Raizel and the other two arrived at the first assembly point, where Cana was already so bored that she had started playing cards by herself in the sand.
"You're finally here! I was getting so bored!" Cana complained, angrily throwing her cards down.
Cana had come to the island with Laxus, but since Laxus was an examiner, he had gone straight into his designated passage, leaving Cana alone to space out on the beach.
"We still have plenty of time, and not everyone has landed on the island yet. How about we set up a barbecue or something?" Makarov suggested.
He was already hungry, and his stomach was starting to growl loudly.
Gurgle~~
"Classic you," Raizel said, offering Makarov his most sincere deadpan praise.
Raizel then pulled some cooking utensils from his spatial backpack.
If there was going to be a tough battle later on, it was definitely better to eat a good meal now.
"I'll go gather some firewood!" Cana volunteered immediately, very happy to hear there would be free food.
"Looks like it is time for me to finally show off my skills!" Ur declared proudly, placing her hands on her hips.
Ever since Mirajane had become the guild's head receptionist, Ur rarely had the chance to show off her cooking skills in front of the members.
Even the massive Christmas party banquets over the past few years had all been handled by Mira, Raizel, and a few others.
Ur had gradually fallen to the exact same level as Makarov—just sitting around waiting to eat.
Raizel quickly found some fresh ingredients around the edge of Tenrou Island and handed them all over to Ur to prepare.
Moments later, Ur was happily stirring a pot over the fire, wearing a frilly apron over her clothes.
...
Meanwhile, Happy safely dropped Natsu onto the shores of Tenrou Island.
"I think I smell food."
After landing in the sand, Natsu immediately sniffed the air vigorously.
"It is probably just your hungry imagination, Natsu!" Happy sighed.
"Whatever! Let's go!"
Suddenly, Raizel's calm voice echoed directly into the minds of all the guild members who had landed on the island.
[Attention everyone. Regardless of whether you pass the first trial or not, please come to the first assembly point on the beach when you are done.]
"That's Raizel's voice," Natsu noted.
"Don't worry, we will definitely pass the first trial! No need to bother with the loser's assembly point!" Natsu waved his hand dismissively at the sky.
Suddenly, a loud, magical voice boomed across the island.
[Route H blocked. Route F blocked. Route B blocked. Route A blocked.]
"Nani?!" Happy gasped.
"Four routes are already completely blocked?!" Natsu yelled. "Which way do you want to go, Happy?!"
Natsu aggressively approached the remaining four open cave entrances and sniffed the air forcefully, trying to catch a familiar scent.
"Let's take Route E!" Natsu quickly made his decision, pointing at the dark tunnel.
"You decided that so casually!" Happy sweatdropped.
"This wasn't a casual decision at all!"
As Natsu confidently ran into the E passage, a glowing magical barrier slowly materialized, completely sealing off the entire E route behind him.
...
Inside Route C—
"It is much brighter in here than I imagined, and there are so many plants growing right on the rock walls," Lucy said in surprise as she looked around the glowing tunnel.
"Generally speaking, can plants really grow in caves like this without any sunlight?"
"Tenrou Island itself is a literal miracle," Kagura replied. It was the only way she could explain it.
"The light you are seeing is actually emitted by magical glow-worms."
"So, it is you two." A deep male voice suddenly echoed through the cave.
"That's Bickslow's voice," Kagura noted.
She tightened her grip on her sword, Archenemy, ready for action.
"Someone else's voice appeared. This route must be the 'Combat' route!!!" Lucy realized.
Only then did she finally notice the large, glowing [FIGHT] banner hanging from the ceiling of the cavern.
"So it's Kagura, and the blonde girl who always loves to cosplay..." Bickslow smirked, stepping out from the shadows alongside Freed.
"I am Lucy!" Lucy protested angrily, indicating she didn't need such a weird title.
"So that means we will have to fight you to advance," Kagura stated, narrowing her eyes.
Freed recalled his fierce battle with Kagura from nearly three months ago—a battle he had ultimately lost.
This time, he had to seize the opportunity to win.
During their last fight, he hadn't used his forbidden magic, Dark Écriture: Darkness, relying only on a weakened version of his Pain runes.
