The quiet peace of the Tenrou Tree amphitheater shattered without warning.
Master Makarov stood up from his wooden stump, the teacup slipping from his grasp and shattering against the roots.
His eyes went wide, his pupils shrinking as a suffocating, freezing wave of dark magic rolled over the island.
It wasn't the natural, wild ethernano of Tenrou, but felt like standing on the edge of a mass grave.
Erza materialized at the edge of the clearing, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
Her face was pale. "Master... do you feel that?"
Mirajane sat up from the grass, rubbing the back of her head where Evergreen had knocked her out.
Her sweet demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by the sharp, terrifying instincts of the She-Devil.
"The island's defensive barrier. It's been breached! Someone forced their way through the leylines."
"It's not just someone," Makarov growled, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and dread.
He looked up at the sky, watching the gray storm clouds swallow the sun.
"That signature... I haven't felt a magical presence this foul in decades, Dark guild... if i have to guess Grimoire Heart!"
Gildarts stepped out from the shadows of the roots, his lazy posture gone.
He cracked his knuckles, the air around him warping with the sheer density of his Crash magic.
"The Balam Alliance? What the hell are they doing crashing our promotion exam?"
"It doesn't matter why they're here," Makarov said, raising his staff. "What matters is that my children are scattered across this jungle, unaware that a war just started."
Makarov pointed his staff straight up into the dark sky.
A massive sphere of condensed, fiery magic gathered at the tip.
He fired it upward, the blast piercing through the canopy and exploding high above the island.
A brilliant, burning red flare illuminated the dark clouds.
'Emergency! The trial is suspended, Engage the enemy!'
...
Deep in the eastern woods, the red light filtered through the thick canopy, casting an eerie glow over the battlefield.
Gajeel didn't have time to look up at the sky.
He crossed his iron-scaled arms, bracing himself as another barrage of explosive eggs rained down on him.
"Egg Buster! Scramble them up!" Kawazu cackled from the high branches.
The explosions rocked the jungle floor, kicking up a thick cloud of dirt and splintered wood.
Gajeel stood his ground, letting the blasts wash over his iron skin.
The kinetic force pushed him back, but the shrapnel bounced harmlessly off his scales.
"You're annoying, you overgrown chicken!" Gajeel roared.
He swiped his arm, extending a massive, jagged iron pillar straight up into the canopy.
Kawazu squawked, jumping to another branch just as the iron club smashed his previous perch into toothpicks.
While Gajeel focused on the rooster, Yomazu made his move. The dog samurai didn't make a sound.
He dashed through the smoke with terrifying speed, his heavy katana drawn.
He dragged two fingers across the flat of his blade, writing a glowing black rune.
"Dark Form: Zan!" Yomazu grunted.
Cleave.
The glowing kanji projected forward, merging with the edge of his katana.
Yomazu swung the blade horizontally, unleashing a massive, crescent-shaped wave of dark, cutting energy straight toward Levy.
"Levy! Move!" Gajeel yelled.
Levy didn't freeze. She raised her magical pen, writing furiously.
"Solid Script: Guard!"
A thick, glowing dome of golden letters materialized in front of her.
But the moment Yomazu's dark blade struck her shield, the golden letters shrieked.
The dark script carried a heavy, corrosive property that ate right through Levy's magic.
The shield shattered like glass.
Before the dark blade could slice her in half, Gajeel threw himself in front of her.
He took the strike point-blank to the chest. The dark energy collided with his Iron Dragon's scales, grinding violently against the metal.
Sparks flew in every direction.
Gajeel gritted his teeth, his boots sliding back in the dirt.
With a harsh roar, he flexed his chest, shattering the dark energy wave into harmless fragments.
But as the smoke cleared, Levy gasped.
A deep, bleeding gash ran diagonally across Gajeel's iron-scaled chest.
The dark script had actually managed to cut through his dragon armor.
"You're bleeding!" Levy panicked, reaching out to him.
"I'm fine," Gajeel growled, wiping a drop of blood from his chin.
He glared at Yomazu, his red eyes burning with a dangerous thrill. "Your weird writing magic packs a punch, dog face."
Yomazu rested his katana on his shoulder, his expression stoic. "Your defensive magic is formidable to survive a direct hit from my dark script. But you cannot protect the girl forever. We are the vanguard of Grimoire Heart. We were ordered to leave no survivors."
"Grimoire Heart?" Levy whispered, her eyes widening.
She remembered the texts she'd read about the Balam Alliance. "They're a massive dark guild! Why are they on Tenrou Island?!"
"Doesn't matter why," Gajeel spat.
He didn't take his eyes off the two assassins.
"Hey, shorty. That red flare in the sky means the exam is off, you need to run back to the base camp. Tell the Master what's going on."
