Tartaros Arc: Erza Versus Minerva
Face is kaput. Your flying HQ crashed.
You guys are fresh out of tricks.
You...
No... It can't be...
He's the guy who froze the giants' village!
And he froze me, too!
Wuss.
Shut up!
Anyway, that dude's smell...
...resembles yours.
The same parfum as Gray-sama?!
Gray!
I'm taking this one.
What?!
Gray-sama!
They're gone?!
"Taking" him?! What a crude thing to say in front of Juvia!
Very curious...
Looking away must mean you're confident in yourselves.
But your doom is right here.
Twirl.
Like a little breeze would work on iron!
Club of the Iron Dragon!
Water Slicer!
What the hell is with this one?!
A water wizard? This is curious, too.
Gajeel! Juvia!
Rumble.
Everyone!
No problem!
Let's go!
Yeah!
Where did you take Gray-sama?!
Come.
It's not over yet.
What's going on here?
Am I totally separated from the others in this calamitous situation?
Pathetic for me...
And I can hear the intermittent sound of lightning strikes!
On top of that, I even lost my kiwi emergency rations.
It'd be funny if it weren't so sad!
Are those kiwis?!
Or...
Not kiwis! They're iron balls!
I'm so famished that I mistook them for kiwis...
Sheesh!
Still, they're littered all over the place here.
Artillery shells or something?
Happy! Are you okay?
Good to see you. I was separated from Gajeel...
At first I thought being sucked into the wall saved me, but now I've got this thing...
I... I see.
What should I do? Carla's gonna hate me!
No. I have a feeling that it doesn't look bad, depending on how you look at it...
Really?!
Maybe... Probably... For sure...
It looks like what it is, an Exceed mushroom growing out of my head.
Oh, no, it's like I brought a side dish for dinner tonight...
You can't just take it off?
No.
We'll see. Don't move. If you move...
Use another method!
It hurts! It hurts-hurts-hurts-hurts!
Ow-ow-ow-ow!
Well, I give up.
Does it look cool?
No comment.
I wonder what Carla will say when she sees me like this.
The Hell's Core explosion shrunk me down,
but I used my Curse Power to make myself be absorbed!
Now I just have to wait for the cats to meet up with their comrades.
That is, wait for the opportunity to turn the tables on them!
Hey, Cana! Come here!
That cube thing was destroyed while we were unconscious.
Where are we?
South of Magnolia... or thereabouts, I think.
Come to think of it, where's Master?
He said he was gonna drop by the guild.
But the guild must've been smashed to smithereens.
This breaks my heart...
Even Kardia Cathedral, the symbol of the town...
The second master's last words...
"It isn't over."
Release the light.
"Release the light"... eh?
Where are we?!
Wendy!
Carla!
Huh? We...
...were caught in the explosion...
What about Face?! What happened to Face?!
It was stopped.
Doranbolt-san!
Thanks to you two.
He whisked us away to safety the instant it detonated.
Just barely.
Then...
Let's be friends again.
Of course!
Carla!
Wendy!
We're alive!
Yes! That's right!
Thank you, Doranbolt-san.
Actually...
...um, this is hard for me to say...
Nothing is over yet.
Is there really no way to get this off?
If you forced it, maybe spores would scatter.
You might get mushrooms sprouting all over your body then.
I don't want that...
At any rate, something the Underworld King said stuck with me...
The Face Project is proceeding according to plan.
The reason Face's projected location was way off was...
Don't tell me... a time lag?!
No...
There's more than one Face!
This many...
I've confirmed about 2,000 Face devices...
This is...
...the real identity of the continent-wide magic pulse bomb.
After we worked so hard to destroy one of them...
...to find this many now...
It's all over...
Don't say that, Carla.
I don't want to despair anymore.
I've decided that you and I are going to live, Carla.
Wendy!
I'm not going to whine or shed any tears.
Everyone is fighting.
So I'm not going to give up, either!
Minerva, you...
I am Neo-Minerva.
I have been reborn...
...as the ultimate wizard!
Territory!
Come, let's have some more fun,
Erza...
I am...
I am the ultimate...
What do you think you're fighting?!
Shameful...
Deplorable...
Why are you so weak?!
P-Please forgive me!
Please forgive me, Father!
You plead for forgiveness?
My stupid daughter!
I'm sorry! Please forgive me!
Don't you understand that I despise begging for forgiveness?
Are you a weakling?
Sabertooth has no need for weaklings.
Do you understand what I'm saying...
...Minerva?
I am...
As you are my daughter, you must become strong.
I eliminate the weak. Even if it is my own daughter.
I...
If you have enough time to draw a breath, you have time to move!
Attacking is everything.
Even if you are inferior in strength, always forge ahead!
That is how the strong, how champions are born!
Stand, Minerva!
Stand now or I will see to it that you never stand again.
Do it, Fingers.
You're naive!
Absolute Dominion... Territory?
I'll help you!
What are you doing? Will you not finish him off?
The defeated is weak. The weak is a worm.
Worms need no sympathy.
Just think about trampling them.
But Fingers is a comrade in the guild...
"Comrades" are an expression of the weak.
If you are my daughter, set your eyes on something more important.
Make the heavens roar. Make the land seethe.
Silence the ocean. That is Sabertooth.
But...
If you cannot do it, I will.
Begone.
How could you?
Don't cry.
How long are you going to keep this up?!
Tears are the height of weakness!
How many times must I say it before you understand?!
Please forgive me... Please forgive me... Please forgive...
I...
...must be strong!
Minerva!
I am going to leave you here.
Abandon your weak heart, your tears, everything.
In this forest full of savage beasts, only death awaits the crying weak.
You may return home when all your tears have dried up.
Please forgive me... Please forgive me... Please forgive me...
Become strong! And you call yourself my daughter?!
I eliminate the weak! Trample them!
Make the... heavens roar...
Make... the land seethe.
Silence the ocean.
That is...
That is Sabertooth.
...Sabertooth.
Wake up!
Your inhuman conduct at the Grand Magic Games...
I don't condone it, but I can understand it.
Wasn't it all for Sabertooth?!
Minerva...
This fist that punches you is crying.
It asks, "Does this battle mean anything?"
I know...
I know.
So...
...kill me with your two hands.
I am weak. I fell into the darkness because I am weak.
I cannot live with this body any longer...
Please.
You are you.
I'm sure someone is waiting for you to come home.
Don't forget that.
This is why humans are weak.
When you talk of life or death, you rejoice.
Quite an ugly sight.
Who are you?!
Wait... I've heard that voice before.
The Underworld King, Mard Geer!
How disappointing. I thought we disposed of the trash, but it has come back up.
The damned Celestial Spirit King and his meddling...
Luckily, we have a little time.
Enough time for me to take out the trash, anyway.
Are you the master here?!
What is this magic?!
One at a time.
Minerva!
Escape, Erza...
We made it in time.
Still late, though.
We came to pick you up, my lady.
Long time no see!
Your guild is Sabertooth.
Fro thinks so, too!
I see a guy with a nasty look in his eye. Is he the enemy, Erza-san?
Tremendous pressure is coming off of him...
Come on, my lady and Erza-san, please take a break.
We brought lunch!
I'm sure someone is waiting for you to come home.
All of the Faces are going to activate in one hour.
Saber's Twin Dragons came running into the thick of this unprecedented crisis.
They challenge the Underworld King with fists of fury.
Meanwhile, Gray squares off against Silver.
However, Silver's shocking confession tears up Gray's heart.
Next time: Tartaros Arc: A Boy's Tale.
Tartaros Arc: A Boy's Tale
The sad truth shines a light on despair.