So my last update was back towards the end of October of last year. Oh boy. Uhhhh, hey everyone, aha... Happy 2020.

Just a lot has been going on, nearing the end of the semester of my university had exams and projects to do while getting a new job at the same time, so that was rough. Then the semester ended mid December but I still had my job to do so I had more time to work on this chapter. Come mid January, semester starts again and my schedule is filled up again. So now, here we are with a new chapter. Part of the busy schedule, I did wanted to diverge from what actually happened in the main series, so I hope that's alright since that's happening in this chapter. It's definitely going to be different from here on out, for the most part.

I Do appreciate all the reviews from the previous chapter, I'll start that again the next chapter as I'll focus on it more often since I'm situated in real life. I know it looks bad on me that I'm not consistent with how I upload the chapters and update this story, but I'm still going.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Onward!

Erza looked back with narrowed eyes as she felt the spike of energy and the dreadful feeling just now. It only happened for a moment… before it suddenly vanished, and she only felt the participants and their partners present before Marissa arrived. About a minute later, the redhead relaxed, sensing that dark feeling wasn't present anymore, and that everyone went their separate ways, no doubt continuing the exam.

"Erza? Is everything alright?" Juvia asked, seeing the intense look on the S-Class mage, and having the courage to speak up.

"Yes… my apologies. It seems it wasn't anything…" Erza answered, muttering the last part to herself and walked forward to meet up with the water mage. Her senses located two people once more, and she went ahead and took the lead once more. "Mest and Wendy shouldn't be too far out now. Let's hurry and get them back to the camp."

'Ah… Juvia should've waited a little longer to sneak away… I hope my darling Gray is doing okay!' The rain woman said, a bit depressed as her face heated up, thinking about the ice-make mage.

'I hope Yusuke and Ann are doing alright… ' Erza idly thought as she continued walking towards the pair near the edge of the island. Her mind briefly went back to the night the four of them went away after they had brought them food, and she remembered something the female Saiyan said before they left. 'The Room of Spirit and Time… I wonder what Ann meant by that. I should ask Marissa about it when we get back.'

As both mages continued walking the path with the redhead leading, Erza suddenly stopped and looked to her left with a small sound of wonder. Juvia stopped as well, and saw the same intense look on Erza's face just a few minutes ago.

"What's the matter now?" Juvia asked.

'... Gajeel and Levy? And two more people? I don't know them by their energy, this isn't good.' With narrowed eyes, Erza looked ahead of her again where she felt Mest and Wendy and made a discomfort grunt as she contemplated for a moment. That moment passed, and she immediately bolted towards the area where Gajeel and Levy were, sensing that the other pair was just idly standing around. "Gajeel and Levy might be in trouble! Let's go, Juvia!"

Hearing that one of her long time friends from Phantom Lord is involved and could be in danger, a serious look came over the water mage and she immediately followed the redhead. "Right!"

'Those two other people that are with Gajeel and Levy... ' Erza felt all of their powers rise in an instant, and as it did she brought out her hand as she used her Requip magic, a cylindrical tube appearing as she grabbed ahold of it before aiming it towards the sky. 'I'm sure of it now, they're enemies! We have to put the exam on hold now!'

From the cylindrical tube Erza hold, a red flare light shot out of it and traveled up high in the sky before it exploded, signaling everyone on the island.

"They're just straight ahead…! Juvia, I'm moving forward!" Erza shouted to the rain woman behind her, and before waiting for a response, she ignited her aura to life around her as she dashed forward, flying past the trees as she moved closer to where Gajeel and Levy were.

With the speed Erza put out, she quickly arrived to where the two of them were at, and she suddenly stopped in the air as she winced with an eye closed, covering both of her ears as she suddenly heard a loud sound reverberating in the area. Having her one eye open, Erza saw a chicken-like person in front of Levy while a dog-like person dressed like a samurai was in front of Gajeel, both of them having their ears covered as well.

Seeing the chicken moving first towards Levy, Erza immediately dived down towards it as she extended out an arm, a sword quickly appearing before striking down at the feathered enemy with the brunt side of her weapon. Effectively stopping the first opponent and standing on top of him, the redhead brought out her opposite hand and aimed it in the same direction Levy and Gajeel were standing.

At that moment, Levy grabbed Gajeel by his clothes and forcefully pulled him away so that they were out of Erza's line of fire. After doing so, the Knight made a small grin, and fired off a golden Ki wave towards the dog-like enemy as it made contact with writings in the middle of the air in front of him, a small explosion occurring where he was at.

A few moments later, the loud noise stopped, as it was now silent, and the Fairy Tail mages relaxed a bit.

"Levy! Gajeel! Are you two alright?!" Erza hastily asked, going over to them.

"Yeah… we're good now… " Gajeel irritably said, standing up.

"Erza, it's Grimoire Heart…! They're from there!" Levy warned.

"... what?!" Erza muttered in surprise.

"Hey…! Get ready!" Gajeel suddenly said, getting into a fighting stance as he faced the direction where the dog enemy was.

Erza immediately whipped around, gripping her sword with both her hands as she saw the chicken enemy slowly stand up, scratched up from her attack.

The chicken growled, and his chest suddenly puffed up along with its cheeks as it fired off a barrage eggs from its mouth towards the three, slight catching Erza off-guard from the odd attack.

SOLID SCRIPT: FIRE!

