After he decided that Deliora would be released from Iced Shell and he would confront the Etherious, Ben went to prepare a few things. He sensed Deliora's power and that the demon was strong, so he needed to be ready for it.
Ben finished preparing before morning and he's ready to fight Deliora tonight. The only problem was the people trying to unseal Deliora. But he would leave them to the Fairy Tail mages while focusing on Deliora.
He wanted to train during the day like he normally did, but he needs to hide so he can't. His hiding place was a small cave a few hundred meters from the temple. It's not too far or close, so it's a perfect hiding spot.
To kill some time, Ben read the magic books that he scanned in the library. There's a lot of them, so he'll be able to read for a few hours. It'll also help him understand the magic more thoroughly.
Just when he was about to read the first book, he received a message. It's from the Sloth clone that he sent to stalk the masked man, Zalty. The clone sent a surprising message to Ben and he grinned after receiving it.
"A council member, huh? This will be interesting." Ben said.
Ben made another clone and the Lust clone came out. He gave the clone a lacrima crystal ball and the clone nodded in understanding before leaving.
"This will be a good weapon to be used against the council in the future. Corruption is everywhere, even in the magic world." Ben said before he started to read.
Time passed and it was finally the evening. Ben went into the temple stealthily to avoid alerting anyone. Inside the room where Deliora was kept, Ben saw the Fairy Tail mages and enemies have finally met.
'Titania's still not here? Did she get lost or something?' He thought.
Ben shook his head and focused on the conversation between the mages. Now he knew their names after not bothering to learn them before. It's not like he needed to know who they are.
The pink-haired Dragon Slayer is Natsu, the black-haired guy is Gray, the blonde woman is Lucy and the blue cat is Happy. As for the enemies, the man who took his helmet off is Lyon, the pink-haired woman is Sherry, the short guy is Yuka, the dog-eared guy is Toby and the masked man is Zalty.
Ben continued listening to their conversation and now knew why Lyon's group brought Deliora here. They were victims of Deliora's brutality in the past and want to kill the demon. They believed Lyon could kill this thing after releasing it.
On the other hand, Gray can't let that happen because he believed no one could kill Deliora. Even his and Lyon's master, who is the same person that confronted Deliora 10 years ago, couldn't do that and needed to use Iced Shell. He's filled with guilt because he was the reason why their master, Ur, sacrificed her life.
Ben watched in amusement as both pupils start to have a debate. On one side, Gray is pessimistic and filled with guilt. On another side, Lyon is too arrogant and overconfident that he can kill Deliora and surpass Ur.
'They're just brats.' Ben thought.
Both sides want to start fighting, but suddenly they hear a loud, cracking sound. Everyone looked at the source, which was the Iced Shell. A big crack is formed on the top and it spread everywhere.
"Finally! You can't stop it now, Gray!" Lyon yelled.
"I can." Gray said as he extended his hands and crossed them.
"Iced Shell? Ha, you're bluffing." Lyon scoffed.
Lyon thought Gray was bluffing about using Iced Shell to scare him. That thought changed when a magic circle appeared below Gray, showing that he was serious about using Iced Shell.
"I will stop that nightmare, just like Ur. This will be my atonement." Gray said.
He is just about to execute the spell when suddenly a hand grabbed his head and threw him into the wall. Ben moved forward to stop the guy from doing something stupid. But now Natsu also made a move to punch Gray to stop him.
BAM*
Natsu couldn't stop his punch and it hit the left side of Ben's face.
"Hoo, you have a good punch there." Ben said as his head was pushed a little from the punch.
Everyone was surprised by his sudden appearance and looked at him warily.
"Who are you?" Natsu asked.
"Hmm. Let's just say I'm a hunter, a demon hunter." Ben replied.
"Demon hunter?" Happy questioned out loud.
"I'm here to kill this thing, so I'm going to ask you to leave this temple." Ben insisted.
"DON'T JOKE WITH ME!" Natsu, Gray and Lyon shouted at the same time.
Ben raised an eyebrow and they start shouting that they'll be the ones to kill Deliora. They were so focused on it they failed to notice Deliora's icy prison was starting to crumble.
ROAR*
A roar is heard as Deliora was finally freed from the ice. Everyone looked at it and had different reactions. Some are scared, some are excited and the rest are calm.
'These little mages that are too full of themselves need to learn an important lesson.' Ben thought.
"Alright, I will try and let you take it on. This is your job, so. But if I think you're not able to handle it, I will take over and face this guy." Ben said.
No one listened and they start to use their magic. Natsu let out Fire Dragon Roar, Gray used Ice-Make: Lance and Lyon used Ice-Make: Dragon. They attack at the same time as if they're a team, but they're not.
Their attacks hit Deliora and generate a massive explosion. They anticipate the result as smoke covered Deliora. Suddenly, a lime light is seen through the smoke and a beam was shot through it as it came towards them; it was Deliora's attack.
The mages were surprised and tried to defend themselves. The beam was too fast though and they haven't finished setting up their defenses. Then suddenly, a black-cloaked man appeared in front of them.
"Sun Devil Scream!" Ben released a scream of solar energy to counter Deliora's attack. The clash generated a massive explosion that destroyed the ancient temple. It alerted everyone in the village as well as a scarlet-haired woman who had just arrived to the island.
"That must be them. Just wait for me, I will punish those who break the guild's rules." Erza said before she ran to the temple.
In the destroyed temple, the Fairy Tail mages and the enemy mages come out of the ruins. They were all surprised by the power of Deliora's attacks. They were sure they couldn't withstand that attack even if they used all their power.
Even Lyon who was certain he could defeat Deliora has wavered now. That attack was really strong and they're sure they would've died once they were hit. So Ben, who can counter that attack with an equally strong attack, must be very strong as well.
They all now look at Ben who stood in front of Deliora without an ounce of fear. His black cloak waving because of the wind and his white mask looks bright because of the moonlight. They all are wondering about his identity, especially Zalty.
"You've just seen how powerful he is, now leave before you die." Ben ordered.
"Tch, I will still fight him." Lyon scoffed.
"This is our job, so we will do." Natsu insisted.
Ben was pissed off and used his gravity element on them. He increased the gravity around them 20 times and made them fall to the ground.
"I don't care if you still want to fight him, I'll be the one who deals with him. Besides, your job was to help the villagers break their curse, not fight a demon. They're the ones who caused the curse, so deal with them." Ben pointed out as he generated clones.
The clones pick the mages up and teleport them out of the destroyed temple. Then suddenly, a big transparent dome is created after the mages left. It's what Ben prepared last night to prevent Deliora from leaving the temple and destroying the island.
"Now, let's begin. It's been a while since I last faced an Etherious. I hope you don't disappoint me." Ben said as he cracked his neck and grinned at Deliora.
The Devil Slayer will finally fight the Devil.