"You've passed the test of strength! Now you can pass me!"
Laxus crossed his arms, turned to the side, and said in a deep voice.
Both Gajeel and Levy, who were being protected by him, were stunned. Before they could even feel happy, Levy quickly climbed out, tears streaming down her face, and helped Gajeel up.
"Levy, your strength still needs a lot of improvement. You should Gajeel properly!"
Just as she passed by Laxus, this sentence startled Levy.
Levy looked at Gajeel, who was slightly dazed, with a self-reproachful gaze, and silently made up her mind that she must have enough strength to fight alongside Gajeel.
"I understand~" Levy's firm words echoed in the passage, but Laxus's figure had already disappeared.
"Levy, congratulations!"
Just Levy struggled to help Gajeel out of the passage, Lucy hugged her tightly, overjoyed.
Gajeel was caught by Natsu, and when Gajeel opened his swollen eyes, he and Natsu exchanged a smile.
Fried and Biguslo leaned against the tree, happy for Gajeelrei and the other two.
A few minutes later.
At this stage, those who have passed the assessment are also keeping a close eye on the passageway in front of them, which is now emitting a chilling aura and whose vibrations have ceased.
Hopefully, Gray and his team will pass the test.
"Tap... tap... tap~"
Until the sound of scattered footsteps came from inside the passage.
"Gray, hang in there, we're almost there!" Loke's voice followed.
The two men, covered in frost and trembling slightly, walked out of the passage. Gray shielded his eyes from the glaring sunlight, feeling its warmth, and the two exchanged a knowing smile.
"First of all, congratulations to you all!" Cana offered her congratulations first, and everyone was very happy.
After hearing the source of the sound, Loke and Gray calmed down a bit and looked up, about to say thank you, but when they looked over, they froze in place.
"Gildas! What's he doing here!" they exclaimed simultaneously, mainly because they had never seen Gildarts with this expression before.
Gildarts was staring at Cana with a lewd grin on his face.
"Yo~, congratulations! But stay away from Cana, you're quite chilled, be careful not to give my daughter a cold." Gildarts flicked his cloak, his control of power was very subtle, and pushed the two of them several meters away.
He then draped the cloak over Cana's shoulders, treating it like a precious treasure, which made Cana feel a little embarrassed.
"Wh... what, daughter?" Gray and Loke stood there, stunned.
The others already knew, and they all nodded in unison, confirming the accuracy of the information.
"Alright, looks like most of the people have arrived! It's time to announce the results." Guild Master Makarov jumped down from a large rock, walked out with his hands behind his back, and prepared to announce the results of the assessment.
"Freed and Bickslow defeated Wendy and Mest in the Battle Passage and advanced!"
The two exchanged a smile, Bickslow stuck out his tongue and laughed heartily.
"What! Mest lost?" Gray and the others exclaimed in surprise. In their memory, Mest was a very strong person. After all, she almost passed the S-Class Exam last time.
But then I thought about it again, and Freed and his team have worked very hard over the past few years, and their strength has improved significantly, so it's normal.
"Natsu and Happy, as a team, broke through the passage where Zorn was located, gaining recognition for their strength and advancing!"
"Love!" Happy cheered, raising his hands, but Natsu sat down next to Gajeel, lost in thought, ignoring him.
"Cana and Lucy have successfully broken through the Gildarts Passage, demonstrating sufficient strength and thus advancing to the next level!"
"Yay!" The two girls hugged each other happily.
"Levy and Gajeel have passed the Laxus Passage and their strength is sufficient to advance!"
Upon Levy showed no joy, but instead felt guilty as she cared for Gajeel.
"Gray and Loke have passed through the Ur Passage, their strength is sufficient, and they have been recognized and advanced!"
"Huh? Where are Juvia and the others? Did they fail?" Gray looked around in confusion, but couldn't find Juvia, so he asked.
"I can't take it! Ahhh~" Upon hearing this, the Guild Master's face fell, and he covered his head with his hands, screaming.
The figure grew even more dejected, and with her head down, she continued, "They encountered that female knight who would absolutely not hold back! Ahhh!" before ending with a scream.
Erza was carrying a girl on one shoulder as she walked towards the assembly tent, where the other examiners were waiting for further instructions.
In the distance, Juvia and Lisanna, perched on Erza's shoulders, rolled their eyes and simultaneously murmured incoherently, "We... we give up..."
Those who passed were all left speechless, both amused and exasperated.
Erza simply believes that only those who defeat her are worthy of being called a hero.
However Erza overlooked one thing: with her current strength, apart from the other active S-Class Mages, no one could reliably defeat her.
"Then only Elfman and Evergreen are left..."
After eliminating other possible routes from everyone's minds, the image of a demon emerged. Well, all they could do was pray for them; the chances of getting through this fiend were extremely slim.
When Mirajane receives the Demon Soul, her personality will change drastically. Although Mirajane still appears to be a lady, she has suppressed her witch personality for so long. In terms of the test, she and Erza are essentially the same person.
This release was nothing short of a disaster; everyone quickly shook their heads, trying to forget the scene.
"Wait a minute, we... we passed this test too!"
Evergreen helped Elfman out of the forest on one side. Both of them were seriously injured, showing that Mirajane showed no mercy.
"We defeated our sister!"
"Successfully passed the first assessment!"
"Huh? How did you defeat Mirajane..." Gray asked first, his curiosity running high. In just a few minutes, he had already experienced a lot of shock.
"This... this is the only thing, and as a man, I would rather die than say it."
"Just know that it's only during a brief interval!"
Elfman and Evergreen both looked very uncomfortable, fidgeting and hesitant, before finally emphasizing their points vaguely.
The more they tried to hide it, the more gossipy Gray and his friends became.
"Ahem, now it's time to tell you about the content of the second assessment!"
Guild Master Makarov coughed a few times, bringing everyone back to their senses, and continued speaking.
On the other side.
Several examiners are resting in the tents over here.
"What? Elfman and Evergreen are getting married?"
Erza paused in her stirring of the pot, turned around in surprise, and asked Mirajane.
"Haha, I was so shocked when I heard the news that I got ambushed by them."
"However, I think this was just their battle plan! They were careless, hahaha."
Mirajane rubbed her face, explaining with an embarrassed expression.
"Oh, that's such a pity! I really wanted to meet Elfman and Evergreen's child!"
Mirajane put her hands on the table and sighed.
However, she didn't notice that Mirajane, who was standing next to her, had also heard it and was covering her face, not wanting to face the child's appearance (which resembled Elfman).
The girls over here are having a lively conversation.
Laxus, who was standing nearby, also heard the word "marriage" and was gazing thoughtfully at the sky, but his ears were very attentive to the gossip to come.
Ur smiled knowingly, gazing into the distance in the direction where her daughter, Ultear, might appear.
Zorn, on the other hand, was searching for Zeref, who might have already arrived on the island. He wanted to teleport him away as soon as possible, even if there was only the slightest possibility.
However, even though he had completely covered his Observation Haki, he didn't notice anything, as if some kind of energy was shielding Zeref.
"Damn it, where is it?"
... Zorn stood atop the tree, closing his eyes as he carefully examined the surroundings.