Levy moved her arm in the air as the word "Fire" that consisted of bright flames suddenly appeared in front of the mages, and it was launched towards the eggs that was shot towards them, and incinerated them.

'I need to focus…' Erza shook her head slightly, and immediately phased out of her spot as she moved closer to the chicken enemy, and kicked it right in its face, sending him away from her towards the other opponent to her left, crashing against a tree while breaking it.

"Hurry and get up, Kowazu! This should be easy!" The dog shouted, propping a sword up in his hands to guard.

"Easier said than done, Yomazu! Gah…! That hurt!" The chicken, known as Kowazu, shakily stood back up as it rubbed his cheek with his feathery arm.

"Levy, support Gajeel if you can." Erza said, glancing to the side but also kept her eyes towards the enemy, briefly catching the Grimoire Heart mark on them.

"Right…" Levy nodded.

"What business does Grimoire Heart here on Fairy Tail's sacred grounds?!" Erza demanded.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" The dog, known as Yomazu, answered as he lifted up his katana. "Kill all the Fairies on this island!"

ZAN!

Maneuvering his katana in the air, Yomazu greatly swung his weapon to the side as a kanji appeared along with his swing, and travelled towards the Fairy Tail mages.

Exploding her aura to life, Erza shouted as she swung her own sword to the side as well with a single arm, a large force of her energy being launched as it countered the Grimoire Heart soldier's attack, pushing it back for a moment before it broke past his attack. Yomazu cried out in surprise as he saw his slash broke away, and couldn't evade in time as Erza's attack collided against him, sending him back.

Eggs were suddenly launched towards the Fairy Tail mages. Noticing right away, Levy stepped forward as she wrote another "Fire" Solid Script from her magic, and sent it towards the eggs as she burned them. However, it was only just half of the quantity that was destroyed before the rest was still heading towards them.

"Oh no!" Levy cried out.

IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!

Gajeel let out his roar towards the eggs, destroying the rest of them and even travelled towards Kowazu. The chicken shouted in surprise, and covered himself with an arm in time to avoid a direct hit, but was still hit nonetheless as he was sent back, destroying a tree.

"Hmph. This is the best that Grimoire Heart is capable of? The dark guild that's supposedly to be the strongest of the Balam Alliance?" Gajeel mockingly said.

"We're doing fine now but… I wouldn't underestimate them just yet…" Levy said.

"Hehehe…" Yomazu can be heard laughing, and he stood up with a few scratches on him as propped up his katana with both his hands. "Oh it isn't just us, don't you worry about that…"

"Heha-peron!" Kowazu stood up as well, first supporting himself off his knee before fully standing on his legs. "Because everyone from the Grimoire Heart guild is coming soon to Tenrou Island-peron! Hahaha!"

At the revelation that the entirety of Grimoire Heart, the Fairy Tail mages widened their eyes in fright as the dark guild soldiers continued laughing.

"All… All of Grimoire Heart is coming here? W-Why…?" Levy stuttered in fear.

"... it was a good call sending out that flare. Everyone else should know that the exam is on hold now. We need to hurry and get back to the camp as well." Erza stated.

"No problem." Gajeel stated, and began running forward as he brought back his right arm.

IRON DRAGON'S SWORD

As he launched his arm forward, it extended and morphed into an iron sword, making its way towards Yomazu. Seeing the Iron Dragon Slayer charging at him, the dog brought out his katana in front of him, positioning it sideways.

BO!

Another kanji appeared in front of Yomazu as Gajeel's sword made contact with it, and the dragon slayer quickly found out that he had hit a barrier that protected the samurai.

The chicken jumped up in the air, his chest puffing out again as he spat out a large barrage of eggs out of his mouth towards the three Fairy Tail mages.

SOLID SCRIPT: WALL!

Moving her arms around in the air, Levy lifted them up shortly after and threw them towards the ground, the word "Wall" appearing and travelling in front of the three of them. The ground was then suddenly lifted up, a protective wall covering all of them as the eggs bombarded it shortly after. The mages backed away, just in time as the wall was destroyed by the eggs but still covered themselves from the egg whites and dust mixing together.

KAN!

From the corner of her eye, Erza saw a beam of light headed straight towards Gajeel and Levy, and she moved immediately towards them. Arriving where she saw the beam in front of her and the other two, she held her sword in front of her, and positioned it just off to the side, away from her. A moment later her feet dug into the ground, feeling the beam scrape her blade as it was deflected away from them, piercing through a nearby tree.

"Now, Kawazu!" Yomazu shouted from afar, and as the mages looked ahead at the broken wall in front of them to see the chicken appear from the dust, his mouth already wide open as the eggs were spat out from his mouth.

"Oh no…!" Erza gasped, having little time to react as she saw the eggs being launched towards them.

However, water travelled around all three Fairy Tail mages, with the liquid moving around their feet and instantly shot up from the ground as it forcefully stopped the eggs that was about to attack them. Kawazu gasped as the water made its way towards him, forcing him back to where Yomazu was, drenched in water.

Erza, Gajeel, and Levy looked back briefly to see Juvia panting from her running, her arm and hand outstretched in front of her.

"Juvia…!" Gajeel and Levy exclaimed.

"You made it… good!" Erza said with a sigh of relief.

"Erza… Juvia wished you hadn't gone off like that…" The rain woman said, her panting easing off now as she took one deep breath before letting it out, and briskly arrived at the same spot the other three mages were.

