Chapter 464: They Really Have Terrible Luck
"Huh?"
"Aren't we... still out at sea?" Gray and Loke froze, staring blankly at Makarov.
Makarov didn't answer them. He simply offered a deeply meaningful, almost wicked smile.
"So that's how it is! Happy, we're taking the lead!" Natsu immediately grasped the situation.
"Aye, sir!"
Natsu leaped onto a nearby crate. Happy swooped in, grabbed Natsu by his backpack, and launched them straight into the air.
"Whoa! That's cheating!" "Natsu, you bastard!"
The remaining candidates shouted in outrage as they watched the duo take off.
Ignoring their protests, Natsu and Happy wore triumphant grins as they sped toward the edge of the ship.
Bam!
But they barely made it past the railing before crashing headfirst into an invisible wall.
Runic scripts flared to life in the air where they impacted, and the two plummeted back down to the deck with a painful thud.
"Runes?!" Lisanna gasped.
Only then did the group notice a glowing ring of runic script encircling the entire ship.
"Don't worry! It will automatically dispel in exactly five minutes!" Freed's voice drifted down from above.
Everyone looked up to see Freed and Levy already hovering in the air outside the ship, both sporting a pair of glowing purple wings.
"Freed!" "You bastard!" Natsu and Gray pounded furiously on the invisible barrier, yelling at the hovering duo.
"Sorry!" Levy apologized, noticing Kagura, Meredy, and the other girls glaring at her. She pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture, offering a sheepish smile before turning to follow Freed toward the island.
"Hey, old man! Is this even allowed?!" Gray yelled back at Makarov.
Lisanna punched the barrier twice, but seeing it hold firm, she gave up.
"It's fine. It's not a footrace anyway," Makarov waved his hand dismissively, not caring in the slightest.
"If that guy makes landfall first, the entire island will be covered in his traps!" Gray groaned, glaring at Freed's retreating back.
"Gaaah! Dammit!" Natsu continued to punch the barrier in frustration.
Swish, swish, swish...
The rapid sound of frantic scribbling caught their attention. The group turned to see Meredy wielding a Magical Pen, writing furiously directly over the runic barrier at the edge of the ship.
"Done! The rewrite is complete!" Meredy smiled brightly, capping her pen.
"Whoaaa!" Everyone stared at her in pleasant surprise.
"However, only Lyon and I can pass through!"
"What?!"
Before the others could process her words, Meredy and Lyon leaped off the edge of the ship, passing right through the barrier as Natsu and the rest gaped in disbelief.
"Ice-Make: Floor!"
While still in mid-air, Lyon thrust his hands downward. A slick path of ice materialized over the ocean's surface, extending rapidly toward the island. The two landed smoothly on the ice path.
"Asking you to be my partner was the best decision I could have made!" Lyon praised her with a smirk.
"Hehe," Meredy blushed slightly, scratching her cheek.
"We're going on ahead! You just sit tight and wait, Gray!" Lyon called over his shoulder, waving casually. He and Meredy then turned and began skating rapidly along the ice path toward Tenrou Island. As they passed, the ice quickly melted back into the sea.
"Dammit!" Gray scowled at Lyon's retreating back.
"Heh. We've known Freed for a long time. Complex traps might be an issue, but rewriting a basic barrier like this is a piece of cake," Bickslow chuckled. He and Evergreen had been working together to rewrite another section of the barrier.
"Alright, see you all later! We're off!" Evergreen announced.
Having successfully altered the runes, the two leaped off the ship. Bickslow surfed on his five hovering dolls, while a pair of fairy wings sprouted from Evergreen's back, and the duo flew off toward the island.
"These guys..." Natsu grumbled, pressing his face against the barrier in frustration.
"How much longer?" Lisanna asked Juvia.
"Four more minutes," Juvia replied, her eyes tracking the countdown.
"Did Meredy really unravel Freed's runes in just one minute?" Kagura asked, thoroughly impressed.
"These were relatively simple runes," Noah explained with a smile. "I use runic magic quite often, so I taught her the foundational theories. She's more than capable of cracking and rewriting basic scripts."
"Dammit..." The remaining candidates, none of whom knew how to rewrite runes, could only pace anxiously on the deck, waiting for the timer to expire.
