Levy and Gajeel stood back-to-back, each facing an enemy.
Levy gave the pair a wary look. "Who are these guys?"
Gajeel's gaze flicked to the guild emblem on their clothes. "They're from Grimoire Heart."
"Grimoire Heart? The strongest Dark Guild in Ishgar?" Levy gasped. She'd heard the stories. As one of the Balam Alliance, Grimoire Heart's name alone inspired dread. "Why would they be here…?"
Gajeel snorted. "Maybe these scum picked now, during our exam, to launch some mischief."
"That's ridiculous," Levy murmured. "But if they're truly Grimoire Heart, we can't just fight them without backup. The Council—"
"Psh. The Council can stuff its rules," Gajeel growled. "We're here to become S-Class mages. If we can't even handle a couple of Dark Guild cronies, we don't deserve that title."
Two of Grimoire Heart's operatives leered at them. One was a samurai-like dog-man named Yomazu, clutching a sword scrawled with runic letters; the other, a tall, birdlike figure called Kawazu. Both sneered at Gajeel's words.
"War's coming," Yomazu remarked, brandishing his blade.
"Ka-kaka," Kawazu added, "we've come to hunt the Fairy Tail wizards on this island."
With a swift slash of his sword, Yomazu conjured a booming word in midair, and an earsplitting noise barrage erupted.
Boom—!!
"Aaagh!" Levy cried, covering her ears.
"Tch—too loud!" Gajeel scowled, pressing his hands to either side of his head. "He's using word-based magic, like you do!"
Levy winced. "That's Eastern solid script magic… The noise is deafening!"
"Ka-kaka!" Kawazu cackled, taking advantage of their distraction. He lunged at Gajeel with surprising speed, spitting eggs from his beak in rapid-fire.
"Egg Attack!!"
The shells shattered on impact, morphing into gooey fists that pummeled the pair.
"Guh!!"
"Yaaahh!!"
Meanwhile, Yomazu rushed in with a slash. Gajeel narrowly dodged, but the constant noise and bizarre egg-attack hampered him.
At last, Levy gritted her teeth. "Solid Script: Silence!"
With a flourish of her pen, she formed the word "SILENCE," a glowing set of letters hurtling to intercept Yomazu's "NOISE." Both spells collided and shattered, abruptly killing the deafening roar.
"It's quiet now," Levy gasped.
Yomazu stared. "So you can neutralize my text?!"
In that moment of surprise, Gajeel's arm twisted into iron. "Gotcha!" he growled, swinging an iron pillar at Yomazu.
Bam!!
Yomazu flew back, pain etched across his face.
"Ka-kaka—Egg Attack!" Kawazu spat another volley of eggs at Levy. She invoked "Flame" from her solid script, burning the incoming barrage. But the two enemies kept pressing—Kawazu's eggs hammered them, and Yomazu recovered, whirling his sword.
"Take this…!" Yomazu's blade scythed across Gajeel's iron-hard arm, leaving shallow but multiplying cuts.
"Tch…!" Gajeel hissed. Even his Iron Dragon Scales had limits under repeated slashes.
Slamming forward, Yomazu's sword stabbed deeply into Gajeel's side, making him stagger. "Gh—aaah…!"
Then a second, heavier slash knocked him to the ground.
"Gajeel!!" Levy shouted, eyes brimming with alarm.
"Looks like the rest of 'em are this weak," Yomazu declared. "We'll mow them down before the main force arrives."
"M-main force?" Gajeel managed, blood dripping from his wounds.
Kawazu's eyes widened slightly. "You're still alive, ka-kaka. Impressive."
Yomazu shrugged. "The 'main force' is the entirety of Grimoire Heart, boy." Then he flashed an ominous grin. "But you won't be around to see them."