"My apologies Juvia, but I had to. Who knows what Grimoire Heart might have had up their sleeve if I didn't help out right away." Erza answered before facing the two opponents with her sword propped up once more, noticing that the soaked chicken-man was slowly standing.

"G-Grimoire Heart…?!" Juvia exclaimed, fully aware of the dark guild that was part of the Balam Alliance.

"That's why we have to take care of these guys now." Gajeel said.

"And we need to hurry, they already mentioned the rest of their guild is coming to Tenrou Island." Levy commented, further surprising the rain woman.

"We've had enough time wasted already… let's finish up." Erza said, flaring out her energy as a white aura now appeared around her.

Then Erza sprinted forward, going around the broken wall and rubble around it, past the chicken and went straight towards the samurai dog. Yomazu widened his eyes, and saw the redhead's sword already in motion. Not having time to invoke his script magic, he defended with his own sword in time to counteract her attack, but he couldn't parry away. Instead, Erza broke through his defense, pushing away his weapon, and quickly used that moment to spin around and kick the Grimoire Heart member away. He collided with his back against a nearby tree, and his hold on his sword loosened as he head hung down, now unconscious.

"Yomazu-!" Kawazu shouted, looking back in time to see the redhead kick his partner away until a wall of water shot up in front of him, causing him to step back in fright. "Wha-?!"

"You underestimated Fairy Tail! As if we'll lose to Grimoire Heart!" Gajeel shouted, causing the last standing enemy to look back at the Iron Dragon Slayer with an arm pulled back.

IRON DRAGON'S CLUB!

With Gajeel's arm forming into an iron club, he launched it towards Kawazu, who had a shocked expression on his face. Unable to bring up his arms to defend in time, Gajeel was able to hit the enemy directly at his face, breaking past the wall of water, extending past a couple of trees as the chicken crashed through them as well with a yelp before hitting the ground unconscious.

With both Grimoire Hearts that snuck onto Tenrou Island out of commission, there was a small sense of victory as they rounded up both of the humanoid members, and tying them up together.

"We did it…" Levy said with a sigh of relief, resting her hands on her knees.

"No one else is hurt, are they?" Erza asked, tightening the rope around both dark guild members and received a shaking head in response from Levy and Juvia.

"Hmph, as if they can do much to me." Gajeel answered with crossed arms.

"'You underestimated Fairy Tail,' hm?" Juvia said with a teasing voice towards the Dragon Slayer, not expecting to hear those words from her friend where they've both been Phantom Lord in the past.

"... shut up." Gajeel sneered, walking away the rest of them. As he walked away, his mind drifted away to a couple months back. To a point right before he joined Fairy Tail.

As the image of Makarov with his hand held out towards him like a ray of hope, he shuddered in a sort of warmth at the thought. Then, the male Saiyan appeared in his thoughts a moment later.

"It can't be that bad you guys… A mentor of mine said that: Yesterday's enemies are today's friends. We should be welcoming him."

Once upon the time Gajeel felt confused when Yusuke said those words, as he fully knew that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail fought in the past. But now, the Dragon Slayer was rather glad someone didn't mind him joining.

'I know you're training a lot right now… you better not lose another battle after you do.' Gajeel thought in his head, looking up at the many clouds in the sky, a majority forming together as a small breeze blew by.

"What do we do with them?" Levy asked, seeing both of the enemies knocked out.

"We already know that the main forces of Grimoire Heart are coming to Tenrou Island…" Erza said, looking out in a certain direction, and sensing dozens and dozens of energy signatures on the way. "... and they weren't lying. We need to be prepared. The exams are now on hold, the best thing to do right now is to head back to camp."

"... but what about Mest and Wendy? We were on the way to find them before coming here." Juvia said.

"That's right… I almost forgot." Erza said in realization. With narrowed eyes, she looked towards the direction the pair was at before looking back. "The rest of you go back to the camp with these two. I'll head to Mest and Wendy and bring them back."

"Bringing these two back? … is it a good idea?" Levy cautiously asked.

"Sounds like we need to lug them both then…" Gajeel said with some irritation.

Erza looked to the side with a sound of surprise, and saw a figure instantly appear as they had their fingers to their forehead.

"... Marissa!" Erza exclaimed.

"Are you guys okay?" Marissa quickly asked, walking forward before gasping a bit looking down, catching both of the Grimoire Heart members. "... who are they?"

"Enemies. They snuck onto this island and attacked us…" Levy answered.

"And there's going to be a lot more coming really soon." Gajeel added.

"Marissa, perfect timing. Can you take everyone back to camp? I still need to get Mest and Wendy and bring them back." Erza asked.

"Sure, I can do that. They're not far, are they?" The Earthling replied.

"Not too far, but not too close either. But I'll handle it."

"Mm… ugh…"

Groaning can be heard below, and the Fairy Tail members looked to see the dog-like humanoid groggily waking up. Yomazu blinked, and looked around him and found himself tied up with his partner behind him as well as seeing everyone else looking down at him.

"He's awake, good." Erza said, and walked closer to him. "Tell us, what business does Grimoire Heart have with Tenrou Island?"

"..." The enemy didn't say anything, but looked at each of the Fairy Tail members once more, including the newly arrival who he hadn't encountered prior before closing his eyes in resignation. "We came here for one person on this island. That is… the Legendary Black Wizard, Zeref."

At the revealment of Grimoire Heart's objective, the four mages widened their eyes in fright and surprise. Marissa however, blinked in wonder.