Four minutes later...
With a flash of light, the runic barrier dissolved into the air.
"Let's go!" The group immediately scrambled for the railing.
"Happy!" "Aye!" Happy grabbed Natsu, spread his wings, and shot straight toward Tenrou Island.
"Take Over: Animal Soul - Bird!" Lisanna transformed into a large bird, hovering in the air. She extended her talons toward Elfman. He grabbed on tight, and with a powerful flap of her wings, Lisanna carried her brother toward the island.
"Gravity Magic!" Kagura grasped the hilt of her sheathed katana and raised it slightly. Instantly, she and Simon became weightless, floating effortlessly through the air toward their destination.
"Ice-Make: Floor!" Upon jumping off the ship, Gray opted for the exact same strategy as his senior disciple. A path of solid ice materialized over the water. He and Loke landed gracefully and began skating toward the shore.
"Hah!" Gajeel shouted, leaping from the railing. His legs instantly transformed into extending iron pillars, vaulting him high over the water and propelling him toward the island.
Juvia dove directly into the ocean. Leveraging her perfect affinity with water, she swam like a torpedo, quickly catching up to Gajeel. When Gajeel's iron pillars retracted, causing him to fall toward the water, Juvia summoned a massive wave that caught him perfectly, surfing him forward at high speed.
"They're all gone. Grandpa, I'll go dock the ship," Noah said, watching the eight teams race away.
Makarov nodded.
Noah manipulated the ship's integrated magical steering to navigate it safely toward the shore of Tenrou Island. Because the ship was equipped with magical auto-navigation, it didn't require a full crew to operate.
Once the ship was securely anchored, Noah teleported Makarov and himself directly to the temporary base camp they had established inland.
Ultear, Laxus, Ur, and the rest had already finished setting up the camp, and Noah's true body was waiting for them.
Noah's projection smoothly merged back into his true body.
Makarov walked over to Mavis, who was hovering near the center of the camp. "First Master."
"Third. You've arrived," Mavis smiled.
"First Master, I apologize for bringing potential danger to Tenrou Island," Makarov bowed slightly, his tone laced with guilt.
"No, there is no need to apologize. This is not your fault. The blame lies solely with those who seek to harm our guild," Mavis shook her head gently.
Hearing Mavis's reassuring words, Makarov's heavy heart lightened considerably.
"I've double-checked all the barriers on Tenrou Island. Everything is running perfectly," Noah reported, noticing Makarov's lingering anxiety.
"That's a relief," Makarov let out a long sigh.
"Alright, let's see how our candidates are doing," Noah said. He raised his hand, and six holographic screens materialized in the air: three showing the S-Class examiners' routes, two showing the combat routes, and one showing the 'Peace' route.
"I wonder who will run into who?" The group quickly gathered around, taking seats on the mats they had laid out. Noah even pulled out a stash of snacks and handed them around.
"Oh? Freed and Levy took one of the combat routes? It looks like they've already set up a ton of runes. I wonder who their unlucky opponents will be?" Mirajane popped a snack into her mouth, watching the screen where Freed and Levy were furiously scribbling runic traps all over the cave floor.
"Freed's team arrived on the island five minutes ahead of everyone else. Although Lyon's and Bickslow's teams arrived shortly after—preventing Freed from setting up island-wide traps—that five-minute head start was more than enough time for him and Levy to heavily fortify their specific tunnel," Noah explained, actively monitoring the entire island. As he finished speaking, he shot a highly meaningful glance at Mirajane.
"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?" Mirajane tilted her head, confused by his stare.
"Just watch," Noah sighed, shaking his head and pointing back at the screen.
Mirajane followed his finger. A second later, the corner of her mouth twitched violently, and she let out a helpless, exasperated laugh. "Oh dear. Now I know why you looked at me like that. Their luck really is terrible."
The rest of the group burst into laughter when they saw who had walked into the trap.
On the screen, Elfman and Lisanna had just stumbled directly into Freed and Levy's fully fortified tunnel.
Mirajane massaged her temples and sighed deeply. She knew exactly what her younger siblings were capable of. In a straightforward, unprepared encounter, it would be a toss-up; Elfman and Lisanna had a decent chance of winning.
