Silver suddenly changed the subject, his gaze turning hostile as he stared at Gray.
"Do you have any idea how long I've waited... just so I could kill you with my own hands?"
Gray slammed his fist into the ground and shouted angrily, "You arrogant bastard! How dare you use my father's body like that! I have plenty of reasons to hate you, but there's no reason for you to hate me!"
Silver narrowed his eyes.
"No. I won't be satisfied until I've killed everyone connected to Ur."
"I was killed by Ur, after all. Only after my soul returned to Tartaros was I able to be reborn..."
"My name is Deliora! You haven't forgotten that, have you, Gray?!"
Silver's expression suddenly twisted into something vicious.
For a moment, it reminded Gray of Deliora.
In his vision, Silver's face seemed to overlap with the hideous demon's, leaving Gray frozen in disbelief.
Gray already knew that Deliora had died.
Raizel had not really wanted him to learn about it too early, but the news had not stayed hidden for long.
When Ur became one of the Ten Wizard Saints, the news that she had killed Deliora, a demon from the Books of Zeref, spread everywhere.
Gray might not read books, look at newspapers, or do much besides eat snacks and sleep, but news of a demon from the Books of Zeref dying was shocking enough that even he had heard it from the gossiping crowds in Magnolia.
"So you really are... Deliora from back then?" Gray lowered his head helplessly, clenched his fists, and asked through gritted teeth.
Even with Gray's strong mind, this fact struck him like a bolt from the blue.
His father had died at Deliora's hands, and after death, even his body had not been allowed to rest.
"Do you need me to show you my original form?" Silver asked, his words clearly testing Gray as his eyes carried a faint provocation.
"The true form I showed when I killed your parents."
Hearing Silver's answer, Gray clenched his teeth so hard the veins on his face stood out.
Somewhere deep down, he felt that something was wrong, but the flames of rage scattered his reason.
...
"The bad feeling is getting stronger... Gray-sama, please hold on!"
Keyes heard Juvia's murmur and looked at her.
"Gray? I see. So that boy is someone special to you, isn't he? Every story has a beginning, and every story has an ending. For that boy, the beginning was the day Deliora took everything from him."
Juvia frowned and pressed him. "What are you talking about?"
Keyes's voice carried neither joy nor sorrow.
"His home, his town, his parents, his friends—everything was taken from him that day. Calamity. In the flames of prayers left unanswered, that boy's story began on that day. And today, Gray's story will come to an end."
Juvia's expression darkened. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Keyes was able to share Silver's vision.
He had already seen it.
"I can see it. The power of calamity will bring despair once more. The boy is about to make his choice."
...
"DELIORAAAAA!"
The furious Gray threw out Ice-Make spells with reckless abandon.
But the gap between them was too large.
Silver predicted every move Gray made, and Gray's Ice-Make could not block Silver's Ice Devil Slayer Magic at all.
Silver provoked Gray as he fought.
"What's wrong? Struggle a little harder for me!"
"Is this all Ur's disciple can do? Looks like you're still too green!"
Gray was blown into the air by Ice Devil's Rage, but he created several ice shields in midair to use as footholds.
"Ice-Make: Ice Bringer!"
He brought the huge sword down with force.
"Hahaha!"
But Silver caught the Ice Bringer easily with both hands.
"However..."
Silver opened his mouth and bit into the Ice Bringer, sucking the Ice-Make Magic into his stomach.
He even wiped the corner of his mouth and gave a mock review.
"This ice isn't tasty, but it isn't bad either."
"Lost for words? To Slayer-type Mages, Magic of the same element is completely useless!"
"Ur's only knows how to use ice. That's why I specifically learned Magic that can counter ice—Devil Slayer Magic!"
"Devil Slayer Magic?"
...
"That's right. The power to destroy demons," Keyes answered Juvia's doubts. "That power was acknowledged by the Underworld King, which is why Silver was appointed as one of the Nine Demon Gates."
"A guild made entirely of demons... appointing a Mage who specializes in killing demons..."
"Whether it was a whim from the Underworld King or a way to keep us in check, who can say? Either way, that man was acknowledged. Acknowledged by the Underworld King himself."
'Ice Devil Slayer Magic... a father-and-son battle, is it?'
Ultear had also guessed it.
Silver was almost certainly Gray's father.
She simply still could not guess why Raizel had told the others not to interfere. Still, she believed Gray should not be in any real danger.
Raizel would never knowingly leave Gray in a deadly situation.
Ultear understood Raizel very well.
Most of the time, he acted lazy and detached from the world, but when something truly happened to a guild member, he was more anxious than anyone.
"Let me ask you something, Water Mage. What are you most afraid of? Losing the one you love? Being abandoned by the one you love? Or perhaps being hated by the one you love?"
"Is that... one thing?" Ultear could not help but comment.
"Trying to hurt Juvia with something like that is useless!"
"Hurt you?"
A confident smile appeared on Juvia's face.
"Saying Juvia will lose Gray-sama, or be abandoned by Gray-sama... something like that is absolutely impossible!"
Keyes's tone became meaningful, and an unpleasant smile spread across his face.
"I see. I'm becoming more and more interested."
...
Silver blasted Gray into a deep pit and looked down at him from above, laughing arrogantly.
"Good. Very good. After I kill you, Lyon and Ultear will be next. I want to see the regret in Ur's eyes before I kill her!"
"Using my father's body and my father's voice... I won't allow you to say such filthy things!"
Gray created four ice cannons on the ground and used rocks as ammunition, bombarding Silver with a storm of shots.
That solved the problem of Ice-Make being ineffective against Silver.
"Not bad at all."
Silver raised his hand to block the rocks, looking at Gray with appreciation.
"Unfortunately!"
With a wave of Silver's hand, the surrounding rocks and grass were all frozen into ice.
"I've sealed everything in ice. Now even non-elemental attacks are useless."
The corner of Gray's mouth lifted slightly.
Then he crouched down and placed both hands on the ice.
"You dug your own grave. This is the Magic that froze Sun Village. I can let this kind of ice pass through my body... and remake it into whatever shape I want."
"What did you say?" Silver frowned in confusion.
"Of course I know Magic of the same element doesn't work on Slayer-type Mages. But there's one exception."
Gray smiled faintly as he remembered Natsu looking at him like he was an idiot.
'How are you supposed to eat your own fire? Are you stupid?'
Ice created from Silver's own Ice Devil Slayer Magic was something even Silver himself could not eat.
"Now disappear completely!"