"Z-Zeref…?!" Levy exclaimed, taking a step back.

"... who's Zeref?" Marissa asked in wonder.

"You're in Fairy Tail and yet you don't know who Zeref is? Hahaha!" Yomazu insulted, immediately irritating the Earthling.

"Shut up you." The Patroller said, punching the humanoid on his head hard enough that he started to hear ringing in his head.

"Zeref… he's a powerful wizard who has created many demons in the past. He's an expert in black magic, which many of them are forbidden. But the thing is… he was alive in the past, which was hundreds of years ago." Juvia answered, surprising Marissa.

"That may be so… but he is on this island, very well alive!" Yomazu revealed with a dark laugh.

'That can't be possible… can it?' Erza thought, a stinging pain in her chest as her mind thought back to the events that transpired at the Tower of Heaven in the past.

"This guys getting on my nerves… do we really have to bring them back?" Gajeel said.

"... perhaps not anymore." Erza said, forcing her thoughts back. "I only said that so that we found out why they were here. But now that we know, it seems that we can simply leave them behind and prepare for the attack."

"No amount of preparation will do you good against the Seven Kins of Purgatory…!" The Grimoire Heart member warned.

"Seven Kins…?" Levy repeated in worry.

"Time mage Ultear, our boss Caprico, Rustyrose, Kain Hikaru, Zancrow, Meredy… and one more, who is already on this island!" Yomazu revealed with a large, dark grin.

"There's one of them here already…?!" Erza exclaimed, and began running in the direction towards her original goal in the first place before looking back slightly towards everyone else. "Everyone else get back to camp! I'm going to where Mest and Wendy are!"

Erza couldn't wait for a response, and took to the air immediately to find the duo who she felt were currently wandering around.

'I have to hurry, everyone else should know how to get back to camp… but those two doesn't seem like they know. If another one of Grimoire Heart's really is one the island right now, then all the more reason I have to get to them!'

Back at the camp, a majority of the teams including Makarov, after seeing the red flare signal, waited anxiously after having arrived there quickly thanks to Marissa. Off to the side, the second to last team flickered into sight as the Earthling brought Levy, Gajeel and Juvia back.

"Good, you're all back as well. That just leaves Mest and Wendy…" Makarov said.

"Erza's on her way to get them, we don't really need to worry about them for now." Marissa said, but soon narrowed her eyes and turned around towards a direction. "Instead there's a lot of people coming to the island right now, we should get ready."

"Coming here and interrupting our exam, they don't know what's coming!" Natsu heatedly said, pounding a fist into his other hand as flames sparked out.

"Who is the enemy anyway? Do we know?" Gray questioned.

"... It's Grimoire Heart, the other dark guild that's part of the Balam Alliance." Levy answered, surprising a majority of the Fairy Tail members.

"Grimoire Heart…?! They're the strongest in the alliance, why are they coming here?" Lucy asked in fright.

"Apparently they're looking for someone on this island… Black Wizard Zeref." Juvia revealed.

With the rain woman's answer, Marissa could see a shock and horror in most of the Fairy Tail member's features at the mention of the name.

'Is this Zeref person really that scary…?' The Earthling thought in her mind.

"That's impossible, Zeref was alive so many years ago. He shouldn't be alive today." Evergreen said.

"Not according to them, and they're all coming right now to try and get him." Gajeel said.

"Here on this island…? That's unsettling." Makarov loudly muttered.

"Maybe we can worry about that later, but right now the enemy is coming onto this island. We have to get ready." Mirajane said, also sensing the large amount of energy signatures on their way.

"Bis Sis is right, we can't stand here just talking with nothing planned. What are we going to do?" Lisanna asked with a worried frown.

"... how about a direct assault at them? We have an element of surprise knowing they'll be coming, why not… welcome them?" Marissa suggested with a small shrug.

Everyone pondered over the Earthling's words as they looked at one another, some with looks of wonder and with looks of approval.

"How would you go at it, Marissa?" Makarov asked.

"Alright…"

As Erza landed on top of a tree branch, she scouted below to try and locate Mest and Wendy. She blinked when she spotted them, walking down the trail the Sky Dragon Slayer just behind him.

"There they are…" Erza muttered to herself, and went ahead and dropped down to the ground, landing in front of them.

Wendy and Mest stopped as soon as they saw the redhead drop down in front of them, causing them to jump a bit.

"Erza!" The blue-haired petite exclaimed in surprise.

"Mest, Wendy, we need to hurry back to camp." Erza said, beginning to turn around to lead them.

"What's going on?" Mest asked.

"Enemies arrived on this island. I sent out the red flare earlier so that everyone knows to get back to camp. Why didn't the both of you?" Erza answered, looking back.

"Well-" Mest was about to answer, until another voice suddenly spoke out.

"Get away from him you two!"

All three mages turned around and looked back to hear Carla's voice, as she and Pantherlily came running up to them. The white Exceed arrived in front of Wendy, spreading apart her arms defensively while Lily, grew into his larger form and went to grab Mest by his collar and pushed him back against a nearby tree.

"Who are you?!" Pantherlily demanded.

"Lily! What are you doing?" Erza hastily asked, going up to the both of them to see the hard stare the black Exceed had towards Mest.

"Erza, this person is too suspicious having claimed he is Mystogan's 'disciple.' The Prince always kept to himself, I never would have imagined that he would take a pupil." Lily reasoned, not taking his eyes off of Mest.

