Gajeel stared blankly at the two figures that had fallen into the smoke.
Now, all he can remember is what the Guild Master said when he invited him to join Fairy Tail that day.
"While some people in the world do enjoy solitude, no one can bear the emptiness that solitude brings."
"I can't just stand by and watch you fall into darkness; I could never forgive myself for that."
"I simply want to guide you on your path to the future. Whether you forge ahead or remain stagnant is the choice you make."
"Come on, join the Fairy Tail Fairy Tail ~" Gajeel recalled Guild Master Makarov's words, and the image of Makarov's outstretched hand appeared before his eyes.
This illusion caused Gajeel to unconsciously reach out his hand.
The moment I held it, I felt its soft, white flesh; it wasn't at all like an old man's hand.
Startled, his gaze sharpened, revealing a face full of confusion and worry. "Gajeel, what's wrong?"
"I'm not lonely anymore!"
Gajeel looked at Levy's worried face and thought to himself, but he grinned and said to Levy:
"It's alright, let's go. It seems the main force of the Grimoire Heart has arrived; it's time for us to show our skills!"
Gajeel, itching to touch Levy's head again, then turned and headed towards the edge of the forest.
Levy jumped up angrily. "I told you, you can't touch my head..."
"Hey, wait for me~"
On the other side
A cliff edge on Tenrou Island
Wendy... are you alright?
Carla, along with Lily, Tami, and Ximi, the four cats, swooped down from the sky.
"Carla, Lily, Tami, Ximi, what brings you here~" Wendy was taken aback at first, but when she saw that it was the cats, she waved and laughed heartily.
Several cats systematically surrounded Wendy behind them, each glaring fiercely at Mest.
"Mest, who exactly are you?!"
"This... this... I'm a member of the Magic Council..."
"Mystogan would never take on disciples in this world... It's good that you can use someone who's no longer in this world to cover up your identity, but it's still too crude..."
"Bang!" Lily Gang, now a muscular giant, slammed his fist into the stone wall, his tone cold, as if he hadn't heard what Mest had just said.
"Um... I said I'm a member of the Magic Council..." Mest glanced at the fist the size of a sandbag on her right. She had already been provoked by Zorn, but she didn't expect to be hit again. She was already sweating profusely, and now it was pouring down her back.
"What?!" Lily was stunned. "You admit it? You're not going to deny it anymore?"
"Wait a minute, that's not how the script was written!"
The cats were stunned. They had planned to interrogate the suspect thoroughly, but before they even started, he had already confessed.
"That, Carla, Lily, his identity, Brother Zorn has already told us."
"He's one of ours now~ Sorry, I forgot to tell you."
"Thank you anyway!"
Wendy explained somewhat embarrassedly, then squatted down and hugged Carla, Tami, and Ximi in her arms, thanking them profusely.
"Then forget it. The main thing is that Wendy is alright~" Carla replied with a slightly aloof and arrogant tone.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared on a large tree directly opposite them, coldly staring at the group. The pupils widened, and an invisible energy cannon shot out.
"Watch out, danger!"
Mest noticed this immediately, teleported, grabbed Wendy in her arms, and then instantly jumped to the side.
Lily's body instantly swelled up, and she quickly flew into the sky.
A loud explosion rang out from the cliff, and at the same time, smoke rose from the direction of Gajeel in the distance on the other side.
"Attack?"
"What exactly is going on?"
Lily looked at the smoke in the distance, then at Wendy below who was well protected. She flew down and asked a question, just as she was about to get closer.
"Don't come any closer!" Wendy shouted, Lily immediately stopped the car.
A series of explosions rang out from the middle.
"Who goes there? Come out now!"
Mest stared coldly at the large tree at the point where the explosion originated, and questioned in a deep voice.
A human face struggled to form from the trees, gradually emerging halfway out. "But I didn't expect anyone could see through me~"
"Seriously, sir, get this straight. Your explosion trajectory started from that tree of yours..."
Tami crossed her arms and muttered to herself, looking utterly speechless.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
"Tch~" The figure in the tree snorted coldly. A point of light suddenly appeared beside Tami, its light suddenly intensifying, bang~
A violent explosion occurred, and smoke rose into the air.
Fortunately, Mest and Lily reacted quickly, picking everyone up and leaping away, though they were slightly affected by the impact due to the close proximity.
"My name is Azuma, Grimoire Heart, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
"So, you are the enemy who invaded the island!"
"The Dark Guilds, the greatest enemy of legitimate Fairy Tail, deserves to be destroyed by everyone."
Knowing that an enemy had infiltrated, Mest and Wendy immediately prepared to attack upon hearing the enemy announce their identity.
"It seems you already know!"
"But it doesn't matter. Struggling is pointless in the face of overwhelming power!"
Seeing the two people already in fighting stances, and the group of cats, Azuma immediately broke free from the tree, crossing his arms over his chest.
He looked at the other person with great arrogance.
"Happy, there's some noise over there~ Let's go!" Natsu heard the explosion coming from the cliff and quickly grabbed Happy and ran in that direction.
"But Natsu, shouldn't we gather together first?"
"I don't care, I want to go check it out first!"
Natsu's temper flared immediately upon hearing this, and he ran even faster.
"Loke, Gray, shall we go to the camp to meet up first? Shouldn't we check the site of the explosion first?"
Lucy ran after Cana, Loke, and Gray, looking at the smoke rising from the cliff edge, and asked Gray and Loke with some concern.
Just after she and Cana received the message, they ran out of the forest and happened to run into Loke and Gray, who said they needed to meet up first.
"No need, an S-Class Mage has already gone to that place!" Gray said confidently, thinking of that figure.
On the Yacht at the Grimoire Heart, the remaining six followers and the Guild Master were gazing expectantly at the Fairy Island before them. Their hopes for fulfilling their Magic Way path lay there.
"Look, what's that..." Zancrow noticed that a figure in the distance was gradually growing larger.
Its figure grew to the very top of the Fairy Tree, and a single fist of it was the size of an airship.
"Giants?"
"Really? It's huge!"
The other six stared blankly at the Giants before them, muttering to themselves.
Hades, whose real name is Precht, stood up on the airship and walked to the front of the group, looking at the Third Generation Fairy Tail Guild Master he had chosen.
With a smile, he said, "Makarov, it's been a long time!"
His response was nothing short of Makarov: "Disappear!!"
To be continued~