Ben went to the source of the ominous magic power. Makarov did what he asked and fired a magic flare into the sky. It tells everyone that the exam is on hold and there are enemies on the island.
Soon, Ben reached the area where the ominous magic power came from. He found Elfman, Natsu, Evergreen, Happy and a black-haired young man. Ben can sense the dark and ominous magic power coming from the unknown man.
Their surroundings were in bad shape. There were no living things around the unknown man, not even grass. Now Ben had a guess about what caused it and could guess who this man is.
Ben immediately got between his guild mates and the man.
"Listen to me, you four! The exam's on hold due to outside interference and I think you know that already. Now leave this place and return to camp, it's dangerous here. Also, take Bella with you." He ordered.
Ben gave Bella to Elfman while he sized up the unknown man and tried to measure his magic power. The man hasn't unleashed it all, but Ben can feel his immense magic power. This is the highest amount that he has ever felt from someone.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Ben shouted at the 5 who were still there.
"By enemy, you mean this guy, right? How can we leave you to fight him alone?" Natsu asked.
"That's right, from your tone, I can see that this guy is not an easy opponent, even for you. So we will help." Elfman said.
"You'll be killed in the process if you stay here. Notice the dead trees nearby? That's a side effect of the Curse of Ankhsheram. There's only one person I know of with that Curse, the Black Wizard, Zeref." Ben stated in a serious tone.
The other 5, minus Bella, have surprised expressions on their faces.
"Zeref?! Who is he?" Natsu asked.
Ben almost fell over when he heard that question because it meant they don't know. It would take for them to explain which they don't have so he just told them he isn't an opponent they can defeat right now.
"Even if every Fairy Tail mage on the island worked together, we still couldn't win." Ben admitted.
"What?! Even Gildarts?" Natsu asked.
"Even him." Ben nodded.
Now the 4 were really surprised because that meant the man was extremely strong. But they still couldn't leave Ben behind because he would stall for time. So they want to stay and Ben clicked his tongue in anger.
Zeref smiled.
"You're quite knowledgeable if you know about me and my curse. But you also certainly know the effect, right? It's not something you can face. Now, please leave before it's unleashed again because I can't control it." He said.
After he said the last part, Zeref felt as if he was in pain. Ben's eyes widened because he felt Zeref's Curse was in turmoil. He clicked his tongue and turned back to grab his 4 guild mates.
"HOLD ON TO ME! NOW!" Ben yelled.
The 5 didn't question him and just grab his extended hands. Then right as Ben felt Zeref's Curse move, he teleported back to camp with the 5 of them. They avoided death in the nick of time.
Their sudden appearance surprised everyone at the camp. Ben looked around and didn't see Erza, so Mira explained that she left to find the other participants after the signal was fired into the air. It will be very dangerous if they encountered enemies on the island.
Mira asked Ben what had happened and he gave a short explanation. Even he didn't fully understand the situation on the island and only knew that Zeref has appeared. So it wouldn't be strange if Zeref's men were on the island.
Ben wanted to find the other participants, but he noticed something in the distance. The others also notice it and look at what appeared to be Makarov. He had turned into a giant on the coast of the island.
"It seems the enemies are here and they're strong enough to force master to transform. You guys stay here while I head over to the master's location and check the situation out. It would be good if master can handle the enemies, but if not I will help him." Ben stated.
"Wait! I'll go too." Natsu called out as he was joined by Gajeel and Elfman.
"No, stay here and protect the others. We don't know if the enemies appeared there. It would be very bad if more enemies suddenly come here and you aren't present. Besides, you need to regain your energy from the exam." Ben pointed out.
They all realized it at the same time and finally agree stay at camp. Ben gave Gajeel some iron scraps to eat from his storage. He also burned all their firewood so Natsu can eat it and restore his magic power.
As for the others, he can do nothing except let their magic power recover naturally. He can't transfer his magic power to them. So they can only get it back naturally, but it won't take long with the island's dense Ethernano.
After that, Ben called 5 clones back because there were 2 active clones already. One clone guarded the camp while the other one followed Mest. The one following Mest hasn't reported anything so far even thought Ben was waiting for it.
"Lazy, keep guarding the camp like before. The other 5, go and find the rest of the participants then bring them back here. Help them if they are in danger. Go!" Ben ordered as the 5 clones do as instructed.
Ben then gave all of his guild mates a golden marble. These marbles send distress signals that will inform him of their location once they break the marble. When the marble broke, they will send the magic power inside them to to the one on his necklace that he has just taken out too.
'They're the magic items that Morgbitt crafted and gave to me. I've improved them before so they have better precision. I've also made more marbles, so I have enough for everyone. Now I can get to their location instantly if they are in danger.' Ben thought as he wore a necklace that had a blue marble on it.
"Just break them if you need my help. I will come immediately. Wendy, Bella, use your protective magic items when you need them." Ben said.
"Yes." Wendy replied and Bella nodded.
Ben was just about to leave when a clone teleported back to camp. It's Pride, the clone that he sent to observe Mest. The clone came back with 2 individuals that surprised everyone there, Carla and Lily.
"Carla, what are you doing here?" Ben asked, surprised.
"I was suspicious of that Mest guy and decided to come here with Lily because I don't want Wendy to be put in danger." Carla answered.
"You can just contact me, you know? I've also been suspicious of that guy for the last few days. So I didn't allow Wendy to go with him after the 1st test." Ben said.
"Y-yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just worried." Carla admitted with a guilty tone.
Wendy hugged her and smiled.
"It's okay, Carla. Thank you for worrying about me. Ben nii-san is worried about you too." She said.
Ben sighed and patted her head while smiling softly. Then he looked at the Pride clone to ask for an explanation because the clone didn't inform him about anything.
"I couldn't do that because I knew you were preoccupied with unknown enemies. I could've handled it myself, so that's why I didn't tell you." The Pride clone said.
Pride then explained that Mest is a spy from the Magic Council. He wants to find proof to disband Fairy Tail. But while Lily was interrogating him, another enemy appeared. The new enemy blew the Magic Council ships up just now.
"He tried to use a wide range attack, so I brought Lily and Carla here. That guy said his group is searching for Zeref." The Pride clone explained.
Ben nodded.
"Good job saving them. But the Magic Council, huh? First Zeref, then his worshipers and now the Magic Council. This is very problematic." He said.