"That's…-!" Erza began to say, but her eyes immediately shifted away from the Exceed, looking ahead. With narrowed eyes, she went around Lily and Mest, requipping a sword in her hands as she propped it up in front of her.

"Erza…?" Wendy called out confusingly, with Carla looking at with confusion as well.

"Whoever you are, come out this instant!" Erza yelled out, sensing someone else nearby that wasn't a part of the current group.

The redhead's call out caught the rest off-guard as they looked at her and in the direction they saw her looking towards. In front of her was simply a tree off to the side… until something began sprouting out of its trunk.

Everyone immediately went on guard as the figure that was coming out of the tree trunk began forming to that of a person. The person that was sprouted out of the tree put one foot on the ground before slowly putting down the other. At the same time, the rest of their lower body, their upper body and an arm, and part of their head was seen by them from the tree. The Fairy Tail members waited in anticipation for a few moments longer, until the figure that sprouted from the tree fully emerged, and stood in front of them.

The person was male, brown-skinned, tall and muscular. He wore a light green colored upper body attire that seemed to have a leather-like material while the color clashed against his skin color, and donned orange pants with brown belts over his knees. He wore crescent-shaped, silver earrings under his striped-shaped brown hair, his slant eyes narrowing as he eyed Erza specifically.

"I'm surprised that the Titania of Fairy Tail was able to detect me so easily. Either I must have slipped up or you have tremendous sensory skills. I commend you." The tall figure said, looking down at the Fairy Tail group.

"Who are you?" Erza demanded, not letting down her sword for a moment as she glared at the mysterious man.

"I am Azuma. One of the Grimoire Heart's Seven Kins of Purgatory." Azuma introduced stoically, surprising the group.

'So this is one of the Kins that was already here on Tenrou Island…' Erza thought in her head.

"G-Grimoire Heart?!" Mest exclaimed.

"What is going on…?" Carla frightfully, taking a step back closer to Wendy.

As most of the Fairy Tail group stared incredulously at Azuma, the dark guild member himself began lifting up his right arm. Sensing a rise in power from him instantly, Erza's body charged forward by itself with her arms in motion to swing her blade at the enemy. Azuma, widened his eyes at the speed the redhead used to travel towards him as she was already in front of him. Forcefully halting his magic, Azuma quickly leaped back, gaining distance away from her and evading her swing just in time.

'She detected I was about to attack them almost immediately.' Azuma thought, narrowing his eyes as he saw Erza prop her sword back in front of her, her stance showing she was on guard. 'Ultear's description of her seems inaccurate. Her attack, if I hadn't moved away just now, I most definitely would have been greatly damaged… She's far more dangerous than what we've been told, interesting.'

"Erza, let me support you!" Wendy announced, taking a few steps forward so that she was closer, but behind her still.

"...very well, but let me do most of the fighting." Erza responded, looking back at Wendy before glancing over to Pantherlily next, seeing him still holding onto Mest. "Lily, make sure you keep him there."

"Understood." Lily nodded, tightening his hold on Mest.

A light shined around Wendy as she extended her arms towards Erza while closing her eyes, concentrating.

ARMS!

VERNIER!

A similar light surrounded Erza a moment later as the redhead widened her eyes, feeling her body lighter, but felt stronger at the same time as well. Looking hard at Azuma, her body began glowing as she began using her own magic as well until a moment later doing so, Erza was seen in her Black Wing Armor. Glowing from Wendy's enchantment, the ground cracked around the female knight as she brought her Ki out, a white aura appearing as her hair moved wildly.

'... what is this power?!' Azuma thought, his eyes widening slightly as he saw Erza lift her sword above her head.

"HAAAAGH!" Not wanting to waste time, Erza yelled and brought her sword down as a large, energy imbued slash travelled towards the dark guild member.

Azume eyes widened significantly this time after feeling the large power emitted by Erza, and shielded with his arms in front of him just in time before he was forced and sent back from where he was standing. He gritted his teeth as his back collided against a tree, and feeling the familiarity of a tree trunk, he began to sink in.

Erza's swing of her blade that let out the arc of energy tore the ground apart in front of her and the group, and they all saw it directly his Azuma head on as he was forced back from his spot, tearing apart more of the ground and trees along the way. With the Sky Dragon Slayer's enhancements towards the redhead, Erza could feel the effects more as she brought her Ki out, even surprising herself as she continued seeing some of the landscape in front of being destroyed. Her attack continued and went out to sea, the ocean water that was near the shore split apart with the water going as high as above the base of the Tenrou tree that was positioned near the middle of the island.

The rest of the Fairy Tail group looked on in shock at the strength the S-class wizard brought out, seeing the destruction she caused as the ground was sliced open a few meters apart that went all the way out to the ocean. Even the redhead was surprised herself, as she continued staring at the damage in front of her as her hands still held her sword after she swung down.

'There hasn't been an opportunity to test out the results of my training… was that really my doing?' Erza thought in disbelief as she finally stood upright again, looking at her sword before glancing back at the damage in front of her.

"Where is the enemy?" Pantherlily asked, still gripping Mest by his collar while he looked around.

Erza furrowed her brows, inwardly looking around, but blinked as she relaxed, not sensing Azuma nearby. "He's gone… retreated most likely."

"That was amazing Erza…! I didn't know you were this strong!" Wendy praised.

