After trying several times and failing to connect with Silver through telepathy, Juvia looked at Ultear and asked.
"Ultear, can you leave this to me?"
"All right." Ultear nodded, then leapt out of the battlefield and landed atop the wreckage of Cube, using a crystal ball to observe the situation.
Raizel and Mard Geer's battle was still ongoing. Kyouka was facing the combined assault of Erza and Kagura.
Gajeel and Natsu were locked in a back-and-forth fight against Tempester and Torafuzar—though for now, it was mostly the two of them getting beaten around.
Jellal and Ur were dealing with the Tartaros demons that had come to harass the former councilors.
Jet, Droy, and the others had already collapsed from Magic Power exhaustion.
Some of the injured guild members needed treatment, and Mira, Wendy, Lisanna, and the others were helping tend to their wounds while Makarov stood guard nearby.
Keyes raised his hand, and dozens of purple beams shot from his staff toward Juvia.
As Juvia hurriedly dodged, Keyes spoke with infuriating calm.
"To tell the truth, I knew long ago that Silver intended to betray Tartaros. He increased his strength and even learned Ice Devil Slayer Magic for one primary reason: to take revenge on us."
"But that hardly matters. I knew that very rage, that heart burning with vengeance, was the driving force that allowed him to continue existing until now."
"It brings me such joy. Father and son. Dead and living. Killing each other. This is the story I wrote."
Juvia stared hard at Keyes.
This creature treated humans entirely as experimental tools.
Keyes believed himself to be standing in an unbeatable position.
After all, the moment he died, Silver, who was being controlled by his Necromancy Curse, would die as well.
He did not believe Juvia would dare make that choice.
Keyes's body turned into mist and wrapped around Juvia. The purple smoke transformed into bandages, binding her tightly.
Then it exploded with a roar.
Juvia vanished from the spot.
Just as Keyes was about to throw out a few arrogant words, he faintly sensed that something was wrong.
The robe covering his mist-like body began to bulge irregularly.
The sound of flowing water came from inside him.
"So Juvia turned into water and entered his body?" Ultear realized at once, nodding slightly.
Keyes's robe began to swell.
Like cotton soaked with water, he grew larger and larger.
BOOM!!!
A pillar of water shot into the sky, and Keyes's robe exploded into shreds.
"Even if the physical form is lost, feelings will remain forever in the heart!"
Juvia returned to human form.
Tears were already streaming down her face. Making this decision had hurt her deeply.
Because Keyes's death meant Gray would lose his father, Silver, forever as well.
'Gray-sama... I'm sorry...'
Juvia bit down hard on her lower lip and looked toward the direction where Gray and Silver were.
Her tears broke free like a shattered dam.
With the last of his strength, Silver sent his voice into Juvia's mind through telepathy.
'That's right. Thank you. Thanks to you, young lady, I can finally ascend. You don't need to say anything. Please take care of Gray for me.'
"Yes!" Juvia covered her face and nodded hard.
"Father in law, please rest in peace."
...
Watching the specks of light drift toward the sky, Gray tried to keep his voice calm as he said goodbye to his father.
Silver's voice still echoed in Gray's mind.
"I'll leave the rest to you. The reason I wanted to learn Ice Devil Slayer Magic... was because E.N.D. is a flame demon."
"I'll pass this power on to you."
Three black markings appeared on Gray's right hand, radiating an extremely cold chill.
Silver had passed on the entire method of training in Ice Devil Slayer Magic to Gray.
Those three markings would help Gray use the power immediately and speed up his training progress.
Gray clenched his right hand tightly, his gaze firm.
"As an Ice Devil Slayer... I'll be the one to defeat E.N.D."
Ice Devil Slayer Gray has arrived!
...
A cloud of Magic Barrier Particles spilled from Juvia's mouth. Her body swayed, about to collapse, but Ultear caught her in time.
When she had entered Keyes's body earlier, she had still inevitably inhaled the particles into her lungs.
"Juvia, stay with me!"
"Juvia... wants to see Gray-sama."
Ultear helped Juvia stand and said gently, "You'll see him soon. I'll take you to him."
Juvia's consciousness was already growing hazy.
Ultear turned toward Natsu and Gajeel.
"I'm leaving this place to you."
"Leave it to us!"
"Hurry up and get her out of here!"
Natsu and Gajeel answered, then charged back into battle against Tempester and Torafuzar.
...
After dodging another slash from Raizel with a backward leap, Mard Geer once again spoke arrogantly.
"To survive this long against me, Mard Geer Tartaros... this is a first for a human. No wonder you're so exciting."
"..."
Raizel slowly exhaled, then looked at Mard Geer again.
"I was planning to play around with you for a little longer, but I've decided."
After all, the book Mard Geer held was tied directly to Natsu's life and death.
If the book was damaged, the one hurt would be Natsu.
That was why Raizel had not used his full strength yet, and why he had constantly avoided the hand holding the book.
Mard Geer was also fairly fast.
Relying on himself alone, it would be difficult to snatch the Book of E.N.D. from Mard Geer's hand without damaging it.
'To take the book from him completely intact...'
[Take Over: Jesmon X.]
With the X-Antibody implanted into its body, Jesmon's entire armor had transformed into blades, creating a form specialized even further for offense.
The many newly equipped swords could each move independently, granting Jesmon one-sided, continuous attack power in a duel.
In addition, the three programs Atho, René, and Pol had merged and awakened as a single Tactical Arm.
"Oh? A change in form..." Mard Geer began.
The confident smile on his face vanished in an instant.
He had just been about to boast that changing forms would not help, but his pupils suddenly shrank.
Because in that moment, Raizel had moved behind him at a speed his eyes could not follow.
"Tekken Seisai!"
The Tactical Arm formed from Atho, René, and Por clenched into a fist and slammed into Mard Geer's back.
At the same time, Raizel raised the blade on his right arm and slashed.
Mard Geer's clothes tore apart.
He clenched his teeth.
Losing his dignity was one thing, but the worst part was the burning pain across the skin of his back!
"Watch closely. I'm coming again."
The instant Raizel finished speaking, the dazzling red-and-white armor vanished beneath the glow of the setting sun.
Mard Geer chose to accelerate into the sky.
But out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the red-and-white armor was only a head lower than him.
The distance between them was less than half an arm.
'When did he—?!'
Raizel flipped backward, and the blades on his legs and tail slashed toward Mard Geer's chin.
Mard Geer probably used the fastest movement of his life to open the distance between them.
Even so, they had been too close.
Blood from Mard Geer stained the tail blade.
"Sword Wings!"
A cut opened across Mard Geer's chin, blood streaming from the wound as he flew backward.
The moment he released his Curse power, he sensed danger again.
He was surrounded.
Two shoulder blades.
Two leg blades.
Two arm blades.
One tail blade.
And the Tactical Arm formed from the three sword spirits.
All of them had sealed him in completely!
"Absorption!!!"
Mard Geer brought his palms opposite each other, one facing upward and one facing downward and Blue light gathered between his hands.
---------
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