He still had a chance to complete his revenge.
"It seems only the winning team gets to advance further inside the island," Bickslow said, pointing his tongue toward a secondary passage blocked by thick iron bars nearby.
"Advance, advance..." his floating Seith Magic puppets chanted, endlessly repeating his words.
"I lost to you last time, Kagura, but I absolutely will not repeat that mistake," Freed said, staring intently at the swordswoman.
"Then let's settle this again. Bring it on!" Kagura challenged.
"Can you handle Bickslow, Lucy?" Kagura asked without looking back.
"Leave him to me! Open! Gate of the Twins! Gemini!" Lucy chanted, swinging her golden key.
With a chime of bells, the two little blue spirits appeared.
"Gemini, first transform into Bickslow's appearance!" Lucy ordered.
Not only could Gemini perfectly replicate Bickslow's body and magic, but they could also copy his floating Seith puppets.
Suddenly, the entire cave was filled with a chaotic chorus of repeating voices.
"You still say you're not the queen of cosplay?!" Bickslow yelled.
"You still say you're not the queen of cosplay?!" Gemini perfectly mimicked Bickslow's tone, repeating the insult right back at him.
Every single time Bickslow spoke, his Seith puppets would repeat his words several times.
Then, Gemini would mimic Bickslow's exact tone and repeat it all over again...
"Are you guys here to fight, or are you performing a comedy routine?" Kagura and Freed couldn't help but comment in unison as they exchanged heavy sword blows nearby.
"Sorry! But I must help Kagura become an S-Class Mage!" Lucy declared.
She drew her Star River magical whip from her waist, the energy cracking like lightning.
As an avid gossip enthusiast, Lucy had heard from the older guild members about Kagura's multiple unsuccessful attempts at passing the S-Class exams.
In her mind, she had imagined a dramatic, tearful Kagura leaving the island in utter disappointment each year.
Lucy had secretly vowed that she would definitely help Kagura become an S-Class Mage this time!
Though she had never actually stopped to consider whether Kagura actually cared about the promotion... This dramatic backstory was purely fabricated by Lucy's wild novelist imagination.
In reality, Kagura didn't care about the title at all.
The strongest members in the guild didn't even care about being named Ten Wizard Saints... so why should she care about some arbitrary S-Class label?
She purely wanted to use the S-Class exams as a way to temper her own skills.
"Can you stop copying me?!" Bickslow yelled, getting thoroughly annoyed by Gemini's antics.
Everything he said, every specific way he commanded his Seith puppets—Gemini copied it all perfectly.
Now the two were completely deadlocked, and strictly speaking, Bickslow was at a major disadvantage.
With Bickslow and Gemini canceling each other out—both using the exact same techniques from the exact same master—neither could break the other's moves.
Meanwhile, Lucy kept actively interfering with him from the sidelines using her Star River whip.
"Heavy Formation!" Bickslow roared.
"Heavy Formation!" Gemini echoed instantly.
Both sides' wooden puppets quickly formed identical pentagonal shapes in the air and fired powerful, destructive laser beams from the center.
However, Bickslow's beam was cleverly aimed directly at Kagura—this was a team battle, not an honorable one-on-one duel.
There was no need to worry about martial honor when an S-Class promotion was on the line.
Unfortunately for him... Gemini could completely read and predict Bickslow's inner intentions.
Gemini's laser beam was actively aimed at Freed, perfectly blocking the rune mage's attempt to launch a pincer attack and sneak-strike Kagura.
"Well done, Lucy!" Kagura nodded approvingly.
If not for Gemini's perfect interference, Kagura would have been forced to either directly withstand Bickslow's laser beam or take a hit from Freed's rapier, which was currently imbued with painful runes.
"It was really Gemini who did well," Lucy smiled.
Without Gemini reading his mind, Lucy would have never been able to predict Bickslow's sneaky attack.
"Piri, piri!" Gemini cheered in Bickslow's voice.
Bickslow's worldview was completely shattering before his eyes.
"Stop using my handsome body to make those weird, cute movements!" he screamed.
This entire battle was nothing but pure psychological torture for him!
---------
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