Hades slowly stood up from his towering throne.
"Very interesting... very interesting, fairies. They haven't yet witnessed true darkness—the absolute, suffocating darkness lurking deep within the abyss. And our guild is renowned for it!"
"We are the demons. Tonight, the demons will finally play with the fairies." Hades' lone eye gleamed with malice.
"Let's see who devours whom... The decisive moment has arrived! Fairy Tail!"
...
"Hunter or prey, it is hard to say..." Raizel murmured. "The demons think they are hunting fairies, completely unaware that the roles can easily be reversed."
Raizel sat quietly on a high tree branch, sensing the overwhelming dark magical power emanating from the approaching Grimoire Heart airship.
[Attention all!] Raizel's telepathic voice urgently echoed in the minds of the guild members.
[Grimoire Heart is about to arrive. Stay on high alert!]
Not long after Raizel's warning reached the members...
Dense clusters of dark magical bubbles appeared in the sky above Tenrou Island, rapidly descending right through the island's ancient magical barrier.
As soon as the magical bubbles touched the forest floor, they burst with a loud pop.
Each bubble carried several low-ranking members of Grimoire Heart, all wearing identical dark robes and eerie masks engraved with the guild's sinister emblem.
They were fully armed to the teeth with various weapons: magic staffs, heavy broadswords, spears, and more.
There was a very good reason why Grimoire Heart was widely known as the absolute largest and most powerful force in the Balam Alliance.
Oración Seis had only consisted of six members, and the members of Tartaros were exclusively demons, numbering relatively few.
In stark contrast, Grimoire Heart had recruited a massive army of mages over the years, with their elite vanguard forces currently stationed aboard the airship.
It could be said that this operation was Grimoire Heart's all-out, world-ending assault.
Meanwhile, at the sandy shore where the Grimoire Heart airship was preparing to dock, Makarov stared intently at the massive vessel.
Since the enemy Guild Master, Hades—also known to him as his beloved mentor, Precht—had not yet appeared on the deck, Makarov did not act rashly.
Laxus silently observed Makarov's tense posture from the safety of the distant tree line.
If a brutal fight broke out, Laxus was ready to provide immediate support.
Laxus knew Makarov all too well; the old man was far too sentimental for his own good.
When Laxus was young, he had often heard Makarov fondly reminisce about the second-generation members of the guild.
Whenever Precht was mentioned, Laxus could clearly see the deep, unwavering respect in Makarov's eyes for the Second Master.
...
Deep in the jungle, the bizarre figures that had just landed directly in front of Gajeel and Levy weren't wearing the standard dark Grimoire Heart uniforms, but their custom armor clearly bore the enemy Guild Mark.
They weren't even remotely human.
One was a bizarre, bipedal rooster slightly taller than Levy, and the other was a towering, dog-headed humanoid wielding a samurai sword.
During their rapid descent, they had violently attempted to ambush Levy from above.
Fortunately, Gajeel had reacted with lightning speed, instantly turning his arm into a solid steel pillar to effortlessly block the heavy sword strike meant for her.
"They are definitely from Grimoire Heart," Levy confirmed, stepping back and observing the dark marks tattooed on the two creatures.
"Doesn't matter," Gajeel scoffed, cracking his metallic knuckles. "Even though this is a sudden invasion, if we cannot handle a couple of freaks like this, there is no point in even talking about becoming S-Class Mages."
"Don't be so careless, Gajeel! Our opponents are elite troops from Grimoire Heart!" Levy warned.
"I am Yomazu, a vanguard mage of Grimoire Heart!" the dog-headed swordsman barked, pointing his blade at them.
"And I am Kawazu!" the giant rooster squawked.
The two beastmen were completely brimming with arrogance, brazenly declaring their intentions.
"Our glorious goal is... to hunt down and slaughter every single fairy on this island!"
Yomazu suddenly used his magic blade to slash at the air, writing a glowing kanji character for [Boom].
Instantly, a deafening, explosive metallic noise erupted directly from the written character, violently forcing Gajeel and Levy to drop to their knees and cover their ears in agony.
This was especially torturous for Gajeel, his heightened sensitive Dragon Slayer hearing became a massive, painful hindrance in this exact situation.
"Word Magic?! Is it the same type of magic as yours, Levy?!" Gajeel grunted, his ears ringing.
"Pretty much! It's Orient Solid Script!" Levy yelled back over the noise.
"Egg Buster!" Kawazu shrieked.
The giant rooster leaped impossibly high into the air, spitting dozens of heavy, explosive eggs from his beak raining down toward Gajeel and Levy.
As the Fairy Tail duo struggled to stand up through the barrage, Yomazu lunged forward, swinging his heavy dual blades down at their necks.
