"Su Yan…"
Seeing the familiar figure standing in front of him, Gajeel couldn't help murmuring Su Yan's name. Gajeel prided himself on never letting anyone block an attack for him. Yet here was Su Yan again, stepping in front, just like before.
Levy ran over, tears in her eyes at the sight of Gajeel's injuries. "Gajeel!! You're hurt so badly!"
"C-come on," Gajeel muttered, turning his head away in embarrassment. He knew Levy must've called Su Yan.
Su Yan glanced over Gajeel. "You still hanging in there?"
"No problem," Gajeel said between clenched teeth.
Levy carefully helped him move to the side to treat his wounds. Meanwhile, Su Yan faced down the two thugs like they were no more than pesky rats.
His gaze turned cold. "You sewer vermin have some nerve, trespassing on the holy ground of Fairy Tail and injuring my guildmate. Are you begging to die?"
"Begging to die? It's you who's begging for death!" snarled Kawazu the bird-man. He inhaled sharply, spitting out another barrage of eggs.
"Egg Rain, heavy version!!"
A flurry of egg "bombs" pelted Su Yan like cannonfire, raising a thick cloud of dust around him. Levy and Gajeel watched tensely, but neither panicked. They both knew who Su Yan was.
"Hah! The bigger they are, the bigger the fool," Kawazu scoffed.
But as the dust cleared, Su Yan stood there, unharmed.
"W-what?! Impossible?!" Kawazu exclaimed.
Su Yan held up one of Kawazu's eggs – the shell now pitch-black with Armament Haki. "Nice eggs," he said flatly. Then, pressing his foot into the ground, Su Yan hurled it back at Kawazu.
"Right back at you."
The blackened egg streaked forward so fast that Kawazu couldn't dodge.
"Gah—!!!"
It smashed into his chicken-like face, warping it and sending him flying. Boom, boom, boom—!! Kawazu crashed through several trees before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
Levy gaped. "He took out that monster with a single throw…!"
"Y-you…!" Yomazu, the doglike samurai, was incensed. "Go to hell! Kan—!!"
He lunged, blade stabbing toward Su Yan. But Su Yan merely raised one open palm. Yomazu's eyes went wide with disbelief—his magic sword could puncture steel, so how could it fail to pierce flesh?
Yet when Yomazu's blade met Su Yan's palm, it refused to budge even an inch.
"N-no way!! My magic can cut clean through steel—why won't it cut your hand?!"
Su Yan clamped down, gripping the sword and stopping it cold. "Om—!!" A burst of conqueror's Haki surged out. Yomazu was flung back by the shockwave, and the sword began spinning in midair.
Clang! Su Yan caught it easily.
"Hhh—!!" Yomazu watched in horror as purple lightning crackled along the blade, which Su Yan now coated in Armament Haki. Black lines and arcs of energy flared over the weapon.
Then Su Yan swung once:
Boom—!!
A titanic slash ripped through the air. Yomazu hastily wrote "防" (Defend) in midair, forming a protective glyph. Yet it only held for a fraction of a second. Su Yan's sword aura crashed straight through, slamming into Yomazu and spraying blood.
"Uaaargh…!!" the dog-man collapsed in a heap.
Watching from where he knelt, Gajeel muttered in awe, "I never knew he also used a sword… The time I fought him, he was barehanded."
Levy whispered, "I heard that Su Yan used a mace before, but…a sword is just as terrifying."
At that moment, Erza and Juvia arrived on the scene.
"Su Yan!!"
"Erza, Juvia!" Su Yan acknowledged them.
Erza's eyes grew grim at Gajeel's condition. "What happened here? Who are these intruders?!"
Quickly, Levy explained the whole ordeal.
"Grimoire Heart…?!" Erza and Juvia both paled at the name. Even among Dark Guilds, it was notorious. "Why would they attack Fairy Tail?"
Just then, Yomazu let out a ragged chuckle. "Heh… you're finished now. The main force is about to land here. The ones you've fought—" His voice trembled. "They're nothing. The Seven Kin of Purgatory are on their way."
"Then the exam is over," Erza said decisively. She pulled out a flare gun. "All exam participants, brace for battle!"
Bang—!!
A red flare arced into the sky above Tenrou Island.
"Red alert!! Everyone, prepare for combat!" Erza shouted.
All across the island, Fairy Tail members saw the red flare and tensed.
"What? An enemy? On this island?!"
"Could someone be attacking Su Yan? Or maybe some reckless creature?"
But none suspected Su Yan himself to be in trouble. Who would dare provoke him?
"Whoever they are, they'll regret messing with Fairy Tail," Natsu growled, cracking his knuckles.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
The S-Class exam was suspended, and Fairy Tail's wizards prepared themselves—because now war had truly come to Tenrou Island.