Laxus's arrival was rather unexpected.
After all, in name, he was no longer a member of Fairy Tail, and this S-Class Promotion Exam had never included him.
Of course, Marco had actually been keeping an eye on Laxus's situation the whole time, and knew that he had recently been traveling around the area near Hargeon.
Looking at it that way, Laxus had probably been paying attention to what was happening on Tenrou Island all along.
Ever since becoming an S-Class Mage, he had never missed a single S-Class exam.
Most likely, this time too, he had come here out of habit.
With Tenrou Island in such an uproar, magic power flaring repeatedly, and a strange airship approaching, Laxus had sensed that something was wrong.
So he put aside the fact that he had been expelled from the guild and rushed over to support Tenrou Island as fast as he could.
"Laxus, you idiot…"
Seeing Laxus come to help, everyone in Fairy Tail was deeply moved.
The looks they gave him were all full of complicated feelings.
No matter what, Laxus was different from other people.
He had grown up in the guild from childhood, spending every day together with everyone else.
And with that final casting of Fairy Law when he left, everyone knew he wasn't a bad person—just an idiot who didn't know how to express his feelings.
Looking at the dark mages of Grimoire Heart on the opposite side, and at that man called Hades, Marco honestly couldn't understand where they got the courage to challenge Fairy Tail.
'Even without me, these guys don't look like they could beat Fairy Tail. In that sense, they're pretty similar to Oración Seis—they're just too arrogant.'
Marco grumbled inwardly.
If he had to compare the pressure brought by Grimoire Heart, it still wasn't as much as that bizarre Zeref from earlier. That guy was the real trouble.
"Good, excellent. The more that come, the better. I'll deal with all of you today and wipe out this Fairy Tail that has gone astray!"
Precht, however, didn't care in the slightest about Laxus appearing.
In his eyes, no matter how many people came, it was useless.
He, Hades, was not some weakling who feared being outnumbered!
Bzzzz!!!
Magic power exploded from Hades's body. He showed no restraint in using it at all.
Rather, it was as if he possessed inexhaustible magic power, spending it as freely as he wished.
A sea of dark magic spread over everyone like a storm, as though it meant to devour everything between heaven and earth.
Crackle!
Lightning flashed in Laxus's hand as he fired off bolts directly.
The sky was lit up by dancing electricity, and the lightning shot toward Precht—only for the white-haired old man to block it with a casual gesture.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Natsu also launched an attack, and the other Fairy Tail members didn't stay idle either.
They all attacked Hades together.
Buzz!
Hades waved his hand, and a defensive magic array appeared before him.
Endless magic power seemed to pour into it, turning that array into an impassable barrier that blocked every one of Fairy Tail's attacks.
It had to be said—Precht's magic power was truly immense.
And not only immense, it showed no sign of decreasing, remaining at peak output the entire time.
"Something's wrong."
Makarov noticed it sharply.
He had joined in that combined attack just now.
Only Marco and the close-combat fighters had held back, but even so, that assault should already have been terrifying.
If all of those attacks had landed on Makarov himself, even he would have struggled to withstand them.
But Precht had not only endured them—he had done so with ridiculous ease, as though he had merely been brushed by a mosquito, or rather not even touched at all.
"Could it be…"
Makarov's face changed immediately.
He thought of Precht's masterpiece.
Although the success of Fairy Heart had depended in part on First Master Mavis's special nature, with Precht's talent, it was not impossible that he might have recreated it…
If Precht had really succeeded in reproducing Lumen Histoire, then there was no way they could defeat him.
Because that would mean… infinite magic power.
True cheating.
"Your resistance is nothing but an ants trying to stop a chariot."
Hades laughed loudly.
With both hands thrust forward, he unleashed an enormous barrage of dark magic missiles toward everyone.
The sky was covered by them, making for a terrifying sight.
Bzzzz!!!
Marco raised his hand in defense, and an invisible Crystal Wall shot forward, directly blocking the missiles and reflecting every single one of them back.
Boom boom boom!!!
The rain of dark magic missiles fell back onto Grimoire Heart's side—but Hades blocked them just as easily.
He truly had no fear of wasting magic power at all.
'If I hadn't awakened my Cosmo, then this guy might actually have been a proper opponent to me. In terms of magic power, he really can contend with me.'
Wearing the Aries Gold Cloth and floating in the sky, Marco immediately raised his assessment of Hades.
He now understood why Grimoire Heart had dared to charge directly onto Tenrou Island.
At the very least, they had more confidence than Oración Seis ever did.
This former second master really did have something to back himself up.
Just this nearly infinite-magic cheat ability alone was enough to let Hades rampage across Earth-land.
And on top of that, he himself was already a great master of magic, with immense natural reserves and a casual mastery of all kinds of spells.
He was basically like a max-level character running cheat software.
"Too bad for you—you ran into me."
Marco clenched his fist, and his aura surged sharply upward as he activated his Cosmo, releasing power from an entirely different system.
That power truly awakened the functions of the Gold Cloth.
The already radiant golden armor became even more sacred, and the Aries Gold Cloth shifted into the Leo Gold Cloth.
"Cheap theatrics."
That was Hades's brief evaluation of Marco's display.
Hades had absolute confidence in himself.
No one could defeat him. With Devil Heart, he was the strongest mage!
Buzz!
Yet in the very next second, he was brutally proven wrong.
Marco's figure vanished in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Hades.
Marco swung his arm and threw a punch.
There was no magic power in it.
On the surface, it looked like an utterly ordinary blow—but Hades's expression changed dramatically the moment he sensed it.
Buzz!
Hades activated his magic, gathering a huge amount of magic power behind himself to form a defensive magic array.
He tried to block Marco's attack with it. His reaction speed was already extraordinary.
An ordinary person wouldn't even have managed a response at all.
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out and lightning flashed.
Time seemed to pass in an instant, yet also pause for a second.
By the time everyone came back to their senses, Marco's hand had already punched straight through Hades's chest!
Blood dripped from the golden gauntlet, yet not a single drop stained it.
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