her expression changed dramatically. "Wait! Cana?!"
"Haha. Too bad, Lucy," Cana said with a smile, tossing the red cube she had already secured in her hand.
In the brief moment when Lucy's attention was drawn by the intervening Dark Magician Girl, she had shaken off Éclair and Momon and successfully grabbed the landmark tablet!
"Well, I'll be going now. If possible, let's settle this in the final battle~" Cana said.
Without giving Lucy a chance to fight back, Lily extended his Exceed wings, grabbed Cana, and shot into the sky. They quickly flew far away.
You could see that the towering pillar of light from the landmark tablet always followed them as they moved. Some kind of prohibition had been imposed on it, preventing Cana from storing it in her cards.
This was clearly Makarov's doing, intended to prevent anyone from secretly hiding the tablets.
At the same time, constantly having their location exposed would virtually increase the psychological pressure on the holder!