Hargeon Port—
The massive ship belonging to Fairy Tail had just officially departed from the bustling port, cutting smoothly through the sparkling ocean waves.
Standing near the edge of the guild ship, Raizel gazed out at the endless blue sea, completely lost in his own heavy thoughts.
'If I remember correctly, Zeref once mentioned it was Hades' evil thoughts—or perhaps Grimoire Heart awakening the dormant magical power within Zeref—that ultimately attracted Acnologia,' Raizel pondered.
Alternatively, it is also highly possible that Acnologia was simply drawn by the sound of that beating heart.
Raizel had never been able to fully clarify this complicated matter.
Zeref's vague explanation was far too ambiguous, making him sound like an ultimate riddler and leaving Raizel to make his own stressed conjectures.
When the dark guild Grimoire Heart finally arrives, Raizel knew he must try everything to stop their destructive actions.
More importantly, he had to protect Zeref, who had purposefully sealed away his own terrifying power.
Currently, aside from those uncontrollable, deadly waves of dark magic he emitted, Zeref was practically a deadweight in a physical fight.
Any of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory could easily handle him in his depressed state.
'I should immediately search for Zeref's magical presence the moment we land on the island and keep a very close watch on him. Wait... could he detect my magic too?'
The absolute best-case scenario Raizel envisioned was to prioritize harmony.
He wanted to play the emotional card directly to avoid a catastrophic fight with Hades.
However, this was also the most difficult path.
Hades had long since fallen deep into the twisted abyss of dark magic.
Waking him up without a brutal fight, relying solely on words, would be extremely challenging.
'Perhaps only Mavis speaking up would actually be effective?' Raizel wondered.
The next best scenario would be to actively fight Grimoire Heart but somehow avoid attracting the Black Dragon, Acnologia, in the process.
In that case, it wouldn't matter how much noise they made—they could just go all out.
Fairy Tail could easily deploy heavy hitters like Gildarts and Laxus to crush the dark guild.
The absolute worst-case scenario would be fighting the dark guild, only for the Black Dragon to show up anyway...
Raizel had seriously considered trying to use his Examon Take Over to confront Acnologia in the sky, but he heavily doubted he could actually win a one-on-one fight in his current state.
Raizel had never truly seen a real dragon up close, so he couldn't accurately gauge their exact monstrous strength.
If they couldn't win, then Raizel would have to strongly consider using his magic to instantly teleport all the guild members safely away.
The Black Dragon generally didn't randomly attack human cities, as long as Raizel and the others didn't actively provoke him.
Acnologia was a pure, battle-obsessed madman, but he wasn't a mindless destructive maniac; otherwise, he would have already destroyed the entire continent of Ishgar centuries ago.
With his apocalyptic power, it would only be a matter of time if he truly wanted to.
As a final desperate last resort, he could always try playing the Mavis card...
Raizel actually had a secret way to contact August.
Their Archive Magic had carefully maintained a subtle mental connection over the years.
However, Raizel, adhering to the polite virtue of giving the old man some peace and quiet, usually didn't contact him.
August was currently solely focused on accompanying his mother, Mavis, and couldn't be bothered with Raizel's worries, so the two hadn't been in touch for quite a while.
"What's wrong? You seem deeply preoccupied," Ultear noted softly.
She walked up to the bow of the ship, standing comfortably beside Raizel in the sea breeze.
"This trip to Tenrou Island... Carla has had some very ominous premonitions about it. I am just trying to think of some solid countermeasures. The opponent we might face is very strong," Raizel admitted quietly.
"Very strong? Just how strong are we talking?" Ultear raised an elegant eyebrow, her curiosity genuinely piqued.
"If they get serious, even Gildarts wouldn't last a single round against them."
"A dragon? Or a god?" Ultear guessed, her expression turning serious.
"A dragon. The Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia. But he might not actually come, so let's not spread the word and cause a panic for now," Raizel warned.
"If he does come, even if we cannot win the fight, I can still use my teleportation magic to get everyone away safely."
"Alright. Rest assured, I won't say anything," Ultear nodded firmly.
If it were truly such an apocalyptic opponent, telling the guild members in advance would be completely useless anyway.
"Since it is like this, do not stand out here at the bow of the ship—it is far too sunny. Also, your tense expression clearly shows you have something heavy on your mind; it is way too obvious," Ultear chided gently.
She grabbed Raizel's sleeve and pulled him back into the cool shade of the cabin.
...
The closer the ship got to Tenrou Island, the more intense and sweltering the summer sunlight became.