But walking directly into Freed's prepared kill-zone? Neither of them knew how to crack complex runic magic. Their chances of winning were practically zero.
As expected, the moment Elfman and Lisanna spotted Freed and Levy, they instantly activated their Take Over magic—Beast Soul and Animal Soul (Rabbit)—bracing for a fight.
Unfortunately for them, they were already standing inside a runic trap. The specific rule of the trap? 'Anyone who uses magic within this zone will be deprived of oxygen.'
Within seconds, Elfman and Lisanna passed out from hypoxia, collapsing to the ground without throwing a single punch.
Freed and Levy had secured an effortless victory.
"Well, I suppose they can treat this trip to Tenrou Island as a vacation. I'll go pick them up," Mirajane shook her head, thoroughly unsurprised by the result.
"Go ahead. The other fights are just starting," Noah nodded. He watched on the screen as Freed deactivated the trap, checked to ensure Elfman and Lisanna were unharmed, and then proceeded down the tunnel with Levy.
Mirajane nodded, instantly activating her Satan Soul, and flew out of the base camp with a powerful flap of her demonic wings.
Noah turned his attention to another screen. Lyon and Meredy were already throwing hands with Bickslow and Evergreen.
"Ice-Make: Eagle!" Lyon thrust both hands forward, launching a massive flock of ice-crafted eagles toward his opponents.
"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!" Evergreen swung her feathered fan violently, unleashing a dense cloud of explosive fairy dust. The moment the dust collided with the ice eagles, it detonated in a chain of violent explosions.
"Hey, Baby! Go wild!" Bickslow commanded. His five hovering dolls zipped through the air, firing rapid volleys of magical blasts at Lyon and Meredy.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Lyon ducked and weaved, continuously generating more ice eagles to intercept and retaliate, filling the tunnel with his icy creations.
"Light Funnels!" Meredy summoned four glowing orbs of light that orbited her body, automatically firing retaliatory beams at the incoming dolls. After dodging a stray blast, she pointed two fingers at Lyon. "Blessing of Light!"
A radiant aura enveloped Lyon, noticeably amplifying his speed, strength, and magical output.
"Ice-Make: Ape!" Feeling the surge of power, Lyon grinned and instantly crafted a massive ice ape. The construct roared and charged straight at Bickslow and Evergreen, throwing a devastating punch.
Bickslow and Evergreen focused their fire on the ape, but thanks to Meredy's buff, the ice construct was too sturdy. It tanked their attacks and forced both of them to leap backward to avoid being crushed.
Seizing the opening while Bickslow was mid-air, Meredy launched her own attack. "Maguilty Söd!"
She thrust her hands forward, firing a concentrated blast of magical energy directly at him.
Bickslow desperately tried to recall his dolls to block it, but Lyon was faster, sending a wave of ice eagles to intercept and scatter the dolls. Seeing that Bickslow was completely exposed, Evergreen dodged another flock of eagles, swooped in, and yanked him out of the blast's trajectory just in time.
BOOM!!!
The energy blast slammed into the cave wall, causing a massive explosion that sent shrapnel flying everywhere. Simultaneously, several runic scripts flashed across the rock face, dampening the shockwave—one of the many failsafes Noah had installed to ensure the candidates didn't accidentally collapse the tunnels on themselves.
"They really are strong," Meredy muttered, seeing her attack fail to land.
"You're quite impressive yourself," Evergreen panted, landing safely with Bickslow.
Despite their casual banter at the guild, Evergreen and Bickslow hadn't expected the young girl to be this skilled. When they initially ran into Lyon and Meredy, they had assumed Meredy would be a dead weight, making this an easy 2v1 fight.
Instead, Meredy had not only held her own, but her flawless coordination with Lyon had put them under immense pressure.
"I wouldn't just pick anyone to be my partner. Don't underestimate Meredy," Lyon smirked, perfectly reading Evergreen's thoughts.
"I won't hold back!" Meredy clenched her fists, her expression fiercely determined.
"Haha! Let's keep going!" Lyon slammed his fist into his palm, a dense wave of freezing mist rolling off his body. He thrust his hands forward once more, unleashing another flock of ice eagles as the fierce 2v2 battle resumed.
~~~
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