Chapter 106

Father & Son

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Minerva cried as Erza and Laki stared in shock. "Why are you here?" The redhead questioned.

"Remember that letter you sent us, Erza?" Sting questioned, setting Minerva down.

"By the way Erza, the way you wrote the letter…" Lector started. "It kinda…"

"It sucked." Frosch stated, embarrassing the red head.

"Because of that we couldn't understand the contents and it took us a while to come here." Rogue said.

Sting looked Minerva in the eye with a smile. "But now we're here to take her home, back to our guild."

"Back to your guild?" Mard Geer repeated. "The wizard world will end soon. But I don't mind, I won't stop you."

"Face was destroyed." Erza stated.

"Just one." The demon replied, shocking the two Fairy Tail Wizards.

"On the way here, we saw hundreds of Face shaped statues." Sting explained.

"If that is Face, then there could be thousands of them." Rouge added.

"In one hour, all the Faces will be activated." Mard Geer declared. "Around three thousand magic pulse bombs will erase all magic from this continent."

The others stared on shock as Minerva wiped the tears from her eye. "It's a bluff." She said back, catching the human's attention. "Face can't be remotely controlled. It's impossible to activate 3000 of them at the same time."

"If I remember correctly, the chairman should have the authority to allow remote control." Mard Geer chuckled.

"That person died at the very start of this." She snapped back, shocking Erza.

"Our guild has a necromancer." Mard Geer replied. "He's controlling the dead chairman and having him activate Face from the control room."

"Erza, Laki, go." Sting declared, cracking his knuckles. "Leave this to us."

"You two take care of M'lady, Lector and Frosch." Rouge added. "We'll deal with him."

"Some humans are really amusing." Mard Geer chuckled. "Do you really think simple humans can defeat the king of hades?"

"I do!" Sting and Rouge charged into the fight, the blonde throwing a punch. Mard Geer dodged the fist as Rouge snaked behind, throwing a kick. "Go! Now!"

"Be careful! He's extremely powerful!" Laki warned as she picked Minerva up and carried her away.

"Not as strong as Natsu." Sting chuckled as Rose pulled Frosch back by the tail.

"I know you wanna help, but we can't do anything here!" She declared. "Just trust them."

Mard Geer waved his arm and forced the two back as Sting gathered magic near his mouth. "White Dragon Roar!" A massive laser shot out aimed at the demon. Mard Geer waved his hand and force the attack to the side.

Rogue rose up from a shadow behind him, black energy gathered around his arm. "Shadow Dragon Slash!" Mard Geer caught his fist and threw him aside before waving his hands. A rose of energy shot out in a spinning pattern, blasting both the humans and the rubble back.

Mard Geer stood in the center of the blast, watching the dust settle. "I don't like that petty humans handle Dragon Slaying 'Magic'."

"Yeah… and I don't like how you hurt our friends." Sting snapped back, anger in both his and Rogue's eyes.

"Now I know why Kyouka loves playing with you humans." Mard Geer chuckled. "You're completely controlled by your emotions. And yet, you don't realize this weakness. Just like lambs to slaughter. It's endearing in a way. But that won't save you."

With Gray

Far away from the battle, Gray stood staring at Zero, who was leaning against some rubble. "3000 Face…?" Gray repeated in shock. "The council built one hell of a weapon. So did you bring me here just to tell me that?"

"No way." Silver chuckled, pushing himself away. "I hoped I could see the despair on your face."

"Unfortunately, that doesn't work." Gray snapped back.

"Too bad… I thought simply killing you would be boring." Silver confessed.

"You know me, don't you?" Gray questioned.

"Yeah, really well." The armored man nodded as the two glared at each other.

"I also know your face… and your voice." Gray declared. "I know them, but you're a different person. Who are you?"

"You know the truth, even if you don't want to admit it." Silver chuckled.

