"Snore— Snore—"
The members gathered around the roaring campfire at the temporary camp on Tenrou Island, listening to Natsu's incredibly loud snoring.
"It's so loud! Natsu, can't you sleep a little quieter?!" Elfman complained, rubbing his temples.
His ears were aching from the noise.
Unfortunately, Natsu, deep in an exhausted sleep, couldn't hear a thing.
"What's the harm? Let him sleep well," Mira smiled, soothing her brother.
"I really didn't expect that gross thing to be Hades' actual heart," Lucy shuddered, warming her hands by the fire.
"Though it was found by pure chance, we did a good job!" Happy cheered.
Happy had specifically gone up to Raizel earlier to ask what the power source of the dark ship actually was, and Raizel had told him the grim truth—it was originally Hades' physical heart, which he had extracted and modified with dark magic to turn into an infinite power source.
"The Exceed Team's first official infiltration mission was successfully completed," Lily puffed out his chest, looking quite proud.
"That's right!" Carla nodded.
"Aye, sir!"
"Oh! Looks like everything's settled." Gildarts scratched his head as he finally emerged from the forest, letting out a long, loud yawn.
He had gone straight to sleep against a rock right after punching Bluenote into the stratosphere.
It wasn't until he smelled the smoke from the campfire that he woke up and followed it here.
"By the way, Master, what should we do about this S-Class exam?" Mira asked, turning to Makarov.
"The process was far too chaotic. I think we should return to the guild first and then discuss it..." Makarov pondered for a moment, stroking his chin.
"Ahem!" Makarov suddenly clasped his hands behind his back and jumped onto a high rock to grab everyone's attention.
"Everyone, clean out your ears and listen carefully! I have an important announcement to make regarding this year's S-Class Mage promotion exam—I've decided to terminate it!"
"What did you say???" The participating members yelled in unison.
"I! Said! It's terminated!" Makarov yelled back, his voice booming over theirs.
"I can't accept this, old man!" Natsu yelled, bolting awake.
"Why cancel the exam so suddenly?!" Gray argued.
"Just let me become an S-Class Mage already!" Gajeel grunted.
"Please, you're not even a participant this time! Levy is, right?" Lucy sweatdropped at Gajeel.
Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Elfman all found it hard to accept this anticlimactic reality.
"I don't want this either, brats, but a lot has happened today," Makarov sighed.
"This exam even involved the Magic Council's military, and it's hard to say who exactly defeated the Grimoire Heart members or how much effort each person contributed to the overall victory," Mira explained reasonably on Makarov's behalf.
"So, we can't continue this time, right?" Levy sighed, sounding a bit dejected.
"Hey, why are you giving up so quickly?! Damn it!" Gajeel barked, frustrated by her passive attitude.
"But even if we count defeating Grimoire Heart as a trial, it has nothing to do with me. I couldn't even defeat one of the Seven Kin's subordinates..." Levy mumbled.
She reconsidered her stance—even if they counted the combat results, it wouldn't favorably affect her score.
"I don't think you need to get so worked up about it, Gajeel," Lily noted, arms crossed. Lily didn't quite understand why Gajeel was so agitated.
He was just a support partner—Levy's promotion wouldn't give Gajeel a rank anyway.
...
The exam was officially called off by Makarov.
Although Raizel felt it was quite a pity for the candidates, he didn't intend to argue with the Guild Master's ruling.
"It's a shame, but we'll just have to do better next year," Raizel said, sitting down beside Kagura.
"There's nothing to regret. S-Class is just a rank," Kagura answered calmly, continuing to carefully polish Archenemy with a cloth.
"As long as I keep improving my sword, that is enough."
The loud commotion near the fire soon ended.
Makarov expanded his fist and punched Natsu into the dirt for making a fuss, and the other members who had been thinking of joining the argument quickly quieted down.
"Alright, I think it's time for us to leave," Raizel said, standing up and clapping his hands twice.
"The return ship is ready and anchored at the cove," Ultear followed up promptly.
"Shouldn't we rest on the island a bit more? Some members are still heavily injured," Levy objected, gesturing to Elfman.
"I'm not 100% sure if it will happen, but there is a distinct possibility—the Black Dragon mentioned in the Book of Apocalypse, Acnologia, might be coming here." Raizel's expression and tone were deadly serious.
The members quickly grasped the terrifying gravity of the situation.
The campfire went dead silent.
"You said Acnologia?!" Gildarts had the strongest reaction, his face paling as he grabbed his prosthetic shoulder.
"Go! Leave now! Don't linger for a second!" Gildarts roared, frantically urging the members toward the beach.
"Why?! If it's a dragon, can't I just ask it about Igneel's whereabouts?!" Natsu protested, fighting against the push.
"No discussion!" Gildarts promptly knocked Natsu unconscious again with a swift punch to the head.
"No time to explain! Get on the ship—any questions can wait until we're safely back in Magnolia!"
"The teleportation array is ready—everyone, step inside the circle!"
While Gildarts was directing the panicked crowd, Raizel had already quickly constructed a massive Teleportation Magic Circle in the sand.
Supporting the injured, the members hastily stepped inside.
A brilliant red light flashed, and everyone was instantly transported from the beach directly onto the deck of their anchored ship.
Ultear immediately started the magical engines, steering them away from the island.
...
Watching the dark shape of Tenrou Island shrink in the distance, Makarov quickly approached Raizel on the deck.
"Alright, care to explain now? Why did you say that monster would come to Tenrou Island?"
Raizel leaned against the railing, shaking his head. "I'm not certain it will. As for the reason it might appear—one possibility is that it was drawn by the concentrated evil intentions of the Grimoire Heart members. Another is the massive dark magical power of Precht. Or, it might simply be tracking Zeref's lingering magical energy."
Acnologia's whereabouts across the continent had always been entirely unpredictable, but the dragon had one consistent, cruel hobby: treating the immortal Black Wizard Zeref as a hunting plaything.
It wasn't impossible that the dragon was coming just to toy with Zeref.
"When would it arrive...?" Makarov asked, sweating. "
If it doesn't show up before we reach Hargeon Port, I doubt it will appear at all," Raizel speculated.
At the moment, Raizel didn't feel any looming sense of dread, nor did he detect any particularly ominous magical power in the clouds.
Gildarts, Ur, and Makarov felt the same clear air.
This meant that even if Acnologia was indeed heading toward Tenrou Island, it wasn't very close yet.
They had escaped just in time.
"Carla, how are you feeling now?" Raizel asked the white cat sitting beside him on the railing.
"Nothing so far," Carla shook her head, her eyes clear.
"Carla, did you foresee something bad?" Happy asked curiously, floating over.
The resting members were drawn in by Happy's question and turned their attention to the serious Exceed.
After pondering for a while, Carla decided to tell the truth. "Before the S-Class exam began, I did see some very bad visions. That day, Wendy and I went to find Raizel together to warn him. But it's all in the past now, and some of the fatal visions didn't come true."
Some minor visions did materialize—Evergreen, Elfman, and Gajeel getting severely injured.
But the apocalyptic visions never happened, like the fiery collapse of the Tenrou Tree, or the guild members sitting collapsed on the ground waiting for death.
This indicated that the tragic events that were originally supposed to occur had already shifted due to their choices—though she didn't know whether this altered timeline was ultimately good or bad.
But looking around the deck, at least everyone was still alive, and they would soon return safely to the guild.