"Ah!"
The enemy had already been defeated, but Wendy was startled.
After realizing what happened, it seemed there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. She thought for a moment and continued to pick the flower.
"Adding this one should be enough."
"Alright," Rhode pointed in the direction where he had just perceived Magic Power, "Wendy, breathe over there!"
"Ah, yes!" Wendy took a deep breath, "Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Whoa!"
Gray and Loki shouted and jumped out, watching as a large tree was blown in half and the shrubbery disappeared without a trace.
"Gray? Loki?" Wendy was surprised, "Why?"
Gray pointed at Rhode angrily, "You did that on purpose, didn't you!"
Surely, when he was about to act, Rhode must've detected it. This guy, can't he just call us out properly?
"I thought there was a beast going to ambush us over there." Rhode said 'innocently', "What are you two doing here, acting so sneaky?"
Gray looked away guiltily.
Loki chuckled and tried to smooth things over, "Of course, we were just passing by, looking for something around here."
Rhode nodded, "Oh, next time if you happen to pass by, make sure to say hello, or else I might act on my own."
Gray retorted stubbornly, "Who's afraid of you!"
Loki dragged Gray away, knowing they couldn't really get into a fight here with Rhode; winning or losing wouldn't help pass the exam anyway.
After shooing away the two followers, Rhode and Wendy continued on their journey, learning to weave flower crowns from Wendy along the way.
Pudolagos was being dragged by the Cyan Engraved Golem, following behind the two of them.
Meanwhile, Natsu had just defeated a talking dinosaur, interrogating it about the location of the First Generation's grave.
Unfortunately, it didn't know who the First Generation was, so it couldn't answer.
Natsu had a sudden inspiration, thinking he should fly up high to take a look.
But before Hapi could put his hand on Natsu's shoulder, Natsu's nose twitched, his expression changed, and he immediately charged out.
"Natsu?" Hapi chased after him.
Upon finding the source of the scent, Natsu stopped in his tracks, facing a black-haired man in a black-and-white robe.
The man was holding his head in pain, with many wilted trees behind him.
He was a strange person Natsu had never seen before, but he felt dangerous.
Natsu loudly questioned, "Who are you? Why are you on our Guild's island?"
However, as soon as the man saw Natsu's face, he froze, tears flowing from his eyes, murmuring, "You've... grown up."
"?" Natsu was puzzled, only finding the person in front of him more suspicious.
The man looked a little sad, "I really want to see you... Natsu."
Natsu looked serious, for some reason, when he saw this person, he always had an impulse to punch him, to destroy.
The fact that the other person knew his name was not surprising; Natsu was somewhat aware of his own fame.
But he indeed didn't recognize this person, only finding the scent very bizarre. Moreover, those trees ahead... looked like they hadn't wilted naturally.
Celestial Wolf Island is the Guild's Holy Land, it's generally impossible for anyone to find it. Not only is this person on the island, but he's caused damage, which is very suspicious.
Natsu thought seriously for a moment, and ultimately decided to follow his instincts, rushing forward in two steps to punch the opponent in the face:
"What the hell are you?!"
The man seemed defenseless against Natsu's punch, his head hitting the ground hard enough to create a pit.
Yet, when he slowly stood up, there wasn't a bruise on him.
The punch seemed to snap him out of his daze, his expression grew more despondent, muttering, "I see... it's not time yet, Natsu... can't destroy me yet..."
The voice was very low, and Natsu, despite his keen hearing, only heard his name, "I've never seen you before, give me your name!"
"Natsu~" Hapi caught up to Natsu, "Why'd you suddenly run off? Who's that? Why is he crying?"
"How should I know, anyway, he's a weird guy."
"Run... run away quickly..." The man seemed to be struggling to endure something physically, trembling slightly, his expression pained, "Leave here now!"
As he spoke, black fluctuations appeared on his body, just looking at them you could tell it wasn't anything good.
"Magic?" Natsu felt a pang in his heart, shouting, "Hapi! Run!"
"Ah... ah!!!" The man painfully held his head, the black fluctuations burst wildly open, as if about to engulf everything around.
Natsu ran toward a direction away from him, throwing Hapi out before the black fluctuation could catch up, and he himself could only hurriedly dive forward.
Buzz~~~
The black magical fluctuation swept through, all the surrounding trees withered, green leaves instantly turned yellowed, scattered by the wind.
Wild grass, wildflowers, bushes... all withered away the same.
Even nearby insects like bees and butterflies, and birds and squirrels on the trees, lost their lives at the instant they were swept by the black fluctuation, collapsing powerlessly.
A group of Shadow Wolves tracking the scent were also swept away, their bodies disappearing instantly.
"Natsu!!!" Hapi rolled twice on the ground and flew up, seeing the scene, tears were already welling up.
He anxiously flew to Natsu who had fallen, praying fervently that nothing would happen.
"Cough, cough..." Natsu climbed up from the ground, looking around at the scene, he was also a little alarmed, "Hapi, I'm fine! Where's that guy?"
"Gone!" Hapi couldn't see the strange person's figure from the air, "Natsu, your scarf!"
"Turned black?" Natsu looked down, his white scarf had turned black, "Damn it, this is the scarf Igneru gave me! Is it because of that guy's magic?"
Natsu sniffed, the scarf wasn't just turned black, it was also tainted with that strange smell.
"I won't forgive him!"
...
"Is it about time to go to the camp?" Lucy asked Mest.
Mest, after waking up, seemed slightly somber.
To comfort him, Lucy suggested going for a walk on the island to clear their minds.
This proposal was just right for Mest, and the two of them left the exam site to wander around.
After wandering for a while, Lucy felt it was probably time to meet up with everyone.
But Mest wasn't willing yet, still wanting to investigate Fairy Tail's secret.
"In a while, maybe?" Mest half-jokingly said, "Actually, I've heard people say, there's a big secret of the Guild hidden on this island, aren't you curious? I really want to know!"
"Uh... if you weren't munching on a tree bark while saying that..."
"Don't mind it, I'm just curious about the taste of bark," Mest foolishly said while coaxing, "Don't you really want to know? Maybe we can suddenly become as powerful as an S-Class Mage..."
Before he finished speaking, Mest's expression suddenly changed, he sensed a strange aura!
According to intelligence from the Council, this aura undoubtedly belonged to that person!
Black Mage—Zeref!