"I'm not leaving you here!" Levy shouted, gripping her pen tight. "He cut through your iron, Gajeel! You can't fight both of them alone!"
"I said run!" Gajeel snapped, glancing back at her. "I'm a Dragon Slayer. I don't need a babysitter. Now get out of here before you get yourself killed!"
"No!" Levy planted her feet, her eyes tearing up but her resolve hardening. "You told me to stop acting like a scared sidekick! I'm your partner for this trial, and I'm fighting with you!"
Kawazu laughed from the trees, pulling another handful of glowing eggs from his pouch.
"Nobody is running away! You're both going to be bird food!"
Gajeel sighed, but a small, proud smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Fine. If you're staying, don't get in my way. Let's see whose script magic is better."
Yomazu narrowed his eyes.
He raised his hand, writing three glowing black runes in the air.
Gou. Roar. Strike.
"Dark Form: Triple Cascade," Yomazu declared.
The three runes expanded, morphing into a trio of massive, dark energy blasts hurtling straight toward them, tearing up the jungle floor in their wake.
The fight was far from over.
...
On the southern edge of the island, the crashing waves of the ocean drowned out the sound of the red flare bursting in the sky.
Ace stood near the edge of the jagged cliff, his dark coat whipping in the violent wind generated by the Grimoire Heart airship hovering above.
Hundreds of dark, glowing bubbles rained down from the ship's belly.
As they hit the rocky terrain, the bubbles popped, releasing hordes of dark mages.
They wore dark purple cloaks and carried an assortment of nasty-looking magical weapons—heavy axes, jagged spears, and repeating crossbows.
"We made landfall!" one of the squad leaders yelled, pointing his spear. "Spread out into the jungle! Burn the trees! Find the fairies and slaughter them all!"
The grunts cheered, a twisted, bloodthirsty sound.
But their cheers died in their throats as they turned toward the tree line.
Ace stood blocking the only path leading from the cliffs into the Tenrou jungle.
He didn't look intimidated by the sheer numbers facing him.
"A fairy!" a grunt shouted, aiming his crossbow. "It's just one guy! Fill him with holes!"
Dozens of magical bolts and dark energy blasts streaked toward Ace in a lethal volley.
Ace didn't move an inch.
He slowly pulled his D-Tector from his coat. The device flared with a blinding, fierce light that easily overpowered the dark aura of the invading army.
"Execute," Ace said, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade.
He swiped his hand across the scanner.
"Spirit Evolution."
Rings of crimson and silver digital code erupted from the ground, shattering the incoming magical bolts before they could even touch him.
The data forged over Ace's body, replacing his dark coat with heavy, crimson armor.
A long, flowing blonde mane erupted from the back of his helmet, and intense, white-hot flames spiraled around his gauntlets.
Agunimon stood in his place, his blue eyes locking onto the dark mages.
"You're trespassing," Agunimon's deep, metallic voice rumbled. "And you're standing in my way."
The grunts hesitated, taking a step back as the intense heat radiating from the armored warrior scorched the rocky ground beneath his boots.
"Don't be scared! It's just a transformation spell!" the squad leader roared. "Charge him!"
Over fifty dark mages rushed forward, their weapons raised, screaming battle cries.
Agunimon didn't draw a weapon.
He lowered his stance, gathering a dense, swirling sphere of fire in his right hand.
"Pyro Darts."
Agunimon threw his hand forward, unleashing a rapid-fire barrage of concentrated fireballs.
The fiery projectiles hit the front lines like artillery shells.
The sheer kinetic force of the blasts shattered their dark shields and sent dozens of men flying backward off the cliffs, their screams echoing down to the crashing waves below.
The squad leader gritted his teeth, dodging a fireball and lunging forward with his spear aiming right for Agunimon's chest.
Agunimon stepped effortlessly to the side, letting the spear thrust pass him.
He grabbed the wooden shaft of the weapon, twisting it violently to break the grunt's grip, and delivered a devastating, flaming spin-kick to the man's ribs.
"Pyro Tornado!"
Agunimon spun like a blazing drill, tearing through the Vanguard's ranks. He moved with a brutal, fluid grace, his martial arts perfectly synchronized with his fire magic.
Every punch launched a shockwave of heat. Every kick sent a dark mage crashing into the rocks.
In less than a minute, a third of the landing force was groaning on the ground, their weapons melted and their armor scorched.
The remaining dark mages backed away, their bravado entirely broken.
They looked at the crimson warrior with absolute terror.
Agunimon stood amidst the unconscious bodies, the flames on his gauntlets burning bright. He didn't pursue the fleeing grunts.
He looked up at the massive airship still hovering in the dark clouds above.
"The foot soldiers are just a distraction," Agunimon murmured, narrowing his eyes behind his visor.