Hope had also learned an important piece of intelligence from Bluenote's Memory.
"Grimoire Heart" had allied with "Tartaros", intending to ambush and kill a member of "Fairy Tail" on Tenrou Island... and that member turned out to be him.
Grimoire Heart had somehow learned that for this Tenrou Island exam, Fairy Tail would dispatch all its S-Class Mages as examiners.
Having learned from Bluenote just how powerful Hope was, Hades believed that this Tenrou Island exam would definitely include Hope, the new member of Fairy Tail.
Coincidentally, he had also discovered that the last known whereabouts of the legendary Black Wizard were near Tenrou Island.
In order to obtain the key to the "Great Magic World", the Black Wizard Zeref, to eliminate the inevitable obstacle that was Fairy Tail, and to strangle in its cradle a Hope who wielded a power higher than magic.
Hades used these three points to persuade Tartaros's true controller, the Underworld King Mard Geer, to gather the full combat strength of these two top-tier dark guilds and prepare a killing trap on Tenrou Island.
It's just that the plan seemed rather laughable compared to reality.
How could Hades and the Underworld King have predicted that, because he had no interest in the S-Class exam, Hope wasn't even on the list for the Tenrou Island trip?
Meanwhile, the elite forces of "Demon Heart" and "Tartaros" were being stylishly beaten up by the Fairy Tail Mages on Tenrou Island using all sorts of magic.
By the time Mirajane caught up, Hope had already finished the battle.
She glanced at Mavis's tombstone, happily grabbed Cana and Lucy's hands, and said, "Congratulations, you're the first group to find the First Guild Master's grave. It looks like Cana can finally get her wish this time."
"This probably shouldn't count. Everyone else must be tied up fighting the enemies invading Tenrou Island. Otherwise, it might not have been Lucy and me."
Cana gave an embarrassed "Eh-heh" sound, her face showing a hint of awkwardness.
She had participated in the exam many times before, yearning to become S-Class, because Cana felt that only by acknowledging their relationship with the identity of an S-Class Mage would she not embarrass Gildarts.
But after the father-daughter reunion, she realized that Gildarts was utterly shameless; strength, talent, and such things weren't as important to him as his daughter.
So now, Cana wasn't so fixated on becoming S-Class anymore.
However, this time, Cana and Lucy also encountered enemies, and this exam inherently contained an element of luck. Mirajane felt that in the end, Makarov would still rule that Cana had become S-Class.
"By the way, didn't the Guild Master say he would wait for us at the First Master's grave?" Lucy looked around. "He wouldn't have gone out to fight, would he?"
"That's a great question you've asked,"
Hope gave her a thumbs up. "It's great because you stated the answer while asking the question."
Lucy: "..."
Given Makarov's fiercely protective nature, the moment Tenrou Island was invaded by enemies, in order to protect the children, he would have undoubtedly gone to confront them immediately.
Mirajane glared at Hope, who was teasing Lucy. "You're getting more and more obnoxious. Just wait until we get back and Erza deals with you."
Hope adopted an expression of 'a dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water', spreading his hands. "I came all the way from Magnolia to provide support and even took out a few Demon cadres along the way. Why should I be afraid of Erza?"
Mirajane pouted, turned, and walked up to Mavis's tombstone, where she respectfully bowed.
Lucy and Cana, who had obtained 'Fairy Glitter', also stepped forward to pay their respects. After all... this was the resting place of the most important one among the four founders of Fairy Tail.
Without Mavis, Fairy Tail would never have been born.
Knowing this was merely an empty grave, Hope made no move, simply watching quietly as they paid their respects.
Speaking of which, Mavis's body had regained vitality through the joint efforts of the Second Guild Master, but in the end, it was just an empty shell.
Who knows where Mavis's soul went.
Did it reincarnate, or... Hmm?
Hope suddenly looked towards the small grove on the right. He thought he had sensed a small figure flash by just now, but upon careful investigation, he found nothing.
How strange. Was it an illusion?
Hope shook his head and left the area with Mirajane and the other two, who had finished paying their respects, heading towards the final battlefield.
After the group left, from the small grove Hope had scanned earlier, a golden-haired ghostly figure materialized. She landed and sat on her own tombstone, cutely cupping her little face in her hands.
"That young man is really impressive. If not for Tenrou Island's protection, he would have definitely discovered me. Now is not the time to meet the younger generation."
Mavis looked down at the completely empty space before her tombstone and said somewhat discontentedly, "The younger generation these days has no manners. They come to pay respects to their First Guild Master and don't even bring any tasty treats."
"Even though I can't eat them or smell them, at least let me enjoy the sight."
"Ah—I really want to eat sweets..."
——
——
——
Tenrou Island, Southern Shore.
A sea breeze gently brushed against the two figures standing opposite each other.
Under the magical power radiating from the two, the sea breeze howled, the sea surface grew restless, and fierce waves surged one after another, crashing onto the sandy shore.
Looking at the one-eyed old man opposite him, clad in armor and full of vigor, Makarov's heart was filled with a complex mix of sorrow and joy.
The joy was that after over forty years, he had finally seen his teacher again—the one who had raised him, trained him, and made him who he was.
The sorrow was that the person before him had come to Tenrou Island as an invader, as the Guild Master of "Demon Heart"... "Nearly 50 years... I truly never imagined that when we met again, you would have become like this, Precht... Master."
Makarov's voice was full of melancholy. His already short and thin frame seemed to stoop even further.
"To be precise, it has been 48 years since I resigned as Guild Master and began wandering the world until now, the day we meet again."
One of Fairy Tail's founders, the former Second Guild Master Precht, now the Guild Master of Demon Heart, Hades, detected a hint of anger and accusation in his disciple's words.
A flicker of emotion passed through his eyes but vanished in an instant. The harsh words that had been on the tip of his tongue ultimately came out as:
"Makarov, you brat... you've grown old too."
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