What are you guys doing here?
You sent us that letter, Erza-san.
Minerva joined a Dark Guild?
I think I'll let Sting know about it.
Now that you mention it...
Incidentally, Erza-san, the way you wrote that letter was, you know...
Terrible.
At first I thought your letter was cursing us.
Even thinking about it now makes me feel nauseated...
Yukino fainted after reading three lines.
Because of that,
Rufus was prepared to die as he deciphered it,
but it took a long time to get here.
Sorry.
My lady. Let's go back to the guild.
Return to your guild?
This world of magic is about to end.
But go ahead. I won't stop you.
Face was destroyed.
Just one of them.
Erza-san,
on the way here, we saw a lot of creepy statues of faces.
If that's Face, there are tons of them coming up out of the ground.
What?!
One hour. In one hour, all of the Faces will start up.
That's approximately 3,000 magic pulse bombs.
They'll eradicate magic all across the continent.
Everything will go as planned.
No matter what you people try to do, it will be for naught.
Tartaros Arc: A Boy's Tale
Dammit! Another pain-in-the-ass wizard!
I'm not a wizard. I wield Curse power.
Sink.
What the hell are you doing?!
Brilliant Flame of the Fire Dragon!
Downpour.
Dammit! Again?!
You're annoying.
You're the one with the smug look on his mug!
Crap. Bastard's got a tough skin. What the hell's he made of?
Iron-based magic, eh? It's unusual, but your attacks are simple.
But that's the impression I already got from your face.
You don't gotta go there, jerkoff!
I'll clock you with the Club of the Iron Dragon!
Boring.
You howl a lot for a weak human.
And you flap your gums like nobody's business,
sharkskin!
Water Slicer!
Again?!
A body that's immune
to Juvia's skills... This is one hard battle!
A tale...
What's that?
Seilah said tales written by humans are wearisome.
However...
...this tale of you humans in particular is so comical that it's captured my interest.
Aquarius...
Celestial Spirit King...
I...
I... will continue... to fight!
I still can't move... even at a time like this...
Everyone...
3,000 magic pulse bombs?!
I don't believe it!
What the hell is that?!
In one hour...
...magic will disappear all across the continent?
Fro won't be able to fly anymore?
It's more than that. A great part of our lives depends on magic.
There'll be chaos everywhere, yeah.
It's a bluff.
He can't operate Face by remote control.
It's impossible to activate 3,000 of them simultaneously.
Certainly...
...the human known as the chairman has the authority to control them remotely.
If I recall correctly,
that chairman is dead.
Wha...?!
We have a necromancer in our guild.
What's that?
Someone with the power to control the dead!
He will manipulate the chairman's corpse to turn on Face from the control room.
How dare you?!
Amid all this destruction, that room was spared?
Erza-san, get over there.
Stop Face!
Leave him to us.
But...
Take care of my lady and the cats, too. I know I can count on you, Erza-san.
We'll take this guy down.
Humans say the silliest things.
You're going to beat the Underworld King?
You humans?
That's right!
If you must.
Erza! Now!
Take my lady with you!
He's a formidable enemy! Be careful!
What?! He can't be as tough as Natsu-san!
Stop Face!
Right!
Sting... Rogue...
Fro is gonna fight, too!
Don't be a dope! We're going with Erza-san.
But...
I have faith in Sting-kun.
Fro does, too!
Roar of the...
...White Dragon!
Slash...
...of the Shadow Dragon!
I don't like it.
Mere humans wielding Dragon Slayer magic...
Yeah. There's somethin' I don't like, too.
You hurting our comrade!
Whirl.
What the hell...?!
Squall.
What's wrong? Is that all you've got?
Shut up!
Get outta my way!
You're in my way!
Apologize, Salamander!
You apologize, or I'll sock you in the jaw!
Both of you, cool down! This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves!
It's his fault!
Squabbling in the middle of a battle. Humans are curious creatures.
Who cares?
That hurt, for cripes sake!
Those guys are cocky.
I'll finish this business with you later!
That's my line.
So what kind of tale will you show me?
Juvia has felt uneasy for awhile now...
Please don't let it mean something has happened to Gray-sama!
3,000 Face statues?
What the hell kind of weapon did the Council make?
So you brought me all the way over here to tell me that?
Oh, please...
I thought maybe I would be able to see a look of despair on your face.
Unfortunately I'm not even feeling a twinge of despair.
That is too bad.
Merely killing you isn't amusing.
You know me, don't you?
Yeah. I know you well.
Same for me.
Your face... Your voice... I know them well.
I know them, but they belong to someone else.
Who are you?!
Answer me! Who are you?!
I think you have an idea, don't you?
I'm your...
...father.
You're my old man, you say?
That can't be.
My dad is dead! I saw it with my own eyes!
Deliora murdered him!