Lucy, who had smartly changed into a bikini swimsuit, kept desperately fanning herself with a paper fan.
Unfortunately... the ocean wind blowing against her was just as hot as the sun.
"It is so incredibly hot. How can it possibly be this hot in the middle of winter? I cannot take it anymore; I feel like I am about to melt into a puddle..." Lucy groaned, draping herself over a deck chair.
"Will I turn into a delicious ice pop and get eaten by Happy?" she joked weakly.
"Aye! That would definitely taste terrible..." Happy retorted, panting with his tongue hanging out, but not forgetting to insult her even in the heat.
"Magnolia is right next to Hargeon, and it is still completely covered in thick snow! But it is so boiling hot out here..." Lucy sighed, completely unable to make sense of the bizarre climate.
"Lucy, you look really awful sweating like this," Happy pointed out.
"I heard it is because this specific area of the ocean is heavily affected by warm magical currents, so the weather is like this all year round. I am not entirely sure if it is true, though," Kagura shared. She had overheard that rumor from the sailors back at Hargeon Port.
"This little bit of heat is nothing at all," Gajeel grunted, crossing his arms.
Though he was absolutely drenched in sweat, he was still stubbornly putting on a tough front.
In reality, the iron scales and metal all over his body absorbed the sunlight extremely quickly, and he was actually terrified of overheating...
"I feel like throwing up..." Natsu groaned miserably, swaying unsteadily on the wooden deck with a green face.
"Natsu, please do not come anywhere near me, okay?" Loke warned, adjusting his sunglasses.
His entire body radiated utter rejection at the thought of being puked on.
"It is all Wendy's fault... for not casting Troia on me..." Natsu whined, leaning heavily against the wooden railing, looking like he was on the very verge of tears.
"I am so sorry, Natsu-san. But I am Mest's partner for the exam now," Wendy apologized with a guilty, helpless smile.
"This ocean area has always been exactly like this. Everyone, just bear with it," Ur encouraged them from the shade.
Ur could have easily created a massive block of ice to cool everyone down, but Master Makarov had specifically advised against it.
Makarov's strict reasoning was that enduring the hot weather was also part of their survival test.
Mages often encountered extreme weather conditions on their missions, so they couldn't always rely on someone else's help to stay comfortable.
"We are almost there. Send me up," Ultear whispered to Raizel.
As soon as she saw the silhouette of Tenrou Island in the distance, she asked Raizel to secretly teleport her directly onto the island.
Meanwhile, Erza, Mira, and Gildarts had already been waiting in their respective exam passageways on the island for some time.
"I can see it already!" someone shouted.
Ultear's quiet departure didn't draw any attention, as Loke and the other participants were all leaning eagerly against the ship's railing, gazing in awe at the towering Tenrou Tree located at the very center of the landmass.
"Is that Tenrou Island?"
"What a strange, bizarre shape."
Several of the excited participants were visiting the sacred ground for the very first time.
"The giant tree in the middle is huge!" Wendy gasped.
"Once you actually set foot on the island, there will be even more impressive things to see," Raizel noted, stepping up to the railing and speaking with a cryptic tone.
"What is it?" Lucy decided to ask Kagura, hoping her partner knew the secret.
"The entire landmass of Tenrou Island is completely filled with pure magic power, even the dirt on the ground," Kagura explained softly. "As long as you are a true member bearing the Fairy Tail emblem, the very moment you step onto Tenrou Island, your magical power will be continuously replenished."
"Your magical power might temporarily run out during a tough fight there, but in the end, it will always slowly and naturally replenish itself."
This was exactly what Raizel had told Kagura during her own training.
Kagura had asked Raizel about it herself because she had been deeply curious about how she had managed to aggressively shatter so many of Ur's heavy Ice Shields during her own exam without passing out.
After digging deeper into the lore, she had finally gotten the true answer from him.
That was exactly how it worked.
Back then, Kagura could continuously push past her physical limits because Tenrou Island had provided significant magical assistance.
This was the blessing of the Tenrou Tree.
As long as the great tree remained standing tall and its roots ran deep, guild members practically could not die on Tenrou Island.
However, there was a terrifying drawback to this blessing.
If the Tenrou Tree was ever destroyed or uprooted, the Mages of Fairy Tail on the island would rapidly lose all of their magic power.
"So amazing! There is actually such miraculous magic in the world!" Lucy's horizons broadened a little more just by hearing about it.
"It seems to have been carefully researched and planted by our First Master, Mavis," Raizel added with a soft smile.
He wasn't entirely certain of the historical details, as he hadn't actually asked Mavis about it yet.