'Damn it, the noise interference is far too severe!' Gajeel cursed internally. 'I can't even hear their footsteps or their breathing to dodge!'
"Solid Script: Silence!" Levy shouted.
She rapidly waved her glowing hand through the air, writing the English word to completely neutralize Yomazu's blaring kanji.
"The noise is finally gone..." Gajeel sighed in immense relief as the piercing, irritating sound vanished.
"You actually canceled out my Solid Script?!" Yomazu barked, his eyes widening in pure disbelief.
"Now's my chance!" Seizing the golden moment, Gajeel aggressively extended his right arm, transforming it into an iron club, and thrust it brutally into Yomazu's armored abdomen.
Yomazu was sent violently flying backward for dozens of meters.
He only managed to stabilize his stance by digging his long blade deep into the dirt, the heavy friction nearly causing the soles of his shoes to smoke.
"Egg Buster!" Kawazu fired another volley.
"Solid Script: Fire!" Levy countered flawlessly.
A wall of intense heat erupted from her script, completely incinerating all of Kawazu's explosive eggs into harmless ash.
"Damn you! [Slash]!" Yomazu roared.
As Yomazu swung his long blade horizontally, the physical aura of the blade was massively intensified through his written kanji.
Gajeel's slitted pupils contracted sharply—his primal Dragon Slayer intuition screamed at him not to take this deadly strike head-on.
He immediately dropped low and crouched, narrowly dodging the massive crescent blade aura.
Behind him, dozens of thick, ancient trees were cleanly severed at the waist, leaving only perfectly smooth, flat stumps in the wake of the magic.
"[Slash! Slash! Slash!]" Yomazu roared, swinging his blade wildly and sending a flurry of deadly arcs through the jungle.
Gajeel had absolutely no choice but to dodge frantically, flipping and tumbling through the underbrush.
Meanwhile, Kawazu and Levy repeatedly exchanged rapid-fire blows of Egg Buster and Solid Script, locked in their own fierce standoff.
"You annoying bastard!" Gajeel, never one for tactical patience, suddenly lost his temper entirely.
Thick, dark iron scales began to forcefully manifest and cover his entire body.
"[Pierce!]" Yomazu yelled. His blade thrust forward toward Gajeel's chest like a deadly spear.
Clang! Clang! Clang—!
The sharp sound of the magic blade aggressively clashing against Gajeel's iron scales echoed incessantly through the clearing.
Soon, numerous bleeding cuts began to appear across Gajeel's armored body.
'His blade can actually slice right through my iron scales?!' Gajeel realized, gritting his teeth.
"Dark Sword: Howling Slash!" Yomazu charged his ultimate strike.
It felt as if countless invisible blades were violently converging on Gajeel all at once.
As Yomazu dramatically sheathed his blade with a click, Gajeel let out an agonized cry.
Blood sprayed from his chest, and he slowly collapsed heavily to the dirt, his metal scales gradually receding from his battered body.
"Gajeel!" Levy screamed, her heart dropping.
She desperately wanted to run over and aid Gajeel, but Kawazu's suppressive fire was far too overwhelming—she could barely even protect herself with her shields.
"If all the opponents on this island are of this pathetic caliber, it seems we can wrap this hunt up very quickly," Yomazu sneered.
He glanced down at the fallen Gajeel, recalling Jellal's strict warning not to underestimate the enemy, and scoffed dismissively.
"Absolutely right, Yomazu!" Kawazu chimed in, cackling loudly. "Is this really the supposed 'elite' of Fairy Tail? Hahaha!"
"Solid Script: IRON!" Levy cried out in desperation.
A massive, heavy block of solid metal suddenly plummeted from the sky, crashing into the dirt directly in front of Gajeel's face.
Levy had miraculously managed to create it for him while simultaneously evading the rooster's attacks.
Gajeel's bruised hand twitched.
He slowly reached out, picked up the massive iron block and began aggressively chewing on it.
Crunch. Crunch.
"Oh? Eating iron blocks? How wonderfully bizarre and interesting," Yomazu mocked, resting his sword on his shoulder.
"Struggle all you want, fairy. Isn't that exactly what makes hunting fun?"
Yomazu and Kawazu watched leisurely, fully confident in their victory, as Gajeel finished swallowing the last bite of the iron block.
After eating his fill, Gajeel slowly stood up and punched his fists together.
The resulting shockwave made the carefree Yomazu and Kawazu freeze momentarily in their tracks.
Gajeel wiped the blood from his chin, his red eyes glaring daggers at the two beastmen.
"What was that you were saying just a second ago? Something about us being worthless trash?"