"I have gotten stronger, haven't I? But you helped with your enchantments, Wendy. That also played a role." Erza replied, looking back at the younger girl with a smile, who smiled back in response with a bit of red on her cheeks. She looked back towards the black Exceed who still held the man in question up against a tree. "Now then…"

Erza walked over to where the both of them were, narrowing her eyes at Mest's sweating and surprised features on his face. Now feeling her adrenaline dying down, and realizing that the person Pantherlily was keeping still wasn't actually part of the guild. Which really irritated her.

"Who are you? Coming into Fairy Tail, posing as a member and coming into our sacred grounds. You're not really with Grimoire Heart, are you?" Erza interrogated, her voice laced with a bit of venom into it.

"No, I'm not… do you think someone from the Council would actually ally themselves with a dark guild?" Mest revealed, looking directly at Erza, who soon held a surprised look.

"The Council…?!" Erza repeated and blinked.

"Well, I was searching for a way to try and dig up dirt that Fairy Tail had… but if Grimoire Heart is coming to this island, then I suppose having our ship come here isn't a total waste." Mest answered before closing his eyes, taking a moment to recompose himself. He opened his eyes as let out his breath, looking at the Fairy Tail members with a small smirk. "That being said, my position's been compromised. I may not have a reason to put Fairy Tail to the ground, but Grimoire Heart is good enough."

Confusion was set upon the Fairy Tail wizards at Mest's calm attitude, until that confusion increased as he suddenly disappeared. Erza blinked in surprise, and began looking around with the rest following her action. The redhead closed her eyes as she sensed outward to get a sense of man's energy, and felt that he was outside of the island, and out in the ocean with several other energy signatures around him. She had felt that group at the same time she ran into the Grimoire Heart soldiers that had attacked Gajeel and Levy, but if she were to take in the fact that Mest is actually apart of the council, it seems that a ship was already nearby with council soldiers within.

"He's left the island... " Erza said after some time, looking back at everyone else.

"Should we go after him…?" Pantherlily suggested, and saw the knight shaking her head as she began requipping, and back into her Heart-Kreuz armor.

"No, The rest of Grimoire Heart is coming to this island right now. We need to meet up with everyone else." Erza said, glancing at the direction where everyone was at, which wasn't currently at the camp. "And it seems they are all on the move. Let's hurry."

With a nod from everyone else, they began following Erza as they all quickly headed to the other side of the island.

As the flying ship of Grimoire Heart drew closer to Tenrou Island by the second, one person in particular within it tightened her fingerless glove as Ultear was seen in her skin tight battle outfit with a white ribbon wrapped at the back of her head to make sure her hair didn't get in the way. She was seen opening and closing her hands repeatedly, her eyes narrowing as she looked ahead through the window of the ship, Tenrou Island coming closer by the second.

"Hoh? Ultear seems unusually fired up." Zancrow said.

"But of course. So am I as I'm ready for this war, ready to put these fairies to rest." Caprico commented.

"Hey, Ul! Look at-!" Meredy called out, looking at the raven-haired woman but stopped short as she saw her glaring at her with a cold aura.

"Do not. Call me Ul." Ultear said through her teeth as she scolded the pink-haired girl.

"S-Sorry…" Meredy sulked, and looked away from her gaze.

"Don't mind her! We already know the island is up ahead, what caught your eye this time?" Zancrow asked, walking up to the small girl.

"Look ahead… there's people waiting for us!"

Meredy's observation caused the members of Grimoire Heart to immediately look through the window of the ship. The island was clearly seen, but what caught their eyes exactly what the pink-haired girl exactly called out. There were a few people standing on the shore, three people to be exact. One of them being a person that Meredy and Ultear recognized right away, as a shirtless male looked ahead at the ship with a hard stare. Next to him were two women, one with long blue hair and the other with black hair that was tied into a ponytail.

'That's…' Ultear thought in her head with narrowed eyes.

'Gray Fullbuster… Juvia Lockser…' Meredy analyzed in her mind, but looked at the girl with the ponytail for a long moment. '... who is that?'

"They're waiting for us…?" Zancrow questioned.

"Ah… they're prepared to die by our hands it seems…" Rustyrose dramatically said.

"I do not think that they are surprised by the looks of them." Caprico said, closing the book in his hand as he looked ahead.

Behind all the members, Hades sat on his throne as he observed ahead with narrowed eyes at the three young people standing out. But his sight was more towards the girl in black hair. As he stood up from his seat, he walked down the steps while keeping his eyes ahead at the island.

"Prepare the Jupiter Cannon." Hades announced, catching surprised expressions from the Seven Kins and the soldiers.

"Master… isn't that excessive? What if Zeref…" Ultear reasoned, but trailed off.

"I have to agree, calling out the Jupiter Cannon on only three of their members is a waste of resources." Caprico said.

"Perhaps not. Call it a hunch… now, proceed with the firing!" Hades brushed off their opinions, and extended out his arm forward to confirm his decision.

The Grimoire Airship's cannon extended outward to aim towards the three people on the shore of the island. The end of the barrel began charging magical energy in black and dark purple hue. There was a purple static that surged around the dense orb of magic before it shrunk, and not a moment later the cannon fired off a large dark beam towards the three Fairy Tail members straight ahead.