My name is Silver Fullbuster.
I'm your father.
Liar!
There's no way...
There's no way my dad's alive!
This is the stuff. I imagined you'd have that expression.
I am your father, and that's no lie...
...but it's also a little more complicated.
What do you mean?
To you, my existence is much more important now.
We're destined to fight!
Gajeel!
Yeah!
Boom.
This foreboding...
Gray-sama!
Everyone!
The same for me.
I'm not done.
Rest.
We're fine.
Besides, I caught a scent.
Yeah.
This scent...
It's them.
I see.
I can understand how Kyoka would be tempted to play with humans.
Bastard...
Give us your worst, asshole!
You can't see a future in which you're dead.
Your principles of conduct are governed by your emotions.
And you don't know how weak you are.
You're overwhelmingly ignorant.
You're stupid to the point of being adorable.
Still, this place is a disaster area.
Fro thinks so, too.
Maybe demons just aren't good at cleaning.
They're bad at it!
Do you know where the control room is, Minerva?
I can't tell when the whole place has been turned upside down.
It's too big to search from end to end.
There must be another way.
Erza, leave me here.
If I can't even guide you, I'm just a hindrance.
I don't want to become more of a burden than I already have.
Can't you hear me, Erza?!
I told you to abandon me here!
Stop beating yourself up already.
If you realize you made a mistake with the way you've been living your life,
you just have to take the next moment to start over.
I'm sure it's not so simple,
but I know several people who've done that and face their pasts head-on.
Huh? Somebody's approaching.
Fro thinks so, too.
Happy! Lily!
Erza!
Long time no see, Happy-kun!
Minerva! And the Saber Exceeds!
Happy-kun! Happy-kun!
What are you guys doing here?
Sorry, but we're in a hurry.
We can be happy about our reunion later.
I would like to know the situation...
Actually, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah, yes.
I see. We'll go with you.
Anyway, Happy-kun, I like your fashionable headgear.
Fro thinks so, too!
My lady?
Happy, did you say something offensive to Minerva again?
What do you mean?
I didn't say anything!
I'm sorry...
Little bastard...
I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
We couldn't remove that mushroom for anything, but you plucked it right off!
That's our lady, yes!
Fro thinks so, too!
What did you do to me?!
This is no ordinary mushroom.
I believe... the value is...
How much? How much?
This is one of the Nine Demon Gates.
I'm sure he knows where the control room is.
Right.
I've never been treated with such disrespect!
That's our lady!
Our lady!
Good work, Happy.
Aww...
It was nothing, really.
Is this what they call a self-satisfied look?
We have less than an hour before Face is activated! Let's hurry!
Destined to fight, you say?
Well, where should I begin the story?
Yeah. I'll tell you about this body.
This body is a vessel.
It's a corpse that happened to be around.
The members of Tartaros are all demons from the Books of Zeref.
Of course, that includes me.
My true form isn't a human.
But there are a lot of inconveniences in going around in the form of a demon.
That's why I usually take human form.
And when I was going to choose a human for that task,
there happened to be a fine corpse nearby.
I've been using this body ever since.
I thought getting this body was a coincidence.
But maybe you and I were drawn together.
You don't know how patiently I've waited for the day to kill you with my own hands.
You can go pack sand, you bastard!
You dare use my father's body...
You've given me a reason to hate you, but you've got no reason to hate me!
Wrong.
I won't be satisfied until I murder all of Ur's disciples.
See, I was sealed away for ten years because of her.
My name is Deliora! You haven't forgotten, have you, Gray?!
It can't be...
Ur killed Deliora...
That's right. She did kill me. For all of ten years.
But Tartaros had Hell's Core, a physical regeneration machine.
Are you really that Deliora?
If you don't believe me, shall I show you my true form?
The form I was in when I murdered your parents!
That feeling is getting stronger...
A dire premonition felt before we even came here...
Have to get over to Gray-sama fast...
Gray?
I see.
That boy is special to you.
All tales have a beginning... and an end.
For the boy, the beginning was
the day Deliora stole everything from him.
What are you talking about?
Deliora stole his house, his friend, his mother and father...
Amid the calamity and the flames that ignored his prayers,
the boy's tale began that day.
And Gray's tale comes to an end today.
What did you just say?
I can see it.
Succumbing to despair again when faced with the power of inhuman calamity,
the boy at last chooses the same future as his mentor.
He keenly felt the loss of his family and mentor.
Deliora robbed the young Gray of everything kind in his life.
Now Gray's fury is directed at the resurrected demon borrowing his father's form.
However, he's in a tight spot
when his attacks are ineffective against the resurrected demon,
and Deliora's terror returns.
Next time: Tartaros Arc: Gray Versus Silver.
Tartaros Arc: Gray Versus Silver
The truth is mixed together with the kindness and sadness.