"Good, good, good. This is getting lively!"
Although he grumbled inwardly, Marco had no intention of backing down.
When soldiers came, they would be met by generals, when floods came, the earth would block them.
Since Grimoire Heart actually dared to come to Tenrou Island and stir up trouble, then this place would become their burial ground!
Tenrou Island was Fairy Tail's home field.
For them to charge all the way here—did they really not understand the situation?
As he thought this, Marco turned and used Teleportation to find Makarov.
"Gramps, Grimoire Heart is here."
The moment he appeared, Marco told Old Master Makarov the news.
Makarov, who had originally been grinning, instantly changed expression.
"Grimoire Heart?!" Makarov spoke in disbelief, suspecting that he had misheard him.
"That's right. One of the three giants of the Balam Alliance, the legendary strongest dark guild. That Grimoire Heart."
Marco nodded and confirmed the news again.
This time, Makarov would not mishear it. It was indeed Grimoire Heart!
"What's going on?"
After his initial shock, Makarov quickly calmed down.
His expression turned serious, and he frowned as he continued questioning him.
"I don't know, but they're definitely not coming with good intentions." Marco shook his head.
He did not know why Grimoire Heart had come, but they certainly were not here to drink tea with Fairy Tail.
"Then cancel the trial and prepare for battle immediately."
Makarov made the decision without the slightest hesitation.
Since enemies were coming, they would fight them to the end!
Right now, Tenrou Island was filled with Fairy Tail's elites.
Although some skilled members were not here, if even these people could not handle it, then bringing anyone else would be useless.
"Got it." Marco nodded.
His reason for coming to Makarov was to call off this S-Class Promotion Trial so they could focus on dealing with the incoming enemy.
They could not let their own people exhaust each other first.
The guys from Fairy Tail never held back properly once they started fighting.
During the trial, they would definitely use as much of their strength as possible. It would not be strange for everyone to end up covered in injuries afterward.
Normally, that would not matter, but now it was a different story.
Buzz!
Marco's figure vanished in an instant and began appearing all across Tenrou Island, notifying every guild companion to gather at a fixed location.
In truth, the gathering point was simply the shore.
Aside from Freed, Evergreen, Lucy, and Hisui, who had set off first, everyone else had not even gone ashore yet.
Marco only stopped the four who had already reached the island, preventing them from going any deeper.
"Marco, what happened?" Erza looked puzzled.
She, Mirajane, and Gildarts had also been called over and were standing together with the equally confused four candidates.
"Grimoire Heart will attack in a few hours. Let's postpone the trial for now. We have a big battle ahead of us first."
Facing everyone's confusion, Marco spoke.
"What?!"
Erza, Mirajane, and the others all widened their eyes and cried out in shock.
Clearly, they had been startled by the news.
It was hard not to be.
The trial had been going perfectly fine, and then suddenly someone was coming to attack them.
The exercise had turned straight into actual combat!
"That's the situation for now. Everyone, get ready."
Marco nodded, giving them time to accept reality.
He looked out over the sea.
The rest of their companions were all hurrying over.
Seeing so many people gathered on the shore, Gray, Natsu, and the others who arrived afterward also ran over curiously.
Then they too were stunned by the news that Grimoire Heart was coming.
"Perfect timing! Can we just make Grimoire Heart the assessment target? As long as we perform well and defeat them, does that count as passing the trial?"
After the initial shock, Natsu jumped up and shouted while swinging his fist.
His eyes were full of fighting spirit, and he was not frightened by Grimoire Heart at all.
What "strongest dark guild"?
Could they compare to Fairy Tail? Fairy Tail was the "strongest wizard guild" too, though for now that title was only recognized by the Kingdom of Fiore.
But that was a genuine official honor.
At least within the Kingdom of Fiore, if Fairy Tail claimed to be "the strongest wizard guild in Fiore," no one had any grounds to refute it.
That was a title they had earned through the Magic Games.
"You… actually, that's not a bad idea."
Natsu's words made Marco laugh despite himself, but he felt it could actually be adopted.
After fighting the Oración Seis and Grimoire Heart in succession, two of the three giants of the Balam Alliance, if they still could not prove their strength, then the threshold for becoming an S-Class wizard really would be a little too high.
After winning this battle, they could simply cancel the trial stage and directly promote several of them to S-Class wizards.
"Really?!"
Hearing Marco say this, Natsu, Gray, Freed, and the others all lit up.
If they were really going to do it that way, then they would be fighting over the chance to battle Grimoire Heart!
"We'll discuss it once the old man gets here."
Looking at his guild companions, all brimming with fighting spirit, Marco smiled as he spoke.
This matter still had to be decided by their old man.
After all, Marco was not the guild master yet. The old man was.
"Where did the master go?"
Hearing Marco mention Makarov, Gildarts asked with a puzzled expression.
With something this important, he did not believe Marco would fail to notify the guild master.
But the old man indeed had not come over yet.
"He went to notify a special existence. She might even be able to help."
Marco explained.
Since the trial had been canceled, they naturally had to tell Mavis as well.
They could not let the First Master keep looking forward to it for nothing.
As for the battle against Grimoire Heart, it did not matter whether Mavis came to help or not.
Marco did not think they would lose to Grimoire Heart.
Still, he did not stop Master Makarov from going to Mavis as a backup plan.
It was just that Marco was not especially optimistic about whether that lingering soul could really serve as a safety net.
Master Mavis had indeed been powerful and legendary while alive, but now she was only a ghost.
How much of her former strength could she actually display?
Rather than counting on Mavis, it was better to act as though she did not exist.
An uncertain combat force like that was not worth relying on.
At most, she could be treated as a lifeline when drowning—the final hope in the event of failure.
"What?! How could this happen?!"
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