The entirety of Grimoire Heart watched as the attack traveled towards Tenrou Island with slight interest. Thoughts of somewhat feeling sorry for the Fairy Tail members of how they were going to be wiped out quickly, and a few still thinking if it was worth using the Jupiter Cannon against a small amount of people.

However, as they observed, the Jupiter Cannon only made it halfway towards the island, and stopped midair above the ocean. Sounds of surprise were emitted, and eyes widened as they all saw their own attack come to an abrupt halt. Then, a few moments later the dark beam made a sharp turn to the right towards the sky, exploding a second later. Ahead, Grimoire Heart could see one lone figure floating in the sky, and as the dark light died down the person was revealed to be the young girl with black hair, staring at them with an amused expression.

"... she deflected the Jupiter Cannon just like that?!" One of the soldiers cried out in surprise.

"Who is she?!" Another one said in shock.

Before anyone could react or say anything further, they saw the girl fly towards them at high speeds, and in a matter of a few seconds she arrived at the top of the ship. She looked down at the members of Grimoire Heart before giving off a small smirk, crouched on her knee before bringing back an arm and shouted as she punched down.

The entire glass top of the Grimoire Heart shattered apart, and most of the people tumbled down from the impact.

"Here, have another!" The girl above shouted, and punched the steel beam on top of the ship as the magical vehicle was forced down hard enough so that it was closer to the ocean.

"Get her!" One of the Grimoire Hearts members shouted, and brought out weapons out of their cloaks to aim at the Fairy Tail member up above. Beams of magic shot out of the staffs and wands, and the girl leaped, flying away from the ship so that she out of sight.

"She went away…?"

"Don't let your guard down… she could come out anytime!"

"This is crazy… that person just reflected the Jupiter Cannon like it was nothing! Not only that, I think she moved the airship by herself!"

As soon as the member said that, another quake could be felt within the airship, and some were prepared this time as they spreaded apart their legs, supporting themselves from falling over. A soldier came into view from the hallway of the room, who was obviously out of breath.

"The engines are shot! We're going to hit the ocean!" They said.

"Impossible, the magical gravitation at the bottom of the ship should still be holding us up!" Caprico said.

"It's been destroyed as well, all have been destroyed completely!"

The vehicle began tilting forward, prompting some of the soldiers to slide down the room as the words from the one member of the guild who arrived were deemed true.

"Ultear." Hades calmly called out.

"Of course." The mentioned woman nodded in response, and her left eye began glowing as she worked her magic.

ARC OF TIME: RESTOR-

Partway of chanting, Ultear suddenly stopped when a figure dropped down in front of her and the rest of the Kins.

It was the same black-haired girl that had caused them so much trouble just now, and she looked up from where she landed on the cracked floor from the hard enough impact that was enough to push down the airship once more.

In one swift move, Zancrow moved in while lighting his arm in black fire as he charged in. With a shout and a laugh, he got up close to the girl and launched his arm forward as the black flames around him expanded, and engulfed her within it while catching a few of the soldiers along with it. Zancrow continued laughing, but stopped short as his flames were seen being blown away along with a large quake that occurred throughout the ship.

The girl was seen with her fist against the floor, cracking it more than it already was from her previous landing, and she looked ahead towards six of the seven Kins and Hades with a grin.

"There, that should do it." The girl said.

Just before anyone could ask what she meant, drops of water were felt above from the open ceiling before the temperature around them dropped significantly. As the soldiers took in the sudden shift, another came into view from the hallway and into the room.

"The entire ship, it's been frozen!"

"Alright… that should do it…" Gray said as he panted a bit, looking up at the giant airship in front of him while getting up from the ground.

The Ice-Make mage had just finished freezing a majority of the shore and the ocean ahead. Juvia had helped to control a large volume of the ocean to try and cover the ship with water. With the help of Marissa who was attacking up front, she had managed to bring the entire vehicle down so that it made an impact with the sea, easily allowing Juvia to control the water to cover the sides of the ship. Afterwards, Gray formed his hands together to work his magic as he brought them down to touch the water, freezing it at a wide range and up towards the giant airship. With the damage done by Marissa, it was easy for the ice to grasp the large vehicle, freezing it in its place.

Both had used a bit of magic doing so, the amount of water being controlled and the amount being frozen. There were still some gaps of ice around the ship, one spot in particular held a door that began opening, and groups of soldiers began flooding out of it, wanting to get out. Some wobbled as they walked, some keeled over at the edge of the icy plane to throw up, and some collapsed on the cold ground, thankful to be outside.

The Fairy Tail members were sighted by Grimoire Hearts soldiers, and those that were still healthy enough and had their weapons, began to take action.

"There are some fairy flies, get them!" One of them said, and several of them began charging in with their swords, bows and staves in hand.

Gray and Juvia readied themselves, that is until they looked to their left to hear a familiar voice shouting.

FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!

Natsu came into view from the nearby cliff, and jumped off it with his arms overhead and hands close together. He shouted once more and threw his arms down at the ice, destroying some of it while catching some of the soldiers within it.

"Let's go!"

From the other side of the cliff Natsu jumped off of, Elfman came into view with his full body take over of his Beast Soul. He went and jumped off a cliff as well to slam his arms on the plane of ice, hitting some of the enemies and causing any nearby to lose their balance.

"Here goes!"

Behind the Ice and Water mage, Cana revealed herself with both of her arms crossed and cards in between her fingers. She jumped off from the rock she stood on and threw the cards forward, accurately hitting targets that were running on the ice with a strong enough impact to shatter the ice.