"You're right, old man. I don't believe you! My father is dead!" Gray shouted back before launching a swarm of swords at him. Silver waved his hand and shattered the blades before catching a punch. Purple ice shot out and blasted Gray back, who ripped it free.

Silver laughed and waved his arm, forcing Gray to jump from the rising ice. "Oh, this is even better than I thought it'd be." He chuckled. "Daddy's right here, kid. Technically, anyway."

"The hell does that mean!?" Gray growled back.

"Let's just say I'm someone with an even bigger impact on you." Silver explained, glowing in a purple aura. "Someone you've wanted revenge on for long time now."

With Erza and Minerva

"This place has got to be the biggest dump ever." Lector complained as the three cats walked ahead of the women. "I get demons lived here, but you'd think they clean up some times."

"Do you know how we can find the control room from here?" Erza questioned.

"Everything's been damaged beyond recognition." Minerva confessed. "I can't tell."

"Mard Geer claimed the control room was still intact. Where could it be?" Erza questioned.

A Dragon Slayer's nose would be useful right now." The demoness confessed.

"Laki ran ahead to look for Natsu." Rose pointed out. "She worried for her fiancé. In this whole crazy mess, can you blame her?"

"Salamander and the Green Woman are to be wed?" Minerva questioned. "Seems I missed a great deal while in the shadows."

"Did your guild not allow relationships among its members?" Erza asked back.

"My father viewed love as a weakness." The horned girl replied. "Anyone caught fraternizing that way was immediately expelled, or worse."

"Sorry to interrupt, but someone is coming towards us." Lector stated, catching their attention.

The five looked ahead as Pantherlily and Happy came into view. "Erza!" Happy cheered before turning to Lector and Frosh in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We'll have to save the catching up for later." Erza replied as Minerva stared at the shroom on Happy's face.

Walking forward, she pulled on the fungus and ripped it off, making Happy scream in pain. She squeezed it and Franmalth screamed in pain, giving himself up. "Show us to the control, now." She ordered.

With Gray

"You better explain yourself, right now!" Gray shouted, only to be blasted back by ice.

"Where would I even start?" Silver chuckled. "Let's see, why don't I tell you about my appearance? This body is just a vessel. I happened upon some random corpse and here I am. You know that we are all demons from Zeref's books, correct? Myself included. Hell, my true self isn't even remotely human.

"But kinda hard to blend in when you look like I normally do. So I had to pick a human coat that still had all its body parts attached. Honestly, I've grown attached to this old thing. There wasn't any real motive behind this until I learned about you. Then it became perfect. Just what I need to take my revenge. Not only on you, but everyone connected to that witch."

"Witch?" Gray repeated in confusion.

"The one who imprisoned me in a chunk of ice for ten years and killed me." Silver growled out, shocking Gray. "Finally put the pieces together, there kid? I'm not Silver, I'm Deliora! Like hell you've forgotten my name!"

"Impossible…" Gray mumbled, falling over in shock. "Deliora was killed…"

"Thank you, Hell's Core." Silver chuckled. "They brought me back into the land of the living. What, you don't believe me? How about I take the same form I killed your parents in?"

Gray roared in anger before charging again, pure hate in his eyes. "DELIORA!"

Silver chuckled before swinging his hand, killing the ice spell instantly. He charged forward and blasted Gray backwards, knocking him off a cliff.

Landing as safe as he could, he jumped back up and slammed his hands together. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!"

He slammed a massive sword down, only for the demon to laugh in his face and start eating the blade. Gray landed on the ground, he watched as Silver wiped his mouth. "You don't think I planned on facing ice users?" He chuckled. "I mastered Ice Devil Slayer magic for a reason!"

The armored man swung his hand and ice slashed Gray, blasting back. "Yes, yes! That's the pain I wanted to see! First you, then that Lyon kid! Then I'll kill all your friends one by one!"

"Stop saying bullshit with my father's voice!" Gray shouted back, slamming his hands together. "Ice Impact!" A massive spiked hammer slammed down on Silver, who laughed and ate the attack.

