Mard Geer seemed pleased by the serious expressions on Ultear and the others' faces.
"Have you ever wondered why Zeref created us?"
He did not wait for their reaction and answered his own question.
"Not one of my subordinates has ever noticed it. For us Etherious, there exists a concept that is almost like brainwashing: we must return to Zeref's side. It is an idea etched into us at the genetic level."
"To return to Zeref's side. To see Zeref. To act for Zeref."
"That is an emotion, and all of it leads back to one truth."
"Zeref cursed himself, becoming an immortal body that could never grow old or die. He seeks only death."
"That wish eventually created beings capable of killing him. Beings born for the purpose of killing Zeref..."
"That is what the demons from the Books of Zeref are. And E.N.D. is the finest masterpiece among them."
"Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, he was sealed inside a book once more."
Mard Geer understood this clearly.
But as he had said, even he could not resist that power engraved into his very being.
Perhaps it truly was the power of his genes.
He knew all of this, but he did not want to change it.
Just like the Nine Demon Gates who knew nothing, he would do everything in his power to complete Zeref's task, return to Zeref's side, and kill him.
That, too, was Mard Geer's wish.
As he spoke, Mard Geer snapped his fingers.
Thorns erupted from the ground and bound Natsu, Ultear, and Mira. A gigantic man-eating flower lunged toward them.
Erza and Kagura were about to move.
But just as the man-eating flower was about to bite down on Natsu—it froze into pink ice and shattered apart!
"Ice?" Natsu stared blankly at the scene.
Erza and Kagura lowered their blades as well.
Mard Geer froze for a moment, clearly shocked.
That ice... was Ice Devil Slayer Magic.
Gray, bare-chested with the guild mark printed across his chest, walked up beside Natsu.
"This Magic Power..." Ultear recognized it.
It was the same ice that had frozen Sun Village.
Not only that, but a layer of ice had also formed over Mard Geer's arm.
"When did you get this strong?" Natsu asked, looking genuinely stunned.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Mard Geer demanded.
"I came here specifically to defeat you."
Gray raised his right arm, and black markings appeared across it, radiating a chilling cold.
"I'm a Devil Slayer."
Seeing the black markings on Gray's arm, Ultear raised a brow in thought.
'So this is why he told us not to help Gray. He was giving Silver time to say goodbye... and to pass Ice Devil Slayer Magic on to him.'
Mira murmured softly, "Dragon Slayer Magic exists to defeat dragons. God Slayer Magic exists to defeat gods. So Devil Slayer Magic must be..."
Gray clenched his right hand and finished her sentence.
"Magic specifically made to defeat demons!"
With that, Gray swung his left hand downward.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow"
The magic erupted, engulfing Mard Geer in ice!
"This is Silver's..." Mard Geer muttered in disbelief from within the ice.
He forced both hands outward, and the ice shattered.
Mard Geer brushed at the arm that had just been frozen, looking completely unaffected.
"I expected he would betray us one day. I simply did not expect it to be in this manner."
"Thorn Curse!"
But the thorns stabbing toward Gray were frozen solid in an instant.
This time, Gray had not only inherited Ice Devil Slayer Magic. He had also received most of Silver's Magic Power.
It was nothing short of an epic-level enhancement.
"To fulfill my father's wish, I'll destroy all of you with my own hands!"
Gray swept his right hand outward.
An Ice Devil dragon instantly appeared from the right and bit into Mard Geer's body.
Even Ultear was startled by Gray's shaping speed.
"A fusion of Ice-Make and Ice Devil Slayer Magic? And his molding speed is so fast..."
Mard Geer no longer looked as composed as before. His head tilted back, his face twisted in pain.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Sword!"
Gray descended from the air with a drawing slash aimed at Mard Geer.
But Mard Geer spread his wings and flew upward, avoiding the strike before slowly landing back on the ground.
A dense layer of purple Curse Power wrapped around his body.
"Mard Geer — Etherious Form."
"Natsu."
"I know."
Gray and Natsu raised their arms at the same time.
"Putting the name of Fairy Tail on the line..."
"We're taking you down!"
"Come, humans."
Mard Geer beckoned to Natsu and Gray.
...
'What do we do?'
'Stay in your demon form for now and watch carefully.'
Mira and Ultear exchanged a glance and temporarily withdrew from the battlefield.
Mard Geer crossed both arms over his chest, then swept them downward.
Countless thorns erupted from the ground.
"Freeze!"
"Burn!"
Natsu and Gray destroyed the thorns from left and right with their Magic.
But Mard Geer's true attack came after that.
Using the thorns to block their vision, he flew behind Natsu and Gray, grabbing both of their heads with his left and right claws.
With one flap of his wings, he shot rapidly into the sky.
Natsu and Gray struggled, but Mard Geer's claws locked tightly around their heads.
In midair, Mard Geer flipped downward and began dragging Natsu and Gray's heads across the ground like plows.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Ice Devil's Rage!"
Natsu and Gray fired their roars toward the ground, using the recoil to break free.
At the same time, each of them grabbed one of Mard Geer's arms and slammed a fist into his back.
Pink and red Magic blasted through Mard Geer and struck the ground, causing tremendous destruction.
But Mard Geer once again caught Natsu and Gray as if nothing had happened, flew up, and hurled them down.
The White Light Curse gathered in Mard Geer's palm, then swept down toward Natsu and Gray on the ground.
Natsu rolled away with one hand against the earth, then immediately countered with Fire Dragon's Roar.
A pillar of fire three to four meters wide blasted forward, but Mard Geer dodged it.
"Ice Devil's Rage!"
Gray's roar followed close behind.
But Mard Geer's evasion was flawless. He circled around Ice Devil's Rage and flew high into the sky.
"Memento Mori!"
A white mass of light appeared above them.
A giant tree more than a hundred meters tall descended from the sky.
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Natsu and Gray did not dodge.
They planted their feet, lowered their stances, and gathered Magic Power into their fists.
Their punches rained down against the base of the enormous tree.
The great Memento Mori began collapsing from the bottom upward.
Then— it shattered!
"Ice-Make: Demon-Slaying Spear!"
A massive ice spear forged entirely from Ice Devil Slayer Magic tore through the ground and shot toward Mard Geer.
Mard Geer avoided it with only a sideways shift.
The Demon-Slaying Spear shattered beside him.
Hidden within the ice, Natsu had flames wrapped around both hands, golden arcs of lightning flickering inside the fire.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade!"
The attack struck Mard Geer head-on.
But even after he smashed into the ground, Natsu and Gray still could not tell how much damage he had really taken.
"Is this guy immortal or what?"
"Looks like Devil Slayer Magic really is the key..."