"Let's have some fun!"

IRON DRAGON'S CLUB!

Gajeel came into view and jumped off the same cliff that Natsu came from, forming his arm into that of a pole, and it extended outward as he launched it down at several of the soldiers, knocking them back.

Slowly, the rest of the Fairy Tail mages came into view, arriving on the beach and up at the cliff, onlooking at the icy plane where the Grimoire Heart soldiers laid sprawled out and scattered along with their air vehicle behind them that was encased with ice. More of the enemy troops continued coming out of the ship with weapons in hand, and seeing the Fairy Tail members on the beach while feeling confident about their numbers, they began charging in.

"They come in and interrupt our exam… let's get rid of them quickly so that we can continue it!" Natsu yelled out, hitting his fists together as flames sparked in between them.

As the mages agreed, some went ahead and charged in to push back the Grimoire Heart soldiers that were still pouring out.

Mirajane stood still as she looked ahead at the enemy ship, and held a worried look.

'Marissa, are you alright in there…?'

Collapsing on one knee, Marissa winced with an eye closed as she held her left thigh in pain, looking ahead at the six of the Seven Kins with their Master still in view behind them.

'I got careless… I didn't think she would have magic like that…' Marrissa said, looking at the young girl with pink hair who was also on one knee, holding her own left thigh with blood leaking out in between her hands. The Earthling had begun her assault against the Seven Kins after knocking out a majority of the foot soldiers that had surrounded her. But suddenly the youngest Kin was able to throw herself at Marissa, to which she threw her off, but it was all she needed to use her magic to link the Earthling to her.

All of a sudden, a bright pink band appeared on Marissa's right wrist. As she wondered what it was, the Earthling looked ahead to see the young girl will a teal blade floating in the air to appear. She took the blade by its teal handle, and swiftly sliced her thigh, causing the Earthling to gasp and collapse on her knee, clutching the pained limb.

"Don't be so reckless, Meredy!" The women with long raven haired exclaimed, looking back at the pink-haired girl.

"S-She's dangerous, Ultear… she caused this much damage just all by herself." Meredy said through her gasps, and took the teal blade and held it up against her neck.

As soon as she did that, fear didn't set upon Marissa as she saw Meredy do that. Instead, there was a sense of resolve that she felt, but it wasn't coming from herself. As the Earthling saw the pink-haired Kin ready to take action, realization set upon her of what was going on.

'She hurt herself just now in the same spot that I felt the pain in my leg… her magic linked us together…!' Marissa quickly analyzed, and placed two fingers on her forehead.

In an instant, Marissa was behind Meredy, and chopped the back of her neck hard enough so that the young girl's eyes rolled to the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.

"Meredy!" Ultear cried out, and extended out her arm towards Marissa.

From the corner of her eye, the Earthling saw an orb quickly coming her way, and she painfully ducked from it and leaped away while teleporting back to her previous spot while locking in on a downed foot soldier's energy. She briefly looked back to her right wrist to find that the pink band wasn't present anymore. Unfortunately, she was still feeling the pain in her left leg.

'I left my bag with Mirajane… I won't be able to use a senzu for a bit. Hopefully not anytime soon…' Marissa said with narrowed eyes, and looked ahead to see a glare from Ultear as she knelt beside Meredy.

"Caprico." The Master of Grimoire Hearts called out.

"Yes?" The goat-like man responded, turning away from Marissa to face him.

"Take everyone else away and into the island. I'll handle this little youngster myself." The Old man proclaimed, causing Marissa to lift an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Understood." Caprico nodded, and spread apart his arms for a moment before clapping them. The rest of the Kin vanished in a white light before small bubbles formed around him. He leaped high, away from Marissa and landed on top of the broken steel beams.

As Marissa eyed the goat-like humanoid, he leaped once more away from the two before she looked back at Hades.

"You're the head honcho, huh?" Marissa called out, slightly wincing from her leg as she stood up. "Alright, I'm game. How do you wanna play Old Man?"

"You seem very confident still, especially since your life was about to end if you hadn't knocked Meredy out. You're still feeling injured, are you not?" Hades analyzed sharply, causing the Earthling to narrow her eyes. The older man huffed. "I know Meredy's magic the best. Let's see how well you do with an injured limb, youngster."

"Heh, bring it Old Man." Marissa said with a small grin, cracking her knuckles.

No, don't worry I haven't forgotten about a certain couple of otherworldly individuals. They'll be coming really soon, but I thought this was a good stopping point for now so that I can construct the next chapter.

Gajeel and Levy are now 100% fine as opposed to what happened in the actual timeline where Gajeel was heavily injured, boy energy sensing is really handy.

I did show off Erza vs Azuma briefly, and yes, her training really did payoff.

Then the next major change, the outright, upfront Fairy Tail vs Grimoire Heart. More of that coming next chapter for sure.

Alot more to come in the next update, and I Hope that I won't take as long to update like I did with this chapter. Like I've said, I can only try.

Also, during the time since my last update, there has been so many new followers and favorites that we are OVER 600 in both categories. Thank you, thank you, and thank you all so much! I know it might not look good for me updating this late, but I'll definitely do my best for all of you while making my story a good read.

That's it for now, hope you guys have a good day! If I could, man, wish I could get rid of the coronavirus going on at the moment, really sucks that people are worried about it. Remember, stay alert, and not anxious people!

Timestamp: March 5, 2020.