"You don't learn well, do you?" Silver chuckled as he pulled his head back. "Ice Demon Rage!" A purple swath of ice shot out and blasted Gray back.

The attack ended and he forced himself back up, clutching his bleeding side. "I will defeat you… with my own hands." He panted out.

"How the hell are you gonna do that when your magic doesn't work on me?" Silver chuckled.

"Ice Make: Cannons!" Gray slammed his hands to the side, creating a volley of frozen cannons which fired.

"You-" A chunk of rock hit Silver in the face, forcing him to stumble backwards. "Clever. You made a weapon of ice and used it to fire other weapons."

"Eat this!" Another volley of fire blasted Silver in the face.

Silver chuckled and waved his hand, freezing the ground over. "Now everything is covered in ice." Silver declared. "good luck trying to find any neutral objects to fore at me."

"I can work with this." Gray chuckled before dropping his hands fo the ground. "This is the same ice that covered Sun Village. I can absorb it and recreate it in my own shape! You slayers might be able to eat your element, but there's one exception!"

Silver went wide eyed as Gray glowed purple before hitting Silver with his own magic. The smoke cleared and Gray looked up, an angry Sliver glaring at him. "It's true that I can't eat my own magic, but ice still doesn't work on me. Have you finally femembered the terror you felt in front of Deliora?"

With Juvia

"His power was acknowledged by the king of Hades and he became a Demon Gate." Keyes told the water woman.

He swung his staff and forced Juvia to dodge? "Why would a wizard who can defeat demons enter a guild of demons!?" She questioned.

"Who can say?" Keyes replied. "Maybe it was on a whim, or maybe he wanted to be a deterrent for us. Either way, he was accepted." He swung his staff and slashed at Juvia. "I can see it. The boy will make the same choice as his master."

'The same choice…' She mumbled to herself. 'Does that mean Iced Shell?'

With Wendy

"What can we do against all these Faces?" Carla mumbled.

Wendy turned to the council member, focus in her eyes. "Doranbolt, how long does it take to go to Magnolia with Direct Line?"

"If we go from here, we'll habe to do a few stopovers." He answered. "No less than five minutes."

"Do you want to rejoin the others?" Carla questioned.

"Yes." She nodded. "But not only that. I want Warren to use his magic to call out to all the guilds on the continent. With the power if all the guilds, maybe we can do something about Face."

With Gray

Tumbling back, Gray bounced along the ground as Silver chuckled. "What's happened! You lost all your energy." He kicked Gray in the stomach, making him gasp in pain. "I want your face even more twisted. Feel the fear inside you, human. Look upon this coming calamity!"

He swung his arm and blasted Gray back. "Did you really think you had a chance of winning!? Did you think you could turn anger into power!? This is what despair tastes like. You humans can't win against demons."

Groaning in pain, Gray pushed himself up. "I… still… have to win…"

"Ice doesn't work against me, I blocked physical attacks. You can't win against me with just your feelings." Silver chuckled.

"I still… have something left." Gray declared as he crossed his arms. "Iced Shell!"

"You're bluffing!" Silver shouted back. "It'll use your life! Besides, ice doesn't work on me, remember!?"

"Let's put that to the test!" Gray shouted.

Silver froze him solid, only to find he'd frozen an ice sculpture. From behind, Gray, now with his arm coated in some kind of vambrace, threw a solid chunk of rubble through the torso. Silver stared at the hole as he fell over. "Enough games." Gray declared. "Did you think I wouldn't noticed?"

Silver looked up with a confused looked. "You're not Deliora. You are my dad."

Yeah, how's this for a gut wrench? Seriously, this was a twist I thought I saw coming. Then they pulled the rug out, and then they pulled the rug under THAT out. Add in some tender moments between Minerva and her old guild, and this was really emotional.

I don't really have much left to say about this. See you all next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang