On Tenrou Island, the group that had defeated the Grimoire Heart forces was gradually gathering.
Guided by Racer, who had just arrived, they prepared to head to the campsite area and evacuate via the company's airship.
Except for the S-Class Mages, all members of the Tenrou team had assembled in this group.
Some carried wounded comrades, while others cleared the path ahead.
Gray was currently carrying Natsu on his back, sprinting toward their destination while complaining.
"Pull yourself together, man! Don't look so pathetic!"
Natsu covered his mouth with a deathly pale expression, looking like he was about to violently vomit.
"Did Natsu really swallow that man's black flames?" Lucy asked in astonishment as she ran alongside Gray, watching Natsu, who resembled someone suffering from severe indigestion.
During Natsu's battle against Zancrow, after much contemplation, Natsu had risked completely emptying his internal Magic Power to create space for devouring new magic, thus managing to consume Zancrow's divine black flames.
Cana clutched her bleeding arm and frowned. "That was incredibly reckless. Improper handling when emptying your Magic Power could kill you."
Lisanna looked at Cana's arm with concern. "Cana, is your arm alright?"
"It's fine. Wendy already treated it for me."
Wendy poked her fingers together guiltily. "I'm sorry, my magic still can't completely heal Cana-san injury. Her wounds are too severe..."
During their battle against Kain Hikaru, Cana, Lisanna, and Levy—lacking decisive offensive capabilities—had forced Cana to take on the main attacker role.
In that fight, she had recklessly used Crash twice, nearly destroying her arm completely, but ultimately managed to defeat that pale, chubby fighter head-on.
Cana comforted Wendy nonchalantly with a smile. "It's alright, Wendy. I'm actually quite satisfied being able to protect everyone with my magic."
These were Cana's true feelings.
As a senior guild member, she had often watched helplessly as her comrades fought powerful enemies while her own strength rarely qualified her for frontline combat.
Though her Card Magic was versatile and practical, it wasn't suitable for high-intensity battles—which was exactly why she had specifically learned Crash Magic from Gildarts.
Even though... she was still relatively weak, and using Crash took a massive toll on her body, Cana remained incredibly happy to be able to protect her comrades on the front lines.
At the head of the team, Gajeel watched their guide, Racer, warily and said, "I heard from the naked guy about you. Weren't you from a Dark Guild before? Why are you helping us?"
Freed also stared at Racer alertly, adding, "Moreover, this is Tenrou Island. Why are you people here?"
Racer, wearing his signature goggles and maintaining a moderate pace for the group, glanced at them and replied frankly.
"We have completely reformed under our Boss's leadership. Now we are hunting Dark Guilds to atone for our sins."
Gajeel asked suspiciously, "Who is this Boss?"
Racer gave him a strange look and said, "Ankh, of course. He gave me and my companions a second chance, so we usually work at his company and combat Dark Guilds under his orders."
"Ankh?!"
Everyone in the team exclaimed simultaneously, though their focuses clearly differed.
Most were amazed by this guild workaholic—a Mage who also worked as a top idol, and now apparently owned a massive company without anyone knowing.
Lucy, always a bit slow on the uptake, suddenly realized something.
When she visited her wealthy father before, he had casually mentioned his boss's name.
Lucy hadn't paid attention at the time, thinking it was just someone with the exact same name...
'So that super-luxurious entertainment company actually belongs to Ankh?!'
Most members expressed admiration and envy, while the few more thoughtful ones secretly breathed sighs of relief.
Typical Ankh—he had already arranged secret reinforcements on the island.
Hearing this, Freed relaxed slightly and spoke more politely, "Thank you. Good thing you came to help, otherwise we might have been running around like headless flies."
Racer waved his hand casually. "You better not let your guard down too much. My companions sent me a message—new enemies are coming soon."
"The situation on the island is complicated now. We are trapped, and things have developed far beyond what Ankh initially anticipated."
Freed's expression turned serious as he said gravely, "I understand..."
Meanwhile, Natsu, who had been slumped over Gray's back, suddenly perked up.
His nose twitched as he scanned the surroundings with fierce eyes.
"There's an unfamiliar scent!"
Through the curtain of rain, a dense mass of uniformed soldiers emerged from the woods, surrounding the members of the Fairy Tail group with an imposing presence.
"Enemies!" Natsu jumped down from Gray's back, vigilantly staring at the encircling army.
Strangely, these soldiers merely surrounded them tightly, holding magic wands and spears in formation while watching them, showing no immediate intention to charge forward.
Elfman, transformed into the Beast King, thought another fight was coming, but froze when he saw them not moving.
"What are they trying to do? Why aren't they attacking?"
"Whatever their purpose is, we shouldn't let the enemy have their way! We still need to meet up with Ankh and the others!"
Freed's eyes turned cold as he drew his sword and charged forward first.
"Dark Écriture: Darkness!"
Demonic black armor covered Freed completely. Brandishing his longsword, he rushed directly into the enemy ranks.
Only then did the soldiers spring into action, one after another starting to launch coordinated magical attacks at Freed.
Seeing Freed charge ahead, the other Tenrou Island members naturally followed suit, joining the chaotic battle.
Both sides once again erupted into a fierce, massive conflict.
The Fairy Tail members soon discovered with astonishment that compared to the grunts of Grimoire Heart who only charged forward recklessly, these enemies in standardized equipment were clearly far more powerful.
Their combat maneuvers were highly organized.
Whereas Natsu's usual roar could easily shatter standard military formations, now the troops quickly filled breached lines under strict command and immediately resumed their synchronized assault on the Mages.
Carla flew through the air holding Wendy, once again unleashing Sky Dragon's Roar to blast away the soldiers ahead.
Yet within moments, the momentarily breached formation seamlessly repaired its gap.
"These enemies feel quite unusual..." Carla frowned while observing the imperial army's defenses, unable to hide her frustration.
Though they couldn't truly stop these monsters from Fairy Tail, they significantly slowed everyone's progress.
Gray froze another large group of enemies, panting heavily as he said, "They're trying to wear us down. We can't let them succeed."
"Leave a few strong fighters to engage the troops! Let everyone else reach the destination first!"
With the usual S-Class leaders absent, Freed had to take command himself.
"Midnight!"
Just then, Racer suddenly halted his high-speed movement, spotting his companion.
Midnight emerged from the distant forest, freezing momentarily at the sight of everyone surrounded by soldiers before urgently shouting.
"Run! There's a troublesome guy chasing me!!"